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Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio On COVID-19 Vaccines

Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio On COVID-19 Vaccines

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4 years ago

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Jim Cramer giovanni caforio

CNBC’s Jim Cramer interviews Bristol Myers Squibb Chairman and CEO Giovanni Caforio from CNBC’s Healthy Returns Summit today

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Interview With Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio

JIM CRAMER:  We're here with Dr. Giovanni Caforio, who is chairman and CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb and chairman of PhRMA.  Thank you so much for joining us for CNBC's Healthy Returns. Dr. Giovanni, how did we get here?  I need your advice.  The world needs your advice.  You're a doctor.  You're head of a major pharmaceutical company.  And it's a scary time.  And the only people we have to look to are people like you who are being thrust into a position -- you're a CEO, but now you're much more than that.  What do we do?  What do we tell our kids?

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  Jim, thanks for having me during these really important times. So first of all, let me say, I am a physician.  I'm a believer in science and so I'm optimistic.  When you look at the polls, the public is really counting on the government and the industry during this time of crisis, and the biopharmaceutical industry can play and is playing a really important role.  That's who we are and this is what we do.  We've had health crises before, and we've been able to work together and develop the right medicines and the right vaccines to overcome issues.  And this is what we are doing now.  I see an unprecedented level of cooperation between companies in our industry.

We are working with the FDA, the National Institutes of Health, the Gates Foundation.  We're coming together to bring resources and expertise together, and we are making great progress already in a short period of time.  For us, at Bristol Myers Squibb as a leader in the industry, we are also playing an important role, and it really is for every patient, not just for patients infected and impacted by COVID.  We are accelerating the pipeline medicines that can be helpful in the treatment of some of the effects of the disease.  We're helping patients with our medicines.  And, of course, we're very present with helping our communities everywhere we can.  So I can say I am really optimistic about how we are coming together to manage this crisis.

JIM CRAMER:  I don't want to create any false optimism.  I feel that from the very beginning we were behind.  When I say "we," I mean this is such a terrible illness.  We didn't seem to be able to realize how nefarious it was.  Do you think we've caught up to it?  Do you think that we're on to this -- to this terrible illness and we're starting to see what terrible things it can do and we're going to be able to blunt them?

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  Well, first of all, one of the things that we are doing is we are -- we are learning.  The adaptability and the ability to learn from experience is really important today.  I think it's going to be incredibly important going forward.  There is progress with the development of diagnostics.  That is a critical component.  And also we are seeing companies in our industry come together to start clinical trials with potential new treatments for the disease.  So the same is true for vaccines.  And so I believe we are making progress.  It will take some time.  At the same time, I believe it really is important to continue to work together.  In our industry we have a lot of experience and we're bringing that to the table in order to advance the solution to this very terrible pandemic, as you said.

JIM CRAMER:  Now, for example, I know we have done work with Glaxo and Sanofi.  They're not friends, but they're teaming up.  You're giving away a thousand compounds in your discovery library.  I mean, that's sacred stuff.  But you're just opening it up because you want to solve this -- solve this pandemic.

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  Yeah, Jim, we're doing a number of things.  So we did make a thousand compounds from our library available to external researchers to investigate whether they can have a role to play.  We also have a number of medicines that are on the market already that can be tested because they're potentially active against some of the inflammatory symptoms of the disease that are so severe.  And we're working with other companies to really shape clinical trials together.  We are also, as an industry, beginning to look at manufacturing capacity so that we can bring that together when a new treatment is developed and is proven to be effective with patients. And so there is a lot going on, but I think what's also important is to continue to really focus on every patient.

And so in our case at Bristol Myers Squibb, for example, we took action early on.  We understand that because of the economic consequences of disease, patients may struggle.  We wanted to make sure that no patient had issues accessing one of our existing medicines, and so we expanded our patient support program early on in the U.S. so that any patient that has lost the job and potentially healthcare coverage because of the pandemic, they will receive Bristol Myers Squibb medicines for free.  o there are multiple ways in which a company like ours is taking a leadership role in helping with the pandemic and they go all the way from research through the medicines that are already approved in the marketplace.

JIM CRAMER:  Let's talk about people.  I've gotten to know you.  I know the people -- pretty much every single age of pharma and the people before you.  I've always felt that the industry attracted some of the greatest minds, driven people.  Bob Hugin, the man who really made Celgene take off before he bought that.  Fabulous guy.  I've known the -- Roy Vagelos, I knew of him at Merck.  I mean, these have always been amazing people and yet the industry has gotten bad name after bad name after bad name.  Why did it take a pandemic for people to figure out who you really were and who you are?  Because you're the same people the whole time.  You've always felt like this.  Now you're given a chance, but why did it take this?  Why didn't people know that you guys are the good guys?

