Who is Tesla's fourth-largest shareholder Baillie Gifford?
Baillie Gifford is one of those atypical investment firm behemoths in Britain—well-known within fund management and financial circles with its £192.9bn ($249bn) of assets under management but is not exactly a recognisable name on the street.
That changed when James Anderson, a partner and portfolio manager at Baillie Gifford, which is the fourth-largest shareholder of Tesla (TSLA), called for Elon Musk to stop getting embroiled in public spats and focus on company goals.
"We are very supportive, but we would like peace and execution at this stage. It would be good to just concentrate on the core task," said Anderson in an interview with Bloomberg in July. The comments are especially pertinent considering Tesla has either missed or delayed production of its newest car, the Model 3, since it started building it in late 2017.
And it seems Musk didn't listen. Less than a month later, he declared on Twitter that he had "secured funding" to take Tesla private and later backtracked on his tweets.
So, what is Baillie Gifford?
The investment management firm is an independent private partnership, meaning that its owned by its 44 members and prides itself on quietly doing its business.
With nearly a quarter of a trillion pound of assets under management, the firm has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland and has offices in London as well as New York. This year, the group has gone from strength-to-strength with impressive returns across a number of funds.
Meanwhile, although it has clients across the globe, it counts five of the seven largest pension funds in the US as its customers. It also recently raised £173m ($223m) for its 'patient capital-style' US Growth Trust, which invests predominantly in listed and unlisted US companies which Baillie Gifford believes have the potential to grow substantially faster than the average company. The fund includes holdings in Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), Facebook (FB), and Tesla (TSLA).
What's Baillie Gifford's involvement with Tesla?
As of the end of the first quarter this year, Baillie Gifford held 12.8 million Tesla shares. This is worth about $4bn based on the share prices (TSLA) on 28 August.
It also makes it Tesla's fourth-largest shareholder currently, and one of the three investment firms that hold a large slice of outstanding Tesla shares. According to Bloomberg data, only Musk, T. Rowe Price (TROW), and Fidelity (FFIDX) owner FMR LLC have bigger positions.
Baillie Gifford is in it for the long-haul. James Anderson, one of the firm's portfolio managers which bought into the group in 2013 through his £7.9bn ($10.2bn) Scottish Mortgage Trust (SMT.L), which holds about 5.7% of its assets in the stock, according to CityWire. It also crowned Anderson as one of Britain's top technology investors.
He later also spoke to The Times about how Musk had under-valued the company after he tweeted about taking Tesla private. Its value was "much higher than $420 a share, probability-adjusted," said Anderson.


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Gregory D. Johnson, MS, PHM, EDEP is the Chief Executive Officer for the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. Selected by the CMHA Board of Commissioners for his leadership and strategic skills, Mr. Johnson will continue to build upon the agency's legacy of providing quality affordable housing.
He joined CMHA from the Dayton Premier Management, where he accumulated 16 years of housing industry experience in a number of roles before being named CEO. During his tenure as CEO, Johnson sought creative educational opportunities to foster his impact on the dynamic growing environment of the housing industry.
Seeking creative solutions within the housing industry is a lifelong mission for Mr. Johnson, who was himself raised in a single-parent household that was subsidized. It was his personal understanding of the struggles that families' face that led him to a career, in which he could empower individuals & families, foster a sense of community and provide access to the same positive opportunities that impacted his life.
To that end, Mr. Johnson has worked with dedication and compassion to become a strong advocate, life coach and role model for young adults. Through his volunteer work in the community, he has shared his story and shown through his example that a sense of personal and social responsibility, compassion, integrity and humility are critical to achieving life success.
Mr. Johnson's unwavering commitment to the community is one of the reasons he has been so often recognized by his peers and associates. He has received several community and industry recognition awards from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), the Greater Dayton African American Chamber of Commerce and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Mr. Johnson has been appointed to the city of Cincinnati Economic Development & Job Task Force, the Ohio Means Jobs Board, the Child Poverty committee and the local CPPC advisory board. He is a past board member of Lighthouse Youth Services.
