hellorinis

Re: SoftBank, WeWork and Saudi Arabia

Do you think the recent apparent kidnapping and killing of a Saudi journalist will affect how SoftBank is perceived? Saudi Arabia provided about 45B in their 100B fund. When Trump leaves, it's obvious that the Saudi's connection and possible payments to Jared Kushner will be investigated (if Kushner isn't indicted prior to that) and there will be an awkward situation with the State Department.

Also, news today re: WeWork possibly getting a majority investment from SoftBank. WeWork's business model is essentially untenable, no matter how much money is funneled into it. This is a classic "putting money to work" situation and it can't possibly end well for both SoftBank and WeWork. Why is this still touted as a winning strategy?

The public markets are not going to absorb this. Morgan Stanley issued a note today with an underperform for tech stocks in 2019, citing very similar circumstances to the dot com bubble. Just curious what you see coming next.

Just butting in here re: your question on institutions. If you trace the influence of Libertarian ideas you'll understand why. The rise and influence of (far-right members of) the PayPal mafia cannot be understated. Peter Thiel is the intellectual father of the sociopathic children.

YAY.

Love U Kara you give me so much hope. Q: do you feel attitudes in tech have changed in terms of how it's increasingly at odds with the Zeitgeist? How does tech reconcile their self-image as "future-driven" when they seem to be married an Establishment that is about preserving the past? It's almost as if the future imagined by tech is about solving machine (system) problems and the future humans imagine is about solving human problems. This will eventually affect valuations. Because tech has never been as out of touch as it is now.