Andy Matthews

Competition (Antitrust) / Telco Regulatory / Policy / Strategy / Commercial law

[Andy Matthews @AndyMatthews69]

https://t.co/2oGmdJUwC8

[Andy Matthews @AndyMatthews69]

@SBakerMD Great story.

[Andy Matthews @AndyMatthews69]

@GadSaad 36th in q https://t.co/GtyqiP5f5z

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

"She saved a stranger’s child with $15. Decades later, she discovered why he had been searching for her.

In 1982, a Kenyan boy named Chris Mburu stood on the brink of losing everything. He was the brightest student in his rural district, studying by lamplight inside an earthen house without electricity. But his family could not afford his school fees. Without help, his education would end — along with any chance of escaping a life spent picking coffee in the fields.

Meanwhile, across the world in Sweden, an 80-year-old kindergarten teacher named Hilde Back came across a notice for a child sponsorship program. She chose a name from a list: Chris Mburu, Kenya. She began sending $15 every school term. There was no recognition, no expectation of gratitude — just a quiet decision to help a child she believed she would never meet.

That small amount changed everything.

Chris stayed in school. Over time, he and Hilde exchanged letters. She asked about his teachers, his studies, and his dreams. Through her words, he realized she wasn’t just part of an organization. She was a real person who believed in him. And he never forgot her.

Chris eventually graduated at the top of his law class at the University of Nairobi. He later earned a Fulbright scholarship to Harvard. He went on to become a United Nations human rights lawyer, helping prosecute genocide and crimes against humanity around the world.

Yet one thing always weighed on his heart. He had never properly thanked the woman who made his journey possible. In truth, he barely knew who she was.

In 2001, Chris founded a scholarship program for children like himself — talented students from poor families whose potential might otherwise be lost. He asked the Swedish Ambassador in Kenya to help him locate his mysterious sponsor so he could name the foundation after her.

They found her. Hilde Back. Still alive. Still living quietly in Sweden.

Chris traveled to meet her for the first time. He expected to meet a wealthy philanthropist. Instead, he found a humble, warm woman living simply — genuinely surprised that anyone considered her actions remarkable.

Then filmmaker Jennifer Arnold began documenting their reunion. During her research, she uncovered something Hilde had never told Chris.

Hilde Back had not been born in Sweden. She was born in Nazi Germany in 1922 to a Jewish family. At sixteen, when Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws banned Jewish children from attending school, strangers helped smuggle her to Sweden. Her parents stayed behind because Sweden’s refugee policies did not allow older Jews to enter. Both were later sent to concentration camps. Her father died there. Her mother disappeared, never to be heard from again.

Hilde survived the Holocaust because strangers helped her escape. She lost her own education because of who she was.

Fifty years later, she quietly paid for the education of a child across the world — a child who would grow up to fight the same hatred that destroyed her family.

When Chris learned her story, he wept. Hilde, meanwhile, had no idea that the boy she sponsored had devoted his life to prosecuting genocide.

In 2003, Hilde traveled to Kenya for the inauguration of the Hilde Back Education Fund. The entire village welcomed her as an honorary elder. In 2012, she returned again to celebrate her 90th birthday, surrounded by hundreds of children whose futures had been transformed through her generosity.

Hilde Back passed away on January 13, 2021, at the age of 98.

Today, the Hilde Back Education Fund has supported nearly 1,000 Kenyan children in continuing their education. Many have graduated from universities around the world. Many now give back — mentoring younger students and contributing monthly donations to support the next generation.

One woman. Fifteen dollars. One child.

That child created a foundation. That foundation changed hundreds of lives. And those lives continue to change others.

[Herbert hovenkamp @Sherman1890]

Christopher Leslie has published a very interesting article on how antitrust can pursue tacit (implicit) collusion more effectively, especially in concentrated markets. Leslie, Antitrust's Interdependence Paradox, 111 Va. L. Rev. 787 (2025), https://t.co/aELiGWTavQ

[Andy Matthews @AndyMatthews69]

Looks very interesting thank you @Sherman1890

[Herbert hovenkamp @Sherman1890]

Christopher Leslie has published a very interesting article on how antitrust can pursue tacit (implicit) collusion more effectively, especially in concentrated markets. Leslie, Antitrust's Interdependence Paradox, 111 Va. L. Rev. 787 (2025), https://t.co/aELiGWTavQ

[Steven J. Cernak @Cernaksj]

ICYMI from Friday -- latest from The Antitrust Attorney from @BonaLawPC is a guest post from @CompetitionProf with lightly edited opening remarks from recent Spring panel on dynamic competition/complexity econ. @fordynamism Thanks Nicolas! https://t.co/V6OrBwpbey

[Tim Ferriss @tferriss]

1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers

2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night. The former scrambles your priorities and plans for the day, and the latter just gives you insomnia.

