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TAMPA — Somewhere, in the backs of our closets and bottoms of our drawers, are precious memories. That’s where you will likely find neglected Lightning jerseys adorned with a familiar No. 91. Some may have a large C on the chest. Almost all will have the iconic STAMKOS stretched across the back. Like relics of days gone by, our Steven Stamkos attire is probably tucked away in some safe, comfortable spot we rarely think about anymore. Much like our recollections of the man himself. It’s been nearly six months since Stamkos rejected a pay cut in Tampa Bay and signed a 4-year, $32 million contract in Nashville. At the time, it seemed devastating. The Lightning were losing a team captain, a future Hall of Famer, a bay area icon. And yet, 32 games later, the transaction is barely mourned and hardly mentioned. Except for those who wish to gloat. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but there have been some emails and social media posts that seem to take glee in the situation. The Lightning are playing better than in the recent past, and the Predators have one of the worst records in the NHL. Being giddy over the Lightning’s transformation is permissible. So is relief, joy and anticipation for what’s next. Being smug is not. Yes, it’s true that Julien BriseBois made the correct call. The difficult, heart-wrenching call. The Lightning general manager recognized the team was trending in the wrong direction and, instead of cursory changes, he began remaking the roster by acquiring Jake Guentzel, Ryan McDonagh and J.J. Moser while trading Mikhail Sergachev and allowing Stamkos to walk out the door. The difference has been remarkable. The Lightning went from a team that was minus-18 in 5-on-5 play last season to one that is plus-24 with 50 games remaining in 2024-25. The power play is slightly off last season’s pace but still among the best in the NHL. And that, absolutely, should be celebrated. But not at Stammer’s expense. He’s on pace to score 23 goals, which would be his lowest output in a full season since he was an 18-year-old rookie. His plus-minus rating, which was a career-worst last season, is looking just as bad this year. Seven weeks away from his 35th birthday, it’s worth wondering what his role should be on a nightly basis. The past two seasons, opponents have a plus-24 goal differential in even-strength situations with Stamkos on the ice. The previous two seasons, the goal differential was plus-34 in Stamkos’ favor. Maybe that’s indicative of the personnel around him. Or maybe it’s a sign that he doesn’t have the same 200-foot game. At the very least, those numbers go a long way toward explaining why BriseBois did not offer Stamkos a bigger contract. And, considering all he had given the organization for 16 years, it’s understandable that Stamkos viewed that as a slight. Which is how we’ve ended up here: With the Lightning showing signs of resurgence, and Stamkos already the subject of trade rumors in Nashville. Predators general manager Barry Trotz has already dealt Alexandre Carrier, Scott Wedgewood and Philip Tomasino in separate deals in the past month, but he told The Athletic earlier this week that there was “no chance” he was trading Stamkos. Whether Stamkos is on the move or not before the March 7 trade deadline remains to be seen, but there should be one inescapable truth for anyone who watched him play in Tampa Bay for the better part of a generation: He deserves better. He deserves a team with postseason hopes. He deserves a community that appreciates him. He deserves the love and appreciation that Lightning fans showered him with for so many years. Is there any chance that Stamkos could return to Tampa Bay if the struggles continue in Nashville? Perhaps, down the road. You need to remember the reason BriseBois did not offer him a big contract in the off eason is because Stamkos’ value no longer aligned with Tampa Bay’s salary cap. With that in mind, the Lightning are not going to take on an $8 million a year deal unless Nashville assumes half of the cap hit. But the idea of bringing Stamkos back in a Dave Andreychuk-type role for the final seasons of his career could be intriguing in a couple of years. In the meantime, enjoy and appreciate what the Lightning are doing in their first Stamkos-less season since 2007-08. And don’t forget to occasionally check out, and cheer, for an old friend in Nashville.
ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abacus Life, Inc. (“Abacus” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ABL), a pioneering alternative asset manager specializing in leveraging longevity and actuarial technology to offer uncorrelated investment opportunities, today announced the commencement of an underwritten public offering of 12,500,000 shares of its common stock, including 10,000,000 shares of common stock to be sold by the Company and 2,500,000 to be sold by certain stockholders of the Company (the “Selling Stockholders”). The Company and the Selling Stockholders also expect to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,500,000 shares of common stock from the Company and up to an additional 375,000 shares of common stock from the Selling Stockholders. Abacus intends to use net proceeds of the primary portion of the offering for its operations, including the purchase of life settlement policies, to support its overall business strategy, for working capital purposes, and