Plus: How Jared Kushner’s Bold Bets In The Middle East Made Him A Billionaire |
Good morning,
Businesses may only have to report their earnings twice a year if President Donald Trump gets his way.Trump brought up the idea, which he floated during his first term, in a Truth Social post Monday, suggesting it would save money and be more efficient. The SEC would need to approve such a change, and has mandated that companies report their earnings every quarter since 1970. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett wrote in 2018 that quarterly reports often lead to “an unhealthy focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term strategy.” Still, critics of the idea argue that less frequent earnings could hurt the accuracy of stock prices and open up more potential for insider trading.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
|
| Make Forbes your preferred source in Google. Here’s how. |
|
|
| The Trump Administration says it has reached a framework deal with China to keep TikTok online in the U.S., as the latest deadline for Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban approaches this week. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the agreement requires TikTok to switch to “U.S.-controlled ownership,” though it’s still unclear who would take ownership. MORE: A deal would end TikTok’s nine-month limbo, but depending on the details, it would also conclude a period of unprecedented U.S. and Chinese leverage over the app. For Chinese President Xi Jinping, that means a clean break between TikTok and ByteDance, and for Trump, it means striking a deal confined to the private sector, without giving the government ownership or control over the app. |
|
 | | Jared Kushner John Lamparski/Getty Images |
|
| | | |
|
|
| Jared Kushner is now a billionaire with an estimated fortune of just over $1 billion. That’s up from at least $900 million a year ago, and he joins the billionaire ranks alongside his brother Josh (net worth: $5.2 billion) and his father-in-law, President Donald Trump ($7.3 billion). That’s thanks in part to Affinity Partners, the private equity firm he founded in early 2021 after leaving his position as a senior advisor to President Trump in his first term. Affinity raised $1.5 billion last year from two existing backers, the Qatari sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi-based Lunate. Kushner owns 100% of Affinity, which is currently worth $215 million—up from $170 million in October—based on Forbes estimates. His biggest private equity win to date is an Israeli business he tried to buy into more than a decade ago. In 2014, Kushner—then 33—was in his sixth year as CEO of Kushner Companies, the New York City-based real estate company cofounded by his father and grandfather, and was looking for new investments. His target: Israeli insurance and financial services firm Phoenix. Kushner entered into a tentative deal to buy a 47% stake in the company, but regulatory hurdles soon proved too complicated, and the bid fell through. Since then, Kushner has deepened his business ties in Israel and amassed more money to spend through Affinity. The funds raised set him up for a second shot at Phoenix. Affinity has spent around $250 million on a nearly 10% stake over the past year, one of its largest public bets. Kushner says it’s the firm’s “best investment” and that he’s already made an over 9-times return so far, including leverage. |
|
|
| “Most of Affinity’s investors are connections Kushner made while serving in the White House during Trump’s first term,” write Forbes’ Giacomo Tognini and Monica Hunter-Hart. “That makes him one of many Trump family members who are turning political connections into lucrative opportunities. Kushner’s strategy is unusual: He’s been pumping money into Israel at a time when many international investors are reluctant to make bets in the country because of the war.” |
|
|
| Remedio, a startup founded by Israeli intelligence alum Tal Kollender, has developed an AI model that acts like a hacker, identifying misconfigurations that could be useful for exploitation and then alerting IT. The firm has raised $65 million in its first funding round, valuing the company at $300 million, according to a source familiar with the raise. |
|
| A federal appeals court on Monday night dismissed President Donald Trump’s emergency bid to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, a ruling that comes hours before a key two-day meeting, where the central bank is set to make a decision on interest rates. In the concurring opinion, Judge Bradley Garcia wrote that granting the government’s emergency request to allow for Cook’s removal would “upend, not preserve, the status quo.” Trump announced Monday that he is filing a $15 billion libel lawsuit against the New York Times, alleging the newspaper was acting as a “mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party. The lawsuit comes just days after Trump threatened to sue the newspaper after it published a series of articles about a lewd drawing and birthday message for Jeffrey Epstein allegedly signed by Trump. |
|
| The FAA and airlines have been slow to respond to the rise of “fume events,” where toxic jet engine fumes have leaked into aircraft cabins—mainly on Airbus A320s, which are used by the three largest U.S. legacy airlines. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that thousands of these events have been reported to the FAA since 2010, sometimes leaving flight crew members and passengers with neurological damage resembling that of concussion victims. |
|
| The new Demon Slayer film broke records in its debut weekend, becoming the biggest opening for an anime film in the U.S. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is the first in a trilogy intended to conclude the corresponding anime TV series: |
|
$70 million | The amount the film grossed at the domestic box office this weekend | |
| 1999 | The year the previous record for an anime film was set by Pokémon: The First Movie | |
| $283 million | The amount the film has grossed internationally, as of Sunday |
|
| It might seem counterintuitive, but exhausting yourself on the daily grind at work isn’t the way to success. Research shows overexertion leads to diminishing returns—be strategic with your time, and breakthroughs will come when you’re not forcing them. And be sure to get enough sleep, because tired brains don’t make the best decisions. |
|
| GAMES | | QUIZ | | Despite leading in 2025 Emmy nominations, Severance was upset in the best drama category. Which show took home the award? | |
|
|
|
