fortune--2020-11-06--What Biden could do about the climate crisis—even without a Democratic Senate

If there’s one thing working on climate for a living teaches you, it’s coping with uncertainty. If there are two, it’s how politics seemingly trumps all else.
Welcome to the wondrous world of climate politics.
On Friday morning, votes were still being counted, leaving Democratic candidate Joe Biden on the brink of claiming victory over President Donald Trump. Control over the U.S. Senate—through which much of Biden’s $2 trillion climate agenda would need to pass—looks likely to hang in the balance of two runoff elections in Georgia. Biden in the White House with Democratic allies in total control of Congress could clearly do much more to rein in carbon-dioxide emissions than a president working alone.
Still, there’s a lot a climate president could do. Even the simple step of returning to science-based policymaking would be an enormous improvement and an important first step. A task force put together during the campaign and led by former Secretary of State John Kerry and Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, identified 56 policy moves on climate and energy that don’t need help from Congress.
To help sort through some of the possibilities, I checked in with energy economist and lawyer Danny Cullenward and political scientist David Victor, authors of the timely new book Making Climate Policy Work. They both emphasized the reality of polarization that will hold true regardless of what happens in Georgia.
“The Senate balanced on a knife-edge will mean that putting through new legislation will require a careful effort to bring along many different interests,” Victor says. “Climate policy by itself won’t carry the day—it must be linked to broader agendas of social justice, addressing inequality, and first and foremost economic recovery.”
The first test will likely be any kind of economic stimulus package. That’s not a certainty with a Republican-controlled Senate, which didn’t vote on a second stimulus bill before the election. But there’s at least some hope, whereas the chance of climate legislation is close to zero. That makes it particularly important for a Biden administration to use a climate lens for any measures aimed at stimulating the economy, since other spending measures will likely be limited.
Republicans’ sudden, newfound love for fiscal austerity may well rekindle interest in a (modest) carbon tax. Expect lots of talk of “budget reconciliation,” a parliamentary process by which budgetary measures can be passed without needing to overcome any filibuster in the Senate.
Senate cooperation might also limit who can be put into any posts requiring Senate confirmation, unless Biden follows President Trump’s lead and bypasses Senate confirmation by appointing people to “acting” posts.
Without the Senate, a Biden presidency could refocus the spotlight on climate policies controlled by the executive branch. Rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement is important, although largely symbolic alone. The key question there is how credible and durable administrative action will be.
Opening a climate office in the White House, which could coordinate executive orders and regulatory actions and, for example, government procurement, would mark a big change. That places the emphasis on agencies and regulatory tools that can set the tone for years to come—think clean infrastructure investments and government building retrofits, rather than reversible short-term action.
These actions would go well beyond regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act, which could help accelerate the move toward cleaner cars and electricity. Cullenward pointed to an important, oft-overlooked agency: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which sets important guidelines around policy support for zero-carbon energy sources. It “operates under a totally different legal paradigm—economic regulation, rather than pollution control or natural resource management,” Cullenward says.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission could also prove crucial. The SEC is essential to setting standards around disclosure of climate-related corporate information. Similarly, the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee just recently released a major climate report led by Bob Litterman (with whom I have co-authored a recent carbon pricing study). The report’s first recommendation is to “establish a price on carbon,” something neither CFTC itself or anyone in the White House can do alone beyond individual sectors like power generation. But there are dozens of concrete actions financial regulators can take, the report noted, from including climate risk explicitly as part of its mandate “to monitor and identify emerging threats to financial stability.”
Cullenward emphasizes the enormous potential for climate action from a White House “that understands the distinct areas of legal and policy expertise required to navigate a coordinated push in energy regulation, financial regulation, and tax policy.” None of this will come easy, especially not in a deeply divided country. But policy action towards climate is the way the trends now point.
Drowned out by U.S. election news, China this week followed its net carbon-neutrality commitment by 2060 with a pledge to phase out non-hybrid internal combustion engines by 2035. The EU, Japan, South Korea and others have now embraced 2050 targets for zeroing out emissions. A Biden administration’s task of speeding up progress toward a low-carbon, high-efficiency future will be easier than trying to stand in the way of fundamental market trends and apart from the rest of the world. The future always bats next.


fortune--2020-11-06--Karen Lynch tapped as new CEO of CVS

Karen Lynch tapped as new CEO of CVS

Who won the election ?
Putin and Xi , experts say

CVS Health Corp. named Karen Lynch as its next chief executive officer, putting a seasoned insurance executive in place to succeed longtime leader Larry Merlo. The shares jumped.
The change reflects how CVS has evolved under Merlo’s direction from a pharmacy chain into a health conglomerate that sells insurance coverage, administers drug-benefit plans and offers care, including Covid-19 testing.
Lynch, 57, joined CVS in 2018 when it bought Aetna, where she was seen as a likely successor to its CEO, Mark Bertolini. Lynch will be one of the highest-profile female executives in business, leading a company with a market value of more than $80 billion. On Friday, CVS boosted its full-year forecast as it prepared to play a role in vaccinating people for Covid-19.
“My focus is on building on the strong foundation and positive momentum we have across the company to continue to address the human aspects of health,” Lynch said in a call with analysts Friday. Her appointment will be effective Feb. 1, and she will join the board upon assuming her new role, CVS said in a statement.
CVS gained 5.3% to $64.64 at 10:02 a.m. in New York trading. Through the close on Thursday, the stock had declined 17% since the year began.
Lynch’s background matches the company’s ambitions, said Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut. “That’s where they want to go as a company, and that’s where her value will be,” he said.
Merlo, 64, became CEO in 2011 and molded CVS into a health-industry bellwether. In his nine years at the helm, CVS has expanded its number of stores to 9,900, along the way acquiring Aetna in 2018 for $68 billion. He will remain on the board until CVS’s next annual meeting in May, and ill serve as a strategic adviser to assist with the transition until he retires on May 31, the company said.
“If we told you a year ago that to-date, 6 million people would have gone to their local CVS pharmacy for a diagnostic test related to some virus, it would probably get an eyeball roll,” Merlo said during the conference call. “The reality is, that’s happened.”
Pandemic challenge
Like many health-care companies, CVS has been challenged by the coronavirus pandemic. The initial wave of infections that spread across the U.S. in the spring disrupted both its retail and its pharmacy business, as Americans avoided shopping and visits to the doctor.
However, some of those pressures have eased, and CVS boosted its outlook for the year on Friday after posting stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings. The company has stepped up coronavirus testing at its stores, and its retail sales are climbing.
CVS reported adjusted earnings of $1.66 a share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.33 a share, and $67.06 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting $66.66 billion.
Retail revenue rose 6% from a year earlier to $22.73 billion. At the same time, however, new prescriptions slid from a year earlier, a sign that many Americans remain uneasy about going to the doctor in the pandemic. Infections meanwhile are rising again, with new daily cases topping 100,000 for the first time this week.
Elective surgeries have generally resumed, though how much medical care people are seeking varies across the country based on how the virus is spreading, Lynch said on the call.
Covid testing
The pharmacy chain now offers Covid-19 screening at about 4,000 of its nearly 10,000 stores, and the company will vaccinate residents and employees of long-term care facilities against Covid-19 through a partnership with the U.S. government. Vaccines will also be available at its pharmacies in later stages of the rollout.
CVS now expects to open at least 1,300 Health Hub locations by the end of 2021, Merlo said on the call.
The hubs, to be located in remodeled stores, offer more health services than a typical CVS drugstore and are geared toward treating people with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. CVS will also introduce behavioral health services to the Health Hubs in January, Merlo said.
The company has already opened 450 Health Hubs. It had planned to open 1,500 by the end of 2021, but the pandemic has slowed renovations and those last 200 stores could spill over into 2022, Merlo said.


fortune--2020-11-06--Blackstone’s Co-Head of Real Estate describes the post-pandemic office

