Hello! Russia has reversed its decision to withdraw from a Ukraine grain export deal and food prices are falling again, easing concerns over global hunger. Today we explore:
We implemented a rule over the summer that we would only chart about Twitter once the will-they-won’t-they saga with Elon Musk was completed. So, now that the $44bn deal is done and Musk is the self-titled Chief Twit, we thought we’d explore the potential outcomes of some major business model changes that he and his (new) team are considering.
The blue tick biz
Pulling a number of trusted Tesla employees over to help, as well as advisors from other tech circles, Musk now appears to be pursuing a "freemium" model for Twitter. On Tuesday he tweeted "Power to the people! Blue for $8/month", confirming that a subscription model, in which users could pay $8-a-month for a “verified blue tick”, is in the offing — with employees given a very tight deadline to launch the new feature or else be fired.
As details emerge on what the new Twitter will look like, we thought we’d explore what it might mean for the business. Some napkin math suggests that Twitter would struggle to run if only reliant on paid users, especially if the company uses some of the revenue to reward content creators, as Musk has suggested.
If every single currently-verified user signed up to pay, but no others, that would be worth a paltry $40m a year to Twitter. If the company successfully convinced 10% of their 238m active users to pay the proposed $8-a-month charge, they'd generate ~$2.3bn in revenue — a much more substantial sum, but still just over half of the $4.5bn they made in ad revenue last year. Even in a leaner version of Twitter, it's hard to see a future without ads.
Another drink?
The Campari Group’s spirit shelf is growing ever-wider after the Italian alcohol giant announced plans to take a 70% stake in Wilderness Trail Distillery, a Kentucky-based whiskey company for $420m.
Campari Group is looking to bolster its bourbon backline with the acquisition, branching out from the aperitif offerings they’ve been known for throughout their 162-year history, as the company seeks its next leg of growth.
Spritzes vs sbagliatos
Despite being founded way back in the 1860s, Campari Group has been remarkably prescient on modern tastes. Aperol has long been the standout tipple among the company's 50+ brands — the distinctive orange aperitif now accounts for over 20% of Campari’s revenue, with sales more than tripling since 2014.
The company, however, may be toasting a different drink from now on. Sales of Campari, the original liqueur named after founder Gaspare Campari, are now also rising and — thanks in part to a viral TikTok trend about a wrongly-made negroni variation known as a ‘sbagliato’ — are likely to continue to do so.
Reading between the lines
This week a US federal judge blocked the $2.2bn planned merger between publisher giants Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
If combined, the two publishers would control 49% of the market for blockbuster book titles, concerning US lawmakers that the deal would reduce competition in the industry. Fewer independent publishers reduces the chance of a bidding war for new titles, ultimately hurting outcomes for authors, and probably consumers too.
The news comes with the publishing ecosystem in an interesting place. As Zoom replaced real conversations and screen time increased, a physical book became a welcome escape from all the blue light. In 2020, even with brick-and-mortar bookshops closed for much of the year, over 200m print books were sold – the highest number since 2012.
Nothing beats a good book store
More recently, retail sales in physical book stores have also recovered. In August, regularly one of the busiest months for book stores, sales hit their highest level for nearly 5 years. Indeed, more than 300 new independent book stores have opened in the last few years, a welcome reversal of a decades-long decline.
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• A visual exploration of Collins Dictionary words of the year.
• A deep dive on the numbers behind a key midterm voting issue — violent crime.
Off the charts: It's officially November, which means we are not far off this song reappearing into the charts, what is it? [Answer below].
Answer here.