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  Well, Jim, let me say first of all that we have been focusing on patients for a long time.  And the innovation that has been developed thanks to the work of our researchers and the people in our industry has helped address so many diseases over the years, from HIV/AIDS to hepatitis C and, of course, infectious diseases from MRSA and SARS and influenza. I know that it's increased appreciation for the role we play.  I think it's really important.  We have a major role to play in addressing this epidemic.  And the level of cooperation between our companies in the industry, it's really unprecedented this time.  The level of resources, expertise we're bringing to the table, the way in which we're working together with other stakeholders, I think that is unprecedented, and I'm seeing great progress already.

So I know that we're all focusing on patients and we're trying to make progress as soon as possible.  But that's really who we are as an industry.  That's what we do.  It's the same mission that animates Bristol Myers Squibb.  We've never stopped working during the entire pandemic.  Our essential workers have remained in our manufacturing plants, and we've continued to deliver medicines to patients around the world.  We've continued to focus on advancing our pipeline because there are new medicines that will be needed by patients in the future, and I'm really proud of what our people at Bristol Myers Squibb and across the industry, what we're accomplishing.

JIM CRAMER:  Well, thank you for what you're doing for Bristol Myers Squibb because I think that you've got -- a big position.  I think you've got the most underappreciated pipeline.  Now, maybe that's because of the merger with Celgene.  Maybe people didn't realize some of the things you're working with.  But maybe you can just tell the audience the pipeline is full and it looks to me like you have many very big drugs that we're going to see in the next four or five years.

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  Well, Jim, thank you.  First of all, as you know, just a few days ago, we reported our first quarter results.  It was a really important quarter because it was the first quarter for the new Bristol Myers Squibb after the acquisition of Celgene.  It was a great quarter.  We had $10.8 billion in sales for the quarter, which represents pro forma growth of 8 percent for our business.  We did well across the board.  I'm really proud of how our people are continuing to execute during this time.

The great thing about the quarter was the progress we made with the pipeline.  We had the approval of a very important medicine, Zeposia, ozanimod, that you know well, Jim, and it was approved by the FDA, patients with multiple sclerosis.  We had the approval of another medicine called Reblozyl, which is really important for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.  These are patients that have anemia, and there has been no new medicine approved for many, many years.  That was approved by the FDA.

We advanced Opdivo with two positive Phase 3 clinical trials of kidney cancer and a really serious form of lung cancer called mesothelioma.  I am really proud of the progress we're making with the pipeline and we're executing really, really well.  You know we are in the middle of an integration, and actually the integration has been accelerated by what has happened because as we work together remotely and focusing on helping patients during the difficult time, our people have come together even faster.  We're creating one culture for the new company really, really well.  So the pipeline is progressing really well.  Bristol Myers Squibb is a leading biopharma company and we're very well-positioned for the future.

JIM CRAMER:  Giovanni, you have a drug that I think is radically underappreciated.  It's something quite unusual I think in pharma.  It's a vastly superior drug to others in its category.  And yet people -- it took a little while, maybe five, six years to recognize Eliquis.  I think it is best in class.  I don't -- tell me why that shouldn't have 100 percent of the market when you look at the data.

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  Well, Eliquis is a -- is a really important medicine.  It's one of the most important medicines for Bristol Myers Squibb.  More importantly, it's the leading medicine around the world for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.  It's a very serious condition that affects millions of patients.  And Eliquis is the market leader because it has a best-in-class profile in terms of efficacy and safety.  It's being adopted increasingly everywhere in the world, not just in the U.S.  It's the number one new oral anticoagulant in the United States in growing number of countries around the world.  And there is more potential for growth in fact because really of the strong efficacy and good safety of Eliquis we're seeing continued growth and there is further opportunity in the future.

There are many patients that are not being treated appropriately yet, and in fact, there are many patients with atrial fibrillation that have not yet been diagnosed effectively.  We are partnering with technology companies, one Fitbit in particular, where we are experimenting with devices that can help early diagnosis of atrial fibrillation.  So Eliquis is doing really well.  It's the number one new oral anticoagulant in the world, but there is significant opportunity to continue to grow in the future.  It's one of the most important medicines in our portfolio.

JIM CRAMER:  Well, when you bought Celgene, all I kept hearing was it's Revlimid, it's going to go off patent; it's not going to be able to be something that is going to be long-lasting; and the rest of the stuff is not worth anything.  You're proving right now that that -- that the view on both Revlimid and on the other compounds is wrong.

