It is no longer news that the world’s most powerful and richest individuals in finance are dominated by men that include Ray Dalio (net worth of $17 billion), the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund; and Stephen Schwarzman (net worth of $24 billion), the man that leads Blackstone, the world’s most influential private equity firm.
However, Abigail Johnson, an American born billionaire is presently the world’s richest person in finance with a net valuation of $26.2 billion.
She leads Fidelity Investments, the world’s leading investment firm which was founded by her grandfather Edward C. Johnson II.
Fidelity Investments was established in 1946 and is one of the biggest and most influential asset managers in the world with $4.9 trillion in assets under management as of June 2020, and a combined total customer asset value of about $8.3 trillion.
Abigail Johnson, the Harvard and Cambridge-trained business executive at the time of writing this report presently owns about 24.5% of FMR, which handles about $5 trillion in assets under management.
Her father, brother Ned IV and sister Elizabeth own almost 50% of Fidelity’s parent company, FMR LLC, and have served as leaders of Fidelity Investment since 2014, pushing the company’s influence in key financial markets that include crypto.
Her family’s investments include Impresa Management, a top-notch hedge fund according to a March 2020 Form ADV filing. It holds about $9 billion in assets.
Recall that some days ago, Fidelity Investments revealed plans to launch its own Bitcoin exchange-traded fund as the $5 trillion asset management company strengthens its position in the world’s leading financial asset class.
FD Funds Management, a subsidiary of Fidelity, some days ago revealed it had come up with a strategy in creating an exchange-traded fund called the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust.
Abigail Johnson’s current net valuation of $26.2 billion would be about 15.2 million troy ounces of gold or 406 million barrels of crude oil.
That being said, Abigail Johnson is known for being intensely private, despite ranking among the world’s wealthiest.
Is it a coincidence that the two wealthiest individuals on the planet are both nursing space transport dreams? Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are both front runners in the two foremost and advanced space programs on the planet at the moment.
Although their motive, which is to kickstart some sort of backup civilization for human beings, align, both billionaires disagree on how to go about it. Before we dive into the disparity in Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ space visions, let us quickly examine their space programs.
Space Exploration Technology Corps (SPACE X)
Space X was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 and is headquartered at Hawthorn California. The goal of the company is to make Space travel affordable to ordinary people. It hopes to kickstart human colonization and inhabitation of planet Mars.
Space X manufactures two of its foremost space vessels the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. It also manufactures other components that make space travel easy and affordable.
Space X is by far the more advanced of the two space programs. It has already put 700 Starlink satellites in space with over 120 being manufactured every month.
According to Business Insider, Space X is worth $33bn dollars
Blue Origin
Blue origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos and is headquartered in Kent, Washington DC. Blue Origin aims to make access to space cheaper and more reliable through reusable launch vehicles. It believes it can put 1 trillion people in space making use of hanging colonies on space. Blue Origin is the less successful of the two programs having failed to launch a single satellite into space.
Elon Musk’s Vision
Elon Musk envisions a life outside the planet Earth. He strongly believes human beings can inhabit Mars in Mega Cities and it can serve as a backup to earth should World War 3 or any major global disaster occur.
According to Business Insider, Elon Musk hopes to create the first sustainable city in Mars by 2050. The Company hopes to commence launching cargoes with building equipment in 2024 and hopefully, a permanent city would begin to take shape by the 2030s.
Elon Musk’s space company is valued at $33bn with its initial funding coming from his big payout from selling PayPal. He funds his SpaceX by getting contracts and investors for it.
Jeff Bezos’ Vision
Jeff Bezos’ vision for his space program is slightly different from that of Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos does not agree with the Mass Inhabitation of Mars by Elon Musk. He rather believes his Blue Origin company can come up with “floating cities” on space that can house 1 trillion people. Jeff Bezos funds his Blue Origin project by allocating a certain percentage of his Amazon shares for it. Last year he allocated a whopping $3.1bn to his Blue Origin project.
Billionaires at play
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are the two richest individuals on the planet. Little wonder they can afford to pursue these ambitions. Elon Musk is clearly leading the space race with a more Robust SpaceX and cutting-edge drive, while Jeff Bezos, the older and richer of the duo seems to be taking his time. Jeff Bezos puts in more funds into his blue Origin Project while Elon Musk struggles a bit with funding Space X, relying on contracts and investors to get by.
