BizJournals Portfolio
Home >   Business Views, Opinions and Blogs >   Business Blogs >   Market Movers >  

Cnbc Has A Winner

Market Movers

by Felix Salmon
Main
The Ethics of Markets   When Banks Diversify Internationally

Recent Blog Posts

Links

Jul 16 2007 12:00am EDT

CNBC Has A Winner

Mary Sue Williams has won the CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge. Congratulations, Mary Sue. But don't expect $1 million. Instead, you'll get $100,000 up front, plus $36,000 per year for the next 25 years.

Mary Sue won the contest by managing to get a 29% gain over the space of two weeks. Which is about 75,000% per year. The present value of Mary Sue's actual prize, discounted at 75,000%, is, roughly, $100,000 – one-tenth of the million dollars she's nominally winning.

Then again, given how idiotic the whole challenge was from the start, I'm glad that the prize is going to someone who seems likely to use it well. At least some good is coming out of this meretricious debacle.

. □

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.


Connect With Portfolio.com
Like Portfolio on Facebook

Come on, like us—you know you want to.

Follow Portfolio on Twitter

Follow us and if you're an innovative entrepreneur, we'll return the favor.

The Mix

Today's top stories, conversation starters, and the back nine business bites.

spotlight on

People & Ideas

Whisky To-Go-Go

Now there's a company that let's you taste your knowledge of fine blended Scotches by mixing a whisky of your own. Read More