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  You know, Jim, I'm really proud of our people and everything we've accomplished since the acquisition.  The performance of the business has continued to be really strong across the board on all value drivers for the acquisition where we are executing well.  The pipeline is progressing.  The approvals of new medicines in the first quarter are really a demonstration of the strong focus we have on the pipeline.  We're also doing well from an integration perspective and we are on track with the $2.5 billion in synergies during the first three years.  The company's in a really strong financial flexibility with lots -- financial position with lots of flexibility.  So the execution in the new company's really strong and I believe that as a leading biopharma company, we're very well-positioned.  So the pipeline is doing quite well.

JIM CRAMER:  Now, I know that you talked about science and government, and I think a lot of people in America are discovering -- rediscovering science.  When we were going to school when we were little, we knew that the scientists were the smart ones.  We knew we all wanted to be scientists but not everybody was smart enough.  And then we got diverted, a lot of people went to law school, they went to business school, then they went into social media.  Do you think it's possible, Doctor, that what is happening right now is people are rediscovering the basic goodness of science and making a difference, making not just money but a difference?

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  Well, Jim, you know, this is -- this is what we do at Bristol Myers Squibb and in companies in our industry.  It's about science and it's about innovation and bringing new medicines to patients.  So, of course, we are enthusiastic about what we can do.  Particularly in a time when there is a health crisis, we are even more focused on bringing our work forward and making a difference -- and making a difference for patients.  I'm a physician by training.  I've been in this industry over 30 years.  I can tell you every time I have an opportunity to speak to a patient, it gives me extra energy and it motivates me to continue to work.

I am hearing from so many patients these days.  Even if I'm working remotely, patients are reaching out to tell us they really value what we do.  And so, this is a time for our industry and companies like Bristol Myers Squibb to step up to the challenge, work together, and demonstrate what we are capable of when we work together.  That's our industry, that's what we stand for, that's what we are, and this is a time in which the value of science and innovation is becoming very clear.  As you mentioned, it is a difficult time and we should not underestimate the challenges of the current situation, but ultimately it will be science that helps us solve the issues we're facing today.

JIM CRAMER:  Well, I don't want to put you totally on the spot, but do you think there ever will be a vaccine for COVID?

GIOVANNI CAFORIO:  You know, Jim, as you know, Bristol Myers Squibb is -- does not have a focus on vaccines.  I do know that many companies in our industry do and they are working together, not only between companies to develop a vaccine faster, to learn from each other, to make sure the right manufacturing capacity is available.  There is cooperation with various institutions around the world.  Clearly in the U.S., there is a lot of activity.  It will take time.  But I am confident that we will have a vaccine developed.

JIM CRAMER:  All right.  Thank you so much.  Thanks to Giovanni Caforio for joining us at CNBC's Healthy Returns Summit.

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These Cities Have The Highest (And Lowest) Share Of Unaffordable Neighborhoods In 2024

These Cities Have The Highest (And Lowest) Share Of Unaffordable Neighborhoods In 2024

Authored by Sam Bourgi via CreditNews.com,

Homeownership…

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56 mins ago

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March 14, 2024

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These Cities Have The Highest (And Lowest) Share Of Unaffordable Neighborhoods In 2024

Authored by Sam Bourgi via CreditNews.com,

Homeownership is one of the key pillars of the American dream. But for many families, the idyllic fantasy of a picket fence and backyard barbecues remains just that—a fantasy.

Thanks to elevated mortgage rates, sky-high house prices, and scarce inventory, millions of American families have been locked out of the opportunity to buy a home in many cities.

To shed light on America’s housing affordability crisis, Creditnews Research ranked the 50 most populous cities by the percentage of neighborhoods within reach for the typical married-couple household to buy a home in.

The study reveals a stark reality, with many cities completely out of reach for the most affluent household type. Not only that, the unaffordability has radically worsened in recent years.

Comparing how affordability has changed since Covid, Creditnews Research discovered an alarming pattern—indicating consistently more unaffordable housing in all but three cities.

Fortunately, there’s still hope for households seeking to put down roots in more affordable cities—especially for those looking beyond Los Angeles, New York, Boston, San Jone, and Miami.

The typical American family has a hard time putting down roots in many parts of the country. In 11 of the top 50 cities, at least 50% of neighborhoods are out of reach for the average married-couple household. The affordability gap has widened significantly since Covid; in fact, no major city has reported an improvement in affordability post-pandemic.

Sam Bourgi, Senior Analyst at Creditnews

Key findings

  • The most unaffordable cities are Los Angeles, Boston, St. Louis, and San Jose; in each city, 100% of neighborhoods are out of reach for for married-couple households earning a median income;

  • The most affordable cities are Cleveland, Hartford, and Memphis—in these cities, the typical family can afford all neighborhoods;

  • None of the top 50 cities by population saw an improvement in affordable neighborhoods post-pandemic;

  • California recorded the biggest spike in unaffordable neighborhoods since pre-Covid;

  • The share of unaffordable neighborhoods has increased the most since pre-Covid in San Jose (70 percentage points), San Diego (from 57.8 percentage points), and Riverside-San Bernardino (51.9 percentage points);

  • Only three cities have seen no change in housing affordability since pre-Covid: Cleveland, Memphis, and Hartford. They’re also the only cities that had 0% of unaffordable neighborhoods before Covid.

