SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY

Search headlines

Find the stories shaping the conversation.

Search mode
Refine results
Active filters Keyword All time

Results for " billion " 3,589 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle

Exclusive | Buyout Firm Truelink Nears $1 Billion Deal for Coffee Syrup Maker

Lyons Magnus specializes in fruit-based ingredients and beverages, from flavored syrups for coffee drinks to fruit purees for smoothies.

wsj.com logo
Jul 19 • 7:33 PM EDT • Business • wsj.com
Broncos Worth Likely To Soar After Seahawks Sale

The Denver Broncos value will grow quite a bit based on the Seattle Seahawks selling for $9.6 billion.

sports.yahoo.com logo
Jul 19 • 4:27 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Boeing on track for 2028 Air Force One delivery, costs rise

Boeing said on Sunday it remains on track to deliver two new Air Force One ​jets in 2028, but meeting that target will ‌require additional spending on a program already years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

reuters.com logo
Jul 19 • 12:28 PM EDT • Business • reuters.com
'It's absolutely exciting!': Astronomers discover an atmosphere around an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone for first time ever

Astronomers have detected helium escaping from the super-Earth LHS 1140 b, providing the strongest evidence yet that a rocky planet in another star's habitable zone has retained an atmosphere for billions of years.

livescience.com logo
Jul 19 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • livescience.com
Beyond rockets and satellites, SpaceX is quietly building an AI compute business that may become key to its eye-popping valuation

Deals with Google and Anthropic to rent out computing capacity could generate $26 billion a year.

fortune.com logo
Jul 19 • 7:00 AM EDT • Business • fortune.com
Google and Apple are clashing with the EU over the future of AI assistants

Google and Apple have a big leg up in the AI race: their control of billions of smartphones around the world.

cnn.com logo
Jul 19 • 6:30 AM EDT • Technology • cnn.com
James Webb telescope uses trippy Einstein prediction to probe the farthest reaches of the universe — Space photo of the week

The James Webb telescope peers through a warped bubble of space-time to study galaxies from the first billion years after the Big Bang.

livescience.com logo
Jul 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • livescience.com
Denny Sanford, philanthropist who gave nearly $2 billion to Sanford Health, dies at 90

Thomas “Denny” Sanford, the Sioux Falls philanthropist whose generosity transformed a regional hospital system into one of the largest rural health networks in the country, died Saturday.

valleynewslive.com logo
Jul 19 • 1:41 AM EDT • Health • valleynewslive.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (3%)
sad
67%
love
33%
It's Abdul El Sayed vs. billionaires, Bernie Sanders says in Detroit

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders visited Michigan to stump for progressive candidates July 18.

freep.com logo
Jul 18 • 8:37 PM EDT • Politics • freep.com
Bernie Sanders dismisses Haley Stevens, says Michigan race is against the 'billionaire class'

Sen. Bernie Sanders says Michigan's Democratic Senate primary isn't about Rep. Haley Stevens but whether the billionaire class can stop El-Sayed.

foxnews.com logo
Jul 18 • 7:55 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com
Denny Sanford leaves legacy in healthcare and beyond

Philanthropist, businessman, and Sanford Health namesake T. Denny Sanford has died age 90. He donated nearly $2 billion to Sanford Health.

news.sanfordhealth.org logo
Jul 18 • 12:05 PM EDT • Health • news.sanfordhealth.org
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin on two sports businesses his multi-billion-dollar conglomerate won't enter

Fanatics has become one of the most influential companies in sports, building out a massive merchandise, collectibles and sports gambling platform.

cnbc.com logo
Jul 18 • 11:19 AM EDT • Sports • cnbc.com
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin on two sports businesses his multi-billion-dollar conglomerate won't enter

Fanatics has become one of the most influential companies in sports, building out a massive merchandise, collectibles and sports gambling platform.

cnbc.com logo
Jul 18 • 11:19 AM EDT • Business • cnbc.com
Tom Cruise Reveals Surprising New Look In Trailer For Movie About An Eccentric Billionaire

Check out the movie star’s wild new role in the upcoming black comedy starring Jesse Plemons and Riz Ahmed.

huffpost.com logo
Jul 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • huffpost.com
4 Georgians named in record $6.5B health care fraud takedown

Four Georgians were named in a nationwide health care fraud crackdown involving alleged schemes totaling $6.5 billion.

savannahnow.com logo
Jul 18 • 5:04 AM EDT • Health • savannahnow.com
Anaheim’s 100-acre, $5 billion entertainment district reveals first 6 kitchen concepts for its massive new food hall opening in early 2027

The two-story Katella Commons will eventually house 21 kitchens, bringing Michelin-recognized chefs to the Honda Center plaza.

secretlosangeles.com logo
Jul 17 • 10:55 PM EDT • Entertainment • secretlosangeles.com
Leon Black walked out of an Epstein House committee interview. Here’s what we know

Billionaire investor Leon Black, who for years paid Jeffrey Epstein for tax and financial advice, is facing scrutiny over his relationship with the late convicted sex offender after walking out of a closed-door interview with House investigators last month.

pbs.org logo
Jul 17 • 6:44 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
UT Health San Antonio’s $1 billion multiyear investment helps meet demand for care

Healthcare is a strong economic driver in San Antonio, generating more than $43 billion annually and supporting nearly 200,000 jobs across the region, according to the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. As the region's academic health center, UT Health San Antonio contributes approximately $3.2 billion annually through patient care, research, education and workforce development.

news.uthscsa.edu logo
Jul 17 • 6:02 PM EDT • Health • news.uthscsa.edu
Paying for early access to Trump’s Truth Social could raise big money

In yet another unprecedented move by America's first billionaire president, Donald Trump may soon be profiting from a new line of business tied to his office: charging access for a first peek at certain posts on his Truth Social platform.

seattletimes.com logo
Jul 17 • 5:41 PM EDT • Business • seattletimes.com
Paying for Early Access to Trump's Truth Social Could Raise Big Money

NEW YORK (AP) — America’s first billionaire president may soon be profiting from a new line of business tied to his office: charging access for a first peek at certain posts on his Truth Social platform. Donald Trump's struggling media company plans to sell Wall Street traders the chance to see ...

usnews.com logo
Jul 17 • 5:40 PM EDT • Business • usnews.com
Fanatics’ Michael Rubin on taking the sports platform to the next level

Michael Rubin has built one of the most influential platforms in sports, evolving Fanatics from a merchandise leader to a multi-pronged, billion-dollar platform. Rubin spoke with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit about the opportunities he sees for Fanatics.

cnbc.com logo
Jul 17 • 5:19 PM EDT • Sports • cnbc.com
Meet the billionaires behind $336M ‘explosion’ of money in California politics, per new report

San Francisco is no stranger to concentrated wealth shaping City Hall, and big-money spenders did well here during the last primary.

missionlocal.org logo
Jul 17 • 4:51 PM EDT • Politics • missionlocal.org
Meet the billionaires behind $336M ‘explosion’ of money in California politics, per new report

San Francisco is no stranger to concentrated wealth shaping City Hall, and big-money spenders did well here during the last primary.

missionlocal.org logo
Jul 17 • 4:51 PM EDT • Politics • missionlocal.org
Man with staggering $20 billion net worth put a car order in so big that Mercedes had to shut down its factory

The 'Rainbow Sheikh' has a staggering $20 billion net worth and once put in a car order that was so big, it shut down manufacturing at a Mercedes factory

supercarblondie.com logo
Jul 17 • 4:02 PM EDT • Technology • supercarblondie.com
US oil firms sign deals with Iraq to develop alternative shipping routes

U.S. companies have signed roughly $60 billion in agreements and partnerships with the Iraqi government, including deals intended to create alternative routes for shipping oil out of the Persian Gulf.

click2houston.com logo
Jul 17 • 3:36 PM EDT • Business • click2houston.com
Young millionaire reveals the wealth-building lessons he learned from billionaires

