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☆ Twitter users have found a loophole to get their legacy verified blue ticks back just by writing a few key words in their bios
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

People have found a way to get their Twitter blue checks back for free — though it's just a temporary fix. Legacy verified Twitter users have found a temporary fix to get their blue tick back for free — just by adding in a few words to their bio. Cheryl Teh, a news editor from Insider — who lost her blue tick when Twitter CEO Elon Musk axed the legacy blue tick program on April 1 — confirmed that writing "former blue check" in her bio restored the blue tick. But Musk replaced it with a subscription-based service, where legacy verified users could keep their checkmarks by signing up for the Twitter Blue subscription program. The posthumously installed blue tick beside these celebrities' names on Twitter erroneously claims: "This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number."

☆ Seared Sea Bass and Kobe Beef Burgers: Retirement Community Food Goes High-End
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alina Dizik | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This week, The Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section is rolling out stories from our special retirement issue. Be sure to check out stories like this one on how one couple planned for retirement in North Carolina, but somehow ended up in South Carolina. Retirement communities aren’t generally known for their fine dining. But since Elaine Davenport, 76, moved into the Hacienda at Georgetown senior-living community earlier this year, she has grown accustomed to sampling fresh seafood, wine lists and perfectly executed steaks with her girlfriends at the facility’s three residents-only restaurants.

☆ Twitter's posthumous blue checks look a lot like necro-advertising, the legally questionable marketing strategy that uses dead celebrities to boost sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter added paid checks to accounts of dead celebrities like Kobe Bryant and Anthony Bourdain. The rights to Monroe's likeness and intellectual property sold to Authentic Brands Group for an estimated $20-30 million in 2011, the outlet reported. In 2013, shortly after Authentic Brands Group acquired the rights to Monroe's image, she became a spokesperson for Chanel No. Authentic Brands Group, which also owns the rights to Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali's brands, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. The marketing group is run by Jamie Salter, the billionaire entrepreneur who co-founded Hilco Consumer Capital.

☆ Twitter descends into chaos as users lash out over Elon Musk's blue-check reversal for celebrities: 'Feel my wrath Tesla man!'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Blue checks were reinstated on several accounts but users said they hadn't paid for them. Rapper Lil Nas X, whose blue check remained, tweeted that he didn't pay for Twitter Blue. Some users who had died, including Kobe Bryant and Anthony Bourdain, had blue checks on their profiles. The ongoing confusion highlights the challenges Musk has faced in getting people to sign up for Twitter Blue. Bloomberg reported that traffic data showed only 4% of people who visited the Twitter Blue sales website in March subscribed.

☆ Twitter gave a gold checkmark to a troll account impersonating a defunct Disney TV channel for kids, which then posted a racial slur
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A fake Disney account was given a verified gold checkmark before it was suspended on Monday. Twitter appeared to give a gold checkmark to a random account pretending to be an official Disney account, before suspending it after a tweet from the account went viral. The troll also suggested they'd already had the gold checkmark for two days before gaining attention with Monday's viral tweet. After Twitter removed verified checkmarks from everybody who wasn't subscribed to Twitter Blue last week, a backlash saw some campaign to "Block The Blue." The handle used by the trolls was previously used by an official Disney account until October 2020, when the TV channel by the same name was closed down.

☆ Here's some of the best memes about Elon Musk's Twitter Blue chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Jyoti Mann | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

He started removing all legacy blue checkmarks this week — but it seems to have backfired. Here are some of the best memes to have come from the social-media chaos. Twitter started removing legacy blue checkmarks on Thursday, as Elon Musk targeted what he described as a "deeply corrupted," "lords & peasants" system. Musk is even paying for certain celebrities to stay on Twitter Blue, including Stephen King, LeBron James, and William Shatner — all of whom either criticized the new arrangement or refused to pay. Insider browsed the social-media app for some of the best memes to have come out of the chaos.

