#richest company in the world 2018

[workersolidarity]

🌍 🏦💵 🚨

FIVE RICHEST BILLIONAIRES DOUBLE THEIR WEALTH SINCE 2020 WHILE 5 BILLION ARE MADE POORER

Oxfam International, a British-founded International Charitable organization based in Nairobi, Kenya, says the world's richest people have managed to double their wealth since 2020, as 5 billion people are made poorer as a result of a "decade of division."

Oxfam made the claims in a press release on its recently published report released Monday, January 15th on inequality and global corporate power called "Inequality Inc."

According to Oxfam, the world's richest people have more than doubled their wealth from $405 billion to $869 billion since 2020, a rate equivelent to $14 million per hour, while approximately 5 billion people have been made poorer in the same time period.

"If current trends continue," the statement says, "the world will have its first trillionaire within a decade but poverty won't be eradicated for another 229 years."

Oxfam looks to the Davos gathering of the world's largest corporations, pointing to the valuations of the top ten largest companies, together worth more than $10.2 trillion.

“We’re witnessing the beginnings of a decade of division, with billions of people shouldering the economic shockwaves of pandemic, inflation and war, while billionaires’ fortunes boom. This inequality is no accident; the billionaire class is ensuring corporations deliver more wealth to them at the expense of everyone else,” Oxfam's International interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar is quoted as saying.

“Runaway corporate and monopoly power is an inequality-generating machine: through squeezing workers, dodging tax, privatizing the state, and spurring climate breakdown, corporations are funneling endless wealth to their ultra-rich owners. But they’re also funneling power, undermining our democracies and our rights. No corporation or individual should have this much power over our economies and our lives —to be clear, nobody should have a billion dollars”.

According to Oxfam, Billionaires increased their wealth by $3.3 trillion since 2020, a growth rate three times faster than inflation.

Oxfam adds that, despite representing just 21% of the global population, the countries of the Global North own 69% of global wealth, with Global North countries home to 74% of global billionaire wealth.

Further, the top 1% own 43% of all global financial assets, with billionaires owning 48% of wealth in the Middle East, 50% in Asia, and 47% in Europe.

In addition to overall wealth, 148 of the world's largest corporations raked in $1.8 trillion in total net profits, a 52% increase over the period from 2018-2021.

Corporate windfalls increased to nearly $700 billion, with the report finding that for every $100 in profits made by the top 96 major corporations between July 2022 and June 2023, $82 was paid out to wealthy shareholders.

Oxfam International interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar says that “Monopolies harm innovation and crush workers and smaller businesses. The world hasn’t forgotten how pharma monopolies deprived millions of people of COVID-19 vaccines, creating a racist vaccine apartheid, while minting a new club of billionaires."

The Oxfam press release goes on to point our that people are working harder and for longer, often for poverty wages in unsafe jobs, adding that the wages of nearly 800 million people have not kept up with inflation, losing $1.5 trillion in value over the last two years, the equivalent of nearly a month's lost wages for each individual worker.

Oxfam also found that, of the 1'600 largest companies, less than 0.4% of them are publicly committed to paying employees a living wage.

Oxfam shows how a "war on taxation" by large corporations has pushed the effective tax rates on corporations to fall by a third in recent decades, while relentless privitization of public services like education and water services have expanded massively.

“We have the evidence. We know the history. Public power can rein in runaway corporate power and inequality —shaping the market to be fairer and free from billionaire control. Governments must intervene to break up monopolies, empower workers, tax these massive corporate profits and, crucially, invest in a new era of public goods and services,” said Behar.

“Every corporation has a responsibility to act but very few are. Governments must step up. There is action that lawmakers can learn from, from US anti-monopoly government enforcers suing Amazon in a landmark case, to the European Commission wanting Google to break up its online advertising business, and Africa’s historic fight to reshape international tax rules.”

Oxfam offers three notes on how governments can rectify the situation, including the following:

🔹 Revitalizing the state. A dynamic and effective state is the best bulwark against extreme corporate power. Governments should ensure universal provision of healthcare and education, and explore publicly-delivered goods and public options in sectors from energy to transportation.

🔹 Reining in corporate power, including by breaking up monopolies and democratizing patent rules. This also means legislating for living wages, capping CEO pay, and new taxes on the super-rich and corporations, including permanent wealth and excess profit taxes. Oxfam estimates that a wealth tax on the world’s millionaires and billionaires could generate $1.8 trillion a year.

🔹 Reinventing business. Competitive and profitable businesses don’t have to be shackled by shareholder greed. Democratically-owned businesses better equalize the proceeds of business. If just 10 percent of US businesses were employee-owned, this could double the wealth share of the poorest half of the US population, including doubling the average wealth of Black households.

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[theaddictedwatcher]

Hello everyone!

The series I will introduce to you today is an American science fiction series categorized as cyberpunk. Created by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island, Alita: Battle Angel) and based on the novel of the same name written by Richard K. Morgan which was written in 2002, the first season of the series was commissioned by Netflix in 2016 and was released on the streaming platform in 2018. I'm going to tell you about the Altered Carbon series.

As always, let's start with a short synopsis: In a future where humans can transfer their minds from one body to another, Takeshi Kovacs -a rebel- is brought back to life 250 years after his death to solve the vicious murder of the richest man in the world -Laurens Bancroft- in exchange for his freedom. He must find allies, pay attention to every detail, and remember what he was taught as a diplomatic corps to succeed. And a short technical presentation : - Created by Laeta Kalogridis. Based upon Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon trilogy. - Music by Jeff Russo. - Main cast: Joel Kinnaman, Renée Elise Goldsberry, James Purefoy, Kristin Lehman, Martha Higareda, Dichen Lachman, Chris Conner, Ato Essandoh, Trieu Tran, Anthony Mackie, Lela Loren, Simone Missick, Dina Shihabi, Torben Liebrecht.

THE PRODUCTION

As I said in the introduction, Netflix ordered the series in January 2016, fifteen years after Laeta Kalogridis - the series's creator- optioned the rights for a film adaptation of Richard K. Morgan's 2002 novel Altered Carbon. According to her, the complex nature of the novel and the fact that the subject matter is rated R made it difficult to sell the project to a production company. But that was before Netflix launched the project as a series! In fact, the series was one of the many dramas commissioned in a short space of time by the streaming platform, which had committed to spending $5 billion on original content and agreed to make it a project for a mature audience over the age of 16.

Laeta Kalogridis co-wrote the script and was executive producer in addition to her role as creator of the project. Richard K. Morgan, the author of the novel, acted as a consultant during the production of the series. The first season - consisting of 10 episodes - was released in 2018 and the second season - consisting of 8 episodes - will be released in 2020.

In 2018, Netflix also announced an animated film derived from the series to ‘expand the universe’ by adding new elements to the story's mythology.

Titled Altered Carbon: Resleeved and released in March 2020, a month after the release of season 2, the feature film uses character designs by manga artist Yasuo Ōtagaki (Moonlight Mile). It is written by Dai Satō (Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop) and Tsukasa Kondo, directed by Takeru Nakajima (Sword Art Online) and Yoshiyuki Okada, and produced by Anima Studio. It also features an original soundtrack by Keigo Hoashi (Square Enix's Nier franchise) and Kinuyiki Takahashi.

Following the release of the second season and the animated film, Netflix decided in April 2020 not to renew the series. Unlike the cancellation of other series, the decision to cancel Altered Carbon was not linked to the COVID pandemic but stemmed from the lack of return on viewings to the production costs. In fact, the series is the most expensive Netflix production to date and, although production costs have not been disclosed, Joel Kinnaman - who plays Takeshi Kovacs, the series' lead character - said they had “a bigger budget than the first three seasons of Game of Thrones”.

Enough introductions, it's time to get to the heart of the matter! To be perfectly honest, I didn't enjoy watching this series, but I'll come back to that later. I didn't manage to watch it in full and haven't seen the film, although I'll give it a chance one day. In my observations and remarks, there could be questions that remain with me and which may have been answered in the episodes I couldn't bring myself to watch.

THE UNIVERSE

But let's start by giving you more information about the universe into which the series plunges us. The first season takes place in 2384, in a futuristic city called Bay City. In this future, a person's memory and consciousness can be stored on a disc - called a stack - implanted in the back of their neck. The shell can be human or synthetic. In the event of physical death, these storage discs can be transferred to a new envelope. However, if a person's disk is destroyed, then their death is final. While theoretically, this means that anyone can claim immortality, in practice only the richest people - the Meths - have the means to do so through the use of clones and remote back-ups of their consciousness. But these are very expensive and so reserved for a certain financially comfortable elite.