The young entrepreneur behind 'School of Hard Knocks' shares his strategy for turning a content creator business into multiple revenue streams.

foxbusiness.com logo
Jul 17 • 2:40 PM EDT • Business • foxbusiness.com
'Shared cosmic experience': 'Potentially hazardous' asteroid Apophis could be visible to 90% of Earth's population during ultraclose 2029 flyby, new maps reveal

Researchers predict that up to 7.6 billion people will be able to see the potentially hazardous asteroid Apophis fly past Earth on April 13, 2029. The skyscraper-size space rock will come closer than some satellites, making it clearly visible to the naked eye.

livescience.com logo
Jul 17 • 10:47 AM EDT • Science • livescience.com
Abbott discloses cyberattack on cancer diagnostics business

The cyberattack follows Abbott’s recent $21 billion purchase of Exact Sciences. Abbott did not disclose what kind of information was accessed.

medtechdive.com logo
Jul 17 • 7:27 AM EDT • Business • medtechdive.com
Americana Partners expands into sports and entertainment wealth management

The $11.5 billion Houston-based RIA has tapped a JPMorgan alum and former Division I soccer player to lead the buildout of its specialized services.

investmentnews.com logo
Jul 17 • 6:10 AM EDT • Entertainment • investmentnews.com
Science by merit, not political favor

The right to be judged by a jury of your peers is a bedrock of American democracy. This principle applies not only to the judicial system but also to how the federal government evaluates and awards billions of dollars in grants to natural…

nydailynews.com logo
Jul 17 • 5:00 AM EDT • Science • nydailynews.com
Kalshi says it's not a sportsbook even as World Cup bets surge

The betting site Kalshi emerged as a dominant sports betting platform during the World Cup. But the company avoids billions of dollars in taxes by insisting it is not a sports gambling operator.

npr.org logo
Jul 17 • 5:00 AM EDT • Sports • npr.org
High-Signal Publisher
Sports without politics is a fantasy and the World Cup proves it

From ancient Greece to Nazi Germany, sport and politics have long been intertwined. Nevertheless, we still imagine that international sport can be kept above the fray and serve as a neutral arena where nations compete on merit alone. In this article, diplomacy scholar Geoffrey Allen Pigman argues the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows this is a dangerous illusion. When international sport is left entirely to revenue-maximizing private bodies like FIFA, it doesn't escape politics, but rather surrenders to its worst expressions. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, the IOC must decide whether to learn that lesson or repeat the same mistakes. The largest and most lucrative FIFA World Cup ever draws toward its climactic conclusion amidst a swirl of controversy. Team members, staff, fans, and spectators have been denied their right to enter the United States to participate, and US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to overturn a referee’s call that Trump believed disadvantaged the US national team. It is a moment to step back and reflect on what the purposes of international sport mega-events like the World Cup, and international sport more broadly, are, and what they should be. Does international sport serve public purposes? Is there a public interest? Or is it primarily a private endeavor organized by commercial enterprises to entertain the global public (and generate profit in the process), which is occasionally used by governments and leaders for raisons d’etat? Central to the idea of sport is the principle of fair play, which in the international context demands that games be free from political interference. However, it is impossible to separate sport from politics, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The most positive political use of international sport through the millennia has been to facilitate diplomacy. The use of international sport for diplomatic objectives has existed since at least the time of the ancient Olympic Games, around which was instituted the custom of the Ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, between participating states to facilitate fair competition and diplomatic achievements by ensuring that participants could travel safely to the Olympiad. In his seminal work On Diplomacy (1987), diplomacy scholar James Der Derian characterized the objectives of diplomacy as overcoming alienation and mediating estrangement between governments and between peoples. One increasingly important diplomatic tool in the technology-infused media environment over the past century has been public diplomacy, under which governments and non-state diplomatic actors (e.g. transnational corporations) communicate to global publics about their international policy objectives and to shape their global brand image. Political scientist Michał Kobierecki, in his important book Sports Diplomacy (2020), views sports diplomacy as falling broadly within the ambit of public diplomacy, as international sport intimately involves the participation of global publics as spectators and consumers of global media. Diplomacy scholar Stuart Murray and this author, in a 2013 article, distinguish between international sport used for diplomatic purposes and international sport-as-diplomacy, which encompasses the range of diplomacy that occurs as teams and competitors, spectators and fans, and government officials all converge for international sporting events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Diplomacy scholar H.E. Chehabi, in a 2001 article on US-Iran sports diplomacy, describes the interaction between spectators and fans at international sporting events as “people-to-people diplomacy,” in which relationships develop independently of governments and their objectives. Diplomacy by the aforementioned definitions is often unsuccessful. Moreover, all too often the tools of diplomacy may be employed by governments and other actors to thwart or oppose the objectives of diplomacy as characterized by Der Derian. Governments routinely use the tools of public diplomacy to disseminate propaganda, spreading misinformation in the attempt to deceive global publics about their objectives and to create misleading impressions about their brand identity. Within sports diplomacy, the term “sportswashing” has been coined recently to describe how governments invest in and promote international sport to create positive global public impressions of their nations and, in doing so, to distract the global public from their deficient records in areas such as human rights and democratic governance. Murray, in his 2018 book Sports Diplomacy: Origins, Theory and Practice, introduces the concept of sports anti-diplomacy, wherein governments intentionally use international sport to advance aggressive and nationalistic objectives. Obvious historical examples include Hitler’s use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics to glorify his Third Reich and the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras football “war.” SUGGESTED READING The beautiful game made ugly By Emily Ryall FIFA argues that it is and seeks to be apolitical in its stewardship of international Association Football (soccer). FIFA policies governing bids to host the World Cup require uninhibited and non-discriminatory access for players, team staff, and spectators of all participating countries to host nations and venues. It became clear soon after Trump returned to power in the United States in January 2025 that Trump’s political intentions and objectives to limit non-US citizens from living and working in the United States and, in numerous cases, even visiting the country, would collide with FIFA’s host nation policies. Beginning soon after the start of the second Trump administration, US federal authorities imposed restrictions on entry to the United States of citizens of between 20 and 40 countries for any purpose, with only limited exceptions. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began arresting non-US citizens in the United States, including persons with and without legal status, holding them in jails, concentration camps, and other detention facilities until they were deported to their home or third countries, where they faced substantive risks to their personal safety. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, in an effort to ensure the most successful and lucrative World Cup in history, engaged diplomatically with President Trump in an attempt to facilitate entry to the US for World Cup participants. Infantino did all in his power to ingratiate himself with Trump, to the extent of creating a FIFA “Peace Prize,” which he awarded to Trump in December 2025 at a ceremony in the then Trump-controlled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the World Cup draw. The prize was an ersatz consolation for someone who aspired in vain to win the rather more prestigious and well-known Nobel Peace Prize. And in the run-up to the World Cup, conditions became worse. In February 2026, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war of aggression against Iran, illegal under international law, under the false pretence that Iran’s government was preparing to attack the United States and Israel. During the US aerial bombardment of Iran, US planes bombed Azadi Stadium, the facility where Iran’s national football team trained. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, it was clear that Infantino’s efforts had been for naught: the Trump administration would not adhere to FIFA policies governing access to World Cup host nations. World Cup referee Omar Artan, a citizen of Somalia, was denied a US visa to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup. Trump’s government only granted US visas to Iran’s football team ten days before they were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Numerous members of the support staff for Iran’s team were denied US visas. Iran’s team, which had been scheduled to train in Arizona, was directed to shift its training site to Tijuana, Mexico, notwithstanding that all three of their group stage matches took place at US venues. The US Department of Homeland Security only permitted the Iranian team to enter the US on the day before each scheduled match and then to return to Mexico immediately after playing. Members of Iraq’s and Switzerland’s football teams were delayed for hours by US officials at the US border, and an Iraqi team photographer was refused entry. Spectators and fans from Haïti and Iran were denied entry to the United States altogether. A large number of fans from a range of countries had their applications for US visas rejected. There were multiple off-ramps through which participants could have avoided the negative consequences of Trump’s decisions for the 2026 World Cup. Once it was clear that the Trump government intended to violate the established expectations for World Cup hosts, FIFA could have shifted the matches scheduled to take place in the United States to Mexico and Canada. The three nations were already designated as co-hosts, and host cities and venues had been selected. Once it was clear that FIFA, governed by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s dependent and dysfunctional relationship with Trump, would never consider this option on its own, it fell to the national football federations to act. The national federations, particularly some combination of federations of the leading contenders (France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, England, Germany, etc.), could have refused to participate under the US-imposed conditions or, at the least, demanded an ironclad agreement with the Trump government that FIFA policies on access would be respected. ___ International sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. ___ Why did neither FIFA nor the national football federations act to protect the interests of players, team staff, referees, fans, and spectators? In essence, the relentless engines of capitalism prevailed over norm observance, ethics, and fair play. The revenue interests of FIFA, sponsors, global media, and host cities won out. FIFA’s managers viewed hosting another World Cup principally in the United States as a veritable pot of gold for FIFA and its collaborators. FIFA has estimated its own revenue over the 2023-26 budget cycle, which includes the 2026 World Cup, at $13 billion, revised up from an initial projection of $11 billion, and 72% higher than the previous revenue cycle. Of that total, FIFA is estimated to have generated $8.9 billion from the Cup itself in revenue from TV rights ($3.92 billion), sponsorships ($2.69 billion), ticket sales ($3.1 billion), licensing rights, and other sources. A joint study by FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimates that the World Cup will contribute over $40 billion to global GDP, including nearly $14 billion in direct visitor spending in the three host countries (but principally in the United States, which hosted the lion’s share of the matches). The FIFA World Cup is now reportedly “the single most lucrative recurring commercial property in global sport.” And yet, notwithstanding the Trump government’s uses of the World Cup for sports anti-diplomacy, and the climate of anxiety that this created for participants and spectators, diplomacy that did not depend upon governments was able to thrive at the World Cup. Examples of successful people-to-people diplomacy were legion, as citizens of towns and cities across the States, as well as in Mexico and Canada, welcomed team members, their families and supporters, to training sites across North America. Fans of different teams joined together in person in stadiums for matches, at watch parties and bars, and at welcome events sponsored by host cities. The joy and camaraderie shared between the citizenry of Boston and Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of fans is but one example of how the “Beautiful Game” brings people together. Friendships forged across continents are likely to endure well beyond the Cup final. Even those achievements cannot be seen as unalloyed, however. As South African football fan Byron Pillay commented to Al Jazeera, “Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people. But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, especially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.” Ultimately, the experience of the 2026 FIFA World Cup illustrates that, as international sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. As long as there is the possibility of diplomatic progress in mediating estrangement between governments or between peoples, there is a broad and overarching public interest in international sport. Likewise, as it would be difficult to put on an international sport mega-event without international sporting organizations like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), global media firms, and companies purchasing sponsorships, public and private interests in international sport must coexist, most likely somewhere on a shifting spectrum between partnership and rivalry or cross purposes. As the World Cup wraps up, the IOC needs to consider its lessons before the scheduled 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they want to avoid a media-hyped Trump version of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. The IOC and the National Olympic Committees need to set conditions on and make demands of Trump’s government with clearly articulated consequences for non-compliance, up to and including cancellation of the Games. Time is running out for the IOC, as unlike with the FIFA World Cup, there is no at-the-ready alternate venue for Los Angeles.

