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Happy Friday and a happy start to the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament! It's best to wrap up any work you have with European colleagues before they disappear to the pub for the next few weeks.

In today's big story, we're looking at how Saudi Arabia is courting Chinese investors for help with its massive, futuristic city facing financial issues.

What's on deck:

• Markets: A 31-year-old investor just got backing from Millennium Management.
• Tech: Leaked audio reveals Oracle execs' plans to exit the ad business.
• Business: An NYC luxury developer went on a $3 billion real-estate buying spree. Now his empire is showing cracks.

But first, a city on the brink.

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The big story

Saudi Arabia needs backup

Saudi Arabia's dreams of a futuristic city are turning into a financial nightmare, and one of its solutions could spell trouble for the US.

Since 2017, the Kingdom has touted big plans for the desert megacity Neom. The project is the centerpiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030, which hopes to reduce the economy's reliance on fossil fuels.

Neom's planned features are eye-popping, to say the least. There's the world's longest infinity pool, a year-round ski resort, and a mixed-reality theme park. And The Line — a city built between two massive, mirrored skyscrapers — looks straight out of a sci-fi movie.

But all these fancy things don't come cheap. Some estimates for Neom have ballooned up to $1.5 trillion. And while the Kingdom was initially confident foreign investment would help foot the bill, that hasn't been the case.

Now Saudi Arabia is turning to another country with economic headaches: China. The Kingdom hopes China will invest billions in the project, which could deepen ties between the two countries. That's a troubling potential future for the US, Business Insider's Tom Porter writes.

China's interest in Neom could be from multiple angles.

The city plans to heavily use renewable energy, a key area of focus for China as it digs itself out of its economic hole.

But other opportunities for China in Neom are more troubling.

While Neom is being pitched as a "smart city" that collects data on residents, experts previously told BI it could really be part of a massive surveillance program powered by Chinese technology.

China has already been clear that its AI strategy is to shape reality and enforce its power. That type of authoritarian vision is something it shares with Saudi Arabia.

That poses a risk for the US, which needs all the allies it can get in the Middle East as it navigates the war in Gaza.

Still, the Kingdom is running out of options. Saudi Arabia has reportedly already started borrowing to cover costs. And the Crown Prince is also reportedly ready to start having "tough conversations" about the project.

3 things in markets

1. The US dollar is losing its status among the world's central banks. The dollar is still king among central banks' forex reserves. However, its market share has dropped from 70% in 2000 to 55% in the last quarter of 2023, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.
2. A Coatue rising star got a big endorsement from a massive hedge fund. Aaron Weiner's new fund is being seeded by the $68 billion multistrategy giant with a multibillion-dollar check, according to people familiar with the matter. Weiner is Coatue's head of tactical solutions and is set to leave the firm at the end of the year.
3. Another stock could join the trillion-dollar club soon. Broadcom's stock is surging after it posted estimate-beating earnings and announced a 10-to-1 stock split. And Bank of America predicts even greater potential: hitting trillion-dollar market capitalization.

3 things in tech

1. Apple has an AI secret weapon. Although it's not an AI frontrunner, Apple's vast user reach has made it extremely attractive to the leading AI companies who all want to tap into that base. The tech giant's recent deal with OpenAI illustrates just how much power Apple wields.
2. Oracle execs detail plans to exit the ad business. In a leaked recording, executives said the transition will happen in phases, but that there's no "catch-all date" for the move. Another said they'd try to find roles elsewhere in the company for affected employees.
3. Amazon's secret workaround for AI training data. Amazon told employees to sign up for Microsoft's GitHub platform and share their accounts so it could scrape AI training data faster, BI has learned. Account limitations mean collecting data with normal methods would take too long, per the leaked memo.

