Just rich people things

A large group of MEPs called on Tuesday for a tax on wealthy individuals, similar to one on multinational companies, to fund the transition to a carbon-free world.

A previous landmark deal for a global minimum 15 percent tax on multinational businesses is set to start to go into force this year.

"What we have achieved for multinationals, we must now do for the wealthy," French MEP Aurore Lalucq and economist Gabriel Zucman wrote in an opinion piece published in the French daily Le Monde, as they launched the campaign with more than 130 MEPs.

"Our proposal is simple: introduce a progressive tax on the wealth of the ultra-rich on an international scale in order to reduce inequalities while helping to finance investments needed for the green and social transition," they said.

The signatories claimed that in 2018 Tesla owner Elon Musk, "then the second-richest man in the world, did not pay a single cent in federal taxes" and "in France, known for its high taxes, the 370 richest families are effectively taxed only around two to three percent". -- AFP

Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday evening that he is purchasing the Manchester United football club, although it was not clear if the eccentric billionaire, currently embroiled in a lawsuit over his bid to buy Twitter, was being serious.

The 51-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who has a habit of posting provocative statements on social media for fun, said: "Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome," in a reply to an earlier tweet about supporting both of America's two major political parties.

Manchester United, a storied English football club, is currently led by the six children of late American businessman Malcolm Glazer, who took a controlling stake in the franchise in 2005.

Shares of the team listed on the New York Stock Exchange are down year to date, but ended Tuesday flat, with a market capitalization of $2.1 billion.

The Glazer family also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an NFL franchise in Florida.

There was no immediate reaction from the club or its owners to Musk's tweet. — AFP

How to upset Russian freight companies, Elon Musk, Chinese authorities and Kylie Jenner in one go? Track their jets. 

Flight following websites and Twitter accounts offer real-time views of air traffic — and sometimes major news like Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan trip — but that exposure draws pushback ranging from complaints to gear seizures.

Whether Russian air freight firms, Saudi Arabian plane owners or others, Dan Streufert said his group gets dozens of "requests" each year to stop posting aircrafts' whereabouts.

"We have not removed anything so far. This is all public information. And I don't want to be the arbiter of who's right and who's wrong," added Streufert, founder of the US-based flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange.

Limits do apply in some cases, but groups that piece together the flight paths note that the core information source is legally available and open to anyone with the right gear. — AFP

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is set to meet with billionaire Elon Musk on Friday, according to a government source.

The meeting will be held in Sao Paulo, a source with the Brazilian president's office told AFP, without giving any details on what will be on the agenda.

Earlier, Bolsonaro said that he had planned a private meeting in Sao Paulo "with a very important person who is recognized throughout the world."

"He is coming to offer his help for our Amazon," the president said in his weekly social media broadcast, without naming Musk. — AFP

A 2018 tweet posted by Elon Musk in which he claimed to have secured the funding to take Tesla private was deemed "false and misleading" by a judge, according to documents filed by investors suing his electric car company.

The shareholders have accused Tesla of securities fraud over their stock market losses in the wake of the August 7, 2018 tweet, which caused the share price to fluctuate wildly for several days.

In a court filing late Friday, plaintiffs asked the federal judge in charge of the case, Edward Chen, to order Musk to stop saying publicly that he "secured" funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share, as he again stated on Thursday.

In the past, the billionaire entrepreneur has said he was in talks at the time with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and that he was confident he would reach a deal. But no agreement was ever announced.

According to the filing, Chen recently concluded in an order not made public that Musk's statements were "false and misleading," and made "recklessly and with full awareness of the facts that he misrepresented in his tweets."

Plaintiffs accused Musk of engaging in "a high-profile public campaign to present a contradictory and false narrative regarding his August 7, 2018 tweets" — which could influence eventual jurors assigned to the trial set for later this year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the US market regulator, also charged him with fraud in the wake of the tweets. — AFP

Tesla chief Elon Musk says he's not sure his $43 billion bid to buy Twitter will succeed, but asserted he has a "plan B" in case of failure.

In his first spoken comments since the shock offer became public, Musk downplayed his concerns over money, though assembling the funding for an all-cash offer of this size is never simple.

The world's richest person would need to part with some of his mountains of Tesla stock if his offer gets board backing — which is not guaranteed.  

"I'm not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it," Musk told a conference in Canada, referring to Twitter. He went on to note that money wasn't the primary issue, saying "I could technically afford it." — AFP

Tesla CEO Elon Musk dances for joy at the inauguration of his "gigafactory" electric car plant near Berlin on Tuesday, shrugging off two years of bureaucracy and delays to watch customers drive off with the first Model Y vehicles made in Europe.

