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☆ Crumbling tech stocks and recession fears have cratered the fortunes of the wealthiest Americans including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images; Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Getty Images; KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/Getty Images; Mike Cohen/Getty Images; Yuqing Liu/Business Insider1. Besides the fallen crypto king, many of these shrinking fortunes can be chalked up to this year's bloodbath in the tech stocks. How has Elon Musk's involvement with Twitter impacted your outlook for Tesla stock? Tesla stock price on December, 29, 2022 Markets Insider10. Tesla stock climbed Wednesday as dip-buyers poured into the EV maker.

☆ Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the 6 other richest Americans have suffered a nearly $400 billion wealth wipeout this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The eight richest Americans have seen close to $400 billion erased from their fortunes this year. Elon Musk's net worth has shrunk by $140 billion, while Jeff Bezos' wealth has slid by $86 billion. Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' wealth has fallen by $86 billion, while Alphabet cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have seen their fortunes shrink by a combined $91 billion. The upshot is that the eight richest Americans have seen an estimated $386 billion erased from their combined fortunes. That figure rivals JPMorgan's market capitalization, and comfortably exceeds the market value of Tesla ($345 billion), Nvidia ($352 billion), and all but a handful of America's biggest companies.

☆ 10 money managers who quietly control the vast fortunes of Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, the Waltons, and other big-name billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Many über-rich people don't outsource their wealth — they hire their own chief investment officers. He left SAC in 2005 for Dune Capital Management, but stayed in touch with Steve during his five-year term at the investment firm. Andrew oversees CPV's portfolio, which primarily comprises direct private investments such as Collectors Universe, a collectibles-authentication company, and the New York Mets. In 2011, Wildcat Capital Management was launched with Potter as president and chief investment officer. Since November 2021, Carland has also served as the interim chief investment officer for Builders Vision's asset arm.

You can get the latest on that and much more from our finance newsletter, 10 Things on Wall Street. It's a snappy weekday read with the biggest stories on the Street, plus the latest on hot-spot restaurants, industry parties, and so much more. On the agenda today:Up first: Senior real-estate correspondent Daniel Geiger is giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the recent turmoil at Compass. With home sales dipping amid rising interest rates, Compass has cut workers and bled cash. In June, it laid off about 450 corporate staff, and in October, it let go of about half its 1,500-person tech team.

☆ Here's what Citi's global energy expert Ed Morse has to say about oil markets, Russia, and the 'stunning change' that's washed over the American oil market.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Phil Rosen: What will energy markets look like in 2023, and what's your oil price forecast? How has Russia's role in energy markets changed since it invaded Ukraine? So we had companies — even before governments got involved — saying they were not going to import Russian oil and gas. How has the US's role changed in global energy markets this year? EM: Energy markets have been very concerned about it, but their concern is slowing.

Page purchased Hans Lollik and its smaller neighboring island, Little Hans Lollik, in 2014 for $23 million. The Hans Lollik Islands in the US Virgin Islands were bought by Larry Page in 2014 cdwheatley/Getty ImagesPage purchased the islands from Liberty Bankers Life Insurance Company using a limited-liability company called Virgin Island Properties LLC. Page's intentions for the Hans Lollik islands are unclear, but the larger island of the two may have personal significance for the Google cofounder. In the deposition, Osborne hinted that Larry proposed to his wife, the research scientist Lucinda Southworth, on Hans Lollik. Page expands to the South PacificIn 2020, Page added another island to his portfolio: the heart-shaped Tavarua island in Fiji's Mamanuca archipelago.

☆ Junior bankers sound off: From how much sleep they get to what kind of company they want to work for next, first-year investment banking analysts spill the beans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Junior bankers hold an interesting position on Wall Street. While these young investment bankers are often the butt of the joke — something something Murray Hill something something Patagonia vests — they also represent a key piece of the dealmaking machine. That's why I always find surveys of junior bankers so fascinating. Emmalyse examined 10 different slides from the poll, which was conducted by recruiting firm Odyssey Search Partners, that show what junior bankers like, and don't like, about their jobs. Click here to learn more about what junior bankers love, and hate, about their jobs.

☆ Inside Sergey Brin's Busy Social Schedule: Parties, Festivals, Burning Man
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Rob Price | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In late August this year, Sergey Brin headed to Burning Man. The 49-year-old tech titan traveled to the festival in style, island-hopping across the Pacific Ocean in a modified seaplane. Brin has been spotted more than once at house parties at NeoGenesis, a coliving space for entrepreneurs in the Bay Area. As for the bigger psychedelic party, when Burning Man reopened in August after its pandemic hiatus, Brin stayed at First Camp, a VIP community frequented by festival organizers and their friends. Rob Price is a correspondent at Insider, writing features and investigations about the technology industry.