3 things in business

1. Three layoffs, 200 job apps, no dice. After being laid off from three consecutive corporate jobs, Giovanna Ventola applied to 180 similar roles and 18 minimum-wage "bridge jobs" — but didn't land a single one. She says the experience "completely changed" her outlook on the job market.
2. NYC luxury developer Michael Shvo is facing some challenges. Shvo made a name for himself first as a broker, then as a developer of glitzy projects. But a soft real estate market and a trail of angry business partners and customers are threatening to thwart his big plans.
3. It's official: Musk's pay package is approved. After it was voided by a judge in January, Tesla investors sealed the deal on Musk's $55 billion pay plan (here's how it compares to other CEOs'). But he isn't out of the woods just yet — Tesla must now take it back to court.

In other news

• AI is set to take over advertising's biggest event of the year — and perhaps the industry itself.
• Millennials think Gen Z is lazy — but secretly wish they could say 'no' too.
• Exclusive: 20VC podcast host and investor Harry Stebbings is raising a massive new fund targeting tech startups.
• Scientists share one easy swap you can start doing today that could help you live longer.
• Disney's feud with DeSantis is over — and it's donating to Republicans again.

What's happening today

• Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival begins, with Post Malone headlining.
• Sentencing for Jose Uribe, a businessman who pleaded guilty to bribing Sen. Bob Menendez.

Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

• Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first six episodes of "Perfect Match" season two.
• In the new season, "Love Is Blind" alum Micah Lussier couples up with "Dated & Related" star Kaz Bishop.
• Here's an update on their on their relationship. 

Micah Lussier and Kaz Bishop's relationship seems to be over after the latest batch of "Perfect Match" episodes.

Lussier is on her second attempt at a reality TV romance after trying and failing to find a husband on Netflix's most popular reality show, "Love Is Blind."

She appears in the latest season of "Perfect Match," a Netflix crossover series in which fan favorites from other shows compete and date to find their partner.

In episode two, Lussier pairs up with "Dated & Related" alum Kaz Bishop, and the pair wins two couples' challenges in the season.

But their relationship is constantly tested in the second half of the series. First Bishop is sent on a date with Holly Scarfone, who previously starred in "Too Hot To Handle" season three.

When Bishop returns, he struggles to decide who to pick between Scarfone and Lussier. Lussier gets angry about this situation and calls Bishop a liar. They make up in episode seven and match together again.

However, later in the episode, Lussier and Bishop are caught in another fight after he starts to chat with another new contestant, Brittan Byrd.

In this case, Byrd and the other contestants start the argument by saying that Bishop is unfaithful to Lussier and wants to marry someone else. Bishop tells off the group for spreading lies about him behind their back.

Bishop and Lussier overcome this obstacle but end up in a third argument in episode nine. Lussier is angry with Bishop this time for talking to a third new contestant, Christine Obanor, and kissing Scarfone in a game. Bishop is annoyed that Lussier has told other contestants that they are the weakest couple.

The pair have a screaming match and finally break up. Bishop matches up with Obanor, and Lussier pairs up with Izzy Zapata.

It seems their relationship is officially over, but we will find out if they come back together in the season finale, which airs on Netflix on June 21.

Regardless, here are the other clues that the couple probably isn't together anymore.

Micah Lussier has posted on social media about other dates

Netflix reality series are often filmed months or even years before they premiere. This means that contestants often do not post anything about their relationships from the reality show or new relationships until after the series has aired.

While we do not know exactly when "Perfect Match" season two was filmed, it was likely before the fall of 2023, when some contestants had other TV commitments.

Since September 2023, Lussier has shared three TikTok posts about going on new dates. In the first post shared on September 16, 2023, Lussier shows the man she is dating, and he doesn't look anything like Bishop.

Lussier has not confirmed that she has a new partner, but the fact that she is dating other people means her romance with Bishop probably didn't work out.

Correction: June 7, 2024 — An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Micah Lussier's appearances on "Love is Blind." She was a contestant in one season, not two.