"Danke Deutschland!" (Thank you, Germany) Musk tweets after the red ribbon ceremony, where he joined workers in applauding the first 30 drivers to get behind the wheel of their new cars.

The US billionaire even breaks into a little dance during the handovers, reviving memories of the slightly awkward jig he did at a launch event in Shanghai in 2020 that lit up the internet. — AFP

The Dutch port city of Rotterdam has not received a request for a permit to temporarily dismantle an historic bridge to allow a superyacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to pass, local media reported Thursday.

The city's mayor denied any decision had been made, a day after a municipality spokeswoman told AFP that officials had green-lighted the shipbuilder's request to remove the central section of the iconic Koningshaven Bridge, sparking widespread criticism on social media.

Bezos's gigantic, 430-million-euro ($485 million) three-masted yacht — built in Alblasserdam near Rotterdam — is too big to pass under the bridge, which dates from 1878 and was rebuilt after being bombed by the Nazis in 1940 during World War II.

"I find the turmoil quite peculiar. No decision has yet been taken, not even an application for a permit," Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad quoted Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb saying on Thursday.

The municipality will make its decision after a permit application is filed and the impact has been assessed, including if it can be done without damaging the bridge and whether Bezos will foot the bill, the mayor said.

"It's about the facts. I want to know them first," he told the daily. — AFP

Two zebras that had been on the run for months in the countryside outside Washington, DC, have finally been caught, an official said Tuesday. 

The pair had escaped from an exotic animal farm in Maryland at the end of August and eluded numerous attempts to capture them, their escapade enthralling local residents and media.

But after repeatedly thwarting the authorities, the quadrupeds have been snagged, said Richard Bell of the US Department of Agriculture, without providing any further details. 

Prince George's County, where the pair had been running free, announced several weeks ago that it planned to use "food and other zebras" to try to lure the striped fugitives back to the exotic animal farm. 

The affair had been documented on social media by bemused residents, but the saga took a sad turn when a third zebra that had escaped with the others died after being caught in an illegal snare. — AFP

Tesla's share price plunges Monday in the latest controversy sparked by CEO Elon Musk, who was facing criticism for letting his Twitter followers decide whether he should sell billions in company stock.

The episode, described by one analyst as "another bizarre soap opera", is the most recent example of real world trouble following the often provocative tweets from one of the world's richest people.

The controversy — which pushed Tesla down about three percent by 1700 GMT — started Saturday with Musk targeting a push from US Democratic lawmakers to tax billionaires by targeting their stocks, which are usually taxed only when sold. — AFP

After more than a year, in-person auctions return to New York this week with the sale of the Macklowe collection — the world's most expensive to hit the market.

At auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's, the message is the same: the art market is thriving.

With sales starting November 15 estimated to bring in more than $1 billion in a week, "this is our largest sale season... since 2015," a record year, said Brooke Lampley at Sotheby's.

"Throughout the pandemic, there was great demand from our buyers, who weren't experiencing the same level of supply as they were accustomed to," she told AFP.

Experts say the pandemic has not negatively impacted the funds nor appetite of potential buyers, who are increasingly in Asia and younger than their predecessors.

For the first half of 2021, when it saw sales increase by 13 percent compared to 2019, Christie's noted that 30 percent of its buyers were new clients, and 31% of those were millennials. — AFP

Twitter has spoken — after Elon Musk polled his more than 62 million followers on whether he should sell 10 percent of his Tesla shares, by Sunday a majority had voted "yes."

"I was prepared to accept either outcome," said Musk, who regularly takes to Twitter to make unexpected announcements or surprising comments. He did not specify when or how he plans to sell the shares.

The electric car maker's query on Saturday night follows a proposal by US Congressional Democrats to tax the super wealthy more heavily by targeting stocks, which are usually only taxed when sold. — AFP

Another zany tweet or a real question? Elon Musk polled his more than 62 million Twitter followers Saturday about whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares, insisting he would do as voters say.

The over-the-top electric car maker's query follows a proposal by Congressional Democrats to tax the super-wealthy more heavily by targeting stocks, which are usually only taxed when sold.

"Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock," Musk wrote, asking followers whether they agree "yes" or "no."

"I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes," the multi-billionaire said.

Around 7:00 pm (2300 GMT), nearly 53% had voted in favor of selling. — AFP

"Let me tell you about the very rich.  They are different from you and me," F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in 1926. Follow this thread for things rich people do.

Photo: Screenshot from Parasite/Bong Joon Ho (2019)