Welcome to Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
2.6 terabytes
The magnitude of leaks appears to be growing only larger: Compared to the 1.73 gigabyte leak WikiLeaks obtained of State Department communications, the latest reveal of 2.6 terabytes of data from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca takes the cake. The early findings from the leaked documents and emails paint a picture of a firm entrenched in the nitty gritty of making the kind of shell companies the rich and powerful use to squirrel away lots of money. [Wired]
$15 per hour
Gov. Jerry Brown of California and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York each signed legislation that would gradually increase minimum wage in their states to $15 per hour. California will have a statewide $15 minimum wage by 2022, while New York’s increase is tied to economic indicators, with the wage going to $15 in New York City in three years. [ABC News]
90 percent
Wisconsin goes to the polls today. Sen. Ted Cruz is a 90 percent favorite to win the GOP primary, and Sen. Bernie Sanders has a 73 percent chance of winning the Democratic primary as of last night’s forecast. [FiveThirtyEight]
97 percent
Last night saw the NCAA Men’s tournament end with a championship win for Villanova, but tonight the women’s tournament comes to a close with a final between the University of Connecticut and Syracuse. The FiveThirtyEight model has Connecticut with a 97 percent chance of winning it. In related news: I have crushed my enemies, I have seen them driven before me, and I have heard the lamentations of their companions. I totally won the FiveThirtyEight office pool. [FiveThirtyEight]
$236,000
Clubs will pay a bunch of money for famous people — or people adjacent to famous people, like Kardashian-proximate Scott Disick — just to show up and drink some bubbles for an hour or so in the VIP area. Like with most stories about famous people and money, it’s difficult to narrow down a precise fee for different levels of fame, but thanks to a lawsuit from a club in Vegas we know that Nicki Minaj is being asked to a return a $236,000 fee for allegedly not upholding the terms of the deal: spend 60 minutes in Chateau starting at midnight. [GQ]
$2.6 billion
Alaska Airlines will buy airline Virgin America for $2.6 billion after a bidding war with JetBlue, nailing down terminal space in San Francisco International Airport and LAX plus landing rights in Dallas, New York and DC. [Business Insider]
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