In addition to earning a B.A. from Tiffin University and a Master's Degree from Quinnipiac University, he also holds several industry certifications, including:
Executive Leadership – Harvard Kennedy School in Boston
Leading Organizational Change – Wharton in Philadelphia
Graduate of the Executive Directors Program – Rutgers University
Executive Management completion – NAHRO
Public Housing Management – Nan McKay and Associates
Six Sigma Green Belt in problem solving – Villanova University
CMHA_Briefing

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Aspire Group
Innovative solutions to business issues
Amreen Karmali, Associate
Amreen Karmali has been an educator and organizer for over 15 years. She has spent 10 years as a Middle School Science Teacher and holds a Masters in Education from CSULA in Science Education. While teaching she also facilitated a Young Empowered Women's class and a Student Organizing class which melded her passions for all things justice oriented with her love for teaching.
Recently, Amreen left the traditional classroom to start The RealTalk Project, where she combines her understanding of contemporary schooling with critical lens to provide educators and community members with spaces where they can tackle ways in which patriarchy, white supremacy and other forms of injustice manifest themselves in schools and relationships while working towards creating new ways of teaching and being together. She is also a founding member of The Peoples Education Movement - Los Angeles, and is passionate about spreading health, healing and joy to both her students and the community around her.
aspiregrp@outlook.com
© 2013-2020 by Diane Burbie. Proudly made by Wix.com


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Photo courtesy of Gui Desouza
A growing population gets a robotic assist
Technology aids researchers in examining efficiency, yields of crops
Columbia Daily Tribune
By Megan Favignano
Link to story online: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/a-growing-population-gets-a-robotic-assist/article_9e3c94dd-1c9c-5a21-9f03-c35cff9e662e.html
As soon as University of Missouri researchers plant in the Bradford Research field later this spring, a robot will begin roaming each row and measuring plant features as crops grow.
Ali Shafiekhani, a graduate research assistant, has worked on the project for three years.
He is hoping to further improve the robot, named Vinobot, during his research this summer. Last summer, the robot examined a field with multiple types of corn plants. The robot collects data then sends it to a tall thin pole, or tower with cameras called the Vinoculer, that also is located in the field. Shafiekhani uses the data collected to create 3D models of the plants.
"Sometimes robots can collect more accurate data than from humans," he said. "We are interested to collect data from the entire growing period."
Shafiekhani said the robot has three sets of sensors and an arm, both of which are used for collecting data and measuring humidity, temperature and light intensity. Collecting those measurements is called plant phenotyping and it assesses growth and plant yield. Researchers can then see what plant features are common among plants that are more tolerant of drought conditions or have higher yields.
"For this project, our goal is to have systems that autonomously can collect data from the plant and extract features that are helpful," Shafiekhani said.
Shafiekhani's adviser, Gui DeSouza, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and he have collaborated with Felix Fritschi, an associate professor of plant sciences, and Todd Mockler, a principal investigator with the Danforth Plant Science Center. DeSouza said climate change and a growing population worldwide have caused a need to perfect the efficiency of growing crops and the yield of those plants.
The project was funded through a $20 million grant the university received from the National Science Foundation in 2014.
The research team recently published a paper on the project's progress: "Vinobot and Vinoculer: Two Robotic Platforms for High-Throughput Field Phenotyping."
The paper documented the system's accuracy by comparing the measurements or data the robot collected with data collected manually by a research team. While the robot's data is accurate, Shafiekhani said there is always room for improvement. He's adding Wi-Fi capabilities to the robot to use during this summer's research so he can download data remotely instead of going to the field. He's also working to improve the robot's navigational system and to enhance the detail of the 3D images created.
DeSouza said there's no real end for the project. On the engineering side, he said researchers will continue to make adjustments that produce better images and 3D models. And on the plant side, he said researchers will constantly try to improve the crops being grown.
"It's ongoing. We're never happy with the end product," DeSouza said. "We do believe it's a necessary thing the world requires."
