In today’s issue we discuss Steve Ballmer makes $1 Billion a year for doing nothing, SpaceX launched in insane 96 rockets in 2023, Jon Rahm sells out the PGA to sign with Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf, Biance Founder & CEO Changpeng Zhao’s net worth went up $25 Billion in 2023, and an English country home comes with a decommissioned Harrier II jet lawn ornament.

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Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Reigns Supreme

Business

Imagine making $1 Billion dollars a year for not doing a damn thing!

That’s the reality for one fortunate man named Steve Ballmer. You may have heard of him before. He was employee number 30 at Microsoft back in 1980. Over time he rose through the ranks at Microsoft to eventually become CEO and lead the company from 2000 to 2014.

Over that time he was awarded stock options, as many in the tech industry customarily receive as a form of financial compensation. As of 2014 he owned 333.2 million shares of Microsoft, which actually represents 4% of the company’s stock, making him the largest individual shareholder - owning even more than Bill Gates or the late Paul Allen who both co-founded Microsoft. Random fact: Steve Ballmer actually hasn’t sold any of his Microsoft stock since he left Microsoft in 2014 when he retired as CEO of the company.

Each year Microsoft pays out a dividend quarterly. In 2023 Microsoft had a Dividend Yield of 

0.80% or $0.75 cents per share, which comes out to an Annual Dividend of $3.00, which is the total amount of dividends paid out to shareholders in a year for each share of Microsoft they own.

If Steve Ballmer owns 333.2 million shares of Microsoft, and the company pays $3.00 a year in Annual Dividends per share owned, then that means that he means he’ll make $999,600,000 in dividends a year (which for rounding purposes we’ll just call $1 Billion dollars since that sounds better in an e-Newsletter).

The stock symbol for Microsoft is MSFT (which I still have memorized from my days of daytrading back in college, but I digress). Right now Microsoft’s stock is trading at $370.87 at the time of writing this article. That means that Steve Ballmer’s 333.2 million shares of Microsoft are worth $123,573,884,000 or $123.6 Billion dollars with a capital B!

You know who else is probably excited about Steve Ballmer’s big payday? If you guessed the IRS you’d be right. You better believe Uncle Sam will be waiting with his grubby hand out waiting for his own payday. Assuming that Steve Ballmer pays the typical 20% tax rate on capital gains, then he’ll owe the IRS $200 million dollars in taxes on the dividends he gets paid by Microsoft. That leaves Steve Ballmer a little bit poorer, but no one is shedding a tear for the guy who just made $800 Million dollars with a capital M after taxes for doing nothing except owning a ton of Microsoft shares!

Steve Ballmer is set to make $1 billion a year for doing nothing

Tech

I think we can all agree that 2023 was an amazing year for space flight, but one company stands high above them all.

What can you say about SpaceX that hasn’t already been said? (hopefully a lot, otherwise this would be a pretty boring post).

The enigmatic leader Elon Musk has no shortage of grandiose visions for the company and the technology they create, from pioneering the landing and reusability of vertically launched rockets, to the yet unproven concept of catching a rocket on the launch stand when it returns.

Now SpaceX has broken their old record of launching 61 orbital launches that they set in 2022, with an amazing 96 successful launches of their Falcon series rockets in 2023!

If those facts were insane enough consider this:

SpaceX has now landed its 250th orbital rocket booster. To put that in perspective no other company has ever successfully landed a rocket booster, so take that NASA!

And because SpaceX loves gloat they recently announced that they just successfully launched and landed a single rocket 19 times!

According to Jon Edwards, SpaceX’s Vice President of Falcon Launch Vehicles (that’s an awesome title) Elon Musk suggested “a goal of 100 launches as a thought experiment.” a few years ago, and that’s what the company has been working toward ever since.

Even though they came up a little short on achieving that goal in 2023, SpaceX is now aiming to launch as many as 144 Falcon missions in 2024.

SpaceX is now rocking a company valuation of $180 Billion dollars with a capital B as of their most recent fund raising round.