Cities with the highest share of unaffordable neighborhoods

With few exceptions, the most unaffordable cities for married-couple households tend to be located in some of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.

Four cities in the ranking have an unaffordability percentage of 100%—indicating that the median married-couple household couldn’t qualify for an average home in any neighborhood.

The following are the cities ranked from the least affordable to the most:

  • Los Angeles, CA: Housing affordability in Los Angeles has deteriorated over the last five years, as average incomes have failed to keep pace with rising property values and elevated mortgage rates. The median household income of married-couple families in LA is $117,056, but even at that rate, 100% of the city’s neighborhoods are unaffordable.

  • St. Louis, MO: It may be surprising to see St. Louis ranking among the most unaffordable housing markets for married-couple households. But a closer look reveals that the Mound City was unaffordable even before Covid. In 2019, 98% of the city’s neighborhoods were unaffordable—way worse than Los Angeles, Boston, or San Jose.

  • Boston, MA: Boston’s housing affordability challenges began long before Covid but accelerated after the pandemic. Before Covid, married couples earning a median income were priced out of 90.7% of Boston’s neighborhoods. But that figure has since jumped to 100%, despite a comfortable median household income of $172,223.

  • San Jose, CA: Nestled in Silicon Valley, San Jose has long been one of the most expensive cities for housing in America. But things have gotten far worse since Covid, as 100% of its neighborhoods are now out of reach for the average family. Perhaps the most shocking part is that the median household income for married-couple families is $188,403—much higher than the national average.

  • San Diego, CA: Another California city, San Diego, is among the most unaffordable places in the country. Despite boasting a median married-couple household income of $136,297, 95.6% of the city’s neighborhoods are unaffordable.

  • San Francisco, CA: San Francisco is another California city with a high married-couple median income ($211,585) but low affordability. The percentage of unaffordable neighborhoods for these homebuyers stands at 89.2%.

  • New York, NY: As one of the most expensive cities in America, New York is a difficult housing market for married couples with dual income. New York City’s share of unaffordable neighborhoods is 85.9%, marking a 33.4% rise from pre-Covid times.

  • Miami, FL: Partly due to a population boom post-Covid, Miami is now one of the most unaffordable cities for homebuyers. Roughly four out of five (79.4%) of Miami’s neighborhoods are out of reach price-wise for married-couple families. That’s a 34.7% increase from 2019.

  • Nashville, TN: With Nashville’s population growth rebounding to pre-pandemic levels, the city has also seen greater affordability challenges. In the Music City, 73.7% of neighborhoods are considered unaffordable for married-couple households—an increase of 11.9% from pre-Covid levels.

  • Richmond, VA: Rounding out the bottom 10 is Richmond, where 55.9% of the city’s 161 neighborhoods are unaffordable for married-couple households. That’s an 11.9% increase from pre-Covid levels.

Cities with the lowest share of unaffordable neighborhoods

All the cities in our top-10 ranking have less than 10% unaffordable neighborhoods—meaning the average family can qualify for a home in at least 90% of the city.

Interestingly, these cities are also outside the top 15 cities by population, and eight are in the bottom half.

The following are the cities ranked from the most affordable to the least:

  • Hartford, CT: Hartford ranks first with the percentage of unaffordable neighborhoods at 0%, unchanged since pre-Covid times. Married couples earning a median income of $135,612 can afford to live in any of the city’s 16 neighborhoods. Interestingly, Hartford is the smallest city to rank in the top 10.

  • Memphis, TN: Like Hartford, Memphis has 0% unaffordable neighborhoods, meaning any married couple earning a median income of $101,734 can afford an average homes in any of the city’s 12 neighborhoods. The percentage of unaffordable neighborhoods also stood at 0% before Covid.

  • Cleveland, OH: The Midwestern city of Cleveland is also tied for first, with the percentage of unaffordable neighborhoods at 0%. That means households with a median-couple income of $89,066 can qualify for an average home in all of the city’s neighborhoods. Cleveland is also among the three cities that have seen no change in unaffordability compared to 2019.

  • Minneapolis, MN: The largest city in the top 10, Minneapolis’ share of unaffordable neighborhoods stood at 2.41%, up slightly from 2019. Married couples earning the median income ($149,214) have access to the vast majority of the city’s 83 neighborhoods.