iai.tv logo
Jul 16 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • iai.tv
Developer of proposed $3B Romulus sports complex charged with fraud

The man behind a proposed multi-billion-dollar development in Romulus has been charged with fraud after allegedly scamming investors out of millions of dollars.

crainsdetroit.com logo
Jul 16 • 2:58 PM EDT • Sports • crainsdetroit.com
😐 Neutral (7%)
ahah
50%
wow
50%
Bank of America Sees Nvidia’s Next $20 Billion Business. Here’s Where NVDA Stock Could Go

Bank of America just flagged a hidden revenue engine inside Nvidia that the market is still ignoring, and the numbers suggest Wall Street has been pricing the wrong business this entire time.

finance.yahoo.com logo
Jul 16 • 2:00 PM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com
Policy Backgrounder: Geopolitics and the World Cup: Why It Matters for Business

The World Cup is estimated to bring up to $6.4 billion in economic impact for the US, with additional sums for Canada and Mexico.

conference-board.org logo
Jul 16 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • conference-board.org
Pluto flyby mission wakes up after long sleep nearly 6 billion miles from Earth

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft recently came out of hibernation to continue its journey through an unexplored part of the solar system.

cnn.com logo
Jul 16 • 7:30 AM EDT • Science • cnn.com
The $20 Billion Question: What Counts As Women's Health?

Just 8.8% of NIH research money goes to women's health. A new $20 billion strategy argues that the women's health gap is a classification problem.

forbes.com logo
Jul 16 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • forbes.com
What to Know Ahead of Trump’s Primetime Speech | WSJ Politics Newsletter for July 16

Plus, President Trump weighs expansion of the Iran war, and more than 100 House Democrats vote against $3 billion in military aid to Israel.

wsj.com logo
Jul 16 • 6:45 AM EDT • Politics • wsj.com
TSMC Adds $100 Billion to Its U.S. Spending Plan

The pledge from the Taiwanese chip-making giant brought the total commitment to its fast-growing operations in Arizona to $265 billion.

nytimes.com logo
Jul 16 • 5:16 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
Trump earned billions last year. Some Pennsylvania swing voters say they don't care

Key voters in Pennsylvania are split on whether President Trump earning a big windfall last year is a big deal or not. Their reaction reveals a level of cynicism about many in the political class.

npr.org logo
Jul 16 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • npr.org
High-Signal Publisher
Yankees news: Bombers close to securing $3B financing deal

Yanks close to securing $3 billion financing deal, new draftees make Yankees’ top 10 list, Chapman finally moves on

sports.yahoo.com logo
Jul 16 • 5:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
ABB to Buy Rotork in $5.5 Billion Deal to Strengthen Electrification Business

Under the agreement, shareholders would receive $6.81 for each Rotork share, a 60% premium to the company’s three-month average share price.

wsj.com logo
Jul 16 • 2:01 AM EDT • Business • wsj.com
Uber Announces Acquisition Offer for Delivery Hero

Cash consideration of €41.50 per share offered to all Delivery Hero shareholders, representing an Equity Value of $14.8 billion, or $13.7 billion adjusted for Uber’s prior stake purchases The transaction is expected to be accretive to Non-GAAP EPS upon close; high-single-digit percentage accretion by year three Delivery Hero has separately agreed to sell part of its business covering 14 markets to SSW Partners Management Board and Supervisory Board of Delivery Hero unanimously welcome and support the Takeover Offer and intend to recommend Delivery Hero shareholders to tender into the offer, subject to their review of the Offer Document Prosus has irrevocably committed to tender their shares, which would bring Uber’s total economic interest to ~53% Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) has entered into a business combination agreement with Delivery Hero, extending the world’s largest mobility and delivery platform to a total of 99 markets, with combined pro-forma Gross Bookings of $236

investor.uber.com logo
Jul 15 • 8:00 PM EDT • Business • investor.uber.com
ZeniMax Online Studios leadership to exit as part of Xbox cuts