☆ Twitter is adding verified check marks to the accounts of dead celebrities, making them look like paid Twitter Blue subscribers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter added verified checks to accounts of dead celebrities to promote Twitter Blue subscriptions. Their accounts said they'd bought a Twitter Blue subscription and verified their phone numbers. Chadwick Boseman's Twitter account, with Twitter Blue subscription badge added posthumously. Anthony Bourdain's Twitter account, with Twitter Blue subscription badge added posthumously. InsiderHowever, the posthumous Twitter Blue badges may run afoul of laws protecting consumers from false endorsements.

☆ The lucky breaks that built Nike
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Fittingly as "Air" hits theaters, Nike will release an Air Jordan in "lucky green." "Luck plays a big role," Nike cofounder Phil Knight wrote in the closing of his 2016 memoir, "Shoe Dog." Athletes get lucky, poets get lucky, businesses get lucky." Knight wrote. Next Wednesday, Nike will release the "Black and Lucky Green" Air Jordan 1.

☆ Meet Sonny Vaccaro, the executive credited with signing Michael Jordan in Ben Affleck's new movie 'Air' and the self-proclaimed 'savior of Nike'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Vaccaro, 83, was a key figure in Nike's push to sign Michael Jordan in 1984. No one in his family went to college, Vaccaro said in an interview over a pancake breakfast in 2021. Matt Damon plays Sonny Vaccaro in the new "Air" movie about how Nike signed Michael Jordan. "The signing of Michael Jordan, yeah, success has a thousand fathers, and failure is an orphan," Knight told USA Today in 2015. "A lot of people want to take credit for signing Michael Jordan, most obviously Sonny Vaccaro."

☆ Michael Jordan sneakers, Kobe Bryant gear lead blockbuster Sotheby's auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Jordans 1998 NBA Finals Air Jordan XIIIs sneakers are displayed during a press preview in New York on April 6, 2023 at Sothebys for the upcoming auction Victoriam, a special two-part curated collection of sports artifacts. Michael Jordan's shoes from Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals could be yours — if you have a couple million dollars to spare. Sotheby's is hosting a two-part auction of game-worn sports memorabilia, with Jordan's signed sneakers serving as the cornerstone for an stacked lineup of rare items. The game-worn Air Jordans are estimated to sell for somewhere between $2 million to $4 million. When Kanye West's Air Yeezy samples sold for $1.8 million in a private sale in 2021, they were estimated to be the most expensive sneakers sold to date.

☆ 'Black wealth matters': How a millennial is helping his community build wealth through education
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Learning the tricks of the tradeMac's wake-up call to start investing came early in his undergraduate career. "That was the one thing that opened my eyes and my curiosity and made me say, 'OK, I want to start investing.'" His interest in investing and wealth management eventually led him to a career on Wall Street. Making music as the "Wall Street Rapper," Mac began fusing the worlds he'd come to know so well: Black and urban hip-hop culture with Wall Street financial know-how. Mac adopted the slogan "Black wealth matters" to bring attention to the idea that economic empowerment is a major step toward equality for Black Americans.

☆ This $38 million LA palace — and many others — are in a rush to be sold this week to avoid millions in the new California 'Mansion Tax'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new "mansion tax" approved by voters in November goes into effect April 1. LA voters approved Proposition ULA, commonly referred to as the "mansion tax," by a 58% to 42% margin. The Star Resort, lit up from the perspective of the 70-foot infinity pool. Yann Ippolito/Ikon AdvisorsThe Star Resort features a Kobe Bryant-themed half basketball court. Yann Ippolito/Ikon Advisors

☆ Inside the $38 million mansion the seller wants to unload before April 1
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Ray Parisi | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The owner, who wants to sell before April 1, is prepared to lose millions on it. Here's why: He bought the home less than two years ago for $44 million, then tried to sell the house a year later for $48 million. But those potential losses go even higher on April 1 when the city of LA enacts a 5.5% mansion tax on all real estate deals over $10 million. If the residence doesn't sell soon that new tax will add a $2.1 million tax bill to the deal, which could bring the seller's losses to just over $8.1 million. And near the end of the tour Malka openly discusses the home's dramatic price cuts, and why he wants to get it sold before April Fool's Day.

