🐸 Re-dit
🐸 Re-dit
Elon musk wants $80 billion of free Tesla stock...Taiwan elects a new president; Reddit eyes an IPO; Spirit-JetBlue merger stopped; OpenAI partners with a university; and much more.
Good morning fellow enthusiasts👋,
A warm welcome to the 11 new enthusiasts who joined J. Nicholas this week! We now have 121 subscribers (12.1% to our 1,000 subscriber goal).
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IN THIS ISSUE
💰 Reddit wants to go public
✈️ Spirit-JetBlue merger blocked
🇹🇼 Lai Ching-te elected president
On this day. On January 19, 1955, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower held the first-ever televised presidential press conference.
IMPORTANT
🤑 Google invests $1B in UK data centre
Google plans to invest $1 billion in constructing a data centre just outside London to meet the rising demand for internet services. The data centre will support Google's AI and cloud services, create jobs, and utilize waste heat for the local area.
This move follows Google's previous investments in central London properties and comes on the heels of Microsoft's recent $3.2 billion investment in the UK, (also focused on expanding data centres).
🚘 Elon Musk wants more control
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and the richest man in the world, wants the company's board to grant him more control. As of now, Musk holds nearly 13% of all Tesla shares but needs 25% voting control according to a recent Tweet.
To achieve this level of voting control, the board would have to approve shares worth $80 billion to give to Musk, which is crazy. Nothing is set in stone, and the approval would depend on various factors such as the stock price and others.
🇺🇸 It’s down to four
Pharma billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday after finishing fourth with 8% of the Republican primary vote. He also endorsed former President Donald Trump for president.
Ramaswamy entered the race as a relatively unknown candidate, but after a few podcasts, and some rallies, he gained significant recognition. However, he failed to siphon support from Trump and from first-time GOP primary voters.
The remaining candidates are Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and some other person who no one knows the name of (this is satire).
FINANCE
Image courtesy of BTCManager
💰 Reddit wants to go public
The website responsible for the Gamestop craze is finally ready to go public. Reddit is reportedly planning to launch its IPO in March, marking the first major social media IPO since Pinterest's debut in 2019.
Valued at about $10 billion in one of its recent funding rounds, Reddit filed confidentially for its IPO in December 2021. The platform aims to sell around 10% of its shares and plans to make its public filing in late February.
🚀 Microsoft officially dethrones Apple
Last Friday, Microsoft finally surpassed Apple to become the world's most valuable company by market cap, closing the day with an $100 billion lead (Apple's market cap was $2.48 trillion, and Microsoft's was $2.49 trillion).
PS: As I write this (it’s Thursday), Apple has gained $92 billion in market cap, and Microsoft is only $11 billion ahead of Apple. It looks like Microsoft might not hold the spot for much longer.
BUSINESS
Image courtesy of Joe Cavaretta/Sun Sentinel/Getty Images
✈️ Spirit-JetBlue merger blocked
Spirit Airlines' shares plummeted a whopping 70% in two days after a judge blocked its $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue Airways.
The judge, U.S. District Court Judge William Young, had concerns that the merger would hurt competition in the industry and increase costs for travelers.
JetBlue's shares also fell about 9% and are down 4% since the merger block. Spirit's stock reached an all-time low, trading just over $6 a share, and is more than 90% down from its record high in December 2014.
👾 OpenAI partners with…a university?
OpenAI has partnered with Arizona State University (ASU), providing full access to ChatGPT Enterprise for coursework, tutoring, and research.
ASU plans to utilize the technology for a ‘personalized AI tutor’ in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects, to enhance courses, and to develop AI for study help.
This partnership marks OpenAI's first collaboration with a higher education institution and might indicate potential future partnerships between the tech industry and universities.
POLITICS
Image courtesy of AP Photo/Louise Delmotte
🇹🇼 Lai Ching-te elected president
Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) achieved an unprecedented third consecutive presidential term as Lai Ching-te emerged victorious.
Beijing criticized Lai, labeling him a 'worker for Taiwan independence,' although the DPP's main goal is to focus on maintaining cross-Strait (China-Taiwan) relations.
The U.S. congratulated Taiwan, its new leadership, and its commitment to peace, while China, unsurprisingly, dismissed the election outcome.
🍊 Trump wins Iowa caucus
Donald Trump secured a record victory in the Iowa caucuses for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, earning ~30% more votes than his closest rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (~21%) and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (~19%).
Despite facing lawsuits and serious allegations of sex abuse and defamation, Trump's victory in Iowa tightened his grip on the GOP nomination. The results raise questions for DeSantis and Haley, both of whom significantly trailed behind Trump in the caucus.
(Next up is New Hampshire, where Trump is leading as well.)
📚 Book of the Week
Note: I don’t recommend books that I haven’t read or that I would never read. The books I recommend are books I have already read or that I will eventually read.
The Millionaire Next Door — Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko
Book Description:
The bestselling The Millionaire Next Door identifies seven common traits that show up again and again among those who have accumulated wealth.
Most of the truly wealthy in this country don't live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue-they live next door.
This new edition, the first since 1998, includes a new foreword for the twenty-first century by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley.
Buying a book helps fund mental health, and a cure for cancer. Learn more.