All posts tagged: fortune

Quincy Jones leaves behind staggering fortune for seven children including Rashida Jones

Quincy Jones leaves behind staggering fortune for seven children including Rashida Jones

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free Quincy Jones, the legendary record producer and 28-time Grammy winner, has died aged 91. His publicist confirmed he passed away on November 3 at his home in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles surrounded by his family. Throughout his decades-long career, Jones earned the title of one of the most celebrated musicians and producers in history, namely for his collaborations with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles. In fact, it was his first meeting with Jackson that would later establish Jones as one of the most successful music producers in the world. Not only did Jones produce Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, but his composing credits also include the scores for 1967’s In Cold Blood and 1985’s The Color Purple. Jones led an illustrious career in television as well, …

Is Belief in Improbable Theories Ever Warranted? A Fortune Teller’s Own Death Card

Is Belief in Improbable Theories Ever Warranted? A Fortune Teller’s Own Death Card

For years, I have been fascinated by the irrationality of science denial. When people typically engage in science denial, the problem is not simply that they deny well-tested empirical theories for which there is ample evidence but that they also usually subscribe to an alternative belief for which there is little to no evidence. Of course in science one cannot prove a theory is true no matter how good its evidence; unlike Euclidian geometry or deductive logic, science is about probability, not certainty. This sometimes provides a tiny crack of hope to a denier who will somehow jump to the conclusion that due to the absence of certainty, their own theory might be just as good as a scientific one. They think it could still be true,1 which means that they feel justified in their denial. This of course violates several norms of good empirical reasoning, which I have explored at greater length in my book The Scientific Attitude. The scientific attitude, I argue, is the founding ethos of science, whereby scientists as a community …

Public advocacy helps musicians’ fame and fortune, new study finds

Public advocacy helps musicians’ fame and fortune, new study finds

Musicians often face skepticism from the public when they openly support charitable or social causes. There are often speculations that musicians only do this to serve their own self-interests for reputation or tax purposes. Even established artists cannot avoid the risk of negative publicity. In 2019, Taylor Swift released the song “You Need To Calm Down” supporting the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). The song contains the lyrics: “Why are you mad? When you could be GLAAD?” This led to a surge in donations to the organization, but some criticized Swift as jumping on the bandwagon to stay relevant. In another example, when Lana Del Rey joined a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles in 2020 and shared footage of her fellow protesters on Instagram, she was criticized for not blurring their faces, making them potential targets of revenge actions. Singer Justine Skye accused Del Rey of being inauthentic in her actions: “We don’t need your weak ass documentation. If you were about the peace, you would’ve encouraged those …

Anthropic’s new prompt caching will save developers a fortune

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Anthropic introduced prompt caching on its API, which remembers the context between API calls and allows developers to avoid repeating prompts.  The prompt caching feature is available in public beta on Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude 3 Haiku, but support for the largest Claude model, Opus, is still coming soon.  Prompt caching, described in this 2023 paper, lets users keep frequently used contexts in their sessions. As the models remember these prompts, users can add additional background information without increasing costs. This is helpful in instances where someone wants to send a large amount of context in a prompt and then refer back to it in different conversations with the model. It also lets developers and other users better fine-tune model responses.  Anthropic said early users “have seen substantial speed and cost improvements with prompt caching for a variety of use cases — from including a full knowledge base to 100-shot examples to including each turn …

Wheel Of Fortune: Vanna White bids an emotional goodbye to Pat Sajak

Wheel Of Fortune: Vanna White bids an emotional goodbye to Pat Sajak

Ahead of Pat Sajak’s final episode as the host of Wheel Of Fortune, Vanna White paid an emotional tribute to her co-host of more than 40 years. On Thursday’s episode of the beloved game show, White honoured Sajak’s work and their friendship with a video segment that featured clips and photos tracing their collaboration from the 1980s to the present. “As this chapter of our lives is coming to an end, I know you’ll still be close by. You’re like a brother to me and I consider you a true lifelong friend who I will always adore,” she said. “I love you, Pat”. White said that while their long-running work collaboration has been significant to her – noting that he made her feel “so comfortable and so confident” when she started – she said their personal friendship has meant much more. “As much fun as we had on camera, those memories, milestones and life events we shared with our families, outside the studio, are my favourite,” she said, seeming to hold back tears. “We’ve watched …

