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Edition 2304 FT | 04 May 2015© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.

BUSINESS LIFE

The mystery of billionaires’ improbably long marriages

By Lucy Kellaway

To be a billionaire, the first thing you need is a person-ality disorder. That is what I had always assumed, based on my own experience of having interviewed a few of them. Now I have corrob-oration from someone who knows what she is talking about. Justine Musk, who spent eight years married to the man behind PayPal, SpaceX and now Tesla Mo-tors, has taken it upon herself to share with the world her view that those who achieve great things are mostly “freaks and misfits”.

Her remarks were in re-sponse to an earnest question recently posted on Quora: How can I be as great as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk or Sir Richard Bran-son? The short answer, she wrote, is you can’t.

The longer answer amounts to one of the best explana-tions of success I have ever read. According to her it comes in two types: normal success - involving hard work, talent etc - and ex-treme success - as enjoyed by her ex. The normal vari-ety she recommends; the ex-treme version is only avail-able to those who are born

that way. “They are dyslexic, they are autistic, they have ADD, they are square pegs in round holes, they piss people off, get into arguments, rock the boat.”

So they find something big-ger than themselves to obsess over and work insanely hard, she explains. It is their way of coping.

At a stroke Ms Musk has destroyed the whole self help industry. Seen like this, there is absolutely no point in studying extreme success. If you aren’t born like that, you will never achieve it. And you would not want to anyway.

However, these billionaires remain of zoological interest, particularly in terms of how they manage their personal

lives. Ms Musk’s view on this is pretty grim. Extreme success, she reckons, comes complete with “family dra-ma, issues with the Signif-icant Other you rarely see, dark nights of the soul... little sleep, less sleep than that”.

In other words, billionaires are rotten people to marry. Which is also precisely what I had always thought.

Mr Musk himself sounds like a particularly bad mari-tal bet: shortly after divorc-ing Ms Musk he married an actress, only to divorce and remarry her in quick succes-sion. Now he is in the pro-cess of divorcing her again.

Yet just as I was congrat-ulating myself on not hav-ing married a billionaire, I started thinking about the

other names in the Quora question - Bill, Richard and Steve. The remarkable thing about them is not that they have gone through wives as quickly as the twinkling of a bed post, but that they have mostly found one and stuck with her.

Bill Gates, who married Melinda 21 years ago, ap-pears to have one of those marriages so solid that if I discovered the two were splitting up, I would feel let down, as if the world had become a less dependable place. Sir Richard Branson, after a starter marriage in his early 20s, is still married to his second wife after 25 years. And Steve Jobs re-mained married to the same woman for 20 years, until he died.

If you go down the Forbes billionaires list a weird pattern starts to emerge. More than 40 per cent of all marriages end in divorce, but among the ex-tremely successful, who one might have expected to be extremely unsuccessful in wedlock, the reverse seems to be the case.

Carlos Slim, number two on the Forbes list after Mr Gates, was married to the same woman for 32 years,

until she died in 1999. War-ren Buffett (#3) remained married to his first wife for 52 years (although for much of that time he was living with a cocktail wait-ress whom he married on his wife’s death).

Further down the list there are only a few who have ex-hibited certain traits of ADD in their approach to mat-rimony: Larry Ellison has

had four wives and Ronald Perelman five. They are the exceptions - more of the billionaires seem to be on first wives than those who are not. This is not much of an achievement for Mark Zuckerberg who only tied the knot in 2012, but Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell have been married for more than 20 years apiece, Eric Schmidt for more than 30, Ray Dalio at Bridgewa-ter has notched up about 40

Richard Branson, after a starter marriage in his

early 20s, is still married to his second wife after 25 years

while Phil Knight of Nike is heading towards his golden wedding.

How can such stability happen? These billionaires have all lived in the grip of a rip-roaring obsession with work that should have ruined all relationships, and all have enough money to attract gor-geous new wives - and to pay off old ones.