There are major changes happening atop Maryland-based ZeniMax Online Studios, developer of the Elder Scrolls Online, Game File has learned. Joe Burba, a 14-year veteran of the studio who was appointed to run it last July, is departing, along with ESO executive producer Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert and production director Ala Diaz. Their roles were listed among hundreds of others cut last week from the Maryland offices of ZeniMax, in a WARN letter sent to the state by ZeniMax and obtained today by Game File. Tonight, BUrbam Kath, Lambert and Diaz notified Zenimax Online Studios workers of plans to “transition” to a new leadership team consisting of promoted ZOS veterans. That transition will occur “over the next few months,” they told workers, according to a copy of the notice reviewed by Game File. “We will remain in place during the transition period to help ensure a smooth handoff.” Last week, Microsoft laid off of 1,600 workers across its vast gaming teams in locations around the U.S. and abroad. Just who has been impacted and how hard various studios have been hit has been emerging day by day. Game File reported last week that Microsoft/ZeniMax notified officials in Maryland that 379 gaming jobs were being cut across the state. They tallied cuts in two locations: one for ZeniMax Media Inc. (covering Elder Scrolls/Starfield/Fallout-maker Bethesda Game Studios and central Bethesda game publishing) and one for ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online). More than 200 jobs were cut at the latter. Last week’s totals did not reveal job titles, nor did Microsoft announce any leadership changes in the ZeniMax group. That has now happened. Earlier today, Game File obtained from Maryland officials a breakdown of the 379 impacted roles, which, extraordinarily, included “studio head.” Microsoft later confirmed to Game File which studio head that referred to: ZeniMax Online Studios’. Microsoft has since has notified studio employees and internally announced new leadership. ZOS will now be run by Josh Henderson, previously head of business operations at the studio, and Nick Giacomini, who was promoted to game director for ESO last August. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Last week’s news of 200+ cuts at ZeniMax Online Studios generated public sympathy for those workers and questions about the long-term viability of the Elder Scrolls Online. ESO is a massively multiplayer online game that inherently persists on the strength of new content being developed for it. Earlier today, fans and workers in Maryland protested the cuts at the ZeniMax teams in a rally organized by the Communication Workers of America, the union that represents many of the impacted employees. Regarding concerns around the game, a community manager stated on Saturday: “The plan is still to deliver great content, and we will hopefully have an update soon.” In their note to the studio today, the outgoing leaders of ZeniMax Online Studios predicted “growth” for the game: We have tremendous confidence in Josh and Nick, the future of this studio, and the continued growth of ESO. With exciting experiences still ahead for our players as we wrap up work for Update 51 and beyond, we believe that your passion, creativity, and commitment to each other and the community will continue serving as the heartbeat of ESO. The list of jobs cut in the ZeniMax WARN notice in Maryland includes several very senior roles, including: Studio Head Studio Operations Director Studio Game Director Studio Audio Director Studio Art Manager Vice President and Controller VP, Global Sales & Business Development While some of those job descriptions match the exiting ZOS leadership team, Game File couldn’t verify if all were from that studio. The full list of cut roles shared by Maryland officials also covers workers at Bethesda Game Studios and its central publishing office. The following is an excerpt: The list of 379 eliminated ZeniMax jobs in Maryland also includes: four animators three bilingual CS (community service) leads for Chinese, Italian, and Japanese a creative director for the Elder Scrolls Online Player Life Cycle two food service workers seven producers more than 60 senior QA testers. and many others The WARN notice states that almost all of the 379 workers were notified of their layoff on July 6. In fine print, it states: “Approximately 9 employees were notified of the elimination of their position prior to July 6, 2026.” A 2021 mega-merger scaled back Microsoft announced in 2020 that it intended to buy ZeniMax and its network of game studios in 2020, and closed the $7.5 billion deal in March 2021. The purchase, which preceded Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, added several award-winning studios to Microsoft’s portfolio, including Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Fallout), Arkane (Dishonored), and id Software (Doom). The studios’ output since then included a 2024 Game of the Year contented from MachineGames in the form of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle along with Starfield from Bethesda and the poorly-received Redfall from Arkane Austin. In recent years, a Microsoft repeatedly in cutback mode closed ZeniMax’s Tango Gameworks (which was reconstituted by Krafton) and closed Arkane Austin. The Xbox cuts last week have hit the ZeniMax group hard, with 158 jobs eliminated in Texas, many of them at id, and 379 from the ZeniMax teams in Maryland. Xbox also said last week that it would be entering a consultation process around Arkane Lyon, a process expected to end in a sale, shutdown or other form of divestment. The Lyon team has been working on a game tied to Marvel’s Blade vampire-hunting super-hero.

gamefile.news logo
Jul 15 • 7:42 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news
​​Over 100 Democrats vote to block billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, reflecting growing schism in party

More than 100 Democrats voted to block billions of dollars in military aid to Israel — an ultimately unsuccessful effort that highlighted the growing division in their party on the issue.

cnn.com logo
Jul 15 • 5:30 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
The opioid offensive: Fighting fentanyl | Investors Lab

As the clinical-stage biotech sector tackles this multibillion dollar public health imperative, a mix of established players and venture-backed innovators are making strides:

sciencenews.org logo
Jul 15 • 4:52 PM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org
The States Try to Topple WarnerMount…Thus Begins the Local Antitrust Era

