fortune--2020-02-28--What to watch in theaters and on Netflix this weekend

Whether you’re standing in the theater lobby or curled up in bed, deciding what to watch next is often the most difficult part of any pop-culture junkie’s day. And with dozens of films in theaters on any given weekend, plus virtually endless layers of streaming purgatory to sort through in search of your next binge-watch, there’s more out there—and tougher decisions to make—than ever.
Fortune’s here to help you navigate the week’s latest offerings, boiling all the entertainment out there down into three distinct recommendations: Should you see it, stream it, or skip it? Find out below.
SEE IT: ‘The Invisible Man’ (In theaters)
When you hear “monster movie,” chances are you’re not picturing Hugh Jackman in Van Helsing, Luke Evans in Dracula Untold, or Tom Cruise in The Mummy. Nothing in Universal’s recent attempts to dust off the old bones of such iconic characters in its stable, others including Frankenstein and the Wolfman, has been able to match those black-and-white originals, Lon Chaney Jr. on the prowl and Bela Lugosi in the cape and fangs.
But faced with the challenge of modernizing its monsters, Universal has misstepped most by diminishing how scary those classics were for their time, attributing their success to makeup more than atmosphere and putting more effort into affixing blockbuster trappings than crafting anything truly frightening.
With The Invisible Man, Universal has made its best monster movie in at least 20 years—longer, if your soft spot for genre pulp doesn’t quite extend to Stephen Sommers’s silly, globe-trotting Mummy remake—by keeping the budget trim and the scares plentiful. That is to say, the studio has done what it should have been doing all along and made an actual horror movie.
Credit writer-director Leigh Whannell (Upgrade), who’s made a number of smart choices in updating this concept, with isolating themes of voyeurism, psychological manipulation, and toxic masculinity that have been nestled at the dark heart of The Invisible Man since H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel. Where James Whale’s 1933 film version played up the titular villain’s megalomaniacal ambitions, Whannell’s take shifts the focus to his main victim, as she flees an abusive ex-boyfriend who’s mastered the art of being out of sight while entirely omnipresent.
For Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss), there’s no choice but to leave Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Haunting of Hill House), a tyrannically controlling boyfriend who’s made his fortune as a world leader in optics. In a bravura opening sequence, she escapes their shared home, a modernist fortress by the sea, and hides out with a friend (Aldis Hodge), only to learn that Adrian has killed himself, apparently out of grief. But if Adrian’s gone, why can she feel a pair of eyes watching her from every corner?
When it comes to portraying women in extremis, nobody’s better than Moss. From a woman held captive by her dystopian society on The Handmaid’s Tale to a rock star spiraling out of control in Her Smell, her characters often splinter under psychological pressure even as they rebel against external forces. They may be disempowered, but they’re far from powerless.
In The Invisible Man, acting against empty hallways and open air, she’s afforded one of her finest showcases yet for this kind of performance. Whannell cleverly weaponizes dead space and long shadows, manipulating the frame around Moss, playing with focus and favoring shots that lurk down hallways; the effect, as audiences essentially stalk Cecilia through her attempts to start a new life, is altogether chilling.
So, too, is this Invisible Man‘s instincts when it comes to modernizing scares. Whannell’s known as something of a horror re-animator, between his despairing A.I. parable Upgrade (a better RoboCop remake than the RoboCop remake) and the Saw franchise (the first to re-envision splatter-horror as a morality play twisted enough to transfix post-9/11 audiences wrestling with the ethics of torture). But The Invisible Man might be his most impressive trick yet, a thematically cogent and frequently terrifying tale of gaslighting and domestic abuse that never feels for a moment less than organically suited to this material. It’s more than meets the eye, in all the best ways.
SEE/STREAM IT: ‘Blood on Her Name’ (In limited theaters/VOD)
Recalling Blue Ruin and Blood Simple in both its Southern Gothic setting and thrillingly stripped-down execution, Blood on Her Name doesn’t stand on ceremony.
