Hi, welcome to your Weekend.
This week, we’re publishing stories from near (a testosterone party in San Francisco) and far (Jessica's four-day reporting junket in China). But there’s another story we’re tracking that is geographically close to home and psychologically close to Never Never Land.
I’m talking about the dream city of California Forever. As scooped earlier this week by the New York Times, the shadowy backers of a new urban development in rural Solano County are some of Silicon Valley’s most famous investors and entrepreneurs. Stand up and take a bow, Michael Moritz, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Patrick and John Collison, John Doerr, Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross.
According to the Times, the group has spent $900 million buying up some 50,000 acres of farmland in hopes of turning them into a utopian city of the future. The renderings the group released yesterday certainly look Jetsonian. (Remind me, is this near Portofino—or Vacaville?) But the way the tech luminaries have gone about the city’s roll-out has not been visionary. In fact, it’s been mystifyingly backward.
Tech moguls may distrust the government, attack public unions, chafe at bureaucracy and hate the media—but if you don’t feed any of these parties, they will feed on you. Keeping every stakeholder in the dark while you secretly gobble up real estate breeds suspicion and distrust.
Already the plan is being pilloried by county officials and members of Congress whose districts encircle the land. It’s running afoul of local slow-growth ordinances that will likely require an expensive public vote to overcome. And many neighbors—including the commanders of nearby Travis Air Force Base—seem pretty put off.
It’s commendable that these tech stars are pouring their abundant capital into improving public life. But if they’re going to erect their city in our lifetimes, they need to begin by building a lot more trust.
Now onto this week’s stories...
the big read
‘Excited and Terrified’: On a High-Stakes Trip to China, Gina Raimondo Confronts a Complex Future
While barnstorming China with the Secretary of Commerce, Jessica got a chance to watch international diplomacy in action. That included a show-and-tell on clean beauty serums; four-hour-long relationship-mending sessions with Chinese officials; and finally, a private audience with the Secretary in her motorcade.
the 1:1
Selling a Vision, and a $2 Million Hypercar, at Pebble Beach
The Czinger 21C is a marvel of engineering, writes reporter Tim Stevens: a $2 million, 1,250-horsepower hypercar that weighs less than a Honda Civic. It’s also a dazzling marketing vehicle for battery and electric vehicle entrepreneur Kevin Czinger and his son, Lukas, who are not just automakers but 3D printing connoisseurs.
scene and heard
Inside Silicon Valley’s New Boys Club: the Testosterone-Testing ‘T Party’
Welcome to the T Party...tiny sandwiches not included. Reporter Zara Stone drops in on a support group for young men looking to level up their testosterone. The event is filled with blood tests, cold plunges and discussions about “No Nut November.” While doctors are skeptical, the “high T” fraternity is trying everything to maintain “their male mojo.”
Watching: A tween dream of a Netflix flick
Last weekend, I settled in to watch a movie I’d been (bashfully) anticipating—the perfectly titled “You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.” The Netflix original is a nepo-baby extravaganza, starring the wife and two teen daughters of Adam Sandler (with a smaller part for Sandler himself). The daughters—especially Sunny Sandler, who stars as Bat Mitzvah girl Stacy Friedman—absolutely delight, spearheading what is a sweet, awkward, heart-warmer of a family comedy. It’s the kind of movie that would never get a theatrical release today, but it slots right into Netflix’s identity as the Young Adult Rom-Com hub, fitting alongside the “To All the Boys” series and “Never Have I Ever.” Even without the full cinema experience, “You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” might just become a cult comedy classic. And to that I say, mazel tov. —Annie
Reading: A crypto startup misplaces millions
Remember the good old days of 2021-22, when insane crypto stories dropped daily? Well, this week gave us a shot of peak crypto nostalgia, courtesy of the new tech outlet 404Media, which brought us the tale of infrastructure startup Prime Trust. In 2018, the company decided to deposit $38.9 million in cryptocurrency on a hard wallet, which are considered the safest way to store crypto, since they’re not connected to the internet. To make sure Prime Safe’s fortunes were kept safe, the company created a snazzy metal plaque engraved with the hard drive’s password. Guess what happened next: Reader, they lost the plaque. Over time, as customers looked to cash out, the company scrambled to find $76 million in other funds to fulfill withdrawal requests. Eventually Prime Trust couldn’t keep the jig up, and this week filed for bankruptcy. But don’t worry—in its filing, the company promised it won’t happen again. —Margaux
Noticing: A peek inside the concierge healthcare experience
While even the most basic care remains out of reach for millions of Americans, the ultra-wealthy are opting for elite concierge services. ScienceIO CEO and founder Will Manidis shed light on the so-called “executive physical” process in a recent X thread. He detailed his experience flying out to “one of the best hospitals in America” for three 12-hour days of specialist appointments and tests, including bloodwork, physical therapy and imaging. His takeaway? For the young and healthy, this kind of over-the-top testing amounts to little more than a $5,000 pat on the back. But for a “65-year-old, overweight exec, with lifestyle factors,” physicals could significantly reduce health risks. Manidis seems optimistic that these services can become more accessible. As for the system at large, he wrote, concierge medicine “leaves our normal healthcare system in the dust—struggling with access, cost of care, and increasingly burnt-out providers.” —Julia
Makes You Think
He’s doing a lot of things in the arena, apparently.
Until next Weekend, thanks for reading.
—Jon
Weekend Editor, The Information
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