☕️ The summer internship that pays USD19.2k (RM89.2k) per month

1. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

The latest population estimates from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) reveal that the Petaling district in Selangor holds the highest population in 2023, totalling 2.3 mil residents. Following closely are Johor Baru in Johor with 1.8 mil and Ulu Langat in Selangor with 1.5 mil residents. Petaling district also claims the highest population density at 4,783 persons per square kilometre, followed by Timur Laut, Penang (4,710 persons) and Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang (1,845 persons).

BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom” set a world record for female artists, racking up 90.4 mil YouTube views within the first 24 hours of release and achieved another milestone as the fastest K-pop girl group music video to surpass 100 mil views on YouTube, taking just 29 hours and 35 minutes. As of the time of writing, the MV has collected 718 mil views on YouTube. Watch the MV here.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported USD1.04 tril of assets last quarter, the first time it exceeded the trillion-dollar mark. This is >2x Amazon’s asset base, 3x Apple’s and greater than Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet’s assets combined. Buffett’s sprawling empire comprises businesses across insurance, energy, railroads, real estate, industrial, oil and gas, services and retail, largely focusing on the “real economy” instead of asset-light, intellectual property (IP) - rich companies like Big Tech.

Personal finance advice of the week

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Possible allowance cuts for absentee MPsMPs in Malaysia might lose part of their daily allowance if they are absent for a certain duration. Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul suggested that those absent for an extended period should see their allowance cut. The daily allowance received by MPs is approximately RM500. Johari highlighted that some MPs attend sessions for just a few minutes and then leave. The speaker emphasised the need for MPs to fulfil their responsibilities by attending sessions and participating in discussions. In the first meeting of the 15th Parliament, only 97 MPs recorded perfect attendance. Surprisingly, PN MPs tops attendance rate at 94.2%, a drastic improvement from 72.3% last September. But not for PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang, the true master of time management, or should we say absence management, should take note — he only appeared 12 out of 31 days during the first 2023 Dewan Rakyat sitting. View table: Remuneration breakdown of MPs — salary and the long, long list of allowance (2020).

Malaysia's ambitious plan to enhance the country’s energy landscape

• Malaysia is putting aside  RM2 bil to start funding energy projects that might not make a lot of money at first, said PM Anwar. The National Energy Transition Facility (NETF) will support initiatives like electric vehicle charging, hydrogen, and carbon capture technologies. This is part of Malaysia's plan to shift to cleaner energy. The NETF will bring in money from the government and private sources to make these projects happen. Malaysia also wants to invest about RM1.2 tril from 2023 to 2050 to switch to cleaner energy sources.

• In connection with the same news, Malaysia is taking further steps to manage its energy future more effectively by establishing a National Energy Council, led by PM Anwar, to oversee its energy transition plans. This council, set to hold its first meeting in October, will provide guidance and coordination for implementing the National Energy Transition Roadmap.

• Nuclear plant in our backyard? Malaysia is also exploring the possibility of using nuclear power as part of its energy sources, but evaluation is needed before making a decision. Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said that despite concerns, they can't ignore the potential benefits of small modular reactors (SMR). Natural Resources Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad agreed, saying that despite public concerns about safety and security, new technologies like SMRs are changing. Malaysia is considering nuclear power as it aims to have zero carbon emissions.

Business 

1. Forbes Asia has picked six Malaysian companies as part of its annual "100 to Watch" list, which shows off promising small businesses and startups in the Asia Pacific region. This list highlights companies that are doing well despite challenges like higher interest rates. The Malaysian companies on the list are Aerodyne, BoomGrow, Care Concierge, Involve Asia, Lapasar, and PolicyStreet. View: Forbes Asia 100 to Watch

2. Things are looking better for Tony Fernandes. Capital A Bhd reported a second-quarter net profit of RM1.12 bil, a turnaround from a loss of RM931.22 mil in the same period last year on RM3.15 bil revenue, which more than doubled. 175 aircraft are now operating, with a target to reinstate a total of 200 planes by year-end. Ancillary revenue contributed a huge chunk of its revenue — about 52.7% or RM1.66 bil. View its quarterly earnings announcement here. 

Shorts

1. Anti-Sexual Harassment Tribunal awaits green light from AGCThe Anti-Sexual Harassment Tribunal is awaiting final approval from the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), said Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, the Women, Family and Community Development Minister. She stated that the ministry has submitted a list of members' names for approval, as the members are lawyers. The tribunal, which will handle cases of sexual harassment, is expected to be set up by the end of the year. Despite pending tribunal approval, certain sections of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 have already come into force.

2. New "M-M" licence plates available for bidding from Aug 31 Malaysians can bid for the unique "M-M" vehicle licence plates symbolising "Malaysia Merdeka" from August 31 to September 4 on JPJ's e-Bid portal. Bidding starts at RM20,000 for golden numbers, RM3,000 for attractive numbers, RM800 for popular numbers, and RM300 for running numbers. Results will be announced on September 5th. Last year, RM34 mil was generated from the sale of special "FF" vehicle plates to celebrate JPJ's 77th anniversary.

