These programs are absolute cash cows for universities. One of the primary reasons that tuition has considerably outpaced inflation is government guaranteed loans. Two of the primary 'cost-disease' areas - healthcare and education - are some of the most regulated areas of our lives.
Imagine what might happen if the US government made all college education free.
I am all for the government potentially paying for degrees, but I do see how it would be helpful for taxpayer dollars to pay for hundreds of kids to get a Columbia MFA.
If the government is going to be paying for college, it's also going to limit the cost of degrees very harshly, making these kinds of programs barely profitable if at all.
If there still is profit after such a reform. Universities don't make a profit where I live.
1.7m shares of Paypal at .001 is worth 5B at the current share price of 295.
Obviously debatable whether you can mark shares of your own company / PE firm sponsor equity / etc at near zero in a tax sheltered vehicle. But if Thiel held shares in a personal account and borrowed against them he wouldn't have owed tax either, as unrealized capital gains are not taxed.
Buffett, Musk, Bloomberg, etc. all have the vast majority of their wealth in businesses they founded, and have subsequently paid de minimuis taxes relative to their net worth.
All have arguably made significant contributions to society and world at large, magnitudes higher than their net worth and taxes paid.
Deal wont close. DVMT is a tracker for VMW at 1.015:1. It should trade at 164.4 (given a 162 price for VMW). Offer is ~1/3rd in cash that Michael Dell isn't even paying for, it is a special dividend from VMW. Other 2/3rds is an egregious swap for private Dell shares in exchange for DVMT tracker shares. A disgusting deal all around designed to benefit Michael Dell at the expense of common shareholders. It won't be approved.
Agreed that this is a great deal for Dell and its investors..... They are going to profit from the discount to the tune of ~$8bn (see my analysis in another comment).
Stranger things have happened so the deal may go through.
I bought more DVMT yesterday to tender it for $109.
In spite of all the controversy, Facebook is at all-time highs. It will be interesting to see whether Facebook is still the dominant social networking platform in 5, 10, or 25 years.
My gut tells me Europe will use GDPR to further attack (and fine) large US tech companies (Facebook, Google, Apple, etc.). Everybody is likely breaking these sorts of laws in some small way, but I doubt the EU will bother going after a small startup. If you can't avoid a lawyer, I doubt you're worth being prosecuted.
https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/chart-of-the-day-or-century-6...