(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, it looks like it’s time for another strategy column. Can I finally avoid writing about M&A? No, it seems I cannot. Admittedly, I’m a week early with this column, since I usually put it out every other week. But this news couldn’t wait. This will make three “Most Important Stories” in a row with a merger or acquisition as its centerpiece. First, Roku-Fox (an acquisition), then Comcast-NBCUniversal (a divestment!), and now the State AGs and the WGA’s lawsuits against Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (antitrust). M&A is usually the “most important” topic any given week, simply because a giant company merging or breaking up (or preventing those outcomes) can have the biggest impact on the streaming board. If you think about these companies as players in a game, changing the number of players is one of the biggest changes you can make. I shouldn’t really complain, either, since this lawsuit is very good news for customers and suppliers (econ speak for talent, workers and indie studios in Hollywood). So let me answer some questions about this potential trial, along with (shudder) making some heavily caveated predictions. I’ll also look at whether Hollywood must consolidate, whether or not the states can win, trouble at X-Box, Netflix’s YouTube binge, and more. Plus, I have five images that visualize this merger and the harm, including three brand new data looks you’ve never seen before. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Can The States and the WGA Stop Hollywood’s Consolidation (Crisis)? If every other newsletter and news outlet is writing about the same story, I try to avoid writing about it as well, but I can’t ignore a story this consequential. The story of the last year was the fate of Warner Bros. Discovery, and this development potentially extends that saga into 2027. As I tried to figure out my angle, I realized, like my last column, I’m again faced with a series of questions. These questions, though, are much more forward-looking. Will the states win? Will the WGA win? If so, what happens to Warner Bros. Discovery? Either way, will this chill the market for future mergers? So you know what that means: predictions. About the future, no less, the hardest thing to predict.1 Just remember: nothing here comes with a guarantee. And the more confident someone is in their predictions, the less you should trust them. This situation is incredibly fluid, nuanced, uncertain and tenuous. So let’s try to explain what may happen. Question: Why File this Lawsuit? I’ll admit, a few months back, I was fairly pessimistic about the fate of this lawsuit. Rumors had started bubbling up that the state Attorneys General (in particular California) wanted to settle with either some minor divestments (usually CNN) or behavioral remedies. And that tracked for me: the states usually settle lawsuits, like the recent John Deere right-to-repair suit. Yet, they plan to fight this. (As they did the LiveNation-Ticketmaster monopolization trial and the Nexstar-Tegna merger.) Honestly, that also makes a ton of sense. Frankly, this move is just good politics for these State AGs. Most are still running for higher and higher office in blue states—some folks have emphasized that only Democratic AGs joined this suit, but given the Ellison/Trump ties, and fears of retribution, that tracks—and a high profile case like this will help them move up the electoral ladder, especially since Paramount and its leadership (the Ellisons, father and heir) have sided with the other side of the political aisle. That makes them unsympathetic to Democratic voters and Hollywood workers in particular. Why did this lawsuit happen? In addition to the very real concerns about industry consolidation, this is why. That said, I don’t think we would have seen this lawsuit for Netflix and Warner Bros., simply because they’re more sympathetic and aligned with Democrats. But those consolidation concerns are real. The “town”—meaning Hollywood and such—really is seeing the damage of mergers on this industry. That’s why the WGA also filed its own lawsuit in defense of workers as well. (Wildcard: What about Europe? Will they try to stop the deal, too? There have been some rumors out of the UK they may try to fight the deal, and UK enforcers just stopped a Getty Images-Shutterstock tie up, so there is precedence. This argument could go either way, though. On one hand, the EU doesn’t need to step in, cause they states are handling it. On the other hand, this could make the EU’s case easier. Just imagine if both sides coordinated. I’ll simply say, “We’ll see!”) Question: Will The State AGs or the WGA Win? Can the state AGs play David to Paramount-Skydance’s Goliath here? That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? If you know this result, you could make a lot of money. When things are uncertain, it’s tempting to shrug and say, “Eh” meaning it’s a 50/50 proposition. I wouldn’t, though. When in doubt, you should expect that the merging parties succeed. AT&T did successfully buy Warner Bros., after all, and Disney bought Fox without any challenges. Many judges are extremely sympathetic to mergers, and I’d bet the state AGs get a judge who will allow the merger. (Even Obama-appointed judges often allow mergers.) As I understand it, we’ll see two main attacks. First, theatrical films. The AGs are arguing that, when it comes to share of box office and the number of both “wide releases” and blockbuster (or “tentpole”) films, the merging parties will have over 27% market share. Now, the Supreme Court once ruled from on high that any merger that exceeds 30% is presumptively illegal, but that’s guidance, not an ironclad bar. Still, the states will have to argue that this is close to having too much power, and with that power, this will likely further worsen the theater/studio splits in particular. Indeed, as Matthew Stoller pointed out, “just five studios are responsible for 95% of all blockbusters; if this merger goes through, then Paramount and Disney will control 60% of that.” So yes, movie studios will be very concentrated after this merger. Want me to visualize some of that? Well, here’s the share of films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office since 2022. (Note: this isn’t all films released in over 3,000 screens, but it is a good look at market power.) First, here are the 43 films by studio: Notice all the blue (Disney), orange (Universal), and purple (Warner Bros)? Yeah, those studios are powerful, and this combines Paramount with one of them. Here’s the look by studio and share of the films that grossed over $200 million: Now, if you look at that and also think, “Huh, should we break up Disney?” I’m with you. I’ve seen some folks poo-poo this idea that this is a real category, but it is! For an upcoming article, I’ve been pulling data on the share of top 100 films at the box office as a share of total box office, and it’s massive. Here’s the chart: (This analysis looks at The-Number’s top 100 films and total domestic box office each year.) To be clear, tentpoles make up 80.7% of the box office each year, so I do think it’s a genuine market. (To be clear, films grossing over $50 million make up 80% of the domestic box office, and films grossing over $100 million make up 64.1%.) I mean, the top 100 films at the box office make up 95% of each year’s grosses. Worse, the combined studios will likely cut output to flex that market power. Everyone can just look at what happened to Disney and Fox to see the precedent. (With fewer films, the remaining theaters have to give more for those few films that remain.) Here’s an image I’ve used a lot, the share of wide-release films from Disney and Fox over time: The AGs will also argue that this consolidation will also impact the cable industry. In this case, the consolidation is actually worse, but that environment is…complicated. Paramount will argue that the cable industry is shrinking. That said, predictions that cable will “go to zero” also don’t look very well supported by the data, as the declines are shrinking, meaning “cable” or “vMVPDs” will likely stabilize at some point. Can the state Attorneys General win on those two main arguments? I honestly don’t know. Again, I’d bet no, since history in general supports that, but it depends on the judge/jury and how they interpret the arguments. Notably, Paramount won’t face accusations about monopoly power in other areas, like streaming, news, sports rights, or vertical integration. I tend to disagree with leaving out sports rights, but I also see the appeal for a simpler case. The states also aren’t really pushing novel theories about labor harm either, which should help. (By the way, Sean McNulty at The Ankler wrote a great run through of potential options, and Capitol Forum also wrote a great paper on theatrical consolidation. Both these pieces predated the lawsuit. Matthew Stoller is also out with his analysis of the pros and cons of the case too.) In some ways, the WGA’s case is even stronger. Quoting Sean McNulty’s summary: “The WGA is citing WARNAMOUNT as crossing a 30% market share in multiple sectors, a number that the Supreme Court has precedent for deeming “presumptively anticompetitive” in a market. According to the WGA numbers, WARNAMOUNT would have represented: - 35% of film writing jobs between 2021 and 2024 - 36% of TV writing projects between 2022 and 2025 - 38% of overall deals between 2021 and 2024” Notably, antitrust enforcers did win recently in the Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger by focusing on labor impact, so don’t count this thinking out. (Wildcard: Will the states try to get a jury trial? Most likely no, they’ll let a judge handle it. If I’m them, though, I’d try to put this in front of a jury. Juries tend to understand monopoly power in a more realistic way than judges faced with legions of economists.) Question: What if They Win? What if They Lose?

entertainment.substack.com logo
Jul 15 • 4:48 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (20%)
wow
39%
ahah
38%
love
23%
Blanche confronts questioning of deal for Trump at confirmation hearing

Blanche insisted the $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" was "not moving forward." But lawmakers raised concerns the Trump administration has yet to commit in writing that the fund is dead.

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Jul 15 • 4:21 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Healey defends $2B courthouse deal for company connected to political heavyweights

Gov. Maura Healey is defending the nearly $2 billion state contract for a new Springfield courthouse awarded to a company co-owned by Ayanna Pressley’s husband and the current head of the MCCA.

bostonherald.com logo
Jul 15 • 3:04 PM EDT • Politics • bostonherald.com
Fertitta clears key regulatory hurdle—but biggest Caesars tests remain

But could a rival billionaire be on the prowl to steal the casino operator deal from Fertitta?

chron.com logo
Jul 15 • 1:32 PM EDT • Entertainment • chron.com
Greenland institute halts new collaborations with the US

The Trump administration has cut billions of dollars in public research funding and fired government scientists.

euronews.com logo
Jul 15 • 1:24 PM EDT • Science • euronews.com
In a First, Scientists Witness the Seafloor Spread in Real Time, Giving Them a Rare Glimpse at a Mysterious Geologic Process

Across a matter of days in 2024, the seafloor in part of the Indian Ocean dropped by about 13 feet, and roughly 5.7 billion cubic feet of molten rock rose to the crust's surface, according to a new study

smithsonianmag.com logo
Jul 15 • 12:56 PM EDT • Science • smithsonianmag.com
House Republicans release $95 billion spending bill with no offsets, which could endanger support

Republicans are racing to get money for the Pentagon and farm aid, but fiscal hawks have been asking to balance the budget request.

washingtonpost.com logo
Jul 15 • 11:18 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
House G.O.P. Releases Budget to Unlock $95 Billion for Iran War and SAVE Act

The plan faces a rocky path amid Republican divisions and would pave the way for votes months before the midterm elections to fund a war that polls show is deeply unpopular.

nytimes.com logo
Jul 15 • 9:41 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Elevance Health Profits Eclipse $1.4 Billion As Costs Ease Somewhat

Elevance Health reported second quarter net income of $1.45 billion as medical costs fell in some health plans, triggering an improved outlook for the rest of the year.

forbes.com logo
Jul 15 • 7:06 AM EDT • Health • forbes.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (5%)
love
72%
wow
28%
PayPal stock surges on reports of Stripe and Advent acquisition bid

PayPal shares soar as Stripe and Advent International reportedly propose a $53 billion acquisition, marking a major M&A offer in the payments sector.

businessinsider.com logo
Jul 15 • 6:16 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
China’s Chip Champion to Raise Billions in Race for A.I. Control

CXMT, a linchpin in China’s drive to develop homegrown artificial intelligence technology, is aiming to raise nearly $10 billion in a blockbuster public offering in Shanghai.

nytimes.com logo
Jul 15 • 3:29 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
Wednesday briefing: ​Do MPs have the will to stop mega-donors interfering in UK politics?