  • Baltimore, MD: Married-couple households in Baltimore earn a median income of $141,634. At that rate, they can afford to live in 97.3% of the city’s 222 neighborhoods, making only 2.7% of neighborhoods unaffordable. That’s up from 0% pre-Covid.

  • Louisville, KY: Louisville is a highly competitive market for married households. For married-couple households earning a median wage, only 3.6% of neighborhoods are unaffordable, up 11.9% from pre-Covid times.

  • Cincinnati, OH: The second Ohio city in the top 10 ranks close to Cleveland in population but has a much higher median married-couple household income of $129,324. Only 3.6% of the city’s neighborhoods are unaffordable, up slightly from pre-pandemic levels.

  • Indianapolis, IN: Another competitive Midwestern market, only 4.4% of Indianapolis is unaffordable, making the vast majority of the city’s 92 neighborhoods accessible to the average married couple. Still, the percentage of unaffordable neighborhoods before Covid was less than 1%.

  • Oklahoma City, OK: Before Covid, Oklahoma City had 0% neighborhoods unaffordable for married-couple households earning the median wage. It has since increased to 4.69%, which is still tiny compared to the national average.

  • Kansas City, MO: Kansas City has one of the largest numbers of neighborhoods in the top 50 cities. Its married-couple residents can afford to live in nearly 95% of them, making only 5.6% of neighborhoods out of reach. Like Indiana, Kansas City’s share of unaffordable neighborhoods was less than 1% before Covid.

The biggest COVID losers

What's particularly astonishing about the current housing market is just how quickly affordability has declined since Covid.

Even factoring in the market correction after the 2022 peak, the price of existing homes is still nearly one-third higher than before Covid. Mortgage rates have also more than doubled since early 2022.

Combined, the rising home prices and interest rates led to the worst mortgage affordability in more than 40 years.

Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that unaffordability increased in 47 of the 50 cities studied and remained flat in the other three. No city reported improved affordability in 2024 compared to 2019.

The biggest increases are led by San Jose (70 percentage points), San Diego (57.8 percentage points), Riverside-San Bernardino (51.9 percentage points), Sacramento (43 percentage points), Orlando (37.4 percentage points), Miami (34.7 percentage points), and New York City (33.4 percentage points).

The following cities in our study are ranked by the largest percentage point change in unaffordable neighborhoods since pre-Covid:

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/14/2024 - 14:00

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Your financial plan may be riskier without bitcoin

It might actually be riskier to not have bitcoin in your portfolio than it is to have a small allocation.

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2 hours ago

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March 14, 2024

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This article originally appeared in the Sound Advisory blog. Sound Advisory provide financial advisory services and are specialize in educating and guiding clients to thrive financially in a bitcoin-powered world. Click here to learn more.

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.”

- Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal only lived to age 39 but became world-famous for many contributions in the fields of mathematics, physics, and theology. The above quote encapsulates Pascal’s wager—a philosophical argument for the Christian belief in the existence of God.

The argument's conclusion states that a rational person should live as though God exists. Even if the probability is low, the reward is worth the risk.

Pascal’s wager as a justification for bitcoin? Yes, I’m aware of the fallacies: false dichotomy, appeal to emotion, begging the question, etc. That is not the point. The point is that binary outcomes instigate extreme results, and the game theory of money suggests that it’s a winner-take-all game.

The Pascalian investor: A rational approach to bitcoin

Humanity’s adoption of “the best money over time” mimics a series of binary outcomes—A/B tests.

Throughout history, inferior forms of money have faded as better alternatives emerged (see India’s failed transition to a gold standard). And if bitcoin is trying to be the premier money of the future, it will either succeed or it won’t.

“If you ain’t first, you’re last.” -Ricky Bobby, Talladega Nights, on which monies succeed over time.

So, we can look at bitcoin success similarly to Pascal’s wager—let’s call it Satoshi’s wager. The translated points would go something like this:

  • If you own bitcoin early and it becomes a globally valuable money, you gain immensely. ????
  • If you own bitcoin and it fails, you’ve lost that value. ????
  • If you don’t own bitcoin and it goes to zero, no pain and no gain. ????
  • If you don’t own bitcoin and it succeeds, you will have missed out on the significant financial revolution of our lifetimes and fall comparatively behind. ????

If bitcoin is successful, it will be worth far more than it is today and have a massive impact on your financial future. If it fails, the losses are only limited to your exposure. The most that you could lose is the money that you invested.

It is hypothetically possible that bitcoin could be worth 100x more than it is today, but it can only possibly lose 1x its value as it goes to zero. The concept we’re discussing here is asymmetric upside - significant gains with relatively limited downside. In other words, the potential rewards of the investment outweigh the potential risks.

