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☆ A pair of sneakers worn by Michael Jordan just sold for $2.2 million, setting a new world record for the most expensive shoes ever purchased
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sneakers worn by Jordan in the 1998 NBA Finals just sold for $2.2 million. The sale set a new world record, topping the $1.8 million paid for a pair of Kanye West's sneakers. On Tuesday, Sotheby's announced the $2.2 million sale of Air Jordan 13 sneakers worn by Jordan during the 1998 NBA Finals. "That sneaker set the market for the sneaker industry. Rares CEO Sapp, who also played in the NFL, added Jordan sneakers tap into a bigger story that continues to resonate across playgrounds and pick-up basketball courts.

☆ Marjorie Taylor Greene warns Trump against hiring far-right activist Laura Loomer, calling her 'mentally unstable and a documented liar'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Georgia Republican warned Trump not to hire Laura Loomer to work on his 2024 campaign. Greene and far-right activist Loomer once publicly praised one another, but they are now feuding. The New York Times reported that Trump wanted to hire Loomer, but sources said the plan was scrapped. Greene took to Twitter on Friday to say Loomer is "mentally unstable and a documented liar" who "can not be trusted." Loomer responded with multiple tweets attacking Greene, calling her a liar and describing her behavior as "not very "Christian."

☆ 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.

☆ The world's richest 25 people lost $200 billion last year—Jeff Bezos' net worth fell the most
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The richest 25 people in the world lost a collective $200 billion in net worth in 2022, according to Forbes' 2023 World Billionaires List released this week. While 254 people lost their billionaire status last year, the remaining 2,640 billionaires lost a combined $500 billion. That title goes to Jeff Bezos, whose net worth dropped $57 billion due to a 38% drop in Amazon's stock price as of March 10. 1 spot after adding $53 billion to his net worth in 2022, launching him to the top of the richest list for the first time. Here are the 10 richest people in the world as of March 2023, according to Forbes.

☆ Kanye West and Sam Bankman-Fried lose billionaire titles on Forbes' annual rich list
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, have dropped off Forbes' billionaire list. Bankman-Fried's net worth tumbled from $24 billion in 2022 to less than $10 million, per Forbes. Bankman-Fried's net worth tumbled from $24 billion in 2022 to less than $10 million, according to Forbes wealth reporter Richard J. Chang. Bernard Arnault and his family topped the list with a net worth of $211 billion, according to Forbes. Forbes estimated the billionaire had around $39 billion knocked off his total net worth last year.

☆ The UFC-WWE deal could be the boost the M&A market needs to get back into gear
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Citigroup, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America were among the banks advising on the deal. Earlier this year, some pegged the merger market getting back into the swing of things by mid-year. When you think about it, the WWE-UFC deal might be the best way to get the market going again. Fight for media rights: Both UFC and WWE have streaming deals with ESPN and NBCUniversal's Peacock, respectively. The crypto community is now pitching itself as playing a key role in AI development thanks to its decentralized nature.

☆ Elon Musk loses his position atop Forbes’ annual billionaires list
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Musk, whose position wobbled on the Forbes’ “Real-Time Billionaires” list, which is updated daily, for the past several months. Forbes explained that Musk’s wealth had fallen because his $44 billion Twitter purchase, funded by Tesla shares, scared investors and sent Tesla stock sinking sharply last year. Tesla gained much of those losses back this year but is still significantly lower than before Musk bought Twitter. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos lost the most amount of money of any billionaire on the list ($57 billion), knocking him down from second position to third. Forbes said that the total number of billionaires on this year’s list fell to 2,640 (down from 2,668), marking the second-straight year of decline.

☆ Peace, love, and Hitler: How Lex Fridman's podcast became a safe space for the anti-woke tech elite
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Seemingly overnight, episodes of Fridman's podcast began racking up millions of views. YouTube/Lex FridmanIn his podcast, Fridman asks world-renowned scientists, historians, artists, and engineers a series of wide-eyed questions ("Who is God? But recently, "The Lex Fridman Podcast" has become a haven for a growing — and powerful — sector looking to dismantle years of "wokeness" and cancel culture. Twitter"The Lex Fridman Podcast" offered a rare opportunity to listen to four-hour conversations with luminaries of tech and science. Bhaskar Sunkara, the founder and publisher of the socialist magazine Jacobin who appeared on Fridman's podcast in December, praised Fridman's interviewing style.

Trademark Office to reject a Black Lives Matter application for a trademark featuring three parallel stripes. "Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's trademark application as soon as possible," the company said in a statement. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is the most prominent entity in the decentralized Black Lives Matter movement, which arose a decade ago in protest against police violence against Black people. Representatives of the Black Lives Matter group did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. A jury in that case decided in January that Thom Browne's stripe patterns did not violate Adidas' trademark rights.

