The world of startups is full of crazy stories. From lucrative buyouts to epic collapses (think WeWork), venture capital is a risky business.

Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have a complex and longstanding relationship that dates back to their early days in Silicon Valley. They first crossed paths as entrepreneurs working on competing financial-payment startups in the same building in Palo Alto, California.

While negotiating the merger of their two financial services companies twenty years ago, Elon Musk offered to give Thiel a ride in his new F1 McLaren to an office so they could continue negotiations.

Thiel hopped in and asked what the supercar was capable of… Being the kind of guy Musk is, he excitedly slammed the pedal to the metal and ended up crashing the car. Miraculously, they both walked away unscathed and went on to join forces, creating what we know today as PayPal.

Central Bank Gold Purchases Hit Record in First Three Quarters of 2023

While gold continues to quietly trade above $2,000 per ounce, gold miners remain range-bound or even depressed in some cases…

Famous gold investor Pierre Lassonde, chair of Franco-Nevada Mining, believes gold stocks are trading at 50% of their value. While he expects 2024 to be a catchup year for gold stocks, some investors aren’t waiting to buy the metal…

In late 2023, the Dutch Central Bank admitted that it had already prepared for a new gold standard should an economic crisis arrive.

The bank believes that in the event of a crisis, gold’s price will rise, and that gold bought by central banks could be used to underpin a new gold standard.

Central banks were also on pace for a year of record gold purchases in 2023. They collectively bought 337,000 tons in Q3, the second-highest third quarter on record. Year to date net purchases in 2023, which includes the first three quarters, now stand at a whopping 800 tons.