In today’s newsletter: The representation of the people bill has become a test of whether ​Britain can curb the surge in billionaire‑backed ​donations trying to influence how we run the country

theguardian.com logo
Jul 15 • 1:47 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com
Tech Investors and Longevity Influencers Back Neko Health’s Mega Round

The health tech start-up co-founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek is worth billions more after a new $700 million funding round.

nytimes.com logo
Jul 15 • 12:00 AM EDT • Health • nytimes.com
Daniel Ek’s Neko Health Raises $700 Million From Billionaires, Celebs

Neko Health, Daniel Ek’s startup developing body-scanning technology, has raised $700 million from venture capitalists, billionaires and celebrities to open new facilities, including one in New York later this year.

bloomberg.com logo
Jul 15 • 12:00 AM EDT • Health • bloomberg.com
Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53 billion, sources say

Payments company Stripe and private equity firm Advent ​International have made a joint offer to ‌acquire PayPal Holdings Inc for $60.50 per share, in a deal that would value the payments company at more ​than $53 billion, two people familiar with the ​matter said.

reuters.com logo
Jul 14 • 11:25 PM EDT • Business • reuters.com
Watch Eternal Founder Goyal Bets on Health Tech, Aerospace

India's quick commerce billionaire Deepinder Goyal is planning to launch his first product after stepping back from the empire he led for 18 years. Goyal says Temple, a wearable device worn on the side of the forehead, will retail for about one-thousand U-S dollars. The founder of Eternal Limited, which counts quick delivery apps Zomato and Blinkit under its umbrella, spoke with Bloomberg's Haslinda Amin in an exclusive interview at his private residence in New Delhi.

bloomberg.com logo
Jul 14 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • bloomberg.com
“Meaningless without the Hope of Jesus”: Willie and Korie Robertson on the Uplifting Entertainment Hub of eKKL

We recently sat down with Stan Jantz to chat about The Chosen, the Come and See foundation, and an ambitious mission to translate the series into 600 languages and share the authentic Jesus with 1 billion people around the globe.

thecollision.org logo
Jul 14 • 12:28 PM EDT • Entertainment • thecollision.org
“I Want to Build People Up”: eKKL Entertainment Co-founder Michael Scott Discusses the Genesis of His Company

We recently sat down with Stan Jantz to chat about The Chosen, the Come and See foundation, and an ambitious mission to translate the series into 600 languages and share the authentic Jesus with 1 billion people around the globe.

thecollision.org logo
Jul 14 • 12:09 PM EDT • Entertainment • thecollision.org
Big Banks Smash Earnings Records, but ‘Tectonic’ Risks Loom

The largest banks in the United States collectively raked in tens of billions of profits in the second quarter, despite the war in Iran and persistent inflation.

nytimes.com logo
Jul 14 • 7:38 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
JPMorgan Posts Record Revenue Across Every Business Line

JPMorgan Chase had record revenue for each of its businesses in the quarter, CEO Jamie Dimon said. Highlights include: Fees from investment banking were up 30% from a year earlier. Revenue from markets rose 35%. Revenue in Consumer and Community Banking rose 8% to $20.27 billion, boosted by

wsj.com logo
Jul 14 • 7:08 AM EDT • Business • wsj.com
Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $1.69 Billion Stake in Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. $LYV

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,095,305 shares of the company's s

marketbeat.com logo
Jul 14 • 5:53 AM EDT • Entertainment • marketbeat.com
How a Promising Navy Drone Boat Program Got Mired in Politics

Navy acquisition reforms upended a $2.1 billion contract competition. When it was over, several companies with ties to the Trump administration had made the cut.

nytimes.com logo
Jul 14 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
BP Flags $1 Billion Writedown From Gas and Low Carbon Business

BP Plc said it expects to book impairments of $1 billion related to its gas and low carbon energy business in the second quarter, as the energy giant refocuses on oil and gas.

bloomberg.com logo
Jul 14 • 2:25 AM EDT • Business • bloomberg.com
Health department rescinds freeze on $10 billion for 5 Democratic states

The reversal of the funding pause came after the administration faced repeated setbacks in a suit challenging the decision, which could have jeopardized programs for low-income households.

seattletimes.com logo
Jul 13 • 11:33 PM EDT • Health • seattletimes.com
Billionaire Kumar Birla’ To Buy Shell’s Indian Renewable Business In $1.8 Billion Deal

The acquisition of Shell's renewable energy business in India will more than double the Aditya Birla Group's renewable energy capacity to almost 10 gigawatts.

forbes.com logo
Jul 13 • 11:12 PM EDT • Business • forbes.com
Health Dept. Rescinds Freeze on $10 Billion for 5 Democratic States

The reversal of the funding pause came after the administration faced repeated setbacks in a suit challenging the decision, which could have jeopardized programs for low-income households.

nytimes.com logo
Jul 13 • 9:57 PM EDT • Health • nytimes.com
Oregon, 14 other states sue Trump administration to block school mental health funding cuts

Fifteen states including Oregon and Washington sued the Trump administration to block funding cuts to a $1 billion program that helps school districts hire and train more mental health professionals.

opb.org logo
Jul 13 • 5:25 PM EDT • Health • opb.org
😐 Neutral (11%)
love
67%
ahah
33%
Vistria sells stake in specialty pharmacy company to Warburg Pincus

Revenue at the Pittsburgh, Penn.-based Pantherx Rare had grown to nearly $10 billion from $2 billion since Vistria's investment.

chicagobusiness.com logo
Jul 13 • 5:19 PM EDT • Business • chicagobusiness.com
😐 Neutral (11%)
wow
100%
The Quintessential Trump-era Politician

