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I'm not sure what's so remarkable about an extremely wealthy person paying for someone's mission, even assuming that this was something that person did often.

There are so many people with much less who do the same. It's good and generous and should be applauded. It doesn't turn a wealthy church leader into anything more than just that.

Res Ipsa wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 22, 2023 3:55 pm

I'm not one for using a good deed as a springboard for criticism. The apostle did a good deed by paying for the young man's mission. And he didn't toot his own horn about it. Good for him. in my opinion, that's what helping others is all about.

My mission was relatively inexpensive, and out turns out I had had saved enough money by working during high school to pay for it. Because my parents had moved, I had only been in my "home ward" a couple of months before I received my call. I didn't ask for any financial help, and I don't recall receiving any. Growing up, I knew we could donate to a missionary fund which I think the ward could use for young people that couldn't afford to go on a mission.

I think there may be something to the notion that financially investing in one's mission increases the sense of personal investment in it.

I agree with all of the above.

Gary is not a billionaire.

He may have briefly been one on paper, at the peak of the Covid home-fitness bubble.

As you all recall, Gary's company, ICON, raised money at a $7 billion valuation. That was when Peloton (nearest public comparable to Gary's company) shares were $150+ and Peloton's market cap was in the neighborhood of $45 billion.

All of the home fitness equipment brands suffered big time in 2022. Collectively, Covid gave them a demand pull-forward of 3-5 years, and now we're in the hangover stage.

Today, Peloton's market cap is barely over $3 billion, a decline of about 93% from its peak.

Assuming ICON's valuation has fallen similar to Peloton's, then Gary's "billion dollar" fortune in Icon is now worth a paltry $70-80 million. Arguably, it is worse than that because ICON is a worse business than Peloton. Peloton has better products, more scale, and importantly, a large base of recurring monthly subscription customers. ICON's attempted IPO at nearly a $7 billion valuation failed (Ticker would have been IFIT).

Edit: IFIT raised more money in early 2022 at a 60% lower valuation. Since that time, Peloton shares have further sunk like a rock. I bet IFIT's private market valuation has fallen even more.

It's likely Gary's stake in ICON is worth less than $50 million today.