By the first shot of Matthew Pope’s quietly assured and compelling debut, blood has already been spilled. It’s pooling, slick like oil, across the cold floor of a car repair shop. It belongs to a man Leigh (Bethany Anne Lind) has just killed, in what she says was an act of self-defense after he broke in.
Leigh, undoubtedly in shock, makes the decision to hide the body. It’s a rash, plainly bad move, but Leigh is at a loss for how to navigate a situation she never could have anticipated finding herself in, and she panics. Rowing the body to the middle of a lake, she prepares to toss it overboard—that’s when the dead man’s phone rings, and Leigh can’t help but listen to the voicemail that gets left. From there, Blood on Her Name twists, not for the last time, moving in a direction different than you might expect but that brings us further inside Leigh’s fraught headspace.
Methodically and with brutal efficiency, Blood on Her Name charts the fallout of this act of violence, as Leigh struggles to remain calm in front of her son (Jared Ivers), the repair shop owner (Jimmy Gonzales), and her crooked cop father, Richard (Will Patton), who’s estranged but still in the area. Leigh’s not the only one balancing on a knife’s edge. But as her desperate attempts to do what she feels is right in a very bad situation threaten to make it even worse, these characters are drawn in.
Richard, especially, senses that something is amiss; he recognizes not only guilt in Leigh’s eyes but the specific type, and he reacts with horror. Why Leigh does what she does—more than how—is the question Pope and cowriter Don M. Thompson so elegantly pose, and the answer is complex. Blood on Her Name is as much about fathers and daughters as it is crime and consequence, about the ways in which certain violence might be hereditary, preordained by the sins of the father.
“I keep thinking I hear sirens,” Leigh says at one point in the film. “Is that weird?” It’s to the script’s credit—and a tribute to the brute strength of Lind’s performance—that one can’t quite figure out the tenor of her voice, whether she’d be happier in handcuffs than living free in a cell of her own invention. In its taut and low-simmering way, Blood on Her Name is just as impressive a revival, and devastating an indictment, of this subgenre as Blue Ruin, another thriller of ruthless pragmatism in which violence existed, as it tends to, as a closed loop. Spilling blood can bring no relief, no victory—from it, there can be no escape, no absolution. Thoughtful, precise, and filled with foreboding, Blood on Her Name is a pulp-noir thriller of the highest caliber.
STREAM IT: ‘I Am Not Okay With This’ (Netflix)
Cross The End of the F—ing World with Carrie and you’re halfway to Netflix’s I Am Not Okay With This, which centers on Syd (Sophia Lillis, of the It franchise), a young girl who uncovers psychic powers while reckoning with the trauma of her father’s suicide.
The similarities aren’t coincidental, of course. Adapted from the work of graphic novelist Charles Forsman by director Jonathan Entwistle (the same duo behind The End of the F—ing World), I Am Not Okay With This often feels genetically engineered in a lab to specifically appeal to fans of Netflix’s previously most popular originals and by proxy much of ’80s popular culture.
Its small-town setting and exploration of special powers aren’t the only elements that feel very Stranger Things—despite being set in the modern day, the show’s teens all dress and stunt like they were born in ’75—and there’s more than a touch of Sex Education to the scenes set at Syd’s high school. Even the less easy-to-place ingredients (a charged and endearingly confused dynamic between Syd and her best friend, an insinuation Syd’s abilities may have been inherited) can be traced to the series’ main influences, Stephen King and John Hughes.
All of this is to say that I Am Not Okay With This feels less than revelatory in its approach to the superpowered coming-of-age subgenre. But at seven episodes (each clocking in at about 20 minutes, bringing the entire first season under The Irishman‘s runtime), it’s also so swift and economical as to not outstay its welcome.
