You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
75 percent
The Department of Justice is distributing $772.5 million in recovered funds to Bernie Madoff’s victims and ultimately anticipates returning $4 billion to them. That, plus around $9 billion from the liquidation of his firm, means that when all is said and done, victims should get around 75 percent of their losses back. [Crain’s New York Business]
$319 per hour
That’s how much the contract of a small energy company from Montana was allowed to bill the Puerto Rican public power company per lineman per hour. That’s an exceptional rate — even for emergency work — about 17 times the average salary of a local lineman. The linemen themselves were making way less than that: $42 per hour plus overtime for some electrical workers, $63 per hour for a group of senior workers and up to $100 per hour for other workers on double time. [The New York Times]
$5 billion
That’s the approximate market value of Mattel, less than half of the $11 billion valuation of Hasbro. The two biggest U.S. toymakers may come together, as Hasbro has reportedly made a takeover offer. The toy business has taken a lot of hits lately, with the Chapter 11 filing of Toys “R” Us and the shift in consumer spending toward tech-based items. [The Wall Street Journal]
$1.63 billion
Estimated losses in 2015 for untaxed cigarette sales in New York. The state has a $4.35 per pack tax and New York City has a further $1.50 per pack tax. The Tax Foundation estimates the city lost $740 million in 2015 and the state lost roughly $895 million due to black market sales, making the state the country’s cigarette smuggling capital. [The New York Post]
2 Navy SEALS
Two members of SEAL Team Six are under investigation in the death of a staff sergeant in the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Group stationed in Mali. Several members of the special operations community told The Daily Beast the staff sergeant — Logan Melgar — was found dead after discovering that the two SEALs had allegedly been pocketing money from a fund dedicated to paying local informants. [The Daily Beast]
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