📉 Tesla’s Market Cap Drops Out Of The Trillion Dollar Club

In today’s newsletter we discuss Tesla’s market cap drops to less than $1 trillion dollars, the SEC says meme coins aren’t securities, we mourn the loss of Gene Hackman and Michelle Trachtenberg, and Twitter's former co-founder Evan Williams’ Obvious Ventures is raising a $400 million dollar VC fund, the Green Bay Packers are trying to get rid of the Philadelphia Eagles’ famous "tush push" but head coach Nick Sirianni isn’t having any of it, and Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco buy a $35M Beverly Hills mansion.

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WHAT WE’RE READING

📉 Tesla’s Market Cap Drops Out Of The Trillion Dollar Club

Tesla is no longer in the $1 trillion dollar market club. The stock has been hit hard in the last few weeks, knocking its valuation down to $923.62 billion dollars. Declining sales across the board, and Elon Musk’s rise to political fame as the head of Donald Trump’s DOGE has also tarnished Tesla’s stock.

That’s the problem when a CEO takes their eye off the ball, in terms of Tesla’s sales and lack of a refreshed product line up, while aspiring for the limelight of politics or whatever you want to call his involvement with Donald Trump and DOGE

Elon Musk is pinning Tesla’s hopes on autonomous taxis, and the Optimus Bot. I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk as an entrepreneur (not as a politician), and I’ve held TSLA stock long-term and have been very happy with its appreciation.

Now Elon Musk must make a decision: is he going to lead and run Tesla to return it to its high growth trajectory, or is he going to play in the world of politics and post memes all day?

🏦 Business

The newly sane SEC has spoken from on high, and they have stated the most meme coins are not securities, and saying in a statement “Persons who participate in the offer and sale of meme coins do not need to register their transactions with the Commission. ... Accordingly, neither meme coin purchasers nor holders are protected by the federal securities laws.”

This is great news for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and a certain President of the United States who just before taking office for the second time issued his own meme coin. So I guess if it’s good for the President of the United States it’s good for all of us. Welcome to the meme coin era!

🎬 Entertainment

The world lost an amazing actor from what may have been carbon dioxide poisoning. Gene Hackman, along with his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog, passed away on Wednesday, February 26 while they slept in their New Mexico home. An official cause of death has not been disclosed, but foul play is not suspected.

I grew up watching Gene Hackman movies, and some of my favorites are “Enemy Of The State”, “Heist”, “Behind Enemy Lines”, and “Crimson Tide”.

The loss of Gene Hackman comes on the heels of losing Michelle Trachtenberg, who was found dead in her Manhattan apartment. She had recently had a liver transplant, but the family has asked for privacy and isn’t releasing any information about her death, although foul play is not suspected. I was a fan of her on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl”.

Gone too soon! Both actors will be dearly missed.

💰 VC

Obvious Ventures, co-founded by Twitter's former co-founder Evan Williams, is raising a $400 million venture fund. This "world positive" VC firm focuses on backing startups that address significant societal and environmental challenges.

Their investment strategy centers on three key areas:

✅ planetary health
✅ human health
✅ economic health

Obvious Ventures has a history of early investments in notable companies like Beyond Meat, Gusto, and Magic Leap to name a few, demonstrating their commitment to impactful businesses. This new fund aims to further their mission of supporting entrepreneurs who prioritize both profit and purpose, reflecting the growing trend of values-driven investing.

Evan Williams is a prominent figure in the tech world, best known as a co-founder of Twitter, alongside Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey. He also founded Blogger, a pioneering blogging platform, and later, Medium, an online publishing platform. He served as Twitter's CEO from 2008 to 2010. Since his time at Twitter, Evan Williams has remained active in the tech and venture capital space. Beyond Obvious Ventures, he has continued to explore new projects, including recently the launch of the social app Mozi. His career is marked by a consistent focus on creating platforms for communication and information sharing.

🏡 Real Estate

Word on the street is that Selena Gomez and her fiancé Benny Blanco have purchased a $35 million dollar Beverly Hills Spanish-style mansion in December 2024. The estate boasts 7 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, as well as a library, a spiral staircase, a greenhouse, a fitness center, and a pool.

Their purchase was one of Beverly Hills' most expensive real estate transactions of all of 2024. This news comes amidst other news of the couple, including news of their engagement, upcoming musical projects, and Benny Blanco filling an entire bathtub full of nacho cheese to surprise Selena Gomez for Valentine’s Day.

🏡 Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni has expressed his disagreement with the Green Bay Packers' desire to try and ban the "tush push". Nick Sirianni argues that the play, which involves the quarterback being pushing by his teammates across the line, as a legitimate tactic within the rules of the game.

Nick Sirianni believes that if the play were truly unsafe or unfair, the NFL would have already taken action to prohibit it. He highlights that the Eagles have executed the play successfully, and he defends its legality as a part of their offensive strategy.

Maybe the Green Bay Packers should focus on fixing their offensive line, instead of trying to ban a play that other teams have used successfully to beat them.

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