Elon Musk is the younger of the two billionaires and exudes a youthful aura which sort of gives him an edge over Jeff Bezos. He is seen as the exciting youthful tech billionaire who was once smoking pot on live TV.
Both Space X and Blue Origin enjoy subtle help from NASA, America’s authoritative Space Body.
A commodities trader was given painted stones instead of $36m (£26m) of copper from a Turkish supplier in a fraudulent deal last summer.
Geneva-based Mercuria Energy Group says it’s been the victim of cargo fraud following its purchase of 10,000 tons of copper blister.
When the cargoes started arriving in China, it found containers full of painted stones instead.
The bizarre case happened despite security and inspection controls.
Last year, Mercuria agreed to buy the copper blister, an impure form of the metal, for delivery to China. About 6,000 tonnes was loaded for shipment in more than 300 containers on eight vessels.
But before its journey from a port near Istanbul, the copper was switched with paving stones, spray-painted to resemble the semi-refined metal.
Mercuria, one of the five-biggest oil traders in the world, is seeking redress in Turkish and UK courts against the copper supplier Bietsan Bakir.
Turkish police have taken a number people into custody in relation to the fake copper scheme.
“Suspects have been taken under custody who are thought to be involved in the various parts of this organised crime against Mercuria,” the company said in a statement while thanking the Istanbul Financial Crimes Department.
It appears the copper was initially loaded into the first shipment of containers, before being surveyed by an inspection company. Seals used to prevent fraud were fixed to the containers.
But the containers were opened and the copper replaced with paving stones, Istanbul law firm KYB told media. The fraudsters switched between fake and real container seals to avoid detection.
Once the vessels were at sea, Mercuria paid $36m over five installments.
The fraud wasn’t discovered until the ships began arriving in the Chinese port of Lianyungang later that month.
“There has been a criminal investigation petition by the buyer against the seller and two intermediaries,” Turkish police said in a statement. “It’s been determined that the incident is the outcome of fraud perpetrated in an organised manner.”
In cases of non-delivery a trader could make a claim against a cargo’s insurance policy. But Mercuria found that just one out of seven contracts used by the Turkish company to insure the cargo was real. The rest had been forged.
Bietsan Bakir, the Turkish firm which sold Mercuria the copper, did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by Reuters. More hearings on the case are expected this week.
When Serena Williams battled Simona Halep in the women’s final at Wimbledon on July 13, 2019, looking on from center court was Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton seated next to Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle.
When not focused on the back-and-forth on the grass, the two were seen smiling and engaged in conversation. The image of the two beaming royals — one a seasoned vet and the other, still navigating her way through the family firm — made international headlines because the outing followed a spate of negative stories accusing Markle of making Duchess Kate cry during a dramatic family rift.
The match, and those images of a seemingly friendly pair, became a subject of conversation Sunday night during Oprah Winfrey’s bombshell CBS special, Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special. Markle countered the many tabloid claims by saying she ended up in tears after Duchess Kate got upset over dresses for the flower girls at Prince Harry and Markle’s 2018 nuptials.
“That’s when everything changed,” Markle said, claiming that after the bad press made its way into the world, the Palace’s communications team did nothing to protect her from what she said was a false narrative. “A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something with the flower girl dresses. It made me cry and it really hurt my feelings. In the context of everything going on, it didn’t make sense to not just be doing whatever else was doing was to be supportive.”
But what about that day at Wimbledon, Winfrey asked? She wanted to know whether Duchess Kate was embracing her or being helpful as she was finding her way in this new royal reality, especially at an event like Wimbledon when Markle was supporting a champion on the court. Though Winfrey didn’t mention Williams by name, she said “your friend” to Markle as it’s widely known that the two are close friends. Williams even attended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. Markle said that while everyone welcomed her, “it’s nothing like what it looks like.”
After the two-hour special aired, Williams took to Instagram to show support for “my selfless friend” Markle. “She teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she’s experienced,” read the post. “I know firsthand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of color to minimize us, to break us down and demonize us. We must recognize our obligation to decry malicious, unfounded gossip and tabloid journalism. The mental health consequences of systemic oppression and victimization are devastating, isolating and all too often lethal.”
