Celebrity Net Worth: Taylor Swift joins $2.8m seed round in CharacterX
In our fortnightly celebrity investment and wealth round-up, Dwayne Johnson earns $491,000 in royalties from WWE and Lindsay Lohan makes $500,000 for her cameo in new 'Mean Girls' movie
American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift has participated in a $2.8 million seed funding round in CharacterX, a San Francisco-based AI social network that allows users to create and interact with virtual characters, according to investor database Crunchbase.
The amount invested by Swift was not disclosed. Lightspeed Venture Partners, INCE Capital and Spark Digital Capital were the lead investors in the round.
CharacterX blends artificial general intelligence technology with blockchain to change the social networking landscape, the company said in a statement.
The team recently rolled out CharacterX's mobile apps for both Android and iOS, alongside a developer website, for users to “create and build deep emotional attachment with AI beings”, it added.
Swift, 33, is one of the world’s richest self-made women with a net worth of $1.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
She was also named Time magazine’s 2023 person of the year.
The Shake it Off singer has primarily earned her fortune from her successful music career, which she began at the age of 16 with her self-titled debut album.
Since then, her 10 studio albums have sold millions of copies, both physical and digital, according to Investopedia.
She entered the exclusive $1 billion club last October on the back of her 146-date Eras concert tour, which has shattered several records and sparked ticket frenzies.
Swift is one of the few artists to reach billionaire status from music and performing alone, Bloomberg reported.
Swift kicked off her 53-datetouraround the US in March 2023, where she earned about $10 million to $13 million for each concert, according to Forbes.
The 12-time Grammy winner could earn as much as $4.1 billion from the tour, according to estimates based on her share of 85 per cent, The Washington Post reported.
Swift owns more than $150 million worth of real estate in the US, according to wealth-tracking website Celebrity Net Worth.
She has four homes in New York City, including apartments in the West Village and Tribeca, a beach house on Rhode Island, a seven-bedroom home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, properties in Nashville, Tennessee, and an estate in Beverly Hills.
Swift also owns two Dassault private jets and has a notable car collection.
She also makes millions of dollars every year from endorsements with brands including Diet Coke, AT&T, Target, Sony and CoverGirl.
She was set to earn more than $130 million in royalties from Spotify after taking the top spot as the most streamed artist on the platform's end-of-year Wrapped list in 2023.
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's net worth is estimated at $800 million. Reuters
TKO Group Holdings, the company that was created after parent organisation Endeavor merged the UFC and WWE, also announced in the filing that Johnson has been added to its board of directors.
As a board member, he will continue to earn royalties from revenue generated by licensing his name and likeness in future years.
Johnson will also receive restricted stock awards of up to $30 million and the trademark rights to his nickname, “The Rock”, which had been owned by the WWE since 2000, the filing said.
“I get a chance to sit at the table that my grandfather and dad helped to build,” Johnson, 51, said in a video on Instagram.
“The name, The Rock, I owe that name everything. Without that name, there’d be no wrestling career, there’d be no Hollywood career. The name, years ago, really allowed me to be me and that’s very special.
“Taking full ownership of my name, The Rock, is not only unprecedented, but incredibly inspiring as my crazy life is coming full circle.”
Johnson, a 10-time world champion, retired from full-time wrestling in 2004 but has made some sporadic appearances over the years.
He made his movie debut in 2001 with The Mummy Returns and has since appeared in nearly 50 movies.
His films have grossed more than $13 billion at the global box office, according to online database The Numbers.
In 2012, he founded film production company Seven Bucks Productions.
The company’s name is a reference to a bleak time in his life when he was cut from a Canadian football team and ended up living in Florida with $7 to his name, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
The production company has released movies including Shazam!, Black Adam and two films in the Jumanji franchise.
California-born Johnson’s net worth is estimated at $800 million. His stake in Teremana, the beverage brand he created, accounts for the biggest share of his wealth.
The brand, which sells one million cases each year, is worth several billion dollars, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
He has or has had partnership and endorsement deals with Apple, Ford and Under Armour.
Johnson is one of the highest-paid entertainers. In a typical year, he earns at least $100 million from his various film and endorsement endeavours.
Thanks to his massive social media following, Johnson contractually demands as much as $4 million just to promote his own movies. That’s on top of salary and back-end points, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Johnson has cofounded multiple business ventures, including ZOA Energy, an energy drink company, in partnership with Molson Coors, the SEC filing said.
In 2020, he co-led a consortium to acquire the XFL, a professional American football league, which relaunched in 2023 and recently combined with the USFL to become the United Football League.
Lindsay Lohan was reportedly paid $500,000 for a cameo appearance in the new 'Mean Girls' movie. Reuters
Lindsay Lohan
Dubai-based actress Lindsay Lohan made $500,000 for her cameo in the new Mean Girls movie, according to a report in Variety magazine.
Lohan, 37, who starred in the original 2004 Mean Girls film, earned the amount for a half a day of work in the latest incarnation, an adaptation of the Broadway musical that ran from 2018 to 2020, Variety said.
She made $1 million to star in the original release, Celebrity Net Worth reported.
The Freaky Friday actress took more than a decade's break from films before returning to the screen with the Netflix romcom Falling for Christmas in 2022.
