The MoneyWeek Christmas quiz 2017
Britain had a surprise general election. Trump became US president. Companies rose and fell. It’s been a busy year. How much passed you by? Find out with our Christmas quiz.
Britain had a surprise general election. Donald Trump became president. Companies rose and fell. It's been a busy year. How much of it passed you by? Compiled by Alice Grhns
MONEY
1.
a) €900m b) €2.4bn c) €5.2bn
2.The cost of renovation work on Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, was initially estimated at £29m in spring 2016. What has it since been revised to?
a) £17m b) £43m c) £61m
3.The Louvre Abu Dhabi museum opened in November. It cost €600m to build but how much did the museum pay France to use the "Louvre" name?
a) $25m b) $60m c) $525m
4.Shareholders in UK listed companies are on track to a receive a record level of dividend payouts this year, according to Capita Asset Services. What's the figure?
a) £52bn b) £94bn c) £167bn
5.The Conservative party raised more than twice as much in donations as Labour ahead of the general election. How much did the Tories raise?
a) £9.5m b) £17m c) £25m
6.How much has the UK government's "help-to-buy" scheme pumped into the housing market since its 2013 launch?
a) £500m b) £2.5bn c) £7bn
7.How much didSalvator Mundiby Leonardo da Vinci sell for at an auction in New York, a sum which made it the world's most expensive painting?
a) $230m b) $450m c) $785m
8.What will the hourly national living wage rise to in April next year, as announced in the Autumn Budget?
a) £7.37 b) £7.83 c) £8.05
9.In January Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. How much did the ceremony the most expensive presidential inauguration ever cost?
a) $200m b) $350m c) $490m
10.The personal data of 2.7 million British Uber users (and 57 million accounts worldwide) was hacked as part of a mass data breach, the taxi hailing firm revealed last month. How much did Uber pay the hackers to delete the data?
a) $100,000 b) $75,000 c) $150,000
PEOPLE
11.
12.Who was the highest-paid actress in the world this year, according to Forbes?
13.Which tennis player was declared bankrupt in July this year after failing to pay a debt, despite earning $25m in prize money during his career?
14.The world's wealthiest woman died in September aged 94, with a net worth of $44.9bn. What was her name?
15.South Korea's Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to five years in jail in August, after being accused of paying $36m in bribes in exchange for political favours. Why were investors watching the trial?
16.American publishing tycoon Hugh Hefner died in September, leaving behind at least $43m. He had already purchased his own burial plot in 1992 for $75,000 but who was he buried next to?
17.Who were the highest-paid celebrity couple this year, according to Forbes?
18.What long-serving politician resigned this year, but will continue to receive his $150,000 salary until he dies?
19.The price of bitcoin has soared this year, passing the $19,000 mark, yet the creator of the cryptocurrency is still unknown. By what alias does the founder refer to themself?
20.What are the names of the two brothers who were crowned the wealthiest people in Britain this year with a fortune of £16.2bn, according to The Sunday Times Rich List?
COMPANIES
21.
22.Who became the first woman ever to lead a "big pharma" company this year, when she took over formally from Sir Andrew Witty as chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline?
23.The legal team of a high-profile British bank successfully argued that a $1bn civil lawsuit against the bank, initially scheduled for trial in January, should now be postponed until 2019. The team argued that the resulting press coverage could prejudice a criminal trial which is also currently being brought against the bank. Which bank is it?
24.An accounting scandal in which European country led to telecoms giant BT issuing a profit warning at the start of 2017?
25.What characteristic do the X-Men, Luke Skywalker and Mickey Mouse all now share, which they didn't at this time last year?
26.Which company, which produces a communication app popular with teenagers, saw its share price spike 44% on its stockmarket debut in March, but is now trading just below its listing price?
27.Which former FTSE 100 company saw its share price fall by 66% in a single day in August this year, after it issued its second profit warning of the year?
28.And which big-name fund manager has endured a woeful 2017 performance-wise, partly as a result of the aforementioned profit warning as well as several disastrous biotech bets?
29.Tesla CEO Elon Musk has outlined plans to send one of the company's electric cars to which particularly exotic location next year?
30.Which US retailer filed for bankruptcy protection in September after running up $5bn of debts, and is set to close a quarter of its UK stores with an estimated 3,200 job losses?
MARKETS
31.
32.And what soft commodity was the worst performer, falling by 29%?
33.The Chicago Mercantile Exchange began trading in futures of which new asset this month?
34.Which of the following is not a genuine cryptocurrency?a) TrumpCoin b) PotCoin c) GroatCoin
35.What is the name of the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, America's central bank?
36.Which stock exchange became the first global market to announce plans to replace its current clearing system with blockchain technology, the distributed ledger behind bitcoin?
37.What country's sovereign wealth fund put forward a proposal to stop investing in oil and gas stocks to make the nation's economy less vulnerable to a permanent drop in prices?
38.Of stocks listed in the FTSE 100 for the whole year, which financial services group was the top performer, gaining 62% (excluding dividends) to 18 December?
39.And what utility was the worst-performing stock, shedding 37%?
40.Which stock exchange passed the historic 20,000 mark this year?
QUOTES OF 2017: MATCH THE QUOTE WITH THE PHOTO
1."I'll go broke before I drink bad wine."2."Big money has so much influence now. Our democracy has been hacked."3."It wasn't supposed to be like this... markets are wrong."4."If I want to buy 15,000 cotton balls a day, it's my thing."