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Many offices now sit empty as many shops hang by a thread. Casinos, hotels, and amusement parks are fading into memory as consumers turn toward socially distant activities.
So what does the future of real estate—and cities—look like?
That’s the question Fortune posed to Blackstone Global Co-Head of Real Estate Kathleen McCarthy. Even before the pandemic, American malls were on the decline as e-commerce soared, and office spaces were being rejiggering to fit quirky amenities (ahem, beer taps and meditation rooms) common among top companies. The coronavirus, says McCarthy, may well mean that some malls and department stores turn into e-commerce centers, while office spaces undergo more renovation to include, say, better air filtration.
Blackstone, known for its sprawling corporate real estate portfolio, has been remarkably resilient in the pandemic, a phenomenon it attributes to betting early on the rise of the technology and life sciences industries. Blackstone’s biggest real estate bets in recent years have featured warehouses rather than retail spaces: Last year, it acquired assets of Singaporean-based giant GLP for $18.7 billion and U.S.-based Colony Industrial for $5.9 billion. Those all sit within a group of assets it calls logistics, which now make up 36% of its real estate portfolio and is valued at about $90 billion including debt.
Blackstone’s real estate bets are made through two vehicles: Blackstone Real Estate Partners (or BREP) and the Core+ category. While the S&P Global REIT Index, which tracks the performance of property holdings companies, fell about 19% year-to-date as of late October, BREP funds fell just 1.1% year-to-date and the Core+ funds grew 2.2%, the company revealed during its third-quarter earnings call in late October.
Here is our conversation—on why Blackstone decided to invest in warehouses early on and why WeWork wasn’t entirely insane—lightly edited for clarity.
How did Blackstone decide to invest in sectors such as warehouses and life sciences?
We invest by contemplating what is happening in the broader world. When you think about our warehouse investing, life sciences investing, content creation, or rental housing, we look out on the world and say, what are some big mega trends that will or should cause positive tailwinds for real estate? That’s how we’ve ended up with billions in warehouses in the past decade and why we, over the summer, invested in a portfolio of assets in partnership with Hudson Pacific Properties, which are studio assets on the West Coast.
We also examine information coming out of the portfolio both across the firm and across the real estate portfolio. Retail, for example, was a theme we moved away from—I think we haven’t had a traditional mall in the U.S. in 10 years—because we looked out and saw two things happening in the world: Goods were moving online. At the same time we were looking at retail assets we owned a decade ago, and they were doing fine, but we didn’t think they were going to outperform other opportunities for our capital.
Do you have an example of applying information from other parts of Blackstone’s portfolio to make a bet on a real estate asset?
The best example I can think of is actually one in reverse. It’s in biotech: We made an investment in BioMed Realty five years ago in a $8 billion transaction, and recently announced the sale of that company. (Editor’s note: BioMed provides real estate and laboratory space to life sciences companies, and was most recently valued at $14.6 billion, making it the third most profitable transaction by any Blackstone fund.) Our insight into that space led to, in part, the creation of a dedicated life science business in Blackstone, as well as other life science-oriented investments across the firm—our Tactical Opportunities fund later made an investment in Cryoport. (Editor’s note: Blackstone invested $275 million in the company, which helps transport medical goods in controlled temperatures, earlier this year.)
Has Blackstone sought to systematize or quantify the investing process more? For instance, assigning rankings to potential investments based on promise?
We try to find themes we like and dedicate resources and teams in that direction. For example, we have a lot more folks looking for warehouse investments around the world compared to folks tracking what is happening in the retail space. Though we are more cautious on the retail space, we don’t ignore it altogether: We do still need to be aware of what is happening in that sector. We look at all the data available to us coming out of our investments so we are able to react quickly to market information and not wait for external research to tell us what is happening. Increasingly, we are also using data analytics.
So there isn’t a ranking of deals in the pipeline, but generally speaking, we try to focus on finding great opportunities in our highest conviction themes.
Some of those assets in warehousing are probably getting quite expensive now. Where are you looking for opportunity as the pandemic goes on?
COVID has reopened our interest in some sectors while re-emphasizing our caution around retail.
In between those two is our high convictions in global travel and experiential travel. We have a long history of significant investments in hospitality assets, though they are a small portion of our portfolio now, which positioned us well for the coronavirus.
But we continue to believe that people are going to want to get back to traveling and get back together. (Editor’s note: Blackstone has been known in the past for its hotel bets, notably in Hilton Worldwide, which it exited in 2018.)
The other major asset class I haven’t mentioned is offices: Not all office markets are created equal. Certain ones are experiencing a tough moment in COVID. New York City has been one of the ones more impacted—but we are believers in offices, and I think there will continue to be good opportunities, particularly in the markets oriented around innovation, research, and content development.
There are prognostications that cities are dead, and that places like San Francisco and New York are oversaturated.
I don’t know about those specific arguments, but West Coast markets have a lot of drivers and we continue to see strength, particularly in Los Angeles in what is known as the 30-mile zone, where a substantial amount of content is created. I think New York and San Francisco are experiencing a lot of pressure right now, but long-term, we think urban areas will get back to thriving.
So there will be opportunities to invest in distressed assets too.
Yes. We think there will be opportunities to invest.
As the pandemic wears on, though, I’m sure that warehouses, as real estate assets go, are becoming more competitive in terms of dealmaking. Are there certain geographies that are more attractive than others now?
I think our portfolio is gradually getting closer and closer to the most densely populated urban areas. Warehouses, overall, have performed very well, but really the strongest markets are close to the cities where there is the least new supply and the highest demand as sellers need to get goods to their ultimate consumer in the shortest amount of time. The footprint of our portfolio has gotten closer because retailers really need to be able to provide that last-mile part of the chain as consumers want access to goods faster and faster.
As malls and department stores empty out, do you think some of these locations could be repurposed into, say, Amazon fulfillment centers?
I do think we’re going to see some assets that are no longer climbing higher—in retail for instance—converted into other uses, distribution facilities being potentially one of them, or mixed-use community oriented centers being another. I think more generally we’ve seen some of that already happening organically: A great example is Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods. Amazon used that connection point as a way to get their goods to consumers beyond just what they have in the grocery store. We are seeing the term “buy online and pick up in stores” happening in a number of retail formats where the retailer’s space is driving the flow of e-commerce traffic in addition to store traffic. So some of that will happen organically, and some of them will be more transformational, where someone buys an asset and completely changes its uses.
And what happens to offices?
I think the office was already undergoing an evolution pre-COVID. We saw it in our portfolio and in markets where we operate: Tenants are looking for more than just physical space to get their work done.
Folks want more dynamic lobbies, so office lobbies are turning to look more like hotel lobbies where there are coffee shops, places to sit and chat, and a concierge that isn’t purely security.
And as landlords, we need to ammenitize buildings and also think about the constellation of our tenants so they complement one another. Willis Towers, for example, is one where we have space for tenants to engage with each other, and when you think about the combination of tenants, we have retail and restaurant space that would make it an attractive place to come and work.
And wellness, too: The quality of the air handling and the spaces available for exercise and meditation, all of that was already happening because people were saying, if I have to come into work I want to make sure it’s pleasant. I think COVID, you could argue, is another piece that could accelerate [this trend].
So WeWork wasn’t completely out of its mind?
No. (laughs) I think actually WeWork was really onto something that employers were looking for.


fortune--2020-11-06--How cities could change after the pandemic, according to Blackstone

This is the web version of Term Sheet, a daily newsletter on the biggest deals and dealmakers. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.
We typically stick with technology deals in this newsletter. But let’s take a turn into real estate—as many offices sit empty and many shops hang by a thread. Casinos, hotels, and amusement parks are fading into memory as consumers turn toward socially distant activities.
What does the future of real estate—and cities—look like?
That’s the question Term Sheet posed to Blackstone Global Co-Head of Real Estate Kathleen McCarthy.
Blackstone, known for its sprawling corporate real estate portfolio, has been remarkably resilient in the pandemic, a phenomenon it attributes to betting on the rise of the technology and life sciences industries. Seeing the rise of e-commerce, Blackstone’s biggest real estate bets in recent years have featured warehouses rather than retail spaces: Last year, it acquired assets of Singaporean-based giant GLP for $18.7 billion and U.S.-based Colony Industrial for $5.9 billion. Those all sit within a group of assets it calls logistics, which now make up 36% of its real estate portfolio and is valued at about $90 billion including debt.
Here is an excerpt of our conversation—including why WeWork wasn’t entirely insane—lightly edited for clarity. Read the full Q&A here.
How did Blackstone decide to invest in sectors such as warehouses and life sciences?
We invest by contemplating what is happening in the broader world. When you think about our warehouse investing, life sciences investing, content creation, or rental housing, we look out on the world and say, what are some big mega trends that will or should cause positive tailwinds for real estate? That’s how we’ve ended up with billions in warehouses in the past decade and why we, over the summer, invested in a portfolio of assets in partnership with Hudson Pacific Properties, which are studio assets on the West Coast.
We also examine information coming out of the portfolio both across the firm and across the real estate portfolio. Retail, for example, was a theme we moved away from—I think we haven’t had a traditional mall in the U.S. in 10 years—because we looked out and saw two things happening in the world: Goods were moving online. At the same time we were looking at retail assets we owned a decade ago, and they were doing fine, but we didn’t think they were going to outperform other opportunities for our capital.
Do you have an example of applying information from other parts of Blackstone’s portfolio to make a bet on a real estate asset?
The best example I can think of is actually one in reverse. It’s in biotech: We made an investment in BioMed Realty five years ago in a $8 billion transaction, and recently announced the sale of that company. (Editor’s note: BioMed provides real estate and laboratory space to life sciences companies, and was most recently valued at $14.6 billion, making it the third most profitable transaction by any Blackstone fund.) Our insight into that space led to, in part, the creation of a dedicated life science business in Blackstone, as well as other life science-oriented investments across the firm—our Tactical Opportunities fund later made an investment in Cryoport. (Editor’s note: Blackstone invested $275 million in the company, which helps transport medical goods in controlled temperatures, earlier this year.)
As malls and department stores empty out, do you think some of these locations could be repurposed into, say, Amazon fulfillment centers?
I do think we’re going to see some assets that are no longer climbing higher—in retail for instance—converted into other uses, distribution facilities being potentially one of them, or mixed-use community oriented centers being another. I think more generally we’ve seen some of that already happening organically: A great example is Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods. Amazon used that connection point as a way to get their goods to consumers beyond just what they have in the grocery store. We are seeing the term “buy online and pick up in stores” happening in a number of retail formats where the retailer’s space is driving the flow of e-commerce traffic in addition to store traffic. So some of that will happen organically, and some of them will be more transformational, where someone buys an asset and completely changes its uses.
And what happens to offices?
I think the office was already undergoing an evolution pre-COVID. We saw it in our portfolio and in markets where we operate: Tenants are looking for more than just physical space to get their work done.
Folks want more dynamic lobbies, so office lobbies are turning to look more like hotel lobbies where there are coffee shops, places to sit and chat, and a concierge that isn’t purely security.
And as landlords, we need to ammenitize buildings and also think about the constellation of our tenants so they complement one another. Willis Towers, for example, is one where we have space for tenants to engage with each other, and when you think about the combination of tenants, we have retail and restaurant space that would make it an attractive place to come and work.
And wellness, too: The quality of the air handling and the spaces available for exercise and meditation, all of that was already happening because people were saying, if I have to come into work I want to make sure it’s pleasant. I think COVID, you could argue, is another piece that could accelerate [this trend].
So WeWork wasn’t completely out of its mind?
No. (laughs) I think actually WeWork was really onto something that employers were looking for.
Read the full Q&A here.
VENTURE DEALS
- Vimeo, a New York-based video platform backed by IAC, raised $150 million from outside investors including Thrive Capital and GIC. The round values the firm at $2.8 billion in revenue.
- Cytek Biosciences, a Fremont, Calif.-based provider of cell analysis solutions, raised $120 million in Series D funding. RA Capital and Hillhouse Capital led the round and was joined by investors including OrbiMed and LYFE Capital.
- Ushur, a Santa Clara-based insurance tech startup, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Third Point Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including 8VC.
- Koa Health, a Barcelona-based digital mental healthcare company spinning out of Telefonica, raised $16.5 million in Series A funding. Ancora Finance Group and Wellington Partners led the round.
- Vivid Money, a Berlin-based banking startup, raised $17.6 million in Series A funding. Ribbit Capital led the round. Read more.
- Kobiton, an Atlanta, Ga.-based mobile testing platform, raised $14 million in extended Series A funding. Investors including Fulcrum Equity Partners and BIP Capital. Read more.
- Juggle, a London-based marketplace for flexible work, raised $2.1 million in funding. Investors included Andrew Gault, Andreas Mihalovits, Andrew J Scott, Pip Wilson, Social Capital, Oxford Capital and 7percent Ventures.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund agreed to invest nearly about $1.3 billion for a 2.04% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures, the retail arm of India’s Reliance Industries.
- TELUS International, backed by Baring Private Equity, agreed to acquire Lionbridge AI, a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of language translations and training data for machine learning for about $935 million.
- Altas Partners invested in Unified Women’s Healthcare, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based practice management platform in women’s healthcare backed by Ares Management. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Eze Castle Integration, a portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital, acquired NorthOut, a Boston-based digital integration advisory firm. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- General Atlantic and Hg invested in Gen II Fund Services, a New York-based private equity fund administrator. IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO) will also make a minority investment in the company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
EXITS
- Lone Star Funds is exploring a potential sale or IPO of Stark Group, a building-materials retailer, for about €2.5 billion euros ($3 billion), per Bloomberg. Read more.
- goPuff agreed to acquire BevMo!, a Concord, Calif.-based alcoholic beverage retailer on the West Coast, for $350 million. BevMo! was backed by Towerbrook Capital Partners.
OTHERS
- Alibaba and Richemont invested $300 million each via convertible notes in Farfetch (NYSE: FTCH), a London-based online retailer. Alibaba and Richemont will also invest $250 million each in Farfetch China, taking a combined 25% stake in a new joint venture. Artemis, the Pinault family’s investing arm, also agreed to increase its existing investment in Farfetch with $50 million.
- Intact Financial Corp. and Tryg A/S offered to buy RSA Insurance Group, a U.K.-based insurer, for 7.1 billion-pound ($9.3 billion). Read more.
- The U.S. government filed a lawsuit to block Visa (NYSE:V) from acquiring Plaid, a San Francisco-based fintech.
- American Tower Corp plans to acquire InSite Wireless Group, a telecom company, for $3.5 billion.
IPO
- Kuaishou, a Chinese-based short-form video platform rivalling ByteDance, filed for an IPO in Hong Kong that could raise as much as $5 billion and value the firm at $50 billion. Investors include Tencent, DST, Morningside Ventures, and DCM. Read more.
- Petco Animal Supplies, a San Diego-based retail chain, filed confidentially for an initial public offering. Read more.
- Upstart, a San Mateo, Ca.-based lending platform, filed for an IPO. Third Point Ventures, Stone Ridge, and Khosla Ventures back the firm. Read more.