In this reality, Takeshi Kovacs - played by Byron Mann (Skyscraper, The Big Short) in flashbacks - is a political agent with mercenary skills. He is the only surviving soldier of the Envoys, a rebel group defeated during an uprising against the New World Order.

In the first season, which takes place 250 years after the destruction of the Envoys, Kovacs' stack is pulled from the prison where Kovacs was sentenced by Meth Laurens Bancroft. Played by James Purefoy (Solomon Kane, Churchill, Rome), the 300-year-old Bancroft is one of the richest men in the established worlds. Bancroft offers Kovacs a new shell - played by Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop, Suicide Squad) - and the chance to solve a murder and get a new lease on life.

The second season of Altered Carbon begins 30 years after the conclusion of season 1 and finds Takeshi Kovacs - played by Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Civil War, Black Mirror, Notorious) - the sole surviving soldier of an elite group of interstellar warriors, continuing his age-old quest to find his lost love, Quellcrist Falconer - played by Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton, The Good Wife, Masters of Sex). The season picks up some of the characters from Broken Angels - the second book in the series - but has a plot closer to that of the third book in the series, Woken Furies.

THE POST-CYBERPUNK GENRE

The term post-cyberpunk was first used around 1991 to describe Neal Stephenson's science fiction novel Snow Crash.

In 1998, in an article entitled Notes for a post-cyberpunk manifesto, the writer and critic Lawrence Person identified the emergence of a post-cyberpunk current. Cyberpunk was popular in the late 1970s and 1980s (Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, William Gibson's Neuromancer). Lawrence Person defines post-cyberpunk as ‘bringing in characters and settings different from cyberpunk, and, above all, making fundamentally different assumptions about the future. Far from being lonely outsiders, post-cyberpunk characters are often an integral part of society. They evolve in a future that is not necessarily anti-utopian (in fact, they are often bathed in an optimism that ranges from caution to exuberance), but their daily lives remain marked by rapid technological renewal and ubiquitous computerized infrastructure.’ (Notes for a post-cyberpunk manifesto, 1998).

The following are the main differences between post-cyberpunk and cyberpunk:

Like its predecessor, post-cyberpunk describes a realistic near-future rather than distant futures set in space. The focus is on the social effects of technology deployed on Earth rather than on space travel.

Cyberpunk typically deals with addicted loners in a dystopia, whereas post-cyberpunk tends to deal with people who are more involved in society, from the middle classes of the population, and there are very detailed descriptions of the characters' environment.

The post-cyberpunk individual tends to be warm and funny, attempting seduction through optimism after years of seduction through dread with the cyberpunk individual, who is colder and more sinister.

In cyberpunk, the alienating effects of new technology are highlighted, whereas in post-cyberpunk, technology is society. Post-cyberpunk therefore allows more technocratic themes and themes relating to the downside of technology to be included than cyberpunk.

Post-cyberpunk also offers a more realistic description of computers, consisting, for example, of the replacement of traditional virtual reality by a network of voice, image, sound or holography based on the Internet, or the abandonment of metallic implants in favor of body modifications using biotechnologies (particularly nanotechnologies).

Post-cyberpunk undoubtedly emerged in part because science fiction writers and the general population were beginning to use computers, the Internet, and PDAs without suffering the massive digital divide predicted in the 1970s and 1980s. The underlying idea was therefore to humanize the construction of cyberpunk universes and bring them closer to the life that the world's population could envisage in the future with the new technologies that were flourishing. The nightmarish visions engendered by the genre, including and especially in the popular imagination, covered what such a future could contain that was desirable. This is not to say that technological paradise is just around the corner, but that it is possible to be healthy and sane in a hyper-technological universe.

Emblematic works of the genre such as Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, and the video games Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War by Ion Storm, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided by Eidos Montreal have all played a large part in democratizing the genre among a wider audience.

DIFFERENCES FROM THE NOVEL

As I haven't read the books, I'm giving you the information as I found it during my research into the series. I think I'll try to read the novels one day because, like the animated film, I'm very interested in the theme. As someone afraid of the direction our society is taking, of its relationship with technology, and in particular of its untimely and irrational use of artificial intelligence, I'm always interested in the warnings that artists try to convey through their work, whatever the medium. And I like to think that just because I didn't like an adaptation - it can happen - doesn't mean that the original material isn't worth discovering.

The first season is based on the novel Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, published in 2002. This is the first volume of a trilogy recounting the adventures of Takeshi Kovacs, a post-cyberpunk techno-thriller series set on the West Coast of the United States at the end of the twenty-fifth century. Although the adaptation retains most of the main plot points of the first volume, the series introduces several major changes to its characters and organizations:

In the novel, the Envoys are elite soldiers of the Earth-based United Nations Protectorate, the complete opposite of the rebel freedom fighters portrayed in the series, who hail from Harlan's World where Takeshi Kovacs was born.

In the book, Takeshi Kovacs was imprisoned for his independent work after leaving the Envoys, whereas in the series, Kovacs is a captured rebel.

Reileen Kawahara's character in the novel was merely Kovacs' ruthless underworld boss and had no blood relationship with him, unlike their brother/sister relationship in the series where she is played by Dichen Lachman.

The Envoy who trained Kovacs in the book was Virginia Vidaura, whereas in the series she is only a minor character. The role of her trainer and her story are carried over to the character of Quellcrist Falconer, who in the third book is the messiah-like historical figure.

Falconer's rebellion did not take place during Kovacs' training, as in the series, but long before Kovacs was born in the books.

In Richard K. Morgan's novel, the Hendrix Hotel is a crucial character. It's not just a Jimi Hendrix-themed building, but also an artificial intelligence in the guise of Jimi Hendrix that has a strange bond with its only guest, Takeshi Kovacs. With Hendrix's estate refusing to license his image for the TV series due to its violence, series's creator Laeta Kalogridis chose the likeness of Edgar Allan Poe - played by Chris Conner - and a Victorian hotel for the replacement AI in Poe's image and said it would juxtapose well with the futuristic look of Bay City.

In the books, Kristin Ortega - played by Martha Higareda- is a much less important character. The main female character in the series, the dedicated detective doesn't have a devastating fight with the Ghostwalker, nor does she get a new super-powered arm. Her subplot with her family and religion isn't explored in the book and she isn't captured and tortured by Rei - although she is tortured all the same. Also, in the book her partner is called Rodrigo, not Aboud, and he doesn't date her mother.

And these are just some of the changes that were made when the novels were adapted for Netflix.

THEMES

Let's move on to the themes addressed in this dystopian work. Many of the themes addressed by the series - such as the human-machine interface, the alliance between technology and our society, cyberspace and objective reality, hyper-urbanisation and artificial intelligence - are recurring themes in cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk works.

Because of the technological implications, the subject also raises moral questions. Is murder always immoral if it is consensual and the victim can be reimplanted in a new body in the space of a few minutes? The police themselves issue permits for spectacular fights to the death, organized in the homes of the rich, with husbands and wives teaming up to fight to the death for entertainment (the winner receiving a new, improved body).

However, another major implication was raised during the first season of Altered Carbon, which Laeta Kalogridis herself underlines: the separation of soul and body and the question of gender identity. If you could choose your own body, would you choose the one you were born with? This is a critical question for transgender people or those whose gender is fluid, and, for the show's creator, the subject was only touched on in this first season. However, she told TheWrap in 2019 that she would like to explore this dimension in more detail :

“The idea that this kind of technology creates interesting intersections between your idea of your physical self and your idea of your inner or spiritual self, or your idea of being fluid in some way, certainly the idea of reassigning your gender, becomes a whole lot easier if you don’t actually have to do it surgically. At the very least it becomes different. You are still in a body you weren’t born in. And I think exploring the idea of being able to recreate the physical self in another different way, I mean we’ve barely scratched the surface of that. And LGBTQ, and so many issues, and the ways in which we feel comfortable or uncomfortable in our physical bodies, are things that I think the show is very right to explore but has not yet been able to do. Certainly first season. We touched on it a little bit — but not much. I mean if we did get a second season — which we don’t know yet — but if we were to get a second season, I would definitely say that was one thing we frankly didn’t have time to touch on and wasn’t dealt with in the book at all. We went a little further than the book did, but honestly, it was just about time.”

What's interesting to me about these themes is that the creators - Richard K. Morgan and Laeta Kalogridis - are both aware that technological developments of all kinds are changing the structure of the world, just as cars, air travel, the Internet, and cell phones have done, and that they're not trying to wrap a soft pink cloud around the dangers that could await us in a few decades.

