Threats against Zuckerberg and apartments that don’t work for anyone

Anyone as influential, powerful and wealthy as Mark Zuckerberg is subject to personal risks. It may seem like such an anodyne personality, known for wearing identical t-shirts every day so he doesn’t have to decide what to wear, couldn’t provoke much hate or admiration. But Meta pays him $23 million each year in security costs, including for the use of a private plane, in that particular way that top executives have of fighting global warming.

Zuckerberg is a relic among founders of tech giants, as one of the few who has maintained his position as CEO. Those at Google and Netflix have left their places to executives with less personal stake in the cause.

Empty apartments aren’t good for anyone, but combating them isn’t easy

Empty apartments aren’t good for anyone: for the owner, they are a waste of money; for the safety of neighbors, they raise the possibility of squatting or inappropriate uses; for the general population, one more factor in price increases. So it’s a good thing that the housing law is looking for a way to combat such properties, even though it takes the easy way out —punishment— allowing cities to increase property taxes in certain cases. It may help to make the housing market more dynamic, but anyone who has an empty home, with the costs that it involves, does so because they aren’t convinced by the alternatives. It won’t be easy to change their minds.

Phrase of the day

“I see the reports. I can’t in any way validate them. We simply don’t know. I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.”

Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, on reports from Moscow of a Ukrainian drone strike on the Kremlin

Messi

It doesn’t seem like Messi needs money to finance his projects, which is the excuse that some Spanish scientists give for registering with Saudi universities —where they don’t actually work— in exchange for juicy compensation. But the career of athletes is short, and they have a big entourage to feed, so it makes sense that the Argentine is negotiating a contract for $400 million a year, a world record and twice what his close rival Cristiano Ronaldo makes in the same country. Ironically, Messi is now facing discipline from a Qatari-owned club, a country that has its issues with the neighbor now flirting with the soccer player.

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