Editor’s Letter
WITH HALF THE year gone by, we find ourselves in a situation which somewhat mirrors last year’s. What has changed, however, is the heightened optimism that we feel as we look towards the future. With more and more communities and countries emerging from the pandemic-induced stasis, there is a palpable sense that the metaphorical and literal engines are being revved for a restart.
Thus, this month’s issue is dedicated to peak performance, that compulsion to be the best through an innate sense of competition and selfimprovement. For this, we bring you stories of the new – and highly lucrative – frontier of sports or, more correctly, esports. In ‘The Answers With…’, we speak with Carlos Alimurung, CEO of One Esports, which is a joint venture between One Championship, Asia’s largest sports media property, and Dentsu. With the esports industry estimated by Juniper Research to be valued at US$3.5 billion by 2025, One Esports is poised to capitalise handsomely on this through a series of savvy moves and by positioning Singapore as a hub. Alimurung brings it home with his recollections of childhood video games and how they have helped him arrive at the present day.
Of course, as in the case of One Esports, the idea of owning a sports team is something that Robb Report readers can do more than just dream about. ‘For The Love of The Game’ features interviews with the owners of sports teams to discover the pitfalls and rewards of club management, with some hard truths about how, unlike many other businesses, the fans usually think they can run the business better than the owners.
On our cover, you may also appreciate peak performance of the watchmaking kind. Montblanc’s Star Legacy Metamorphosis is a limited edition of only eight pieces in an all-new 2021 sparkling blue hue. Beyond its cosmetic update is the hard-earned innovation requiring a decade-long journey to perfect. Upon activation, the Metamorphosis mechanism initiates a transformation, with the balance wheel at 12 o’clock revealing the scintillating one-minute Exo Tourbillon. This achievement was the culmination of several thousand hours at Montblanc’s Villeret workshop by master watchmaker Frederic Kehrli and his team, a result which also directly pushes the envelope of horology as we know it.
With that, we’ll leave it to you to discover all the other great examples of peak performance in the ensuing pages, from the world’s most expensive new car to the world’s youngest record holder in the sport of freediving.
Enjoy the issue.