for general corporate purposes, which may include funding previously announced and future acquisitions and repayment and refinancing of its indebtedness. Abacus will receive no proceeds from the secondary portion of the offering. The offering is subject to general market conditions, and there can be no assurances as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the size or terms of the offering. Piper Sandler & Co., TD Securities (USA) LLC, KKR Capital Markets LLC, B. Riley Securities, Inc. and SG Americas Securities, LLC are acting as joint book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters of the proposed offering. The registration statements on Form S-3 (including the accompanying prospectuses for each registration statement) relating to the proposed offering have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and became effective on November 14, 2024. Copies of the prospectus supplements relating to the offering, when filed, may be obtained on the SEC’s website located at https://www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the prospectus supplements related to the offering may also be obtained from: Piper Sandler & Co. by mail at 1251 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10020 or by email at prospectus@psc.com; TD Securities (USA) LLC by mail at 1 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017, by telephone at (855) 495-9846 or by email at TD.ECM_Prospectus@tdsecurities.com; KKR Capital Markets LLC by mail at 30 Hudson Yards, 75th Floor, New York, NY 10001, Attention: Prospectus Delivery; B. Riley Securities, Inc. by mail at 1300 17th Street North, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA 22209, by telephone at (703) 312-9580 or by email at prospectuses@brileyfin.com; or SG Americas Securities, LLC by mail at 245 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10167 or by email at us-ny-prospectus@sgcib.com. The final terms of the offering will be disclosed in the final prospectus supplements to be filed with the SEC. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the shares of the Company’s common stock or any other securities, nor shall there be any sale of such shares of common stock or any other securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. Any offers, solicitations or offers to buys, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. About Abacus Abacus is a pioneering global alternative asset manager and market maker specializing in uncorrelated financial products. The Company leverages its longevity data and actuarial technology to purchase life insurance policies from consumers seeking liquidity. This creates a high-return asset class uncorrelated to market fluctuations for institutional investors. With nearly $3 billion in assets under management, including pending acquisitions, Abacus is the only publicly traded global alternative asset manager focused on lifespan-based financial products. Forward Looking Statements All statements in this press release (and oral statements made regarding the subjects of this press release) other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements, many of which are outside the control of Abacus. Forward-looking information includes but is not limited to statements regarding the proposed offering, including the expected closing of the proposed offering; Abacus’s financial and operational outlook; Abacus’s operational and financial strategies, including planned growth initiatives and the benefits thereof, Abacus’s ability to successfully effect those strategies, and the expected results therefrom. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “expect,” ”intend,” “anticipate,” “goals,” “prospects,” “will,” “would,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions (including the negative versions of such words or expressions). While Abacus believes that the assumptions concerning future events are reasonable, it cautions that there are inherent difficulties in predicting certain important factors that could impact the future performance or results of its business. The factors that could cause results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the fact that Abacus’s loss reserves are bases on estimates and may be inadequate to cover its actual losses; the failure to properly price Abacus’s insurance policies; the geographic concentration of Abacus’s business; the cyclical nature of Abacus’s industry; the impact of regulation on Abacus’s business; the effects of competition on Abacus’s business; the failure of Abacus’s relationships with independent agencies; the failure to meet Abacus’s investment objectives; the inability to raise capital on favorable terms or at all; the effects of acts of terrorism; and the effectiveness of Abacus’s control environment, including the identification of control deficiencies. These forward-looking statements are also affected by the risk factors, forward-looking statements and challenges and uncertainties set forth in documents filed by Abacus with the SEC from time to time, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent periodic reports. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Abacus cautions you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Abacus assumes no obligation and, except as required by law, does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Abacus does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations. Contacts: Robert Phillips – SVP Investor Relations rob@abacuslife.com (321) 290-1198 David Jackson – IR/Capital Markets Associate djackson@abacuslife.com (321) 299-0716 Abacus Life Public Relations press@abacuslife.com
