Let’s play a little game. Picture yourself on January 1, 2020, and really concentrate on visualizing the person you were on that date. Now lean in, and whisper quietly in your ear that everything about the world you know is about to turn upside down.

Now, multiply the disbelief your 2020 self feels by three and that might capture what it’s felt like living through the flock of black swans that now seem to routinely overturn life in general: a global pandemic, a ground war in Europe, an insurrection at the US capital, global supply-chain snarls, and nasal spray tans.

In case 2023 has any bright ideas (looking at you, TikTok), we’ve decided to take a proactive approach by laying odds on which inconceivable, world-changing event is most likely to occur in the coming year.

What’s your pick in the CFO Brew disruption betting pool for 2023?

• The pickleball bubble bursts, taking the American economy with it. Odds—30:1
• Elon Musk buys Donald Trump and fires three of the four Trump children (per usual, Tiffany not included). Odds—8:1
• LinkedIn gains sentience. Thousands of hustle bros spontaneously combust, but not before writing lengthy “How I did this” posts. Odds—100:1 Continue reading here.—DA

Coworking is a weekly segment where we talk to CFOs and other leaders in the finance space about their experiences, their companies, and the larger economy. To be considered, answer a few quick questions for us here and we’ll be in touch if we want to feature you in the newsletter.

Alison Staloch is chief financial officer of Fundrise, a real-estate investment platform that allows retail investors—also known as non-Wall Street investors—to access the real estate market.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in finance?

As CFO of Fundrise, my true priority is advocating for the individual investor. My background as chief accountant at the SEC for the Division of Investment Management dovetailed well with Fundrise’s mission to provide retail investors with the ability to invest in historically inaccessible alternative asset classes such as real estate private equity, private credit, and growth-stage venture capital. And in an economic cycle like we’re encountering today, including the market volatility we’ve been experiencing, this access is proving to be increasingly important as retail investors want to be able to diversify their portfolios with assets and investments that are not correlated to the stock market, such as private real estate.

How do you think the CFO role has changed over the past five to 10 years, both for you, and in general?

I think being flexible about your focus and priorities and sufficiently curious about picking up new skills is critical. Continue reading here.—KT

Stat: $27 billion (102 billion riyals). That’s the 2022 budget surplus reported by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it benefits from higher oil prices. (CNBC)

Quote: “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”—Holly Vedova, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, in announcing the agency’s suit to block Microsoft from acquiring gaming company Activision Blizzard. (the Washington Post)

Read: The backstory of the collapse of German payments firm Wirecard. The fraud trial for former CEO Markus Braun began Thursday in Munich. (Bloomberg)