What we’re reading (11/20)
“VCs Poured $41 Billion Into Crypto In The Past 18 Months. Is There Any Hope For A Profit?” (Institutional Investor). “Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it’s long been clear that crypto, inflated by the quantitative easing of the Covid-19 period, was careening out of control. In 2021, the value of digital assets multiplied six times, to $3 trillion, even though the technology had yet to demonstrate mass-market adoption or utility. Bitcoin couldn’t even fulfill its basic purpose as an inflation hedge as it followed the S&P 500 index into a rates-driven bear market.”
“Housing Industry Braces For A Downturn, But Investors Are Piling In” (Wall Street Journal). “Investors are seizing on any sign inflation has peaked as a reason to snap up beaten-down shares. Just look at housing stocks. Redfin Corp. shares have soared more than 50% since Nov. 9 when the real-estate brokerage’s chief executive warned, “We have to assume that the sun will never come up.” Shares of home builder PulteGroup Inc. have gained 11% over the same period, despite its CEO recently describing a widespread pullback in demand as interest rates climbed.”
“Bob Iger Named Disney CEO In Shocking Development” (CNN Business). “In a move that shocked Hollywood, Bob Iger, one of the most notable CEOs in the history of the Walt Disney company, is returning to run the media empire. Bob Chapek, who replaced Iger in 2020 as CEO, is stepping down immediately.”
“Ad Market Worse Than During Lows Of The Pandemic, Says Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav” (CNBC). “The advertising market is currently weaker than at any point during the coronavirus pandemic slowdown of 2020, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav said at an investment conference Tuesday. If the ad market doesn’t improve next year, “it’s going to be hard” to hit the company’s $12 billion earnings forecast for 2023, Zaslav said at RBC’s Global TIMT Conference in New York.”
“‘Mark Has Surrounded Himself With Sycophants’: Zuckerberg’s Big Bet On The Metaverse Is Backfiring” (Vanity Fair). “In early October, Yan Xiaonan and Mackenzie Dern, two prized UFC fighters, entered the 25-foot octagon ring at the Las Vegas Apex arena to pummel each other for the women’s strawweight match. But unlike the countless previous fights that have taken place in the arena, which is often filled with hundreds of raucous fans, this time, the 130,000-square-foot space was eerily quiet. As cameras panned around the arena, almost all of the seats sat empty, with the exception of a select few: Right at the edge of the octagon were Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. It seems that at some point during the pandemic, Zuckerberg had been drawn into UFC fighting, and the multibillionaire founder of Facebook wanted to experience one of these fights in person. But rather than just buy two tickets to see a fight, like most normal people would—even normal ultrarich people—Zuckerberg, apparently afraid of other human beings, rented out the entire arena, according to Dern, a claim UFC chief Dana White denied.”
