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Sea of money: Norway's $1.4 trillion wealth fund

Sea of money: Norway's $1.4 trillion wealth fund

9/23/23 7:00PM

Norway's conclusion to the question in the introduction of today's newsletter — to funnel some of this rush of oil revenue into a sovereign wealth fund — has little competition on the list of “best financial decisions of all time”, as the fund’s assets have ballooned to over $1.4 trillion. That puts Norway's sovereign fund at a similar size to that of China's — yes, the same China that has more than 260x as many people as Norway has.

A sea of money

In 1963, Norway’s government declared sovereignty over the Norwegian Continental Shelf — an area of the world that, until the late 1950s, most states had overlooked as a potentially rich source of oil.

When drilling started just a few years later, Norway found itself awash with black gold and the government immediately began debating how to ensure fiscal flexibility should petroleum prices falter, its economy crumble, or oil supplies eventually run dry.

To guarantee that its current and future citizens would benefit from this new-found wealth, the state wanted to use the money to invest in the long-term while making sure it could be drawn on “when required” — thus establishing the Government Petroleum Fund in 1990. In 1996, the first cash was transferred into the Petroleum Fund — or the Government Pension Fund of Norway, as it later became known.

Golden gås

By the end of 1998, the pot had amassed just shy of 172 billion kroner, or $23 billion. However, since then, the fund has grown exponentially as the oil money was poured into a smörgåsbord of investments, from real estate and government bonds to equity investments in thousands of companies.

Returns on those wide-ranging investments — which now make up the bulk of the fund, with less than a third of the total coming from government inflows — have seen the fund's value rise to world-influencing levels, with $1.02 trillion tied up in global equity investments.

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Rani Molla
1/17/25

TikTok CEO thanks Trump, will sit with Meta CEO at inauguration

In his first statement following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the TikTok ban, CEO Shou Chew thanked incoming President Donald Trump — the same guy who wrote an executive order to ban TikTok during his first term — for potentially working to save the social video platform in the US.

“I would like to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” Chew said on his own platform. “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.”

Trump is considering an executive order that would suspend enforcement of the ban for 60-90 days so he could potentially negotiate a sale or another solution.

Chew already seems to be on Trump’s good side. The CEO is expected to sit in a position of honor at Trump’s inauguration, something reserved for former presidents, family members, and, in this case, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, a platform that competes directly with TikTok.

“I would like to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” Chew said on his own platform. “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.”

Trump is considering an executive order that would suspend enforcement of the ban for 60-90 days so he could potentially negotiate a sale or another solution.

Chew already seems to be on Trump’s good side. The CEO is expected to sit in a position of honor at Trump’s inauguration, something reserved for former presidents, family members, and, in this case, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, a platform that competes directly with TikTok.

business

FTC: Pepsi illegally saves its best deals for big-box retailers

The Federal Trade Commission sued PepsiCo on Friday over “price discrimination,” alleging it illegally reserves its best deals for big retailers, squeezing smaller independent stores. 

The move comes in the last week of President Joe Biden’s term. The FTC, led by Lina Khan, has aggressively targeted companies and scored some major wins, like blocking the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger.

The lawsuit against Pepsi appears be an effort to get consumer-friendly litigation out the door before Khan’s time as head of the FTC is up and a more business-friendly antitrust cop enters the role.

The lawsuit accuses Pepsi of violating the Robinson-Patman Act, a 1930s law that prohibits price favoritism for larger customers over small businesses. According to the FTC, Pepsi has done things like offer promotional payments to big-box retailers but not to independent stores.

“When firms like Pepsi give massive retailers a leg up, it tilts the playing field against small firms and ultimately inflates prices for American consumers,” Khan said in a statement. Pepsi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before last month, when the FTC sued beverage distributor Southern Glazer’s over similar allegations, the FTC hadn’t pursued an RPA case since 2000. 

Investors didn’t seem all that rattled by the news, and the stock is up a bit as of noon ET. PepsiCo also announced today that it completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Siete Foods, a brand that consists of healthy-ish Mexican-inspired foods like tortilla chips and salsas.

The lawsuit against Pepsi appears be an effort to get consumer-friendly litigation out the door before Khan’s time as head of the FTC is up and a more business-friendly antitrust cop enters the role.

The lawsuit accuses Pepsi of violating the Robinson-Patman Act, a 1930s law that prohibits price favoritism for larger customers over small businesses. According to the FTC, Pepsi has done things like offer promotional payments to big-box retailers but not to independent stores.

“When firms like Pepsi give massive retailers a leg up, it tilts the playing field against small firms and ultimately inflates prices for American consumers,” Khan said in a statement. Pepsi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before last month, when the FTC sued beverage distributor Southern Glazer’s over similar allegations, the FTC hadn’t pursued an RPA case since 2000. 

Investors didn’t seem all that rattled by the news, and the stock is up a bit as of noon ET. PepsiCo also announced today that it completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Siete Foods, a brand that consists of healthy-ish Mexican-inspired foods like tortilla chips and salsas.

Ozempic vs Wegovy

Meds made by Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Eli Lilly among those up for Medicare price negotiations

The 15 drugs include GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy and were used by over 5 million Americans.

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Tom Jones
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America’s most-delayed airline of 2024, Frontier, got a fine from the Department of Transportation

Though in the final days of his tenure, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is clearly still intent on cracking down on flight delays, with the DOT announcing plans on Wednesday to sue Southwest and fine Frontier Airlines over late arrivals dating back as far as three years ago.

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