Applied math prof at Stony Brook University: quantitative finance, computational science, economics, public policy, space exploration. Co-founder RWRI.
Stony Brook, NY, USA
Joined July 2009
- Tweets16.4K
- Following377
- Followers25.9K
- Likes16K
Robert J Frey retweeted
Something v. strange in the French publishing mafia:
Oliver Nora, head of the publishing house Grasset was making 1.1M Euros in 2025 on 12 M IN TOTAL REVENUE, not counting another 1M expense alloc.
Grasset isn't a startup, but the 2nd most established publisher.
That caste controls French publishing.
Chez Grasset, Olivier NORA touchait un SALAIRE quasiment équivalent à la part fixe de Bernard ARNAULT chez LVMH !
- Bernard Arnault chez LVMH : 1,138 M€ de part fixe dans sa rémunération annuelle de mandataire social.
- Olivier Nora chez Grasset : 1,017 M€ de salaire annuel, selon Vincent Bolloré.
Sauf que :
LVMH, c’est 84,7 MILLIARDS € de chiffre d’affaires et plus de 215 000 salariés dans le monde. Grasset, c’est 16,48 MILLIONS € de chiffre d’affaires et environ 38 salariés à Paris.
Soit une rémunération presque comparable, dans une société dont le chiffre d’affaires est environ 5 000 fois inférieur.
Rapportée au chiffre d’affaires de Grasset, la rémunération d'Olivier Nora représentait environ 6,2 % du chiffre d'affaires annuel.
À ce ratio, Bernard Arnault ne toucherait pas 1,138 M€ de fixe chez LVMH, mais environ... 5,2 MILLIARDS € !
Et ce n’est pas tout.
Dans les comptes 2024 de Grasset, la ligne « salaires et traitements » atteint 2,32 M€.
Nora pesait donc l’équivalent de 44 % de cette ligne. C’est précisément ce qui explique qu’une partie de sa rémunération ait été, en réalité, prise en charge par la société mère, Hachette.
À titre de comparaison, la rémunération fixe + variable versée de Bernard Arnault représente environ 0,02 % des frais de personnel annuels du groupe LVMH.
Peut-être que Virginie Despentes, grande critique de "l’argent-roi", aura un avis sur cette concentration salariale exceptionnelle ?
Robert J Frey retweeted
Where we see evidence that mathematicians are more interested in the welfare of mathematicians than the improvement of scientific knowledge.
Robert J Frey retweeted
We really have to start treating socialists like economic flat earthers. They operate at the same level of sophistication, can't understand basic concepts provable w/evidence etc. I don't understand why they're part of the adult discourse (no one at NASA thinks space is fake)
Robert J Frey retweeted
The math establishment is desperate to keep its role as gatekeeper.
Robert J Frey retweeted
So if I understand this correctly, Russia will keep supplying intelligence to Iran and its proxies while the US is threatening to withhold intelligence from what many consider to be an ally ... no wonder Putin didn't want to get off the phone while making a deal with Trump ...
US warns Kyiv that strikes on Russia jeopardise intelligence-sharing ft.com/content/7fd4dffc-8adf… via @ft
Robert J Frey retweeted
Study: Majority Of Homeschoolers Arrive At College Woefully Unprepared For Gender Studies buff.ly/xjMrhVm
Robert J Frey retweeted
If you diagnose a medical problem, then you need to spend money on it. An individual who values their health will do so. A government that pays for both diagnosis and care is incentivized not to do either. That is the main problem with government supplied health.
Robert J Frey retweeted
Elon nailed the double standard.
If we shipped 100,000 Americans to Greenland, elected an American prime minister, and voted the place into the U.S., the left would lose their minds. Do that to Europe through mass immigration and they call it progress.
Same playbook here. Import the votes. Change the country. Then act shocked when the natives notice.
Europe is the warning. November is the off-ramp.
Vote Republican. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Robert J Frey retweeted
Miracle: Man Successfully Drives Across Town Even Though His Wife Wasn’t There To Provide Helpful Safe Driving Tips buff.ly/XoDYdRl
Robert J Frey retweeted
When Spain and Brazil socialist leaders are facing election issues and a possible end of their career simultaneously, I call it a beautiful, beautiful day!
Socialism sucks, kids. Everyone, who lives in socialism, will vote against it, if they‘re still allowed to vote, of course.
Robert J Frey retweeted
14 years of low rates lead to explosion of buying of illiquid assets and of course stupid investors
My latest column for @WSJ, on the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rules for private funds:
wsj.com/finance/investing/pr…
Robert J Frey retweeted
"Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3 year old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the rest of us" - Edward Teller
Robert J Frey retweeted
The future light cone of discoveries rounds up to 100% engineering, as the set of physics rules that govern our reality is very tiny compared to what can be done with those rules.
The reason I didn’t choose a career in physics, my favorite subject, is that I would be stuck waiting for a new collider or telescope. Better to advance technologies that ultimately enable discovery of new physics.
Robert J Frey retweeted
Nearly thirty years as a published writer and this is the first time I’ve used a new device that became instantly irreplaceable (no, I’m not being paid to say this.) It feels like using ink and paper and does everything I want it to do and nothing I don’t need it to do.
I know I’m late to the party, but my son gave it to me on my birthday so to me it’s a very recent revelation. It’s already joined my laptop at the top of my Things I Dread Losing list. #supernote
Robert J Frey retweeted
Not one single person of average intelligence or above, is arguing in good faith that men can become women, should be allowed in women’s sports, be imprisoned with women, or be allowed in woman’s shelters. If you’re smart and hold those positions, truth is not your top priority.
Robert J Frey retweeted
Dmitri Mendeleev, creator of the Periodic Table, was nominated for the Nobel Prize 9 times but never won because a scientist he once criticized sat on the committee and blocked him every single time.
