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Who was 2021's most consequential person?

December 29, 2021 View Online | Sign Up | Shop TOGETHER WITH Good morning. Elon Musk won Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2021. But did y'all select him to win the Golden Mug for the Most Consequential Person? Or was it President Biden, Simone Biles, or someone else? You'll find out in this newsletter as the Golden Mug Awards roll on. —Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde WORK Biggest Troll Move: New Variant Arriving Every Time We Try to Return to the Office Dianna "Mick" McDougall; Getty Images While there's nothing particularly amusing about the coronavirus unleashing a new variant every time we get our laptop bag organized, the timing's uncanny. Many companies, including Google and Morgan Stanley, had marked Labor Day as their official return-to-office date following a long stretch of remote work. Poetic, but not prophetic: The Delta variant surged across the US in the summer, forcing many companies to postpone their plans to bring workers back into the office. In our own survey conducted in August, 47% of respondents said they were reconsidering a return to the office because of the spread of the Delta variant. At one point, Delta was estimated to account for 96% of all Covid-19 cases in the US. But now there's a new deputy in town, Omicron, and the highly mutated and contagious variant made up 59% of cases as of Dec. 25 and is once again thwarting Corporate America's grand office return this winter. Meta, Ford, Alphabet, and Lyft have all pushed back their return-to-office dates in recent weeks due to Omicron. An exasperated Apple, when informing employees of its own office postponement earlier this month, basically said, "You know what, let's just not put a date on it anymore," and put its return to office on indefinite hold. Big picture: Execs who hyped in-person work earlier in the pandemic are starting to realize that a remote arrangement may be more sticky than they had thought. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman recently said he was "wrong" to pressure employees to come back to the office by Labor Day, acknowledging that "everybody's still finding their way" during the pandemic. One major factor influencing return-to-work decisions is the ability to attract and retain employees in this extremely tight labor market. Fact is, many employees want the flexibility to work remotely, and companies that insist on making workers trudge into the office will find themselves at a disadvantage when hiring. According to a November survey of US residents conducted by top remote work researchers, 39% of college grads who quit a job in the past six months said they quit to increase their ability to WFH. ----- Runner-up: Ken Griffin outbidding crypto investors to buy a copy of the Constitution. Last month, a group of crypto investors created a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) and raised over $40 million in ethereum. Their goal: Buy a rare copy of the US Constitution at auction. In the same way that the US Constitution put governance in the hands of "the people," the movement was seen as a symbol of how blockchain technology can empower individuals. Enter Ken Griffin—a hedge fund billionaire and frequent target of Reddit traders, who see him as a symbol of everything that's wrong with Wall Street. He outbid the DAO to buy the document for $43.2 million, more than double the amount Sotheby's originally thought it would fetch. Runner-up: Taylor Swift releasing a re-recorded album. Swifties rejoiced this year when the breakup queen herself released Red (Taylor's Version), a re-recording of her 2012 hepta-platinum album of the same name. Swift's move is all about regaining financial control of her music after her masters, or original recordings, were bought and sold by investment firms. PEOPLE Most Consequential Person: Elon Musk Dianna "Mick" McDougall; Getty Images This year, Elon Musk… Tanked dogecoin when he hosted SNL Led Tesla to a $1 trillion market capitalization Launched the first crewed mission to space without professional astronauts Tweeted, "I keep forgetting that you're still alive" to Sen. Bernie Sanders Wrote many other crude jokes on Twitter Became the first person to have a net worth above $300 billion Moved Tesla's HQ from California to Texas Sold $15 billion worth of Tesla stock after polling Twitter users Was ordered to pay a Black Tesla employee $137 million over racial discrimination at the workplace Attacked President Biden's Build Back Better plan and argued against EV subsidies Launched almost 900 broadband satellites through SpaceX's Starlink program …and a lot more 2021 showcased the best and worst of Elon Musk, who is a fusion of business mogul and celebrity we haven't seen in generations. His big bet with Tesla has been vindicated—it's the most valuable automaker by a longshot, and other car manufacturers are spending tens of billions on EVs to catch up. One of his other ventures, SpaceX, is the clear leader in the burgeoning market for space tourists and enterprises. Yet Musk's antics—from trolling tweets to pumping memecoins to sparring with lawmakers—are off-putting to many people and threaten to overshadow his otherwise invaluable contributions to society. Tesla has also been the subject of numerous regulatory probes into the safety of its vehicles: In August, federal auto safety authorities began investigating 11 crashes involving Tesla cars that allegedly struck stationary first-responder vehicles while the company's Autopilot software was engaged. Facing heat from regulators, Tesla pulled a feature that allows video games to be played on the vehicle's main touchscreen while the car is in motion. Bottom line: We can probably assume Musk will remain one of the most consequential figures in the years to come—unless, that is, he decides to quit his jobs and become an influencer. ----- Runner up: Joe Biden The longtime Democratic senator and former VP was sworn in on Jan. 20 and has accomplished a good chunk of his priorities this year, including signing a bipartisan infrastructure bill into law, rejoining the Paris climate agreement, and overseeing a rapid economic recovery. Yet his declaration on July 4 that the US had achieved "independence" from Covid-19 seems extremely premature in hindsight: More people in the US died from the virus in 2021 than in all of 2020. Runner up: Simone Biles Simone Biles, the gymnastics GOAT, shocked the world when she pulled herself out of competition at the Tokyo Olympics this summer due to mental health concerns. Her actions sparked reflection around the intense scrutiny faced by young athletes, "because at the end of the day, we're human too," Biles said.