• Harry Jowsey and Jessica Vestal are one of the most consistent couples in "Perfect Match" season two.
• Fans and the media previously speculated that the pair dated in 2023.
• Here's what we know about their relationship on the show and whether they are still together.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first six episodes of "Perfect Match" season two.

Netflix reality star Harry Jowsey may have ruined his relationship with "Love Is Blind" fan-favorite cast member Jessica Vestal after the latest episodes of "Perfect Match" season two.

We don't know for sure what happened next — but it seems pretty unlikely they made it as a couple.

In season two, stars from "Squid Game: The Challenge," "Love Is Blind" and other shows date each other to find their perfect match.

The series gives Netflix the opportunity to give fan-favorite reality contestants more screen time while promoting their lesser-known shows like as "The Trust: A Game of Greed" and "Dated & Related."

In season two, Jowsey, who has a reputation for being a player, arrives in the house and says he is ready to settle down in a serious relationship.

His costars are doubtful, but he perseveres, and in episode three, he couples up with Vestal, who starred in the latest season of "Love Is Blind."

The pair fight in episodes three and five when Vestal questions Jowsey's honesty after she hears negative comments from other contestants. But Vestal sticks by Jowsey.

Their relationship gets messy in episode eight, when the male contestants go on a trip away from their partners and meet a group of female contestants.

Jowsey is caught in a cheating scandal after Melinda Berry accuses him of kissing her off-camera. Jowsey denies the kisses, but Holly Scarfone says she saw it.

When all the contestants get back to the house, Berry tells Vestal, and Vestal is unsure of who to believe. The episode ends before Vestal makes her decision.

Fans will have to wait until the season two finale airs on Netflix on June 21, but here are the clues that the couple are not together.

Vestal and Jowsey were photographed together in Mexico last year

Before "Perfect Match" aired fans were already speculating whether Jowsey and Vestal were dating.

In March, TMZ and PageSix published pictures of Jowsey and Vestal kissing that they claim were taken in June 2023 in Tulum, Mexico.

However, these photographs may have been taken while the cast was filming "Perfect Match" season two since the series was filmed in Tulum.

Jowsey confirmed on the latest episode of his podcast, "Boyfriend Material with Harry Jowsey," that the series was filmed in the summer of 2023.

Vestal implied she was single in March.

In March of this year, Vestal seemed to push back on the idea that she was dating someone.

She posted a TikTok, captioning it: "Trust, y'all will know when someone has wifed me up. Let's focus on the ones who actually might be."

It isn't as definitive as "I'm not in a relationship," but certainly points to an ongoing relationship with Jowsey being unlikely.

In February, Vestal also spoke about another possible non-Jowsey romance.

She said on the "Viall Files" podcast that she was attracted to a costar from "Love Is Blind" season six.

"I had another strong connection there," Vestal said. "I can't say any names because I'm still trying to sort some things out."

Jowsey said he broke up with a secret girlfriend last year.

In the fall of 2023, Jowsey partnered up with professional dancer Rylee Arnold to compete in "Dancing With The Stars" season 32.

However, fans began speculating that the dancing partners were dating after seeing their chemistry and reading reports that they spent Thanksgiving together.

Jowsey shut down the rumors at the time, telling Business Insider in November: "I try and ignore it all because I just want to focus on the dancing. If I get distracted with dating stuff and all that stuff, then I'm probably not going to be a good dancer."

In April, Jowsey said on his podcast, "Boyfriend Material with Harry Jowsey," that he was actually in a secret relationship during the filming of "Dancing With the Stars."

"All those edits kind of brought me and my girlfriend at the time apart," Jowsey said, referring to TikTok videos that elevated the dating rumors about him and Arnold.

This secret girlfriend could have been Vestal since Jowsey never reveals the woman's name in the video. But we don't know — and in any case it was over by the time he mentioned it.

"I was madly in love with this girl," Jowsey said. "It was probably just infatuation, but I thought it was love. Obviously, it ended up ending, and it fizzled out because it's so difficult to see your boyfriend or girlfriend on 'Dancing with the Stars' being that close with someone else."

