💰 A Penny For Your Thoughts? Not For Long!

In today’s newsletter we discuss stopping production of the penny, Brad Pitt's new movie F1 just dropped, Starbucks is giving away free coffee TODAY, Elon Musk isn’t buying TikTok, defense firm Anduril Industries is raising funding at a $28 billion dollar valuation, the Eagles win the Super Bowl, and Netflix’s show “Drive to Survive” comes out with its new Season 7 on March 7.

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WHAT WE’RE READING

💰 A Penny For Your Thoughts? Not For Long!

The United States has been cruising toward the day when the penny becomes obsolete for a few decades now, and some argue we’ve been there for a while now.

According to the U.S. Mint, each penny costs 3.69 cents to produce.

It seems idioc to make something that costs 2.69 cents more than its worth!

The truth is most Americans don’t even spend pennies. They sit in jars or drawers collecting dust.

So why are we still making them? Well, we might be for long.

Donald Trump has called for the end of penny production. That’s not the same as doing away with the penny, as there are still around 250 billion pennies in circulation in the United States, which breaks down to roughly 700 pennies per person. I know I’m guilty of hoarding some in a jar in my cabinet, because honestly, who ever uses pennies to pay for anything anymore when most of us just charge it to our credit cards or tap-and-go.

Doing away with the production of the penny will save the U.S. around $179 million dollars a year once production stops.

I may not agree with much that the DOGE is doing, but getting rid of the penny to save money is the first good thing I’ve heard of the government doing in a long time.

💰 Business

Defense tech company Anduril Industries is reportedly seeking new funding that could boost its valuation to a staggering $28 billion dollar valuation. This news, fueled by a surge in demand for advanced defense technology, underscores the booming sector. Sources familiar with the matter report that Anduril is in discussions with potential investors, including tech billionaire Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, and General Catalyst for this significant funding round.

Anduril, known for its cutting-edge AI-powered defense systems, including drones and autonomous vehicles, has rapidly gained prominence. The company’s focus on integrating technology with national security solutions has resonated with governments seeking to modernize their defense capabilities. This potential $28 billion dollar valuation marks a substantial increase, reflecting investor confidence in Anduril's trajectory and the broader growth of the defense tech market.

🎬 Entertainment

The trailer for Brad Pitt's new movie F1 just dropped, and it doesn’t disappoint.

As a Formula 1 fan, I’ve been waiting for this movie ever since Brad Pitt partnered with Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton to produce this movie.

And what a movie it’ll be! With a reported budget of $300 million dollars, and I’m guessing a market budget easily around $200 million dollars or more, the movie's budgets are so high that it’ll need to make over $750 million at the box office just to break even.
 
I guess that just means I’ll need to go see it more than once in the theater!

☕ Starbucks

Starbucks is giving away free coffee today to help a tired America recover from last night's Super Bowl.

Full stop!

I know what I’m doing after the gym today!

🕺 Tech

In case you hadn’t already heard, Elon Musk has a lot on his plate these days.

Not only is he the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, Neurolink, Boring Company, and X/Twitter, but he also heads up the newly formed DOGE (Department Of Government Efficiency), which isn’t actually a government department (but semantics isn’t one of Elon’s strong suits).

So when news broke that he might swoop in and buy TikTok everyone ran with the rumor that was devoid of any facts.

Now Elon has confirmed that he has no plans to buy TikTok, while also never saying never.

This all happens in the backdrop to Donald Trump appointing Vice President J.D. Vance “to broker a potential sale of TikTok to an U.S.-based entity before the most recent ban extension elapses in April”, according to an article on NBC News.

Sure does seem a little chummy and buddy-buddy all up in the administration when it comes to who’s going to buy TikTok.

🏈 Super Bowl

So there will be no more talk of a “Three-peat” or a “Chiefs Dynasty”.

The Kansas City Chiefs got blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles 40 - 22, with Patrick Mahomes throwing 2 interceptions, and getting sacked 6 times.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense shut down the Chiefs during nearly every pay during the first 3 quarters, with the Chiefs finally finding some momentum in the 4th quarter - too little too late.

And for those wondering how many times the cameras would find Taylor Swift, by my count it was 1 time, which tied with the number of times the camera showed Donald Trump as well.

And if we’re going to discuss the Super Bowl, we can’t not discuss the ads. This year I thought the ads were seriously lacking. Don’t @ me, but nothing really stood out to me as hysterical like previous Super Bowl ads. The funniest to me was the combination of Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck in their Dunkin Donuts ad, where Casey Afflect says they "should have paid for Matt." Then later in the Super Bowl Matt Damon appears in an ad as Dave Beckham, the long lost twin brother of the famous sorcery player David Beckham. What you need to know is the ad was actually directed by Matt Damon’s best friend who he grew up with, Ben Affleck. At the end of the ad there’s a funny exchange after David Bechkam tells Matt Damon that he has a brother who’s a famous soccer player.

Matt Damon:
My brother is a famous soccer player?

So how famous are you, like Matt Damon famous?

David Beckham:

Maybe Ben Affleck famous.

Matt Damon:

Ah, that’s a shame.

I LOVE how he throws shade at his friend. These two took over Hollywood together with their movie Good Will Hunting that they wrote and starred in. Even now 28 years later they’re still busting on each other, just now it’s in Super Bowl ads.

🏁 Sports

So I know what I’ll be doing on March 7.

Netflix’s show “Drive to Survive” comes out with its new Season 7 on March 7, and F1 fans worldwide will be watching the show only 7 days before the first race of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

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irl Media NEWSLETTER is written, edited, and published by Chris Thompson.