We Are Going to Start Using the T

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The rise of the world's first trillionaire.  The initial public offering for SpaceX crowned Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. WSJ’s Theo Francis takes us inside the staggering finances of the world’s richest man, and explores what the impact of his new status might be. 

Elon Musk:  And let me tell you, if people had told me this was going to happen, I was like, "Man, you must be smoking some really good crack." 

Theo Francis:  It's pretty striking. I do our annual ranking of executive pay of CEO pay and every year there's a few CEOs who make a hundred million or more. A hundred million. That's a lot of money. And yet I have to remember to use an M and say million instead of B for billion when you're talking about the wealth of people like Zuckerberg and Bezos and Allison and of course Musk when we're going to have to start using the T. It's a really remarkable moment in terms of individual wealth, and I think the real question is: how far does it go?

Listen to or read the entire interview.

SPECIAL: Robert Marovich's Response to Peggy Noonan, Opinion Columnist at the Wall Street Journal

©2024 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

The letter below by Robert Marovich, Chicago, Illinois, was not accepted for publication at the Wall Street Journal yet I felt it was important to share with the world.  It is in response to a column by Peggy Noonan, "The Most Important Presidential Debate Ever" (Saturday/Sunday, June 29-30, 2024).  Unfortunately the column has a paywall, otherwise I would share the link.  I took a photo of it for your review so you can appreciate Bob Marovich's letter and put it into context.

"Dear Editor:

I read Peggy Noonan's column regularly because I respect her experience, appreciate her depth of knowledge, and appreciate her cogent arguments. I always will. But I strongly disagree with her description, in "The Most Important Presidential Debate Ever" (June 29 - 30), of former President Donald Trump's demeanor at the debate. He was not "calm, sure-voiced, focused....self-disciplined" He didn't debate - he ranted his greatest hits like a carnival barker on caffeine, delivered more than 30 lies, and even seemed to make some things up on the spot. Hyperbole and inaccurate superlatives, no substance, as usual. 

But what Ms. Noonan failed to mention, and what needs mentioning, is how despicably Mr. Trump spoke of the United States. President Reagan referred to the US as "the shining city on a hill." Trump, in front of more than 50 million viewers, referred several times to the US as a third-world country. Those are fighting words; in times past, proud Americans would have told him to put up his dukes. Would Mr. Reagan have suffered such an insult?

Yes, our nation has many problems, it always has, and we need to fix them, but we are not a third-world country, we are a first-rate country. Any candidate who denigrates his country so vociferously as Mr. Trump did on Thursday shouldn't even qualify for the presidency of a book club. President Biden stumbled significantly during the debate. We saw it. He knows it. I agree with Ms. Noonan that he missed landing several easy punches that could have turned the tide of the debate. But what Mr. Trump said about our nation is unforgivable. He insulted all of us that evening. The party of Ronald Reagan should hold its head in shame that Mr. Trump is the best they can offer." 

Best,

Robert M. Marovich

Chicago, IL

Say Hello to Sora, the Next AI Game Changer

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OpenAI has introduced new technology – Sora – that uses artificial intelligence to create high-quality videos from text descriptions. 

The company released short clips showcasing vivid, seemingly realistic videos, including woolly mammoths trekking across a snowy field, ocean waves crashing against a cliff’s shoreline and people doing everyday things like reading a book or walking down a city street.

You heard it here second.  The Wall Street Journal reported it first.

90% of Everything is Crap

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One of my favorite thought leaders, Marc Andreessen says, “I had heard of this, aha, Sturgeon’s law!” Theodore Sturgeon (1918-85) was a science-fiction author annoyed that people were saying all sci-fi was bad and wanted to stand up for the 10% that was good, saying, “90% of everything is crap.” Mr. Andreessen says “90% of music is crap.” The same is true of “paintings, writing, TV shows and movies.” 

Who's Marc Andreessen?  

He developed Mosaic, the first internet browser, which allowed users to wander around the World Wide Web 90% of the time. He moved to Silicon Valley and founded Netscape. Mr. Andreessen is now a general partner at a top-decile venture-capital firm, better than 90% of its peers. Andreessen Horowitz recently raised $9 billion in new funds.

Andy Kessler for the Wall Street Journal discusses how venture capitalist Marc Andreessen explains the world with Sturgeon's law.  And part of that law is that 90% of everything is crap.  Love it.