During her interview, Markle told Winfrey that after experiencing racism, intense tabloid scrutiny and negative headlines, and a lack of protection from the institution’s publicity arm, she was plagued by thoughts of suicide. At her breaking point, Markle told Prince Harry she was having thoughts of self-harm and she hoped to check into a facility but was told that was not possible by Palace officials.
“I want Meghan’s daughter, my daughter and your daughter to live in a society that is driven by respect,” Williams said of Markle, now expecting a baby girl to join the couple’s son Archie. “Keep in your memory the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law.”
Williams was not the only celebrity to speak out following the interview which was trending on Twitter and will deliver much discourse in the days to come as it airs in England Monday night. Winfrey is also appearing Monday morning opposite longtime friend Gayle King on CBS This Morning to show new clips that didn’t make Sunday’s final cut.
Amanda Gorman, the inauguration poet who became an overnight sensation, also shared words with her 1.5 million followers on Twitter. “Meghan was living the life Diana should have, if only those around her had been as brave as she was,” Gorman said, in reference to Prince Harry’s late mother. “Meghan isn’t living a life without pain, but a life without prison. This isn’t Meghan’s princess ‘happy’ ending. But sometimes change, the decisions that bring us the most hurt, aren’t about happiness but healing.”
MacKenzie Scott, one of the richest women in the world, is off the market. The very private billionaire, who divorced Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after 25 years of marriage, has quietly wed Seattle teacher Dan Jewett, according to a blog post from the groom.
It’s unclear when the newlyweds tied the knot; Scott could not be reached for comment. The news trickled out Saturday after Jewett posted on Scott’s Giving Pledge page, and was first reported in the Wall Street Journal.
“I have been a teacher for the majority of my life, as well as a grateful student of the generosity of those around me,” he wrote. “This has meant doing my best to follow their example by passing on resources of all kinds — from time, to energy, to material possessions — when I have had them to give. And now, in a stroke of happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know — and joining her in a commitment to pass on an enormous financial wealth to serve others.”
Scott, 50, received $36 billion when her divorce was finalized two years ago. The fortune has grown to an estimated $53 billion, most of which the novelist and philanthropist has pledged to give away. Scott’s personal wealth has grown significantly during the pandemic, along with Amazon’s share price. “This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” she wrote in a Medium post in December. “Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”
She apparently met Jewett through Seattle’s Lakeside School, where her children attend classes and Jewett taught high school science. The elite private school for grades 5-12 boasts Bill Gates as an alumni.
Scott shared the happy news on her author bio on Amazon’s website: “She lives in Seattle with her four children and her husband, Dan.”
In a gracious note, Bezos (who also owns The Washington Post) seems genuinely thrilled for his ex-wife: “Dan is such a great guy, and I’m happy and excited for the both of them,” he said in a statement.
It also appears that Jewett’s days in the classroom are over. In his posting, Jewett said he and Scott “are united in that understanding and in our excitement for all we have to learn from so many people working in service of others. With that as a foundation, I join with the kindest and most thoughtful person I know in making this pledge, grateful for the exceptional privilege it will be to partner in giving away assets with the potential to do so much good when shared.”
The UN says it has not received any evidence from the United Arab Emirates that Dubai’s Princess Latifa is still alive, a fortnight after seeking proof. The United Nations Human Rights Office asked for evidence that the daughter of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum was still alive after a video shot by the princess was broadcast by the BBC.
“We raised our concerns about the situation in light of the disturbing video evidence that emerged this week,” Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said at the time.
“We have asked for a proof of life – we have asked for further information.”
In the video, Princess Latifa, now 35-years-old, said she was being held captive in a “villa jail” in Dubai and that she feared for her life.
A spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville said: ”We’ve held discussions with representatives of the UAE government here in Geneva, but I don’t have any particular progress to report.”
He said that proof of life of the princess had “not yet” been received.
In February, a statement sent by the United Arab Emirates embassy in London from Princess Latifa’s family insisted she was “being cared for at home.”
Also in February, a handwritten letter from 2019, which was only given to police by the princesses friends last month, was revealed.
In the letter, Princess Latifa urged British police to reinvestigate the disappearance of her sister, Shamsa, who was was kidnapped on the orders of their father after fleeing the family’s estate in Surrey over two decades ago.
The letter, which was received by Cambridgeshire Constabulary, said: “All I ask of you is to please give attention on her case because it could get her freedom … your help and attention on her case could free her. She has strong links to England … she really loves England, all of her fondest memories are of her time there.”