Jowsey credited the secret girlfriend for keeping him steady during his sudden rise in fame until they eventually broke up.

Vestal calls Jowsey a red flag in TikTok videos

Throughout "Perfect Match," Vestal's costars warned her of Jowsey's poor dating history. However, Vestal ignores them and continues to date him.

After the first episodes of "Perfect Match" aired last week, Vestal also began calling Jowsey a "red flag" on TikTok which seems to imply that they are no longer dating.

On Monday, she posted a video with the caption: "When the entire house is telling you that your match is the world's largest red flag but you gotta see it through."

On Sunday, she appeared in another video shared by her "Perfect Match" costar, Micah Lussier, about their partners on the show.

"When everyone warned you about your man, but you're a lover girl at heart, so you're gonna stick beside him against your better judgment," Lussier captioned the post.

Jowsey meanwhile commented on his relationship with Vestal after the show aired on the latest episode of his podcast.

However, he had nothing but good things to say about her and even said she was "the love of my life."

"I thought that Jess was the most incredible most beautiful woman that I've ever seen in my life," he said.

Jowsey and Vestal are not following each other on Instagram

The biggest clue that they're not together is that Jowsey and Vestal don't follow each other on Instagram.

Jowsey has shared videos and pictures of their time together on the show, but Business Insider has checked and he doesn't follow Vestal. In fact, Jowsey only follows some of his male costars from the show.

Vestal follows most of her male and female costars but not Jowsey.

This could be an attempt to misdirect fans, but they are more likely no longer dating.

Fans will find out the truth when the "Perfect Match" season finale premieres on Netflix on June 21.

• "Yoga Teacher Killer" is about Kaitlin Armstrong, who murdered her boyfriend's lover,  Anna Moriah Wilson.
• Armstrong shot Wilson dead in May 2022.
• Armstrong fled to Costa Rica and evaded the authorities for a month before being caught.

Please add a BI moment

"Yoga Teacher Killer: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story" is based on a murder that happened in May 2022 in Austin, Texas.

The true crime drama tells of how yoga teacher Armstrong (Caity Lotz) discovered that her boyfriend, Colin Strickland (Kyle Schmid), was having an affair with pro-cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson (Larissa Dias).

On May 11 2022, Wilson went to dinner with Strickland in Austin, Texas, before dropping her back to a friend's apartment where she was staying.

After Stickland left, Armstrong arrived at the property and shot Wilson twice in the head and once in the heart in revenge for the affair, assistant district attorney Rick Jones told the court during Armstrong's trial, The Independent reported in 2023.

Police questioned Armstrong three days after Wilson was shot, but she wasn't arrested at the time. She evaded the authorities by flying to Costa Rica using her sister's passport.

There, she had plastic surgery in San Jose to change her appearance and spent 43 days on the run. The task force that traveled to Costa Rica to search for Armstrong spoke to CBS in 2024 about finding her, and Deputy Marshal Damien Fernandez recalled being told by locals it would be difficult.

"I think from the get-go we were told … you're gonna be in for a surprise 'cause a lot of the women in Santa Teresa look just like Kaitlin — a lot of them," he said, referring to the tourists that the town attracts.

According to a 2022 press release from the US Marshals Service, Armstrong was eventually arrested on June 29, 2022at a Santa Teresa Beach hostel in Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Deputy Marshals told CBS that they caught Armstrong by putting out an advert for a yoga teacher near the hostel. She responded and was apprehended before being extradited to Texas.

Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison

On November 17, 2022, Amstrong was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 90 years in prison for killing Wilson. She did not testify during the proceedings, ABC News reported. Armstrong will be eligible for parole after 30 years in 2052.

Following the verdict, Karen Wilson, the victim's mother, addressed Armstrong in court, The Independent reported.

