The Magic Number: $500 Million
Magic Johnson will always be known as Earvin to some people. I had to stand in at a wedding once for him when his flight was delayed; Earvin no doubt caught an earful over that incident.
But I don’t think he is flying commercial much these days, as time is money, and Earvin is worth $500 million dollars.
Looking for a feel good story? The L.A. Times has got it covered....
The orchestrator of the Lakers’ highflying “Showtime” teams in the 1980s, which netted five NBA championships, has crafted a second career by investing his time and, in many cases, other people’s money in long-ignored urban neighborhoods through his Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund.
Canyon-Johnson, formed in 1998, has financed 31 real estate developments in 13 states and Washington. It launched its third and biggest investment fund in April—and in a matter of weeks drew $1 billion from pension funds and others with deep pockets.
What’s more, the money came in at a time when investments in commercial projects had fallen off dramatically because of the credit crunch and the downturn in real estate values.
Johnson has other ventures cooking as well. In March, he signed a multiyear marketing deal to help electronics retailer Best Buy Co. bolster sales in urban neighborhoods.
His Beverly Hills-based Magic Johnson Enterprises now has AMC Magic Johnson Theatres in four cities, 116 Starbucks in 14 states and Washington, 31 Burger King restaurants in the Southeast, and 13 24-Hour Fitness/Magic Johnson Sport health clubs. He also owns a nearly 5% share of the Lakers.
Johnson consistently has declined to release financial data for his privately held businesses or himself. But a business associate, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak by Johnson, estimated the value of the former NBA star’s various holdings at $700 million. L.A. Times
Earvin’s brother Larry had a 1968 Hemi Roadrunner that I used to covet. If they still own it you can tack on another 100k to the number. That car was as sweet as a no look pass.
Was Magic better than Jordan?
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Rare Footage and NBA Highlights
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For Magic Johnson, the NBA was only halftime
L.A. Times
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The content contained represent the opinions of 1440 Wall Street. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author. No Positions
Winkelvoss Twins Row For Olympic Gold
The Winkelvii (Identical twins), pride of Quogue and the Shinnecock Yacht Club, were unable to take down Mark Zuckerberg, but have not given up all of their dreams, and will attempt to make us all proud later this summer:
The identical twins, who founded one-time Facebook rival ConnectU with their Harvard classmate Divya Narendra, have earned spots on the U.S. Olympic rowing team that will compete later this summer in Beijing. The team’s roster was announced Friday and is currently pending approval by the United States Olympic Committee.
Recently, the Winklevoss twins have been in the news because of their long-running lawsuit against Facebook founder Zuckerberg, whom they had once hired as a programmer for ConnectU.
Since 2004, they have alleged that he stole their business plan and source code. The legal fight dragged on until a settlement was reached earlier this year. Then, however, ConnectU’s lawyers challenged the agreement and claimed that Facebook had committed fraud. Earlier this week, a judge decided to enforce the settlement, which provided ConnectU with a mixture of cash and stock (effectively, an acquisition by Facebook). c/net
Go get ‘em guys.
ConnectU founders score spots on U.S. Olympic rowing team
c/net the Social
John Daly and Kid Rock: The New Face of PGA
How much do you miss Tiger Woods? The PGA certainly does, and it is going to the dogs:
In anticipation of this weekend’s Buick Open, the players and various celebrities competed in the Buick Open Pro-Am Wednesday. Representing a decision made while PGA officials were clearly intoxicated, Kid Rock was paired with John Daly. The results, while amazing, were predictable:
Rock stepped onto the No. 1 tee box for the group’s 1:20 tee time wearing overalls, a white T-shirt and tennis shoes… On the seventh tee, Daly thrilled the crowd by teeing up his ball on a full, 24-ounce can of Budweiser beer. As the crowd chanted, “Da-ly, Da-ly,” he proceeded to pound the ball about 300 yards down the fairway. The beer can didn’t fare as well.
Thankfully, the following excerpt described Kid Rock, and not John Daly:
After playing nine holes, he took off his T-shirt and played the final nine holes in overalls and underwear. Tournament officials offered him Buick Open T-shirts, but he just put them in his bag and continued playing, toting a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other… he slapped high-fives with the gallery en route to the green and made the birdie putt—with a little assistance from a Budweiser can that he placed behind the hole as a backboard. Joe Sports Fan
For once, I am speechless.