Bitcoin offers an asymmetric upside that makes it a wise investment for most portfolios. Even a small allocation provides potential protection against extreme currency debasement.

Salt, gasoline, and insurance

“Don’t over salt your steak, pour too much gas on the fire, or buy too much insurance.”

A little bit goes a long way, and you can easily overdo it. The same applies when looking at bitcoin in the context of a financial plan.

Bitcoin’s asymmetric upside gives it “insurance-like” qualities, and that insurance pays off very well in times of money printing. This was exemplified in 2020 when bitcoin's value increased over 300% in response to pandemic money printing, far outpacing stocks, gold, and bonds.

Bitcoin offers a similar asymmetric upside today. Bitcoin's supply is capped at 21 million coins, making it resistant to inflationary debasement. In contrast, the dollar's purchasing power consistently declines through unrestrained money printing. History has shown that societies prefer money that is hard to inflate.

If recent rampant inflation is uncontainable and the dollar system falters, bitcoin is well-positioned as a successor. This global monetary A/B test is still early, but given their respective sizes, a little bitcoin can go a long way. If it succeeds, early adopters will benefit enormously compared to latecomers. Of course, there are no guarantees, but the potential reward justifies reasonable exposure despite the risks.

Let’s imagine Nervous Nancy, an extremely conservative investor. She wants to invest but also take the least risk possible. She invests 100% of her money in short-term cash equivalents (short-term treasuries, money markets, CDs, maybe some cash in the coffee can). With this investment allocation, she’s nearly certain to get her initial investment back and receive a modest amount of interest as a gain. However, she has no guarantees that the investment returned to her will purchase the same amount as it used to. Inflation and money printing cause each dollar to be able to purchase less and less over time. Depending on the severity of the inflation, it might not buy anything at all. In other words, she didn’t lose any dollars, but the dollar lost purchasing power.

Now, let’s salt her portfolio with bitcoin.

99% short-term treasuries. 1% bitcoin.

With a 1% allocation, if bitcoin goes to zero overnight, she’ll have only lost a penny on the dollar, and her treasury interest will quickly fill the gap. Not at all catastrophic to her financial future.

However, if the hypothetical hyperinflationary scenario from above plays out and bitcoin grows 100x in purchasing power, she’s saved everything. Metaphorically, her entire dollar house burned down, and “bitcoin insurance” made her whole. Powerful. A little bitcoin salt goes a long way.

(When protecting against the existing system, it’s important to remember that you need to get your bitcoin out of the system. Keeping bitcoin on an exchange or with a counterparty will do you no good if that entity fails. If you view bitcoin as insurance, it’s essential to keep your bitcoin in cold storage and hold your keys. Otherwise, it’s someone else’s insurance.)

When all you have a hammer, everything looks like a…

A construction joke:

There are only three rules to construction: 1.) Always use the right tool for the job! 2.) A hammer is always the right tool! 3.) Anything can be a hammer!

Yeah. That’s what I thought, too. Slightly funny and mostly useless.

But if you spend enough time swinging a hammer, you’ll eventually realize it can be more than it first appears. Not everything is a nail. A hammer can tear down walls, break concrete, tap objects into place, and wiggle other things out. A hammer can create and destroy; it builds tall towers and humbles novice fingers. The use cases expand with the skill of the carpenter.

Like hammers, bitcoin is a monetary tool. And a 1-5% allocator to the asset typically sees a “speculative insurance” use case - valid. Bitcoin is speculative insurance, but it is not only speculative insurance. People invest and save in bitcoin for many different reasons.

I’ve seen people use bitcoin to pursue all of the following use cases:

  • Hedging against a financial collapse (speculative insurance)
  • Saving for family and future (long-term general savings and safety net)
  • Growing a downpayment for a house (medium-term specific savings)
  • Shooting for the moon in a manner equivalent to winning the lottery (gambling)
  • Opting out of government-run, bank-controlled financial systems (financial optionality)
  • Making a quick buck (short-term trading)
  • Escaping a hostile country (wealth evacuation)
  • Locking away wealth that can’t be confiscated (wealth preservation)
  • As a means to influence opinions and gain followers (social status)
  • Fix the money and fix the world (mission and purpose)

Keep this in mind when taking other people’s financial advice. They are often playing a different game than you. They have different goals, upbringings, worldviews, family dynamics, and circumstances. Even though they might use the same hammer as you, it could be for a completely different job.

Wrapping Up

A massive allocation to bitcoin may seem crazy to some people, yet perfectly reasonable to others. The same goes for having a 1% allocation.

