$35bn
The world’s richest people lost $35 billion last Wednesday when global equity markets were rocked by political turmoil in the U.S., according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Bill Gates, the world’s richest person with $86.8 billion, lost $1 billion as shares of Microsoft Corp., his largest holding, tumbled 2.8 percent, the most in almost a year. Amazon.com Inc. co-founder Jeff Bezos, who came within $4 billion of taking the top spot from Gates earlier this week, dropped to No. 3 after losing $1.7 billion as shares of the online retailer slid 2.2 percent. Spanish retailing tycoon Amancio Ortega lost $355 million to end the day in the second position with $83.2 billion.
$34/bbl
OPEC may get its members to agree to continue to tamp down oil production, but it will likely produce the unintended effect of emboldening shale producers in the United States to pump more oil onto the global market.
The crash in oil prices have helped US shale producers to become even more efficient with estimates pointing to enormous Permian and Eagle Ford shale fields in Texas where producers can break even at prices as low as $34 a barrel.
Analysts now say shale production will increase 1.4 million barrels a day through December, up from a previous growth estimate of 0.9 million barrels a day. JPMorgan Chase & Co. doubled its forecast to an increase of 800,000 barrels a day for the same period.
$1.3bn
Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire who owns a minority stake in Arsenal football club, has in recent weeks made a $1.3bn bid to buy out his rival shareholder, according to three people close to the situation. Mr Usmanov, a metals magnate who owns 30 per cent of the English Premier League club, conveyed the offer in a letter to Stan Kroenke, the US sports mogul, who controls a 67 per cent stake. The approach, made last month, valued the club at $2bn. Remember that our own Aliko Dangote has also expressed interest in controlling Arsenal.
$10bn
US private equity firm Bain Capital has made a $10bn bid for Toshiba’s prized Nand memory chip subsidiary that could result in management running the Japanese unit getting a stake in the business. The proposed arrangements are meant to enhance the political acceptability of a deal in which some of the capital behind the Bain bid comes from South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix. Toshiba set a deadline of Friday for binding offers for the Japanese industrial conglomerate’s flagship technology asset.
119
South Africa which calls itself the most developed country in the continent was ranked 119 out of 195 countries in the Healthcare Access and Quality Index published by medical journal Lancet on Friday.
This placed SA which received 52 points only one rank below Namibia causing upset among the people of the country.
The country with the best score, Andorra, received 95 followed by 94 for Iceland and 92 for Switzerland.
Central African Republic received the worst score of 29, with Afghanistan and Somalia rounding off the bottom three, with scores of 32 and 34 respectively.
