Forbes August 2021
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in this issue
understated excellence
The “billionaire space race” emerged as a cultural moment this summer in large part because of the profiles of the competitors: In Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, you have three of the most famous entrepreneurs in the world, two of the absolute richest … and two of the absolute loudest. In so many ways—the ambition and innovation, the outlays and narcissism—they embody what many love about visionaries and resent about the ultrarich. That makes this issue’s cover so refreshing. With out many having noticed, Michael Dell (see page 86) has pulled off one of the great deals of all time, taking private his seemingly washed-up eponymous computer maker and transforming it, again, into one of the world’s most important tech companies. In the process, he’s built himself a $50…
tax cuts: rx for prosperity
While the White House and congressional Democrats are feverishly trying to enact massive, economy-killing tax increases, numerous states are going in the opposite direction by cutting them. These local officials recognize that reducing the tax burden on their citizens will give them more prosperity and the higher revenues that come with better times. Arizona, Ohio, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, Louisiana, Idaho and New Hampshire have all passed reductions in state income taxes. Ohio has engineered the biggest tax reduction in the Buckeye State’s history, eliminating its two tax brackets over 4%. The first $25,000 of an individual’s income is now tax-exempt. Compare that with California, where one hits the 4% bracket at that income level. Ohio’s law also ensures that people who work from home don’t have to pay taxes…
restaurants: go, consider, stop
After agonizing through months of capricious lockdowns and arbitrary capacity restrictions that had no basis in science, the excellent eateries of the Big Apple are open and bustling—with new ones arriving. Challenges remain, primarily with personnel; so many old hands have moved away or on to new occupations. And Covid-19’s variants have power-hungry bureaucrats itching to impose new restrictions. So eat and enjoy while you can! ● Le Pavillon 1 Vanderbilt Ave. (Tel.: 212-662-1000) Chef Daniel Boulud has created the star of the season in this new glass-enclosed second-floor space with views of breathtaking Grand Central Terminal. Along with unique cocktails at Bar Vandy, “Bites”—caviar, lobster rolls, a foie gras parfait, soft-shell crab tempura—are on offer. The dining room is ringed with 20-foot olive trees and a variety of lush plants. The chef’s…
charles koch’s new green deal
Depending on whom you ask, Charles Koch is a titan of industry, a dark-money political bogeyman or the Marcus Aurelius of the libertarian movement. But soon Koch might be best known as the billionaire who persuaded Republican and Democratic congressional holdouts to vote to legalize cannabis at the federal level. And it’s not because he’s a pothead. The only time the 85-year-old chief executive of Koch Industries has consumed marijuana, he says, was by accident in the 1980s. He was helicopter-skiing in British Columbia, and après-ski, he and his friends enjoyed a few gin and tonics at dinner. For dessert, the chef brought out a plate of brownies. Koch ate one and after a while felt a little “loopy.” He doesn’t know who infused the sweets with pot, but he says he…
high finance
1. Jeff Bezos•Net worth: $208.3 billion In June, before Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO, the company announced it would begin lobbying politicians to pass federal cannabis legalization. 2. Elon Musk•$161.3 billion In 2018, Tesla’s CEO famously smoked a blunt on Joe Rogan’s podcast and tweeted that he was “considering taking Tesla private at $420,” dog-whistling the marijuana holiday. 3. Bill Gates•$130.3 billion In 2014, Microsoft’s cofounder revealed that he had voted to legalize weed in his home state of Washington. 4. Dustin Moskovitz•$25 billion The Facebook cofounder has supported legalization since 2010, when he donated $70,000 to an unsuccessful ballot initiative in California. 5. Beau Wrigley•$3.3 billion The heir to the chewing gum fortune is the CEO of Parallel, a pot company that is going public via SPAC at a $1.8 billion valuation. 6. Sean Parker•$2.7 billion The Napster cofounder…
bigger biceps, fatter wallets
Beachbody—a Santa Monica, California–based multilevel marketing outfit that hawks exercise DVDs and weight loss shakes through more than 400,000 independent “coaches”—went public via a SPAC in June. The listing was a complicated affair that involved merging Beachbody with a Connecticut exercise bike maker called Myx Fitness and a blank check company with ties to former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer. But the alchemy worked: Even after shares drifted 16% lower in the wake of the deal, Beachbody CEO and chairman Carl Daikeler is now worth $1.5 billion thanks to his 44% stake. Daikeler, 57, who founded the company in 1998, credits Beachbody for his own six-pack abs: As a kid, he wasn’t much of a healthy eater (his favorite after-school snack was a stack of Oreos)…