DeSouza said another team of researchers from engineering and plant sciences has been developing a handheld scanner that collects data as a person walks through the field. That team has studied soybean plants in its research.
mfavignano [at] columbiatribune [dot] com 573-815-1719
Other News Stories covering Dr. DeSouza's Transect Research
Nature: January 25th 2017
http://www.nature.com/news/plant-biologists-welcome-their-robot-overlords-1.21352 (large image credited to DeSouza's EPSCoR research)
CoE News: March 13th 2017
http://engineering.missouri.edu/2017/03/robotic-technology-creates-cost-effective-method-study-missouri-crops/
MU News: March 28th 2017
http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2017/0328-fighting-world-hunger-robotics-aid-in-the-study-of-corn-and-drought-tolerance/
https://missouri.app.box.com/s/ohc3f9gmqnw0z0yizs0btqbunzgcxp5w
Stories about this research appeared in 548 international, national, statewide and online media outlets and more than 17.9 million people had the opportunity to view stories online or in print.
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/busy-little-robot-quest-help-humanity-feed/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/04/crop-robots/
EurekaAlert March 28th 2017
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/uom-fwh032817.php
Julie Harker - Brownfield Ag News - interview on March 28th 2017
http://brownfieldagnews.com/news/mu-robotic-system-use-genotyping-crops/
RFD-TV in Nashville, TN. - interview on March 29th 2017
http://www.futurity.org/vinobot-crops-plants-1389302-2/
http://munews.missouri.edu/daily-clip-packets/2017/03-30-17.pdf
NSF NSF "Science 360 News" -- March 30th 2017
http://bit.ly/2o19ueg
KMOV-TV (CBS) in St. Louis
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bc998yytrsslouq/KMOV_03-29-2017_09.44.16.mp4?dl=0
http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=13d81c87-81a8-4541-b9f5-d4d82dc2d2b8
Columbia Tribune
http://www.columbiatribune.com/9e3c94dd-1c9c-5a21-9f03-c35cff9e662e.html
David Sparks' "Aginfo.net" program that runs on 94 radio stations throughout the Northwest!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/24nrmrj0nfvjvs6/LOA%20Drought%20Tolerance.mp3?dl=0
KOLN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska
https://www.dropbox.com/s/thqkz4kas01mst2/KOLN_04-12-2017_05.36.45.mp4?dl=0
KOMU-TV in Columbia, MO
http://www.komu.com/news/robot-helps-scientists-fight-hunger
KTVO-TV (ABC) in Ottumwa, IA
https://www.dropbox.com/s/54xessfqz6fyo7b/KTVO_05-09-2017_22.14.02.mp4?dl=0
Missouri Ruralist
http://enewspro.penton.com/preview/farmprogress/FP-010/20170406_FP-010_655/display?utm_rid=CPG02000000650085&utm_campaign=15963&utm_medium=email&elq2=763d188768074c56b94beeacab429f59
http://www.missouriruralist.com/technology/university-missouri-uses-robot-analyze-crops?NL=FP-010&Issue=FP-010_20170406_FP-010_655&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&elqTrack=true
Tags: Vinobot, Vinocular, Missouri Transect, Missouri EPSCoR, NSF, robotics, autonomous, semi-autonomous, ground vehicle, AGV


When Karen and I moved into our current apartment, we reversed a decision that we had made only a couple of months into our marriage: we purchased cable. The reason was not actually that we wanted to, but that we received a better deal on our Internet package by doing so. For the first several weeks, we did nothing with it. Eventually, however, I connected the equipment, because why pay for something and not use it?
This decision has met with mixed results, but occasionally there is good. Stumbling onto occasional Seinfeld re-runs when staying up late is one of those unexpected positives.
I was enjoying one of those late night positive Seinfeld experiences last week. The episode centered it's comedic digression around Elaine using a wake-up call service. Essentially, she paid someone to call her at a given time each morning and wake her up with conversation instead of an alarm clock.
Does this sound familiar? The premise might, if you've been around long enough. We used to do this at hotels, and you'll still see it occurring in movies that we might now refer to as "classic." When was the last time that you requested a wake-up call at a hotel, though? Some readers may see this as a completely foreign concept, something that they had never done. We have no need of this now, after all. We carry our alarms with us, in the personal computers in our pockets, likely also using them to track our sleep patterns while we're at it. After all, health is important.