In 2020, I wrote an article about collaboration and collaborators. The title was History Will Judge the Complicit, and it started with the story of two famous East Germans, Markus Wolf and Wolfgang Leonhard, who both landed in East Berlin just after the end of the war. Although they came from very similar backgrounds, the former stuck with the regime, eventually becoming its spy boss; the latter, horrified by the brutal reality of Soviet-style communism, escaped. By way of juxtaposition, I also wrote about Lyndsey Graham and Mitt Romney. These two men also made very different decisions when confronted by Donald Trump’s assault on the ideals that they had both grown up believing: A glance at their biographies would not have led many to predict what happened next. On paper, Graham would have seemed, in 2016, like the man with deeper ties to the military, to the rule of law, and to an old-fashioned idea of American patriotism and American responsibility in the world. Romney, by contrast, with his shifts between the center and the right, with his multiple careers in business and politics, would have seemed less deeply attached to those same old-fashioned patriotic ideals. Most of us register soldiers as loyal patriots, and management consultants as self-interested. We assume people from small towns in South Carolina are more likely to resist political pressure than people who have lived in many places. Intuitively, we think that loyalty to a particular place implies loyalty to a set of values. But in this case the clichés were wrong. It was Graham who made excuses for Trump’s abuse of power. It was Graham—a JAG Corps lawyer—who downplayed the evidence that the president had attempted to manipulate foreign courts and blackmail a foreign leader into launching a phony investigation into a political rival. It was Graham who abandoned his own stated support for bipartisanship and instead pushed for a hyperpartisan Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. It was Graham who played golf with Trump, who made excuses for him on television, who supported the president even as he slowly destroyed the American alliances—with Europeans, with the Kurds—that Graham had defended all his life. By contrast, it was Romney who, in February, became the only Republican senator to break ranks with his colleagues, voting to impeach the president. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office,” he said, is “perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” In the wake of Graham’s unexpected death on Saturday, I wrote about him again. He was, in many ways, the quintessential politician of Trump’s Washington, a man who shifted 180 degrees. Graham had been a fervent American patriot, proud reserve officer and military lawyer; he became one of the most important defenders of a president who believes soldiers are “suckers and losers” and shows no respect for law of any kind. As his politics changed, his language grew coarser and his behavior grew worse: He urged Israel to “level the place” in Gaza, and insulted the Danish prime minister in Munich, prompting a colleague, Senator Elissa Slotkin, to issue an apology. Here’s an excerpt from the article, which you can read in The Atlantic (gift link here) Like his close friend John McCain, Graham believed that America should stand at the center of a broad democratic alliance. The few times I met him were in that context, at the Munich Security Conference or at other European-American gatherings, which he once attended with great regularity. He also took seriously the practice of American democracy at home. In a 2014 conversation with The Atlantic, he described himself as a pragmatic politician who eschewed populist slogans. “I know Washington is broken, but what’s broken about it is everybody yelling and nobody trying to fix it,” he said. “I’m trying.” When Donald Trump first appeared in U.S. politics, Graham recognized him immediately for what he was: the spokesman for an alien ideology, one radically different from the idealistic patriotism that Graham had practiced and preached since childhood. Trump privately mocked the military that Graham loved as nothing but “suckers and losers.” He put falsehoods, cynicism, and personal greed at the center of his politics, while expressing disdain for transparency, accountability, and democracy itself. In 2015, Graham described Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who should “go to hell.” Also as a “nutjob.” When Trump won, Graham understood, as did so many others, that he would have to make some important choices. For a while, he went silent. In the spring of 2016, I saw him at one of those conferences in Europe. He seemed too depressed to speak. But then, like many other Republicans—and, more important, like many other people who have lived under political occupation or experienced radical regime change—he made the decision to abandon his previous ideals, to bury the patriotism that was once so important to him, and to become, instead, a loud, opportunistic collaborator. As I wrote in 2020, it’s very hard to look in to anyone’s heart and to understand their motivations from the outside. But it does seem that Graham had a deep need to be relevant, to be in the game, to be a player, at any cost. And that, rather than any particular achievement, is what he will be remembered for. Continuing to monitor conflicts of interest, ostentatious emoluments, outright corruption and policy changes that will facilitate outright corruption. (Read my original article, Kleptocracy Inc and check out the SNF Agora Institute chart) June 27 Trump diverted funds from more than 900 projects nationwide—including safety upgrades at national parks—to finance beautification projects around Washington, including $700,000 used to fix a White House walkway. June 28 After a years-long Department of Justice investigation into Abbott Laboratories over its management of a baby formula facility where potentially deadly bacteria turned up enough evidence to criminally charge the firm, top department officials instead opted for a financial penalty—illustrating the department’s move away from strict corporate enforcement under the Trump administration. June 29 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stacked the Defense Policy Board—which is charged with providing independent national security recommendations to the Office of the Secretary of Defense—with Trump allies, including tech billionaire Marc Andreessen, who has invested in defense contractors like OpenAI and SpaceX, after purging the panel last year. Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in Axon—which makes about 90% of US tasers—two weeks before ICE solicited bids for a $220 million taser contract. The White House unveiled limited-edition US passports for America’s 250th birthday, featuring a portrait of Trump overlaid on the Declaration of Independence. June 30 Trump made around $1.2 billion from his various crypto companies last year, including more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial and $600 million from sales of his meme coin. Trump is considering issuing 250 pardons to commemorate America’s 250th birthday. These are expected to be largely doled out through the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s informal network of intermediaries. White-collar defense attorneys say they can typically win pardons for clients for $2 million. Last year, Trump administration officials awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million to Clark Construction for the White House ballroom—negotiations in which the president was directly involved. July 1 The Amazon MGM Studios documentary about Melania Trump earned the First Lady more than $10 million. Trump made hundreds of individual stock purchases worth as much as $12.8 million the day before his announcement pausing “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days sent the S&P 500 soaring nearly 10%—one of the largest single-day gains ever. Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Doral saw record surges in revenue during Trump’s first year in office, earning $77.5 million and $121.9 million respectively, compared to average annual revenues of $25 million and $75 million during Trump’s first term. Entities across the Persian Gulf paid more than $300 million to Trump’s businesses last year, including $263 million from the sale of half his stake in World Liberty Financial to a firm backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a top UAE royal and brother of the country’s president. Kash Patel failed to properly disclose his stock purchase of a Department of Justice contractor, MicroStrategy, worth up to $250,000 last year, despite laws requiring disclosure within 45 days of the trade. July 2 Trump has been directing administration officials to steer more government contracts—so far worth more than $2.4 billion—to Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin aerospace firm, after Amazon gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, donated to the White House ballroom project, and reached a $40 million deal to license a Melania Trump documentary. Alongside the billions he made from cryptocurrency last year, Trump earned millions of dollars from real estate licensing fees, including $21 million from organizations in the UAE and $9.2 million in Saudi Arabia, along with smaller sums from merchandise sales, including $4.7 million from Trump Watches and $35,920 from 45 Guitar, a guitar brand endorsed by the president. House Democrats accused consultants tied to the Trump administration of financial fraud, alleging they gave prospective donors to America250—the bipartisan committee created by Congress to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial—the banking and routing numbers for Freedom 250, the White House’s fund for events like the UFC cage fight. Democrats also allege that Freedom 250’s CEO traveled to the World Economic Forum in Davos to solicit donations from foreign government officials and business leaders. The Trump administration’s proposed rollback of gun regulations would lift the prohibition on mailing handguns to individuals, a significant win for GrabAGun—the direct-to-consumer firearm retailer on whose board Donald Trump Jr. sits and in which he holds a 1.1% ownership stake. GrabAGun currently must rely on a middleman to transfer firearms to customers. Trump’s financial disclosure revealed that he made more than 21,000 securities trades during his first year back in office, growing his investment account to at least $858 million across stakes in around 1,600 companies, compared to the 13 total trades Joe Biden made during his entire presidency. July 4 Nearly 1 million people who bought the president’s meme coin—Trump Coin—collectively lost $3.8 billion on the token, while he walked away with $636 million. July 6 Shares of Dell closed up 4.4% after Trump recommended people buy the firm’s computers during a speech announcing the launch of Trump investment accounts for children, boosting the more than $1 million worth of shares the president owns in the company. July 9 Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh named crypto investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen to a task force aimed at modernizing the Federal Reserve, including rethinking its approach to inflation—a key factor keeping interest rates elevated. Palm Beach International Airport has officially changed its name to Trump International Airport—a move that will require Florida to pay royalties to the president’s family for licensing his name. I was there a few months ago, during a trip to Barcelona. The sculptures were a revelation, I’d never seen so many together before. Each one has its own personality. Enjoy the good weather, if you are lucky enough to have it. History Will Judge the Complicit The Quintessential Politician Autocracy Inc Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

anneapplebaum.substack.com logo
Jul 13 • 4:19 PM EDT • Politics • anneapplebaum.substack.com
Tariff refunds accelerated sharply in June as the US paid out almost $50 billion to businesses

The US sent out $49.1 billion in tariff refunds in June as the checks to businesses accelerated in the second full month of payouts after the US Supreme Court invalidated President Trump's blanket tariffs.

finance.yahoo.com logo
Jul 13 • 2:58 PM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com
New York among 12 states challenging Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros.

The lawsuit argues that the $81 billion mega merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and threaten jobs across the industry.

