Bono and the Edge to earn €400m

mstan

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/bono-and-the-edge-could-make-e400m-from-facebook-flotation-2011-01/

MARK ZUCKERBERG may be the world’s youngest billionaire thanks to his founding and management of Facebook, but among the others likely to make their fortunes off the world dominating website could be none other than U2 millionaires Bono and the Edge.

The two – real names Paul Hewson and David Evans – are major stakeholders in investment vehicle Elevation Partners (named after the band’s 2002 single and 2001 tour), which in 2009 invested €157m to buy a small stake in the Palo Alto-based social network.

Following Monday’s further investment by Goldman Sachs – which puts the overall value of the company at a whopping $50bn (€37.8bn) – Elevation’s 1.08% stake in the company is now worth, on paper at least, €405m.

The Sun quotes New York-based traders as suggesting, however, that the size of Elevation’s stake was not disclosed when it was purchased, and it is possible that its stake in the company has been diluted by the subsequent investments of others.

Elevation Partners is thought to manage about $1.9bn (€1.44bn) in assets, including a 40% stake in Forbes Media, but had seen Bono named as one of the world’s worst investors by the Wall Street Journal after investing €365m in PDA manufacturer Palm, which the Irish Examiner reports was later sold off to Hewlett Packard for under €1bn.

Elevation also controls a stake in Yelp, a local business reviewing website, but the ownership of the Clarence Hotel by Bono and the Edge is not thought to be included in its stakes.

The collective wealth of U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness has taken a dramatic slide in recent years; their total wealth, which at one point had exceeded €700m, was ranked at just under €500m in last year’s Sunday Times rich list.

With all the doom and gloom, businesses closing down, people losing their jobs etc its actually good to see that there is still some successful Irishmen out there in the world of Business. Of course even U2 have their problems, the Spiderman musical being a good example. But what a master-stroke it has proved for Bono and The Edge to invest in Facebook.

Sure some people here will be bitter to see them making millions but I really feel you just have to applaud the success of these men. A €157m investment that could possibly return over €400m is unbelievable.

fedor.2.

I just want him to pay tax, thats all

Red Hand

May I just say on behalf of all members of boards.ie that that is absolutely brilliant news.

Well deserved, in our opinion.

easyeason3

Yeah, I'm jumping for joy for them.
Taxpayers are being screwed, people are losing jobs, people are losing homes & people are finding it hard to pay essentials like esb.
But U2 will earn €400m.
How much of that will we see going into the Irish economy exactly?

fedor.2.

Not going how you thought it would, is it OP?

brummytom

No one's called him a pompous fucking cunt yet have they?


That's surprising, seeing as he is

Terry

U2 still pay tax in Ireland, despite all the hysterical reports you read in the papers.

Let the uneducated hatred begin.

brummytom

Terry wrote: »

U2 still pay tax in Ireland, despite all the hysterical reports you read in the papers.

Let the uneducated hatred begin.

Way ahead of you, Terry

chillywilly

I agree with the OP to be honest. I don't really give a rats if Bono is a tool or not, I applaude any man who can turn a nice profit.

fedor.2.

Terry wrote: »

U2 still pay tax in Ireland, despite all the hysterical reports you read in the papers.

Let the uneducated hatred begin.

Liar

Terry

brummytom wrote: »

Way ahead of you, Terry

I expect better than uneducated hatred from you, Tom.

Degsy

Hardly surprising given the fact that hard-pressed irish people were willing to stump up 150 quid a ticket to see them in croke park when the profits were being moved overseas and nothing paid to the excheqer.

My tax went up another 125 quid this month.

Bono and co are as bad as the rest of them.

RichieC

U2 are sh*t.

easyeason3

Terry wrote: »

U2 still pay tax in Ireland, despite all the hysterical reports you read in the papers.

Let the uneducated hatred begin.

But what is that in proportion to what they earn?

Guy:Incognito

I'd be selling the **** out of those shares. I'm willing to go out on limb and say if they could actually sell that stake for 400M it'll never be worth that again

brummytom

Terry wrote: »

I expect better than uneducated hatred from you, Tom.

I'll take that as a compliment, Terry. But uneducated hatred of absolutely everyone is all I've got.