☆ This LA mansion is staring down an April 1 deadline before the seller loses millions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Ray Parisi | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

EstateLuxShootTrying to unload an expensive mansion in the midst of a banking crisis with the LA real estate market softening and uncertainty looming large isn't exactly great timing. Feinberg, like all luxury mansion sellers in LA, is also contending with the new mansion tax approved by voters in November. Yann IppolitoFor homes priced between $5 million and $10 million, sellers will have to pay the city 4% of the total sale price. According to his calculations, all of those sellers combined would have racked up a mansion tax bill of almost $131 million. "When New York implemented the mansion tax in 2019, there was a surge in closings just short of the July 1 start date and a void of sales in the following months," he said.

☆ NCAA Tournament roundup: Fairleigh Dickinson makes history against Purdue
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Kobe Johnson supplied 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while the Trojans' usual leading scorer, Boogie Ellis, was held to six points. Vermont (23-11) was led by Robin Duncan, Dylan Penn and Matt Veretto who each scored 11 points. Jamarius Burton added 11 points and Greg Elliott had 10, as the Panthers advanced to face No. Jordan Hawkins chipped in 13 points, Donovan Clingan posted 12 and Andre Jackson Jr. supplied 10. Adrian Baldwin Jr. paced the Rams (27-8) with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

☆ Japan's Nidec lines up five execs as chairman contenders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - Japanese electric motor company Nidec Corp (6594.T) on Monday lined up five contenders to eventually take the reins as chairman from the firm's no-nonsense 78-year-old founder, Shigenobu Nagamori. Nidec said its board of directors had on Friday decided to name five people Executive Vice Presidents (EVP) from April 1. After serving four years as President, this person will be appointed as Chairman, Nidec said, as it seeks to bring an end to the saga. "I will gradually move away from work after that," Nagamori told reporters during an online news conference on Monday. Toshiyuki Otsuka, Tatsuya Nishimoto, Yoshihisa Kita, Toshihiko Koseki and Mitsuya Kishida were the five named as EVPs.

☆ Vanessa Bryant Reaches Nearly $29 Million Settlement Over Kobe Bryant Crash Photos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Alyssa Lukpat | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s widow, had sued county officials in 2020 over photos taken of the helicopter crash. Los Angeles County agreed to pay nearly $29 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Kobe Bryant ’s family over pictures sheriff’s deputies had taken at the scene of a fatal helicopter crash, according to lawyers and court records. Vanessa Bryant sued county officials months after Mr. Bryant, the basketball star, and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, died on their way to a basketball tournament in January 2020. Some first responders had taken pictures of their bodies at the crash site in the hills near Calabasas, Calif., which she alleged were shared. The crash, which killed all eight passengers and the pilot, stunned basketball fans around the world.

REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonFeb 28 (Reuters) - Los Angeles County will pay the wife of late basketball star Kobe Bryant nearly $29 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations that sheriff officers and firefighters shared gruesome photos of the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter. "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant's courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct," said Luis Li, attorney for Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife. Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people died in the crash in Calabasas, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2020. Kobe Bryant was 41 when he died. The Los Angeles Lakers great and 18-time All-Star won five NBA championships and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020.

☆ Vanessa Bryant reaches $28.85 million settlement with L.A. County over helicopter crash photos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Phil Helsel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Vanessa Bryant, the widow of late NBA legend Kobe Bryant, has reached an almost $30 million settlement with Los Angeles County over photos taken of the scene of the deadly 2020 helicopter crash, an attorney for the county said. The settlement is for $28.85 million and resolves all claims involving the county, Mira Hashmall, lead trial counsel for Los Angeles County in the case, said in a statement. Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant, 41; his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant; and seven other people died in the crash in Calabasas, near the Southern California coast, northwest of Los Angeles. The almost $30 million settlement includes the $15 million awarded to Vanessa Bryant by a jury in August, Hashmall said. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the settlement, she said.

