"90 Facts from 2024"
December 16, 2024
Some interesting examples (sources are given for each one but I did not check them):
Immigrants have started more than half (44 of 87) of America's startup companies valued at $1 billion dollars or more.
Almost 75% of companies paid a dividend in the late 1970s; it declined to 35% in 2021.
About a third of all S&P 500 trades are now executed in the final 10 minutes of trading, up from 27% in 2021.
Almost 20% of S&P 500 CEOs spent part of their careers at either GE or Procter & Gamble.
The R&D spending of Amazon is greater than the R&D spending of all companies and government in France.
When 120 of Cornelius Vanderbilt's descendants gathered at Vanderbilt University in 1973 for the first family reunion, there was not a millionaire among them.
1 million people now owe more than $200,000 in federal student loans.
Roughly 50% college graduates have jobs that don’t use their degrees.
79 of the 100 most expensive U.S. zip codes in 2023 were in California.
And here are three from "52 things I learned in 2024":
In 1800, 1 in 3 people on earth were Chinese. Today, it’s less than 1 in 5.
People whose surnames start with U, V, W, X, Y or Z tend to get grades 0.6% lower than people with A-to-E surnames. Modern learning management systems sort papers alphabetically before they’re marked, so those at the bottom are always seen last, by tired, grumpy markers. A few teachers flip the default setting and mark Z to A, and their results are reversed.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hired a team of professional pickpockets to steal phones and wallets from his players at a dinner, to teach the squad the importance of being ready, alert and prepared at all times.