I think that the wake-up call service depicted in this episode of Seinfeld would have been a "disruptive" industry then, similar to ride-sharing now. Similarly, I know people to whom calling a cab is an alien idea, for whom "Uber" is a verb. Indeed, in the episode in question, Elaine be-friended her wake-up caller, and I often strike up friendly conversations with my Lyft drivers. These aren't far apart, and these sorts of cultural changes are often a good thing. Of course, conversely, the wake-up call service also assumed a landline telephone, considered a concept of antiquity in many homes today.
For all of the excitement that accompanied my first mobile phone (a huge bag phone in my car that required an external antenna mounted on the back glass), I also remember the gift of my first landline telephone to connect in my high school bedroom. It was bright red. I remember calling friends. I remember using a post-it note to keep the request number of the local radio station next to the phone.
I also remember using physical maps and directions written on scrap paper to navigate long road trips to places I had never before seen, and wonder today if that part of my brain has atrophied, as the idea of asking for directions doesn't even occur to me. I simply reach for my phone.
I read a post recently in which the author expressed longing for the days when we discovered blogs organically instead of by social media algorithms. I miss those days, too. I miss a different era more, though. This was an era of landline phones and computers that were luxury items instead of necessities. An era in which we thought about things before shouting them out, in which getting from one place to another required intentionality, not whimsical abandon. An era in which we looked for the thoughts with which we wanted to engage, and were not willing to have others make those choices for us.
This was a Seinfeld sort of era, a radically modern era at the time, too quickly left behind in our frantic scramble for the next new thing.
It's one to which we can never return.
Image attribution: dnorton under Creative Commons.


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Amazon Provides Valuable Business Development Feedback While Rejecting Possible HQ2 Sites
Published: May 7, 2018 Last Updated: Jul 27, 2020 by The Daily Caller In Economy 1
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In its mission to find the perfect city for its second headquarters, Amazon reportedly conducted around 200 phone calls to explain to rejected municipalities why they weren't the location for them.
Amazon is Informing Rejected Cities
Amazon executives described to officials at various places around the country why they specifically weren't going to be chosen, rather than providing the cliché and often dishonest letdown of "it's not you, it's me."
Detroit was told that its public transportation system was too confined to the main part of the city, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The government of Cincinnati now knows that Amazon thinks they need to do more to attract certain talent, like better cultivating an interest in information technology among the younger generations.
And both of those prominent cities have said they are taking the feedback to heart. Detroit officials are organizing a ballot initiative for a new regional network and local leaders in Cincinnati say they are going to do what they have been doing, but put those plans "on steroids," The WSJ reports. While they won't be the recipient of Amazon's at least $5 billion worth of promised investment, governing bodies in Cincinnati and Detroit now seem to feel like they have the justification to get more aggressive and focused with their respective strategies.
"Amazon was a wake-up call," said Gerry Anderson, one of the 23 metro-Detroit business executives who were collectively vying for a regional transportation plan as a way to attract Amazon. "What becomes undeniable for people is that here's an outsider that would have been a very attractive investor who looked at our transit system and did not like what they saw."
Not every city received as explicit a review. Amazon spoke very nicely of Sacramento, Calif., and didn't offer much in way of potential improvements, The WSJ reports.
And not everyone is so happy with the prospect of a giant corporation having such influence over large cities. Part of a fast-growing trend, there's a newfound hatred of Silicon Valley, with much of that ire directed at big tech companies like Amazon thinking it can have local officials bend over backwards for their business.
In certain cases, that's exactly what's happening. Stonecrest, Georgia, proposed sectoring off part of its land so Amazon could essentially create its own city and appoint CEO Jeff Bezos its unelected mayor. Georgia as a state is including the prospect of Amazon choosing the capital of Atlanta as its HQ2 location in many policy debates typically considered outside the bounds of concern for a tech company's investment, according to other details outlined by The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon started off reviewing 238 proposals from across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but has since whittled down its search to 20 cities. If the tech conglomerate maintains its current candor and demeanor, it will likely also offer those yet to be turned down reasoning for not being the one.
Republished by permission. Original here.
Photo via Shutterstock
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Robert Brady
Now if we could just get companies to provide similar feedback to interviewed employees…