Good morning. Yesterday we awarded Golden Mugs to the Phrase of the Year ("vaccine mandate"), the Best Comeback Story (air travel), and the Best Internet Moment (Bernie's mittens). The award categories on tap for today: The "Most 2021" Headline, the Biggest Flop of the Year, and the Biggest Split. Read on to find out the winners. —Neal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, Jamie Wilde | | Dianna "Mick" McDougall; Getty Images Not just for gamers and sci-fi dystopias anymore—the metaverse became a dinner table topic in 2021, in part thanks to Facebook planting its flag in the virtual world. The tech giant rebranded as Meta in October to make sure you know its future goals weren't limited to helping your aunt post more high-angle selfies. Instead, Meta plans to be at the forefront of what Mark Zuckerberg called "the next chapter of the internet." And it's hiring over 10,000 folks in Europe to help build it. Here's what we know: - Virtual and augmented reality will play a central role in Meta's plans for immersive, digital worlds—not breaking news to anyone who's read Ready Player One.
- To that end, Meta has broken out its Reality Labs unit, which manages its Oculus VR division and other enhanced reality products, from the side of the business that manages apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Critics say the rebrand is merely a scheme for Meta, the company, to publicly distance itself from the problems facing Facebook and Instagram, the social networks—like accusations that Insta knowingly harms teens' mental health and hasn't taken sufficient action to remedy this. Or that it's struggling to attract teens to the platform in the first place. Zoom out: Meta may have been the only one to change its name, but corporate giants from Microsoft to Nike are also investing deeply in metaverse products. As Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told Bloomberg, "The metaverse is a term like the internet. No company can own it." Sorry, Zuck. ----- Runner up: El Salvador plans Bitcoin City. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele is more bullish on crypto than your 23-year-old cousin who put all his stimmy directly in dogecoin. The Central American country, which became the first in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, will issue $1 billion in bitcoin-backed sovereign bonds to help pay for Bitcoin City's infrastructure—and the city itself will be shaped in a circle because bitcoins are circular, obvi. Runner up: Staples Center becomes Crypto.com Arena. In a sign of the shiba inu coin-shilling times, LA's iconic Staples Center—home to the Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and Sparks—was renamed Crypto.com Arena on Christmas after the crypto exchange forked over $700 million for the naming rights. Crypto companies see lots of potential customers in sports fans: The industry is the fastest-growing sponsorship category in sports.—JW | | Dianna "Mick" McDougall; Getty Images What is a trainwreck? After the process to replace the late, great Alex Trebek began in November 2020, executive producer Mike Richards (NOT Kramer, FYI) was tasked with making the final call on Jeopardy!'s new host. After more than half a year of "trying out" guest hosts, including LeVar Burton, Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings, Aaron Rodgers, and Robin Roberts, it was announced on August 11 that Richards had found the perfect host to usher the iconic show into a new era: himself. While choosing yourself is an inspiring act in movies about divorce with Lumineers-heavy soundtracks, it's not the savviest move in a public job selection process. Fans and former contestants cried foul. Within days of the announcement, a story by The Ringer's Claire McNear revealed that Jeopardy! staff morale had deteriorated under Richards. Then, even more came to light, including: - Lawsuits focusing on the mistreatment of female employees at The Price is Right, Richards's former place of employment, that accused Richards of bad behavior
- A 2014 podcast episode in which Richards repeatedly asked his female cohost and female assistant if they'd taken nude photos.