COSTUMES

There's one aspect that surprised me, it's the costume work in the series. Having read that the production had created approximately 2,000 costumes for the series, including 500 unique, made-to-measure pieces, I was expecting to get a real kick out of this. And although the work of Ann Foley (Marvel's Agents of SHIELD) for season 1, Cynthia Ann Summers (The Last of Us) for season 2 and their teams is visible, I was expecting more grandiose costumes, especially for the Bancrofts who are one of the wealthiest families on Earth at the time of the story. The artistic direction chosen was to make simple, realistic costumes to illustrate the fashion of the future, while adding a color palette and specific details, notably for the Meths.

However, I really like the idea of subtle costume changes for characters who use the same body envelope to differentiate them, as with Miriam Bancroft and her daughter Naomi - both played by Kristin Lehman. Upon this subject, the actress declared that she was very interested in the challenge this ambivalence would require and that it was quite different from her usual roles.

SHOOTING LOCATIONS

The series was mainly filmed at Skydance Studios in Vancouver, Canada, where they stayed for eight months to shoot the first season. Most of Altered Carbon's scenes were created on green screen and in CGI to accentuate the futuristic effect of the universe.

Lead actor Joel Kinnaman told Canadian publication K5 News about the shoot:

"We had a set three soccer pitches deep. Around 400 or 500 extras were bustling around us, it was a real living city, with noodle stores, construction workers and police officers… You could just breathe in the universe without having to imagine anything."

Some of the sets were filmed in real locations, such as Laurens Bancroft's gardens pictured above which were filmed in the Rose Garden at the University of British Columbia, or the hall of the Marine Building, which served as the Bancroft family home.

The former Canada Post building was used as the setting for the Wei Clinic, where Kovacs was tortured. The scenes with the Envoys were filmed on the Sea to Sky Gondola suspension bridge in Squamish.

Other filming locations in Vancouver included the Convention Centre West Building, the VanDusen Botanical Gardens Visitor Centre, the UBC Museum of Anthropology and the Qube.

MUSIC

Finally, I'd like to mention the work done by Jeff Russo (Umbrella Academy) and his team on the series' soundtrack, which is, to me, the only real positive point of this adaptation. What I particularly liked about their proposal is that they managed to combine very modern tracks like techno or hard rock (e.g. Karate by BABYMETAL) with much older pieces like jazz masterpieces by Django Reinhardt or even classical music (Anton Dvorak or Mozart). Mingling this alliance with the original creations composed by Jeff Russo for the series allows this soundtrack to create the unique atmosphere of each scene, making it easier for viewers to identify the characters and the stakes involved.

To be perfectly honest, when I was writing this article, I was listening to the series' soundtrack which, even outside the series, is very catchy and captivating. Even though I wasn't really hooked on the series, it allowed me to immerse myself in this universe and draw some personal reflections from it. For me, it's one of the greatest proofs of a successful composer's work: managing to draw someone into a specific universe using a few pieces of music alone.

CONCLUSION

And we are done with the Altered Carbon series. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and staying!

I'm a pretty tenacious person and don't like to give up on series along the way - even when I don't like them - so I have to admit I'm disappointed to have to add this series to the short list of abandoned series where it joins The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad (amongst others). Someday I hope that the animated film Altered Carbon: Resleeved will find favor in my eyes and redeem the adaptation of this universe, which at the moment still looks fun and interesting to explore.

Until that day comes, I'll leave you to it. Despite this setback for me, I can only advise you to follow Laeta Kalogridis' work and read this fine interview with her on the Refinery29 website, in which she talks, among other things, about her approach to nudity as a feminist weapon.

For those of you who have seen the series or read the novels, I'm curious to know your opinion, especially if it differs from mine. So feel free to leave a little comment below the article or send me a message, on the blog or on Instagram at @theaddictedwatcherreviews.

Have a great week, happy viewings, and I'll see you next time!

Eli.

[tomorrowusa]

Corporations pay their CEOs extravagantly while trying to cheat on taxes.

It would be one thing if, alongside the exorbitant executive pay, the quality of American CEO-ing was going up. But these executives are making off with bigger bags of boodle despite their persistent incompetence: Media executives keep running their businesses into the ground, tech firms are laying people off because of vibes, the planes keep nearly crashing, and examples of insane eye-popping greed—like Rite-Aid’s decision to claw back severance paid out to laid-off workers on the same day they handed their CEO a $20 million bonus—keep on coming. So it may come as no surprise that there’s a robust connection between the overindulged CEOs and the firms that are most flagrantly dodging their fair share of taxes. For a report released Wednesday, the Institute for Policy Studies teamed up with Americans for Tax Fairness to spelunk into the balance sheets at some of America’s best-known tax scofflaws between 2018 and 2022. What they found was pretty consistent: The firms took home high profits and lavished their top executives with exorbitant pay, all while stiffing Uncle Sam. The excess is stunning. “For over half (35) of these corporations,” the study reports, “their payouts to top corporate brass over that entire span exceeded their net tax payments.” An additional 29 firms managed this feat for “at least two of the five years in the study period.” Eighteen firms paid a grand total of zero dollars during that five-year span, 17 of which were given tax refunds. All in all, the 64 companies in the report “posted cumulative pre-tax domestic profits of $657 billion” during the study period, but “paid an average effective federal tax rate of just 2.8 percent (the statutory rate is 21 percent) while paying their executives over $15 billion.” Which firms are the worst of the worst? You can probably guess the company that tops the list because it’s the one run by The New Republic’s 2023 Scoundrel of the Year. During the five years of the study, Tesla took home $4.4 billion in profits as CEO Elon Musk carted off $2.28 billion in stock options, which, since his 2018 payday, have ballooned to nearly $56 billion—a compensation plan so outlandish that the Delaware Court of Chancery canceled it. Tesla has, during that same period of time, paid an effective tax rate of zero percent through a combination of carrying forward losses from unprofitable years and good old-fashioned offshore tax dodging.

Elon Musk is either the world's richest or second richest person. But he still wants more. Give him credit for pathological greed.

In all fairness, Musk is not alone when it comes to enriching himself while screwing workers.

What sort of innovations have these CEOs wrought from this well-remunerated period? T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert presided over the Sprint merger that led to $23.6 million in stock buybacks and 5,000 layoffs. Netflix’s Reed Hastings poured $15 billion in profit into jacking up subscription rates. Nextera Energy has devoted $10 million in dark money in a “ghost candidate scheme” to thwart climate change candidates. Darden Restaurants has been fighting efforts to raise the minimum wage. Metlife has been diverting government money meant to fund low-cost housing into other, unrelated buckraking ventures. And some First Energy executives from the study period are embroiled in a corruption scandal that’s so massive that even Musk might find it to be beyond the pale.

These oligarchs are going to spend lavishly to elect Republicans who would give them even bigger tax breaks.

Fortunately, they can't literally buy votes. If we return to old school grassroots precinct work then we can thwart the MAGA Republican puppets of billionaire oligarchs.

One to one contact is a more important factor than TV or online ads in convincing people to vote your way. It takes more effort, but democracy was not built by slacktivism in the first place.

[meret118]

A report published Wednesday by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) identifies 35 profitable U.S. corporations that paid their top executives more than they paid the federal government in taxes between 2018 and 2022. The list of companies includes Ford, Netflix, NextEra Energy, and Tesla—whose CEO, Elon Musk, is the second richest man in the world.

ATF and IPS found 64 companies that paid their top five executives more than they paid in taxes in at least two of the five years examined.

. . .

Tesla, which has received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies and loans, paid nothing in federal taxes during the period examined by the new report, as the electric car company carried forward losses from previous years to offset the $4.4 billion in U.S. profits it made between 2018 and 2022—the first five years of the Trump-GOP tax law that slashed rates for the rich and corporations.

Additionally, the report points to Tesla's apparent use of "accounting schemes" such as "shifting American profits to offshore tax havens.

More at the link.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Truthout:

he top 10 asset management firms now control $50 trillion of global wealth. They answer to no one but the ultrarich — the 0.05 percent — whose fortunes they continue to expand. The rest of us pay the price. Investing in everything from fossil fuel companies to private prisons to weapons manufacturers, they provide the economic lifeblood for some of the most destructive forces in the world. This not only undermines democracy, but imperils our very survival.

In his new book out this September, Titans of Capital: How Concentrated Wealth Threatens Humanity (The Censored Press & Seven Stories Press), Peter Phillips takes us deep into the world of these transnational asset management firms and the people who run them: the “Titans.” He shows how they constitute a new global elite who wield nearly unchecked power.

