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☆ Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave $438 million to charities through their foundations last year. Here's where the tech gurus' huge donations went.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Rob Price | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In 2021, Google's cofounders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, collectively gave away nearly half a billion dollars from their philanthropic foundations. 2 moguls, 2 different approaches to charitiesBrin's personal foundation, the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, disbursed roughly $250 million in both 2020 and 2021. The Sergey Brin Family Foundation lists three key officers. Brin's and Page's philanthropic donations, while extensive, represent a fraction of their net worths. Brin donates directly to the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, while Page's contributions to the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation are routed through a limited-liability company named Florida LLC.

Carl Icahn had a textbook strategy for the Nevada-based energy utility Southwest Gas Holdings. In August, Southwest Gas' board decided against a divestiture, and the sale of subsidiaries that Icahn had urged remains uncertain. That means that the sale of companies like Southwest Gas is off the table for the time being — or will get done at prices far lower than before. via CNBCBut, like Icahn in the case of Southwest Gas, participants in this new onslaught may find themselves confounded by an increasingly complex and fraught business environment. According to Lazard, 37% of activist campaigns this year were launched by first-timers, the highest proportion since the company started tracking these figures in 2015.

☆ Ukraine’s Nestlé boost is as important as EU aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Consumer group Nestlé (NESN.S) on Monday announced a small war-time investment in Ukraine which may be as important for the country’s future as an 18 billion euro European Union aid package agreed on the same day. Nestlé will invest 40 million Swiss francs (41 million euros) in a new facility that will help to produce cold sauces, seasonings, soups and instant food. The Swiss consumer group, which already has 5,800 employees in the country, will add 1,500 new jobs in the process. Meanwhile the EU struck a deal with holdout Hungary that will allow it to disburse aid to Ukraine next year. While still at war with Russia, Ukraine needs Western aid to help the government pay its teachers, doctors and soldiers, and start rebuilding railroads and power plants.

☆ An LGBTQ-owned auto shop started an online fundraiser to cover $25,000 in funeral costs for Club Q shooting victims. In 2 days, donors raised nearly $700,000.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Leo Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Donors raised $25,000 in just two hours. At the time of this writing, donors raised nearly $700,000. Haug created a GoFundMe campaign, and donors raised $25,000 in two hoursHaug created a GoFundMe page for the victims of the ClubQ shooting. The campaign raised nearly $700,000 in two daysAt the time of this writing, the campaign raised $686,596 with over 17,600 donors. The funds raised are a testament to the power of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies on social media.

☆ Swiss-based trust fund for frozen Afghan assets meets in Geneva
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The board of a Swiss-based trust fund managing some $3.5 billion in frozen assets seized after the Taliban took power last year is meeting in Geneva for the first time on Monday, a Swiss government spokesperson confirmed. The frozen central bank reserves were recently transferred from Washington into the 'Fund for the Afghan People' where U.S. officials say it will be shielded from the Taliban. The fund's statutes says its purpose is to "receive, protect, preserve and disburse assets for the benefit of the Afghan people". The $3.5 billion forms part of an original $7 billion being held in the United States following the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller, Anwar Ahady, a former Afghan central bank chief and former finance minister, and Shah Mehrabi, a U.S. academic who remains on the DAB Supreme Council.

☆ FTX: Customers who trusted crypto giant may be left with nothing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But a liquidity crunch last week forced FTX to halt withdrawals, leaving customers and investors in limbo. In theory, FTX’s customers should get a cut of what’s left of the company’s assets at the end of the bankruptcy process. And FTT coins, the crypto token issued by FTX, have lost more than 90% of their value over the past week.) But I think this is actually good for the industry long-term.”The giant crypto exchange briefly emerged as a lifeline for FTX before reversing course last week. Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the law firm Loeb & Loeb.