☆ Adidas drops trademark complaint against Black Lives Matter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The German sportswear company said Wednesday it was dropping its opposition to an attempt by a Black Lives Matter campaign group to trademark a logo featuring three parallel stripes. “Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. Adidas (ADDDF) filed a complaint with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Monday, arguing that the foundation’s logo was “likely to cause confusion” with its own three-stripe logo featured on its apparel. Adidas retracted its complaint over fears that it could be seen as an objection to the cause of Black Lives Matter (BLM), Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source close to the company. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the wider BLM movement.

☆ Here are 9 Twitter promises that Elon Musk has failed to deliver on as ‘chief Twit’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk’s record on delivering on the deluge of pledges he has made as “chief Twit” is less than ideal. Since then, Musk has made a number of wild changes and promises pertaining to Twitter. ► Maximal free speech: Musk repeatedly talked about Twitter being a home for free speech. When I reached out to Musk on Wednesday morning with questions about his failed promises, he didn’t respond. But I did receive an auto-reply poop emoji from the press@twitter.com email address, a feature Musk recently said he would implement.

☆ Adidas adds risk by tripping over its sneakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Adidas (ADSGn.DE) is having a hard time keeping its feet out of its mouth. On Wednesday, the $28 billion sneaker maker withdrew a trademark objection to Black Lives Matter over its use of three stripes in its logo 48 hours after filing it. The timing of Adidas’s objection looks tin-eared. It could have devised a partnership arrangement with Black Lives Matter that featured both brands. Trying to pick a fight with an organisation popular with young consumers shows that Adidas’s biggest risk is its mouth.

☆ Adidas ends partnership with Beyonce - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Beyonce accepts the award for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for "Renaissance" during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Adidas (ADSGn.DE) has ended its fashion partnership with Beyoncé, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. If confirmed, it would mark a second high-profile split between Adidas and a celebrity partner, after the German sportswear giant ended its collaboration with Kanye West over his antisemitic comments. Adidas, which had signed a deal with Beyoncé in April 2019 to relaunch her brand Ivy Park, declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal said sales of Ivy Park have been underperforming expectations for years.

☆ Kanye West's hateful comments about Jews may have inspired dozens of antisemitic incidents, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Anti-Defamation League counted 59 incidents in which antisemites cited the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Overall, ADL researchers found there was a 59% increase in antisemitic incidents last year. Overall, ADL researchers found there was a 36% spike in antisemitic incidents in 2022 compared to the year before, with the ADL tracking just under 3,700 cases across the country, the highest on record. "We're deeply disturbed by this dramatic and completely unacceptable surge in antisemitic incidents," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. The ADL report comes after the FBI last year said that white supremacists "pose the primary threat" of domestic terrorism.

☆ Beyoncé's time with Adidas is reportedly over
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday reported that Beyoncé and Adidas are ending their partnership. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the struggles of her Ivy Park Adidas line. In 2018, Beyoncé partnered with Adidas to bring her Ivy Park line to the brand. While Beyoncé remains one of the world's most admired performers, her apparel line with Adidas hasn't lived up to expectations. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that there have been "major creative differences between Ivy Park and Adidas."

☆ Trump claims Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is backed by George Soros. Here's why that attack is an antisemitic trope.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Trump said Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is backed by the billionaire philanthropist George Soros. To be clear, there is no evidence that George Soros has donated to Bragg. "George Soros and Alvin Bragg have never met in person or spoken by telephone, email, Zoom etc.," Vachon told Insider via email. Neither George Soros nor Democracy PAC contributed to Alvin Bragg's campaign for Manhattan District Attorney." To the far right, Soros represents a member of that cabal, said Lorber, an analyst at Political Research Associates.

☆ Nike outruns its competitors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Its challenges include unsold goods it has to shift, an 8% drop in year-on-year sales in China, and falling gross profit margins. Nike is nonetheless in a relatively enviable position. Nike is also sporting a five-year total shareholder return of 105%, where Adidas and Under Armour’s are both negative. Even with blips, that shows it has been a better long-term run for investors. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Nike said its apparel inventory fell in the third quarter and expects to end fiscal 2023 with "healthy" inventory levels. Sales in Greater China fell about 8% even as the country eased pandemic-related restrictions, which is expected to benefit the company in the near term. Nike now expects reported revenue for the full year to increase in the high-single-digit range, compared with its previous forecast of growth in the mid single digits. In the fourth quarter, the company expects flat to low-single-digit revenue growth, compared with estimates of a 2.42% rise, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Nike posted revenue of $12.39 billion in the third quarter beating estimates of $11.47 billion and reported a profit of 79 cents per share above estimates of 55 cents.

