Finance tends to take gospel parables literally. Let us take the case of the parable of the talents: the Lord says:
“Whoever has, it will be given
and it will be in abundance.
But whoever does not have, it will be taken away
even what he has”
(Matthew 25, 29)
The canonical interpretation tends to consider this sentence as a metaphor that concerns the exploitation of one’s talents, considered positive and rewarded by God, as opposed to the sloth of those who do not put them to good use and therefore do not increase them. The Lord reserves a very harsh treatment for the latter: since he has not put his talents to good use, even the little he has will be taken away from him. I don’t want to venture into the analysis of this interpretation, but surely in the financial world it is true in its letter and not in the metaphor.
Those who are financially poor, lacking both real estate assets, valuables and money, have a high risk of becoming even more impoverished, for example with debt and interest. On the contrary, the rich, the one who already has real estate, valuables, money, securities can increase their assets with various investment options and become even richer.
The influencer par excellence: Chiara Ferragni
Let’s take the case of Chiara Ferragni, the well-known influencer with millions of followers on social media. With her three companies, Fenice, Tbs crew, which manages the blog The Blonde Salad, and Sisterhood, in 2022 she has a turnover of around 28 million euros. Let us now allow ourselves the luxury of asking a naive, almost evangelical question:
why does Rai pay Ferragni for her presence in Sanremo in February 2023? Obviously because Ferragni brings share, and the share brings commercials and the commercials bring revenues for Rai.
Chiara Ferragni (Photogram, from Sole 24 Ore)
One of his three companies, Fenice, had an increase in revenues in 2021 and Ferragni has been looking for a financial partner since that year. Now, as it happens, a few weeks after its appearance at the Sanremo festival, a private equity fund is preparing to inject 20 million euros into Fenice. The presence in RAI has certainly constituted for Ferragni, and for Fenice, a free injection of reputation and in the future of money and profits.
Paying to be on stage in Sanremo?
In the world I would like Ferragni, in addition to paying the investment banks hired to look for a private equity fund willing to invest in Fenice, should pay to be able to be on the Sanremo stage. Let’s see, doing the calculations on a paper napkin, and assuming that the expected capital injection after Sanremo is directly linked to Chiara Ferragni’s presence at the festival itself, we have 20,000,000 of fresh equity: assuming a 2% commission for the work of the banks to obtain the investment, Ferragni’s theoretical outlay would be 400,000 euros.
The influencer and the bankers
What happened to another influencer: Kim Kardashian
We can console ourselves by thinking that at least Kim Kardashian (283 million followers) paid 1.26 million dollars to the SEC (the American Consob) for not having declared her contract with EthereumMax, which pays her to advertise on social networks at a investment in crypto assets. And it can be hoped that Chiara Ferragni will also publicly declare on social media that she is paid by some brands to advertise as required by European legislation.
Yes, it’s really true: to whoever has, it will be given.