#decabillionaire

[gaykarstaagforever]

In case you weren't angry enough, here is a cutesy Forbes article ranking America's top "decabillionaire" families. They had to make up a new term for people worth over $10 billion, because "obscene" and "a fucking embarrassment" wouldn't pass editorial muster at a publication that only exists to give these people journalistic handjobs.

It is paywalled of course. Poor people aren't even supposed to be able to read this, damn socialist public education.

Make sure you don't use 12ft.io to remove the paywall. That would be stealing. And it's not fair to whoever runs the Forbes website, who wasn't smart enough to code this so you can't do that.

[gisellelx]

Was Isle Esme a lie?

Okay okay but hear me out. I've been completely grooving on @panlight's meta about the Cullens as NPCs. Which is so true and is basically why I finally started writing fanfic to begin with--I read these books and just had this sense of "This writer left so much on the table" that I had never had when reading a series before. Everything about this story was built to support E/B, and when you think about it, many of the parts don't hold up on their own.

But the last section of this meta is honestly something I had absolutely taken as canon and now am suddenly realizing that another explanation makes a ton more sense. Basically, I've never seen a fic/fanficcer/fandom member--including me!--not take as gospel truth that Carlisle bought Isle Esme for Esme on whatever anniversary yadda yadda yadda. And yet, as pan points out, this really is contrived for the sake of E/B and it's not even ever about C/Es. It's like "oh it would be convenient for the Cullens to own an island!" and so boom, they do.

And I buy into this wholly because, y'all islands are actually quite cheap in the grand scheme of things. A private island can be had for the low six figures, depending on where it is. Add a modest house at the cost of construction and you're in the mid six-figures. I realize that when you're twelve, as many big Twifans were when they read the series for the first time, $400,000 seems like a lot of money, but I assure you, it is not. (stepping on my personal finance soapbox for a second: if you intend to retire well, younger twifans, $400,000 needs to be a number that is real to you and is in your investment accounts at around age 45. Trust me on this...) So if you are a decabillionaire, which I think we all can agree Carlisle is, and you also have an intense need for privacy, the odds that you drop $1-2M every now and then on a nice vacation spot are pretty high. It makes every sense in the world for Carlisle to have bought Esme an island. I always assume they own several.

However. When you consider that Isle Esme comes completely out of the blue, and isn't at all about Carlisle and Esme, and that in fact, Esme supposedly chooses to decorate the cottage as though it is like her supposedly private island that Carlisle bought her as some grand romantic gesture, which is kind of a weird thing for a mom to do, you know?...

...and you add that to the degree to which we know for a fact that Edward tries very unsuccessfully to honor Bella's desire for non-lavish gifts, and the degree to which we know, from the "crystal" heart he already gave her, that he is absolutely willing to lie to make Bella okay with an extravagant gift...

I am now suddenly thinking he lied about Isle Esme. He bought it, for Bella, for the purpose of this honeymoon. Esme decorated the house on the island, and then also decorated the cabin just like it, because she expected they would have wonderful memories of this place that is just theirs. Edward presents the idea that Carlisle bought it for Esme because he is still somewhat careful to help Bella to not lose her mind that he bought a freaking island (because it seems really extravagant, even if for ultra rich people, it is not, see above) and at some point in time, this is all going to come to a head in some giant Cullen foofaraw that involves Carlisle frowning disappointedly about Edward lying yet again and Bella forgiving him inside the space of three seconds as she is wont to do.

So, reversing ten years of headcanon...I think Isle Esme is really Isle Bella and Edward, as usual, lied through his skinny seventeen-year-old teeth about it. He bought it. Not Carlisle. It's for Bella. Not Esme. And oh, to be a fly on the wall when Bella found out.

[thecryptoguestpostclub]

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried: Institutions are ‘desperate’ for crypto

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried: Institutions are ‘desperate’ for crypto

As FTX and Alameda Research increasingly enter the public eye, one side effect is that the decabillionaire is himself a growing public figure. Especially after a significant donation to Joe Biden’s campaign for the US presidency, some observers hoped that SBF would come to serve as a kind of professional lobbyist on behalf of the crypto ecosystem.  While he says he’s open to discussing his views,…

[togiweb]

‘Billions’ Season 5, Episode 2 Recap: Step Up to the Mike Season 5, Episode 2: ‘The Chris Rock Test’ Welcome to the Mike Conference, named with characteristic humility by its founder, decabillionaire Mike Prince.

[femme-snail]

The $100 Billion Club has doubled its membership. To two. Jeff Bezos, welcome back Bill <b>Gates</b>.

Of the 2,800 or so billionaires tracked by Bloomberg, 145 are worth at least $10 billion, making them decabillionaires. Now, the world contains two ... from Google Alert - gates https://ift.tt/2uj7wf9

[blockchaingeeks]

Institutions are ‘desperate’ for crypto

Institutions are ‘desperate’ for crypto

As FTX and Alameda Research increasingly enter the public eye, one side effect is that the decabillionaire is himself a growing public figure. Especially after a significant donation to Joe Biden’s campaign for the US presidency, some observers hoped that SBF would come to serve as a kind of professional lobbyist on behalf of the crypto ecosystem.  While he says he’s open to discussing his views,…