☆ This California startup says it can predict where wildfires might start—it's using that power in a surprising way
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Nobody can predict the future, but a San Francisco-based startup called Kettle seems able to predict where wildfires could start in California. That means Kettle provides insurance for insurance companies. But Kettle's focus on reinsurance, rather than selling its software directly to insurance companies, is unique, Manning says. Most reinsurers predict wildfire risk through a decades-old technique that relies on historical data, Manning adds. In other words, reinsurance companies do benefit large insurers — but they also make sure you're able to get the money you're owed if disaster strikes.

☆ ‘Dying Inside’: Chaos and Cruelty in Louisiana Juvenile Detention
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Megan Shutzer | Rachel Lauren Mueller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +47 min

But inside the walls at Ware, one of the state’s largest juvenile detention facilities, children have been trying to kill themselves with stunning regularity. In Louisiana, where brutal conditions prompted juvenile justice reform two decades ago, the system is again in crisis. Most Ware guards are Black, as well, though nearly all of its leaders are white, as are the local judge, sheriff and district attorney. “Of course, they still do.” In reports to the state, Ware’s nurses described carpet burns on children’s faces and head-to-toe bruises from restraints. In fact, of the four guards convicted of sexually assaulting children at Ware, Mr. Peace would be the only one imprisoned.

☆ U.S. awards $1 billion to electrify school bus fleets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled nearly $1 billion in awards to U.S. school districts to replace aging, gas-fueled school buses with cleaner, mainly electric models. The funding is the first tranche of $5 billion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hand out over five years through a clean school bus program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. The EPA's clean school bus program is part of a broader push by the administration to upgrade public school infrastructure and reduce pollution from old buses. Transitioning to an electric school bus fleet nationwide would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3 million tons per year, according to a study by the non-profit Public Interest Research Group. Last month, EPA said it would nearly double its planned $500 million in clean bus awards for this year due to overwhelming demand from school districts.

☆ Yellen cites 'significant' Ukraine financing needs in meeting with PM -Treasury
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held a virtual meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Tuesday and "acknowledged Ukraine’s significant financing needs next year," the Treasury said in a statement. The meeting came as Ukrainian officials and International Monetary Fund staff began talks in Vienna on the country's longer-term macroeconomic plans and fiscal needs. The board earlier this month approved Kyiv's request for $1.3 billion in emergency financing through a new facility to address urgent food shocks caused by Russia's war in Ukraine. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe U.S. Treasury said Yellen reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to support Ukraine and said that the Treasury was working swiftly to disburse $4.5 billion in recently approved budget support. "Secretary Yellen acknowledged Ukraine’s significant financing needs next year for critical government services and urgent recovery projects," the Treasury said, adding that Yellen also emphasized the need for "inclusive coordination across international partners to help Ukraine begin to rebuild and recover."

☆ Jeff Bezos responds to criticism over investing in space travel instead of solving problems on Earth: 'We go to space not to abandon our home, but to protect it'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In a speech at the Vatican, Jeff Bezos addressed people who ask why he invests "so much into space." The former Amazon CEO said investing in going to space will benefit the Earth and "protect it." The goal for Blue Origin, Bezos has previously said, is to make traveling to space cheaper, more frequent, and more accessible. In 2018, Bezos said Blue Origin was "the most important work I'm doing," in an interview with Axel Springer's CEO Mathias Döpfner. Bezos founded the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020, which will disburse $10 billion, committed by Bezos, in the current decade to fight climate change and protect nature.

☆ Ukraine needs $3-$4 bln in external financing per month next year -IMF chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Georgieva said Ukraine's international partners have committed $35 billion in grant and loan financing for Ukraine in 2022, enough to close its financing gap for this year, but its financing needs would remain "very large" in 2023. "Our current thinking is that the financing requirements will be around $3-$4 billion per month in 2023," she said. "We all have to be alive to the possibility that social and infrastructure requirements could push financing needs beyond this range, depending on the evolution of the war." She said the IMF would start talks with Ukraine soon about the PMB and an agreed comprehensive macroeconomic framework that would clarify external financing needs, which "should pave the way for a full-fledged IMF program once conditions allow." The fund has also mobilized $2.2 billion for Ukraine through an administrative account, she said.

