Forbes

2022-04-28 17:05:01 Trump’s Net Worth Has Jumped An Estimated $600 Million Since He Left Office

Donald Trump, master of reinvention, has a new title: tech entrepreneur. It’s a stretch for the 75-year-old, who doesn’t even use email, preferring instead to scrawl jagged notes in marker. But he doesn’t mind jumping into ventures in which he has little previous experience.

In fact, it has already boosted his net worth by $430 million, according to our math, helping lift his fortune from $2.4 billion a year ago to $3 billion today.

Banned from Twitter, the former president announced in October that he was creating his own social media platform, Truth Social, through the Trump Media and Technology Group, which uses his rapidly appreciating Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago, as its address. The app became available in February. Trump now has 835,000 followers. Open / Comment

2022-04-28 14:05:01 Private Astronauts Splash Down After Space Station Visit

The first all-private astronaut crew to visit the International Space Station (ISS) splashed down at 1:06 p.m. ET Monday, concluding a 17-day excursion marking NASA’s first collaboration with private companies on a space tourism mission, a milestone in the commercialization of space travel.

The four-person crew splashed down without incident in the Atlantic near Jacksonville, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The mission, designated AX-1, was commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegría, 63, and included passengers Larry Connor, 63, an Ohio real estate CEO, Mark Pathy, 52, CEO of Canada-based investment firm Mavrik Corp, and Eytan Stibbe, 64, an Israeli businessman.

NASA is working to arrange a second Axiom-led private visit to the ISS, and for commercial accommodations to be attached to the station. Open / Comment

2022-04-27 21:05:01 Twitter Accepts Elon Musk’s $44 Billion Deal

After rebuffing Elon Musk’s initial overtures, Twitter’s board on Monday said it will take Musk’s $44 billion offer for the company.

Musk first proposed the $54.20-a-share transaction on April 14, igniting a frenzied few weeks as Twitter leaders and Wall Street rushed to figure out whether Musk was serious or not. As it turns out, he very much is.

Twitter at first moved to ward off Musk, adopting a poison pill defense meant to make any takeover attempt costly. But Twitter has reportedly been under increased pressure by large shareholders to more fully consider Musk’s bid.

Twitter shares rose 5.5% to $51.63 on Monday as investors digested the board’s decision. There remains a gap between the share price and Musk’s offer, a signal investors still believe there’s a possibility something fouls up the deal, which the company expects to close later this year. Open / Comment

2022-04-27 17:05:01 Walgreens & Alphabet Launch Inaugural Drone Deliveries In DFW

Walgreens announced earlier this month that it will be working with Alphabet’s subsidiary, Wing, to launch drone delivery services in the first major U.S. city.

The service, which is initially launching in the Dallas Ft. Worth (DFW) metroplex, is meant to be a pilot, as the company eventually hopes to expand drone delivery to other cities.

The entire process has been systematically designed: Customers in the DFW area will be able to order via Wing’s mobile app. Walgreens team members will then be notified of incoming orders on Wing-provided tablets and will locate the items on the shelves and package them.

After attending training validated by the FAA, they have been cleared to attach these packages to the drones, which are waiting on charging pads in the parking lot. Once attached, Wing associates oversee delivery to doorsteps, backyards or whatever preferred location customers choose at their home. Open / Comment

2022-04-27 14:05:01 How MacKenzie Scott Has Given Away Billions – And Is Still One Of The World’s Richest Women

MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is giving away her fortune faster than any billionaire in modern times. But, despite her prodigious donations, she’s still the fourth richest woman in the world.

Not that her billions in rapid-fire donations aren’t taking a toll. Scott is worth an estimated $43.6 billion – down $9.4 billion, or 18%, from last year.

Scott became a billionaire in 2019 after Bezos transferred a quarter of his Amazon holdings – 19.7 million shares – to her as part of their divorce settlement.