It helps that Lillis, despite being saddled with some fairly lazy dialogue at times (“Dear diary,” she says in a voice-over, “go f— yourself”), has a real star presence about her, a manner of holding the screen even when she’s doing little more than glowering into space. It’s true that this performance falls neatly in line with her work in It, to the degree one could argue she was typecast (though one could make a stronger case for fellow Derry holdover Wyatt Oleff, playing another geeky beanpole named Stan, just like in It). But a more character-driven spin on the psychic-powers subgenre needs a dependably charismatic lead, and Lillis fits the bill nicely. Even better are her scenes with Sofia Bryant, playing a BFF whose loyalties have become hopelessly split between Syd and her meathead boyfriend Brad (Richard Ellis).
As I Am Not Okay With This heads into its first-season finale, future seasons are teased in ways more frustrating than invigorating, and one wonders whether the sleepy, small-scale appeal of this first season is simply a doorway to something bigger, broader, and more clichéd. Let’s hope not. If it’s to be considered a first chapter, the series will need to sharpen its edges, particularly in terms of scriptwriting, and work a little harder to carve out its own niche in the future. But as taken as a speedy binge-watch, a coming-of-age yarn propped up by solid performances and amusingly mordant humor, I was more than okay with it.
The best of the rest:
On Hulu, now streaming is After the Wedding, one of those rare American remakes of a foreign title that adds something more to its something borrowed. The story—an orphanage director is forced to reckon with their past after flying home to accept a donation from a financier, only to recognize the benefactor’s spouse as an ex-flame—remains more or less the same, with one twist. Enlisting Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams to act opposite Billy Crudup as two points in its fraught love triangle, this Bart Freundlich–directed remake of the Susanna Bier–helmed Danish Oscar nominee flips the original’s genders, a decision that complicates the story in intriguing, ultimately satisfying ways.
On Netflix, Jerry Maguire is available to stream on Saturday. On Tubi, meanwhile, that date will see Haywire, a hard-hitting actioner with Gina Carano, become available along with a cohort of other ’00s classics, including Black Hawk Down, Swordfish, Road to Perdition, and Legally Blonde.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Emma. star and director on updating Jane Austen’s text through blood and tears
—Netflix and Disney+ prepare to do battle in Europe
—No, A.I. isn’t deciding which movies to green-light
—Breaking Bad ended six years ago—but Better Call Saul and merchandise keep gaining steam
—Contagion writer, scientific adviser reflect on film’s newfound relevance amid coronavirus crisis
Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis.


fortune--2020-02-28--First coronavirus-related drug shortage hits U.S.

After the markets ’ worst week since 2008 , Wall Street takes a deep breath and braces for Monday

The first drug shortages directly tied to the coronavirus outbreak have hit the U.S, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The agency did not identify the specific drug that was impacted but said in an announcement Thursday the shortage was due to a key ingredient sourced from China being unavailable.
“A manufacturer has alerted us to a shortage of a human drug that was recently added to the drug shortages list,” the FDA said. “The manufacturer just notified us that this shortage is related to a site affected by coronavirus. The shortage is due to an issue with manufacturing of an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the drug.”
While the FDA hasn’t named the drug, it did stress that there are alternatives patients can use in its stead. The agency is working with other manufacturers to help fill the shortage with increased availability of those other options.
While this is the first U.S. shortage due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it likely won’t be the last. The FDA has identified 20 drugs that either source their active ingredients or receive their finished drug products from China. (None are considered critical drugs.)
So far, no other pharmaceutical companies have reported shortages, but continued slowdowns in Chinese factories as the country tries to contain the outbreak could change that.
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—Trump budget cuts could become a big problem as coronavirus spreads
—China cracking down on VPNs in coronavirus crisis
—China tries to restart economy as outbreak slows. Is it heading back to work too soon?
—5 reasons coronavirus statistics seem inconsistent
—Coronavirus may be the straw that breaks the back of oil fracking
Subscribe to Fortune’s Brainstorm Health newsletter for daily updates on biopharma and health care.