I have no idea what the

reason is, but I wonder if it might be that when the tru-ly weird find someone who suits them, they don’t give them up in a hurry. Or per-haps it is that if you are trans-fixed by your work, an affair offers insufficient thrill. Or it could simply be that if you hardly ever see your spouse, he or she is significantly less likely to get on your nerves.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015

Bill Gates, who married Melinda

21 years ago, appears to have one of those marriages so solid that if I discovered the two were splitting up, I would feel let down

Microsoft chairman Bill GatesSir Richard Branson participates in an on court stunt during the second half of an NBA basketball game between the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks

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© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.

F2

04.05.2015

By Daniel Thomas

The gleaming metal and glass 5G laboratory being assembled on a campus at the University of Surrey, a few miles outside Guild-ford, speaks to British ambitions when it comes to building the next gen-eration of mobile internet technology.

While many mobile phone users are only just upgrading to faster 4G networks, telecoms equip-ment providers are look-ing ahead to the next gen-eration of mobile internet technology.

Yet companies such as Vodafone and BT have not given the University of Surrey funding to devel-op the technologies out of scholarly love. They are commercial partners that have bought a stake in any future profits generated by the centre as well as the chance to use the technol-ogy.

They are not the only companies racing to devel-op 5G. Labs run by Hua-wei, Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung are working flat out to produce the precious global patents that will un-derpin the future of mobile connectivity.

Most hope to have some form of the technology in testing by 2018.

But while previous gener-ations of mobile have been about making the internet faster, 5G will go one step further, according to Pro-fessor Rahim Tafazolli, head of 5G research at the University of Surrey.

He says that it is expect-ed to make the internet fast enough to make possible a whole host of new appli-cations, from connected vehicles to the connective devices that will enable the internet of things.

“5G will be the start of a new way to think about communications,” says Prof Tafazolli.

Ericsson believes there will be up to 50bn con-nected devices globally by 2022, when the technology is expected to start being rolled out commercially.

The implications are pro-found. Imagine, for exam-ple, a self-driving car that relied on a steady but con-stant stream of information beamed via the internet to operate. Unless the in-frastructure that enabled connectivity was robust enough to allow informa-tion to be accessed all the time, it would be impossi-ble for the car to work.

Network technology tends to evolve every ten years. The first genera-tion cellular network was launched in the 1980s and supported voice services only. It drove early mobile phone adoption but was problematic, with eaves-

dropping and cloning com-mon. Using a phone abroad was impossible.

In the 1990s, 2G became widespread and was able to support far more users and was more secure. This al-lowed the sending of “text messages”, and consumers were able to roam outside of their home country.

The early 2000s saw the emergence of 3G, which supported high-speed data services as consumers in-creasingly began using broadband and the internet on mobile devices. A new

Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia race to develop 5G mobile technology

breed of smartphone, ca-pable of supporting video and mobile television, was born.

From 2010 4G allowed operators to use spectrum more efficiently, which meant the speed of access-ing mobile data was about

10 times faster than 3G.The next generation will

not be about more than the mobile phone. It will be about providing connectivity over the airwaves to billions of devices that in future will require access to the internet, ranging from driverless cars to smart cities.

This latest shift partly ex-plains the rationale behind the €15.6bn acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia.

“The industry needs to prepare for 5G,” says Ra-jeev Suri, chief executive of Nokia. “It will come

sooner than people expect and it will be bigger than people expect.”

Regional authorities in Europe and Asia have also supported local efforts with the aim of creating glob-al standards based around domestic technologies that can be exported.

Among the projects they have backed is the 5G Public and Private Partnership (5G-PPP), a €1.4bn joint initiative between the European telecoms industry, the Eu-ropean Commission and Huawei of China.

While any useful tech-nology generally needs to be lent to rival groups under fair and reasonable terms, there is big money at stake in owning the pat-ents for the next generation of mobile services.

