The Daily Valet. - 12/5/23, Tuesday
✔️ The Kendall Roy Era Is Nigh
Tuesday, December 5th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Well, you heard it here first, the “Kendall Roy era” is nigh.
Today’s Big Story
A Massive Wealth Transfer
Newly minted billionaires are increasingly not “self-made,” but inheriting money from mom and dad
If you're very quiet, you can almost hear it. It's not the sound of bills and coins, sloshing around, but more the digital bytes of data surging from one account to the next. The Swiss bank UBS recently released a report showing that a massive transfer of wealth from billionaire business founders to their heirs is underway and accelerating, with trillions of dollars in assets moving from those who accumulated fortunes through entrepreneurship to heirs whose vast riches are owed to the simple accident of birth. Lucky bastards.Vice described it using a metaphor from HBO's Succession, “the aging Logan Roys of the world are beginning to hand their billions—and with it, their enormous societal power—to their failson Kendalls, creating a new powerful class of trust fund billionaires.” Interestingly, for the first time since the study started in 2015, billionaires accumulated more wealth via inheritance than through their own business activities.Among last year's newly minted members of the billionaire class were 84 people who could arguably be considered “self-made,” for example, by starting their own company. Together, they were worth an estimated $140.7 billion. That works out to an average of $1.67 billion per head, which, while impressive, is substantially less than the $150.8 billion that 53 heirs-turned-billionaires inherited from their families.Reuters reports that the generational wealth transfer will only continue to gain momentum as more money passes through the generations. “This is a theme we expect to see more of over the next 20 years, as more than 1,000 billionaires pass an estimated $5.2 trillion to their children,” said Benjamin Cavalli, head of strategic clients at UBS Global Wealth Management.Still, despite the large inherited wealth, this did not necessarily mean a new generation of super-rich 20 somethings. “Very often they are rather 50+," Michael Viana, head of strategic client coverage at UBS said. “It is actually more the King Charles effect, they actually are quite advanced in age as well when taking over.”
DIg Deeper:
Despite past trends, American consumers are spending at record levels. Economists are mystified, and struggling to forecast an end point.
Israel Widens Offensive
As Some of the Fiercest Fighting of the War rages on, Palestinians are running out of places to go
It appears that Israeli and Hamas are locked in some of their fiercest fighting of the two-month-old war, including at close quarters, as Israel launched its offensive in the south while trying to finish its operations in and around Gaza City.The Associated Press reports that Israeli warplanes on Monday bombarded an area around Khan Younis in southern Gaza—the home of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, where analysts believe he and other senior Hamas officials are hiding underground. Also on Monday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said “it seems” Hamas has refused to release all of the Israeli women it is holding hostage in Gaza because the terror group doesn't want them to tell what they have gone through in captivity. Miller did not provide any evidence to back up his claim, but it's the first time a senior U.S. official has raised the possibility that Hamas has harmed some of the women it's holding hostage.Since the initial terrorist attack on Oct. 7 (during which more than 1,200 people were killed and some 240 people were kidnapped), Israeli officials have accused Hamas of committing widespread sexual violence, particularly against women. Yet, the New York Times reports that those atrocities have received little scrutiny from human rights groups, or the news media, amid the larger war coverage—and until a few days ago, they had not been specifically mentioned or condemned by UN Women, the United Nations' women's rights agency, which has regularly spoken out about the plight of Palestinian women and girls.
Meanwhile:
The White House warns it will run out of money for Ukraine unless Congress acts by end of the year.
It Might Be Time to Change Your DNA
23andMe says hackers gained access to data of about 6.9 million people
23andMe, the world's leading consumer DNA harvesting enterprise, announced Friday that hackers stole about 14,000 people's ancestry information, as well as “a significant number of files” about other users. It turns out the word “significant” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. According to TechCrunch, 23andMe lost data for about 6.9 million users, including people's genetic information. According to The Verge, that's almost 50,000% higher than the number 23andMe first reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission.A spokesperson for the company said the hackers gained access to some customer accounts through reused passwords. The hackers were then able to exploit some 23andMe features that give users significant information about each other. As Gizmodo points out, “recycling passwords does mean you're asking for it,” unfortunately, but major online platforms often have security measures in place to prevent mass credential stuffing.Despite the data theft, 23andMe does not expect a major financial fallout from the incident. In that same SEC filing about the breach updated on Saturday, the company said it only expects to lose between $1-$2 million in “onetime expenses related to the incident.” We'll see if that remains true, too.
FYI:
In early October, a hacker claimed to have stolen the DNA information in a post on a well-known hacking forum.
The Little Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Returns
Despite being nearly 40 years old, the 70 Series remains quite desirable, especially following the latest upgrades
Is this not one of the coolest little SUVs you've ever seen? Toyota recently introduced another facelift to the immortal Land Cruiser 70 Series, which has been in continuous production since 1984. This latest update keeps the old-school styling while adding modern technology to the mix to further enhance its appeal.Alongside the more standard five-door body style, a short wheelbase three-door Land Cruiser 70 will make its way to markets around the world (except here in the U.S., of course) sometime next year. According to Autoblog, the little guy just debuted in the United Arab Emirates.The compact off-roader has a 4.0L V6, room for five, a full suite of safety features, and an infotainment system with support for CarPlay and Android Auto. Measuring 166.7 inches in length, it's a full two feet shorter than its five-door counterpart. Updated styling elements include round (albeit LED) headlights, protruding indicators and a chrome-infused bumper, which all lend to the timeless look. Santa, if you're reading this ... please bring this to America and drop one by my tree.
FYI:
One particular Land Cruiser is so light it can actually be picked up by two people.
In Other News
One of the “most brazen betrayals in the history of the U.S. foreign service.”
Have you heard about ...
Your December Reading List
From some witty nonfiction ready for travel to an epic biography on a music legend, this month is packed with impactful books
Are you ready for your holiday vacation? I'm sure you're eager for some time off, but do you have something to read? Or, at least, something impressive to bring out to impress those around you? Hey, whatever gets you to pick up a new book, I'm all for it. This month has some great releases too, so you're sure to find something worth cracking open.
By: Judith Tick Out: Dec. 5
This is being called a “landmark biography” that “clears up long-enduring mysteries.” Music historian Judith Tick leans on a rich trove of archival research—from recently digitized Black newspapers to a scrapbook that the jazz legend kept when she was 18.
By: Samantha Harvey Out: Dec. 5
In her last novel, Harvey told a murder mystery, set in the Middle Ages, backward. Now she moves to outer space with a story of four astronauts and two cosmonauts making a day's trip around the Earth (or 16 sunsets' worth).
By: Shahnaz Habib Out: Dec. 5
This witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a “Third World-raised woman of color,” Airplane Mode, asks: what does it mean to be a joyous traveler when we live in the ruins of colonialism, capitalism and climate change?
By: V. Castro Out: Dec. 26
Zack Snyder’s new film Rebel Moon is out mid-month, and this is the official novelization of the movie. It sees a settlement on a moon in a far-flung part of the universe threatened by tyrannical armies, with a “mysterious stranger” that offers the only hope for survival.
Shopping
What We’re Buying
Oversized chinos
Oversized chinos aren't going anywhere, and Madewell's version is proof. Their flat-front chinos are baggy—feature sturdy welt pockets and brushed fabric for a lived-in feel.
Get It:
Oversized chino pant, $98 / $65.99 by Madewell
Morning Motto
Don’t get caught up in appearances.
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