RE: About that sweepstake.....27 Sep 2025 19:35
"Is extrader a multi-millionaire?"
No.
But - as I occasionally sign off '- dum spiro, spero' = while I breathe, there's hope ;->
The sweepstake really came about as a combination of
(1) wanting to bring some levity and/or focus to the board (see my previous rejoinder to BOTS etc);
(2) wanting to test out the notion of 'the wisdom of the crowd' : this is the thesis that "large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant- better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future".
So we now have a range of predictions as source material.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds
(3) addressing (however weakly) the fact that a so-called 'life-changing' outcome for us in the West would be a potentially literal 'life-changing' outcome for whole communities in benighted Congo-Brazzaville....and a charitable donation (especially if in-country) is feeble acknowledgement of that .
(4) OTOH, I also think that there's something fundamentally wrong about the charities 'business':
(a) the obvious instances of misuse/abuse, where a high proportion of donations go to perpetuating the machine and a low proportion actually makes it to the intended beneficiaries; and
(b) more fundamentally, the implied coercion of (usually tax-deductible) giving:
-if, say Bill Gates gives USD 100m of otherwise taxable income to charity, he can offset the donation against his tax bill.
- in overall terms, he and other individual donors deprive the IRS/Government of tax revenue it would otherwise receive, so the shortfall is collected one way or another from the rest of us.
- the general effect is that we general taxpayers are subsidizing (= paying for) the enthusiasms and charitable instincts of the plutocrats.
Harvard's endowment is a case in point re both.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/18/us/harvard-university-endowment
.."About 80% of Harvard’s $53.2 billion endowment is earmarked for financial aid, scholarships, faculty chairs, academic programs or other projects, according to the school. The remaining 20% is intended to sustain the institution for years to come...
...Harvard, like many universities, has directed an annual payout rate of about 5-5.5% of its endowment’s annual market value, which in fiscal year 2024 resulted in roughly $2.4 billion to fund its operations. "
See also https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/10/18/harvard-endowment-grows-in-2024/
for detail on what it spends its distribution on
.."Endowment distributions in fiscal year 2024 totaled $2.4 billion — 37 percent of the University’s annual revenue — with funds going toward costs such as financial aid, faculty, research initiatives, and more. The contributions have allowed the University to commit $749 million in financial aid across the University, with $250 million provided to undergraduates..."
ATB
Sign In
Follow the stocks
