Brief - The Hustle

Digits: A big lawsuit, Montana supercars, and more

Written by Jacob Cohen | Aug 1, 2022 6:25:55 AM

1) A Texas jury ordered telecommunications giant Charter Spectrum to pay $7B in punitive damages to the relatives of an 83-year-old woman murdered by one of their technicians. It’s likely the judge will significantly reduce the penalty based on precedent.

2) Big $ky country? Apparently, Montana license plates adorn a disproportionate number of ultra-luxury cars in America, including 10% of all McLaren P1s and four of the 100 Pagani Huayras ever made — the result of lax state residency laws and no sales tax.

3) Netflix has a lot of franchise-building to do. In May, ~40% of Netflix TV demand was for franchise shows, with exclusive series like “Stranger Things” making up 11.6% of that. On Disney+, for comparison, 28% of demand is for original franchises.

4) Speaking of… Netflix just sued the creators of an unofficial “Bridgerton” musical aptly named “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.” Understandably, Netflix wasn’t happy musicians used the show’s intellectual property to write a Grammy-winning theater album and sell out a corresponding show with $149 tickets.

5) The Port of LA gets hit with something like 40m cyberattacks every month, mostly from Russia and Europe. It’s the West’s busiest port and moves $250B+ in goods every year. Literally doesn’t sound stressful at all.