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WASHINGTON Millions of dollars from US pension funds including those of New York’s police officers and firefighters are likely invested in ByteDance, the Chinese-controlled parent company of TikTok that is under a standing order from Congress to sell off the popular social media platform or face its banning.

The non-profit investment-watchdog group Future Union has identified 48 pension funds that have entrusted their money with venture capital and private equity firms known to have invested in ByteDance since 2012, according to a new report obtained by The Post Tuesday.

Six of the largest are directly tied to New York, including the state’s common retirement fund and teacher’s retirement system, as well as New York City’s employees’ retirement system, police pension fund and teachers’ retirement system.

Future Union was unable to track down exactly how much money was directly invested into ByteDance because its proprietary data “is not required to be publicly provided by the pensions funds.”

However, it confirmed that at least some of the investments went to ByteDance by assessing the investment firms handling their money.

“Future Union devised a [system] based on the amount of capital committed to known investors in ByteDance, combining the proprietary data on institutional investors with the timeline of ByteDance investments to report rank-order and show the magnitude of capital commitments,” nonprofit founder and venture capitalist Andrew King told The Post.

The report also found that some of the most notable American nonprofits and foundations have used investment funds that place their money in ByteDance, including the Mayo Clinic, the Bush Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

As Americas largest source of private investment dollars, the capital allocators the pensions, endowments and foundations make up the lion’s share of source funding for venture capitalists and private equity firms.

“Commitments by US public pension funds to venture and private equity funds that are known investors in ByteDance reached $8.1 billion, while US university endowments’ past commitments were $1 billion,” explained King, who advises the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

US nonprofit and foundations overall have made more than 620 commitments to Chinese and China-related venture capital and private equity funds, including some of the most powerful players in the field such as Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital and Qiming Venture Partners, according to the report.

President Biden last month signed into law a bill that will force ByteDance to divest from TikTok after both Republicans and Democrats in Congress raised concerns about the social media platform’s tracking and reporting of its American users’ data to the Chinese Communist Party the US’ top adversary.

Beijing, through its state-run Internet Investment Fund, owns about 1% of TikTok shares, “illustrating the nearly indecipherable nature of the state and private sector companies in China,” according to the report.

Under Chinese law, the investment grants the government access to the social media platform’s data collected from its users, creating a national security risk for the US that led to the TikTok legislation’s passage.

“TikToks rise owes itself to the dozens of venture capitalist firms investing hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars from university endowments and US public pension funds into the Chinese company that Congress has forced to sell off the social media platform,” said King.

Experts also believe Beijing is using the app which is not available in China to influence US opinions in its favor, geopolitical consultant and former US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Kellie Currie told The Post.

“ByteDance is not a normal tech company and TikTok is not a normal social media app. It should be clear to anyone paying attention that TikTok is an enormously successful Chinese influence operation,” she said. “It has succeeded beyond the CCPs wildest imagination in advancing both direct CCP agendas as well as indirect influence operations that weaponize polarized issues.”

Aside from the moral quandary of investing in a company that presents national security risks to the US, the investment firms have now endangered their clients’ funds by tying them to a company that may soon be forced to give up its US operations.

“Many of our most powerful and prominent pension funds, university endowments and nonprofits/foundations have subsequently been involved in, and now may remain to subject to, a geopolitical risk premium in private market investing,” the report said.

That risk has always existed but was “long ignored,” according to Future Union, but is now unavoidable since the TikTok legislation passed, “resulting in vastly reduced exit opportunities for Chinese companies like ByteDance.”

As investors, were all capitalists here and the goal is to make money. Yet we can no longer make investments that directly imperil the long-term success of our free market system,” King told The Post. “As TikTok shows, the investment choices that venture capitalists and private equity investors made today, at the earliest stage and in the most critical technologies, have ramifications that reverberate for years.”

Future Union, which has produced two other reports on US investments in Chinese competitors, added that the ByteDance investments are part of a troubling trend of American firms risking financial and national security in exchange for the possibility of big short-term returns from the Asian market.

“This highlights a general trend that, despite the geopolitical tensions, US fund managers continue investing in the startups they view as leading in technology advancement and capable of generating higher returns even if it means ignoring the long-term implications of supporting an adversarial ecosystem,” the report said.

Still, Currie said that “nobody should feel the least bit sorry for (US investors in ByteDance) if they lose money,” since the professional investment and VC firms either were or should have been aware of the associated dangers.

“Every investment carries risk, and this one more so than most,” she said. “These are very sophisticated investors … [who] knew or should have known the risks they were taking by investing in a Chinese company that has been marked with major political, regulatory and operational problems from day one.”

While the US funding is important, that’s not the only benefit reaped by Chinese companies.

Because venture capitalists are required to make the most money possible for their clients, they also offer “intangible relationship elements and knowledge that is far more impactful and dangerous if transferred to an adversary like China,” King said.

“Venture capitalists are a conduit, and if they invest in Chinese startups, their duty to prioritize returns requires them to help these startups, and thus China,” he said. “In doing so, they offer China the nearly priceless value of some of a lifetime of experience and learnings from … expertise in business best practices and the networks developed over a career touching the smartest founders, wealthiest investors, and most politically connected powerbrokers.