Degsy

brummytom wrote: »

No one's called him a pompous fucking cunt yet have they?


That's surprising, seeing as he is

Hang on a minute..for all you know he could be doing gigs in africa exhorting the recipients of billions of euro in aid from this country to come and help ireland out.

macquarie

Terry wrote: »

U2 still pay tax in Ireland, despite all the hysterical reports you read in the papers.

Let the uneducated hatred begin.

There's a difference between paying "tax" in the sense of VAT, motor tax, stamp duty, etc and paying "income tax" on EARNINGS which the rest of us have to do ALSO.

bm365

RichieC wrote: »

U2 are sh*t.

They quite clearly are not s**t

mikom

bm365 wrote: »

They quite clearly are not s**t

Well Bono weighs over 80 courics.

walshb

easyeason3 wrote: »

How much of that will we see going into the Irish economy exactly?

**** all I would say. And, how much will he donate to the poor people in Africa? Probably **** all too, because why should he, when he can simply lecture us and TELL us to donate....

RichieC

Degsy wrote: »

Hardly surprising given the fact that hard-pressed irish people were willing to stump up 150 quid a ticket to see them in croke park when the profits were being moved overseas and nothing paid to the excheqer.
.

If you pay 150 quid to see them hacks I honestly have no sympathy.

RichieC

bm365 wrote: »

They quite clearly are not s**t

Soft rock bell ends.

El Weirdo

bm365 wrote: »

They quite clearly are not s**t

Care to back that statement up with any facts?

Terry

Degsy wrote: »

Hardly surprising given the fact that hard-pressed irish people were willing to stump up 150 quid a ticket to see them in croke park when the profits were being moved overseas and nothing paid to the excheqer.

My tax went up another 125 quid this month.

Bono and co are as bad as the rest of them.

Be careful of the touts, Degsy.
They tend to overcharge.

Red Hand

El Weirdo wrote: »

Care to back that statement up with any facts?

Opinion can never be fact.


/back of the net.

mstan

fedor.2. wrote: »

Not going how you thought it would, is it OP?

Actually this is what I was expecting. Plenty of begrudgery from the people here.

fedor.2.

mstan wrote: »

Actually this is what I was expecting. Plenty of begrudgery from the people here.

Well deserved though

Terry

bm365 wrote: »

They quite clearly are not s**t

El Weirdo wrote: »

Care to back that statement up with any facts?

Music, just like humour, is subjective.

There happens to be a music forum here on boards.
I'm quite startled too.

El Weirdo

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Opinion can never be fact.


/back of the net.

Speak for yourself. My opinion is fact. Fact.

/linesman had his flag up.

stovelid

Anybody that criticizes U2 is an unpatriotic Brit-loving begrudger.

FACT.

easyeason3

walshb wrote: »

**** all I would say. And, how much will he donate to the poor people in Africa? Probably **** all too, because why should he, when he can simply lecture us and TELL us to donate....

Yeah that's grand. More luck to them if they can continue to get away with it.
But the OP is seriously wrong if he/ she thinks I'm going to clap U2 on the back for earning €400m on one investment alone. That investment doesn't include royalties, sales of albums, songs on i tunes, dvds, merchandise or other investments they have.

fedor.2.

El Weirdo wrote: »

Speak for yourself. My opinion is fact. Fact.

/linesman had his flag up.

Its lines-person these days;)

Dudess

mstan wrote: »

Sure some people here will be bitter to see them making millions but I really feel you just have to applaud the success of these men.

fedor.2. wrote: »

Not going how you thought it would, is it OP?

I'd say it is actually - seems like an obvious "Typical Irish begrudgery"-spotting exercise.
I don't begrudge them their millions at all, but I certainly don't feel I "have" to applaud their success either.

Degsy

Terry wrote: »

Be careful of the touts, Degsy.
They tend to overcharge.

Learn that the hard way did ya?

Let them overcharge they're at least contributing something to the country and hopefully shafting U2 Ltd out of a few bob.

Every bootleg t-shirt bought outside the gig is just a few euro less for bono to spend on hair extensions and stack heels.

Nephew

easyeason3 wrote: »

But what is that in proportion to what they earn?

