Old School Metaverse | The Most Shortchanged HBCUs | Crystal Cruises' Troubled Waters

Plus: Meet The Kremlin's Oligarchs Most Likely To Get Slapped With Sanctions

Good morning.

The metaverse doesn’t have to be a Big Tech-controlled, headset-accessible virtual reality—just ask the cofounders of Gather, who’ve built a platform for communities to meet and work online that has a vintage feeling. We’re also looking into the most underfunded historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and the troubled waters faced by Crystal Cruises’ parent company and its billionaire owner. Finally, don’t miss this overview of which billionaire associated of Russian President Vladimir Putin are most at risk of sanctions.

In The News Today

Tonga entered its first pandemic lockdown after recording locally spread cases of Covid-19 among port workers involved in distributing humanitarian aid in the wake of the disastrous volcano eruption and tsunami last month. 

ABC has suspended Whoopi Goldberg as the co-host of the network’s talk show The View after her remarks on the Holocaust drew condemnation from several prominent Jewish leaders.

Top Take-Aways

“Innovation is on sale,” stock picker Cathie Wood told investors last week, seeing opportunity in the current tech sell-off. Her fund Ark Invest has returned to buying Tesla shares, as well as tanking Robinhood stock.

Threats of violence against HBCUs are the latest indignity endured by the nation’s Black land-grant universities, which have been underfunded by at least $12.8 billion over the last three decades, compared to their predominantly white counterparts.

Another luxury cruise liner owned by Crystal Cruises, a subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong, diverted course to avoid seizure by U.S. Marshals. The second such incident in as many weeks highlights the troubles faced by the company’s billionaire owner Lim Kok Thay, one of Malaysia’s richest men.

The four cofounders of Gather, a virtual events startup that has raised $77 million to date at a $700 million valuation, are betting that the metaverse isn’t some far-off sleek sci-fi virtual reality but rather a playful, human-scale universe.

Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel was confirmed to be a backer of the little known San Diego-based defense contractor Boldend, which reportedly developed the ability to hack WhatsApp, and has only one client—the U.S. government.

Private equity giant Apollo Global Management planted its flag in Hollywood by investing $760 million to acquire a minority stake in Legendary Entertainment, which has helped develop and produce some of the biggest blockbusters in recent memory, including Dune, Interstellar and Jurassic World. 

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