Peter Handel: Your new book, Titans of Capital, is a follow-up to your book, Giants: The Global Elite, which was published in 2018. Why did you feel the need to build on this earlier work?

Peter Phillips: Titans of Capital updates and expands Giants. Giants identified the 199 directors of the world’s 17 top asset-management companies, which between them managed more than $41.1 trillion in wealth. Now, five years later, in Titans of Capital, I examine the ongoing rapid concentration of global capital and how fewer and larger companies now manage the excess financial wealth for the 0.05 percent, the richest people in the world.

The number of trillion and multitrillion-dollar capital investment management companies has nearly doubled from 17 in 2017 to 31 in 2022, now collectively managing over $83 trillion. These firms hold the core of global capital wealth, with the top 10 managing $50 trillion in combined assets.

In tracing the path from Giants to Titans, I show how wealth inequality and power imbalances continue to grow and threaten everything from democracy to the environment to our personal health.

In Titans you don’t talk about the financial elite as an abstract entity. You give us specifics about who they are, what they do and how they operate politically. Who are the Titans and what should we understand about their impact on the world?

The Titans are the individuals who serve on the boards of directors of the 10 largest capital management companies in the world as of 2022: BlackRock, Vanguard Group, UBS Group, Fidelity Investments, State Street, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Amundi, Allianz/PIMCO and Capital Group.

The Titans hold the center of global capital in their hands. Governments, military, intelligence agencies, policy groups, corporate media, and other capitalists consider the Titans’ concentrated wealth to be a special interest that requires constant sociopolitical protection and support.

[reality-detective]

Rabbit Hole🐇👇

Remember, in 2018, there were Child Sex trafficking camps founded on Clinton Foundation property that Cemex had owned!

This is going to tie in a lot here!👇

Don’t forget Black And Veatch joined Cemex in their new Start up!

Who gave to McCain’s Foundation?👇

Cemex😳

Black and Veatch built bio labs for DTRA in 2003!

Who funded that?👇

Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca, the NIH and Bill Gates (there is your Finger Lakes connection)

Who is the owner of Cemex?👇

Carlos Slim

He is the 2nd largest stock holder on NY stock exchange!

Does that make sense why The NY Times hates Trump!

Who is fighting human trafficking?🤔

From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by the Forbes business magazine.

Cemex offers blood in their concrete, cement and mortar!

Cemex is linked to the Rothschilds, Bronfmans and Clinton’s!

Where the Tuscon sex trafficking camps were found is where Johnathan Rothschild was mayor!

This is Sara Bronfman!

She is the Heiress of the Bronfman fortune and invovled with NXIVM sex cult and with Haiti!

She launched a trade agreement between Canada and Libya!

Sara also took trips to Benghazi up until the attacks!

Fathom that!🤔

👇

How long have they been laundering money thru the colleges? 🤔

Let me explain! 👇

McCain Institute partnered with ASU and Thorn(think Ashton Kutcher)

McCain Institute has a board of Trustees!

Guess who is on it?👇

Lady Lynn Forrester de Rothschild of Bronfman

McCain was involved with the ASU program with the Philanthropy and Service cirriculumn!

ASU paid the Clinton Foundation 500k!

And let's not forget 👇

👇

[catdotjpeg]

BAYAN USA congratulates the workers of Jollibee in Journal Square, New Jersey for their recent campaign victories that have moved them closer and closer to a milestone win against corporate greed. After workers filed an unfair labor practice complaint to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the NLRB responded by filing its own complaint against Jollibee after finding merit that the company had unlawfully terminated and retaliated against the workers. The NLRB’s action is a result of the tireless organizing and collective action of the Jollibee workers at Journal Square, as well as the broad network of support from both Filipino and non-Filipino communities. 

BAYAN USA calls on the Filipino community and allies alike to support the Justice for Jollibee Workers Campaign’s month of action, leading up to October 11, the day Jollibee is set to appear in court for the case. 

The class enemies behind Jollibee

Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) is a billion dollar business owned by Tony Tan Caktiong, the 5th richest person in the Philippines. Caktiong is unquestionably part of the class of big comprador bourgeoisie, one that makes its living from exploiting the resources of the Philippines — including labor — for the benefit of the imperialist market. In addition to its flagship fast food brand, JFC has also “diversified” its business ventures to other restaurants (such as Chowking, Red Ribbon, Smashburger, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), and even hotel chains. Their rapid business expansion comes from the exploitation of Filipino and non-Filipino workers alike. 

In the Philippines, JFC was listed by the Department of Labor and Employment in 2018 as one of the companies with the most contractual employees, purposefully denying long-term contractual workers the right to job security and benefits. In the U.S., JFC-owned Smashburger was ordered to pay damages to 241 employees after being found to have violated New York City’s paid and sick leave laws. 

A large factor in the aggressive growth of JFC is, in fact, the overseas expansion of Jollibee itself. Capitalizing off the forced migration of millions of Filipinos to every corner of the world, Caktiong has been able to profit off the nostalgia of OFWs and Filipinos in diaspora. In 2021, overseas markets contributed to around 40 percent of JFC’s overall revenue. And in 2022, almost one quarter of Jollibee’s revenues came from U.S. sales alone: $31 million out of $135 million. Even now, JFC has an aggressive plan to expand Jollibee by 500 stores in the next 5 to 7 years in North America.

These facts reveal how bold-faced of a lie the Jollibee Journal Square upper management team’s “reason” was for firing the workers: that the store was supposedly “losing money” and thus had to let workers go. In response to the NLRB’s complaint, Jollibee even admitted that it had actually made hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue over the past 12 months, before and during the terminations that happened in February this year. 

As JFC celebrates its 45th anniversary with the theme “#JoyfulTogether”, it is clear that only comprador capitalists like Caktiong remain joyful, while the workers live in misery. Despite painting a picture of family between management and workers, the class interests of the capitalists and the workers are irreconcilable. 

No help from the Philippine government

BAYAN USA also calls to question the inaction of the Philippine government in such a high profile case. Both the Department of Foreign Affairs through its Philippine Consul General in New York, as well as the Department of Migrants Workers through its U.S.-based Migrant Workers Offices, are charged with providing service and assistance to Philippine nationals facing employment-related complaints. 

Yet there has not been even a single word from the government since the campaign went public in July. If the representatives of the Philippine government in the Northeast were in tune with our community, they would know that many of the workers at the Journal Square store — and many other locations, for that matter — are still Philippine passport-holders, and thus entitled to assistance. At the end of the day, it is no wonder why the government remains silent. The interests of the big comprador capitalist class are intertwined with those in political power.

Justice for Jollibee Workers!

The victories of the Jollibee Journal Square workers are proof that when workers unite, get organized and take action together  to demand for higher wages, better working conditions, and an end to exploitative systems, change can happen. BAYAN USA encourages Filipino workers across the country to learn from and be inspired by their fight. We pledge to be there in support of the hundreds of other workers’ struggles for higher wages and better working conditions just waiting to be launched. 

To the broad public, join us in conducting public education, gathering signatures, holding rallies, and releasing solidarity statements in support of the Jollibee workers. Let us continue uplifting their demands for reinstatement, back pay and compensation, a public apology, and for JFC to notify and inform workers of their rights in all stores. Beyond this current fight, let us also drum up the demand for a living wage and the right to organize for Jollibee workers in Journal Square and everywhere.

Justice for Jollibee Workers! Get organized! Fight for higher wages and better working conditions! Defend the right to organize! Defend workers rights! The fight of Jollibee workers is the fight of the entire Filipino community!

-- "Organize and Fight! All-Out Support for the Justice 4 Jollibee Workers Campaign" from BAYAN USA, 1 Oct 2023

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

On September 27, I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine. On October 2, I'll be in Boise to host an event with VE Schwab.

