What is Josh Duggar’s net worth?Josh Duggar is an American businessman and reality television personality who has a net worth of $5 thousand. Josh Duggar, also known as Joshua James Duggar, is the eldest child in the Dugger family. Josh Duggar is also known for being convicted on charges of possession of child pornography.Early LifeJoshua James Duggar was born on March 3, 1988. He was raised in Arkansas. He is the eldest of 19 children. He was home-schooled and finished high school at age 16, there are also records of him attaining some post-secondary schooling with CollegePlus! and Thomas Edison State College.Reality Television FameAt the age of 17, Duggar began appearing on a number of reality shows that depicted his family, beginning with a program on Discovery Health in 2005. Most notably, he began appearing on the TLC series, “19 Kids and Counting,” in September of 2008. The show followed the life of the growing Duggar family. One of the early episodes in 2009 prominently featured Josh’s wedding day, specifically highlighting that he had waited until marriage to kiss his bride. Other episodes featured Josh and his family, especially when him and his wife Anna began having children.Outside of his time on television, Duggar became interested and involved in politics. He worked as a part-time political consultant in 2007 and in 2008 he worked on the Republican presidential primary campaign of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. From June of 2013 until May of 2015, he was the executive director of FRC Action, a political action and lobbying organization sponsored by the Family Research Council. He campaigned for Senate candidates in Kansas, Mississippi, and Virginia during the time leading up to the 2014 midterm elections. He generally advocated for what he called “family-centered” conservative values, which included opposing abortion, divorce, and gay marriage. He was labeled an anti-gay activist by GLADD, a pro-LGBT rights organization.Arrest and ConvictionDuggar had been accused of sexual misconduct towards minors as early as 2006. The Duggar family was set to appear on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” when show producers received an anonymous email that revealed Duggar’s past history of sexual misconduct. Winfrey’s producers alerted the Department of Human Services which resulted in an investigation by the Springdale police. Investigators spoke to Duggar’s family and discovered there had been incidents of sexual misconduct in 2002 and 2003 but no report had been made and the statute of limitations on these charges had run out. The Duggar parents had reportedly dealt with the issues at home by sending Josh to various work sites where he had performed manual labor and by making him talk to church elders.The 2002 and 2003 incidents remained largely unknown to the public until the magazine “In Touch Weekly” released a story that provided details about the police reports related to the incidents. When the article was published, Duggar resigned from his position at FRC Action. The story detailed how Duggar had confessed to his father on three separate occasions to committing child molestation, which had involved a much younger sister. It noted that the family had waited nearly a year and a half before reporting this abuse to authorities. “19 Kids and Counting” was ultimately cancelled due to the controversy.Around the same time the story broke, the Ashley Madison data breach also occurred. This breach revealed that Duggar had paid for two Ashley Madison subscriptions. Duggar released a statement in which he admitted to watching pornography and being unfaithful to his wife, actions which he deemed to be hypocritical in his apology.Controversy surrounding the Duggar family was quiet for a few years until Duggar was arrested on federal charges of receiving and possessing child pornography in April of 2021. Because some of his children at the time were minors, Duggar was granted conditional bail before his trial but was permitted to have contact with his children only in the presence of his wife.Duggar’s trial began in November of 2021. The trial revealed that Duggar had partitioned the hard drive on his computer into two sections: one on which Windows was installed which he used for work and one on which Linux was installed which he used to download and share child pornography. In December of 2021, Duggar was found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography and subsequently sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison. Following his release, he will need to complete 20 years of supervised release during which time he must register as a sex offender and can have no unsupervised contact with minors.Other WorkJosh Duggar owns a consulting firm for politicians and an automotive dealership, and is currently the Executive Director of the Family Research Center’s Action Arm. The Family Research Center is an outspoken organization that carries a pro-life, pro-family agenda and speaks out quite adamantly regarding their beliefs on gay and lesbian relationships.Personal LifeJosh married Anna Keller on September 26, 2008 at the Grove Baptist Church in Hillard, Florida. Both Duggar and Keller were 20 years old at the time of their marriage.They had their first child together in October of 2009. They subsequently had six more children between 2011 and 2021 for a total of seven children: four daughters and three sons. By the time Duggar is expected to be released from prison, his four youngest children will still be minors. Given the conditions of his arrest, any future time spent with his minor children would need to be supervised.
