The bottom line

■ A Securities and Exchange Commission program that pays whistleblowers for tips has paid out $737 million to 133 people since 2012, including $114 million to one person last year. The SEC received 6,900 tips alleging whitecollar malfeasance in its 2020 budget year.

Bloomberg.com

■ President-elect Biden’s choice for Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, collected more than $7 million in speaking fees over the past two years from major corporations and Wall Street banks. Biden’s choice for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was paid nearly $1.2 million for consulting to corporations.

The New York Times

■ Elon Musk passed Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as richest man in the world last week. The two have traded places in the top spot several times, as Tesla’s share price has gyrated. Musk’s net worth this week stood at $183.8 billion, $1.4 billion ahead of Bezos’.

Forbes.com

■ China’s trade surplus with the U.S. hit a record high, $37.4 billion, in November, with $52 billion in exports to America. The total U.S.-China deficit for the first 11 months of 2020 was $287 billion. In a deal with Trump, China agreed to accept $172 billion in imports from the U.S., but through November reached only 51 percent of the goal.

Bloomberg.com

■ According to Nielsen, 55 percent of Americans played video games during the first phase of lockdowns last year. Digital-game sales hit $126.6 billion in 2020.

TheVerge.com

■ Taxes, fees, and surcharges make up 22.6 percent of the average U.S. wireless service bill. Average monthly service bills have dropped 26 percent since 2008, but wireless taxes have increased 50 percent.

CNBC.com