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By The Numbers

Do wings give you wings?

Tony Wagner and Beidi Zhang Apr 10, 2015
$ 1.5 billion

That’s how much LinkedIn paid for Lynda.com, an online video training company. The huge price tag may be worth it for LinkedIn. As part of LinkedIn’s broad strategic ambition, the acquisition build out an ecosystem around training, recruitment, hiring, and talent development. 

100 million

That’s how many chicken wings sports bar chain Buffalo Wild Wings sold during this year’s NCAA basketball tournament, Bloomberg reported. The Minneapolis-based company has been on an extraordinary rise, riding the fast-casual wave and adapting to volatile wing prices and crowds that come and go with sports seasons.

650

That’s how many men and women under 25 working at the IRS. The total staff? 87,000. The IRS is trying to convince more millennials it’s cool to work for the tax agency, according to Bloomberg. Four years from now, about 40 percent of its workforce will be eligible to retire. The recruiting page for student and recent grads reads, “You’ll be part of a tax collection process that funds our nation’s most vital programs—from securing the nation and protecting social services, to maintaining parklands and forests, building libraries, opening museums, enhancing schools and much, much more.” 

April 24

The hotly anticipated release of the Apple Watch. But Business Insider notes Apple is changing the way it approaches launch day, letting people try on the smart watch by appointment and encouraging them to order online. Part of this shift is practical — with so many watch combinations and price points, it could be tough to keep everything in stock — but it’s also about image. Apple’s new retail chief came over from Burberry, and the Watch is being sold in part as a luxury item. Long lines and tents outside of the store isn’t exactly classy.

87 days

That’s how long oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in 2010, spilling nearly 5 million gallons. Five years later, the Gulf’s reputation for great seafood is starting to recover, but there isn’t as much to sell as there used to be.

160 liters

That’s how much soda the Mexican population consumes every year  or about half a liter per person per day. Mexico drinks more of this sugary stuff than anywhere else in the world. And in areas without easy access to fresh water, people more often turn to soda to quench their thirst. This trend has lead to obesity, but the Mexican government is trying to tackle it with a soda tax. 

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