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Jul 13 • 2:45 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Paramount Says States' Effort To Block WBD Deal "Will Only Harm Entertainment Workers"

Paramount hit back at an antitrust lawsuit filed Monday by attorneys general of 12 states seeking to block the company's pending $110 billion merger.

deadline.com logo
Jul 13 • 1:34 PM EDT • Entertainment • deadline.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (13%)
ahah
50%
wow
50%
Cosmos Health Accelerates Prescription Medicine Strategy with Libytec Partnership to Commercialize DIABIT-IS X in Greece

Cosmos Health will supply DIABIT-IS X (sitagliptin), while Libytec handles distribution and promotion in GreeceFive-year agreement expected to contribute to revenue and cash-flow visibilityAs a prescription medicine, DIABIT-IS X is expected to be accessible to patients through Greece's national health insurance system, broadening its potential reachDIABIT-IS X is a generic alternative to Merck's Januvia®, which with Janumet® generated approximately $4.5 billion in combined global sales in 2022Po

finance.yahoo.com logo
Jul 13 • 1:00 PM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com
Sugar discovered floating in deep space for the first time

Similarly sweet molecules may have jumpstarted life on Earth over 4 billion years ago.

popsci.com logo
Jul 13 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • popsci.com
Federal health watchdog reports $5.56 billion in expected recoveries, cost savings

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General said its investigations into alleged fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in federal healthcare programs stem from tips submitted through its hotline. During the…

baltimoresun.com logo
Jul 13 • 10:23 AM EDT • Health • baltimoresun.com
Akzo Nobel Rejects Nippon’s $8.5 Billion Bid For Decorative Paints Business

Akzo Nobel's board rejected the €7.5 billion ($8.5 billion) takeover bid by Nippon Paint Holdings—controlled by the family of late Singaporean billionaire Goh Cheng Liang—for the company’s decorative paints unit as it continues to back the proposed merger with Axalta Coating Systems.

forbes.com logo
Jul 13 • 6:35 AM EDT • Business • forbes.com
AI Is Breaking the Memory Chip Business Model

Investors who piled into SK Hynix’s $28 billion blockbuster Nasdaq debut on Friday should be aware: The business model on which the world’s leading memory chip makers are thriving is set to shift to one that requires a bit more strategic and financial gambling. So far, SK Hynix Inc. is making all the right moves but it’s unclear how well the field’s leading players will deal with that disruption.

bloomberg.com logo
Jul 13 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • bloomberg.com
The $20 Billion Business Of Resort Anthropomorphism

Dog butlers, Gucci bowls and pet spas? The real story is how luxury hotels are turning consumer psychology into one of hospitality’s smartest profits

forbes.com logo
Jul 13 • 5:58 AM EDT • Business • forbes.com
Metaverse Market Surge: Entertainment Industry Set to Quadruple by 2032

The global metaverse in entertainment market is experiencing rapid growth, with its market size expected to soar from over USD 30.6 billion in 2026 to more...

globenewswire.com logo
Jul 13 • 4:28 AM EDT • Entertainment • globenewswire.com
Deep dive
😐 Neutral (11%)
wow
100%
Metaverse Market Surge: Entertainment Industry Set to Quadruple by 2032

The global metaverse in entertainment market is experiencing rapid growth, with its market size expected to soar from over USD 30.6 billion in 2026 to more than USD 121.9 billion by 2032. This expansion is driven by increasing demand for interactive digital experiences and technological investments from gaming, media, and tech sectors. Mixed Reality (MR) devices are predicted to grow the fastest, enhancing digital interactions in gaming, concerts, and sports. North America is a key player, leadi

uk.finance.yahoo.com logo
Jul 13 • 4:28 AM EDT • Entertainment • uk.finance.yahoo.com
$11-billion ‘wellness island’ is being built in Abu Dhabi

Fahid Island in Abu Dhabi is a development of homes that promises future residents a coastal neighborhood that will enhance their physical and mental wellbeing.

cnn.com logo
Jul 13 • 3:56 AM EDT • Technology • cnn.com
India's TCS rejigs leadership team, creates new business units

Tata Consultancy Services announced a top-level leadership reshuffle and formed five new business units focused on growth in the U.S. West ​Coast market and its ServiceNow practice as AI threatens to ‌disrupt the $315 billion Indian IT sector.

reuters.com logo
Jul 13 • 1:08 AM EDT • Business • reuters.com
Shein Targets Over $40 Billion Valuation After China Nod for IPO

The fast-fashion retailer has received China’s nod for its long-awaited Hong Kong initial public offering, after its efforts to go public in the U.S. and London faced geopolitical and regulatory hurdles.

wsj.com logo
Jul 13 • 12:58 AM EDT • Business • wsj.com
SK Hynix slumps after US debut euphoria

SK Hynix's US listing became the biggest foreign stock offering in US history, surpassing Alibaba's $25 billion IPO more than a decade ago.

businessinsider.com logo
Jul 13 • 12:06 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
US health watchdog expects $5.56 billion in recoveries and savings

The federal watchdog for the U.S. health department generated $5.56 billion in expected recoveries and projected ​savings over six months and barred 1,212 individuals and companies from federal programs, it said on Monday, even as ‌its overall enforcement activity fell to the lowest level in two years.

reuters.com logo
Jul 13 • 12:03 AM EDT • Health • reuters.com
US Health Watchdog Expects $5.56 Billion in Recoveries and Savings

By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - The federal watchdog for the U.S. health ⁠department ⁠generated $5.56 billion in expected recoveries and projected ⁠savings over six months and barred 1,212 individuals and companies from federal programs, it said on Monday, even as its overall ...

usnews.com logo
Jul 13 • 12:03 AM EDT • Health • usnews.com
Nippon Paint Offers $8.6 Billion for Akzo Nobel’s Paint Business

Nippon Paint Holdings Co. has made an offer for Akzo Nobel NV’s decorative paints business in the past month.

bloomberg.com logo
Jul 12 • 10:47 PM EDT • Business • bloomberg.com
Sky Agrees £1.6 Billion Acquisition of ITV Media & Entertainment to Strengthen UK Media

Sky Agrees £1.6 Billion Acquisition of ITV Media & Entertainment to Strengthen UK Media

thefastmode.com logo
Jul 12 • 10:07 PM EDT • Entertainment • thefastmode.com
“Moana” capsizes with bumpy $43 million U.S. debut, while “Michael” breaks record with $1 billion at global box office

Disney’s live-action remake of the 2016 blockbuster failed to launch, marking a severe downturn after the success of “Toy Story 5.”

yahoo.com logo
Jul 12 • 7:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com
Opinion: The ‘billionaire tax’ dominates this year’s ballot measure politics

The wealth tax is destined to be not only the single most controversial ballot measure this year but probably have the most expensive dueling campaigns.

timesofsandiego.com logo
Jul 12 • 1:00 PM EDT • Politics • timesofsandiego.com
South Florida businesses report economic boom, as FIFA officials estimate a billion dollar economic impact
cbsnews.com logo
Jul 11 • 10:53 PM EDT • Business • cbsnews.com
High-Signal Publisher
😐 Neutral (13%)
love
63%
wow
37%
Seahawks sold for reported record $9.612 billion to group led by 49ers limited partner Vinod Khosla
sports.yahoo.com logo
Jul 11 • 7:02 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Seahawks agree to sell for reported record $9.612 billion to group led by 49ers limited partner Vinod Khosla
sports.yahoo.com logo
Jul 11 • 7:02 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
‘Outrage’: Community and research allies blast Trump plan to politicize U.S. grants

The Office of Management and Budget has proposed a sprawling overhaul of a rule establishing the framework for federal financial assistance that would set up Trump and future presidents to politicize federal grantmaking, shifting grantmaking power to administration appointees and seizing broad latitude for the executive branch in the financial aid process. Wide-ranging opponents of the Trump administration proposal say it would tee up federal agencies to dismiss community needs and congressional intent on a partisan basis as they decide discretionary federal awards – with billions of dollars at stake.

wvgazettemail.com logo
Jul 11 • 5:45 AM EDT • Politics • wvgazettemail.com