Rounding out the stunning downfall: Following the news of his past actions, Richards was out as Jeopardy! host just nine days after he was announced. 11 days after that, he resigned as executive producer as well. ----- Runner up: The return to office. With Covid spikes and new variants galore, the month-to-month office delay announcements from HR teams were about as regular a way to track the passing of seasons as the Gregorian calendar this year. Runner up: Zillow's iBuying program. The best website since Instagram for making yourself feel bad, Zillow permanently shut down its algorithm-based home flipping operation in November after the unit lost $381 million in Q3. As of November, the company had 9,800 homes it needed to sell, along with 8,200 additional homes it's under contract to purchase that it will need to flip. Not exactly Selling Sunset material.—MK | | | In this case, BFF stands for Best Financial Friend. Because while friends give you props when your group-chat joke is fire, setting your investing intentions for the new year requires a different kind of Ally—one who knows the market. Especially now, with the S&P 500 notching yet another new, all-time high. So as 2021 comes to a close, Lindsey Bell, Ally's Chief Markets and Money Strategist, created a comprehensive checklist covering how to get your portfolio spruced up and ready for 2022. If you haven't zoomed out on your portfolio, the end of the year could be a smart time to do so. Ally's investor checklist reminds you to make sure your portfolio matches your appetite for risk by re-visiting and refining your goals, and creating a plan for the market to fight FOMO. Like a true BFF would. Read it all here. | | Dianna "Mick" McDougall; Getty Images After 27 years of marriage, three children, and the formation of the world's largest private charitable foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their divorce in a joint statement in May. There were several reasons for the split, but most experts agree that, ultimately, it was Clippy's fault. Because all of the Gates children are over 18, custody wasn't part of the settlement. That just left the small matter of splitting up a ~$145 billion fortune and deciding how to continue running the nearly $50 billion Gates Foundation. When the divorce was finalized in August, the division of assets were included in a separation agreement that wasn't shared with the court. As for The Gates Foundation, the pair will continue to run it together—with a stipulation that if in two years either believes they cannot continue to work together, Melinda Gates would resign. Suffice it to say: Everyone's still going to be able to pay their bills. Who could have predicted this!?! Many people. The divorce of America's wealthiest couple wasn't exactly out of the blue. According to the WSJ, Melinda Gates had discussions with lawyers in 2019 about splitting—around the time that Bill Gates's ties to Jeffrey Epstein became public. Also in 2019, news of past affairs by the Microsoft cofounder were revealed, as well as several instances of inappropriate communication between him and female employees. ----- Runner up: Jeff Bezos stepping down as Amazon CEO. For the runner-up split of the year, you selected another 27-year relationship that came to an end: Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Well, at least his era as CEO (he's staying on as executive chairman). Bezos stepped down as head boss in July to focus on other pursuits, like his rocket company, Blue Origin. He was replaced as CEO by AWS chief Andy Jassy. Runner up: Lionel Messi left Barcelona for PSG. Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi shocked the soccer world when he decided to leave FC Barcelona in August. Messi—who'd spent 21 years with the team, joining when he was just 13 years old—moved to French superteam PSG, a wealthy club backed by Qatar.—MK | | Giphy On Morning Brew's new YouTube series Point of Return we learn from regular folks (not financial advisors) about the best investments they've ever made. Meet Ben Milgrom, a director of operations at a sports drink company in Ohio, who turned a joke from his boss into a major payday. Ben saw a 700% return from his investment in Peloton and doubled down as the stock went on a wild ride to end the year. Watch the episode now. | | A merger focused on minds. 284 million people suffer from an anxiety disorder, and Mycotopia and Ei.Ventures are applying to join together to give people the choice of plant-based treatments. Invest in this new partnership before it even hits the NASDAQ here.*  2022 is three days away. And if you're looking to elevate your health routine, you need Sakara's Metabolism Super Powder. It'll fire up your metabolism while helping you control cravings and eliminate bloat. Get 20% off with code JAN22BREW.*
Cool website: Neal.fun is exactly what it sounds like—just browse and click on random features. Window swap: Ever wonder what people halfway around the world see out of their windows? Now you can see what they see. *This is sponsored advertising content | | Brew Mini: Today's Mini will get you hyped for NYE. Play it here. Guess the Skyline  Getty Images | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, and Jamie Wilde Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → - Emerging Tech Brew: AI, crypto, space, autonomous vehicles, and more
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