Scott, who has promised to give away the majority of her wealth, has redirected 4.75 million Amazon shares – nearly a quarter of what she was awarded in the divorce – toward charitable causes.

She’s given to smaller grassroots organizations and larger, more established nonprofit networks tackling issues related to gender equality, racial justice, reproductive rights, the arts and more. Open / Comment

2022-04-27 13:00:24 The first NFTs integrated into Telegram!

Right now, the Animals Red List project is getting ready to launch on the TON blockchain

These are NFTs featuring 13,333 endangered animal species. A portion of the funds from the donations will go to support the populations.

Gorgeous. Noble. Expensive.

— In case you haven't realized, in a couple of days, these pictures are gonna skyrocket in value.

Take part in the project and support the animals — Animals Red List Open / Comment

2022-04-26 21:05:01 Elite Chinese American Group

The Committee of 100, a grouping of elite Chinese Americans ranging from billionaire entrepreneurs to research scientists, has added eight new members.

American citizens of Chinese heritage are invited to join and advance the Committee of 100’s dual missions of promoting the participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life and constructive relations between the United States and Greater China.

Current Committee of 100 members that appeared on the 2022 Forbes Billionaires List include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s former chairman and CEO Morris Chang, Far Eastern Group Chairman Douglas Hsu, Golden Eagle International Group Chairman Roger Wang, Fortinet CEO Ken Xie, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, and Eric Yuan, the founder and CEO of Zoom.

The Committee of 100 has currently more than 130 members. Open / Comment

2022-04-26 17:05:01 Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Sold $160 Million In Tesla Stock But Splurged On Streaming Giant Roku Amid Netflix Crash

According to Ark’s daily transaction reports, three of the firm's funds, including its flagship Ark Innovation ETF, sold nearly $94 million worth of Tesla.

The transactions follow a 4% run-up in Tesla prices over the past two days thanks to a record $3.3 billion profit.

The high-profile trader also offloaded a massive stake in Spotify, dumping about $74 million in shares as the stock plummeted 18% amid a broader rout for streaming stocks.

Despite selling Spotify, Ark took advantage of another streaming stock's plunge — buying $61 million worth of Roku as shares tumbled 15%; it also bought shares of Shopify and Zoom worth about $53 million and $34 million, respectively. Open / Comment

2022-04-26 14:05:01 India’s Gautam Adani Passes Warren Buffett To Become World’s 5th Richest Person

Gautam Adani’s incredible rise continues. The Indian infrastructure mogul became the richest Asian billionaire in history (in sheer dollar terms) earlier this month – and he’s kept on climbing. Adani has now passed Warren Buffett to become the 5th richest person in the world.

Forbes estimates that the 59-year-old Adani has a net worth of $123.7 billion, as of Friday’s market close, edging out the $121.7 billion fortune of Buffett, who is 91.

Adani is the founder and chairman of Adani Group, a port and energy conglomerate with six publicly traded companies in India. Shares of each of those businesses are up by between 19% and 195% this year, as Adani has led aggressive expansion into renewable energy, media, airports and more. Open / Comment

2022-04-25 21:05:01 Apple Issued A Stunning $12 Billion Blow To Facebook

Apple’s new privacy features continue to hit Facebook as increasing numbers of iPhone users opt out from tracking on their devices. One year on from its launch, in another stunning blow to Facebook, it seems the revenue hit is going to be even bigger than previously thought. According to a new analysis, the iPhone maker’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) features will cost Facebook $12.8 billion in 2022.

As iPhone users start to care more about privacy, and Apple CEO Tim Cook continues to push the area in the firm’s marketing, increasing amounts of people are saying no to tracking on their iPhones. This is causing a drop estimated at around 15% to 20% for advertisers on iOS.

Apple’s ATT changes will by far impact Facebook the most, according to the new data issued by Lotame. Lotame predicts a $16 billion revenue impact, of which YouTube will see a hit of $2.2 billion, compared with $546 million for Snap and $323 million for Twitter. Open / Comment