What is Oleg Deripaska’s Net Worth?Oleg Deripaska is a Russian businessman who has a net worth of $2 billion. Oleg Deripaska is a billionaire industrialist from Russia who founded the industrial group Basic Element in 1997. He also founded and headed the energy company En+ Group and the aluminum company United Company RUSAL. Involved in many business and political scandals, Deripaska was among the numerous Russian oligarchs sanctioned by Western countries during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Early Life and EducationOleg Deripaska was born on January 2, 1968 in Dzerzhinsk, Soviet Russia and grew up on his family’s farm in Ust-Labinsk. He was mostly raised by his grandparents, as his mother, a widow, left to find work. Deripaska began working as a kid at the Ust-Labinsk plant where his mother found a job. When he was 11, he became an electrician’s apprentice. Because Deripaska was highly skilled at math, he was able to enroll at Moscow State University when he was 17. However, after a year in college, he was recruited into the armed forces. Deripaska eventually returned to Moscow State to complete his education, graduating with a physics degree in 1993. He went on to earn his master’s degree from the Plekhanov University of Economics in 1996.Career BeginningsPartnering with fellow scientists, Deripaska established the metal trading company VTK in the early 90s. He was able to achieve significant success by buying metal at low Russian prices and selling it abroad at much higher international market rates. Deripaska used almost all of his arbitrage and trading profits to purchase his initial package of shares in the Sayanogorsk aluminum smelter in South Central Siberia. In 1994, he became director general of the plant. A few years later, Deripaska founded Sibirsky Aluminum Group, which in 2000 merged with Millhouse Capital to form RUSAL.Business ExpansionBecoming the head of RUSAL, Deripaska turned the company into the largest aluminum producer in the world. He oversaw the construction of the Khakas aluminum smelter in Siberia, the first such smelter built in post-Soviet Russia. Deripaska continued to expand his business interests exponentially over the years, acquiring stakes in companies spanning such industries as energy, manufacturing, auto, finance, aviation, and agriculture. His notable assets include the power company EuroSibEnergo, the insurance company Ingosstrakh, and the automotive conglomerate GAZ Group. These and other assets form part of the diversified investment portfolio of Deripaska’s industrial group Basic Element, which he founded in 1997.Among his myriad other ventures, Deripaska founded the diversified mining, metals, and energy company En+ Group in 2006. It owns a majority stake in RUSAL and EuroSibEnergo, which controls and manages power plants. In 2011, Deripaska created Kuban Agroholding, a 75,000-hectare agribusiness.Other Business PositionsElsewhere in the world of business, Deripaska serves as the chairman of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council and the vice president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He has also been a participant at the World Economic Forum since 2007.Norilsk NickelIn 1995, Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin won the right to acquire Norilsk Nickel from the collapsed Soviet government. Over the next 10 years, Norilsk Nickel expanded at a furious pace. Under Prokhorov’s direction, the company sold off all non-core assets, modernized equipment and aggressively sought out new regions with natural resources to exploit. Annual revenues at Norilsk Nickel grew from $400 million in 1995 to over $10 billion in 2007.In January 2007, Mikhail was arrested in the French Alps by police who suspected he had flown a private jet full of prostitutes to the town for a debaucherous week-long party with his buddies.In the ensuing scandal, Mikhail was forced to sell his stake in Norilsk. He ended up selling his stake to Oleg Deripaska for $7 billion in cash and $3 billion worth of stock in one of Oleg’s aluminum companies.This turned out to be very good timing because by late 2008, a few months after the deal was finally closed, the world economy began to collapse. Oleg Deripaska’s net worth plunged 85% from $28 billion to $4 billion in a matter of months. Mikhail, flush with cash, proceeded to to buy the Brooklyn Nets, among other lavish splurges.Criticism of Russian War in UkraineImpressively, Oleg Deripaska is one of the very few Russian billionaires who risked life and fortune by publicly criticizing Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. In March of 2022 Oleg called for an end to the war in a post on Telegram:”Peace is very important! It is insane to prolong [peace] negotiations!”He warned of possible nuclear accidents in Ukraine, which in his view would ultimately doom Russia:”For those who do not understand, any accident involving those objects will be remembered by our successors in Russia, Ukraine and Europe for some 200 years to come.”In June of 2022 Oleg warned:”… destroying Ukraine would be a colossal mistake.”Seizure of $1 Billion PropertyIn December 2022, a Russian court ordered that a $1 billion luxury hotel complex owned by Oleg be seized. Technically, the legal battle over the property pre-dated the war in Ukraine but many observers believe the court’s ruling was not exactly unaffected by Oleg’s controversial comments. Case in point, just two weeks after his June comment, a Putin-backed science/education/tourism department called the Sirius Federal Territory filed three disputes related to the land where Oleg’s Imeretinskiy hotel complex is being constructed.PhilanthropyOn the philanthropic side of things, Deripaska created the charitable foundation Volnoe Delo, which funds initiatives in Russia devoted to education, science, cultural heritage, and public health. He also co-founded the National Science Support Foundation and the National Medicine Fund. Meanwhile, Deripaska sits on numerous boards of trustees, including those at multiple schools belonging to Moscow State University, and at the Bolshoi Theatre, where he has financed various ballets and operas.ScandalsOleg Deripaska has been involved in a number of scandals related to his business activities and political relationships. He has been investigated for money laundering due to his ties with organized crime heads Sergei Popov and Anton Malevsky, and attracted controversy for his relationships with British financier Nathaniel Rothschild, politician Peter Mandelson, and American convicted felon Paul Manafort. Notably, Deripaska was accused of acting as a middle man between the Russian government and Manafort during Russia’s interference in the 2016 US elections.Deripaska has been accused of many other crimes, including extortion, racketeering, and wiretapping government officials. As a consequence, he was sanctioned by the United States in 2018. Four years later, he was charged with violating the sanction; he was also sanctioned by the UK and EU during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Personal LifeIn 2001, Deripaska married Polina Yumasheva, the daughter of Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s top adviser Valentin. The couple had a son named Pyotr and a daughter named Maria before divorcing in 2018. Deripaska also has multiple horses and dogs. In 2017, he became a Cypriot citizen.