☆ 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.

☆ US lawmakers want answers on FTX's collapse. Sam Bankman-Fried may not have them.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But first, we are going to hear more from Sam Bankman-Fried this week, even if you think we've already heard quite enough from him. Sam Bankman-Fried testifies during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who said he once considered himself a "model CEO," tweeted last week that he would testify before tomorrow's House Financial Services committee hearing focused on his firm's blowup. FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, who oversaw the bankruptcy of Enron, will testify in the first part of the hearing. A private lunch with the billionaire is on the table if you're willing to pony up the cash.

☆ Larry Page, Sergey Brin Post-Google Lives: Investments, Yachts, Islands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +33 min

Even before their retirement from Google, Page and Brin relied heavily on their respective family offices to bring order to their worlds. The Bay Area headquarters of Koop, Larry Page's family office, is nondescript and gives little indication of the billionaire's empire. Insider; Marianne Ayala/Insider Show less Bayshore Global Management, Sergey Brin's family office, is based in Palo Alto and has a bit more of a public face. Insider; Marianne Ayala/Insider Show lessThe difference in styles holds true for Brin's family office, Bayshore Global Management. The CEO of Page's family office is Wayne Osborne, a former elder in the Presbyterian Church who attended Princeton Theological Seminary.

☆ The 5 best leadership books I read this year — and what they taught me about running a company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David Siegel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For a roadmap for effective, kind leadership and smart decision-making, he shares 5 book recommendations. Publishing a leadership book gave me a newfound perspective on the genre. Here are the top five leadership books I read in 2022 and why I found each one particularly enriching. After reading The Promise of a Pencil, I learned how seemingly small acts can make a world of difference in communities. For anyone considering executive coaching or looking to find a coach, this book is a must-read.

☆ Here are the 7 richest people in the world who haven’t signed the Giving Pledge—Jeff Bezos is No. 3
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

But Bezos, whose recent announcement followed years of criticism over his relative lack of philanthropic giving, isn't the only billionaire who hasn't signed the pledge. Arnault has not signed the Giving Pledge, nor has he commented on the pledge publicly. Jeff Bezos: $116 billion net worthBezos has donated more than $2.4 billion in his lifetime, according to a Forbes estimate. But the billionaire has skirted questions about the Giving Pledge for years, especially after his ex-wife, Scott, signed it shortly after their 2019 divorce. Sergey Brin: $84.9 billion net worthLike fellow Google co-founder Page, Sergey Brin has not signed the Giving Pledge.

☆ 'Pronatalism' explained: Why tech titans like Elon Musk want to have tons of kids to save the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tech titans like Elon Musk want to counteract the effects of population decline by having lots of children. Elon Musk, who has fathered 10 known children with three women (including twins last year with one of his employees), is the highest-profile figure currently associated with this movement. So some are turning to the next best thing: having lots of children, and funding new fertility technologies that one founder said are "reinventing reproduction." "The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children," said Simone Collins, a VC and co-founder of the nonprofit initiative Pronatalist.org. Read Insider's full feature, "Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids.

☆ Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids. Inside the movement to take 'control of human evolution.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

"We are the Underground Railroad of 'Gattaca' babies and people who want to do genetic stuff with their kids," Malcolm told me. Ellison, meanwhile, who has two children in their 30s, has reportedly resumed having kids — with his 31-year-old girlfriend. "The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children," Simone said. The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children. Before she met Malcolm, Simone was convinced she wanted to live her life single and child-free.

☆ Alphabet must cut headcount and trim costs, activist investor TCI says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

TCI's stake represents 0.27% of outstanding Alphabet shares, according to Factset data, a position that the hedge fund has steadily accumulated since 2017. TCI noted that headcount has "increased at an annual rate of 20% since 2017," the year that TCI first disclosed their Alphabet position. TCI argued for an increase in share buybacks and the establishment of an EBIT margin target for Google Services. Significantly, TCI argued that Google's "Other Bets" category – their Moonshot division – demanded immediate attention, singling out self-driving vertical Waymo as a unit that failed to justify "its excessive investment." Alphabet shares are down more than 30% year-to-date.

☆ Amidst the layoffs at Amazon, the company's ultra-secretive research lab is at risk of being shut. It's a sign things are changing 'dramatically' at the company.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Early last month, members of Amazon's secretive in-house research lab, Grand Challenge, were called into an unexpected video meeting. Weibel announced 3 of the 5 projects Grand Challenge was working on would shut down, effective immediately. When other team employees wanted to collaborate with the team, they needed additional approvals from its leadership. Amazon Glow was among the Grand Challenge projects to be discontinued at the end of this year. Getting support promoting Grand Challenge projects was a challenge too.