SpaceX sets new rocket record with 96 successful launches in 2023

Sports

In the world of golf, is free market capitalism colliding with the spirit of sportsmanship and nationalism?

There’s news that Masters champion Jon Rahm has decided to leave the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf for an insane contract worth $300 Million with a capital M.

Besides the eye poppingly huge number of $300 Million why is this news a big deal you might be asking? Well, hypocrisy for one thing.

It seems Jon Rahm has had a change of heart about money recently. He’s previously been quoted as saying that LIV Golf is "not a golf tournament", and pledged his "fealty" to the PGA Tour. I guess when you start throwing out numbers like $300 million loyalty goes out the door.
Now he’s changed his tune and is quoted as saying “As a husband, as a father and as a family man I have a duty to my family to give them the best opportunities and the most amount of resources possible”.

For a 29 year old who’s already earned $48 million during his golf career he probably doesn’t need the money. I mean, who ever really “needs” $300 million? Am I right? That's like a crazy thing little kids on the playground say they want to be worth when they grow up. 

But with a $300 million dollar offer from LIV Golf Jon Rahm happily accepted, or was bribed depending on your opinion, a contract from LIV Golf like so many other formerly loyal PGA Tour stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Lee Westwood to name a few.

Since 2021 the Saudi Arabia’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund, known as the Public Investment Fund (or PIF for short), has spent over $6.3 billion acquiring high-profile sports assets across the world.

According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch this is Saudi Arabia’s attempt at “sportswashing” in order to attempt to cover up the country’s abysmal human rights record.

We’re now on the verge of the PGA Tour merging with LIV Golf to create a new golf league in 2024 if the proposed merger goes ahead. Then one of America’s favorite pastimes will be owned by a foreign country whose vision for the sport may not be in alignment with the rest of the world’s golf fans. Let that sink in.

I have a duty to my family': This golf superstar accepted $300M to play for the Saudi-backed LIV tour after saying he

Crypto

So does crime pay? It depends who you ask I guess.

The Founder & CEO of Biance, Changpeng Zhao otherwise known online as CZ, plead guilty to money laundering violations in the United States, and agreed to pay a $50 million dollar fine while his company Biance agreed to pay a $4.3 Billion with a capital B fine for not having proper compliance controls.

Changpeng Zhao is scheduled to be sentenced for his crimes on February 23, and faces up to a decade in prison, but since this is a White Collar crime and he’s due to his plea deal he’s expected to get no more than 18 months in jail.

Despite all of this CZ has still managed to make mad loot in 2023!

CZ’s wealth skyrocketed this last year by an estimated $25 billion in 2023 He’s not estimated to have a net worth of $37 billion

Why you might ask?

One word: Bitcoin

The price of Bitcoin rebounded in 2023 by more than 160% following the Crypto Winter we went through in 2022. CZ is just one of a handful of crypto billionaires who saw their fortunes rise in 2023 thanks in large part of the increase in price of Bitcoin, including Brian Armstrong who’s the CEO of Coinbase, and the twin Winklevoss twins Cameron and Tyler of the Facebook drama that was portrayed in the popular 2010 movie The Social Network.

Now we’re on the verge of the very 1st Bitcoin ETF being approved in the United States by the SEC, there are some estimates that the price of 1 Bitcoin, referred to as BTC, could skyrocket to between $100,000 - $500,000 in 2024.

I imagine that kind of an increase in his net worth will make CZ’s stay in prison a little easier to handle.

Ousted Binance Founder CZ’s Fortune Grew by $25 Billion in 2023

Real Estate

I’ve heard of lawn ornaments, but one homeowner in the UK has taken his landscaping game to a whole new level!

A house in the southeast of England has hit the market for $5 million U.S., and comes with an unusual decoration - a decommissioned Harrier II jet.

The jet isn’t included in the purchase price of the home, but it is negotiable.

One thing is for sure, if you bought this English country home you’d be the only one with a jet in your front yard!

The War Plane in the Garden Is the Highlight of a Newly Listed English Manor

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

— Chris