Author: Toby Shapshak

Elon Musk is likely to become the world’s first trillionaire when SpaceX lists in what is expected to be the largest initial public offering (IPO) ever. SpaceX on Wednesday revealed its plans to raise $75-billion when it lists, valuing the company at a whopping $1.75-trillion. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation said it will sell 555-million shares for $135 each when it goes public. But Musk will retain 82.4% of the voting control. When it lists, SpaceX will be the seventh most valuable company on the S&P 500, which Nvidia leads at $5.2-trillion. Musk is the world’s richest person – worth $825-billion…

Who will win the TV wars is a question that has dominated tech publications for decades. The rapid evolution of flat-panel displays has seen a massive market for these amazing screens. The debate now has a new corollary, which is, who will win the streaming wars? That is a topic that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. You’ll notice, though, that the major TV manufacturers never put an Apple TV button on the remote control, like they do Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. Apple, for its part, won’t let you install a streaming app on its MacBook laptops, only…

Amazon has started its Prime delivery service in South Africa. It costs R59 a month or R399 a year. The much-hyped membership programme offers unlimited free deliveries, including on the same day, and its streaming video service, called Prime Video. After Amazon’s buy-everything website itself, Prime is considered the next best thing the ecommerce giant has done to revolutionise online shopping. And it has. Same-day or next-day deliveries weren’t a given when Amazon helped kick off the ecommerce revolution. Now they are. Because Amazon offered free, quick delivery, everybody else had to. Even before Amazon.co.za was announced as going live,…

The last thing any other URC team want to face in a semifinal is the two top South African sides, but that is what they’ve got this weekend, Andy Capostagno tells Toby Shapshak. Meanwhile, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is injured and potentially out for three months, but don’t panic, Cappy adds. We’ve got Mannie Libbok and Handre Pollard, in that order, next in line. Andy Capostagno has been talking and writing about South African rugby for more than three decades. He’s been my emotional support person for rugby since I was lucky enough to meet him when I was unexpectedly made the sports…

That certainly wasn’t the reception Ferrari was expecting for its new Luce electric vehicle, but then again, that wasn’t what any Ferrari lover was hoping for either.  Instead of the usually low-slung, sleek supercars the Italian brand is known for, it’s produced a soccer-mom family car. With a whopping pricetag of $640,000 (R10,5-million).  There is outrage about the new design, which is a four-door sedan and not something you’d see Magnum driving around in. Maybe an older, settled-down, had-kids Magnum.  I’m always amazed when people have such strong emotions about things that I don’t care about – including cars, football, the firing and hiring of soccer coaches, anything…

Cheslin Kolbe is the latest high-profile Springbok to be lured back home, beefing up the Stormers, who are South Africa’s best prospects for the URC quarter-finals. So too are the Bulls, but Lions v Leinster is the game everyone will be watching. Meanwhile, legendary Bok Naas Botha has a coaching gig in the States. Andy Capostagno tells Toby Shapshak a heart-warming story about Naas in America. Andy Capostagno has been talking and writing about South African rugby for more than three decades. He’s been my emotional support person for rugby since I was lucky enough to meet him when I…

When you type John Ternus into Safari, it automatically capitalises the surname of the new Apple CEO. I found this out by chance this month, as arguably the most prestigious CEO mantle was passed to the 50-year-old head of engineering at the company that pioneered both the personal computer and the smartphone. Known for its beautiful design, it ushered in both of these revolutions, first the PC through the early Macintosh and then the iPhone. Now we have an annual iPhone upgrade cycle. This landmark device – which was not just the first smartphone but the first that used touchscreens…

Elon Musk has spectacularly lost his lawsuit against OpenAI in what was described as “the worst defeat possible,” a “crushing defeat”, and a “major blow to Musk’s credibility.” Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, for $150 billion, claiming it had illegally morphed from being a not-for-profit to a highly lucrative start-up expected to list sometime this year for an expected $1 trillion. He made a claim in court that Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman were guilty of “stealing a charity”. In the end, the nine-person jury only took two hours to come back with a verdict that Musk had let too much time…

With 18-year-old Zekhethelo Siyaya invited to the Springbok camps, coach Rassie Erasmus shows how far and wide he casts his eye, Andy Capostagno tells Toby Shapshak. The alignment camp announced five weeks before the first Bok game is filled with talented youngsters. Andy Capostagno has been talking and writing about South African rugby for more than three decades. He’s been my emotional support person for rugby since I was lucky enough to meet him when I was unexpectedly made the sports editor of the Mail & Guardian newspaper many moons ago. Welcome to Stuff Rugby. Stuff Rugby on Spotify Stuff Rugby on Apple…

On Tuesday, tickets go on sale for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. I plan to purchase two tickets for my son and me next year, the culmination of years of fantasising about it. The idea unsurprisingly germinated when we watched Chasing the Sun on repeat for eight weeks straight during my son’s (slightly) obsessive discovery of the World Cup. He has watched the rugby with me since he was literally a newborn baby. Dreaming of Australia The Springbok games we’ve attended at Loftus and Ellis Park have become an annual tradition. Going to the World Cup has been a…