fortune--2020-11-06--Counties hit hardest by COVID voted overwhelmingly for Trump

U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. But in places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support.
An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority—93% of those counties—went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas.
Most were rural counties in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin—the kinds of areas that often have lower rates of adherence to social distancing, mask-wearing and other public health measures, and have been a focal point for much of the latest surge in cases.
Taking note of the contrast, state health officials are pausing for a moment of introspection. Even as they worry about rising numbers of hospitalizations and deaths, they hope to reframe their messages and aim for a reset on public sentiment now that the election is over.
“Public health officials need to step back, listen to and understand the people who aren’t taking the same stance” on mask-wearing and other control measures, said Dr. Marcus Plescia of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
“I think there’s the potential for things to get less charged and divisive,” he said, adding that there’s a chance a retooled public health message might unify Americans around lowering case counts so hospitals won’t get swamped during the winter months.
The electoral divide comes amid an explosion in cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. and globally.
The U.S. broke another record in the 7-day rolling average for daily new cases, hitting nearly 90,000. The tally for new cases Thursday was on track for another day above 100,000, with massive numbers reported all around the country, including a combined nearly 25,000 in Texas, Illinois and Florida. Iowa and Indiana each reported more than 4,000 cases as well.
The AP’s analysis was limited to counties in which at least 95% of precincts had reported results, and grouped counties into six categories based on the rates of COVID-19 cases they’d experienced per 100,000 residents.
Polling, too, shows voters who split on Republican Trump vs. Democrat Joe Biden differed on whether the pandemic is under control.
Thirty-six percent of Trump voters described the pandemic as completely or mostly under control, and another 47% said it was somewhat under control, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 110,000 voters conducted for the AP by NORC at the University of Chicago. Meanwhile, 82% of Biden voters said the pandemic is not at all under control.
The pandemic was considered at least somewhat under control by slim majorities of voters in many red states, including Alabama (60%), Missouri (54%), Mississippi (58%), Kentucky (55%), Texas (55%), Tennessee (56%) and South Carolina (56%).
In Wisconsin, where the virus surged just before the election, 57% said the pandemic was not under control. In Washington state, where the virus is more in control now compared to earlier in the year, 55% said the same. Voters in New York and New Hampshire, where the virus is more controlled now after early surges, were roughly divided in their assessments, similar to voters nationwide.
Trump voters interviewed by AP reporters said they value individual freedom and believed the president was doing as well as anyone could in response to the coronavirus.
Michaela Lane, a 25-year-old Republican, dropped her ballot off last week at a polling site at an outdoor mall in Phoenix. She cast her vote for Trump.
“I feel like the most important issue facing the country as a whole is liberty at large,” Lane said. “Infringing on people’s freedom, government overrule, government overreach, chaos in a lot of issues currently going on and just giving people back their rights.”
About half of Trump voters called the economy and jobs the top issue facing the nation, roughly twice the percentage who named the pandemic, according to VoteCast. By contrast, a majority of Biden voters—about 6 in 10—said the pandemic was the most important issue.
In Madison, Wisconsin, Eric Engstrom, a 31-year-old investment analyst and his wife, Gwen, voted absentee by mail in early October.
Trump’s failure to control the pandemic sealed his vote for Biden, Engstrom said, calling the coronavirus the most immediate threat the nation faces. He and his wife are expecting their first child, a girl, in January and fear “the potential of one of us or both of us being sick when the baby is born,” he said.
Engstrom called Trump’s response to the virus abysmal. “If there was any chance that I was going to vote for Trump, it was eliminated because of the pandemic,” he said.
The political temperature has added to the stress of public health officials, Plescia said. “Our biggest concern is how long can they sustain this pace?” he said.
Since the start of the pandemic, 74 state and local public health officials in 31 states have resigned, retired or been fired, according to an ongoing analysis by AP and Kaiser Health News.
As the election mood dissipates, rising hospitalizations amid colder weather create “a really pivotal moment” in the pandemic, said Sema Sgaier, executive director of the Surgo Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that worked with Harvard University-affiliated Ariadne Labs to develop a tool for estimating vaccine needs in states.
“We really need to get our act together. When I say ‘we’ I mean collectively,” Sgaier said. Finding common ground may become easier if one of more of the vaccine candidates proves safe and effective and gains government approval, she said.
“The vaccine provides the reset button,” Sgaier said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci may be another unifying force. According to VoteCast, 73% of voters nationwide approve of the way Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been handling the pandemic.
Even among Trump voters, 53% approve of Fauci’s performance. About 9 in 10 Biden voters approve.