☆ Yellen calls for allies to quickly disburse committed funds to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

We will continue to support you as you rebuild the prosperous and free Ukraine that your country has fought so hard to secure," Yellen told Marchenko and his delegation before a meeting. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWashington intended to disburse $4.5 billion in direct budget support to Ukraine in coming weeks, she said. Congress approved that funding two weeks ago, bringing total U.S. direct budget support for Ukraine to $13.5 billion - all in grants. "But let me be clear: international support for Ukraine is a collective effort. We are calling on our partners and allies to join us by swiftly disbursing their existing commitments to Ukraine and by stepping up in doing more — both to help Ukraine continue its essential government services and to help Ukraine begin to build and recover," she said.

☆ Demonstrators in Ecuador protest woman's killing, demand payment to pension system
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ecuadorians gathered outside police headquarters in Quito to protest the death of lawyer Maria Belen Bernal. Her husband, German Caceres, who the attorney general's office says is the main suspect in the killing, is on the run. Demonstrations against the killing followed earlier protests led by union leaders, who argued that the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute's (IESS) financial situation has muddled health services for users and put the retirement pension system at risk. "Social security isn't bankrupt, it's poorly managed," Mesias Tatamuez, one of the union leaders, told reporters. Ecuador's government reached an agreement last week to disburse $300 million through December to apply to what is owed.

☆ Kremlin set to receive $10 billion from state-run gas company Gazprom after it saw record profits this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-01 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian state-run giant Gazprom is set to give $10 billion in dividends to the Kremlin. The Kremlin owns half of Gazprom, which saw a record net profit for the first half of 2022. Sign up for our newsletter to receive our top stories based on your reading preferences — delivered daily to your inbox. Gazprom on Tuesday reported net earnings of $41.75 billion, or 2.5 trillion rubles, from the start of 2022, up from 968 billion rubles in the first half of 2021, Insider's Brian Evans reported. Russian natural gas accounted for around 40% of Europe's gas power needs before the war in Ukraine.

So Select rounded up some personal loan lenders that offer expedient funding so you can cover large expenses in a pinch. This lender provides personal loans for just about every purpose except for higher education and small businesses. Funds are also generally disbursed quickly — 92.6% of personal loan applicants receive same-day funding if they sign their agreement before 7 p.m. Personal loan interest rates range from 4.99% to 17.99%. *Your LightStream loan terms, including APR, may differ based on loan purpose, amount, term length, and your credit profile.

Miami financial advisors Gerald Grant Jr. and Gerald Grant III say anyone who wants to pass assets to their family needs an estate plan, but too many people don't get around to creating one. AdvertisementWhether you plan to leave your heirs $10,000 or $10 million, you need an estate plan. That might seem like an obvious statement, but it's a common blind spot among clients of Gerald Grant III and Gerald Grant Jr., father-son financial advisors at Equitable Advisors in Miami. An estate plan is a way to formalize your intentions for the assets you leave behind when you die. For example, they'll ask someone to update their beneficiaries or finish filling out a document for their estate plan within 30 days.

Persons: Gerald Grant Jr, Gerald Grant III, —, Grant Jr, Grant III, it's, I've Organizations: Finance, Service, Equitable Advisors Locations: Miami

Our experts answer readers' personal loan questions and write unbiased product reviews (here's how we assess personal loans). "Putting this level of expense on your credit card could have a negative impact on your credit score." Though the APR on your personal loan depends heavily on your credit score but can easily be under 10%, whereas the average credit card APR is 17.72%. "Generally speaking, installment loans (personal loans, mortgages, car, or student loans, etc.) Having this schedule may be beneficial for people who otherwise have trouble paying down credit card debt."

Persons: —, There's, Michael Cetera, Lauren Anastasio, Anastasio Organizations: Service

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