Networks will also need to be improved and recon-figured, which will also mean valuable sales for the equipment vendors in future.

But one problem is that there is no standard defi-nition for what 5G will be. The risk is that companies will end up using different services.

At this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barce-lona, the annual telecoms

event, companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Erics-son and Huawei, and even the EU, set out in white papers and demonstrations their visions of how it could work.

South Korea’s SK Tele-kom showed off a 5G ro-bot. Ericsson had a remote controlled earth mover. But these seemed gim-micky - and hardly beyond the capabilities of existing 4G connectivity.

Experts normally try to describe 5G with refer-ence to speed in terms of gigabits per second. Sci-entists talk about “peak” data rates of 10 Gbit/s - ten times faster than 4G - al-though the University of Surrey has trialled speeds of 1 Tbit/s (terabit per sec-ond).

Capacity - the volume of data flow - is estimated to be anywhere between 100 and 1,000 times higher than 4G, and the demand for data is expected to rise 1000-fold over the next de-cade.

But Prof Tafazolli says the key could be latency, the amount of time it takes for data to get through the system and reach a device. 5G services will need to respond in a single milli-second - about 50 times

faster than 4G - to make re-al-time applications such as self-driving cars possible.

“There will be no delay - an instant response from the network, which will be mission critical for the connected digital society,” he says.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015

An Ericsson AB employee works on data networking devices during production at the company’s factory in Tallinn, Estonia

The next generation will not be about more

than the mobile phone. It will be about providing connectivity over the airwaves to billions of devices

5G services

will need to respond in a single millisecond - about 50 times faster than 4G - to make real-time applications such as self-driving cars possible

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mon 04.05.2015

F3FEATURE特刊

By Jerome Pugmire, Paris

DAVID Beckham tur-ned 40 on Saturday and while memories of his playing days

with England, Manchester Uni-ted and Real Madrid fade, he remains a captivating figure of worldwide interest.

When he ended his playing career on an unglamorous field in northwestern France two years ago, it brought the curtain down on the career of one of the world’s biggest sporting icons.

Since retiring, England’s for-mer captain continues to pros-per off the football field, where his multi-faceted life centers on celebrity and fashion, but also ambassadorial roles and an ambitious project to create a Miami team in Major League Soccer.

Here are five things to know about Beckham:

BRAND BECKHAM Da-vid Beckham’s earning poten-tial remains potent, even away from football. Beckham topped the Sunday Times Sport Rich List for Britain’s sportsmen in 2013 and placed 11th in the world list headed that year by Tiger Woods. Beckham is now affectionately viewed more as a father and proud dad than a swashbuckling footballer, gi-ving him a more rounded, glo-bal appeal.

That appeal has been seized on by Global Brands Group Hol-ding Limited — one of the wor-ld’s leading branded apparel, footwear, fashion and lifestyle product companies. In Decem-ber it announced the launch of a joint venture with Beckham, cashing in on the beaming smi-le and handsome looks.

Beckham’s appeal matured when he played for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Pa-ris Saint-Germain. He remains sought-after, having signed agreements to promote casinos in Macau and Singapore. Dia-geo Plc also hired him to help

Beckham remains sought-after, having signed agreements to promote casinos in Macau and Singapore

Beckham’s influence grows as former soccer star turns 40

sell Scotch whisky and he pro-motes sportswear from Adidas.

Beckham’s Footwear Pro-ductions company turned over 15 million pounds (USD24 million) in 2013. The figures did not include his shared com-pany with wife Victoria Be-ckham, a former pop star with the Spice Girls and now a world famous fashion designer in her own right.

A-LIST COMPANY If the company you keep is anything to judge by, Beckham is still a high-roller in the fame stakes.

Guests at his 40th birthday bash, to be held in the luxu-rious Amanjena resort just ou-

tside the ancient Moroccan city of Marrakech on Saturday, are reported to include Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and director Guy Ritchie, and star TV chef Gordon Ramsay.