3. Merdeka 118 Tower achieves almost 70% tenancyThe Merdeka 118 Tower in Kuala Lumpur is nearly 70% occupied, with Permodalan Nasional (PNB) as a key tenant (occupying 17 floors). PNB (taking up 17 floors) will be joined by Maybank (taking up 33 floors) and other tenants in the next year. The tower, dubbed as the world's second-tallest building (678.9 metres), is part of the larger Merdeka 118 development, which includes various amenities and is set to be completed by 2027.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

USD19k per month - probably the world’s highest-paid internshipAn 11-week summer internship that pays way more than any other full-time job - brought to you by hedge fund Citadel. Not only will the interns be paid at an hourly rate of USD120, or roughly USD19,200 (RM89.2k) a month, but they will be provided upscale hotels like Hong Kong’s Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel, flown to their destination in business class and train alongside with Citadel executives. 

Only 300 candidates were picked out of a pool of 69,000 applicants. That’s a success rate of 0.43%. Why is Citadel willing to pay this much just for interns? One word - competition. Citadel is pulling out all the stops to attract these students, mostly from prestigious universities (do we really have to name them?), as they are competing for the same pool of applicants Amazon and Meta are eyeing. The average salary of an intern at Amazon is USD7,809 in 2023, whilst in Meta, interns take home an average of USD8,160, according to data from Glassdoor. Read: The 25 highest-paying internships in 2023

We briefly covered Citadel and its founder, Ken Griffin, back in May, who was the highest-earning hedge fund manager who took home USD4.1 bil in 2022. Citadel’s flagship fund made a return of 38.1% in 2022, beating the hell out of the S&P 500, which was down 20%. Citadel offers a 2-day event called Discover Citadel to a select group of exceptional undergraduates across the US, Europe and APAC - if you know any wunderkind, they can apply here.

The wild financials of OnlyFans OnlyFans, the platform that helps creators monetise their content (most often adult content, but not all), reported another spectacular year. Its business boomed during the pandemic and it seems that momentum is still sustaining. Some highlights:

• Gross payments, or amount spent by subscribers, increased 17% to USD5.6 bil in 2022 from USD4.8 bil. OF takes 20% cut out of this. 

• Revenue grew 16.9% to USD1.09 bil from USD932 mil in 2021.

• Profit after tax grew 24% to USD404 mil in 2022 from USD325 mil a year earlier. That’s a fat, fat 37.1% net margin.

• Total number of creators shot up 47% to 3.2 mil from 2.2 mil in 2021.

• Total number of fans, or subscribers, also shot up by 27% to 238.8 mil from 188 mil in 2021.

• For the first time, more than half of its revenues were for non-subscription services such as tips and on-demand content. 

Read its full accounts here. 

OF only has a sole shareholder — 41-year-old owner Leonid Radvinsky — who took home USD338 mil (RM1.57 bil) in dividends. He acquired the site from the founders, a father and son team in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. Read: Who is Leonid Radvinsky, the elusive owner of the next streaming empire?

Japan may take China to WTO over seafood import banJapan has threatened to take China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to seek a reversal of Beijing's ban on all of Japan’s seafood imports following the release of Fukushima’s treated radioactive water into the ocean. Filing a WTO complaint would be an option if diplomatic routes fail, according to Economic Security Minister Sanae Takichi. The water, although all radioactive elements have been filtered out, only tritium, a hydrogen isotope, remains as it is not possible to remove it from the water. 

This comment came as Japanese businesses and public facilities have been receiving harassment calls from phone numbers with +86 Chinese country code. Fukushima prefectural government and public facilities have received about 3,000 calls and Fukushima nuclear plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), received about 6,000 calls.

Shorts

1. OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Enterprise for businessesThe enterprise version is another step forward for the AI startup to monetise its best-known product. It comes with added features (i.e. unlimited use, longer prompts) and privacy safeguards with a guarantee by OpenAI that it won’t use data from its costumes to train its technology. No pricing is announced yet. OpenAI is currently testing ChatGPT Enterprise with more than 20 companies, including Estee Lauder and Canva. 

2. 3M agrees to USD6 bil earplug lawsuit settlement3M has agreed to pay USD6 bil to settle lawsuits by more than 250,000 US military veterans who suffered hearing loss from using the company’s earplugs. 3M inherited this issue through the acquisition of the earplug maker Aearo Technologies in 2008 for USD1.2 bil. The US military used the earplugs in training and combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2015. 3M is also facing other massive lawsuits alleging its products exposed people to “forever chemicals”.

3. Eu Yan Sang up for saleThe owners of Eu Yan Sang, a consortium led by Tower Capital and along with Temasek Holdings and members of the founding family, are considering selling the healthcare retailer in a deal that could value the company about USD800 mil. The company, which has been in business for 144 years, traces its roots to a shop in Gopeng, Perak, and sells herbal products and bottled bird’s nest. It has over 170 retail outlets and about 25 traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinics. Eu Yan Sang was delisted from the Singapore Exchange in October 2016 after being acquired by the consortium for about USD196 mil.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Merdeka things

1. If there’s a Best Merdeka Caption 2023 Award, it would go to Hadi Azmi, the Malaysia correspondent for the South China Morning Post.

2. What is this Maxis monster air balloon mascot the Merdeka parade practice?

Happy Hari Merdeka all! We will be off tomorrow and return on Friday. Enjoy the break!