fortune--2020-11-06--Why Visa’s $5 billion Plaid deal is in deep trouble

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One of the best scenes in John McTiernan’s 1999 masterpiece The Thomas Crown Affair comes when the title character, a sexy corporate raider guy, decides to sell a subsidiary. Gathered in a conference room, the buyers hoot and holler as Crown signs the paperwork.
“Thomas Crown, forced to sell something,” says one. Says another: “So what do you think Crown, don’t have any regrets about how you played this?”
Actor Pierce Brosnan in the role of Crown shoots them a withering glance and replies: “Regret is usually a waste of time, as is gloating. Have you figured out what you’re going to say to your board when they learn that you paid me thirty million more than others were offering?”
In real life, the stars of M&A probably win just as often but keep those kinds of thoughts to themselves.
So you have to wonder what was on the faces of Visa’s M&A team when they were finalizing a deal last December to buy plucky fintech upstart Plaid for a mighty price of $5.3 billion, an astonishing 50 times Plaid’s annual revenue. The Plaid execs, it seems, wanted to impress their buyers with some details about their future strategy. As the plumbing for personal finance apps like Venmo and Acorns, Plaid helped millions of consumers connect data from 11,000 banks. Its next move was a new service that would let consumers make online payments directly from all those bank accounts. It would be a lucrative foray into payments because the existing debit card-based market charged such “high prices,” Plaid’s team mentioned a few times, that they could undercut by 50%.
Plaid had “described the service with the joy of someone who forgot we had 70% share,” one Visa exec wrote after the meeting. Oops.
That overpriced market where consumers and online sellers face high prices? It’s dominated by Visa. Thus, the Visa team concluded, Plaid was a threat. One exec even drew a picture of a submerged island volcano to drive home the point. Within a few years, Plaid’s new service could grab up to $500 million a year from Visa’s $2 billion of online debit payments revenue, they estimated. “I don’t want to be IBM to their Microsoft,” the volcano artist explained.
Visa CEO Alfred Kelly agreed, telling CFO Vasant Prabhu the expensive deal would be an “insurance policy to protect our debit biz in the US.” In another missive, Kelly admitted the deal “does not hunt on financial grounds,” but for the company’s “critical” debit market, “we must always do what it takes to protect this business.” And since Plaid works with the top fintech startups, owning it would also give Visa a front row seat to uncover other possible threats.
But unlike Thomas Crown, Visa may not get away with it. On Thursday, the DOJ filed a lawsuit to block Visa’s acquisition of Plaid and, as you can tell from all the quotes, it’s chock full of smoking guns—or at least a smoking volcano. The taut 23-page complaint looks like an open-and-shut case against a dominant company trying to snuff out a competitive threat.
Visa knew the lawsuit was coming but their response didn’t seem to reflect the evidence contained within. “Visa’s business faces intense competition from a variety of players—but Plaid is not one of them,” the company argued. As Thomas Crown might say, regret is a waste of time, as is mendacity.
Aaron Pressman
@ampressman
aaron.pressman@fortune.com
***
This week on Fortune‘s Brainstorm podcast, we explore the technology that’s helping fight COVID-19. Brian O’Keefe speaks with Nvidia’s VP and General Manager of Healthcare. The company’s A.I. platforms are driving not only the search for a vaccine, but also developing therapeutics, COVID-19 testing, and more.
Then, Michal Lev-Ram points out that even once a vaccine is discovered, governments have to figure out the logistics of distribution. Plus, there’s an added challenge of public skepticism around receiving the vaccine. Lev-Ram speaks with Qualtrics President Zig Serafin about tackling these problems. Listen to the episode here.
NEWSWORTHY
A phone in the hand is worth two in the bush. Some early "hands on" reviews are out for Apple's two delayed 5G iPhone models. CNET says the iPhone Mini is the most interesting new iPhone this year with "a return to the idea of packing the most features into the smallest body." And The Verge says the iPhone Pro Max doesn't do much to take advantage of its larger screen. Our favorite YouTubers don't seem to have posted anything yet, so stay tuned for those links. There are also reviews of Sony's PlayStation 5 out. Engadget liked the 4K gaming experience but dings the ginormous and flimsy console case.
This porridge is just right. Speaking of 5G, T-Mobile's Goldilocks flavor of 5G, which has fast speeds and decent coverage, only covers 30 million people right now. But along with boffo earnings that blew away Wall Street estimates, the carrier also announced on Thursday that it would expand the 5G network quickly enough to cover at least 200 million people by the end of 2021. "We’re off to the races,” Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s president for technology, told me. T-Mobile's stock, already sitting on a 50% gain in 2020, jumped another 5% in pre-market trading on Friday, almost hitting a new all-time high.
He's on an intergalactic cruise in his office. Sometimes, no matter how hard you pedal, it's hard to impress. Peloton said its revenue more than tripled to $758 million but also warned it couldn't keep up with surging demand for its exercise gear. "We realize that some of our members have faced extended delays," CEO John Foley admitted. Peloton shares, already up 346% (not a typo), fell 5% in premarket trading.
No moneyman can win my love. Elsewhere on Wall Street, Uber reported third quarter revenue slid 18% to $3.1 billion, as the pandemic cut into rides. Looking beneath the surface, Uber's delivery business almost tripled, but that wasn't enough to make up for revenue from rides getting cut in half. Uber's stock, up 41% so far this year, slipped 2% in premarket trading. Pandemic beneficiary Square said its net revenue skyrocketed 140% to $3 billion. Its stock, already up 180%, rose another 4% on Friday morning. And Roku revenue gained 73% to $452 million while the number of active accounts grew 43% to 46 million. Roku's shares, previously up 68%, gained another 5% on Friday morning.
Now I'm somebody else. While the presidential election ballot counting goes on, Bloomberg notes that President Trump's special treatment on Twitter would end if he loses the election. As a world leader, Trump's tweets are not deleted and he cannot be banned for rule violations. Former leaders don't get the same exemptions, Twitter told the news service.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Smartphones can be an addictive distraction at times. So Shopify software developer Maxime Vaillancourt has written a how-to guide for setting up phones to be more useful and less of a productivity killer.
Imagine a screwdriver.
A screwdriver is a tool in its purest form. It does not ask for anything, does not require maintenance, and doesn’t distract from the task at hand. It just sits there, patiently waiting to be picked up when needed.
A tool does its job, then gets out of the way.
This is the kind of relationship I want with my smartphone. It should be tool, and nothing else. With that in mind, I set out to turn my smartphone into a tool again. This “tool, not distraction” mentality is useful for all kinds of modern technology, not just smartphones.
FOR YOUR WEEKEND READING PLEASURE
A few great long reads I came across this week:
From McDonald’s to Google: How Kelsey Hightower became one of the most respected people in cloud computing (Protocol)
A self-taught technologist with a storyteller's voice, Kelsey Hightower defied the enterprise tech sector's notorious diversity problems to become one of the industry's leading figures. Now he wants everyone's voice to be heard.
The Unsinkable Maddie Stone, Google’s Bug-Hunting Badass (Wired)
The Project Zero reverse engineer shuts down some of the world's most dangerous exploits—along with antiquated hacker stereotypes.
Here's What a Carbon Offset Actually Looks Like (Outside)
Carbon offsets are confusing, and many people wonder how—or if—they even work. Hoping to find a more guilt-free way to travel, frequent flier Tim Neville heads to the ranchlands of Montana to see what an offset looks like on the ground. Hint: it involves cows.
'I was howling in pain': how falling five storeys from a New York rooftop changed my life (Sydney Morning Herald)
One minute he was gazing at the New York skyline, the next he was plummeting five storeys to the ground to an almost certain death.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
From ice cream to Zoom screenings: How female filmmakers are getting their work seen in the pandemic By Michal Lev-Ram
Are Chinese spies trying to hack this anticensorship startup? Its execs believe so By Robert Hackett
Feds seize $1 billion in Bitcoin from mystery man ‘X’ By Jeff John Roberts
U.K. to use A.I. to spot dangerous side effects in the millions of COVID-19 vaccinations it will deliver By Jeremy Kahn
T-Mobile can’t claim to have the ‘best’ 5G network, ad body says By Aaron Pressman
Tech stocks could rally another 15% this year with a Biden win and split Congress, says analyst By Anne Sraders
Must-have gadgets and accessories for safer winter (and pandemic) travel By Rachel King
(Some of these stories require a subscription to access. Thank you for supporting our journalism.)
BEFORE YOU GO
Painter David Hockney may be the greatest iPad artist of all time. With a second lockdown looming in Europe, Hockney has released two new works from his iPad to celebrate fall, following a spring image he posted in March. I'd love a poster of either "The Big Tree in Autumn" or "The Pond in Autumn," probably both inspired by his local scenery in Normandy. “Remember they can't cancel the autumn either,” the painter advises. Have a beautiful weekend.


fortune--2020-11-06--How Stacey Abrams helped turn Georgia blue for Biden

This is the web version of the Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here.
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The 2020 election comes with notable ‘firsts,’ Greta Thunberg finally responds to an old Trump jab, and Stacey Abrams’s work is coming to fruition. Have a decisive day.
– A Fair Fight over Georgia. I woke up this morning to the news that Joe Biden had pulled ahead in Georgia (and as I write, he’s done the same in Pennsylvania). While we don’t yet know what the final count will be—in this election, there’s no way I’m making any assumptions!—the fact that Democrats’ nominee is leading in Georgia, which last went blue in 1992 for Bill Clinton, is a massive accomplishment. And while it takes a village to shift the political tides, it’s hard to imagine this moment without the work of one woman: Stacey Abrams.
Abrams is, of course, the attorney who ran for Georgia governor in 2018. Had she won, she would have been the first ever Black woman to lead a U.S. state. But she lost by less than 55,000 votes—amid charges of voter suppression against her opponent, now-Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who stalled thousands of voter registrations and purged the rolls of hundreds of thousands of voters.
Rather than retreating to lick her wounds, Abrams got to work. She founded Fair Fight, an organization dedicated to ensuring free and fair elections and has been instrumental in registering about 800,000 Georgia voters—many of whom are people of color—since 2018. Given the slim margins of victory we’re seeing in this election, it’s clear just how monumental a difference those new voters could make.
Abrams has been steadfast in maintaining that her work is part of collective movement, tweeting just this morning to share credit with a number of other activists and nonprofits:
Yet if you were ever looking for an example of how one person can make a difference in the world—and perhaps even shift the course of history—here it is.
Kristen Bellstrom
kristen.bellstrom@fortune.com
@kayelbee
Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Featured firsts. Take a moment this election cycle to note the historic firsts across the country, from Cori Bush's election to Congress to a new wave of trans lawmakers taking office in statehouses. Fortune
- Recounting counting. Chiara Clayton volunteered to work as a ballot counter in Detroit. In this piece, she reflects on the experience—including facing harassment from "Stop the Count" protesters. Cosmopolitan
- Latina vote. Early data on voter turnout suggests that Latina voting surged this election—as some activists had been hoping for. Within the Latino community, there appears to be a significant gender gap, with women voting Joe Biden in greater numbers. The 19th*
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Janet Napolitano, the former secretary of homeland security and University of California system president, joins Zoom's board of directors.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Supervising LA. Local elections in Los Angeles led to a milestone for the city and county: all five members of the county's board of supervisors will be women. The Daily Beast
- Who designs the system? Why is the health care system designed by men? The Tia Clinic's cofounders and investors write about how health care should better serve women: Fortune
- Expert voices. Women are only one-third of expert voices in coronavirus news coverage, according to a new report. Female experts are being quoted about issues like childcare and education as they relate to the pandemic—but not nearly as often about epidemiology or public health. The Lily
ON MY RADAR
Roxane Gay: This is America New York Times
Mammograms fell sharply in early pandemic months, study finds The 19th*
Suu Kyi set to win again even as Myanmar’s economic dream fades Bloomberg
Carly Stein left her job in banking to build a bee empire Glamour
PARTING WORDS
"Chill, Donald, chill!"
-Greta Thunberg, on President Trump's response to the U.S. election, a call back to his year-old "chill, Greta, chill!" tweet