☆ 6 sneakers Michael Jordan wore during game-clinching NBA Finals games are about to go on sale — and the price could set a record
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sotheby's this week will put up for sale a collection of six Air Jordan sneakers. Each of the six sneakers was worn by Michael Jordan during an NBA Finals game. Auction house Sotheby's on Tuesday will unveil a collection of six Air Jordan sneakers in Dubai. For perspective, a jersey Jordan wore during the 1998 NBA Finals sold last year for $10.1 million. "This set represents the most valuable and significant collection of Air Jordan sneakers ever brought to market," Sotheby's said, in a listing.

☆ The week in Asian football
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Michael Church | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Talking points from the week in Asian football:RONALDO'S SAUDI SCORING STREAK CONTINUES WITH HAT-TRICKCristiano Ronaldo's scoring run continued on Saturday as the Portuguese attacker netted all three goals in Al Nassr's 3-0 victory over Damak. The 38-year-old capped the scoring a minute before halftime when he side-footed home after Ayman Yahya cut the ball back towards the penalty spot. The goal was Ronaldo's eighth in five league games since joining Al Nassr after the World Cup. The defeat was the second in a row for new Urawa coach Maciej Skorza and the Pole's team are bottom of the standings. JANKOVIC APPOINTED NEW CHINA COACHSerbian Aleksandar Jankovic has been named coach of the China national team for next year's Asian Cup and the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

☆ NBA roundup: Damian Lillard erupts for 71 in Blazers' win
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Jerami Grant added 13 points and Nassir Little scored 11 for Portland, which connected on 54.5 percent of its field goal attempts and was 20 of 39 from 3-point range. Doncic scored 26 points with nine rebounds, while Irving had 21 points and 11 assists. Ayton also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and blocked three shots. Nikola Vucevic added 16 points and 13 rebounds for his 39th double-double of the season, third most in the NBA. Jakob Poeltl added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who were coming off a win over the host Detroit Pistons on Saturday.

☆ Jayson Tatum Still Plays Like Kobe. He Got Better By Playing Beyond Kobe.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Robert O'Connell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The NBA’s All-Star Game MVP award, named after Kobe Bryant, may be the only honor in the league that a player can win simply by wanting it more than anyone else. In Sunday night’s installment of the game, a defense-free affair in which players took turns bouncing passes to themselves off the backboards and launching increasingly long-range and low-percentage 3-pointers, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics earned the trophy. His methods were straightforward: he shot his triples mostly from the arc, not the half-court stripe. His motivation was obvious, too.

☆ Kobe Bryant's jersey from MVP season sold for $5.8 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 10 (Reuters) - A Los Angeles Lakers jersey worn by Kobe Bryant during his only MVP season in 2007-08 fetched $5.8 million at an auction on Thursday, becoming the second-most expensive basketball jersey ever sold, auction house Sotheby's said. Michael Jordan's jersey from the opening game of the 1998 NBA Finals holds the record for the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia in history after it sold for over $10 million in September also via Sotheby's. Bryant, an 18-times All Star and five-times NBA champion, died in a January 2020 helicopter crash that also killed his daughter and seven others. Sotheby's website said the jersey was signed by Bryant and worn by him in 25 of his 82 games that season, including six playoff games. "(It) has become a symbol of his fierce determination and passion that has resonated with audiences across the world."

☆ Iconic Kobe Bryant jersey sells for record $5.8 million at auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Jessica Golden | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A jersey that belonged to late basketball star Kobe Bryant, expected to fetch between 5-7 million USD, is displayed at Sotheby's auction house in New York on February 1, 2023. An iconic Kobe Bryant jersey from his MVP season sold for $5.8 million on Thursday, setting a new record. The previous sale record for any item of Kobe Bryant sports memorabilia was set by a game-worn and autographed basketball jersey from the 1996-1997 season, which sold for $3.7 million in 2021. Sotheby's previously estimated the jersey would sell for between $5 million and $7 million. Sotheby's in September sold Michael Jordan's 1998 "Last Dance" jersey for $10.1 million, a record-breaking auction in its own right.

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