It is understood Shamsa fled the family’s Longcross Estate in Surrey. Shamsa was forcibly taken, flown by helicopter to France and by private jet back to Dubai.
Dave Chappelle has tested positive for coronavirus amid a multi-night standup residency in Austin, Texas.
A representative told TMZ that the veteran comedian is currently in quarantine and is experiencing no symptoms. Nevertheless, he has canceled all of his remaining shows scheduled at Austin concert venue Stubb’s.
Chappelle launched the 10-date residency at Stubb’s last week and had been scheduled to perform there through this weekend. Several of the shows featured Joe Rogan as a co-headliner.
Because of social distancing requirements, no individual seats were sold to the shows. Instead, attendees had to purchase a table of four, six, or eight seats. Upon entry into the event, attendees received a rapid COVID-19 antigen test and were asked to wear face masks at all times.
Prior to testing positive for COVID-19, Chappelle was photographed backstage with Rogan, Elon Musk, Grimes, and restaurateur C.K. Chin. In another photo, he posed alongside Musk, Grimes, and comedians Michelle Wolf, Ron White, and Donnell Rawlings. No one was wearing a mask in either photo.
Grimes herself recently battled coronavirus. On January 9th, she confirmed her positive diagnosis in an Instagram Story, writing, “Finally got COVID, but weirdly enjoying the DayQuil fever dream … 2021.”
Regardless of how Ugandans decide to vote in today’s presidential elections, the incumbent Yoweri Museveni will most likely be declared the winner. Museveni has ruled the country for five consecutive terms. He has historically been able to manipulate elections in his favour, because he controls Uganda’s military, judiciary, and Electoral Commission with an iron fist.
Throughout this electoral campaign, however, the long-standing Ugandan president has been upstaged by a formidable young challenger: popular musician-turned-parliamentarian Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine. Since being elected as a Member of Parliament in 2017, the 38-year-old leader of the National Unity Platform has become the new face of Uganda’s opposition.
There are four things worth knowing about Bobi Wine and Uganda’s politics.
Building a movement, defying expectations
Bobi Wine has repeatedly been underestimated by government supporters and critics since he first ran for parliament. He was forced to run as an independent after the two major opposition parties, the Forum for Democratic Change and the Democratic Party, turned him away.
He nevertheless easily won the by-election in the Kyandondo East constituency within Kampala with 78% of the vote. Since then, he has proved himself to be a skilled politician who has successfully built a strong political movement – from scratch.
Within his first two years in office, he forged a reputation as a principled and fearless opponent of Museveni’s policies. He was a leading voice against the president’s ultimately successful effort to remove presidential age limits from the constitution. He also led protests against the government’s proposed tax on social media in July 2018.
Over the course of that same year, he endorsed opposition candidates who went on to win four consecutive parliamentary by-elections.
By 2018, he had created a political pressure group called People Power, Our Power. When the government blocked its registration as a formal political party, Bobi Wine outmanoeuvred the Electoral Commission by aligning himself with a smaller, pre-existing one, which he re-christened as the National Unity Platform. Almost immediately more than 20 MPs left more established opposition parties to join his party.
A target of unprecedented state repression
Bobi Wine has been a regular target of state repression.
The Museveni regime responded to his early successes by repeatedly blocking him from holding concerts and banning the public from wearing People Power’s trademark red berets.
Since being elected, Bobi Wine has been arrested countless times. He has never been convicted on any of the charges. Some of his movement’s members and supporters have been killed, sometimes in suspicious circumstances.
Many have been arrested. Perhaps most notoriously, in August 2018, as he campaigned for a fellow independent candidate in a by-election in Arua in northwestern Uganda, Bobi Wine and at least 35 of his political associates were arrested following dubious reports that Museveni’s motorcade had been stoned. That same night the opposition leader’s driver, Yasin Kawuma, was murdered with a bullet that Bobi Wine believes was intended for him.
In the aftermath of these arrests, the Kyadondo East MP was charged with treason and possession of illegal firearms. Over his next ten days in custody, he was beaten so brutally by government security forces that he could not stand, sit or walk. He eventually sought treatment for his injuries in the US.
International outrage at this incident has not stopped the Museveni regime from escalating its tactics of repression during this election cycle.