Nov 8, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; LSU Lady Tigers guard Flau'jae Johnson (4) dribbles against the Northwestern State Lady Demons during the first half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images/File Photo Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 women's basketball league launching this winter, signed LSU star guard Flau'jae Johnson to a name, image and likeness deal. Johnson is the second college player to ink an agreement with Unrivaled, following UConn's Paige Bueckers. They won't be participating in the upcoming inaugural season, but Johnson and Bueckers will have equity stakes in the league. Unrivaled dropped a video on social media Thursday showing Johnson -- who also has a burgeoning rap career -- performing a song while wearing a shirt that reads, "The Future is Unrivaled." The deal will see Johnson create additional promotional content for the league. Johnson, 21, was a freshman on the LSU team that won the 2023 national championship. Now in her junior year, Johnson is averaging career highs of 22.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game through 10 games for the No. 5 Tigers (10-0). She ranks eighth in Division I in scoring. Johnson has career averages of 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 82 career appearances (80 starts) for LSU. --Field Level Media REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel nowSPRINGFIELD — The minimum wage in Illinois will increase to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, completing a six-year transition period since the increase was approved in 2019. Beginning New Year’s Day, Illinois workers making minimum wage will see wages rise by $1 and tipped workers will see their paychecks bump to $9 an hour. Youth workers under 18 who work fewer than 650 hours a year will have a $13 minimum wage. The final increase, ending a six-year ramp which began with the minimum wage rising from $8.25 to $9.25 on Jan. 1, 2020, puts a bow on Gov. JB Pritzker’s first major legislative victory. He signed the wage increase in February 2019 about a month after being sworn in for his first term, checking off a top campaign promise. “Since day one of my administration, I’ve made it my mission to build an economy that works for everyone and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour fulfills that promise to our working families,” Pritzker said in a statement. “This increase honors the workers who power our state and ensures they can better support their families, bringing us closer to a stronger, more equitable economy for all.” Illinois will be one of 10 states with a minimum wage of $15 or greater, according to the National Employment Law Project. Twenty-two other states are also increasing their wages on Jan. 1. The minimum wage increase is one of many economic changes that have happened since 2019, including effects of the pandemic, Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO Lou Sandoval told Capitol News Illinois. He said those have caused businesses to adjust their operations in a variety of ways, such as increasing automation. “I think you’re starting to see businesses pivot in terms of how they’re adjusting,” Sandoval said. “You’re seeing this at the national chains.” Some restaurants, for example, are “moving away from larger sit-down areas into grab-and-go.” Illinois job growth has been slow since October 2019, according to a November report by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. The state has seen a net increase of 28,700 jobs from October 2019 through October 2024. That’s a growth rate of 0.5%, compared to the national rate of 4.9%. The rate of new job postings by businesses at the beginning of the year will shed some light on how the jump to $15 on Jan. 1 is impacting business operations, Sandoval said. To help small businesses with the change, the state provides a tax credit through 2027 to businesses with 50 or fewer employees for wages paid to minimum-wage workers. The 2019 minimum wage law marked the first increase since the wage hit $8.25 in 2010. Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester, introduced a bill to raise it to $15 an hour in 2017 that was passed by the General Assembly and vetoed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Lightford sponsored the initiative again in 2019. “As a state, we have helped countless workers make ends meet, reduce financial stress, and provide a more solid foundation for their futures,” Lightford said in a statement. “The $15 minimum wage is a testament to our commitment to economic justice and our belief that everyone who works full time deserves a living wage.” The value of a $15 minimum wage, however, has changed since lawmakers acted in 2019. A person making $8.25 in February 2019 would need to earn $10.30 today to have the same buying power after inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index. A $15 hourly wage today has the buying power that $12.02 had in February 2019. A person would need to make an $18.72 wage today to have the same buying power that $15 had in February 2019. Top Democrats didn’t say if they will push for new increases. “As a Senator of 25 years, history has shown my commitment of fighting to ensure workers are paid a