two heaps of American tickets

All About Ilhan Omar’s 300,000 Benjamins

“It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.” That was Ilhan Omar’s infamous 2019 tweet alleging Jews controlled Congress.

Now Omar’s own disclosures show she and her husband may be sitting on as much as $30 million — wealth built largely from two businesses valued at no more than $51,000 just a year earlier.
That’s 300,000 Benjamins, baby. Here’s why Omar’s sudden fortune matters.

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Man looks out the window at the night city.

David Geffen and the Illusions of Purchased Love

Billionaire music impresario David Geffen’s messy divorce is more than gossip — it’s a reminder of how Hollywood, media, and money romanticize illusions that never hold up. From Pretty Woman to Seeking Arrangements, many mistakenly believe money can buy love. As Geffen learned the hard way — it can’t.

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A closeup shot of delicious spiced chicken legs with french fries on the table

Cracker Barrel and the Decline of American Dining

Social media is aghast over Cracker Barrel’s new logo. But the bigger story is more troubling: chains cutting corners, portions shrinking, ingredients cheapened, and customers treated like ATM machines.

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roasted coffee beans background. the  brown texture

My Morning MVP: QB Patrick Mahomes’ Can of Joe

Patrick Mahomes has already established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. In short order, he could also be more closely associated with coffee than Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol.

Mahomes helped concoct far superior coffee beverages.

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idea, success, piggy bank, stack coin and light bulb put on bark and nature background

Fuzzy Math, Fat Dividends, Put Ford Family First

The Ford family once tightened their belts to protect their company. Today? They’re milking it with generous dividends.

Wall Street Journal columnist Jonathan Weil — the first reporter to question Enron’s finances and a relentless critic of private equity’s “fishy” accounting — has sounded the alarm on Ford’s dividend math.

Weil’s take? Ford’s “adjusted free cash flow” is little more than cash flow before bad stuff. Wall Street has a less charitable term for Ford’s financial legerdemain.

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football player runs through green grass of field against backdrop of illuminated stands, generative ai

How Ulysses ‘Crazy Legs’ Curtis Changed My Life

To Toronto Argonauts football fans he was Ulysses ‘Crazy Legs’ Curtis, one of the greatest running backs of his day. To me, he was my junior high gym teacher — the intimidating, muscular man who barked, “You boys are the poorest excuse for the male species I’ve ever met” — and then inspired me to build the discipline and pushup prowess that shaped my life.

Only today did I learn how legendary Curtis truly was.

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Pre-teen Hispanic boy sitting at dining table doing his homework using a laptop computer, close up

Protect Children From Mark Zuckerberg’s Greed

Mark Zuckerberg spent $110M to wall himself off from his Silicon Valley neighbors. He could have used some of his billions to wall children off from Meta’s chatbots.
Reuters uncovered internal guidelines that allowed bots to flirt with kids and even write racist screeds. Meta’s response? The same rinse-and-repeat PR denial we’ve heard for years.
So far, only rock legend Neil Young has expressed outrage — and bolted from Facebook.

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Close up of burning dollar bills on the ground captured with rich detail in low light conditions

Enron Sleuth Jonathan Weil’s Private Equity Alarm

Pension funds. University endowments. Your retirement account. The Wall Street Journal reporter who first exposed Enron warns they could be the next victims of private equity’s “fishy” accounting.

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Young businessman in the alter ego concept

The Narcissism of Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol

Gulfstreams. $14,000 cappuccino machines. A $96M payday—6,666x the median wage he pays employees—while telling managers to cut costs. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is the poster boy for CEO narcissism. Here’s why investors should care.

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Young associates hugging one another as greeting or congrats

Eureka! The True Value of a McKinsey Consultant

My latest Starkman Approved trilogy:
The true value of a McKinsey consultant—spoiler: it’s not their slide decks.
Corporate America doubles down on toxic stock buybacks while the real economy withers.
Delta Air Lines traps passengers in another tarmac debacle—no air, no toilets, no accountability.
Read and rage — at least that’s my intent.

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