#20yrsago WKRP in Cincinnati redacted to save on license fees https://web.archive.org/web/20031001172254/http://members.allstream.net/~jacjud/wkrpmusic.html

#15yrsago Rockbox 3.0: revive old iPod with free/open software https://ostatic.com/blog/rockbox-3-0-released-quietly

#10yrsago Love Song for Internet Trolls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjmBQZNG8L0

#10yrsago Adding some evidence to copyright’s “evidence-free zone” https://archives.cjr.org/cloud_control/empirical_ip.php?page=all

#10yrsago Beijing’s “mystery rooms”: single-room funhouses https://kotaku.com/escape-from-chinas-mystery-rooms-1369688560

#10yrsago Easyjet tells law professor he can’t fly because he tweeted critical remarks about airline https://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/09/25/easyjet-under-fire-after-claims-it-refused-let-drum-columnist-mark-leiser-board

#10yrsago The Coldest Girl in Coldtown: dangerous, bloody vampire YA novel https://memex.craphound.com/2013/09/25/the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown-dangerous-bloody-vampire-ya-novel/

#5yrsago Big Tech is building a $80B capex wall around its empire https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-24/tech-companies-spend-80-billion-building-a-competitive-edge

#5yrsago A CRISPR-based hack could eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/09/24/650501045/mosquitoes-genetically-modified-to-crash-species-that-spreads-malaria

#5yrsago There’s a literal elephant in machine learning’s room https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.03305

#5yrsago To fix Canadian copyright, let creators claim their rights back after 25 years https://theconversation.com/everything-he-does-he-does-it-for-us-why-bryan-adams-is-on-to-something-important-about-copyright-103674

#5yrsago The world’s richest families got MUCH richer, thanks to the stock market https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-24/ultra-rich-families-ride-surging-stocks-to-double-annual-returns

#5yrsago DNA ancestry tests are bullshit https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/9912822/DNA-ancestry-tests-branded-meaningless.html

#5yrsago Incredibly sensible notes on software engineering, applicable to the wider world https://medium.com/s/story/notes-to-myself-on-software-engineering-c890f16f4e4d

#5yrsago Hank Green’s “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing”: aliens vs social media fame vs polarization https://memex.craphound.com/2018/09/25/hank-greens-an-absolutely-remarkable-thing-aliens-vs-social-media-fame-vs-polarization/

#1yrago McKinsey and Providence colluded to force poor patients into destitution https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/25/criminal-conspiracy/#payment-is-expected

[mariacallous]

Watching what’s going on at Twitter is like watching a guy losing his mind in slow motion. The guy in question is Elon Musk, who once upon a time was the world’s richest man and now isn’t. (That slot is apparently occupied by Bernard Arnault, the luxury goods mogul.)

Musk is in a hole but apparently doesn’t know Denis Healey’s First Law of Holes: when you’re in one, stop digging. The funny thing is that he dug the hole himself. First, he paid way over the odds for Twitter. Then, when Tesla shares (the main source of his wealth) tanked, and Twitter’s share price dropped, he tried to get out of the deal. That failed, so he was forced to borrow a lot of money – incurring interest payments of around a billion dollars a year – thereby becoming the reluctant owner of a loss-making company. And he hasn’t the faintest idea of how to make it work.

So he’s thrashing around, doing one contradictory thing after another. He started by firing half of the staff, including quite a few key people who knew how hard it is to run a social media platform. He demanded that highly skilled software engineers print out their code on paper so that he could give it the once-over. He rescinded the bans that the company had imposed on legions of rightwing nutters and then discovered that many advertisers, who are the company’s main source of revenue, pulled out, anxious lest their corporate brands get tainted by proximity to lunacy, hate speech and white supremacist cant. He even rescinded the ban on Donald Trump, only to find that Trump was no longer interested in being on the platform.

He took to sleeping on a sofa in Twitter’s San Francisco HQ, babbling about a “code red” crisis, the need to “clear the decks of any prior wrongdoing and move forward with a clean slate” and describing the company as a “crime scene”. To find some evidence for this, he commissioned two journalists to go through stacks of internal records of moderation decisions made long before he owned the company. Reports suggest that the documents merely show staff panicking about the radicalisation of the US right before and after the election and trying to react to events such as the storming of the Capitol building in Washington on 6 January 2021 – in other words, no smoking gun.

And all the while, Musk has continued his maniacal tweeting. He tweeted a white rabbit, for example, which the QAnon crowd interpreted as a sign of support. He misread a blog post by the former head of trust and safety at Twitter and insinuated he was a paedophile, prompting others to label the man a “groomer”. (This chimed with his 2018 accusation that one of the team that rescued a group of children from a cave in Thailand was a “pedo guy”.) The other day, he tweeted that “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci” – a multipurpose and daft insult revealing, among other things, that Musk doesn’t actually know how this “pronouns” business works.

One could go on, but you get the point. The guy is flailing around and Twitter has become “The Musk Experience”, as the blogger Helen Lewis puts it. Meanwhile, the world’s media watch in morbid fascination. How can the world’s second richest man – the guy who transformed the automobile industry and built rockets that can deliver payloads into orbit and return to land accurately and safely on ocean-going rafts – be making such a mess of reforming a mere social media platform. After all, that doesn’t require rocket science, right?

For the answer, we need look no further than Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Elon Musk is our contemporary gothic horror story. On the one hand, we have Dr Elon, a restless genius who transformed PayPal and used the proceeds to build two world-changing companies. Nobody who has seen him at work in these outfits doubts that he is fully on top of the technology and the business. Watch him on a tour of a SpaceX installation, for example, talking to the engineers who are building the kit and you see a CEO who really knows what he – and they – are doing. Likewise, ask him what’s special about the electric motors in the Tesla Model 3 or the Model S Plaid and you’re in for an interesting hour’s tutorial. In that sense, Dr Elon is the spiritual heir of Henry Ford, the genius who invented a new way of manufacturing complicated products at scale and, in doing so, changed the world.

And then, on the other hand, we have Mr Musk, a narcissistic man-child with a pathetic craving for attention, the attention span of a newt and a maximalist interpretation of what is meant by “free speech”. This creature now controls a platform that plays a small but significant role in the global public sphere. Run properly and with a viable business model, Twitter could continue to play a useful role in our lives. But for that to happen, Dr Elon would have to be in charge. And at the moment he’s missing in action.

[zenruption]

Is Vladimir Putin The Richest Man On Earth?

Among the very rich, it is an open secret that many believe Vladimir Putin is the richest person on the planet. Individuals like Elon Musk's net worth is largely calculable due to their public holdings in companies like Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX. When there is a change in value or earnings, there is a respective change in net worth.

With Putin, however, his wealth is related to Oligarchs and his stranglehold on opaque business practices. Even the modest estimates of Putin’s wealth make him a billionaire. How a KGB agent turned President amassed a billion dollars in wealth is not a story of innovation but exploitation.

Although the exact net worth of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is not publicly known, his personal wealth is shrouded in secrecy. However, many reports suggest that Putin's personal wealth could be in the billions of dollars.

In 2015, Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky claimed that Putin's personal net worth was $200 billion, making him the richest person in the world. However, this figure has not been independently verified and is widely regarded as an exaggeration.

Other estimates of Putin's net worth are more conservative, but still suggest that he is extremely wealthy. In 2018, for example, the former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, estimated Putin's net worth at $1.4 billion.

It's important to note that Putin's wealth is largely speculative and based on circumstantial evidence, given the lack of transparency surrounding his personal finances. Additionally, Putin has denied having any significant personal wealth, and the Russian government has dismissed claims of his vast personal fortune as baseless

The rankings of the world's richest people often fluctuate due to changes in the stock market, investments, and other factors. However, according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list (as of March 31, 2023), the five richest people in the world are currently:

1. Elon Musk: The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has a net worth of $163.6 billion.

2. Bernard Arnault & family: The CEO of LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) has a net worth of $160.2 billion.

3. Jeff Bezos: The founder and former CEO of Amazon has a net worth of $115.8 billion.

4. Bill Gates: The co-founder of Microsoft has a net worth of $103.2 billion.

5. Mark Zuckerberg: The co-founder and CEO of Facebook has a net worth of $96.6 billion.

It's worth noting that these rankings are subject to change and may be different depending on the source and methodology used to calculate net worth.

[cassidylxioa]

13 August 2021, Brandenburg, Grünheide: Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands in the foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory during a press event. The first vehicles are scheduled to roll off the production line in Grünheide near Berlin from the end of 2021. The US company plans to build around 500,000 units of the compact Model 3 and Model Y series here each year.

TWITTER

A REMINDER OF JUST SOME OF THE TERRIBLE THINGS ELON MUSK HAS SAID AND DONE

From regularly attacking his perceived enemies to running a company accused of rampant racism and sexism, it’s not hard to see why so many people are up in arms about him taking over Twitter.

BY BESS LEVIN

APRIL 26, 2022

Elon Musk Tesla CEO stands in the foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory during a press event.

13 August 2021, Brandenburg, Grünheide: Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands in the foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory during a press event. The first vehicles are scheduled to roll off the production line in Grünheide near Berlin from the end of 2021. The US company plans to build around 500,000 units of the compact Model 3 and Model Y series here each year. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)PICTURE ALLIANCE

Like the employees of Twitter, who reportedly reacted to yesterday’s news with “shock and dismay,” a lot of people are not enthused about the idea of Elon Musk buying the social media network. But now, he is, and if you’re not familiar with the guy, or just think of him as the dude who sells electric cars and is really into space, you might be wondering why so many people are up in arms. And the answer is: He’s a huge jerk! Who regularly uses his massive platform and other sources of power to do bad things!