—NF TOGETHER WITH FUNDRISE Resolve to Diversify As we head into a new year, you may be looking to kickstart some new habits for a "better you" in 2022. If you've made a resolution to get financially fit, you may want to think about portfolio diversification that will help you grow your wealth far into the future.  Fundrise can help you keep that resolution. They're the platform that's helping over 170,000 investors access quality private market real estate easily and affordably. The best part? After you make your first investment, Fundrise does the work for you—placing your contribution into funds that align with your investment strategy. All you need to do is track your progress through the Fundrise app. It's a resolution that's tough to break, with benefits that last beyond 2022. For a limited time, Fundrise is even offering new investors an additional $10 after they place their first investment.* So start building a better portfolio today. Your future self will thank you. SNAPSHOTS Image of the Year: The Capitol Insurrection Win McNamee/Getty Images You probably will never forget where you were on January 6, when a mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol building in an attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 US presidential election. The event is considered one of the greatest threats to democracy in the country's history, and it highlighted the fragility of our democratic institutions amid an onslaught of misinformation and conspiracy theories pushed by the former president and his allies. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from May, 25% of Americans and 53% of Republicans believed that Donald Trump was the "true president" despite virtually no evidence of voter fraud during the last election. ----- Runner up: The Ever Given gets stuck in the Suez Canal Satellite image (c) 2021 Maxar Technologies The writers of 2021 had a really good time with this plot line. One of the world's largest cargo ships, the Ever Given, got stuck in the Suez Canal in March for six days, throttling traffic in a critical trade route and adding another element of chaos to already discombobulated supply chains. But as we try to reset and correct past mistakes for the new year, maybe we can learn a thing or two from the Ever Given: It successfully navigated the Suez Canal earlier this month in its first attempt since its public humiliation. Runner up: Covid memorial in Washington, DC Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 650,000+ white flags were planted on the National Mall in September to remember the lives lost due to Covid in the US. More than 800,000 Americans have now died of Covid-19, with 75% of the deaths occurring among people 65 and older. More than 5.4 million have died globally.—NF Q&A Most Popular Brew Interviews CBS News This year we were lucky to speak with some brilliant people for the Icebreakers section of Sunday Edition. Here are the most popular interviews. Dr. Laurie Santos, who teaches Yale's most popular course in more than 300 years, taught us how to recognize when we're happy. Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine thinks crypto is "like finance but insane." Master Sommelier Ian Cauble helped us pick out a wine for our next dinner party. Longtime food executive and leadership expert Kat Cole explains why young people aren't too quick to switch jobs. Gritty. That is all. Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran reveals the reason she's most often "out" on a company that's pitching her. In our Halloween edition, we talked to a realtor who specializes in selling haunted houses. TOGETHER WITH MCKINSEY GLOBAL PUBLISHING Our new reality. As Covid-19 moves from pandemic to endemic, the world needs to find smarter ways to manage the disease. That means "whole of society" approaches will be increasingly important, helping the world to limit illness and slow transmission. A new McKinsey article lays out four ways the world can take on endemic Covid-19. Get McKinsey's insights here. BREW'S BETS Help us help you: If you have a minute, take this quick survey to help us improve our brand partnerships game. Much appreciated.* Weather patterns: This map of the Earth shows you all the air/water currents behind the weather patterns you're seeing. For the band geeks: If you want to learn a new piece on the piano this winter break, this website allows you to grab the sheet music for pieces in the public domain for free. For the movie nerds: An in-depth analysis of the opening scene of Inglourious Basterds. *This is sponsored advertising content GAMES The Puzzle Section Word search: Fireworks, city skylines, good vibes—today's Word Search has it all. Play it here. Ology Trivia We'll give you a scientific discipline, and you have to figure out what topic is the focus of its research. (Warning: This won't be easy, sorry, but at least you'll learn something.) Toxicology Plutology Mycology Anemology Potamology Ophiology Oology FROM THE CREW Bite-Sized Business Lessons Upgrade your morning with the Founder's Journal podcast and get smarter, faster for free. Start with some of the latest episodes. 8 non-obvious traits of great leaders. Learning how to think vs. what to think You need to be a painkiller, not a vitamin in business This editorial content is supported by American Express. ANSWER Toxicology = the study of poisons Plutology = the study of wealth Mycology = the study of fungi Anemology = the study of winds Potamology = the study of rivers Ophiology = the study of snakes Oology = the study of eggs, specifically birds' eggs ✢ A Note From Fundrise *Terms and Conditions apply Written by Neal Freyman and Jamie Wilde Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? 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