Archive for May, 2010
Saturday, May 29th, 2010
Most of the older generation would find this very difficult to comprehend, and while reading the following might need safety glasses to ensure “visual security.”
It was reported in October 2009 that QuinStreet Inc has purchased the insure.com domain and “related assets” for USD16 million from the original owners, which then changed its name to Live Quotes Inc. That’s about RM50 million!
I guess the price was more than worth it, since QuinStreet had expected to get USD300 million in revenues for 2009 alone.
Live Quotes had bought the domain in December 2001 for an already-expensive USD1.6 million.
QuinStreet is a US online marketing company based in California with offices worldwide. According to Wikipedia:
It uses a performance-based advertising model with use of search engine marketing strategies to promote clients on Web sites in a number of verticals, including: education, home services, financial services, business-to-business (B2B), medical/health, brand advertising, and career services.
For the record, the second most expensive domain name ever sold is sex.com which went for USD12 million in 2006. The rest of the top ten is the usual mix, but what caught my eye was israel.com which changed hands for almost USD6 million in 2004. I wonder what made it so expensive.
For the rest of us mere mortals, you can usually get a dot com for less than USD10 (RM33).
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Sunday, May 16th, 2010
It was reported in April 2010 that even at the tail-end of his career, David Beckham, 35 still commands the most money amongst footballers.
He earns USD40 million (that’s more than RM120 million) every year, of course most of it from sponsors which includes Adidas, Giorgio Armani and Motorola.
Isn’t that amazing for someone who won’t even be playing in the 2010 World Cup, and ever won the European Footballer of the Year award, much less the World Footballer of the Year award?
Second on the list is 2008 World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, 25, with USD30 million. That’s a full RM30 million less!
Third is 2007 World Player of the Year Kaka, 28 with USD25 million annually.
Fourth is 2004 and 2005 World Player of the Year Ronaldinho, 30 with USD25 million a year.
Fifth is Thierry Henry, 32 with USD24 million a year.
6th is current World Player of the Year Lionel Messi at USD20 million.
7th is Frank Lampard at USD17 million.
8th is John Terry at USD16 million.
9th is Zlatan Ibrahimovic at USD16 million
10th is Steven Gerrard at USD15 million.
Isn’t it nice to be paid so much money for playing a game, then not having to do your own credit reports yourself?
Source
The Star, 23 Apr 2010
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Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Ever had the fantasy of driving a Merc that is even more expensive than a Ferrari around your hometown?
Holy moly eczema crazy, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, the most expensive Merc ever is now available in Malaysia.
Price: RM2 million minus RM1 On The Road without insurance.
I bet the price of the insurance is enough to buy a house.
If the colour is not to your fancy, you could consider the even costlier variety with gold paint, which was unveiled in Dubai in December 2009:
Features include:
- 6.2 liter V8 engine
- 571 PS at 6,800rpm
- 792Nm of torque at 4,750rpm.
- Motor: M159
Source
paultan.org
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Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Now for something as expensive as Malaysia’s submarine (RM1.7 billion).
Back in June 2009, it was reported that an Airbus A380 was being customised for al-Waleed bin Talal, a prince from Saudi Arabia.
It was the first A380 sold to a private owner.
Cost USD488 million, most definitely the costliest private jet ever made. Compare that to probably the most popular choice for private planes, the Boeing Business Jet, of which price starts at a mere USD42 million.
Features include:
- cylindrical elevator to bring you from ground level into the plane
- onboard car garage
- steam room
- Turkish bath
- concert hall (complete with baby grand piano)
- 5 private quarters (complete with king size beds)
- 20 first class sleeper suites
- boardroom with touch screen TV / holographic projection system
- a room with a floor that is a screen in itself, so that you can see what you are flying over.
Photo gallery
Well what do you think – the guy has the money, so he did what he could – we just hope that all those wealth doesn’t make him simply “eat, drink and be merry,” so much so that sooner or later a top diet pill needs to be included in his diet.
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Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Jonathan Geller, then sophomore high schooler, “made connections” that enabled him to have sneak previews of mobile phones before everybody else, sometimes a year before release!
So the teenager started Boy Genius Report in October 2006.
That’s right, so convinced was he that he dived headfirst into the world of blogging (full time?) even as he underwent the mandatory acne treatment.
In April 2010, the blog was acquired by Mail.com Media Corp (MMC) for “multi millions.”
The site gets 1.5 million readers a month.
Source
LA Times, April 2010
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Saturday, May 1st, 2010
At the end of 2008, toy company exec Paul Nawrocki, 59 was laid off.
He then walked the streets of Manhattan wearing a sandwich board that said “Almost Homeless” and handing out his resume.
He became a celebrity – appearing on CNN, followed around by journalists, and in a few weeks gave more than 100 interviews in studios and on the streets.
Thus, he became the face of the recession.
Nawrocki and wife declared bankruptcy in 2009, got food stamps & attended food banks.
Still, he didn’t land a job until 2 years later, not because of his TV gigs, but traditional networking: a friend introducing him to his would-be employer.
He’s got 2 mortgages, one of them 6 months behind, so money is very tight, it might take a while for him to look for life insurance online quotes again.
His salary is almost half what he used to earn (it was USD100K/yr), but he’s thankful for the “rescue.”
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