It's A Beautiful Day

If there's one thing I think of, on the most rare occasions when I think of it at all, it's that Forbes Magazine is the epitome of the Republican, conservative mindset. The journal fairly screams out wealth, what with its listing of the richest folk who dot the planet. How appropriate for the man who champions financial aid to Africa to own a stake in the thing.

Hard to believe that Bono has invested in Malcolm Forbes' literary baby. According to the rumors, Bono's Elevation Partners has bought in to the tune of 40%, which is very much enough to throw some weight around. But it's not the print issue that your man is after - it is said that Elevation is more interested in the on-line edition, which garners around ten million hits per year. That's a great deal of media exposure at the click of a key.

Granted, Bono knows the media business from the musical angle. He's been performing, recording and selling music for half his life. There is something ironic, however, in Paul Hewson's involvement in this particular, and rather traditional, medium. He's been all over the world, meeting with top government officials and taking them to task for ignoring poverty in Africa. Could he take Forbes and make it another mouthpiece? How about an article about the starving masses in Nigeria, right next to a lengthy discussion of the oil industry? Or will he let his investment ride on, accumulating profits, and keep his hands out of the editorial pie?

Would he use his new platform to launch into a debate over government taxation policies? Just recently, the Irish government amended their tax laws to limit an artist's tax-free royalties to E250K. According to today's Irish Times, Mr. Hewson et. al. have promptly moved their music publishing business to the Netherlands, where their royalties will be taxed at a much lower rate that approximates zero. All that berating of politicians to donate more from their coffers to assist the downtrodden costs money, and U2 can't very well afford to pay more in taxes when they need their money for other uses.

Bono and Forbes - who would believe it? Suddenly, it seems so perfectly logical.