Jeff Goldblum, 71, reveals why he refuses to leave any of his million fortune to his kids

Jeff Goldblum, 71, reveals why he refuses to leave any of his $40million fortune to his kids

At 71, Jeff Goldblum holds a vision for his children that is as distinctive as his on-screen personas.  The Jurassic Park star recently revealed his earnest hope for his sons, Charlie, eight, and River, six, to carve out their own paths in life, independent of his estimated $40 million fortune. During an insightful conversation on the Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast, Jeff opened up about his parenting philosophy, emphasizing the importance of self-reliance and personal endeavor.  “Now that I’m raising kids, I’m no conventionalist, but I know the system that we’re in, and I think sooner than later, I don’t want to scare them, they should figure out… but hey, you know, you’ve got to row your own boat,” he shared.  Bruce, resonating with Jeff’s perspective, underscored the significance of such teachings, to which Jeff added, “I’m not going to do it for you. And you’re not going to want me to do it for you.”  © InstagramJeff with his family He elaborated on the essential life skills he wishes to impart: “You’ve …

New Fortune executive editor on major Europe expansion for business brand

New Fortune executive editor on major Europe expansion for business brand

Alex Wood Morton, executive editor for Europe at Fortune. Picture: GingerShotLDN Fortune is massively expanding in UK and Europe with the aim of being an “entirely new editorial voice in the region” championing big businesses. The growth plans come after three straight years of profits overall at Fortune from 2021 to 2023. Former chief executive Alan Murray teased upcoming international expansion and investment as he stepped down in October. The business brand is looking to make the most of revenue opportunities in areas including events, rankings (like its best-known Fortune 500) and high-value partnerships as well as from the magazine itself. Alex Wood Morton, formerly managing director for Europe at Forbes, has been appointed executive editor for Europe. He told Press Gazette he has been “given the freedom to truly make something relevant and different for the market here” in both print and digital where previously the business newsbrand had only a small staff in London led from the US. Thanks for subscribing. Close Wood Morton predicted that by the end of 2024 the team …

Frank Hester: computer programmer who made fortune from public sector contracts | NHS

Frank Hester: computer programmer who made fortune from public sector contracts | NHS

Frank Hester has got rich running one of the companies most critical to the UK’s health infrastructure, but most people will never have heard of him or his firm. By Hester’s own estimation, the Phoenix Partnership (TPP) – the software company he built from scratch and solely owns – is worth £1bn after winning more than £400m of NHS and prison contracts in the last eight years. To celebrate reaching this milestone in 2019, he threw a “unicorn party” at his mansion near Leeds, complete with horses dressed up with horns, and his staff were invited to celebrate. A computer programmer from West Yorkshire’s biggest city, Hester is included on the Sunday Times rich list with an estimated wealth of £415m. Former employees tell of big perks and a partying lifestyle for staff, driven by Hester. He would provide a free bar at the local pub on Fridays, and staff would be invited to week-long sailing trips, paid for by the company. A larger-than-life personality, Hester would often socialise with staff and participate in company-wide …

Harry Potter star Michael Gambon’s wife inherits £1.5 million fortune

Harry Potter star Michael Gambon’s wife inherits £1.5 million fortune

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Harry Potter actor Sir Michael Gambon has left the entirety of his fortune to his wife of 61 years, Anne Gambon. The 82-year-old star of stage and screen, who was most loved for his role as Dumbledore in the hit movies based on the novels by JK Rowling, passed away in September last year after a bout of pneumonia. After his will was published on Tuesday (5 March), it was revealed that his long-term girlfriend, Philippa Hart, had been left nothing, in the three-page document seen by the Daily Mail. Hart, who is a set designer, met Gambon during filming for Longitude in 2000. They have two teenage children together: Tom, 17 and William, 15. The actor famously split his time between his wife Ms Gambon and his long-term girlfriend Hart for two decades. The Layer Cake star drew up his will in 2016 and listed his wife, and their …