fortune--2020-11-06--Gift Guide: Books for everyone on your gift list

Not everyone has time to shop around (not to mention most people have no desire to shop in stores at all right now) and look for the newest items on the market that could appeal to the loved ones and colleagues on their gift-giving lists. (Or for themselves, because let’s be honest, we look at holiday gift guides and deals for ourselves just as much as for others.)
Here’s a list of new releases this year that could delight readers of all ages on your gift list this season.
Courtesy of Hardie Grant Books, Voracious and Chronicle Books
Accidentally Wes Anderson by Wally Koval
From the creator of the popular @AccidentallyWesAnderson Instagram account (with 1 million followers and counting), Accidentally Wes Anderson (Voracious/Little, Brown) brings that particular whimsical aesthetic so synonymous with Wes Anderson films to your coffee table. The book is filled with images submitted from followers all over the world from more than 200 locations, encouraging the reader to indulge in a bit of virtual wanderlust and add some new places to the travel bucket list when borders reopen.
A Very Special 90210 Book: 100 Absolutely Essential Episodes from TV’s Most Notorious Zip Code by Tara Ariano and Sarah Bunting
It’s hard not to automatically hear in your head the guitar riff from the opening credits of Beverly Hills, 90210 when thinking about this show. It’s also hard to believe (or accept) that 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the debut of the most influential teen soap of all time (I will hear no arguments). But if you’re looking for yet another show to rewatch and binge during the pandemic, 293 episodes of 90210 could pass some considerable time. If you don’t want to sit through 10 seasons (you could definitely skip a few of the later ones), entertainment writers and podcast hosts Tara Ariano and Sarah D. Bunting recap the 100 most crucial episodes in A Very Special 90210 Book (Abrams), covering all the must-see drama from West Beverly High School to California University to the Peach Pit After Dark.
Behind the Bar: 50 Cocktail Recipes From the World’s Most Iconic Hotels by Alia Akkam
Curated by a longtime New Yorker now living in Budapest, Behind the Bar: 50 Cocktail Recipes From the World’s Most Iconic Hotels (Hardie Grant) is an ode to luxurious, transporting hotel bars around the world—grandes dames and contemporary classics alike. Travel and luxury writer Alia Akkam introduces readers to the histories and distinctive personalities of 50 bars with 50 signature cocktails, complete with recipes so that you can make one at home. It is also interspersed with anecdotes from hospitality tastemakers and illuminates standout menus and design.
Chinatown Pretty: Fashion and Wisdom from Chinatown’s Most Stylish Seniors by Andria Lo and Valerie Luu
What is Chinatown Pretty? As examined in this gorgeous photo book from photographer Andria Lo and writer Valerie Luu, it’s a signature style worn by pòh pohs (grandmothers) and gùng gungs (grandfathers) in Chinatowns everywhere. A mix of modern and vintage, high and low, handmade and store bought, it’s all brought together into one unexpected and effortless look. Lo and Luu say they became fascinated with the style, and for the past five years, they have been photographing and interviewing trendsetting seniors in six Chinatowns across North America—New York City, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Vancouver—asking each subject (more than 100 over the course of the book) to participate in a street-style photoshoot and to tell their personal story—sometimes funny, sometimes bittersweet, and always unexpected—behind their eye-catching outfits.
Dolly Parton, Songteller My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann
Both a visual memoir and annotated songbook, Dolly Parton, Songteller (Chronicle Books) is a candid, intimate look at Dolly’s enduring career as a songwriter, musician, and country legend—a career further contextualized by the unofficial historian of Nashville’s musical heritage, Robert K. Oermann. This deluxe volume will explore her remarkable life and career through 175 of her best-loved songs.
Icons: 50 Heroines Who Shaped Contemporary Culture by Monica Ahanonu and Micaela Heekin
From singers to writers, activists to artists, politicians to filmmakers, Icons: 50 Heroines Who Shaped Contemporary Culture (Abrams) is a visual celebration of modern women. Illustrated by Monica Ahanonu, each portrait is accompanied by a short biography about what makes each woman a force to be reckoned with. Among the women featured in the book include Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Yayoi Kusama, and Diana Ross, whose portrait is on the book’s cover.
Love Is All Around: And Other Lessons We’ve Learned from the Mary Tyler Moore Show by Paula Bernstein
In Love Is All Around: And Other Lessons We’ve Learned From The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Running Press), entertainment journalist and Fortune contributor Paula Bernstein revisits the groundbreaking TV show on the 50th anniversary of its 1970 debut. Bernstein delves into what made the show’s star Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) an inspiration for future generations of women, including Oprah Winfrey, Tina Fey, and Lena Dunham. Featuring trivia, quizzes, and countless fun facts, this homage to The Mary Tyler Moore Show includes “life lessons” gleaned from the show, including inspirational tips on how to “make it after all.”
Nevertheless, She Wore It by Ann Shen
Expressing yourself as a woman is a political act. Women’s clothing and bodies have too often been subject to scrutiny by a patriarchal structure, and fashion is often dismissed as frivolity. But fashion and what a woman wears can be used to convey silent messages and symbolism, sometimes far more effectively and powerfully than words. From the bikini to the pantsuit, illustrator Ann Shen shares her striking study of 50 of the most iconic styles and the women who changed the world while wearing them in Nevertheless, She Wore It (Chronicle Books). These radical looks—from the flapper dress to the Afro, Madonna’s cone bra to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent collar—defied their time and demonstrated the power of fashion as a political and cultural tool for making change.
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson’s memoir was published in February, which might seem like a lifetime ago. But the tea stayed hot for months and provided a lot of entertainment, comfort, and perhaps unexpected wisdom. (The audiobook version, narrated by Simpson, is even more effective and enjoyable to listen to on long walks.) Beyond some never-before-revealed gossip involving past celebrity boyfriends and her competition on the audition circuits, Simpson’s reflections prove she deserves a lot more credit than any of us have given her. Sure, this was written with a ghostwriter, but Simpson’s journey to becoming a pop singer and a multimillionaire (mostly thanks to her very successful eponymous apparel line) involved overcoming a great deal of adversity, anxiety, and pressure from the adults around her growing up—not least of which included a gross amount of oversexualization even when she was just a preteen. Nevertheless, Jessica Simpson persisted.
This collection of 22 traditional tales from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania transports readers to an enthralling world. Translated and transcribed by folklorists and anthropologists in the early 20th century, these stories evoke the distinctive beauty and humor of East African folklore. Readers will encounter mischievous hares, plucky heroes and heroines, and fearsome monsters. Each tale is paired with a bold and vibrant illustration by artist Jamilla Okubo. And a special gift edition includes an embossed, textured case and a ribbon marker.
The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Anika Orrock
For fans of the magnificent 1992 film A League of Their Own (which is soon getting a new adaptation on Amazon Prime), The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (Chronicle Books) details the history of the league and tells the stories of the first women to play professional baseball in a league of their own. Illustrator and author Anika Orrock collects a variety of charming and powerful (and sometimes cringe-inducing, given the gender barrier these women were forced to overcome) vignettes told by the players themselves about their time participating in America’s pastime, along with hard-to-find player statistics, historical beats, and headlines, fully illustrated in Orrock’s vibrant style.


fortune--2020-11-06--Must-have gadgets and accessories for safer winter (and pandemic) travel