3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time If the desired outcome is defined clearly with a stated objective and agenda listing topics/questions to cover, no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes.

4. Do not let people ramble. Forget “how’s it going?” when someone calls you. Stick with “what’s up?” or “I’m in the middle of getting something out, but what’s going on?”

5. Do not check e-mail constantly — “batch” and check at set times only.

6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers.

There is no sure path to success, but the surest path to failure is trying to please everyone. Do an 80/20 analysis of your customer base in two ways–which 20% are producing 80%+ of my profit, and which 20% are consuming 80%+ of my time?

7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm — prioritize.

If you don’t prioritize, everything seems urgent and important. If you define the single most important task for each day, almost nothing seems urgent or important. Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of letting little bad things happen (return a phone call late and apologize, pay a small late fee, lose an unreasonable customer, etc.) to get the big important things done. The answer to overwhelm is not spinning more plates — or doing more — it’s defining the few things that can really fundamentally change your business and life.

8. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should.

Work is not all of life. Your co-workers shouldn’t be your only friends. Schedule life and defend it just as you would an important business meeting. Never tell yourself “I’ll just get it done this weekend.” Review Parkinson’s Law in The 4-Hour Workweek and force yourself to cram within tight hours so your per-hour productivity doesn’t fall through the floor. Focus, get the critical few done, and get out. E-mailing all weekend is no way to spend the little time you have on this planet.

It’s hip to focus on getting things done, but it’s only possible once we remove the constant static and distraction. If you have trouble deciding what to do, just focus on not doing. Different means, same end.

[Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen]

Off the phone with @chrisluxonmp.

The EU–New Zealand partnership is growing stronger as we near the 1st anniversary of our free trade agreement in May.

Clear, predictable trading conditions are key.

I look forward to deepening ties with New Zealand and the wider region.

[CNBC Make It @CNBCMakeIt]

Successful people don’t ask for feedback, says Wharton psychologist—here’s how they get better instead https://t.co/gTbWAus7nb

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

During the U.S President's visit to Kyiv in 1995, Ukraine received reassurances of security guarantees after relinquishing the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal

[Christiane Amanpour @amanpour]

We reported then, and we keep reporting, that NATO’s Article 5 has only ever ONCE been invoked: to protect and defend the United States of America after 9/11.

[James Landale @BBCJLandale]

If you want a measure of the scale of the transatlantic rift, consider this: I am told yesterday was the 1st time since 1945 the US voted with Russia & against Europe at the UN on an issue of European security. Just let that sink in. 1/4

[Cameron Bagrie @cameronbagrie]

Notification from genesis today. Electricity fixed line +13%.Electricity +11.6%. Gas fixed line +24%. Gas +29%. Mercury sees average 9.7% power price rise from April - NZ Herald. Here comes some non economically sensitive inflation the RBNZ can’t control https://t.co/VkiG0fUGvI

[Andy Matthews @AndyMatthews69]

@Fentonio444 @kiwigirl888 100%. You can find it on Spotify.

[Matthews Law @Matthews_Law]

Major #nzcompetition #nzantitrust developments with @NZComCom updates & @MBIEgovtnz consultation Does competition law need to change? | Matthews Law

[Herbert hovenkamp @Sherman1890]

Joseph Coniglio (ITIF) has harsh but fair criticism of Biden Administration antitrust – too ideological, too expensive, and targeting too many of the wrong firms. One message: the rest of the world is ganging up on American tech; we should not be. https://t.co/xzKn6sVvOQ

[Andy Matthews @AndyMatthews69]

@TheExtremeMusi1 Love it. Remembering seeing original in concert 1985!

[The Extreme Music Enthusiast @TheExtremeMusi1]

"Mad World" performed by Curt Smith of Tears for Fears with his daughter, Diva.

[Donal Curtin 🇺🇦 @donal_curtin]

Today's excellent @nztreasury guest lecture by Danielle Wood, chair of @ozprodcom, was on 'Competition Policy: Back in Fashion?', to which the answer in Oz is, absolutely, given its potential to unlock higher productivity