“This is an invisible threat worse than mere capital.”

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US

Woman missing for more than 60 years found ‘alive and well’

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39 mins ago

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May 4, 2025

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Woman missing for more than 60 years found 'alive and well'

A woman in the US who has been missing since 1962 has been found “alive and well”, authorities have said.

Audrey Backeberg left her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in July that year when she was 20 years old, Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators pursued numerous leads over the years but the case eventually went cold.

However, during a review of cold cases earlier this year, a detective reassessed all the case files and evidence, and re-interviewed several witnesses – and found Ms Backeberg.

The 82-year-old was “alive and well” – living outside of the state of Wisconsin, the sheriff’s office said.

Ms Backeberg was married and had two children when she disappeared on 7 July 1962, according to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation.

She left her home to pick up her salary but never returned, causing her husband to ask family members where she was.

Shortly afterwards their 14-year-old babysitter claimed she and Ms Backeberg had hitchhiked to Wisconsin’s capital city Madison and then caught a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana.

The teenager said when she arrived she became nervous and wanted to go home, while Ms Backeberg refused to return and was last seen walking near a bus stop.

Ms Backeberg’s marriage was troubled and there were allegations of abuse, the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation said, with a criminal complaint having been filed days before she went missing.

Her relatives insisted she would never abandon her children, the organisation added, and her husband passed a polygraph test and maintained his innocence.

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‘We talked for 45 minutes’ – detective

Detective Isaac Hanson, who found Ms Backeberg, said her sister’s Ancestry.com account was vital in helping him locate her address.

“That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data,” he told local news station WISN.

“So I called the local sheriff’s department, said, ‘Hey, there’s this lady living at this address. Do you guys have somebody, you can just go pop in?’

“Ten minutes later, she called me, and we talked for 45 minutes.”

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‘She sounded happy’

Mr Hanson said Ms Backeberg may have left home due to marital issues, but it was unclear why she had stayed away for so long.

He said he had promised to keep their conversation private.

“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life,” he said.

“She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”

Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said Ms Backeberg made the choice to leave and her disappearance “was not the result of any criminal activity or foul play”.

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Sports

Jets-Blues Game 7 preview: Key players to watch, final score predictions

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47 mins ago

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May 4, 2025

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Jets-Blues Game 7 preview: Key players to watch, final score predictions

  • Multiple Contributors

May 4, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

It all comes down to this. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets host the St. Louis Blues in the 200th Game 7 in Stanley Cup playoffs history Sunday (7 p.m. ET, TBS).

One team will advance to the second round, while the other will get an early start to the offseason — and try to fix what went wrong.

For the Blues, this is the club’s 19th all-time Game 7, the most of any non-Original Six team. They have gone 10-8 in Games 7s, with the most recent one being the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins, which they won 4-1.

This version of the Jets has much less Game 7 history on which to draw; their only Game 7 was a second-round victory over the Nashville Predators in 2018.

Who wins this one? We’ve gathered the ESPN hockey family to identify the key players to watch in the contest — as well as their final score predictions.

Who is the one key player you’ll be watching in Jets-Blues?

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter: If he plays, it’s Mark Scheifele. The hit in Game 5 from Brayden Schenn and/or Radek Faksa generated quite a bit of conversation about what is arguably the most physically demanding series in the first round. Scheifele’s play this season and this series prior to the hit reinforces what makes him a legit top-line center in this league. We saw how the Jets maneuvered around his absence for the final two periods of Game 5, while Game 6 proved why they need contributions from everyone if he can’t go.

But again, that’s if Scheifele plays. He skated Saturday in a tracksuit, with Scott Arniel saying the center will be a game-time decision Sunday.

Arda Öcal, NHL broadcaster: Connor Hellebuyck is the obvious answer here for me because he’s been “Vezina” at home (especially Game 2) and “Vezina from Temu” on the road.

Hellebuyck has allowed four or more goals in seven straight road playoff games, which ties the second longest such streak in Stanley Cup playoff history. But Game 7 is at home. The pressure is on but he’s in comfortable confines, surrounded by a “Whiteout.” Which version of Hellebuyck do we get Sunday night?

Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter: Connor Hellebuyck, of course. Has there been a Jekyll/Hyde performance like this in recent years?

The Vezina finalist can play lights-out at home and like a fish out of water on the road. Does that trend continue in Game 7? What version of the goalie shows up for this one?

But as a bonus, I’ll toss Pavel Buchnevich into this equation. He’s been driving the Blues’ offense, and if Hellebuyck is on his A-game then St. Louis is going to need Buchnevich to channel his hat trick energy from Game 3 to help the Blues pull off a stunning road win.

Greg Wyshynski, NHL reporter: Jordan Binnington renewed his title as one of the NHL’s most clutch goaltenders with his 31-save performance in Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship win over the U.S. — including six saves in overtime. He first earned it in 2019, backstopping the Blues to the Stanley Cup with Game 7 wins over Dallas and Boston.

Now he’s got a chance to reestablish those credentials.

