Facts and Figures
The median age in the United States reached a record high of 38.9 in 2022, up from 35 in 2000 and 30 in 1980. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
$279 million — The largest-ever award by the Securities and Exchange Commission to a whistleblower, in this case one whose “information and assistance led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions.”
57% — the amount of time the average employee spent using office software for communication (emails, chat, meetings, etc.), including 8.8 hours per week reading and writing emails and 7.5 hours per week in meetings.
5.6% — the vacancy rate at U.S. shopping centers in the first quarter of 2023, the lowest-ever level since Cushman & Wakefield began tracking it in 2007.
“The average rent landlords asked for available shopping-center space also reached an all-time high” in the first quarter of 2023.
Failed bank First Republic paid $428 million in interest on deposits in the first quarter of 2023, up from $20 million in the first quarter of 2022. (Source: SEC filings)
65,000 — projected vehicles to be sold in 2023 according to Lordstown Motors’ August 2020 SPAC presentation
65 — total vehicles actually produced during the company’s entire existence when it filed for bankruptcy in June 2023.
Lordstown did raise about $780 million from SPAC investors and from institutional investors in a concurrent PIPE. But losses from operations over 36 months were $890 million, or about $13.7 million per truck. Many of the touted pre-orders were fake. The CEO resigned in 2021. (Sources: as noted/linked, and Matt Levine of Bloomberg.)
Quoted
“Confused by [the sparse debate and lack of oversight], the new director asked a more senior colleague, ‘What is the role of a GE board member?’
“‘Applause,’ the older director answered.”
— Lights Out: Pride Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric
Books
Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric — There is often more to learn from failure than success, and the title of this book gives you a very good idea of what you’re in for. It’s an excellent read and full of jaw-dropping anecdotes and great lessons.
Articles
Companies like CVS and UnitedHealth are now some of the world’s biggest businesses. Is that healthy for the rest of us? — Healthcare went from the 13th-largest industry in corporate America 30 years ago to the second-largest today…
Pour Out Lesser Ideas to Get to Great Ones: Your best ideas don't usually come first — Highly recommend David Epstein’s excellent
Something Was Messing With Earth’s Axis. The Answer Has to Do With Us. — “Around the turn of the millennium, Earth’s spin started going off-kilter, and nobody could quite say why.
For decades, scientists had been watching the average position of our planet’s rotational axis, the imaginary rod around which it turns, gently wander south, away from the geographic North Pole and toward Canada. Suddenly, though, it made a sharp turn and started heading east.”