The arrests have continued unabated throughout the current campaign. In addition, campaign rallies have been restricted and the government has met opposition supporters with deadly force on multiple occasions. Most tragically, following Bobi Wine’s arrest in mid-November, nationwide protests erupted during which state security forces killed at least 54 people.
In response to these abuses, in early January, Bobi Wine and two other co-claimants filed a 47-page complaint to the International Criminal Court against Museveni and nine of his regime’s security officials, accusing them of gross human rights violations dating back to 2018.
Generational dimension
Uganda’s changing demographics have a great deal to do with Bobi Wine’s electoral appeal. The East African country of 46.5 million people has one of the world’s youngest populations, with a median age of 16.7. Just over one in five Ugandans are between the ages of 15 and 24 and 77% of the country’s population is under the age of 30.
Although these young people have benefited from reforms to public education introduced by the Museveni regime, they see little hope for the future. By some estimates, youth unemployment in Uganda is as high as 70%. Frustrated young people can, therefore, easily identify with Bobi Wine, who grew up in the Kampala ghetto of Kamwokya. Like him, they have only known life under Museveni. He was not even four when Museveni first came to power in 1986.
Bobi Wine has skilfully appealed to this demographic. He frames his political movement in generational terms: the “Facebook generation”, which he represents against the “entrenched interests of the ‘Facelift generation’” of the Museveni regime. He has been able to speak to – and articulate – the deep sense of anger and grievance that young Ugandans feel towards the Museveni regime. In so doing, Uganda’s “Ghetto President” has come to be the face and voice of young people’s collective desire for generational political change.
Populism
In the final weeks of the campaign, Museveni derided Bobi Wine as a populist politician. While this adjective was intended to dismiss his young adversary, there is some truth to this label. In my research, I argue that Bobi Wine’s inclusionary brand of populism has also been a key to his political success.
His use of populist rhetoric has effectively forged a new collective sense of identity among his mostly youthful supporters around the nodal point of “the people” and in antagonistic opposition to the country’s political elite .
But Bobi Wine’s brand of populism is novel because his conception of “the people” is defined not in ethno-nationalist terms (as with right-wing politicians in the US or Western Europe). Rather it’s defined largely in generational ones. This has helped him to build a burgeoning political coalition across ethno-regional lines.
If Bobi Wine’s brand of generational populism proves successful, its repercussions could be felt across Africa. It could serve as a model for opposition politicians who are operating in countries with similar demographic characteristics and facing many of the same political obstacles.
Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, said Tuesday she will vote to impeach President Donald Trump, as at least four GOP lawmakers will move to charge the president from their own party with high crimes and misdemeanors.
She is the highest-ranking Republican to call for the president’s impeachment in the wake of last Wednesday’s deadly Capitol Hill riot, which Trump helped incite with lies and incendiary rhetoric.
Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., earlier said he would support impeachment after the president stirred up a mob that attacked the Capitol while Congress counted President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential win. Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., later joined Cheney and Katko. The riot left five people, including a Capitol police officer, dead.
In a statement, Cheney said Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.”
“Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President,” the Republican conference chair said.
“The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday evening that he will not try to remove Trump from office by invoking the 25th Amendment.
“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Pence did not specifically mention the impeachment push. However, he did urge Congress “to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment” as “we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.”
The House plans to vote Wednesday on whether to charge Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors. Democrats have said they have enough votes to impeach the president for an unprecedented second time.
In a statement Tuesday evening, Pelosi named nine impeachment managers for the impending trial. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., will serve as the lead manager. He will be joined by Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Stacey Plaskett, the Democratic delegate for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., and Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa.
Once the House impeaches Trump, the Senate will decide whether to convict him. The chamber may not have time to vote to remove him from office before Biden takes office a week from Wednesday.
Even so, conviction in the Senate would prevent Trump from holding elective office in the future and he could lose perks given to former presidents.
The House Republicans revealed their stances as The New York Times reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has told associates he thinks Trump committed impeachable acts. The newspaper did not detail whether McConnell would vote to convict the president if the House sends articles of impeachment to the Senate or whether he would urge Republicans to vote the same way.
More Republicans could join Cheney, Katko and Kinzinger in backing the effort. No House Republicans voted to impeach Trump in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
“Good for her for honoring her oath of office,” Pelosi said in response to Cheney’s support for impeachment. “Would that more Republicans would honor their oaths of office.”