Online, those things have included:

ADVERTISEMENT

Claiming in March 2020 that people worried about the coronavirus were “dumb”

Predicting on March 19, 2020, that the U.S. was going to have “close to zero new cases” by the end of April

Questioning the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, and baselessly asserting that there were “quite a few negative reactions” to getting a second shot

Likening Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to Hitler

Saying the U.S. government shouldn‘t provide subsidies to companies after receiving billions in subsidies from the U.S government

Using Twitter to engage in securities fraud

Tweeting, “Pronouns suck”

Tweeting misogynistic things at Senator Elizabeth Warren because she said he should pay more in taxes

Writing to Bernie Sanders, who also thinks the richest man in the world should pay more in taxes, “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive”

Tweeting dumb, sexist jokes

Tweeting a photo of Bill Gates and writing, “in case u need to lose a boner fast”

Tweeting in 2018 that Tesla factory workers could lose their stock options if they unionized

Baselessly accusing a British cave diver instrumental in rescuing a trapped football team of being a “pedo guy” because he, like others, said Musk’s idea to send in a submarine wouldn’t work

ADVERTISEMENT

While off-line, and more consequentially:

Reopening a Tesla factory in violation of public health orders, where 450 cases were subsequently recorded

Running a company (Tesla) that was ordered to pay nearly $137 million to a former Black employee who said the company ignored repeated complaints that he was called the N-word and that his colleagues “had drawn swastikas and scratched a racial epithet in a bathroom stall and left drawings of derogatory caricatures of Black children around the factory.” (In a message to Tesla employees, a human resources executive downplayed the man’s allegations, noting he was a contractor, not a full-time staffer, and that other witnesses had said that while they heard racial slurs, they were used in a “friendly” manner. The H.R. executive added that the company was “not perfect” at the time of the incidents, and “is still not perfect,” but has “come a long way.”)

Running a company (Tesla), where a female worker said sexual harassment was “rampant,” alleging “nightmarish conditions” and a factory that “more resembles a crude, archaic construction site or frat house than a cutting-edge company in the heart of the progressive San Francisco Bay area.” (The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Washington Post, which noted Tesla “does not typically respond to press inquiries.”)

Running a company (Tesla) that employees have called a “modern-day sweatshop” (In response, Telsa said it abided by California laws.)

Attempting to “destroy a Tesla whistleblower”

Reportedly exploding at “executives and lower-ranking workers” alike, and allegedly firing people who disagreed with him (Musk has denied allegations that he goes on firing sprees)

Announcing Tesla’s headquarters would move to Texas one month after the state effectively banned all abortions

Paying a private investigator $50,000 to dig up dirt on the cave diver he called “pedo guy”That’s a disturbing list for a random person not taking over a company that plays a role in millions of people’s lives, and exponentially more so for one who is.

Musk has said that Twitter should avoid getting involved in content regulation, and given his documented history of spreading misinformation, attacking his perceived enemies, and retaliating against individuals who he thinks have wronged him, it’s not hard to see why. Which is more than a little worrisome to people who already think Twitter has a problem with misinformation and abuse (particularly towards women). Musk claims he needs to rescue Twitter from its current owners, who he thinks do not respect the First Amendment. But, as many have pointed out, “no one has a legal right to tweet—that is, to post on Twitter, a platform owned by a private company,” and the First Amendment, for zillionaires who are unaware, is about protection from government entities restricting what people are allowed to say, not privately held social media networks. That’s how, for example, Musk can get away with allegedly firing Tesla employees who disagree with him. Whereas with Twitter, he apparently wants to manipulate the idea of what “free speech” means, and has suggested he’ll allow people to say whatever they want without consequence, even if what they want to say constitutes harassment or threats or the kind of misinformation that poses a genuine risk to people’s lives. Which, as the above list suggests, is very much his thing.

[afashionz]

Top Ten Richest Person of Pakistan – 2024

Are you curious about the richest individuals in Pakistan for 2024 and how they have accumulated their wealth? Here’s a look at the top ten wealthiest people in Pakistan, notable for their significant business accomplishments and political influence. These prominent figures have made substantial contributions to various sectors and have become well-known public personalities.

Richest People in Pakistan for 2024

10. Malik Riaz Hussain Malik Riaz Hussain is a prominent Pakistani businessman and investor, known for founding Bahria Town, the largest privately-owned real estate development company in Asia. Born on February 8, 1954, in Rawalpindi, he is currently the seventh richest person in Pakistan with an estimated net worth of 3,000 billion Rupees. His wealth primarily stems from property investments.

9. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is a well-known Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Pakistan three times and as Chief Minister of Punjab twice. Born on December 25, 1949, in Lahore, he is a significant political figure with substantial wealth, accumulated through his business ventures and political career.

8. Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari, a former President of Pakistan (2008-2013) and former chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party, was born on July 26, 1955, in Karachi. His wealth comes from various business interests and his influential role in politics. He has been a member of the National Assembly since August 2018.

7. Mian Muhammad Mansha Mian Muhammad Mansha is a leading Pakistani business magnate and billionaire, known for founding and leading the Nishat Group, a major international conglomerate based in Lahore. Born on December 1, 1947, in Lahore, he is also recognized for being one of the highest tax payers in Pakistan. His name appeared in the Paradise Papers in 2017 due to links with offshore companies.

6. Muhammad Anwar Pervez Muhammad Anwar Pervez, a British-Pakistani businessman, is the founder and chairman of Bestway. According to the Sunday Times Rich List UK, his net worth was £3.09 billion in 2018, making him one of the wealthiest individuals of Pakistani origin. Born in Rawalpindi in March 1935, he moved to the UK at 21.

5. Sadruddin Hashwani Sadruddin Hashwani is a prominent Pakistani billionaire and writer, known for founding the Hashoo Group, which operates the Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts. Born on February 19, 1940, in Karachi, he is one of the wealthiest people in Pakistan with an estimated net worth of $8 billion.

4. Shahid Khan Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American billionaire, is renowned for owning the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL and Fulham F.C. of the English Premier League. He is also the owner of Flex-N-Gate, an automobile parts manufacturer. Born on July 18, 1950, in Lahore, Khan's diverse investments have made him a prominent figure in both the business and sports worlds.

3. Abdul Razzak Yaqoob Abdul Razzak Yaqoob was a notable Pakistani gold bullion trader who founded ARY Gold and the ARY Media Group in the UAE. Born on May 7, 1944, in Karachi, he passed away on February 21, 2014. His legacy includes significant contributions to the gold industry and media.

2. Nasir Schon Nasir Schon, the owner and CEO of Schon Group, is a major business leader in Pakistan. With a net worth of $1 billion, Schon has made a mark in various business ventures. Born in Pakistan, he was one of the first in the country to own a Rolls-Royce luxury car, highlighting his significant wealth and success.

1. Jahangir Khan Tareen Jahangir Khan Tareen is currently the richest person in Pakistan. A politician and industrialist, he was born in Bangladesh in 1953 and later moved to Pakistan. Tareen holds an MBA from the USA and has been influential in both the business sector, with ownership of sugar mills and farmhouses, and in politics, serving as General Secretary of PTI and a member of the National Assembly. His recent position in the wealth rankings reflects his continued success and influence.

These individuals have played crucial roles in shaping Pakistan's business and political landscape, accumulating substantial wealth through their diverse ventures and influential positions

[kp777]

By Jake Johnson

Common Dreams

Aug. 20, 2024

Gabriel Zucman, a leading authority on tax evasion by the rich, welcomed news that Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is embracing proposals to tax the ultra-wealthy and large corporations.

An economist at the forefront of the growing global push for a billionaire wealth tax is welcoming news that U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is embracing calls for a minimum levy on the United States' richest individuals.

"Let's go!" Gabriel Zucman, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote Tuesday in response to Semaforreporting on the Harris team's endorsement of taxes on ultra-wealthy individuals and large corporations proposed in President Joe Biden's budget for Fiscal Year 2025.

Semafor highlighted a "little-noticed portion" of an analysis released late last week by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which wrote that Harris' campaign "specifically told us that they support all of the tax increases on the high earners and corporations that are in the Biden budget."

That budget blueprint includes a 25% minimum tax on billionaire wealth, much of which is unrealized capital gains that are not currently subject to taxation. A recent analysis by Americans for Tax Fairness estimated that U.S. billionaires and centi-millionaires collectively held at least $8.5 trillion in unrealized capital gains in 2022—a massive untapped source of federal revenue.

