A Thiel-Backed Startup Pitched A Futuristic City In Bhutan. Its Dragon King Is Building It Without Them - Forbes   

In 2021, South African-American entrepreneur Art Finch began pitching government officials in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on a moonshot idea: transforming Gelephu, a sleepy, scenic town on its border with neighboring India, into an experimental, “eco-industrial” charter city.

The tiny town, he argued, was perfectly positioned to become a hub for free thinkers and innovators around the world who would bring their knowledge and wealth to Bhutan. It would be a commercial paradise of green architecture and sustainable industry. More importantly, Finch’s startup, backed by one of billionaire Peter Thiel’s VC firms, had secured letters of intent from 19 foreign tech companies including lab grown diamond unicorn Diamond Foundry, British drone startup Dronamics, and Finnish carbon capture operator Carbo Culture to become inaugural tenants in Yung Drung City, which it claimed would provide an economic jolt to a country still emerging from decades of self-imposed isolation.

“21st century development in the last Shangri-La,” the utopian project teased on its website.

Continued here

How To Lose Nearly $20 Billion: Inside The Fall Of Dish Network’s Charles Ergen And His Latest Attempt To Battle Back - Forbes   

In early 2015, Charles Ergen was the richest person in Colorado and the 24th richest in the United States. Some 14 million households got their TV from his Dish Network, which had recently hit an all-time high market capitalization of nearly $37 billion. His second business, EchoStar, was profiting off Dish's success, providing most of the satellite technology for its broadcasts. Ergen, who owned sizable chunks of both publicly traded companies, had a fortune of $20.1 billion.

Then came the streaming wars. As customers flock to on-demand, internet-based options like Netflix and Hulu, Dish TV's subscriber base has fallen to 6.7 million, down from a peak of 14.1 million in 2010. Dish has lost 900,000 customers in the past year alone. Shareholders have jumped ship, pushing the stock from $70.83 per share nine years ago to $4.88 now, a 93% drop, including a 65% freefall in 2023. Meanwhile, EchoStar brought in $1.8 billion in revenue over the 12 months through September, almost half the $3.4 billion it generated nine years ago. Not surprisingly, Ergen's net worth—which remains largely tied up in the two businesses—has cratered, falling a stunning 94% since 2015, despite the S&P 500 gaining 125% in value over the same period. His fortune slipped below $800 million in November, when he briefly fell from the billionaire ranks for the first time since 1998.

Now Ergen, a former professional poker player, is betting he can reverse his fortunes with a full business overhaul: merging EchoStar and Dish, and transforming the business from pay TV into a 5G wireless network operator. His gamble rests on a groundbreaking but little-tested technology and a deal that will bring in much-needed cash to triage Dish's loan-littered balance sheet, which totals $21 billion in debt, $3 billion of it due next year. "He needed to make bold moves," says Roy Chua, founder and principal at AvidThink.

Continued here

Here Are The 15 Biggest Donations Ever To U.S. Colleges And Universities - Forbes   

It’s a fraught time for American universities. Many are grappling with maintaining students’ safety following polarizing protests against the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas. Wealthy donors to several Ivy League schools have cut off future funding or threatened to do so amid disagreements over how places like Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania have responded to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas–and students’ actions since then.

Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, a Harvard alum, and private equity billionaire Marc Rowan, a University of Pennsylvania alum, have been two of the most vocal critics of their respective alma maters, with Ackman urging the ouster of Harvard President Claudine Gay and Rowan calling for U Penn’s President Elizabeth Magill to step down. Magill did resign a week ago, on December 9, after blowback regarding what critics said was over-lawyered, evasive testimony before Congress (alongside Harvard’s Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth) on December 5.

Since the October 7 attack, two billionaire donors to Harvard–Idan Ofer of Israel and Victoria’s Secret founder Les Wexner–have publicly cut ties to Harvard, while two billionaire donors to Columbia University–Leon Cooperman and Henry Swieca–have said they were cutting off further donations to the institution. But so far, it’s still just a handful of donors who’ve said publicly they are throttling their gifts.

Continued here

Armed With AI, Workers Are Applying To More Jobs. It’s Upping The Competition. - Forbes   

Coupled with a cooler labor market, inflation and dwindling savings, AI is helping people submit applications to more jobs.

Six months ago, Anshita Verma was sending out a handful of job applications a day. Now, the 26-year-old data scientist is sending out 10 to 15 daily, and she says it's all thanks to artificial intelligence tools.

"Instead of taking 30 minutes to fill out an application, it might take me 10," says Verma. Plug-in AI browser tools that autofill the fields in job postings have greatly sped up the time she spends on applications, she says, letting her apply to more jobs more quickly.

Continued here