Hat Tip Misstrade
John Daly + Kid Rock = Drunk
Joe Sports Fan
Tiger Stadium a Goner
Michigan’s implosion shows no signs of stopping. General Motors’ equity market cap was recently surpassed by Gamestop, a retailer who peddles, among other things, copies of Grand Theft Auto, and now it appears another symbol of Michigan is about to disappear as well:
The demolition of old Tiger Stadium appears to be at hand as a fence is being built around the stadium, blocking the structure from the public forever.
Demolition is scheduled to start soon on most of the stadium. The company with the contract, MCM Management Corp., would not comment Tuesday afternoon, but workers at the stadium said they had been told the tear-down would begin in two weeks.
Earlier this month, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick granted a final deadline of Aug 1 to the group that hopes to save the stadium from dugout to dugout. It needs to raise $15 million for its plans. In the meantime, the rest of the stadium will begin to fall. MLive
$15 million? Bye bye, Tiger Stadium.
Fence being built around Tiger Stadium as demolition draws closer
MLive
As demolition nears, fence is being built around Tiger Stadium
Detroit Free Press
Hat tip Coffeygrinds
Life Without Tiger
Golf without Tiger might not be good for fans, but will give a bunch of mere mortals a shot at the brass ring.
The PGA visits Connecticut this week, if you give a damn. How many days are left until Augusta, 2009? The countdown is on.
Kevin has it all the good on this weeks journeyman tourney PGA 365, and while a short in Nike might be a rash decision, golf will enter a bear market without its main man.
Ahh, there’s no place like home. This week’s Travelers Championship (formerly known as the Buick Championship, and the GHO for YEARS before that) is played at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT. It is one of the oldest continuously played tournaments on tour, starting as the Insurance City Open in 1952. River Highlands may not be on many people’s radars and personally I think it’s an underrated venue. There’s the drivable Par 4 15th hole, and then an outstanding collection of finishing holes including the Par 3 16, the fantastic Par 4 17th that looks like the reverse of the Blue Monster, and the stadium setup of the closing Par 4 18th. Having the tournament be in my backyard and spending hours and hours as both a spectator and a volunteer have really helped me understand this course and which players are best suited here.
For Tier 1 players, look no further than Hunter Mahan. Mahan collected his first PGA tour win here last year and placed 2nd the previous year. He’s a long and accurate hitter and generally players who are long and straight do well here. Something about River Highlands works for him. River Highlands should be a nice reprieve from Torrey Pines and I expect him to post an exceptionally low score in at least one of the rounds. Another frequent visitor and excellent pick would be Vijay Singh. Vijay has played here many times and can hit the ball a mile, the only question is if his game is on. River Highlands is not a terribly long course so his short game has to be sharp to take advantage of his length off the tees. I think these are the best picks of the top tier.
Tier 2 has an interesting mix of players. First there’s Stewart Cink. Cink has been having an awesome year and actually won his first tournament here back in 1997. He knows the course better than virtually anyone as he comes back every year. Hopefully he’ll be able to seal the deal this week - he’s come so close on so many occasions that it’s only a matter of time for everything to come together. Why not now? Stuart Appleby is also in the field and had a respectable showing at the US Open, save a few blow-up holes. He has also played this tournament several times and he is one of the best in the field, talent-wise. Keep an eye out for Bubba Watson and Nick O’Hare as well.
Lastly, Kenny Perry should be at the top of your Tier 3 list. Perry loves this tournament and in an interview a week before the US Open he said that he was really looking forward to playing here. Perry is long and straight, and has played very well this year including a win at the Memorial Tournament. And for my sleeper pick? Brad Axon! Axon won in 2005 and while his better days are behind him now, he manages to bring his best stuff at this tournament year in and year out. He and Corey Pavin are staples here, and either of them should be able to net you some decent points.
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Tiger’s new Career, acting.
Epic US Open on Tap at Torrey Pines
If its Fathers Day Sunday it must be US Open week. I have to say that the Masters is my favorite, but at the right course the US Open gives it a run for the money.
Kevin went AWOL for a few weeks, but we will cut him some slack. The dodgy European bank he works for is having some problems, although it is comfortably above its 52-week high.
Me? I am taking Tiger, but go to Kevin’s site for more info:
The one thing I truly enjoy about the US Open is how much attention is paid to the course setup. This year’s US Open will be held at Torrey Pines, a somewhat unlikely or unusual Open venue but I think this year’s tournament is going to be epic. US Opens are generally played at old-school turn-of-the-century private clubs that have notoriously difficult layouts. That’s not to say Torrey Pines is an easy track, but rarely do you see a West Coast course host an Open. There is much chatter surrounding this tournament, particularly about Tiger Woods and his knee. Will it hold up? Can he play? Since this is his first tournament since the Masters, people are going through Tiger withdrawals and are itching to get a fix once again. I have to admit, it’s always great when Tiger plays. The course isn’t setup super differently than it is for the Buick Invitational, but it has been adjusted enough to make it a tough but fair test of golf. For more info on that, don’t forget to check out my latest blog entry.
