By the numbers: Home depot, productivity tracking, mountain treasure, and more

(Source: Getty Images / Jaimie Dee)

1) More money, more space. In the US, for every additional $1B in online shopping, 1.25m square feet of warehouse space is needed. In 1999, there was 10B square feet of warehouse space. As of 2018, there was 17B.

2) Yikes. The count of big companies using productivity tracking software increased 60% since the start of the pandemic. There’s now a market for mouse-mover gadgets, which make it seem like you’re moving a computer mouse when you’re not.

3) More saving. More doing. More spending. For professional contractors, that is, who account for 45% of Home Depot’s $132B in sales despite making up just 5% of the total Home Depot shopper demographic.

4) In 2013, a mountaineer found $340k worth of precious jewels in a box on Mont Blanc. He gave it to French authorities, who connected it to a 1966 Air India crash, but after years of failing to find the rightful owners, the climber will now get to keep half of the loot.

5) The world’s 2.6k billionaires now hold $7.6T in assets, greater than the annual economic value generated by South America plus Africa. Billionaires also own almost 2x the wealth as the world’s poorest 4B people.