"Kaitlin Armstrong. I'm not sure that my words can penetrate your heart but I'm gonna try. I hate what you did to my beautiful daughter it was very selfish and cowardly.

Referring to Wilson's brother and father, she said: "When you shot Moriah in the heart, you shot me in my heart. You shot Eric and Matt in the heart… You shot cousins and aunts and uncles and all the people who loved her, there in their hearts."

According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Armstrong is currently serving her sentence at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit in Gainesville, Texas.

• Elon Musk said Tesla could be worth $30 trillion one day, and Donald Trump is a Cybertruck fan.
• The Tesla CEO compared cutting costs to washing dishes, and floated an AWS-style cloud business.
• Here's a roundup of Musk's 12 best quotes from the EV maker's annual meeting on Thursday.

Elon Musk proclaimed that Tesla could be worth $30 trillion, compared cost cutting to washing the dishes, and revealed Donald Trump calls him randomly and loves the Cybertruck.

The Tesla CEO spoke at his company's annual meeting in Austin on Thursday. Musk thanked shareholders for approving his controversial $56 billion pay package, and suggested Tesla could emulate Amazon's cloud-computing business.

He also predicted robot companions would become the default, and flagged challenges such as rising US-China tensions and a tougher electric vehicle market.

Here are Musk's 12 best quotes, lightly edited for length and clarity:

1. "I just wanted to start off by saying: Hot damn, I love you guys." (Musk was thanking his shareholders for voting in favor of his contested pay package once valued at about $55 billion.)
2. "I guess I've been pathologically optimistic from birth. If I wasn't optimistic, this factory wouldn't exist."
3. "I think it's actually conceivable, it's within the realm of possibility, for Tesla to achieve a valuation 10 times that of the most valuable company today." (Musk's comment implied a $30 trillion valuation — or 10 times the market value of Apple.)

4. "It's actually pretty wild we have a giant car factory in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's not exactly the cheapest place to have a car factory. It's like that and the Swiss Alps or something."

   

5. "It is a hard problem. I have to say there's quite a lot of brain damage required to be good at cell manufacturing — it's like a brain damage high."
6. "Amazon Web Services became more valuable than the entire rest of Amazon. I think there's some kind of opportunity there that's pretty significant for Tesla down the road. Nobody's really factoring that in." (Musk was envisioning renting out the spare computing power from a fleet of 100 million Tesla vehicles.)
7. "It is getting a little crazy these days. To first approximation, the probability that a homicidal maniac will try to kill you is proportionate to how many homicidal maniacs hear your name. So they hear my name a lot — I'm like, okay, I'm on the list. Think of John Lennon who was singing about, 'Hey, can't we all just be nice to each other,' and then he got shot by one of his fans. Like, okay, we'll try to avoid that."

8. "I have had some conversations with him and he does call me out of the blue for no reason. A lot of his friends now have Teslas and they all love it, and he's a huge fan of the Cybertruck." (Musk was discussing his contact with Donald Trump.)

   

9. "It's tough sledding out there for EVs. Almost every manufacturer has announced reductions in their electric vehicle plans. Now Tesla, we're going to increase, but it is not an easy market."
10. "There's enough lithium refining if you count China. If there's a geopolitical challenge on that front, then there may be a shortage of lithium. I think it's pretty important to be careful with geopolitical risk and just make sure that in a worst-case situation that Tesla is okay." (Musk on Tesla's plans to scale up its lithium refining.)
11. "I really would describe making a car more affordable like 'Game of Thrones' but pennies: Game of Pennies. To be frank, it's not the funnest job in the world, chiseling pennies — it's like washing the dishes."
12. "We're headed for a wild future, I mean wild, wild, wild. Cars will drive themselves, people will have super helpful, humanoid help robots. I think it will get to this point where it'll be odd not to have a robot buddy, not to have your C-3PO and R2-D2." (Musk was touting Tesla's self-driving cars and Optimus humanoid robots.)

