The family feud behind America's Covid test swab supply

A lot of food for thought here. Particularly about the patent system.

I was a bit bemused by

"Noble says the dispute is a result of classic cousin rivalry. “If you do any research on businesses, when the third generation and cousins come along, that’s when a lot of the problems start,” he says. Studies show that 30% of family businesses survive through the second generation, but only 13% through the third."

Unless I'm misunderstanding the definitions here, that would seem to show that the third generation is identical (or better) in terms of risk of ruin?

> Tom Hanks had been infected in Australia

Nope. [1]

> Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson were infected with coronavirus before coming to Australia

[1] https://7news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-gossip/tom-hank...

It seems to be common , like Adidas and Puma.

The Quandt family that owns BMW maintains a low profile and rarely intervenes while the Porsche-Piëch family had all sorts feuds resulting the disastrous takeover attempt by Porsche of VW.

Funny (sort of). I remember the outrage when Italians realized they had no more swabs and the USA had cleared all stock under their nose. “Well, bloody thank you, allies & friends? /s” was the most charitable take... and it goes on today with vaccine distribution. This whole each-for-itself attitude is going to have long effects on international trust and collaboration

I thought Gates made a big deal about how those invasive swabs aren't necessary.

ahem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Production_Act_of_1950

It's "swab", not "Covid test SWAP company".

s/swap/swab