In today’s newsletter we discuss Elon Musk rides dirty in his Cybertruck at the Texas Formula 1 race, DOJ sues eBay for selling devices to adolescent man-children who like to “roll coal” to try and own the Libs, SpaceX to launch a record 144 launches next year for Starlink's Direct to Cell service, Christopher Nolan praised Taylor Swift’s decision to bypass the studios, and Cooper Kupp is selling his Oregon home that has a 95-foot-long indoor athletic training facility all his own.

Business

Elon Musk may be the greatest ever salesperson to grace the tech world! He just delivered a master class in marketing at this week’s Formula 1 race in Texas where he rolled up in Tesla’s new Cybertruck.

There’s honestly no formula or calculation for how much free advertising this kind of guerilla marketing can generate in brand equity. Elon once again defies all odds and ups the game for other car manufacturers.

Tesla originally quoted a starting price of $39,900, but that was a few years ago. Some industry execs are now estimating it’ll debut around $50,000. There’s already a backlog of 1.9 million trucks, with a wait time of 5 years.

At $50,000 a truck (on the low-end), times 1.9 million trucks, Tesla is looking at an estimated $95 billion in revenue.

Elon Musk just served a lesson in free advertisement for the Tesla Cybertruck

Tech

There’s childish, then there’s grown-ass men modifying their diesel trucks to “roll coal” and own the Libs. If you’re not familiar with these tools, “rolling coal” is when a diesel truck peels out and spews a black cloud of smoke from their exhaust.

In this article CNBC defines “rolling coal” as the “practice of tampering with a vehicle’s emissions control system, causing it to spew black clouds of sooty exhaust.” They usually have “a tampering device to pump more diesel into a vehicle’s engine than it can handle, leading it to spew out sooty black clouds of exhaust that pollute the air.”
This adolescent practice usually targets EV owners, such as Tesla and Prius, and the offending infants will pull in front of the EV, or peel out at an EV charging station, and spew black smoke from their exhaust. Like we said, childish.

Now the DOJ has sued eBay for selling the devices, which I don’t think is the right approach because eBay is just a marketplace for buyers and sellers. If the DOJ serious they’d go after the manufacturers and the countries that are exporting these devices.

DOJ sues eBay for selling ‘rolling coal’ devices; fines could hit $2 billion

Space

Just when you thought SpaceX couldn’t get more serious about their Starlink satellites, they are now reportedly planning a “record 144 launches next year for Starlink's Direct to Cell service”. The company is targeting 75 launches for 2023, with some estimates that they may actually hit the 100 launch record by the end of 2023.

The increased launch cadence for 2024 is to support Starlink’s Direct to Cell service that they’ve partnered with T-mobile in the U.S. to provide subscribers with satellite cell phone connections anywhere that terrestrial cell phones can’t receive a signal.

“SpaceX estimated the cost of designing, building and deploy the constellation was estimated to be at least US$10 billion.”

Elon Musk's SpaceX plans a record 144 launches next year for Starlink's Direct to Cell service

Entertainment

You know we can’t go one issue without having a story about Taylor Swift. The woman is an economic superhero!

It seems even Christopher Nolan (you know of Inception, Interstellar, and recently Oppinhimer fame) agrees, and he’s praised Taylor Swift for Skipping Studios for ‘Eras Tour’ release.

He praised Taylor Swift’s decision to bypass the studios, and release her ‘Eras Tour’ directly to theaters. This will result in a lot more money in Swift’s bank account; it’s estimates she’ll take home 60% of the revenue from the film.

Christopher Nolan Praises Taylor Swift for Skipping Studios for ‘Eras Tour’ Release

Real Estate

We love us some real estate eye candy, and Cooper Kupp’s Oregon home has an indoor training facility that doesn’t disappoint. Sadly, he’s putting the house up for sale. Fortunately, that means someone else will get to own this amazing property.

His training facility is located in a barn on the property that features a “95-foot-long indoor athletic training facility has indoor turf lined for football, two oversized bay doors with net enclosures to catch sports balls and two retractable basketball hoops.”

Kupp is selling the house, which has served as an off-season retreat for the family because their life is increasingly centered in LA where the plays for the LA Rams and his 3 kids have all the normal activities that kids have these days. He’s listed the house for $3.5 million, having bought it for $2.5 million in 2020.

LA Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp selling off-season Oregon home for $3.5 million

So much news, so little time. Until tomorrow we’re signing out.

— Chris