March 20 (Reuters) - Nike is expected to report a rise in third-quarter revenue and grow its market share through 2023, helped by major rival Adidas' split with designer and rapper Kanye West that caused the German company to lose about $600 million in quarterly sales. Nike (NKE.N) is also expected to get a boost from higher sales of its Jordan Retros and some newer launches as the world's No. "There is an opportunity for Nike to pick more market from Adidas," said Jessica Ramirez, senior analyst at Jane Hali and Associates, adding that Adidas has not had as many bestsellers as Nike. Nike has also doubled down on its product lines such as the LeBron 20s and Nike Mercurial shoes, while also grabbing a bigger chunk of the growing China market. Still, Nike's margins are expected to be squeezed in the quarter as it continues to offer promotions and discounts to shed excess stock.

☆ Kanye West blunder puts Adidas in play
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

After a disastrous breakup with the musician formerly known as Kanye West, the $28 billion sneaker maker is slashing dividends and heading for the first loss in decades. Last year, Adidas spent 12.3% of its 22.5 billion euros of revenue on marketing and similar expenses. If it were to return to the 13.9% it allocated in 2015, it would add 2 billion euros of extra costs over the next five years, Breakingviews calculations show. Swooping on Adidas would allow the U.S. athleisure giant to dominate sportswear by servicing women and men across a wide spectrum of categories. Shares in Adidas were down 2.4% at 144.50 euros by 0859 GMT on March 15.

☆ Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ sneakers are being auctioned off. They could go for millions, and become the most expensive sneakers ever sold.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Michael Jordan's sneakers from 1998 could sell for $4 million, breaking auction records. They are a pair of Air Jordan 13s Jordan wore in the last NBA finals he played for the Chicago Bulls. If sold at their estimated $4 million, they will set a record for the most expensive sneakers ever sold. The shoes are a pair of black and red Air Jordan 13s from Jordan's "Last Dance" — the last championship final Jordan played for the Bulls in 1998. If sold for their estimated price, the Air Jordan 13s will set the record for the most expensive sneakers ever sold, per CBS News, citing Sotheby's.

☆ Fox News' Brian Kilmeade praises Trump for being disciplined about not 'having lunch with white supremacists'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade praised Trump for having a "very disciplined message." "Since he went and visited East Palestine, stopped having lunch with white supremacists, and has got a very disciplined message," Kilmeade said. He attributed that, in part, to Trump not "having lunch with white supremacists" and visiting East Palestine, Ohio, after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the town last month. The reference to "white supremacists" is likely a nod to Trump's November meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort with notorious white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and the rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye. "This is the most disciplined I've ever seen him," Kilmeade said of Trump, "even compared to 2016."

☆ Nike is facing a PR nightmare as Kyrie Irving, Ja Morant, and now Tom Sachs face scandals – but experts say partnerships with celebs and athletes will never go away
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Curbed published a blistering story about Tom Sachs, a Nike collaborator, this week. As long as companies have partnered with celebrities, some endorsement deals have run aground, said Coresight Research CEO and founder Deborah Weinswig. Longtime sportswear industry analyst Matt Powell, who recently founded Spurwink River, said endorsement deals are "fraught with peril." "I thought for a while that brands were moving away from real celebrity endorsements," he told Insider. "We're talking about a very, very small percentage of celebrities who get endorsement deals who have that halo effect," Herzog said.

☆ Wearable Clothes at Last? The Top Trends From the Fall 2023 Fashion Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Katharine K. Zarrella | Lizzy Wholley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

LOW-KEY LUXURY At the fall fashion shows, many designers proposed quiet, classic clothes rife with sophistication. From left: fall looks from Fendi, the Row and Loro Piana. This season put an end to that. Perhaps inspired by political and economic uncertainty, or maybe by the fact that women exist in the tangible world again, not just behind filtered screens, brands including Saint Laurent, the Row, Bottega Veneta and Fendi turned out exquisitely wearable, sometimes understated clothes. The shift in tone resonated with guests, some of whom are cautiously optimistic it might last beyond this crucial season for the brand.

☆ Adidas has received over 500 offers for massive unsold Yeezy merchandise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Adidas has received hundreds of offers for the mountain of unsold Yeezy shoes designed by Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West. That represents a potential €500 million ($527 million) hit to the company’s bottom line. To his point, demand in the secondary resale market for Yeezy shoes is surging. Mocadlo said Impossible Kicks has about $2 million in Yeezy sneaker inventory currently, about 10,000 pairs. Prices for Yeezy sneakers are climbing due to tighter supply, according to StockX, a leading sneaker resale platform.

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