• I've stayed in 5-star hotels around the world, but an amenity on a recent trip surprised me.
• My room at the Balmoral in Edinburgh, Scotland, came with a complimentary power adapter.
• It helped me realize that sometimes, the best amenities are the most simple.

The past few times I've gone overseas, my trip has begun in a frenzy.

Without fail, shortly before I leave for the airport, I remember I need a power adapter. So with my bags already packed, I frantically research what kind of adapter I need and tear through my drawers to find one that will (hopefully) work.

I've always found adapters slightly mystifying. Sometimes, they work; sometimes, they don't. Sometimes, I think I have one that's compatible with a country's outlets, only to find out it won't fit.

So when I checked into the Balmoral in Edinburgh, Scotland, last month, I was thrilled to find one sitting on the desk, awaiting my arrival.

A good hotel anticipates what a traveler will need before they can ask for it

In my time as a travel writer, I've stayed in hotels around the world — from five-star accommodations to airport chains.

I've stayed in hotels with Michelin-starred restaurants and members-only cigar clubs, and yet I found this simple, cheap amenity to be one of the most helpful.

It sounds silly: Wouldn't the best amenity be something a little more… luxurious? Of course, the Balmoral had its share of fancy services. It has a fitness center that would make gym buffs swoon, and a scotch bar with hundreds of whiskeys. These are the things that help a five-star hotel earn its rating.

But I think some of the best hotels are those that predict a traveler's every need.

We've come to expect snacks and drinks in our rooms for when we're feeling peckish or slippers for the morning walk to the shower. It's only natural that this kind of thoughtful treatment should apply to the more granular parts of a hotel stay.

Other hotels should take notes

Having a travel adapter at my disposal felt like one less thing to worry about when I got to Edinburgh. I could charge my phone or start work right away instead of having to head out on a hunt for an adapter (which I have done before).

A spokesperson for the Balmoral told me that the adapters are in every room in the hotel. Guests don't get to keep them, but they're useful during the stay.

The adapter, despite being so simple, was exactly the kind of smart amenity I think every hotel should have — five stars or not.

• Honda has unveiled the N-VAN e, a tiny electric truck costing from $15,500.
• The diminutive truck is targeted at delivery companies and goes on sale in Japan in October.
• Japan is famous for its tiny Kei cars, which are ideal for short journeys and city driving.  

Japan is famous for its tiny vehicles, known as Kei cars, which are well suited for navigating the narrow streets of crowded cities like Tokyo.

The country's best-selling electric vehicle last year was the Nissan Sakura, a $13,000 electric Kei car that outsold EV giants like Tesla, according to data from auto industry groups compiled by Bloomberg.

Now, Honda is getting into the tiny EV game. The Japanese automaker has unveiled the N-VAN e, a miniature electric truck that starts at 2.44 million yen ($15,500).

It comes as Japan lags behind the rest of the world in transitioning to EVs. Just 2.2% of new passenger cars sold in Japan in 2023 were electric, according to data from industry bodies, compared to 25% in EV pace-setter China, per Nikkei.

Honda's electric truck will be targeted at delivery and construction companies rather than ordinary consumers. The company is already trialing the pocket-sized truck with logistic firm Yamato.

The EV will have a range of 152 miles and will be able to charge in 30 minutes with fast charging, Honda says.

Honda has also attempted to solve the issues EVs have in hot and cold temperatures, installing a battery cooling and heating system to ensure it remains at a stable temperature.

The company says the N-VAN e will also function as a mobile power storage device, with drivers able to use the truck's external power outlet to charge household appliances such as hot plates and electric kettles.

The N-Van can seat between one and four people, depending on which style the buyer selects; each option varies in price. The truck is expected to launch in Japan in October.

Separately, Honda announced it would establish a new company in partnership with fellow Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi.

The new joint venture, Altna, will aim to lower the cost of electric vehicles and extend the lifetime of EV batteries.

Like other Japanese automakers, Honda was slow to get into the EV game.