living wage. That commitment still holds strong today,” Lightford said in an email statement. Pritzker said he supports ideas that will help workers make more money, but didn’t commit to supporting any plan to raise the minimum wage further when pressed about it at a news conference Dec. 11. “We always are thinking about how do you balance the need for higher wages with the needs that businesses have to hire people and do it affordably. But I think we did it the right way when we did it back in 2019,” Pritzker said. The new $15 wage equates to a 40-hour-per-week annual salary of $31,200 before taxes. That equals the federal government’s poverty level for a four-person household. The poverty level is $15,060 in a single-person household. But according to calculations in a national project by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, $15 hourly still doesn’t equate to a “living” wage in Illinois, based on U.S. Census Bureau cost of living and other cost estimates provided by federal agencies adjusted for inflation. A single adult with no children needs a $22.86 hourly salary to make a living wage in Illinois, while a two-parent household with two working adults and three children would each need to earn $31.69. In a two-parent household with one working adult and one child, the worker needs $36.49 to make a living wage, according to the MIT project. Inflation is making it hard for workers to benefit from wage increases, Sandoval said, adding rising wages also cause businesses to raise prices. “They might get the wage increase on one side, but their cost of living goes up accordingly,” Sandoval said. Gov. JB Pritzker announces support for stricter rules around hemp products like delta-8 THC during a news conference on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
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Gamification is rapidly reshaping how people consume information and engage with the world. It uses strategies such as clear goals, instant rewards and engaging visuals to make everyday tasks more enjoyable, often in a digital setting. The COVID-19 pandemic nudged consumers to embrace no-contact, instant gratification experiences in an increasingly digital world. Businesses found that gamification attracts new customers while keeping the existing ones engaged. As evidenced by the meteoric rise of the Robinhood investment app , even trading platforms haven’t been able to escape the pull of gamification. While trading gamification attracts new and younger investors to financial markets, a key question arises: do digital engagement strategies shape investor behaviour? Flashy features and poor financial decisions In recent years, fierce competition among online brokers has pushed them to stand out with features beyond lower fees. To boost trading activity, many brokers have implemented gamified features ranging from vibrant colours and celebratory animations, to social ranking boards and frequent price alerts. My recent research shows that these strategies are particularly effective for new investors with lower financial literacy. While it’s effective at attracting users, gamification can lead inexperienced traders to make poor decisions by magnifying their behavioural biases. My co-researchers and I studied the effect of gamification on retail traders’ behaviour using a randomized online experiment. The results echo the widespread concerns that gamification fuels investors’ competitive instincts and their urge to “hit big.” Turning trading into a casino-like experience encourages reckless decision-making. Infamous long-term investor Warren Buffett has also expressed concerns about the potential negative impact of “instant gratification” on investor behaviour. He believes that “too many modern investors have become entranced by speculative investing” and are “simply buying stocks that are trendy.” While it’s important to introduce the younger generation to financial markets , Buffett’s warning resonates at a deeper level. Is the increasingly gamified trading environment equipping new investors with the skills and confidence to build a strong financial future, or is it designed to exploit their weaknesses? And ultimately, how can technology be leveraged to build a healthier, more sustainable economy? Who benefits from financial literacy? My co-researchers and I argue that both retail investors and intermediaries ultimately benefit from boosting financial literacy from an early age — that is, before plunging into the wild waters of financial markets. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with individual investors to take the initiative to understand the fundamentals of financial markets and risk management. By seeking out knowledge before entering markets, they can reduce their risk and become aware of their biases and blind spots. Traders who don’t prioritize their education may end up learning the reality of markets the hard way — often through losses in post-mortem reflection. At the same time, brokerages and trading platforms have both a profit-driven and an ethical stake in promoting financial literacy. Informed users are more likely to become loyal long-term customers who engage more deeply with platforms and trading responsibly over time. Financially literate traders benefit from gamification techniques like price notifications, which allow them to correct their mistakes faster. From an ethical standpoint, financial institutions must reflect on