But, given today’s macroeconomic environment and bitcoin’s trajectory, I find very few use cases where 0% bitcoin makes sense. By not owning bitcoin, you implicitly say that you are 100% certain it will fail and go to zero. Given its 14-year history so far, I’d recommend reducing your confidence. Nobody is 100% right forever. A little salt goes a long way. Your financial plan may be riskier without bitcoin. Diversify accordingly.

“We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.” - Blaise Pascal.

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Shakira’s net worth

After 12 albums, a tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth more than 4 decades into her care…

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4 hours ago

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March 14, 2024

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Shakira’s considerable net worth is no surprise, given her massive popularity in Latin America, the U.S., and elsewhere. 

In fact, the belly-dancing contralto queen is the second-wealthiest Latin-America-born pop singer of all time after Gloria Estefan. (Interestingly, Estefan actually helped a young Shakira translate her breakout album “Laundry Service” into English, hugely propelling her stateside success.)

Since releasing her first record at age 13, Shakira has spent decades recording albums in both Spanish and English and performing all over the world. Over the course of her 40+ year career, she helped thrust Latin pop music into the American mainstream, paving the way for the subsequent success of massively popular modern acts like Karol G and Bad Bunny.

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Shakira, the barefoot belly dancer of Barranquilla, was unveiled at the city's waterfront. The statue was commissioned by the city's former mayor and other leadership.

Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images

In December 2023, a 21-foot-tall beachside bronze statue of the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was unveiled in her Colombian hometown of Barranquilla, making her a permanent fixture in the city’s skyline and cementing her legacy as one of Latin America’s most influential entertainers.

After 12 albums, a plethora of film and television appearances, a highly publicized tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth? What does her income look like? And how does she spend her money?

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How much is Shakira worth?

In late 2023, Spanish sports and lifestyle publication Marca reported Shakira’s net worth at $400 million, citing Forbes as the figure’s source (although Forbes’ profile page for Shakira does not list a net worth — and didn’t when that article was published).

Most other sources list the singer’s wealth at an estimated $300 million, and almost all of these point to Celebrity Net Worth — a popular but dubious celebrity wealth estimation site — as the source for the figure.

A $300 million net worth would make Shakira the third-richest Latina pop star after Gloria Estefan ($500 million) and Jennifer Lopez ($400 million), and the second-richest Latin-America-born pop singer after Estefan (JLo is Puerto Rican but was born in New York).

Shakira’s income: How much does she make annually?

Entertainers like Shakira don’t have predictable paychecks like ordinary salaried professionals. Instead, annual take-home earnings vary quite a bit depending on each year’s album sales, royalties, film and television appearances, streaming revenue, and other sources of income. As one might expect, Shakira’s earnings have fluctuated quite a bit over the years.

From June 2018 to June 2019, for instance, Shakira was the 10th highest-earning female musician, grossing $35 million, according to Forbes. This wasn’t her first time gracing the top 10, though — back in 2012, she also landed the #10 spot, bringing in $20 million, according to Billboard.

In 2023, Billboard listed Shakira as the 16th-highest-grossing Latin artist of all time.

Shakira performed alongside producer Bizarrap during the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards Gala in Seville.

Photo By Maria Jose Lopez/Europa Press via Getty Images

How much does Shakira make from her concerts and tours?

A large part of Shakira’s wealth comes from her world tours, during which she sometimes sells out massive stadiums and arenas full of passionate fans eager to see her dance and sing live.

According to a 2020 report by Pollstar, she sold over 2.7 million tickets across 190 shows that grossed over $189 million between 2000 and 2020. This landed her the 19th spot on a list of female musicians ranked by touring revenue during that period. In 2023, Billboard reported a more modest touring revenue figure of $108.1 million across 120 shows.

In 2003, Shakira reportedly generated over $4 million from a single show on Valentine’s Day at Foro Sol in Mexico City. 15 years later, in 2018, Shakira grossed around $76.5 million from her El Dorado World Tour, according to Touring Data.

Related: RuPaul's net worth: Everything to know about the cultural icon and force behind 'Drag Race'

How much has Shakira made from her album sales?

According to a 2023 profile in Variety, Shakira has sold over 100 million records throughout her career. “Laundry Service,” the pop icon’s fifth studio album, was her most successful, selling over 13 million copies worldwide, according to TheRichest.

Exactly how much money Shakira has taken home from her album sales is unclear, but in 2008, it was widely reported that she signed a 10-year contract with LiveNation to the tune of between $70 and $100 million to release her subsequent albums and manage her tours.

Shakira and JLo co-headlined the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show in Florida.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

How much did Shakira make from her Super Bowl and World Cup performances?

Shakira co-wrote one of her biggest hits, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” after FIFA selected her to create the official anthem for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. She performed the song, along with several of her existing fan-favorite tracks, during the event’s opening ceremonies. TheThings reported in 2023 that the song generated $1.4 million in revenue, citing Popnable for the figure.