Not everyone has time to shop around (not to mention most people have no desire to shop in stores at all right now) and look for the newest items on the market that could appeal to the loved ones and colleagues on their gift-giving lists. (Or for themselves, because let’s be honest, we look at holiday gift guides and deals for ourselves just as much as for others.)
For anyone still planning to travel this holiday season, consider these accessories that could bring some peace (of mind) and joy on earth.
Courtesy of Billie Simone, Lindsay Albanese, Happy Labs, Edward Field, and Monos
Accessories
Billie Simone Jewelry: Now that wearing face masks has become the norm, we’ve all taken to our own ways of keeping the mask on our person when not on our face while outdoor dining, for example. Instead of tying the mask around your wrist or sticking it in your pocket, this chain borrows from the same concept as chains for eyeglasses, using hinge closures around the face mask straps to keep it securely around your neck. Available in three lengths and either gold filled or sterling silver, the Gemini mask chain can be styled in different ways, including as a necklace or triple wrap bracelet, when not used to hold a mask. SRP: Starts at $128.
Google: Hands down, the Pixel is the best line of Android phones on the market. Google’s flagship smartphone is a cut above the rest, year after year, for a number of factors: the lack of bloatware, how amazingly easy it is to set up (especially if you’re upgrading from an earlier Pixel—you really just connect the included USB-C cord and go), and most of all, the camera. The Pixel series really gave the iPhone some competition, and until recently, really was above and beyond with a 16-megapixel camera. The Pixel 5 continues to escalate what a smartphone camera can do, with unparalleled low-light and nighttime shooting quality and HDR+ for automatic color and lighting enhancement. SRP: $699 for the 128GB version without a contract.
Halo Life: This is by far the best face mask for traveling I’ve seen yet. It’s easy to breathe through and comfortable on your face for hours upon hours at a time, on the ground and in the air. It’s truly smooth enough to sit on your face all day and it won’t bother you. The maker of the masks has had time to get the perfect construction right: Long before the advent of COVID-19, the Halo Life masks have been tested for use on crowded and polluted streets in major cities as well as during wildfires in California and Australia. Halo Life has incorporated proprietary SETA Nanofilter technology from New Zealand that filters out virtually all airborne particulates, including smoke, dust, exhaust fumes, toxins, odors, pollens, pathogens, and pollutants. Halo Life’s nanofilters block harmful airborne particulates, capturing 98.8% of virtually all airborne pathogens and contaminants. SRP: $30.
Haerfest: New York City-based accessories brand brings a cool, modern vibe to all of its jetsetter products. For a more casual but sophisticated mask strap, this 12-inch, lightweight, leather strap has a back-slider that keeps masks tight and adjusts easily to any length, and hardware clips swivel and rotate in all directions for a no-hassle experience. The brand also makes the most dignified backpacks imaginable, suitable for both men and women, with dedicated laptop pockets for 13-inch and 15-inch notebooks and additional storage space with zip and magnet closures to keep accessories secure. SRP: Starts at $198 for the Apollo backpack and $18 for the mask strap, both on sale for the duration of the holiday season.
Monos: The CleanPod UVC sterilizer can disinfect 99.9% of common bacteria and pathogens. With a press of a button, a high-energy beam of UVC (ultraviolet C) light is emitted from the specialized LEDs, effectively sanitizing surfaces without the use of chemicals, within 30 seconds. The LEDs contain no mercury and power on immediately without any warmup time. SRP: $90.
Wander Gloves: From the maker of the TopTote clip for securing your hat while traveling, these gloves are designed to keep your hands safe by avoiding dirty, contaminated surfaces—while looking like a jet-setter at the same time. Available in two shades (gray and lilac) and one-size-fits-all, Wander Gloves are antibacterial, UV-protectant, machine-washable, and reusable. They offer touch-screen functionality on the index finger and thumb, and they can be easily stored in a carrying case to avoid cross-contamination when not in use. SRP: $29.
Attire
Aether: The matte-finish, nylon-and-spandex blend on this goose down, water-resistant jacket has tremendous stretch and ease of movement, making it ideal to tote along for any kind of winter travel (and adventure in years to come when adventure is safe again). There is a center-front zipper, and for storage there are hand pockets (one with a hidden phone pocket) and an interior patch pocket with a Velcro closure. There is also a rib knit at the body hem, and stretch-nylon binding at the interior seams, sleeve-cuff openings, and hood opening. SRP: $425.
Naked Cashmere: This unisex wrap is cut for a soft and airy silhouette. The Karlie shawl can wrap around your whole upper body, and while lightweight it is also 100% cashmere, making it ideal for virtually any travel scenario or location, especially layering over your clothes on cool nights (or cold airplanes). And it will elevate almost any look from day to evening wear. SRP: $175.
Sarah Flint: The New York designer is a favorite with Hollywood stars and Main Street shoppers alike thanks to her classic shoes that were designed with a 21st-century mindset for comfort. The brand’s latest debut is the Ilene loafers, made in Italian leather or suede, depending on your fancy. Once the shoes are broken in, you can plan to get a lot of mileage out of them, and they are slim, so they should fit well in any suitcase to class up any outfit. Note that these run a bit small, so size up if you can. SRP: $425.
Vivobarefoot: Perhaps after a face mask, there is nothing more critical to safe and enjoyable travel than a good and comfortable pair of shoes. Vivobarefoot goes even further with the Geo Court Canvas sneakers, which are made from recycled canvas and touted to be vegan. Designed for everyday use, the shoe sits on a statement hexagonal-textured rubber sole that wraps high around the heel, providing an overall more breathable experience (for your feet). SRP: $150, available in both men’s and women’s sizes.
Wellness
Happy Labs: 2020 has been a year filled with challenges for everyone, and that has increased our stress and anxiety levels and taken a toll on our overall mental health. CBD was already buzzed about before 2020, but the industry has exploded this year. Each hemp plant used in Happy Labs products is traced from seed to shelf, and each product features a QR code giving consumers access to certified lab test results specific to their product batch. And not all CBD products have to slow you down: Designed to add pep and vigor, the Pick Me Up Pill contains 60 milligrams of caffeine (equivalent to one shot of espresso) in addition to vitamins B6 and B12, vitamin C, and 30 milligrams of CBD. SRP: $60.
Impact Snacks: No matter how or where you’re traveling, it’s a good idea to bring your own prepackaged snacks during a pandemic. Impact Snacks is a Generation Z–founded, plant-based snack brand that touts to be so dedicated to conscious consumerism that Impact Snacks’ packaging is made from entirely plant-based bioplastics. Even the 100% home-compostable, certified marine-biodegradable wrappers are completely edible. (Although it’s still not recommended.) Fortunately, the vegan superfood bars are tasty on the inside, each featuring Lion’s Mane, a nootropic mushroom that boosts brain function while targeting nerve damage, anxiety, and depression. There are two flavors available—Iced Caramel Latte and Dark Chocolate Brownie—each incorporating at least 10 grams of plant-based pea protein, six grams of prebiotic fiber, and superfoods such as almonds, maca, and kale. SRP: $21 for a box of seven.
Next Stop Candles: This one is best for a “staycation.” As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to spike daily to harrowing levels, it might be worth considering putting off your travel plans if you can. So if you’re staying home, you can at least set the mood to somewhere else with Next Stop Candles, a line of scented, hand-poured candles emitting peaceful aromas from Maui to Mykonos. Each candle is inspired by a destination around the world, uses vegan wax (including coconut and soy), and has a wooden wick for a more even burn—for approximately 60 to 80 hours of burning time. SRP: $40 for an individual candle, and there is a “frequent flyer club” membership for regular deliveries.
Olika: Among the CDC’s top guidelines for helping curb the spread of COVID-19 is washing your hands frequently. If you can’t make it to a sink with soap and water right away, hand sanitizer is the next best thing. Made with natural aloe, glycerin, essential oils, and 65% ethyl alcohol, Olika’s signature hydrating formula kills 99.9% of germs and provides long-lasting hand moisture. The clip-on version is petite and ideal for on-the-go sanitization, and packs a punch with more than 300 mists per package. SRP: $15.
Welly: The 200-piece Excursion first-aid kit is packed in a durable, reusable, and recyclable tin and keeps supplies easy to locate, whether that be in your home, car, or RV. Included are a variety of sizes of bandages (including waterproof ones), wound prep pads, medical tape, hydrocortisone and antibiotic packets, and ibuprofen. SRP: $35.
Luggage
Edward Field: At luxury price points, Edward Field has built its products for lifetime use. Available in black or tan brown with dual inside pockets, the Duffel weekender-style bag is soft, buttery, and has that new car, er, leather smell. The Italian leather is full-grain, ethically sourced (specifically, sourced as a by-product of the meat industry), and it’s all put together in California. SRP: $1,195.
The North Face: The sleek Kaban Charged Backpack can haul 26-liter loads while also keeping your devices charged thanks to an integrated, chargeable power supply, providing up to a week’s worth of half-hour boost charges. The hero feature here is the Joey T3 console, which can be managed on a smartphone app via Bluetooth. The system includes a distance alarm (which could help you in case you’re prone to leave your bag behind by accident), a find-phone feature to locate a lost device (up to 150 feet), and phone power for up to 25 additional hours of talk time. As far as the actual backpack goes, the stand-up design makes it easy to access gear and is divided up into compartments intended for the tech savvy. The laptop compartment has an ejector handle that lifts your laptop out of its pocket for easy access, and the front three-quarter-zip compartment houses a padded and fleece-lined tablet sleeve. SRP: $200.
Skills
Fluenz: Back in ye olde days of early 2020, circa early- to mid-March when life in quarantine began, many of us set out with a spin on New Year’s resolutions, pledging to take up new hobbies, bake bread, and perhaps learn a new language. If you weren’t able to achieve any of these things, first, that is completely acceptable, and no one should be hard on themselves these days. But if you’re still looking to make the most of your time and perhaps optimistically planning a trip abroad, there’s still time to brush up your language skills beyond the guidebook basics.
Ideal for the Zoom culture we live in now, Fluenz is a custom and live one-on-one language learning experience conducted via videoconferencing that allows you to learn at your own pace from anywhere, anytime. Students can set up lessons with language instructors (not bots!) according to their own schedules, for roughly 90-minute lessons either twice or three times. (And even those metrics are flexible. This really is a learning service that is optimized for each individual student’s needs, both timing and aptitude.) Right now, Fluenz is available for learning six languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Mandarin. SRP: Packages range from $187 to $408, depending on the number of levels taken.