whether they would rather empower a new generation of investors or merely turn them into gamblers. Financial education is key School systems’ improved or renewed efforts to empower students to navigate the economy safely and productively have received significant attention in light of both post-pandemic and inflationary economic challenges . As students move up the education ladder, they could learn about more sophisticated financial products, such as leverage, derivatives or alternative investments. Read more: A back-to-school wish list for Ontario's 2025 high school financial literacy requirement However, the financial world is growing ever more complex with the inclusion of novel products such as cryptocurrencies and leveraged funds . Every investor faces — or will eventually face — unique financial challenges. The real question is: how can we improve investors’ financial literacy at scale without expecting everyone to earn the equivalent of a business degree? AI and the future of financial education This is where artificial intelligence (AI) comes in. AI is experiencing rapid growth and can adapt learning plans based on users’ existing knowledge, unique planning needs, learning pace and preferred engagement formats. This adaptability makes AI a powerful tool for creating learning opportunities for investors by catering to varying learning needs. Wide-scale collaboration among regulators, business educators and financial markets could lead to innovative programs using scalable, user-friendly tools such as chatbots. Such an approach would help improve financial literacy on a large scale and enable evidence-based policy by observing investor behaviour. Improving financial literacy is urgent. As a new generation of traders enters gamified investing, they risk losing their savings due to poor decisions, behavioural biases and excessive trading. Early losses can stunt a generation’s future wealth prospects and set them back years, if not decades. Only investors with strong critical thinking skills and self-control will progress from beginners to experienced traders and avoid falling prey to impulsive decisions.It’s been over three years since I bothered to publish an article on the dead end but glitzy space of urban air mobility with their origami electric vertical take-off and landing passenger aircraft. Instead, I focused my aviation related assessments on how aviation will actually decarbonize over the next few decades, starting with regional air mobility where conventional fixed-wing aircraft take off from boring old airstrips, but running on electricity. Oh, and heavy lift drones for crop spraying, tree planting, and solar panel installation, among many other use cases of high merit. But recently there’s been enough news of very predictable — and predicted — failures that it’s worth returning to the space. Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (EVTOLs) were heavy into the SPAC — special purpose acquisition company — pump and dump scam investment space that Wall Street bros foisted off on unwitting investors after IPOs, ICOs, and NFTs had made them their millions in bonuses, enabling them to stock up on Cristal and Ferraris. As a I wrote in 2021, the publicly listed EVTOL firms had already lost investors $16 billion of the peak capitalization of $28 billion, and the stock prices have just continued to go down. That’s not a good look at all. Of the publicly listed firms, only one is ever so slightly up from its original valuation, about 10% over five years, so nothing at all to write home about. What company is that? Chinese firm eHang, with its customer Cuisinart knee-high blades. But that firm, having seen a major stock bump when the SPAC craze blew through the market, masks the depth of failure of the rest of the stocks. Let’s remove it. Now there’s a stock chart to make investors green in the gills from airsickness. It also makes the 2021 SPAC-fueled pump and dump spike very clear. Google Finance only allows five stocks, so I replaced eHang with Eve Mobility, the Embraer subsidiary. Many people seem to think that the continued existence of these companies is indicative that they have value and merit. That’s a misreading of the situation. The Wall Street SPAC bros did very well out of them, selling off and taking a lot of the raised capital before it dissolved into losses. That’s left the firms with insufficient funds to actually certify and manufacture their aircraft, but enough to keep going and for the founders and executives to keep taking big annual salaries to show up at air shows, hang around aviation types, and fail slowly. That time is coming to an end. Lilium is the first to reach the end of the runway and crash into the barriers at the end, declaring insolvency recently — equivalent to bankruptcy in North America — and entering administration in the UK and Australia. NASDAQ announced it was delisting the stock three weeks ago, but it takes a while for the process to complete, hence their existence on the charts. Of course, there are other failures to consider from firms that were never listed separately as a stock. Kitty Hawk Corporation, the Silicon Valley-based EVTOL pioneer backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, announced in September 2022 that it was ceasing operations. The company failed to achieve commercial viability with its Heaviside EVTOL though its joint venture with Boeing, Wisk Aero, continues to pursue autonomous air taxi