Europe’s Richest Tech Founder | Inflation’s Four-Decade High | Colorado’s Grocery Workers Strike

Plus: The Highest-Paid Female Athletes Score A Record $167 Million

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The college dropout founder of Checkout.com has become Europe’s richest tech entrepreneur, with an estimated net worth of $23 billion. We’re also covering what’s driving inflation’s 39-year high in the U.S., and why thousands of Colorado grocery store workers have gone on strike. Finally, find out who’s the world’s highest paid female athlete according to the latest Forbes ranking.

In The News Today

Despite ongoing uncertainty over his Australian visa status, Novak Djokovic has been drawn in the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. His participation at other Grand Slam tournaments may be less tortuous.

David McCormick, the former chief executive of hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, officially joined the race for ​​Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat as a Republican.

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Former President Barack Obama wrote his first op-ed since leaving the While House to support President Joe Biden’s call to abolish the Senate filibuster on voting rights to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. A group of billionaires are also backing the change.

Guillaume Pousaz, the Swiss founder of London-based payments fintech Checkout.com, is now Europe’s richest tech entrepreneur as the 10-year-old company reached a $40 billion valuation following its latest funding round. A college drop out, Pousaz’s estimated net worth of $23 billion puts him within the ranks of the world’s 100 richest people.

Long-rising gas and meat prices are finally starting to cool off in the U.S., but surging prices for a slew of critical goods—including used cars, food and housing—helped inflation notch a new 39-year high in December. The stock market doesn’t seem to mind.

The $10 billion open-source company Elastic is shaking up its leadership team, with billionaire cofounder Shay Banon stepping down as CEO and chairman of the firm—news that sent shares down 8%.

More than 8,500 union workers at Kroger-owned stores in Colorado went on strike after negotiations for better compensation and working conditions reached an impasse. At the heart of the issue is whether grocery retail employers can provide living wages and solid career paths for workers who are seen as essential during the pandemic.

Cody Wilson first tested the limits of U.S. gun control regulations by creating a 3D-printed gun in 2012. His new software, unveiled at the Hereticon “conference for thoughtcrime,” hosted by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, goes even further, crafting an AR-15 from a raw block of aluminum in just three hours.

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Video game companies from Ubisoft to Zynga are eyeing blockchain as a potential pipeline of fresh revenue for global gaming. Is it the early days of a major shift or just another stream of virtual assets enjoying hyper-inflated–and unsustainable–values?

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