A few months back, Beckham was at the Parc des Princes sta-dium in Paris — where he fi-nished his playing career with PSG — sitting alongside music celebs Jay Z and Beyonce and former French president Ni-colas Sarkozy as they watched Beckham’s former teammates take on Barcelona.

FALTERING FRANCHI-SE Not everything goes smoo-thly for Beckham, who drew

England’s wrath when he was red- carded playing for England against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup.

His venture into Major League Soccer, with plans for a Miami team under the south Florida sun, is proving problematic.

While MLS announced a deal with Beckham for a Miami team in January 2014, no timetable has been set because of the lack of a stadium. There has been stiff opposition to the move. A coalition of politicians and bu-sinesses led by Royal Caribbean Cruises opposes building a sta-dium at Port Miami.

Two months ago, the Mia-mi-Dade County Commission agreed to offer Beckham a coun-ty-owned parcel site near Mar-lins Park. But Beckham’s group — called Beckham Miami United — has expressed strong preferen-ce for a downtown location.

BECKS THE AMBASSA-DOR While playing for Pa-ris Saint-Germain in the final

months of his professional ca-reer during the 2012-13 season, Beckham was already locking down future roles working as an ambassador.

The biggest of those is with British broadcaster Sky, re-portedly worth 20 million pounds ($31 million) over five years. The former England captain’s work involves en-couraging the growth of gras-sroots sport across the United Kingdom and Ireland. He has also been appointed to the Sky Academy, launched to create opportunities for young peo-ple in sport, arts and televi-sion.

He has also been working as global ambassador for Chinese football, helping the image of the country’s game by promo-ting it domestically and inter-nationally.

Beckham in formal mode is not such a rare sight. He was previously an ambassador for the 2012 London Olympics and worked with England on its flawed bid to host the 2018 World Cup, which Russia won.

THE FAMILY MAN London- born Beckham’s career took him from Manchester, to Madrid, Milan, Los Angeles and — briefly — to a luxurious Parisian hotel.

After playing his last game for Paris Saint-Germain two years ago, Beckham relocated to En-gland. It was here that David and Victoria Beckham — who is 41 — first bought a mansion, dubbed Beckingham Palace by British tabloids that have followed his every move for years, soon after they married in 1999.

The first three of their four children — Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper — grew up there before the family moved to Spain in 2003 when Be-ckham joined Real Madrid.

After four years in Madrid, the Beckhams moved to Los An-geles, where Beckham played for LA Galaxy until 2012, in-terspersed with loan moves to Italian giant AC Milan in 2009 and 2010.

Early last year, they sold the Hertfordshire mansion — whi-ch included seven bedrooms, a football pitch and even a maze — for 11 million pounds ($17 million) and relocated to Lon-don, where they live in the posh neighborhood of Kensington in a house costing more than 30 million pounds ($46 million).

That proved a convenient lo-cation for 16-year-old Brooklyn, their eldest child, when he trai-ned with English Premier Lea-gue side Arsenal’s academy team earlier this year. AP

Beckham plays soccer with young typhoon-survivors during his visit to typhoon-ravaged Tanauan township, Leyte province in central Philippines

Beckham sits with his daughter, Harper, as Los Angeles Kings mascot Bailey visits while they watch the Kings play the Anaheim Ducks during the first period of an NHL hockey game

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04.05.2015 mon

F4 NATURE 自然

by Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester

Cat NeuteriNg Side effeCtS

CAT neutering is the sterilization of the pet and is a method to control the feli-

ne overpopulation. In males the procedure can also be called castration, while the re-moval of the ovaries in females may also be called spaying or ovariohysterectomy. The neutering procedure may have short and long term side effects.

SHORT TERM SIDE EFFECTSThe neutering procedure in felines is

simple and will have minimal side effects. The cat may experience pain post surgery, but the vet will prescribe suitable pain me-dications.

