{Friday Favorites} August 26, 2011
This week was a HUGE week in the news... from a royal Hollywood wedding to the resignation of the King of Apple to the terror of hurricane Irene on Richard Branson's island paradise to the shake-up on the east coast... here are some of my top picks for the week:
Top Headline: Kim Kardashian gets richer married!
I have to admit, despite her less than fairytale road to stardom, Kim Kardashian is quite the business woman. On a day that usually costs most families & couples their year's salary, despite their estimated $6MM cost of the wedding, the Kardashians managed to make millions more!!!One article I found quite fascinating: "Kim Kardashian's Wedding by the Numbers" (Hollywood Reporter)According to the NY Post, their nuptials are estimated to make $17.9MM and will keep bringing in more!Just to throw some numbers around (via NY Post):
Payments they received
- $15 million plus profit for four-hour, two-part wedding special on E!
- $2.5 million for exclusive photos with People magazine
- $300,000 for exclusive engagement announcement with People
- $100,000 for exclusive rights to bridal shower with Britain’s OK! mag
- $50,000 to have bachelorette party at Tao in Las Vegas
Stuff they got for free
- $15,000 to $20,000 Hansen’s Bakery wedding cake
- $20,000 Vera Wang wedding dress and fittings
- $40,000 for two more Vera Wang evening dresses
- $400,000 in Perrier Jouet Champagne
- $150,000 in hair and makeup for photo shoots and TV “home video”
- $10,000 in Lehr & Black wedding invitations
Deeply discounted
- $2 million 20.5-carat engagement ring and $1 million wedding bands by jeweler Lorraine Schwartz. The amount they paid for these items hasn’t been revealed, but it’s much less than their worth.
Now on to more Important News...
- Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz trying to make a difference in Washington by gathering 100 CEO's to sign a pledge to halt campaign contributions until lawmakers figure things out! I knew I loved Starbucks for more than their red eyes and SFV soy lattes.
- The King of Apple, CEO Steve Jobs resigns due to his continuing health issues.
- Richard Branson's house on Necker Island burnt down when lightning from Hurricane Irene struck! Good thing Kate Winslet was there to rescue Richard's 90 year old mom! (yes, Nick Lachey & Vanessa Milano just got married there)
- Interesting articles from The Economist
- the decline of marriage in Asian cultures & the social implications (HERE)
- changing demographics of marriage among Asians in the new generation (HERE)
- "Women have traditionally traded looks for economic support in marriage. A Chinese study confirms that the husbands of unappealing women earn about 10% less than those of their dishier counterparts." ~ the economics of good looks (HERE)
- An extremely cool animation of the tweets across the east coast when the Virginia earthquake hit (grey = normal tweets, green = earthquake related)