Binnington had a 0.82 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage in those prior Game 7s. While Hellebuyck has been terrible in St. Louis, Binnington hasn’t been much better in Winnipeg, generating an .861 save percentage and a 3.44 goals-against average and giving up four goals in two of the three games. But as 4 Nations showed, Binnington can meet the moment. (Although this time, Kyle Connor will actually be in the lineup for the opposition. Not that we’re bitter or anything.)

The final score will be _____.

Clark: 4-3 Jets. There have been a few themes in this series. The first being that offense hasn’t been an issue — the teams have combined to score more than six goals in all but one game. The second is that the home team has won every game; I say that continues, and the Jets advance.

Öcal: 6-5 Jets. Hellebyuck doesn’t have his best game, but the Jets outscore that challenge, and Kyle Connor scores another third-period goal in this series to win it.

Shilton: 5-4 Jets. The Jets have been too good on home ice to let this one slip away. That’s not to say a St. Louis win would be surprising, but even if Hellebuyck is off, Winnipeg’s offense should be able to provide enough buffer that the Jets can squeak through with a narrow victory to advance.

Wyshynski: 5-3 Jets. The Jets would be toast if this game were played in St. Louis because it’s a demonstrable fact that Hellebuyck is a disaster on the road in the playoffs. He’s slightly below replacement at home in the postseason, but Winnipeg will take that considering his three removals on the road.

The Blues are first in the playoffs in 5-on-5 offense and goals-for percentage at home. But Winnipeg is second in both categories. Hellebuyck calms down, and the offense gets ratcheted up at home, especially now that Nikolaj Ehlers has a game under his belt, having not played since April 12 due to a foot injury.

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Environment

Meet Bodo – the 35 mph electric golf cart that thinks it’s a G-Wagen

Published

2 hours ago

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May 4, 2025

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Meet Bodo – the 35 mph electric golf cart that thinks it's a G-Wagen

Bodo G-Wagon electric golf cart; via Mecum Auctions.

With a fully-enclosed, G-Wagen-inspired body and an 80 mile electric range, the Bodo G-Wagon golf cart is the NEV you need when you decide it’s time to get serous one-upping the rest of the Palm Beach country clubbers.

If you love the look of the $230,000 Mercedes-Benz G580 off-roader, but think the 579 hp, 6,800 lb. electric 4×4 is probably overkill for occasional trips to the golf course and country club, this G-Wagen-inspired golf cart might be just what you’re looking for.

The shiny black 2024 Bodo G-Wagon sold at Mecum Auctions last month for $31,900, which seems like it might not be a lot of money to the sort of person who decides to take a flyer on a goofy, limited-use EV that ships with real, metal doors, power windows, heating and air conditioning, fully digital instrument cluster and infotainment, and a “posh,” caramel leather interior.

It even has windshield wipers, power steering, and a rear-seat entertainment system that’s built into the front headrests!

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It’s really nice in there

Under the hood, the Bodo packs a 15 kW (20 hp) electric motor drawing power from a 10 kWh li-ion battery that won’t deliver a scorching 0-60 mph time (it only goes 35), but will deliver you and your buddies from one end of any golf course in North America and back several times over, thanks to the G-Wagon’s 80 mile range.

The official Mecum Auctions listing goes into a bit more detail, and I’ve included it here, in case it gets deleted after a while and you’re just finding this for the first time in 2027:

Be the envy of any country club or golf community showing up with this 2024 Bodo G-Wagon Golf Cart. Perhaps more appropriately known as an E-Wagon, this baby G-Wagon is powered by a 15kW motor with a 10kWh lithium battery. Boasting an 80-mile range and a 35 MPH top speed, the Bodo is an enclosed, luxury golf cart that pampers occupants with heating and air conditioning, rear-seat entertainment, power windows, power locks and a posh, caramel-colored interior. With the Bodo fitted with power steering and 4-wheel power disc brakes with brake boost, drivers will think they’re in a full-size G-Wagon, thanks to the multiscreen entertainment cluster, the rearview camera, windshield wipers, turn signals, running lights and so much more.

Finished in black with the right amount of brightwork, the overall vibe is one of jaw-dropping, smile-inducing fun. While the Bodo would be an excellent choice for any golf community, it should also prove to be hugely popular around a race track or car condo community as well, or maybe even a neighborhood with its own airplane runways. Over the past decade in particular, the demand for unique, luxury golf carts has been on the rise, and understandably so. The number of luxury communities with specific interests in sports, aero and auto has also been on the rise, with people buying homes in these exclusive locations to better engage with like-minded people. All too often a golf cart is the perfect way to get around these gated neighborhoods, and this one is enclosed, comes with the amenities of a full-size car and is infinitely more stylish.

MECUM AUCTIONS

You can check out a few more photos of the 2024 Bodo G-Wagon golf cart that sold at Mecum, below – and if you want one for yourself, you’re in luck! I found this brand-new 2025 “G600 E-Wagon” (in white) for $23,900 at Gulf Carts in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Head on down to the comments and let us know if you buy it.

SOURCE | LOTS MORE PHOTOS: Mecum Auctions.

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