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Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
71–80 of 191 posts
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#72nice sentiment, that it. Most of the financial challenges faced by athletes trying for the Olympics are immediate, affording to train, travel to compete, and gear. Especially in more niche sports, like bobsleigh, fencing, sailing, etc.
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#73> “I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens said upon the announcement of his gift. So his goal is to prevent money issues from being a thing getting in the way of athletes achieving. But he has structured it in a way that prevents the money from helping this goal. > Per the Wall Street Journal, “Half will come 20…
Real answer are probably tax benefits for Ross. He can now report a $100M donation, let it grow for 20 years, pay the actual donation, and pocket the remainder tax free.
It's called a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) and more than beng able to retain the initial investment at the end of a period of time, he would be able to take loans against the principal itself in the meantime (LALs).
However -
> The USPOC currently supports ~4500 athletes, or ~$22,222 each.
Machinations of the uber rich and the morality of them aside, they would've gotten nothing and now they're getting something.
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#74> “I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens said upon the announcement of his gift. So his goal is to prevent money issues from being a thing getting in the way of athletes achieving. But he has structured it in a way that prevents the money from helping this goal. > Per the Wall Street Journal, “Half will come 20…
Is there any guarantee he will actually pay out in 20 years? Is this money going into escrow, or is this just a promise that will be completely forgotten in a couple decades?
Ask Michael Scott how this works out.
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
> half of it will never be seen by the athlete Guaranteed benefits can be monetized. The gift’s goal is to start building generational wealth. But nothing prevents me from lending one of these athletes $50k today if they give me an LPOA over that death benefit tomorrow (assuming this doesn’t breach any covenants).
$200k is not even remotely close to generational wealth, particularly when structured as $100k 20 years from now and another $100k 50-ish years from now. Those would be worth an estimated $55k and $22k in inflation-adjusted dollars. It’s a totally different story if those are in a trust which is invested on behalf of the athletes, which pays out the invested value at time of disbursement. But I would be shocked if it…
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Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#76> “I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens said upon the announcement of his gift. So his goal is to prevent money issues from being a thing getting in the way of athletes achieving. But he has structured it in a way that prevents the money from helping this goal. > Per the Wall Street Journal, “Half will come 20…
> But he has structured it in a way that prevents the money from helping this goal. I suspect it's worse. It's structured in a way that will probably harm the goal. The money will go to people who somehow already managed to marshal enough resources to get to the Olympics. Good on you for supporting people after the fact, but by that point money problems have long before winnowed far too many qualified athletes out of…
>It's structured in a way that will probably harm the goal.
Potentially could also stop others from donating to athletes because they hear this and think "some rich guy already took care of them" not knowing the details.
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In the meantime, they can spend more freely In the meantime, they need income not advice on frugality.
Cash is fungible. Money not spent on kids is money you can spend now.
Time is the issue. Time spent training for Olympics can't necessarily be used to generate an income. The whole premise of this donation is to afford them time, which it doesn't.
FWIW, most athletes are already used to being frugal as they juggle an often expensive training schedule with their personal finances. This is being framed as giving them money to focus on their sport/event during their competitive years.
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In the meantime, they can spend more freely In the meantime, they need income not advice on frugality.
Cash is fungible. Money not spent on kids is money you can spend now.
This is a privileged viewpoint that is only true when you actually have cash to spend now.
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
> half of it will never be seen by the athlete Guaranteed benefits can be monetized. The gift’s goal is to start building generational wealth. But nothing prevents me from lending one of these athletes $50k today if they give me an LPOA over that death benefit tomorrow (assuming this doesn’t breach any covenants).
$200k is not even remotely close to generational wealth, particularly when structured as $100k 20 years from now and another $100k 50-ish years from now. Those would be worth an estimated $55k and $22k in inflation-adjusted dollars. It’s a totally different story if those are in a trust which is invested on behalf of the athletes, which pays out the invested value at time of disbursement. But I would be shocked if it…
An athlete who competes for a couple seasons would have the down payment for a house in each of those pay-outs. (And be able to, in all likelihood, borrow against it if they needed it earlier.)
Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k
#80The real answer here is that he is mad about people protesting what Israel is doing in Gaza. This $100M donation is being made with funds he had given to UPenn. He has taken it back, via lawyers, because they allowed the protests to go on. He is now just taking that original donation and moving it somewhere else. Not that I am against the Olympians getting paid, just some context. Sources: https://philanthropynewsdig…
I would have never guessed that a significant portion of western society would not only be ok with killing thousands of children but be outraged that anyone would protest it. I feel like I have more information about the world than ever and understand it less than ever.
What people feel about things is almost an entirely a function of their information environment, rather than the facts of the events themselves. Almost nobody truly aware of the number of slaughtered and starved Palestinian children would be "okay" with it; the people defending it are more-or-less viewing these events in terms so different from that that those basic facts cannot reach their understanding at all.