The Biggest Career Crashes| Omicron Cancellations | A look ahead to 2022

Plus: Brands to watch in 2022

Hello everyone,

I hope you’re staying safe as the latest Omicron variant wreaks havoc on holiday plans. I spent five hours in line at a New York City testing site yesterday to get a rapid molecular test for my children and me in anticipation of travel and seeing family. 

‘Tis the season to look back on the year that was – and look ahead to what’s next for 2022. To start, Senior Editor Jena McGregor and I took a look at some of the more notable names who saw their careers take a dip or get derailed this year . Andrew and Chris Cuomo both make the list, as does the reporter who missed that a critical email link to Adele’s latest album and the cofounder of a media site who pretended to be a YouTube executive to impress some bankers from Goldman Sachs. Here are our candidates for the biggest career crashes of 2021.

Curious about who’s up or down in the entertainment  industry over the past year?  Lisette Voytko gives us an industry scorecard, from South Park to Springsteen,

And if you can’t tell the difference between a tweet and a crypto coin anymore, you’re not alone.

Black Girls Code CEO Kimberly Bryant recently announced in a series of tweets that she had been pushed out as CEO. Here’s the backstory from David Jeans. 

Meanwhile, actor Matthew McConaughey spoke with CMO Network editor Marty Swant about the finer points of bourbon. Stay safe and see you in the new year.

What's Next

Jena also takes a look at 10 must-read career and leadership books for 2022. Highlights include new offerings from Roger Martin, Marcus Buckingham and Tessa West. Personally, I’m especially looking forward to reading The World’s Worst Assistant by Conan O’Brien staffer Sona Movsesian.

Expect to hear a lot more about the metaverse in 2022. Marty looks at Nike’s latest move to get a foothold there.

And if you’re in the mood to move your money around, here are some expert stock picks for 2022.

By The Numbers

188,000

That’s the average number of new daily cases of COVID in the U.S., as of Sunday. While that’s double the rate from a month earlier, it’s still below the peak from earlier this year. Many are now arguing that Covid case counts should no longer be a major metric of the pandemic as seemingly milder strains become ubiquitous. What matters most are hospitalizations and deaths, which are not rising nearly as fast as infections.

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