Star chef Dani Hoefnagels, the unmasking of a crypto king, and why the super-rich are buying ever bigger yachts
To empathize with the superyacht billionaire for his new book, journalist Evan Osnos slept in a hotel in Monaco that had been converted into a luxury yacht. It didn't get any more real than that. From his cabin, he looked down on the owner of a smaller superyacht in the harbor. A sense of superiority came over him, he says. 'That's when I realized that billionaires like to own the biggest yacht possible.'
Mark Nuvelstijn also wanted more. Although the CEO of crypto company Bitvavo was already quite broke, he fell for the golden mountains of 'miracle investor' Max R. and transferred €12.9 million in a few years. Outwardly, Nuvelstijn pretends to be a victim, but now it turns out that he thought they were a team. A team that circumvented anti-money laundering regulations and wanted to earn millions by trading with insider information.
It's a world far removed from chef Dani Hoefnagels. Despite his success — he won a Michelin star just six months after opening his restaurant — he keeps his feet on the ground. So he just helps polish glasses and sometimes does some serving. 'Guests sometimes ask how long I've been working here. I politely answer "a year and a half" and walk away. People don't need to know that I'm the owner.'
Enjoy reading and have a nice Sunday.
She hates hypes. Yet artist and designer Sabine Marcelis is one herself. Major brands like Audi and Fendi are lining up for the Rotterdammer. The common thread in her career: Marcelis (39) makes what she wants. 'I don't care much what people think about it.'
The super-rich are buying ever-larger superyachts. Public outrage seems to be the only limit to the size of such a floating palace, writes journalist Evan Osnos in The Haves and the Have-Yachts. He points out a nautical paradox. 'A superyacht is a flashy possession that the owner really doesn't want you and me to see.'
Mark Nuvelstijn was the celebrated CEO of Bitvavo. That he was scammed by 'miracle investor' Max R. was painful, but almost forgotten. Now it turns out that Nuvelstijn thought they were a team. A team that circumvented anti-money laundering regulations and wanted to earn millions by trading with inside information.
At the location on the Zeeland coast where Sergio Herman made a splash with Pure C, the musical Dani Hoefnagels now runs restaurant Demain with his girlfriend. Barely six months after the opening, they received a Michelin star. 'I don't believe in being good, but in wanting to be good.'
The epicentre of Ozempic's success is not in Copenhagen, but in Kalundborg, a sleepy port town in a Danish fjord. Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is investing €8bn in a campus with factories, but that growth is not filtering down to the village. While residents struggle with 'Novo traffic jams' and high house prices, many shops are empty and there is little to do. 'We, booming? Only Novo.'
What no one expected, is happening: Rabobank is returning to the cycling peloton of the Tour de France. The sponsor left the sport in 2012 after a major doping scandal. The comeback is causing a publicity storm.
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