In today’s newsletter we discuss how Magic Johnson is now a billionaire, should Elon Musk should win the prize for The Greatest Destroyer of Capital for 2023, Toyota moves full speed ahead with EV investments while GM and Ford stall, Saudi Arabia to host 2034 World Cup by default, and Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck finally buy a $60 million mansion in Beverly Hills.

Business

It turns out running a rocket company versus a social media company IS rocket science. In news that absolutely no one should be surprised about, X (formerly known as Twitter) is not valued at less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it a year ago; $19 billion today versus #44 billion when he purchased it.

If you’re curious why that is, all you have to do is log onto the app and see all the misinformation and hate speech that now permeates the platform. I guess that’s what happens when you fire the majority of your Trust & Safety team to save money. Which is actually a pretty bad idea, seeing as how after you fired the Trust & Safety team your advertisers left the platform in droves because it was no longer a safe space to advertise. Really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

X is officially worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it

Tech

Just when GM and Ford are “pausing” their investments in EVs, here comes Toyota investing another $8B into their North Carolina EV battery factory. So what gives? Does Toyota know something GM and Ford don’t (that’s a rhetorical question, because the answer is “OBVIOUSLY!).

Originally Toyota planned to only invest $1.29 billion in their North American factory, but then later revised their plans upwards big time to a total of $9.29 billion. That plant is now valued at 13.9 billion. We could do the math for you to show how much the investment in their battery factory has increased, but we’re really bad at math. The end result it isn’t worth more now than they invested, and it’s only going to go up in value at Toyota ramps up its EV program with plans to “introduce 30 battery electric models globally by the end of the decade.”

Toyota to invest another $8B into North Carolina EV battery factory

Space

It should go without saying that no one should be surprised that Russia is only capable of building roughly 40 satellites a year. I mean, they are waging a war against their smaller neighbor to the west Ukraine, and the majority of the world has put in place trade embargoes and financial penalties for their hostilities. Most of their industries have been crippled, and they can’t buy the parts needed to even support their domestic production farless be able to export anything these days. It turns out satellites are really hard to make, take a lot of time and money, and those are things that Russia is short on these days. So the fact that Putin is wondering why they can’t make more compared to 1st world countries, makes me wonder if his advisers are giving him the whole picture of how utterly and completely he has decimated Russia’s economy.

Putin wants to know why Russia can only build 40 satellites a year

Entertainment

This is as much an entertainment story as it is a sports story, so bear with me for a minute. We’ve filmed a great YouTube video (soon to be released later this month) about Sportswashing, and how Saudi Arabia is buying their way to legitimacy in the world while trying to wean their economy off of oil & gas revenues.

Now news comes that they are pretty much assured of becoming the host of the 2034 World Cup. So how did this happen? Well, it turns out when you’re only competing against one other country and they drop out, you pretty much win by default.

Did money play a part in Australia’s decision? Maybe. I’m guessing it was a combination of money, influence, and a political campaign by Saudi Arabia who has already convinced 100 of the 211 FIFA delegates to back their bid. Does that raise the question of bribery? I would never go as far as to suggest that someone would ever bribe a FIFA employee (checking the record). On second thought, yea its probably fair to question if some officials have been bribed or coerced into throwing their support behind Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia clear to host 2034 World Cup after Australia drops out

Real Estate

Erase this off your dry erase board of things to worry about - Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have finally found a house that fits all of their/her criteria after a 2-year search. I’ve been lying awake in bed at night stressing about this, so it’s great news to hear they have finally bought a $60 Million Mansion in Beverly Hills. Because if there’s one place Jenny From The Block, and a kid from Southy will fit in it’s Beverly Hills.

J.Lo has an estimated net worth of $400 million, and Ben Affleck is rumored to be worth $150 million. So buying a $60 Million mansion in Beverly Hills when they have a combined net worth of roughly $550 million isn’t much of a stretch. Oh to live like the 1%.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Buy $60 Million Mansion in Beverly Hills After 2-Year Home Search

Sports

Speaking of one percenters, there’s news out that Magic Johnson is now a billionaire. From playing basketball you might be wondering. No silly, it's next to impossible in this day and age to make that much in any sport (other than Soccer if Saudi Arabia can convince you to come play for them like the offer they make Lionel Messi who then rejected them).

It turns out Magic made his fortune from his majority ownership stake in the EquiTrust insurance company. He also owns equity in a number of sports teams “including the NFL team Washington Commanders, WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks and MLB team Los Angeles Dodgers. Johnson had owned a stake in his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, from 1994 to 2010.”

I guess someone has the “Magic” touch when it comes to investing (come on, it was right there for the taking!).

Magic Johnson is a billionaire, Forbes says

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

— Chris