solutions. That’s a dead end for Boeing, with Wisk being more of a sexy distraction from real airplanes’ doors falling off and planes plummeting out of the sky than an actual business venture. That said, the absurd degree of regulatory capture of the US Federal Aviation Authority by Boeing detailed in Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing means that Wisk might get through certification, something unlikely for all of the rest. (Note: eHang managed a limited certification which allows it to operate as a rural fairground ride, but that’s the extent of the certification good news in the space.) Rolls-Royce’s ambitions in the electric flying taxi space came to an end in September of 2024, as the British aerospace giant shut down its Advanced Air Mobility division. Despite years of research and investment, the company failed to attract buyers for its EVTOL technology, once again completely predictably. Vertical Aerospace, a prominent UK-based EVTOL company, entered advanced negotiations with creditors in November 2024 in a bid to secure its financial future. The firm, which had been developing the VX4 EVTOL aircraft, struggled to balance the high costs of certification and production with limited capital reserves. One of the reasons it’s struggling is that Rolls-Royce stopped backing it during its exit from the space. I expect Vertical to follow Lilium into administration in the coming weeks. Who would throw more money into this empty hole in the sky? Joby, borne of a group of people who failed — again predictably — in the field of airborne wind energy, continues to pretend it’s going to have aircraft certified and in the air real soon now. The company originally pretended that its first-of-a-kind aircraft with multiple novelties and a class history of falling out of the sky and killing people — there’s a reason only the military flies VTOLs — would be certified and available for sale in 2023. Now they are pretending it’s 2025. If they actually survive to mid-2025, I predict the launch will be changed to 2027 or 2028. For an example of SPAC proceeds, the reverse takeover raised $1.6 billion, but Joby only received $1.1 billion of it. At that, they are the best financed EVTOL firm in existence, so might be the last one standing. They are in bed with Toyota now, which doesn’t bode well, as that firm has a recent history of betting on the wrong technology. Beta Technologies is another US entrant in the stable of sway-backed nags pretending to be Arabian thoroughbreds. It’s stayed private, getting multiple series of investments from organizations that should know better — Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and Fidelity Management & Research Company — and funds I don’t expect much from — Qatar Investment Authority and TPG Rise Climate. It’s managed to raise $1 billion, which sounds like a lot. However, I’ve had multiple discussions with experts in aircraft certification in the past five years and reviewed certification requirements for both the FAA and EASA related to this class of decorative objects. We agree that getting one of these things certified is in the range of $1.5 billion, and that none of the volumes in the business cases, adjusted for reality, remotely support the expenditure. They would need to sell thousands per year when the market might be a few hundred in total, and they are pretending that they will be flying 12 hours a day with turnarounds like Formula One pitstops on the ground. I reviewed a lot of the business cases four years ago and none of them study up to the slightest scrutiny, lighter-than-air confections that pretended to be steak and potatoes. Eve Air Mobility, listed under Eve Holding Inc, a subsidiary of Embraer, is even more off the mark. It was another SPAC pump and dump, managing only a tiny $4.14 stock price bump before the dump in 2021. It picked up $400 million in capital and has added another $300 million or so to that, but recently it’s only been getting loans, which frankly is a bad sign for an aircraft that has raised half the money it needs just to certify. I assume Embraer has been keeping it alive because other major aircraft manufacturers have been playing the game for marketing dollars, and as they exit one by one, Embraer is just choosing when to do so. I give it a maximum of a year before the aerospace engineers and executives are asked to find other, more productive things to do with their time. Volocopter, a German sibling firm of already failed Lilium, is struggling as well. It’s only managed to raise about $700 million as well from investors like Daimler AG, Geely, Intel Capital, BlackRock, NEOM, and Micron Ventures. The ground transportation connection is stronger with the firm, but NEOM is a big red flag as that fund thinks an unlivable linear city through a desert is a great idea. Earlier this year it failed to launch at the Paris Olympics, one of a couple of embarrassing parts of an event that promised to be a real climate winner. It was supposed to be able to ferry one passenger at a time — without luggage except maybe a carry-on bag — from a barge in the Seine to the airport, but unsurprisingly failed to get certification for that. The only good things I have to say about Volocopter is that at least, like eHang, it has opted for simplicity with no origami shape-shifting, just rapidly spinning blades, but unlike eHang at least put them safely above passengers’ heads. I’m pretty sure it’s heading for insolvency, likely