A decade later, 2020’s Superbowl halftime show featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez as co-headliners with guest performances by Bad Bunny and J Balvin. The 14-minute performance was widely praised as a high-energy celebration of Latin music and dance, but as is typical for Super Bowl shows, neither Shakira nor JLo was compensated beyond expenses and production costs.

The exposure value that comes with performing in the Super Bowl Halftime Show, though, is significant. It is typically the most-watched television event in the U.S. each year, and in 2020, a 30-second Super Bowl ad spot cost between $5 and $6 million.

How much did Shakira make as a coach on “The Voice?”

Shakira served as a team coach on the popular singing competition program “The Voice” during the show’s fourth and sixth seasons. On the show, celebrity musicians coach up-and-coming amateurs in a team-based competition that eventually results in a single winner. In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Shakira’s salary as a coach on “The Voice” was $12 million.

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How does Shakira spend her money?

Shakira doesn’t just make a lot of money — she spends it, too. Like many wealthy entertainers, she’s purchased her share of luxuries, but Barranquilla’s barefoot belly dancer is also a prolific philanthropist, having donated tens of millions to charitable causes throughout her career.

Private island

Back in 2006, she teamed up with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame and Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz to purchase Bonds Cay, a 550-acre island in the Bahamas, which was listed for $16 million at the time.

Along with her two partners in the purchase, Shakira planned to develop the island to feature housing, hotels, and an artists’ retreat designed to host a revolving cast of artists-in-residence. This plan didn’t come to fruition, though, and as of this article’s last update, the island was once again for sale on Vladi Private Islands.

Real estate and vehicles

Like most wealthy celebs, Shakira’s portfolio of high-end playthings also features an array of luxury properties and vehicles, including a home in Barcelona, a villa in Cyprus, a Miami mansion, and a rotating cast of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Philanthropy and charity

Shakira doesn’t just spend her massive wealth on herself; the “Queen of Latin Music” is also a dedicated philanthropist and regularly donates portions of her earnings to the Fundación Pies Descalzos, or “Barefoot Foundation,” a charity she founded in 1997 to “improve the education and social development of children in Colombia, which has suffered decades of conflict.” The foundation focuses on providing meals for children and building and improving educational infrastructure in Shakira’s hometown of Barranquilla as well as four other Colombian communities.

In addition to her efforts with the Fundación Pies Descalzos, Shakira has made a number of other notable donations over the years. In 2007, she diverted a whopping $40 million of her wealth to help rebuild community infrastructure in Peru and Nicaragua in the wake of a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Shakira donated a large supply of N95 masks for healthcare workers and ventilators for hospital patients to her hometown of Barranquilla.

Back in 2010, the UN honored Shakira with a medal to recognize her dedication to social justice, at which time the Director General of the International Labour Organization described her as a “true ambassador for children and young people.”

On November 20, 2023 (which was supposed to be her first day of trial), Shakira reached a deal with the prosecution that resulted in a three-year suspended sentence and around $8 million in fines.

Photo by Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images

Shakira’s tax fraud scandal: How much did she pay?

In 2018, prosecutors in Spain initiated a tax evasion case against Shakira, alleging she lived primarily in Spain from 2012 to 2014 and therefore failed to pay around $14.4 million in taxes to the Spanish government. Spanish law requires anyone who is “domiciled” (i.e., living primarily) in Spain for more than half of the year to pay income taxes.

During the period in question, Shakira listed the Bahamas as her primary residence but did spend some time in Spain, as she was dating Gerard Piqué, a professional footballer and Spanish citizen. The couple’s first son, Milan, was also born in Barcelona during this period. 

Shakira maintained that she spent far fewer than 183 days per year in Spain during each of the years in question. In an interview with Elle Magazine, the pop star opined that “Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It's clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what."

Prosecutors in the case sought a fine of almost $26 million and a possible eight-year prison stint, but in November of 2023, Shakira took a deal to close the case, accepting a fine of around $8 million and a three-year suspended sentence to avoid going to trial. In reference to her decision to take the deal, Shakira stated, "While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favour [had the trial proceeded], I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight."

How much did the Shakira statue in Barranquilla cost?

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze likeness of Shakira was unveiled on a waterfront promenade in Barranquilla. The city’s then-mayor, Jaime Pumarejo, commissioned Colombian sculptor Yino Márquez to create the statue of the city’s treasured pop icon, along with a sculpture of the city’s coat of arms.

According to the New York Times, the two sculptures cost the city the equivalent of around $180,000. A plaque at the statue’s base reads, “A heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, an unmatched talent, a voice that moves the masses and bare feet that march for the good of children and humanity.” 

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