However, it is now racing to electrify, investing $11 billion in a Canadian EV hub and pledging to have 80% of its vehicle lineup be EVs by 2035 and 100% by 2040.

• Donald Trump met with some of America's top CEOs on Thursday.
• The former president pledged to slash taxes and red tape in a bid to win over corporate America.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook and JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon were among those attending the event.

Donald Trump made his pitch to some of America's top CEOs on Thursday, promising to cut taxes and red tape in a bid to win over corporate America.

The former president was among the speakers at a Business Roundtable event in Washington, D.C. attended by Wall Street titans including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America's Brian Moynihan, and Citigroup chief Jane Fraser.

Trump's economic advisor Stephen Moore said Apple CEO Tim Cook had a front-row seat at the event, Reuters reported.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee laid out his right-wing economic agenda as part of an hour-long conversation with the conservative commentator Larry Kudlow, per The Financial Times.

Trump promised to consider cutting the top corporate tax rate from 21% to 20%, The Associated Press reported, citing a person familiar with Trump's remarks.

The FT reported that Trump also emphasized deregulation and a desire to use tariffs as a "negotiating tactic" with other countries.

Joe Biden, Trump's likely opponent in November's election, did not attend the Business Roundtable event as he is attending the G7 summit in Italy.

Standing in for the president, chief of staff Jeff Ziets emphasized the Biden administration's efforts to rebuild the economy in the aftermath of the pandemic and said the Federal Reserve's independence has boosted US capitalism, per AP.

The Wall Street Journal reported in April that Trump allies are drawing up plans to wrest control over some monetary policy decisions from the central bank.

While the former president's reputation on Wall Street hit rock bottom in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riots, top CEOs have softened their tone on him in recent months.

Dimon was highly critical of Trump when he left office but said earlier this year that the billionaire businessman — and now convicted felon — had been "kind of right" on some issues, including NATO and immigration.

• US President Joe Biden at the G7 pledged a decade of security support for Ukraine. 
• He said the US was not "backing down" in helping Ukraine fight Russia.
• But the promise may be worth less than it appears. 

At the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed a "historic" new 10-year security deal signed with US President Joe Biden.

Under the deal, the US will work with Ukraine for the next decade to boost its military capabilities, its defense industrial base, its economy, and its energy infrastructure.

The G7 also provided Ukraine with a much-needed $50 billion loan, which will be paid back using interest on frozen Russian assets.

A war of attrition

"We're not backing down," Biden said, warning Russia's President Vladimir Putin that "he cannot wait us out."

The move is an apparent response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategy for wearing down Ukrainian resistance and the support of its allies by waging a drawn-out war of attrition.

Putin on Friday said he'd be willing to discuss a peace deal in Ukraine if Kyiv renounces its bid for Nato membership and withdraws its troops from four contested regions.

Analysts warn that the Russian president's claims to be seeking peace talks ought to be treated with skepticism. Ukraine is also highly unlikely to accept such conditions.

It seems the war will continue to be a long, drawn-out conflict.

Hollow promises

US support is key to preventing a Ukrainian defeat. However, the US security deal stops short of providing Ukraine with the path to NATO membership it's long requested.

The pledge signed by Biden is also an "executive agreement, rather than a formal treaty, meaning it can undone by a future president.

Republican candidate Donald Trump holds a narrow lead over Biden in recent polls and has offered, at best, ambiguous commitments to continue helping to defend Ukraine if elected.

He's criticized the amount of money the US is spending on the war and promised to end it, yet offered few details on how.

The deal also contains few concrete financial pledges, instead committing the White House to work with Congress to secure the funding to meet its security commitments to Ukraine.

This won't prove easy. For several months in 2023 and early 2024, a faction of isolationist Republicans in Congress held up a $61 billion Ukraine aid bill.

During that time, Ukraine saw its ammunition supplies running perilously low, and Russia threatened to break through Ukrainian defensive lines.

