If you missed it ...
In a week when twice-as-long tweets proved that brevity is the soul of half wit, this also happened:
Norway’s state pension fund topped $1 trillion, fueled by currency shifts and investment returns. The sovereign wealth fund, which invests profits from oil production, now owns 1.3 percent of all publicly listed companies, CNNMoney reported.
Tesla Inc. is sending to Puerto Rico hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems that can be paired with solar panels in an effort to help the battered island territory restore electric power, the company said Thursday. Some of the systems are already there, and others are en route. The equipment is sorely needed, because the island remains largely without electricity more than a week after Hurricane Maria made landfall. The company has employees on the ground to install them and is working with local organizations to identify the most useful locations.
Ryanair, the low-cost Irish airline, has been struggling to deal with staff shortages. A failure to find replacements for vacationing pilots prompted the cancellation this month of 2,100 flights; then Ryanair said it would cut 18,000 more, affecting about 400,000 passengers. The crisis also led the company to drop its bid to buy the troubled Italian flag carrier Alitalia — which analysts said was a bad fit anyway.
Speaking of Twitter and its new 280-character tweets, co-founder Biz Stone reassured a user who scolded the service for giving President Trump more room to tweet. “He’s not in the test group,” Stone said, leaving hundreds of characters to spare.
Belcalis Almanzar, also known as Cardi B, went from an Instagram celebrity to a Billboard topping rap star with her debut single on Atlantic Records, “Bodak Yellow.” But she hasn’t just been boosting her own career. “My business has literally tripled,” her dentist, Dr. Catrise Austin, told TMZ, after she got a shout-out in the song. Porcelain veneers like the ones Almanzar sings about cost between $1,000 and $3,000 per tooth, according to Austin’s website. A near-miss from Hurricane Irma doesn’t appear to have dented Miami’s appeal to Alan Hassenfeld. The former chief executive officer of Monopoly maker Hasbro Inc. bought an $8.2 million home at Palazzo del Sol, a development on tony Fisher Island, according to property records, which show the purchase is his first in Miami. The 10-floor Palazzo del Sol is the newest — and flashiest — addition to the community, boasting poolside cabanas, landscaped gardens and a butler-staffed aperitivo bar.