U.S. billionaires have seen their collective fortunes grow by more than $2 trillion since former President Donald Trump—the GOP's 2024 nominee—signed into law massive tax breaks for the rich and big corporations. Trump has campaigned on extending the deeply regressive and unpopular tax cuts and slashing rates for large companies even further.

Surging billionaire wealth at a time when roughly two-thirds of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck has amplified calls for a minimum tax on the richest Americans. Zucman noted in a May New York Times piece that in 2018, U.S. billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans for the first time in the nation's history.

"The idea that billionaires should pay a minimum amount of income tax is not a radical idea," Zucman wrote in May. "What is radical is continuing to allow the wealthiest people in the world to pay a smaller percentage in income tax than nearly everybody else."

Polling has shown that a 25% tax on billionaire wealth is extremely popular with U.S. voters across the political spectrum. A survey in March of last year by Data for Progress found that 87% of Democrats, 68% of Independents and third-party voters, and 51% of Republicans back the idea.

A spokesperson for the Harris campaign confirmed to NBC News on Monday that in addition to backing the push for a minimum tax on billionaires, the vice president supports raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% as a way to help finance parts of her broader economic agenda, which includes an expanded child tax credit and substantial assistance for first-time homebuyers.

The campaign spokesperson called the move—which would still leave the corporate tax rate lower than it was when Trump first took office in 2017—a "fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share."

[ejesgistnews]

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, World's Richest Woman, Loses $13 Billion in 2024.     Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the world’s wealthiest woman and heiress to the L’Oréal fortune, has faced a significant financial setback in 2024, losing $13.1 billion of her net worth over the first seven months of the year.   This decline, which brings her fortune down to $86 billion from nearly $100 billion at the start of the year, reflects broader challenges within the luxury beauty and fashion sectors. The Bloomberg Billionaire Index reports that Bettencourt Meyers’ wealth reduction mirrors the difficulties faced by other luxury industry titans, such as Bernard Arnault, the head of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH).   Read Also : EFCC Detains NAHCON Chairman, Secretary Over N90 Billion Hajj Subsidy Scam   The downturn in Bettencourt Meyers' fortune is closely tied to her substantial stake in L’Oréal, the global cosmetics giant, which has been adversely impacted by a slowdown in the Chinese market. As a result, L’Oréal shares have fallen by 14.25% year-to-date, stoking investor concerns over the company’s growth prospects in key markets.   L’Oréal’s Response to Market Challenges In response to the challenges facing the luxury market, L’Oréal has been actively working to diversify its portfolio. One significant move is the planned acquisition of a 10% stake in the Swiss skincare company Galderma, valued at $1.85 billion. This strategic investment, which involves purchasing shares from Sunshine SwissCo AG—a consortium that includes Swedish private equity firm EQT, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd.—is part of L’Oréal’s broader effort to strengthen its position in the global skincare market and reduce its reliance on more volatile luxury segments. Additionally, L’Oréal has continued to invest in its workforce through the expansion of its Employee Share Ownership Plan, launched in 2018. This plan, now available in 63 countries, allows employees to purchase L’Oréal shares at a 20% discount. Over 37,000 employees have participated in the initiative, which aims to align their interests with the company’s long-term growth and values. Nicolas Hieronimus, Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal Groupe, emphasized that this plan reflects the company’s commitment to fostering a sense of shared ownership and responsibility among its employees. About Francoise Bettencourt Meyers Françoise Bettencourt Meyers controls approximately one-third of L’Oréal, the world’s largest cosmetics company. She became chairwoman of the holding company that manages the family’s stake following the death of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, in 2017. Under her leadership, L’Oréal has continued to thrive, generating €41.2 billion ($44.5 billion) in revenue in 2023. The Bettencourt family has received more than €10 billion ($11.2 billion) in dividends from L’Oréal over the years, according to analyses of company filings and market data. Beyond her business acumen, Bettencourt Meyers is deeply involved in philanthropy. She oversees her family’s charitable foundation, which is dedicated to advancing French sciences and arts. Notably, following the 2019 Notre Dame Cathedral fire, the Bettencourt Meyers family, along with L’Oréal, donated $226 million towards the restoration efforts.   This philanthropic commitment highlights Bettencourt Meyers’ influence not only in the business world but also in cultural and social spheres.   As L’Oréal navigates the complexities of the current market environment, Bettencourt Meyers remains a central figure in the luxury industry, with her wealth and influence continuing to shape the future of the sector.

[sberg0]

2023: the Beginning?

February 4, 2024 - In the year just completed the news was full of big stories about war, greed and hatred. At the same time, there were quieter developments that showed the potential for more sharing and problem-solving, a countervailing aspect of humanity throughout history. If the human race makes real progress in the coming decades or centuries, it could be because some things started to change in 2023.

A livable climate

Much of the change has been in response to global warming. There is a lot to do, in fact we’ve barely begun, with stakes that could include the survival of human civilization. Big stories included that 2023 was the hottest year worldwide since such records were kept, and that there is still insufficient commitment to any realistic worldwide plan to head off disaster. Quiet news included increasing acceptance that climate change is happening, that it’s caused by humans burning carbon, that work on a worldwide plan continues, and, in all kinds of big and small ways, people were figuring out how to make things better:

Policies changed as reported by the League of Conservation Voters in 29 states, including commitments to clean energy that now cover 40 percent of the U.S. population. Candidates for office in other states pledged to do more.

Research showed how money made by climate polluting companies flowed largely to the richest households, and that the public supported tax policies to collect much of that money to pay for interventions.

Huge deposits of lithium, used to manufacture batteries that are part of solar energy systems, were discovered in Oregon and Nevada, making it easier for solar to spread in the U.S.

European rail systems introduced a new generation of sleeping cars, improving the prospects for rail, the most climate-friendly means of long-range overland travel.

A worldwide review indicated that a tipping point has been reached, and that solar energy is on its way to dominating world energy supplies.

The European Parliament set strict limits on carbon-fueled cars.

Research demonstrated the efficacy of personal carbon allowances, a policy that’s relatively easy to implement.

Advances continued in battery technology and resulting lowering of costs for solar power applications.

Still a lot to do, but lots being done.

Sharing

In order to rectify maldistribution of wealth and income, it’s necessary that people insist that it happen. Karl Marx wrote that feudalistic economies develop into capitalistic, improving production and living standards of many people. Recent decades and world-wide experience have born him out, as the incidence of severe poverty has declined markedly in many countries.

Workers demanded a better share of this bounty in 2023. U.S. labor activism unlike any in recent decades produced good results. The whole country of France exploded into demonstrations and strikes when the government moved to reduce pensions. More nuanced, a study provided evidence for elements of the theory of “Bullshit Jobs,” a theory that was formalized and popularized in a book of that name in 2018, showing that many workers consider their jobs to be objectively useless to society, demonstrating that there is no widespread commitment to the current system.

Equity

True equity around race remains unfulfilled. There was plenty of news in 2023 about Black people facing discrimination. But organizing continued, and recognition continued in some quarters. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a draft rule requiring communities that receive HUD money to use it to affirmatively further fair housing, to undo damage done by housing practices that kept (and keep) Black people in limited neighborhoods without quality services and conditions. This requirement was included in the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (that’s right, 1968) but never implemented or enforced by the federal government. Next steps for HUD are to issue the rule in final form, enforce it universally, and provide the know-how that communities will need.

Food, water and housing

In places where Marx’s transition to capitalism took place long ago, inequality and poverty remain. But food, water, housing, the basic human needs - things happened in 2023 that could make it more likely that they’ll be achieved for everyone. Threats to water, exacerbated by global warming, received quiet attention, as did the point of view that indigenous people have a relationship with land and water that makes them the best leaders in fights to preserve it, a role many of them appear willing to take on, for which I am so, so grateful. A new process of water desalination, solar powered, promises inexpensive fresh water anywhere near an ocean.

Congress provided incrementally more housing for people with the the lowest incomes, and more people are asking why only a quarter of those eligible for federal housing assistance actually receive it. Meanwhile the technology of food production advanced in many small ways.

Health

Advancements in technology led to better understanding of the human body and new ways to maintain it. There were new studies of evolution, from the earliest emergence of living cells to the development of modern humans. Medical advances in the treatment of atrial fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia affecting millions of Americans, made it less debilitating, warding off hospital stays for people like me (thank you, Dr. O’Donoghue). The “cancer moonshot” announced by Joe Biden as Vice President in 2016 was reignited and continued to provide federal funding for research, producing many large and small advances in prevention and treatment. More down to earth, a company developed BPClip, a low-cost smartphone attachment that allows constant monitoring of blood pressure, a key to preventing and controlling a number of dangerous health conditions.