She's set to return to the streaming platform in romantic comedy Irish Wish in March.
The Parent Trap star gave birth to her first child last year in Dubai, where she lives with her Kuwaiti financier husband Bader Shammas.
Lohan moved to Dubai in 2014 after first visiting in 2008 for the opening of Atlantis, The Palm.
She has a net worth of $2 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Lohan has modelled for Miu Miu, Fornarina and Jill Stuart, among others, and has released her own brand of leggings and a self-tanning spray.
In 2014, she released a free-to-play mobile game called Lindsay Lohan’s The Price of Fame, and in 2017, she launched a lifestyle site called Preemium.
Her podcast, The Lohdown with Lindsay Lohan, premiered in April 2022.
She currently serves as the director of design at Vigme, a New York-based e-commerce shopping community, according to Crunchbase.
Jannik Sinner pocketed $2.08 million after winning the Australian Open. Getty Images
Jannik Sinner
Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner’s net worth has jumped to about $15 million after winning the Australian Open last weekend, according to online platform Sportskeeda.
The 22 year old pocketed $2.08 million for his first major win, increasing his total prize money to $20 million since he turned professional in 2018, Italian newspaper Money. IT reported.
No Italian man had won a Grand Slam singles title in nearly half a century – since Adriano Panatta raised the French Open trophy in 1976.
The bulk of Sinner's wealth comes from his success on the court, with prize money hauls earned from reaching the quarter finals of the French Open and US Open, as well as the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year, and endorsements.
Sinner earns about €25 million ($27 million) a year from an array of sponsors led by Nike, AP reported, citing the Gazzetta.
In 2022, he signed a $150 million ($15 million per year) 10-year contract with Nike.
His other sponsors include Head, Gucci, Lavazza, Rolex, Alfa Romeo and Parmigiano Reggiano, according to AP.
“My goal isn’t to make money; it’s to become the best version of me,” he said in a November interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes. The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Kumara 3-10, Garton 3-10, Jordan 2-2, Prasanna 2-7
Qalandars win by six wickets
Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Celtic Prince, David Liska (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).
7.05pm: Conditions Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Grand Argentier, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 2,200m
Winner: Arch Gold, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Ibn Malik, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
10pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
NINE WINLESS GAMES
Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace (Oct 27, PL)
Liverpool 5-5 Arsenal (Oct 30, EFL)
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves (Nov 02, PL)
Vitoria Guimaraes 1-1 Arsenal (Nov 6, Europa)
Leicester 2-0 Arsenal (Nov 9, PL)
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton (Nov 23, PL)
Arsenal 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt (Nov 28, Europa)
Norwich 2-2 Arsenal (Dec 01, PL)
Arsenal 1-2 Brighton (Dec 05, PL)
How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
MATCH INFO
Group B
Bayern Munich v Tottenham, midnight (Thursday)
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened. He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”. Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Abu Dhabi Card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 1,400m
National selection: AF Mohanak
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 90,000 1,400m
National selection: Jayide Al Boraq
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 100,000 1,400m
National selection: Rocket Power
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh 180,000 1,600m
National selection: Ihtesham
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,600m
National selection: Noof KB
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 2.200m
National selection: EL Faust
JERSEY INFO
Red Jersey
General Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the leader of the General Classification by time. Green Jersey
Points Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the fastest sprinter, who has obtained the best positions in each stage and intermediate sprints. White Jersey
Young Rider Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the best young rider born after January 1, 1995 in the overall classification by time (U25). Black Jersey
Intermediate Sprint Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the rider who has gained the most Intermediate Sprint Points.
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
Tips to keep your car cool
Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
Park in shaded or covered areas
Add tint to windows
Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
11 cabbie-recommended restaurants and dishes to try in Abu Dhabi
Iqbal Restaurant behind Wendy’s on Hamdan Street for the chicken karahi (Dh14)
Pathemari in Navy Gate for prawn biryani (from Dh12 to Dh35)
Abu Al Nasar near Abu Dhabi Mall, for biryani (from Dh12 to Dh20)
Bonna Annee at Navy Gate for Ethiopian food (the Bonna Annee special costs Dh42 and comes with a mix of six house stews – key wet, minchet abesh, kekel, meser be sega, tibs fir fir and shiro).
Al Habasha in Tanker Mai for Ethiopian food (tibs, a hearty stew with meat, is a popular dish; here it costs Dh36.75 for lamb and beef versions)
Himalayan Restaurant in Mussaffa for Nepalese (the momos and chowmein noodles are best-selling items, and go for between Dh14 and Dh20)
Makalu in Mussaffa for Nepalese (get the chicken curry or chicken fry for Dh11)
Al Shaheen Cafeteria near Guardian Towers for a quick morning bite, especially the egg sandwich in paratha (Dh3.50)
Pinky Food Restaurant in Tanker Mai for tilapia
Tasty Zone for Nepalese-style noodles (Dh15)
Ibrahimi for Pakistani food (a quarter chicken tikka with roti costs Dh16)
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Europe’s rearming plan
Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
Brief scores:
Scotland 371-5, 50 overs (C MacLeod 140 no, K Coetzer 58, G Munsey 55)
England 365 all out, 48.5 overs (J Bairstow 105, A Hales 52; M Watt 3-55)
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