fortune--2020-11-07--Novelties and necessities for pet owners

Biden received more total votes than any presidential candidate in U.S. history

Not everyone has time to shop around (not to mention most people have no desire to shop in stores at all right now) and look for the newest items on the market that could appeal to the loved ones and colleagues on their gift-giving lists. (Or for themselves, because let’s be honest, we look at holiday gift guides and deals for ourselves just as much as for others.)
With that in mind, here is a helpful list of suggestions on what to get for the pet owners (and pet lovers) in your life, assisting them on stocking up on necessities for their furry best friends as well as a few treats mixed in as well.
Courtesy of Jinx, Public Goods, Mackenzie-Childs, Max-Bone, and Whistle
Jinx: Jinx is a new superfood brand that caters to the nutritional needs of dogs with recipes that are touted to be healthier. Collections of kibble are built around ingredients such as salmon, avocado, sweet potato, brown rice, and more. Owners fill out a brief survey about their pet’s age, breed, activity levels, and general health. Jinx prescribes one of its proprietary mixes based on results and ships directly to the pet owner’s home. Special for the holidays, the Weekender Wag Bag is packed with travel essentials for your pup, including a four-pound bag of Jinx superfood kibble, pumpkin and apple biscuit treats, a portable water bowl, and a tennis ball. And there’s extra room for your pet’s favorite toys and poop bags. A great way to either spoil your own dog or serve as the perfect gift for new pet parents. SRP: $55, available starting Nov. 9.
Mackenzie-Childs: The heavy-gauge steel underbody on the Courtly Check Enamel Pet Dish is strong enough to withstand the mealtime antics of the hungriest hounds. The hand-painted checkered pattern is fashionable enough for the choosiest canines (and their pet parents), with a subtle jewel-tone palette woven by an artisan’s brush through the glossy, high-contrast checks. SRP: $55.
Max-Bone: Inspired by Scandinavian fashion, Max-Bone pet products are designed to fit all breeds and sizes while enhancing a pet’s comfort and style. It might not get more stylish than this vintage ski sweater, perfect for après-ski situations while sitting with your best friend by the fire (or pretending you’re enjoying some après-ski time but still at home). Made from supersoft acrylic yarn, the sweater is machine washable, sports a hole in the back for connecting to a leash, and is available in four sizes. SRP: $55.
Public Goods: Public Goods, which built its brand of minimally designed household goods available upon access via monthly subscription, recently expanded to pet goods. The collection debuted this fall with an assortment of food and care items for cats and dogs, all made with healthy and sustainable ingredients, from catnip to oatmeal and aloe shampoo for dogs. SRP: $20.25 for the freeze-dried duck nib cat food.
West + Willow: With social distancing still in effect, these personalized paintings are a nice way to surprise your quarantined pet-parent best friends from afar through a custom portrait of their animal. Honestly, it’s not as creepy as it sounds. SRP: Starts at $39.95, and customized portraits take approximately two weeks to deliver.
Whistle: There are a number of devices you can clip around a pet’s collar that will provide near-immediate location information. Whistle is among the most effective in providing GPS location details, using your home Wi-Fi router as a home base, then pinpointing where your dog is—down to the city block—on-demand and via push notifications. The Whistle GO Explore includes support for many more metrics about your pet—including noticing changes in licking or scratching—and a 20-day battery life per charge. The brand has since expanded to offer basic and patterned leashes and collars, the latter optimized for carrying a Whistle device. Leashes are five feet long, and the collars come in three sizes to accommodate small, medium, and large puppers. SRP: $130 (plus monthly subscription) for the Whistle GO Explore; $60 for the five-foot Palm Prints Whistle Leash; $45 for the Palm Prints Twist and Go Collar.


fortune--2020-11-07--As COVID spreads across Europe, a weary continent goes back into lockdown

With the COVID-19 pandemic searing the continent with renewed vigor, Europe is back in lockdown.
But all lockdowns are not created equal, and there is massive variation in the way different European countries are tackling the surge. Some, such as France and the U.K., are shutting nearly everything they can. Others, such as Germany, are hoping a lighter touch can still turn the tide.
Either way, those restrictions come just as Europe’s labor markets appeared to be at least stabilizing. By October, EU unemployment was 8.1%—down from the pandemic height of 15%—but further restrictions are expected to bring another round of economic pain. On Thursday, the European Commission released a more pessimistic economic forecast for 2021 and 2022. “This forecast comes as a second wave of the pandemic is unleashing yet more uncertainty and dashing our hopes for a quick rebound,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, the Commission’s economy chief.
Here’s an examination of the situation in the three European countries where Fortune staffers live and work: Germany, Italy, and the U.K.
Germany
Germany’s second national lockdown, tentatively planned to last just through the month of November, is relatively mild. That largely reflects the fact that, while case numbers continue to rise, Germany’s current rates are below those in worse-hit neighbors—260 cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks, versus 899 in France, 1,576 in Belgium, and 1,586 in the Czech Republic.
Nonessential shops can remain open in Germany, as long as they limit the numbers of customers inside at any given time. Gyms, sports facilities, tattoo parlors, cinemas, theaters, bars, and clubs are shut, but hairdressers get to stay open this time round, as do schools and day-care facilities.
Restaurants are getting mixed treatment in what many call “lockdown-lite”: As was the case during the easing of the spring lockdown, they cannot seat customers but they can provide takeout.
Dashmir Farizi, co-owner of the Punto e Virgola pizzeria in Berlin’s Schöneberg district, reckons that leaves him with about a quarter of his previous trade.
“It was a shock to hear that we have to close. We have been around for a decade, and to have to close is like an electric shock,” says Farizi, speaking during lunchtime on Friday, against a backdrop of upturned chairs on tables. “To lose customers in this way…It’s not easy.”
During the summer, German restaurants had to space out their tables to allow social distancing, implement various hygiene rules, and register the contact details of their patrons, but that still allowed them to maintain a semblance of normality. That’s gone now.
“Everything was perfect,” says Farizi. “The disinfection materials; tables were distanced; waiters were serving with masks. Everything was there, and despite that we have to shut. In my opinion, that’s not fair.” Department stores and supermarkets get to stay open with many people inside, he points out.
Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed just this point earlier in the week, arguing that the only alternative would be to shut everything down again.
“The answer cannot be, ‘We will keep them all open.’ That would lead to our ruin,” Merkel said. “But if people believe closing everything is more fair, it’s a possibility, but one that would be a lot harder and a lot more expensive.”
As it stands, the monthlong “lockdown-lite” will knock around half a point off German GDP, Deutsche Bank estimated earlier this month. So far, Merkel’s administration has pledged just 10 billion euros to help (mostly larger) affected businesses get through November.
“We must just try to make the best of it and all stay healthy,” says Farizi.
Italy
On Friday, Italians woke up to a country with new internal borders. To beat back a resurgent second wave of COVID cases, the government split the country into three color-coded regions: yellow, orange, and—the most restrictive—red.
The financial capital Milan, for example, is deep inside the zona rossa (red zone). Under new rules, residents of Milan and the surrounding regions of Lombardy and Piedmont cannot cross their respective borders without permission. These are the toughest measures yet since Italy in March locked down the entire country, the first nationwide COVID lockdown anywhere in the world.
There are six such regions inside the restricted “red” area, predominantly in the hard-hit north, the heart of the Italian economy. There are growing concerns that a nasty second wave of infections could be a knockout blow for the economy. Italy’s debt-to-GDP could soar to as high as 160% next year, economists warn, as vital sectors such as tourism and hospitality collapse with fewer holidaymakers and business travelers.
You can see the impact in Rome. Museums and exhibits are closed. Restaurants and bars shut at 6 p.m., and vehicle traffic is but a trickle after dark. Local restaurateurs grumble that the promised government assistance to keep the businesses afloat is a case of too little, too late. Their big hope is that these latest measures flatten the curve in time for what’s usually a busy Christmas season.
U.K.
In the U.K., meanwhile, a fresh monthlong nationwide lockdown across England has been treated with feelings of inevitability, as restrictions had slowly tightened throughout the autumn. Lockdowns had already been in force across much of the U.K., including all of Wales and swaths of the North, encompassing Manchester and Liverpool, while the pace of infections had mounted at a rapid clip. By Friday, 1.1 million infections had been recorded in total in the U.K., with more than 23,000 infections reported on Friday alone.
Restrictions this time are slightly more mild: Schools, colleges, and some other institutions—notably, professional football—have been kept open and operating. On foggy streets in south London this week, traffic had thinned, but the sidewalks were still full of schoolchildren.
For many small businesses across London, the long period of edging toward a full lockdown has left them feeling grim but prepared; while some have made necessary tweaks, others have completely overhauled how they do business.
“We’re more prepared now,” says Adam Newey, the owner of the Hill Bakery and Deli, a small artisan bakery that also provides cheese and wine, in the south London area of Camberwell. “Our friends and customers say, ‘Well, we’ll put up with it.’”
In the first lockdown, Newey says, government support helped pay the business’s rent when it was forced to close for seven weeks. This time around, as a food business, the bakery can and will stay open. So far, footfall hasn’t been affected, he notes, and customers are still coming.
“If everyone loses their job, that might be a different story,” he adds.
For Uyen Luu, a cook and photographer, the first lockdown destroyed her business running Vietnamese supper clubs and cooking classes out of her studio in Hackney, in east London. Once restrictions were lifted, those supper clubs haven’t come back, and Luu says she’s taken a different approach: opening a Saturday-night takeaway business, relying on social media promotion, and working out of her home.
The pace has been relentless, she admits, with thin margins and high risk.
“I’m buying five times more ingredients, not knowing when people are going to order it,” she says. Like every food business, she says, the choice was adapting—or going under.
For Hayley Elam, the owner and director of the south London yoga studio Lost in Yoga, this time around is also simpler.
“We already had all of the infrastructure in place to switch everything to online yoga classes,” she says, from training the teachers to having online price packages.
But she admits she’s skeptical the lockdown will only last a month, as promised—a sign that trust, too, has worn thin in the months since the U.K.’s last lockdown.
“Last time they said two weeks, and it was 4.5 months until we reopened,” Elam says. “So it is hard to believe what the government says.”


fortune--2020-11-07--Jack Ma is the poster child of Chinese tech. Why is Beijing reining him in—again?