The percent of Americans covered by health insurance remained at the high rate it skyrocketed to after the advent of Obamacare, and the number of states that haven’t expanded Medicaid dropped below twenty percent. (Politicians in AL, FL, GA, KS, MS, SC, TN, TX, WI, WY - What is your problem??)

Tech

Artificial intelligence was in the news a lot, including writing some of the news. What got less coverage was promising international agreements to control artificial intelligence, so that nightmare science fiction scenarios would not occur. Meanwhile massive expansions in computing power and speed were attained.

The universe

New understandings of the beginnings of the universe, its current state, and how it might end continued to come out. This showed the potential to develop new materials, inspire our imagination, and maybe write better science fiction.

What does it mean?

People are endlessly curious, driven to solve problems. That’s always been the case. What might be a new thing, or at least a thing that’s been covered up by a dominant narrative of hierarchy to maintain order, is a hint of a new era, based on mutual respect and love, where nobody, nobody has to worry about starving or dying of hypo- or hyperthermia or thirst, or about the trauma of discrimination, and we can concentrate on building a shared culture that is worth surviving for. Will that be where humanity is when our great-great-grandchildren are writing the history of the time we’re in now? If so, there’ll be plenty to write about.

[speedyposts]

Why has a court blocked Elon Musk’s $56bn Tesla pay?

A Delaware judge has scrapped a $55.8bn compensation package for Tesla boss Elon Musk after years of legal arguments about his pay. Tesla stocks dropped 2 percent after the ruling before recovering to close at just over $187 a share.

Wednesday’s ruling came after a shareholder sued Tesla directors in 2018 in the Delaware Court of Chancery, claiming that Musk was overcompensated. The pay package, agreed in 2018 to be paid out over 10 years after Musk hit certain targets, was the biggest in United States corporate history. It contributed to Musk’s standing as the world’s richest man as the CEO hit the dozen targets set by 2023. Musk may appeal the ruling but has not indicated whether he will.

.adtnl4-container { width: 100%; max-width: 100%; background-color: #34495e; border-radius: 10px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 10px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); margin: 20px auto; } .adtnl4-banner { width: 100%; max-height: 200px; overflow: hidden; } .adtnl4-banner img { width: 100%; height: auto; max-height: 200px; object-fit: cover; } .adtnl4-content { width: 100%; padding: 20px; box-sizing: border-box; text-align: left; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; color: #ecf0f1; background-color: #34495e; } .adtnl4-title a { font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px; color: #fff; text-decoration: none; } .adtnl4-description { font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.6; color: #fff; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 5px; } .adtnl4-learn-more-button { display: inline-block; padding: 10px 20px; font-size: 1em; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; background-color: #e74c3c; color: #fff; border-radius: 5px; transition: background-color 0.3s; } .adtnl4-learn-more-button:hover { background-color: #c0392b; } .adtnl4-marker a { font-size: 0.8em; color: #ccc; }

How to Get AdSense Approval Quickly a Personal Journey to Monetizing a Niche Blog

I will share my personal journey of getting AdSense approval quickly for my blog focused on the SME

Read Article

Ads by NSMEJ

Speaking in court, Judge Kathaleen McCormick said the amount was “unfathomable” and blamed Tesla’s leadership for not properly informing shareholders about it.

The ruling saw Musk drop a notch on the world’s richest people list by Forbes, becoming the world’s second richest person after Bernard Arnault, boss of the French fashion and cosmetics empire LVMH.

Here’s what we know about Musk’s pay deal and why it was controversial:

Musk, who founded Tesla in 2003, does not receive a salary from the electric carmaker. He agreed to the $56bn compensation package in 2018 to cover a period of 10 years. 

The deal awarded Musk stock worth about 1 percent of Tesla’s equity each time the company achieved one of its operational and financial goals, such as ambitious aims set in 2018 to increase the Tesla market cap from $59bn to $650bn within 10 years. This meant hitting targets set for Tesla’s share price and the company’s profitability. Musk hit all 12 targets set by Tesla by 2023.

The package helped boost Musk’s personal worth and made him the highest paid CEO in the US. According to Forbes, the tycoon was worth from $198bn to $220bn in November.

Tesla is currently worth $596bn and is ranked the ninth largest US company by valuation.

Tesla’s lawyers argued that the pay package was designed to incentivise Musk as the company increased production of its Tesla Model 3. The CEO, a controversial figure because of his public takes on world affairs, is also head of the spacecraft company SpaceX and social media site X, formerly Twitter.

Richard Tornetta, an individual Tesla shareholder, filed the lawsuit against Musk and senior Tesla executives in 2018, arguing that the package was excessive and the board had not acted independently.

Tornetta, a drummer who was once in the heavy metal band Dawn of Correction, owned just nine of Tesla’s 3.1 billion shares in 2018 when he filed the suit. His shares are worth about $1,700 today. According to the court, Tornetta’s lawyers will be compensated by Tesla.

Gregory Varallo, Tornetta’s lawyer, argued that Tesla shareholders were not informed how easily Tesla’s financial goals would be achieved when they voted on the package and Musk, who owns more than 411 million shares (just over 12 percent), did not need further incentives.

Varallo also said the board did not disclose that Musk had designed the pay package himself or how close Musk was to some of Tesla’s payment committee members, such as Antonio Gracias and Ira Ehrenpreis, who the CEO has had personal and business relationships with for several years.

When it was announced, the deal sparked debate about widening pay inequalities at US companies and drew criticism from organisations such as the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, a major pension fund and a holder of Tesla shares.

Researchers said US CEOs were paid 399 times more than the average worker in 2021.

Outside the US, pay disparities are also pervasive. The High Pay Centre analysed 350 companies in the United Kingdom in 2022 and found that the difference in average pay between CEOs and other employees had hit a ratio of 57 to 1. At some companies, the pay gap between CEOs and the lowest-income workers was as high as 75 to 1.

In a poll carried out by the organisation, 76 percent of respondents said CEOs should not earn more than 20 times the pay of middle- and low-income colleagues. Oil giant British Petroleum and shoe retailer JD recorded the widest pay gaps.

What did the judge say and what happens to the package now? 

In her 201-page opinion, McCormick said Tesla’s board had failed to protect shareholders.

She noted that the Tesla executives who voted for the package were well known to Musk although the CEO and his brother, Kimbal Musk, a major shareholder, recused themselves from the vote.

“Swept up by the rhetoric of ‘all upside,’ or perhaps starry eyed by Musk’s superstar appeal, the board never asked the $55.8 billion question: Was the plan even necessary for Tesla to retain Musk and achieve its goals?” the judge wrote.

Tesla must submit a new pay package to McCormick at a yet undefined time. The judge will then approve and finalise the ruling.

Musk’s lawyers may appeal although it’s not yet clear if that will happen.

Musk conducted a poll on X on Wednesday, asking users if Tesla should change its state of registration to Texas, where the company’s headquarters is located. More than 1.1 million people responded with 87 percent in favour of the move.

“Tesla will move immediately to hold a shareholder vote to transfer state of incorporation to Texas,” Musk wrote.

Musk did not reveal a timeline for the shareholder vote and eventual transfer. The CEO said in January that he was seeking to double his Tesla stake to 25 percent after he sold shares to pay hefty bills like his $44bn purchase of Twitter in 2022.

  .adtnl4-container { width: 100%; max-width: 100%; background-color: #34495e; border-radius: 10px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 10px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); margin: 20px auto; } .adtnl4-banner { width: 100%; max-height: 200px; overflow: hidden; } .adtnl4-banner img { width: 100%; height: auto; max-height: 200px; object-fit: cover; } .adtnl4-content { width: 100%; padding: 20px; box-sizing: border-box; text-align: left; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; color: #ecf0f1; background-color: #34495e; } .adtnl4-title a { font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px; color: #fff; text-decoration: none; } .adtnl4-description { font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.6; color: #fff; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 5px; } .adtnl4-learn-more-button { display: inline-block; padding: 10px 20px; font-size: 1em; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; background-color: #e74c3c; color: #fff; border-radius: 5px; transition: background-color 0.3s; } .adtnl4-learn-more-button:hover { background-color: #c0392b; } .adtnl4-marker a { font-size: 0.8em; color: #ccc; }

How to Get AdSense Approval Quickly a Personal Journey to Monetizing a Niche Blog

I will share my personal journey of getting AdSense approval quickly for my blog focused on the SME

Read Article

Ads by NSMEJ