Who gives a toss. These two guys will probably pay more tax in one year than all the posters in this thread will in their lifetime.

El Weirdo

fedor.2. wrote: »

Its lines-person these days;)

Assistant referee, actually.;)

m@cc@

mstan wrote: »

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/bono-and-the-edge-could-make-e400m-from-facebook-flotation-2011-01/



With all the doom and gloom, businesses closing down, people losing their jobs etc its actually good to see that there is still some successful Irishmen out there in the world of Business. Of course even U2 have their problems, the Spiderman musical being a good example. But what a master-stroke it has proved for Bono and The Edge to invest in Facebook.

Sure some people here will be bitter to see them making millions but I really feel you just have to applaud the success of these men. A €157m investment that could possibly return over €400m is unbelievable.

Cue a Bono-bashing thread ad nauseum...

Dudess

Terry had a wonderful time at U2 in Cork in '93.

fedor.2.

Dudess wrote: »

I'd say it is actually - seems like an obvious "Typical Irish begrudgery"-spotting exercise.
I don't begrudge them their millions at all, but I certainly don't feel I "have" to applaud their success either.

:rolleyes:

El Weirdo

Nephew wrote: »

Who gives a toss. These two guys will probably pay more tax in one year than all the posters in this thread will in their lifetime.

Don't think its the total amount of tax, but the amount of tax as a proportion of their total earnings that people are a little pissed off about.

Degsy

stovelid wrote: »

Anybody that criticizes U2 is an unpatriotic Brit-loving begrudger.

FACT.

Ah but U2 are largely protestants..they'll use the money to ensure when the next famine occurs we'll be out snigging turnips and guzzling Peel's Brimstone.

upandcumming

easyeason3 wrote: »

Yeah, I'm jumping for joy for them.
Taxpayers are being screwed, people are losing jobs, people are losing homes & people are finding it hard to pay essentials like esb.
But U2 will earn €400m.
How much of that will we see going into the Irish economy exactly?

So? They made something of themselves. They were smart with their money. Let them at it.

Terry

Degsy wrote: »

Learn that the hard way did ya?

Let them overcharge they're at least contributing something to the country and hopefully shafting U2 Ltd out of a few bob.

Every bootleg t-shirt bought outside the gig is just a few euro less for bono to spend on hair extensions and stack heels.

Nope. I paid €80 for the last gig.
Mind you, I'm a fan, and not someone who pays over the odds to see a band they barely know just to say that they have seen them.

It's like people from Finglas pretending to love Aslan, even though they are probably the worst band to ever inflict themselves on us.

Crazy world indeed.

fedor.2.

upandcumming wrote: »

So? They made something of themselves. They were smart with their money. Let them at it.

Nah

Terry

Degsy wrote: »

Ah but U2 are largely protestants..they'll use the money to ensure when the next famine occurs we'll be out snigging turnips and guzzling Peel's Brimstone.

Do you have a problem with Protestants?

Dudess

fedor.2. wrote: »

:rolleyes:

You need to come up with better material.

m@cc@

fedor.2. wrote: »

I just want him to pay tax, thats all

The hypocrisy on here is palpable. If you found a way to pay less tax, would you take advantage of it?

Somehow, I get the impression that the amount of people who are in work that are willing to pay a little bit extra in tax to sustain the country are few and far between, given the outrage at the austerity measures.

fedor.2.

Dudess wrote: »

You need to come up with better material.

No i dont

chillywilly

fedor.2. wrote: »

No i dont

Take THAT Dudess!!

Terry

Dudess wrote: »

Terry had a wonderful time at U2 in Cork in '93.

Tuesday the 24th of August 1993.
Cork people are arseholes in my opinion.
Not you. Just the ones I met.
Dubs are the same.

m@cc@ wrote: »

The hypocrisy on here is palpable. If you found a way to pay less tax, would you take advantage of it?

Somehow, I get the impression that the amount of people who are in work that are willing to pay a little bit extra in tax to sustain the country are few and far between, given the outrage at the austerity measures.

But it's Bono. You have to hate him.
He made something of his life, and is a multi millionaire.
Also, you have to hate him because of his religion (apparently).