The move by Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, breaks from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who has opposed impeaching Trump. He and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., objected to counting Biden’s certified election victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania after the attack on the Capitol.
Cheney is the daughter of former vice president and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. He joined the nine other living Pentagon chiefs earlier this month in warning against involving the military in disputes over election results. The Washington Post op-ed came three days before the Capitol attack.
Trump earlier said Democrats’ push to impeach him was dangerous and could spark more violence. Some of his Republican allies have argued the effort would hinder attempts to reduce tensions in the country.
Impeachment supporters have said Congress should not move on until they hold Trump accountable for his supporters’ attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
The impeachment article Democratic leaders have appeared to back, titled “Incitement of Insurrection,” accuses Trump of committing high crimes and misdemeanors by encouraging an attack on a co-equal branch of government. It says the president, by lying to his supporters about the election results for two months and then encouraging them to fight the outcome shortly before the invasion of the Capitol, helped to spur the riot.
With days to go before Trump leaves office, the House rushed through the traditional process to bring impeachment to a swift vote in the full chamber. In a report supporting the impeachment measure, House Judiciary Committee staff said Tuesday that Trump “repeatedly sought to overturn the results of the election” and “continued a parallel course of conduct that foreseeably resulted in the imminent lawless actions of his supporters.”
The report goes on to say: “President Trump committed a high Crime and Misdemeanor against the Nation by inciting an insurrection at the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. The facts establish that he is unfit to remain in office a single day longer and warrant the immediate impeachment of President Trump.”
Billionaire philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates will pay off $76 million of Nigeria’s debt through their namesake foundation. The payments, which will be made over the course of 20 years, are due to begin this year.
In 2014, Nigeria borrowed the money from Japan to fund its fight against the preventable disease, Quartz reports. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has “agreed to repay the loan after Nigeria met the condition of achieving more than 80% vaccination coverage in at least one round each year in very high risk areas across 80% of the country’s local government areas,” according to Quartz.
No new cases of polio were reported in the country in 2017. That’s a drastic change from 2012, when Nigeria had over half of all polio cases worldwide, according to the publication.
In a recent blog post, Gates acknowledges the significant strides made towards wiping out the disease globally — 30 years ago, there were 350,000 cases of polio per year worldwide, while last year, that number dropped to just 21.
“The heroes who have made this progress possible are the millions of vaccinators who have gone door to door to immunize more than 2.5 billion children. Thanks to their work, 16 million people who would have been paralyzed are walking today,” Gates writes.
Polio is “a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease,” which, after invading the nervous system, can cause paralysis. Among those paralyzed, two to 10 percent die.
The Gates Foundation spent $3 billion in 2017 to help stop the spread of the disease, and names polio eradication one of its “top priorities.” The foundation says it has supported the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s efforts to wipe out the disease by contributing technical and financial resources to accelerate targeted vaccination campaigns, community mobilization and routine immunizations.
“Progress in fighting polio might be one of the world’s best-kept secrets in global health,” Gates previously acknowledged in the foundation’s 2017 annual letter. “If things stay stable in the conflicted areas, humanity could see its last case of polio this year.”
In 1988, the virus was present in over 125 countries, paralyzing about 1,000 children per day. Since then, cases of polio have decreased by over 99 percent.
The Gates’ donation is not out of character; in 2017, they gave $4.6 billion to their namesake organization. In addition to its work with polio, the foundation has also spent $1 billion in an effort to send over 20,000 kids to college and has committed millions more toward fighting Alzheimer’s and providing resources to women in developing countries.
Thanks in part to his massive philanthropic efforts, Gates is no longer the richest person in the world, a title that he had held for much of the last decade. Jeff Bezos is currently the richest person, with a net worth of more than $108 billion, according to Forbes. Gates is currently worth $92 billion.
However, Bloomberg notes that Gates would have a net worth of $150 billion if he had not been so generous. While Bezos is not known for being particularly philanthropic as billionaires go, in January he announced a $33 million donation toward TheDream.Us, an organization that provides scholarships to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, known as “dreamers.”
Gates also founded The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett. Its billionaire signers have promised to give away at least half of their wealth.
“We have been blessed with good fortune beyond our wildest expectations, and we are profoundly grateful,” Bill and Melinda wrote in their Giving Pledge letter, CNBC Make It previously reported. “But just as these gifts are great, so we feel a great responsibility to use them well.”
