Plus: Why The Next Pope Faces Major Money Challenges |
Good morning,
President Donald Trump appears to be softening on his steep China tariffs, and his shifting whims once again moved markets.Trump indicated his 145% levies on Chinese goods would “come down substantially,” and markets got a further boost after the Wall Street Journal reported the Trump Administration intends to slash the import taxes by more than half. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday at a 1.1% gain, the S&P 500 received a 1.7% boost, and the Nasdaq increased 2.5%. But Chinese officials on Thursday said that any claims of progress in trade talks between China and the U.S. were “groundless and have no factual basis,” while reiterating its stance that the Trump Administration must drop all unilateral tariffs against the country.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
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| Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s fortune grew by $7.5 billion Wednesday, despite the EV maker reporting abysmal quarterly results, as Musk indicated he would recommit to the company and scale back his White House role. The comments were music to the ears of investors and analysts concerned about Musk’s outspoken politics and time spent at DOGE. Evercore ISI analysts described the Tesla chief’s tone on the earnings call as “Mea culpa Elon.” The European Union fined Apple and Meta $570 million and $228 million, respectively, after a year-long investigation into the companies’ compliance with its Digital Markets Act, which aims to make it easier for smaller companies to compete with global tech giants. It’s the bloc’s latest antitrust action against big tech, though both companies appear likely to appeal the ruling. |
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|  | | Illustration by Philip Smith for forbes; Photo by Vatican Pool/Getty Images |
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Choosing a successor to Pope Francis comes at a critical time for the Catholic Church. There are the obvious hot-button theological divisions, but Vatican insiders report that religious issues will not be the only ones debated by the 135 cardinals gathering for the upcoming papal conclave. Some are also concerned with management expertise and who might make a good Vatican CEO. That might come as a surprise to those who think of the Holy See only as the home for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. And Vatican City is a sovereign nation with diplomatic missions in 183 countries. So while the next pope needs to be a religious scholar and good communicator, having the skillset of a top CEO might be more necessary now than at any time in the church’s nearly 2,000-year history. The pope, of course, is a non-hereditary monarch and has more executive powers than any CEO on the planet—and he does not have to answer to a board of directors or shareholders. Francis did more during his tenure than any pope to push the Holy See to adapt modern financial practices and no longer operate in the shadows, without oversight or checks and balances. Despite all of his ambition as a reformer, Francis often had to battle a secret internecine war with Vatican bureaucrats who tried undermining his efforts.
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Francis’ reign demonstrated that while charisma and a compelling vision for reform is important, it is just as necessary to have a pope who is willing to stand firm against the old guard. While the spiritual vision of the next pope will ultimately determine whether he is an effective leader of the Catholic Church, don’t underestimate the importance of him also being a tough, no-nonsense CEO—with one eye on heaven and the other on the bottom line.
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Florida-based metaverse startup Infinite Reality claims it raised more than $3 billion from a sole unnamed investor, which would make the obscure company the beneficiary of one of the biggest funding rounds of the year. But that’s deeply implausible: The company’s reported revenue figures would give it a higher multiple than the hottest AI startups like Anthropic and OpenAI, and the firm and its CEO have faced a string of lawsuits from creditors who say they are chasing unpaid bills. President Donald Trump has pledged to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world,” and now the investment firm his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick built is backing a new bitcoin venture, along with stablecoin giant Tether and SoftBank Group. Twenty One Capital, a bitcoin accumulation vehicle aimed at Wall Street institutions, will hit the ground running with roughly 42,000 bitcoin, worth $3.6 billion, making it the third-largest corporate bitcoin holder. MORE: The price of Trump’s official meme coin jumped sharply late Wednesday, after an announcement that the token’s top 220 holders will be given a chance to attend an exclusive “gala dinner” with the president, a move that is likely to raise ethical concerns. |
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WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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China dominates the market for rare earth elements, which are used to make everything from missiles to robots and CT scanners, but Australia’s richest woman is working to change that. Gina Rinehart’s $800 million rare earths portfolio, a small part of her $30 billion mining fortune, includes an 8.5% stake in MP Materials, which operates the only working rare earths mine in the U.S. |
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Meta’s oversight board criticized the company’s updates to its hateful conduct policies, such as allowing users to describe LGBTQ people as mentally ill, and urged the company to consider its “human rights impact.” The social media giant announced sweeping changes to its hateful conduct policy and other content moderation standards in January, including abandoning its third-party fact-checking program, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg billed as a move to improve free speech. |
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President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday that a Republican proposal to raise taxes on those earning $1 million or more per year would “be very disruptive because the millionaires would leave the country.” The proposal reportedly would have created a 40% tax rate on millionaires, and appeared to have some initial support from Vice President JD Vance and budget director Russell Vought, according to the Washington Post. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has promised to root out diversity, equity and inclusion, but his No. 2 in charge, billionaire investor Steve Feinberg, has spent nearly $40 million on scholarship programs for Black students in recent years. Feinberg’s foundation’s biggest beneficiary appears to be Tuskegee University, which received a $5 million grant, one of the largest gifts ever for the historically Black school. |
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Nearly half of Americans live in places with failing grades for air pollution, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. The study measured cities and counties based on ozone pollution, short-term particle pollution and annual particle pollution: |
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More than 156 million
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The number of people in the U.S. who live in communities where at least one measure of air pollution received a failing grade
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42 million
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The number who live in areas that failed all three pollution measures
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‘[L]eaving families even more vulnerable’
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says ALA president and CEO Harold Wimmer of funding cuts to the EPA
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Imposter syndrome can often pop up for job searchers as they consider whether to apply to a role: many may ask themselves if they’re really qualified. That’s a mistake, because a job description is more of a wishlist than a list of requirements, and women are also more likely to perceive themselves as less qualified. And don’t spend too much time wondering if you’d like the role, it’s worth applying to find out more through the interview process. |
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GAMES
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QUIZ
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As President Donald Trump’s tariffs rattle markets, the Trump Store is making a push into an alternative asset. What kind of asset is it? |
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A. |
Cryptocurrency |
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B. |
Real estate |
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C. |
Gold |
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D. |
NFTs |
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