☆ US tech billionaires made a record $59 billion after Thursday's market rally, granting respite from a very bad year for tech stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US tech billionaires made a record $59 billion after Thursday's market rally, per Bloomberg. Thanks to this, 32 tech billionaires collectively added $59 billion to their net worth on Thursday, per Bloomberg, as much of the billionaires' fortunes is tied to their share holdings in listed tech companies. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came in at pole-position, netting the biggest one-day jump in net worth, as his fortune soared by $10.5 billion to $119.6 billion. About 80% of Bezos's net worth is derived from his stake in Amazon, per Bloomberg. Despite the one-day rally, tech stocks have been in a funk this year.

☆ Self-driving cars were supposed to take over the road. What happened?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesGeneral Motors bought a self-driving company in 2016. Big talk, smaller resultsUrmson, while leading Google’s self-driving car project before founding Aurora, talked of his preteen son never needing to get a driver’s license. A self-driving car, without a steering wheel or pedals, would have to be able to drive itself in literally every situation possible. “It’s really, really hard,” Waymo’s then-CEO John Krafcik said in 2018 of self-driving technology. Companies developing lidar, widely seen as a key component for self-driving vehicles, as well as self-driving companies, have seen their stocks plummet recently.

☆ Elon Musk owning Twitter should give everyone pause
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Seth Fiegerman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Elon Musk, the mercurial billionaire, had agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion the month before only to begin raising doubts about the deal soon after. Now, Musk joins the list of rich, white men who single-handedly control social platforms that collectively reach and shape the lives of billions of people around the world. And Musk, who will reportedly have “absolute control over Twitter” according to a shareholders’ agreement, promises to be uniquely disruptive. To those in the first camp, Musk serving as the sole decider at Twitter may be cause for celebration. Elon Musk is a conglomerate, and each arm of his empire potentially gives him more leverage, real or imagined, in advocating for the others.

☆ Elon Musk's fortune has fallen by $110 billion in less than a year, but he's still the world's richest person
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Despite his wealth taking a hit, Musk is $80 billion better off than Bill Gates and $71 billion ahead of Jeff Bezos. Last year he sold $31 billion worth of stock in Tesla to help pay for his $44 billion Twitter takeover. Forbes included the $31 billion in his net worth, excluding taxes, as the deal has not yet completed. His wealth shrunk from $302 billion in April to $216 billion in June, but recovered to $279 billion in August. He is seeking help from investors and may need to sell Tesla shares worth between $5 billion to $10 billion next week.

☆ It's time for Mark Zuckerberg to step down
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Mark Zuckerberg should quit. He should step down from his position as CEO of Meta and let someone else manage Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Zuckerberg was so excited about legs that he jumped for joy as he talked about them. Zuckerberg already has two very profitable platforms — Facebook and Instagram — but their popularity is declining. Internally, employees told the Times, Meta workers refer to metaverse projects as MMH, or "Make Mark Happy,'' projects.

☆ How one pioneering platform is working to detoxify social media
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But some platforms are trying to detoxify social media. Twitter; Mastodon; Vicky Leta/Insider1. One pioneering platform is working to detoxify social media. Once championed as heralds of a more interconnected world, social media has instead contributed to loneliness, low self-esteem, and the proliferation of harmful disinformation, Evan Malmgren writes. With 4.4 million users, Mastodon looks like Twitter, but rather than a single website, it's an open-source software platform that allows users to run self-hosted, "federated" social networks.

☆ Elon Musk's battle with Twitter shows that even the brashest, loudest leaders can face a reckoning
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Ebony Flake | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Now, though, his latest fight with Twitter shows the perils of always leading with bravado: While scandal is unlikely to sink the CEO, he's making extra work for himself — more than he usually does. Musk's negotiations to buy Twitter were subsequently halted when he pushed for concessions the platform was unwilling to give. Duncan Levin, a criminal defense attorney who represents controversial clients, such as Harvey Weinstein, Clare Bronfman, and Anna Delvey, told Insider: "No one is scandal-proof. Musk's ability to bounce back from repercussions is the result of a complex interplay of a fierce, cultlike fandom and his transformational leadership style, experts told Insider. What's more, he's highly intelligent and ahead of most people, a former manager at Tesla previously told Insider.

☆ Startup Workspan raised $30 million to keep growing as it helps top tech companies like Microsoft, Cisco, and SAP manage relationships with partners
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ecosystem management tool Workspan has raised a $30 million Series C round. Workspan's tools help companies like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services co-sell with partners. It was there that he came up with the idea for what would become his next company, WorkSpan. Workspan was able to gain momentum quickly because of how necessary its tool is to large technology companies, Bawa said. Workspan has raised a total of $66 million in funding from investors like Insight Partners, Mayfield Fund, M12, and Redline Capital Management.

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