And on with the picks.
Tiger Woods has a bum knee. It’s his first tournament since The Masters. But knowing all of that, and knowing the skill he has, the time he puts in at his practice sessions, his attitude, mental (and physical!) stamina and the virtually endless highlight reel of incredible shots, would you even be surprised if he managed to come out on top? I sure wouldn’t…and it would only add to his already amazing career. I personally think that he probably won’t win the tournament, even though he has Dominated (notice the capital “D") this course, winning here at total of 6 times. Tiger is the type of player that under-promises and over-delivers in these situations…when you expect him to play shoddy because of an injury, he’ll bounce back and clobber the field. What remains to be seen is if his tender knee will actually HELP him play better. How’s that, you say? Simple. Tiger probably won’t be able to put the pressure on his knee like he normally would, and this in turn leads to an easier, more controlled swing. If Tiger ends up in the rough all week, forget it. If he can control his drives, it then becomes a matter of putting, and I think we all know how good Tiger is with the flatstick.
As the #2 ranked player in the world, it’s only fitting that Mickelson has his share of wins here and that he practically grew up on the course. Phil’s short game control is outstanding, and no matter how fast or difficult you set up a course, he can play anything 100 yards and in as good as any other player on the face of this earth. Flash back to Winged Foot in 2006 and you’ll realize that as terribly, and I mean TERRIBLY, as he drove the ball that week, he still had the lead through 71 holes. With Tiger not at 100% and this course being essentially his home course, this is as good a break as Mickelson is going to get to finally get that first US Open win. Coming in 2nd at 4 different US Opens has get to be getting old for him.
I don’t think any of the Tier 2 players with the exception of Angel Cabrera, Reteif Goosen and Justin Leonard have a reasonable shot here. Angel Cabrera always shows up with a strong game at majors, and as the defending champion I think he’ll have a good showing. Not since Curtis Strange in 1988 and 1989 has someone successfully defended their title at the US Open. Reteif Goosen, a 2-time US Open winner, know what it takes to win at tough Open courses. His putting at Shinnecock Hills in 2004 was insane, making virtually everything on the closing 9 holes. He has been unspectacular this year and I don’t expect much from him, but he’s the kind of guy that can turn it up all of a sudden.
Lastly, Justin Leonard has had an awesome year and is just coming off a win at the St. Jude Classic. He won previously there, but you can’t hide the fact that he has played well all year and deserved at least a win at some point. Leonard is not a long-ball hitter, and this just happens to be the longest US Open course in history, but if he can keep the ball in the fairway and hit those low runners like he usually does, he should be able to score some points.
Tier 3 also presents 3 compelling choices. First there’s Luke Donald, who hasn’t been consistent throughout the year but has the game to compete in majors. Second, there’s Andres Romero, who captured his first PGA Tour win earlier this year and has demonstrated that he has the skill to win a major (the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie should ring a bell). And lastly there’s Trevor Immelman, the Masters champion, who has fallen off the face of the earth after his win BUT had a strong showing last week, right before a major nonetheless. These three players represent the best chances to me to score well this week.
For a good sub, keep an eye out for Geoff Ogilvy. I just have a good feeling about him.
Big Pay Day for Big Brown: $50+ million
Most hedge fund managers never have days like Big Brown experienced on May 17, 2008. His win at the Preakness, and new stud contract, add up to some serious coin for the super horse. The win at the Preakness paid him $600,000; rumors have his stud contract north of $50 million:
Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown will stand stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky, which purchased an undisclosed interest in the colt. Financial details weren’t disclosed. NBC Sports said it was worth more than $50 million. The network didn’t say where it got its information.
``We have entertained a variety of flattering offers but felt Three Chimneys was the best choice for us,’’ Michael Iavarone, co-president of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings Inc., which owns 75 percent of the 3-year-old colt, said in a statement. ``We were determined to participate in his breeding career and the Three Chimneys deal has given us this opportunity.’’
After the Derby, Iavarone was asked at a post-race party if he’d take $60 million for Big Brown, which cost his group $2.5 million for his stake last September.``No,’’ replied Iavarone, who’s said the same to six subsequent offers. ``There are some figures we couldn’t refuse,’’ he said, mentioning as a for-instance $100 million. ``We have all options open.’’ Bloomberg
Watch Big Brown hit the afterburners at the end of the race...yowza!
2008 Preakness
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