During the surgery, the pet may lose blood, but this may not happen if the pro-cedure is performed with lasers.

Other post operation side effects of the neutering surgery include redness and swelling of the surgery wound, infections (that may be treated with antibiotics) and scarring.

In rare cases, the surgery may not be suc-cessful and the vet will need to perform a second neutering procedure. Opt for a re-putable surgeon to ensure that your pet is in safe hands.

WEIGHT GAIN Weight gain may be a long term side ef-

fect of cat neutering. After the surgery, the cat will no longer spend time searching for a partner to mate, so the cat will be more sedentary. If the cat eats the same amount of food, it will gain weight.

You should discuss with your vet and make some changes in your cat’s diet; you should reduce its calorie intake, without affecting the amounts of essential nutrien-ts that your pet needs.

LACK OF ACTIVITY As the cat will no longer be interested in

mating, it will spend more time indoors. Male cats tend to become aggressive when they fight for a female or a territory. After being castrated, the cat will be less aggres-sive and will sleep more.

The lack of activity may lead to obesity.You should get your pet used to new in-

doors activities to help him be active. Ini-tiate different games; get some toys and encourage your pet to be active.

STUNTED GROWTH The stunted growth may be a side effect

of the neutering process, but it is rare. This may happen only if the neutering is perfor-med too early. Consult your vet to deter-mine the optimal time to perform the neu-tering of your pet. The best time to neuter

cats is just before they reach sexual matu-rity (before the first heat cycle in females).

CYSTITIS Cystitis or urinary infections are more

common in neutered cats. In rare cases, male cats may experience urinary blocka-ges. To prevent these, the vet may recom-mend a wet diet and you should also in-crease the cat’s water intake.

These side effects are minimal when compared to the many benefits of the neu-tering surgery. In addition to preventing unwanted pregnancies, the cat’s behavior will be calmer, it will fight less, roam less,

Ask the Vet:Royal Veterinary CentreTel: +853 28501099, +853 28523678Emergency: +853 62662268Email: royalveterinary@gmail.com

ASK THE VET

be less vocal and the spraying behavior may also stop. The neutering surgery will also reduce the chances of reproductive system cancers.

Hope this helps Till next week

Dr Ruan

Frederik Balfour

HONG Kong’s historic dou-ble-decker trams are not

just one of the city’s most popu-lar tourist attractions, they are also one of its most hazardous.

A tram stops as pedestrians cross the main street in Central, Hong Kong

Air quality often exceeded safe levels along the entire length of the tram line

Hong Kong’s historic trams are choking from roadside pollution

Air quality often exceeded safe levels along the entire length of the tram line, and not just in Central and Causeway Bay dis-tricts as previously believed, ac-cording to research by the Hong Kong University of Science and

Technology.“Clearly from this study it’s

not limited to those areas,” Ale-xis Lau, a professor from the university who specializes in air quality research, said at a press conference Thursday. “This

helps us map the distribution of pollution much better.”

The data, gathered by mobi-le monitoring devices placed inside the trams between Mar-ch 2014 and February 2015, showed that even the least

polluted sections of the route exceeded World Health Orga-nization guidelines for roadside air quality on at least 80 days. In Central and Causeway Bay: More than 280 days.

“That means that more than half the year, the air is not safe to breathe,” said Jimmy Fung, a HKUST professor who partici-pated in the study.

While the trams are considered the least polluting mode of trans-port, they put riders most at risk because their open windows and doors leave people completely exposed to roadside pollution.

“Who is the culprit? Tramways are the victim, they are run on electricity and very clean,” said Simon Ng, chief research officer of think tank Civic Exchange, which collaborated on the stu-dy with the assistance of Hong Kong Tramways Ltd.

Ng urged policy makers to con-sider ways to reduce emissions by reducing or removing road traffic and creating pedestrian- only areas as well as explore ways to improve wind ventilation and air dispersion. Bloomberg

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