In today’s edition we discuss George and Amal Clooney starting a new winery, Saudi Arabia is partnering with Andreessen Horowitz on a $40 billion dollar AI investment fund, Pete Davidson & Colin Jost’s $34 million dollar Staten Island ferry renovation, Ripple is launching their own stablecoin, and Grandma Joy travels the world.

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Business

What’s with A-list actors from Ocean’s 11 movies buying chateaus in the south of France and starting their own wine companies? That’s exactly what George Clooney has done, following in the footsteps of his best friend Brad Pitt.

George and Amal Clooney actually bought the estate back in August of 2021 for a reported $8.3 million, but only visited the property on holiday. Now they’ve moved there to live full time with their family in the small town of Provence, France.

The estate, named Domaine Le Canadel, is situated on 425-acres, and has  a pool, tennis court, a boules pitch, lush gardens for his family to enjoy, and has a 25-acre vineyard that George and Amal Clooney are now releasing their first wines this Spring, including a white and a rosé produced at their Domaine du Canadel winery estate in Brignoles in the south of France. They haven’t yet settled on a name for their new wines, but it’s expected to be a new venture with its own unique branding.

This isn’t George Clooney’s first foray into the drinks business. He partnered with Nespresso in 2006 for a series of commercials and has been a brand ambassador for Nespresso. George Clooney has reportedly made $40 million dollars from the endorsement deal.

That first sip of success in the drinks business might have been what led George Clooney to co-found the American tequila company Casamigos Tequila, which he founded along with Rande Gerber who’s married to Cindy Crowford, and Mike Meldman. Together they helped craft the taste of Casamigos Tequila, participating in branding and marketing of the company, and eventually in acquired in June of 2017 by the multinational beverage company Diageo for an estimated $1 billion dollars.

And George Clooney isn’t the only celebrity to get into the wine business in Provence, France. George Clooney’s best friend Brad Pitt purchased the Château Miraval winery, along with his wife at the time Angelina Jolie, in 2012. They are now in a contentious legal battle over ownership of the estate. In 2017 Star Wars creator George Lucas purchased Château Margüi in Provence. And it turns out before any other celebrity had discovered Provence, John Malkovich was already proning his vineyard at his Les Quelles de la Coste winery.

It goes without saying that George and Amal Clooney wouldn’t have bought their estate and winery in Provence, France if it weren’t for the fact that George Clooney’s best friend Brad Pitt owns the Château Miraval winery, which is only 30 minutes away. Brad Pitt has had great success in building up Château Miraval winery and launching new award winning wines and champagnes. Now George Clooney is hoping to follow in his friend’s wine making success with his own winery in Provence, France.

Does George Clooney Make Wine? From Casamigos to Domaine du Canadel

AI

Saudi Arabia might not be known for having first mover status, but when they set their minds to it they enter a market with the intention of dominating.

They’ve now set their sights on the AI industry, and are moving forward with an aggressive $40 Billion plan to invest in A.I. technology with the goal of becoming one of the largest AI players in the world.

If you’re an oil rich kingdom with designs on being the biggest investors in an industry who would you partner with?

The answer is one of the largest and most successful Venture Capital funds in the world: Andreessen Horowitz.

It turns out Ben Horowitz and Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, are friends which I’m guessing gave Andreessen Horowitz the inside track when Saudi Arabia first decided they wanted to begin investing in the A.I. industry a la SoftBank style funding rounds.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund oversees a $925 billion investment fund, and have deployed capital across the world including purchasing a $3.5 billion dollar stake in Uber, investing $45 billion dollars in SoftBank's Vision Fund, and provided $20 billion dollars for the private-equity Blackstone’s $40 billion dollar infrastructure fund, as well as a $2 billion dollar investment to help kick-start LIV Golf to compete with the PGA.

Andreessen Horowitz is one of Silicon Valley’s largest venture capital firms with $35 billion dollars in assets under management as of March 2022. In January of 2022 Andreessen Horowitz closed on their largest VC fund to date worth $9 billion dollars, which will allocate that to a $1.5 billion dollar Biotech fund, a $5 billion dollar Growth fund, and $2.5 billion dollar Venture fund, coupled with the $2.2 billion dollar Crypto Fund and $400 million dollar Seed Fund that they raised in 2021.

Saudi Arabia in talks with Andreessen Horowitz to create a $40 billion AI fund

Entertainment

Stop me if you already heard the joke that Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson and Colin Jost bought the former Staten Island ferry, and are turning it into a $34M entertainment complex and traveling hotel.

That’s right, and it’s not a joke.

Colin Jost and Pete Davidson bought the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry for $280,000 back in January of 2022. They announced their purchase during a skit on SNL’s Weekend Update segment.

In interviews Pete Davidson said/joked that he and Colin Jost were “very stoned” when they bought the Staten Island ferry. Colin Jost later said “Is it worse that I was actually stone-cold sober when we bought the ferry?”

The 277-foot-long boat is currently moored on a Staten Island dock awaiting a $34 million dollar renovation that will turn it into a 65,000 square foot entertainment space with two restaurants, a furnished patio top deck, a 24 room hotel, two clubs, and even possibly a pool (although the celebrity founders are at odds over the size of the pool or hot tube.)

The converted ferry isn’t expected to set sail anytime soon, with renovations expected to take a few years. When they’re done it’ll never sail again under its own power. Instead it will be moved via tug boat from location to location as it travels up and down the East coast as a floating entertainment complex and hotel.

Keeping with the comedy day jobs, the pair jokingly named the company they created to buy the former Staten Island ferry the Titanic II, which then led to all sorts of problems when they tried to get insurance. You can see why insurance companies might be a little hesitant.

Pete Davidson and Colin Jost's Ferry Will Become $34M Traveling Hotel

Crypto

So Ripple, a big player in the crypto game, just dropped some hot news that I think most of the crypto industry is sleeping on. They're planning to launch their own stablecoin to compete with the likes of USDT (created by Tether), USDC (created by Centre, which is a joint venture between Circle and Coinbase), and BUSD (created by Binance).

First, a little primer on stablecoins. Coinbase defines a stablecoin as “a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another asset, such as a fiat currency or gold, to maintain a stable price.” In most cases stablecoins are pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Why is this news from Ripple a big deal? Well, stablecoins are like the rockstars of the crypto world. They keep their value steady by being backed by something tangible, in this case, good ol' U.S. greenbacks. Ripple's move shows they're not just about XRP anymore. They're aiming to offer users a reliable way to move money around the digital realm.

Ripple's stablecoin could beef up its street cred in the crypto scene, but it also brings up some serious uncertainties. Think regulatory red tape and competition with the big dogs like Tether and Binance.

Ripple's stablecoin dreams could be following in Tether's footsteps. Experts are suggesting that Ripple's entry into the stablecoin arena could stir the pot in the wider crypto world. By linking Ripple's ambitions to Tether's success, it could foreshadow a glimpse into what effect this will have on liquidity, competition, and the overall vibe of the crypto market.

Like I always say about the crypto world: at least it isn’t boring.

Ripple to launch U.S. dollar stablecoin, taking on a $150 billion market dominated by Tether, Circle

Feel Good

I’m just going to drop this story here for you to enjoy as you begin your weekend on a good wholesome note.

Grandma Joy isn’t slowing down. Now aged 94, she’s taken on a huge new travel challenge