In an Oct. 24 speech at the Bund Summit in Shanghai, a two-day meeting of Chinese bankers and regulators, the billionaire entrepreneur Jack Ma criticized the “outdated supervision” of financial regulation for stifling innovation, and said Chinese banks operated with a “pawnshop mentality.”
“The game in the future is about innovation, not just regulatory skills,” Ma said.
At the same summit, China’s vice president Wang Qishan delivered a pre-recorded address in which he said China’s financial industry should stay off “wrong paths” of speculation and focus on preventing financial risks.
At the time of Ma’s speech, Ant Group, the fintech company he founded, was less than two weeks away from what was slated to be a record-breaking $37 billion initial public offering. The dual debut in Shanghai and Hong Kong would have displayed the clout of a homegrown tech company that eschewed U.S. capital markets at a time when technological self-sufficiency is a strategic priority for Beijing.
But on Tuesday the conflicting messages of Ma and Wang seemed to come to a head, with the Shanghai Stock Exchange bringing Ant’s IPO plans to a screeching halt. Two days before Ant’s float, the Shanghai exchange suspended its portion of the IPO, saying Ant “may not meet listing qualifications or disclosure requirements.” Ant suspended the Hong Kong portion of the IPO after the announcement. The company declined to comment for this article.
The timing of the suspension—just before Ant’s debut, and less than two weeks after Ma’s controversial speech—suggests it may have been a sharp reminder from China’s banking czars of who is in charge.
“This is the way the regulators have of telling Jack Ma what his place is,” said Anne Stevenson-Yang, co-founder and research director of J Capital Research, a consulting firm that specializes in China. “It was a matter of saying, ‘Look, we’re willing even to pull your IPO, we’re not scared of you, so you have to get in line.'”
The suspension was a shock to the financial world, especially for the retail investors in Hong Kong and Shanghai who had swamped the exchanges with $3 trillion worth of bids for Ant’s shares. But the news may have been less surprising to Ma himself. The teacher-turned-richest man in China is the poster child for the mainland’s technological rise and economic growth, but he cycles between the roles of national champion and upstart disrupter. His habit of embracing the latter means he’s had run-ins with Beijing in the past.
The era of Ma Yun
China’s state media loves to rehash Ma’s irresistible rags-to-riches journey from an unemployed school teacher who couldn’t code to founder of two of China’s biggest tech firms. For years, state-run outlets referred to “the era of Ma Yun,” using Ma’s Chinese name to describe China’s fast-growing tech industry.
Liang Zhen—WireImage/Getty Images
Ma launched his first digital venture in 1995, not long after returning from a trip to the United States, where he was introduced to the Internet. The business was called China Pages and the idea behind it was as simple as an old-fashioned phone book. Ma wanted to create an online directory where global buyers could locate and communicate with Chinese suppliers. Revenue would come from the suppliers, who would pay fees to China Pages to list their companies and explain their products and services.
The business took off, and just a year after its launch, China Pages entered a joint venture with its biggest competitor, the Hangzhou branch of state-owned China Telecom. According to the New York Times, China Pages was pressured into the deal.
“The general manager of China Telecom offered to invest $185,000 to do a joint venture,” Ma recalled in a 2008 interview with Inc. magazine. “It was the most money I had ever seen in my life. But unfortunately, China Telecom got five board seats. I got two board seats. Everything we suggested, they turned us down. It was like an elephant and an ant.”
Ma ultimately resigned and took a job working for Infoshare, an Internet advertising agency controlled by China’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. The first-hand exposure to government bureaucracy reinforced Ma’s view that the state could be a counter-productive force on innovation.
“At that time, I felt it was too tiring doing e-commerce in the government,” Ma said of his time at Infoshare in a 2005 interview. “E-commerce should start with private enterprises.”
After 14 months at Infoshare, Ma returned to Hangzhou in 1999, just as the global dot-com boom was reaching its height, and launched his second venture, an online retailer called Alibaba that Ma founded with 17 partners. They pooled $60,000 to fund it.
Ma thought Alibaba, like China Pages, could help Chinese businesses find customers abroad. Early investors like Goldman Sachs, which poured $3.3 million into Alibaba in 1999, helped the company get off the ground; SoftBank invested $20 million in 2000.
In 2002, as Alibaba turned its first profit, Ma spearheaded the development of Alibaba’s eBay-like consumer arm. It was a departure from Alibaba’s model up to that point, which had focused on business-to-business transactions. The consumer site, Taobao, let sellers list products for free, unlike eBay, which charged a fee. Taobao effectively drove eBay out of the Chinese market in a matter of years.
Taobao grew rapidly as Internet penetration in China increased and the nation’s middle class grew. Alibaba today retains a dominant share in China’s e-commerce market. Its payment platform Alipay—which Ant now operates—also helped the e-commerce firm grow by cultivating consumer trust.
Alibaba is now the biggest technology company in China, with a market cap of around $753 billion (Before the news of Ant’s IPO halt knocked its shares, Alibaba’s market cap stood at $840 billion.) Its e-commerce platforms reached 757 million annual customers as of this month.
An ambivalent relationship
Alibaba’s success catapulted Ma to celebrity and fortune. He held a public debate with Elon Musk to discuss aliens and artificial intelligence and starred in an Alibaba-produced martial arts film with some of China’s biggest film stars. Ma is currently the 17th-richest person in the world, and the wealthiest person in China, with a net worth of $63.5 billion.
Beijing has commended Ma’s business success, holding him up as an example of what Chinese talent—particularly, members of its ruling party—can do.
Jack Ma and Tesla Co-founder Elon Musk at the 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on August 29, 2019. VCG/VCG/Getty Images
In November 2018, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China included Ma in a list of 100 people it was honoring for their contributions to the nation’s development. The party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, identified Ma as a party member in announcing the list—and noted that rival tech titans, Baidu founder Robin Li and Tencent founder Pony Ma, were not.
But even as Beijing has feted Ma, his global profile, enormous wealth, and sometimes blunt criticism of the government have rankled officials who expect native sons to show deference to party leaders.
Ma has alluded to his ambivalent relationship with the state in the past. In 2014, referring to the Chinese government, he said, “As always, be in love with them, but don’t marry them.”
In September 2018, on his 54th birthday, Ma announced he was stepping down as chairman of Alibaba to focus on philanthropic work. The announcement sparked speculation—which Ma publicly denied—that the Chinese government had pressured him to retire from Alibaba as Beijing increased scrutiny of private enterprises and of tech companies, in particular.
Ma’s retirement news sparked some surprise, since the charismatic founder was revered within Alibaba and widely viewed as the face and the soul of the company, which was unique among Chinese tech entrepreneurs.
“There were rumors when he retired as chairman of Alibaba in 2018 that he was forced to leave, and there was a question of, ‘Is he becoming too powerful?'” said Dev Lewis, a fellow at Hong Kong-based think tank Digital Asia Hub.
Ant’s promise and risks
Just two years after Ma stepped back from Alibaba, the Ant IPO promised to reinstate any prominence he might have lost.
Ant’s IPO was expected to raise around $37 billion, more than any public float in history. It would have valued Ant at around $315 billion, and padded Ma’s own fortune by an estimated $27 billion.
Ant Group’s offices in Hangzhou, China, on Nov. 2, 2020. Qilai Shen—Bloomberg/Getty Images
Ant runs Alipay, but in the last few years it’s expanded into credit, investment, and insurance businesses that hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens use.
Chinese regulators have real concerns about the potential risks of large-scale consumer lending operations like the ones that Ant facilitates.
Banks use Ant’s platforms to provide credit to small businesses and individuals. Since Ant doesn’t provide funding for most of the loans it processes, credit is on the banks’ balance sheets, not Ant’s own. Ant generates revenue by collecting fees from banks for facilitating the loans.
“The actual risk [is held by] the banks lending the capital,” Lewis said.
One of the new rules the government published on Monday would require Ant to provide a minimum of 30% of the funding for the consumer loans it facilitates on its platform. (Ant currently funds 2% of its loans, according to Bloomberg.)
‘Don’t mess with the regulator’
If Beijing was already worried about the business risks Ant poses, Ma’s comments at the Bund Summit likely fanned the flames.
“The lesson here is: don’t mess with the regulator, especially the central bank, anywhere in the world—no matter how rich you are,” says Paul Schulte, founder of Hong Kong-based equity research firm Schulte Research.
According to Reuters, Ma’s Bund Summit speech angered several senior regulatory officials and prompted a fresh round of investigations into Ant’s financial activities that culminated in the last-minute suspension of the IPO.
The suspension of Ant’s IPO, Lewis said, “is really adding to the rumors that essentially [Ma] was getting too big, too powerful, sitting at the same chairs with world leaders [and] heads of state.”
Ant’s halted IPO has upended the firm’s plans. Ant is currently in the process of refunding the millions of retail investors in Hong Kong and Shanghai who had rushed to grab shares in the lucrative IPO. The debut has no rescheduled date and faces a delay of at least six months. On top of that, China’s new financial regulations could cut into Ant’s revenue and pull down its valuation when it does list.
But the suspension achieved two goals for Beijing, said Stevenson-Yang: it was a warning shot against any business trying to flout financial regulation or challenge big, state-owned banks, and it reminded Jack Ma “where he sits in the food chain.”