What is Matt Mullenweg’s Net Worth and Salary?Matt Mullenweg is an American online social media entrepreneur and web developer who has a net worth of $400 million. Matt Mullenweg is best-known as the lead developer of the free and open source blogging platform WordPress which is managed by The WordPress Foundation. He is also the founder of Automattic, Inc., the for-profit web development arm of WordPress.com. In 2009 Matt reportedly turned down a $200 million offer to sell Automattic. In August 2019 Matt announced that Automattic had acquired Tumblr for $3 million. He also announced Automattic was acquiring 200+ Tumblr employees. His empire also operates Gravatar, Akismet, and Crowdsignal. Among his other endeavors, Mullenweg worked at CNET and co-founded the Global Multimedia Protocols Group, which wrote the first of the microformats in 2003. As of this writing Automattic has raised $986 million over a dozen rounds and its most-recent valuation is $1.2 billion.Early Life and EducationMatthew Charles Mullenweg was born on January 11, 1984 in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, he went to the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where he studied jazz saxophone. Mullenweg went on to attend the University of Houston as a political science major, but dropped out in 2004 to pursue his business career.WordPressWhile Mullenweg was a freshman in college in 2003, he and English developer Mike Little launched WordPress, a free and open-source content management system. Originally created for blog publishing, the platform grew over the years to support various other types of web content, including mailing lists, media galleries, online stores, and learning management systems. In late 2004, Mullenweg was recruited by CNET to bring WordPress to the website and help the company with blogs and other media offerings.Global Multimedia Protocols GroupAlso while still in college, Mullenweg co-founded the Global Multimedia Protocols Group with Eric Meyer and Tantek Çelik. The group wrote the first of the microformats, XFN, and developed methods to represent human relationships through the XHTML Friends Network.AutomatticIn the summer of 2005, Mullenweg founded Automattic to operate his growing portfolio of web services. His first major brand released through the company was Akismet, which works to filter spam from online comments, trackbacks, and contact form messages. Shortly after that, Mullenweg launched WordPress.com, a platform for self-publishing that grew into the most popular host for blogging in the world. In early 2014, Mullenweg succeeded Toni Schneider as CEO of Automattic.Since its founding, Automattic has expanded exponentially by raising millions of dollars in venture capital and making many high-profile acquisitions. It has added to its portfolio such brands as Longreads, Gravatar, Sensei, Cloudup, WPScan, Newspack, and Jetpack. Other notable assets include the microblogging and social networking website Tumblr; the personal journaling app Day One; and the technology company Parse.ly, which provides web analytics and content optimization software to online publishers.Speaking GigsBeyond his entrepreneurial projects, Mullenweg does regular speaking engagements at events around the world. He has presented at WorldCamp events, SxSW, the Lean Startup Conference, and YCombinator’s Startup School, among other places.Honors and AwardsMullenweg has earned numerous honors for his contributions to technology and business. In 2008, he received the Information Technology Innovator Award from Temple University. Over the subsequent years, he appeared on several lists of the most influential people on the web, including lists by BusinessWeek, Business Insider, and Forbes.PhilanthropyOn the philanthropic side of things, Mullenweg supports such non-profit organizations as the Free Software Foundation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Long Now Foundation, and the Innocence Project. He has also made major donations to the group Charity: Water and the “Bay Lights” art installation in San Francisco.