in early 2024. Requiring a card of its own to play, the biggest aircraft manufacturer in the world, Airbus, has its concept car... err... EVTOL to show off at airshows — the CityAirbus NextGen. It keeps how much it has spent on this marketing venture close to its chest, and unlike many of the other entrants on this list of avionic shame, doesn’t pretend that memorandums of understanding that would dissolve in a gentle misting of rain are orders, claiming none at all. With Rolls-Royce gone, the need to be able to play the card diminishes, so I expect the CityAirbus to vanish into the junk drawer of old renderings in a year or two at maximum. There are a couple of other EVTOL firms that no one has ever heard of, Skydrive out of Japan and ASML out of Australia, but like all the rest, they fly under all radar systems because they are never leaving the ground. They’ll dissolve into the aether soon enough, although the Japanese one might turn into the hydrogen fuel-celled car of the 2030s. Never count out the Japanese ability to persist in doing something for decades past the time when all rational reasons for doing so have disappeared. On that note, Japan’s latest energy plan is finally heavy on renewables, so the country can still learn. It’s unlikely I’ll bother to write another article about this space unless I do a retrospective of the hulking carcasses in the graveyards of aircraft at some point to point out how much money and engineering talent was wasted as an abject lesson in another hype bubble. They always arise, and it’s useful having a set of collateral that enables us to ask why the next hype bubble is different than the last one. For all those wishing for a Jetsons future — you know who you are — let it subside into wistful daydreaming instead of active hoping. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook X Email Mastodon Reddit
Gov.-elect Mike Braun has selected many familiar names, as well as a few new ones, to lead state government agencies when the Republican takes office Jan. 13 as Indiana's 52nd chief executive. The familiar names include unsuccessful 2022 Northwest Indiana congressional candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green, of Crown Point, as director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, in addition to her previously announced role as Braun's cabinet-level secretary of public safety. Likewise, Braun Commerce Secretary David Adams will also lead the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC); former state Rep. Mike Speedy, Braun's secretary of business affairs, will head the Department of Labor; Secretary of Education Katie Jenner will remain in charge of the Indiana Department of Education; and Lisa Hershman will oversee and direct the Office of Management and Budget. Other familiar names are former state agency leaders slotted into new roles, including Kent Abernathy as Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) commissioner, after previously serving as Bureau of Motor Vehicles commissioner; Adam Krupp as director of the Department of Child Services, following his prior tenure as state revenue commissioner; and former state Sen. Pete Miller as executive director of the Indiana Management Performance Hub, after managing the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board (DUAB). Mitch Roob, who led the Family and Social Services Agency (FSSA), as well as the IEDC, under Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, once again will lead FSSA as Braun looks to pare back state spending on Medicaid and other health and social safety net programs. Meanwhile, state Rep. Alan Morrison, R-Brazil, will give up his Indiana House seat to become director of the Department of Natural Resources, and former state Rep. Lloyd Arnold, who resigned from the House in 2017 to direct DNR law enforcement, will become commissioner of the Department of Correction, where he's recently worked as chief operating officer of the Indiana Correctional Industries job-training program for incarcerated individuals. State agency leaders staying in their roles amid the gubernatorial transition include: Steve Russo, executive director of the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS); Holly Lambert, state insurance commissioner; Lindsay Hyer, executive director of the Professional Licensing Agency; Thomas Fite, director of the Department of Financial Institutions; and Dr. Lindsay Weaver, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Health. Also continuing to serve: Dan Huge, a Hobart native, as chairman of the Indiana Finance Authority; Steve Cox, director of the Indiana Broadband Office; Don Lamb, director of the State Department of Agriculture; James Michaels, superintendent of the Indiana School for the Blind; and David Geeslin, superintendent of the Indiana School for the Deaf. Newcomers to top state government posts are: Kevin Garvey, commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles; Jake Adams, head of the Department of Veterans Affairs; Fred Glynn, executive director of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs; and Brandon Clifton, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Administration. Braun also has named his former top Senate aide, Joshua Kelley, as chief of staff; Jason Johnson, deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs; Jessica Wedgewood, deputy chief of staff for operations; and Patrick Price, as the governor's legal counsel.