A divided Congress

In a Congress starkly divided along partisan lines, Biden, even if he wins in November, may find it difficult to build a consensus for new Ukraine aid bills.

Zelenskyy acknowledged the difficulties in his remarks at the G7. "For how long will the unity in the world remain? The unity in the US, together with European leaders," he said, with elections scheduled in several states that have provided support for Ukraine.

But Zelenskyy had a stark warning on the potential consequences if Western countries fail to meet their commitment to help Ukraine battle Russian aggression.

"If Ukraine does not withstand, the democracy of many countries, I am sure, won't withstand either," he said.

• Elon Musk knows his people back him.
• Tesla shareholders voted in favor of his huge pay package on Thursday.
• He'll now have to prove Tesla is his top priority if he wants them to keep backing him.

The people have given Elon Musk what he wants. They'll now expect him to return the favor.

On Thursday, the billionaire jumped for joy at Tesla's annual meeting in Austin as the outcome of a high-stakes, long-anticipated vote went entirely in his favor — thanks to his people.

Not only did Musk get shareholder approval for his huge pay package — a compensation deal agreed on by Tesla's board in 2018 that was voided by a Delaware court judge in January — but he also won approval to reincorporate the company in Texas.

"Hot damn, I love you guys!" was Musk's message to a crowd of buzzing retail investors who earned the opportunity to see the electric vehicle boss up close in person through a random draw.

Hours later, he showed his gratitude to shareholders again by posting a picture to X of a cake with the words "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" written on it. The Latin phrase roughly translates to "the voice of the people is the voice of God."

Though Musk still has to fight the Delaware court to reverse the decision on his pay package — and faced sharp criticisms over his pay from top shareholders, including Norway's sovereign wealth fund — he'll be aware that the majority vote in favor of it is a vote of confidence from his people in his leadership, too.

He'd be wise not to take that for granted, however. Musk's leadership of Tesla has been built on wildly ambitious promises that his backers will now expect him to deliver on.

Doing that will mean making Tesla his top priority.

Big promises

Among the biggest promises Musk has made to Tesla fans is a revolutionary step forward in autonomous driving.

Earlier this year, he fueled huge anticipation on that front among the Tesla base by getting them to mark August 8 in their calendars as the date that he'll be ready to reveal the company's first robotaxi.

For years, the Tesla chief has teased a full-self-driving (FSD) car, suggesting in 2021 that "the day FSD goes to wide release will be one of the biggest asset value increases in history."

Shareholders and fanboys will expect him to deliver, with expectations high.

In a research note on Thursday, analysts at Wedbush wrote that with "the next chapter in the Tesla growth story around autonomous and FSD" on the horizon, the company's valuation could surge past $1 trillion in 2025.

Musk thinks FSD could take Tesla a whole lot further. During Thursday's shareholder meeting, the Tesla chief made the audacious claim that Tesla could reach a $30 trillion market capitalization in the future, factoring in its future robotics and AI plans.

Tesla is now worth around $582 billion. Its market capitalization peaked at about $1.2 trillion in November 2021. Musk has given himself a huge gulf to cross.

That's especially so as autonomous driving has proven a difficult technological challenge to crack for the automotive industry at a global scale, so there's no guarantee FSD will help Musk reach his destination.

Stretched responsibilities

Wall Street might prefer it if he focused on worrying trends that have emerged in Tesla vehicle deliveries recently.

Musk, who once promised that Tesla could sell 20 million cars a year by 2030, has faced criticism over his stretched responsibilities across companies including X, SpaceX and xAI at a time when Tesla sales have shown signs of weakness.

In April, Tesla revealed that it had sold around 386,000 cars in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 20% drop from the preceding three months.

If Musk is serious about turning that around, he'll need to get focused and prove to Tesla fans that his plans around AI, robotics and more will all help reignite demand for his vehicles.

They'll be banking on it.