fortune--2020-02-28--5 things actor Scott Eastwood always packs when traveling

For actor Scott Eastwood, travel is all about spontaneity.
The 33-year-old film actor and son of Clint Eastwood likes to keep a busy schedule, with several projects always in the works. When he chats with Fortune, for instance, he’s on set taking a break from filming Cash Truck, the latest flick from director Guy Ritchie, starring Jason Statham, due out later this year. And he is just weeks away from starting production on a thriller called The Manuscript, with Jamie Foxx.
“A surefire way to cancel a trip is to book a trip, for me,” Eastwood quips. “When I want to get up to something, I just go. Sometimes, there’s a complete lack of planning, and you just go. Even if it’s a trip that involves going around the world—something you normally plan—a lot of times you got to be scrappy about it and just go, because I just don’t know when I’ll get time off again.”
Last fall, Eastwood, who lives in the quiet beach city of Encinitas, Calif., took an impromptu weeklong drive with a friend to Baja California in Mexico.
“It was like a maiden voyage with him, and that was awesome,” Eastwood says. “That was great, to get away and do a sort of pseudo-camping, pseudo–road trip, all the while getting to swim with orca whales off the coast of Baja. Just the whole experience made me think, ‘Oh, man, I forgot how beautiful it is right in our backyard.’”
Whenever Eastwood travels, the actor says he likes to keep things “lean and mean”—to the point that he hasn’t checked in luggage in well over a decade.
Here are the five essentials the actor never travels without:
“If you’re doing something right, you’re traveling with a sat phone,” Eastwood says. “That means you’re going to a place that people haven’t gone, and you’re really adventuring.”
To that end, Eastwood favors a device like the IsatPhone 2.1 satellite phone. Measuring 6.7 inches, the device works on the Inmarsat service with the antenna folded out. Besides being shock resistant, the device is IP65-rated for protection against dust and water, and functions in temperatures as low as negative four degrees Fahrenheit, and 95% humidity. Even more impressive? Battery life. It claims the longest life of any satellite phone with eight hours of talk time and 160 hours on standby. On top of calls, you can send and receive texts and emails, and there’s even an SOS function for 24/7 emergency assistance. SRP: $635.
Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones
While there’s no shortage of solid headphones on the market, Eastwood still prefers the classic sound profile—and noise-canceling savvy—of Bose headphones. And while the QuietComfort 35 headphones came out nearly three years ago, they remain one of the best options on the market.
“I love a good, warm pair of headphones, and it’s pretty hard to get away from Bose,” contends Eastwood. “They’re sort of, you know, they’ve been around for freaking a hundred years, and to me they’re the gold standard.” SRP: $249.
Eastwood never forgets to toss a bottle of sunscreen into his bag before he heads out on his next adventure, but he keeps it pretty simple. To that end, Neutrogena’s Age Shield Face Sunscreen blocks out UVA and UVB rays and doubles as a basic moisturizer, even for sensitive skin.
“I prefer my sunscreen on the somewhat heavier side for the tropics,” Eastwood says. “It’s a must when you’re, like, in deep Mexico or some such, so it sticks. I like the baked look.” SRP: $12.
Founded nearly 60 years ago in a small warehouse in Toronto, Canada Goose has become a go-to brand for upscale travelers who prefer some luxury vibes with their down-filled jackets. The Ventoux parka was inspired by the classic bomber jacket, with ribbed cuffs, collar, and waistband.
“I love a pretty good Canada Goose jacket that rolls into, like, nothing, and it’ll keep you warm in fully freezing cold temps,” adds Eastwood. SRP: $850.
Last July, Eastwood and entrepreneur Dane Chapin launched Made Here, a line of shirts, boxers, socks, hats, and other accessories for men and women that pays tribute to the American worker with its designs and its U.S. manufacturing.
“Because it’s so cheap to make goods in other places that aren’t necessarily as regulated or have a much cheaper labor source, we forget about how important it is to do things like celebrating goods that are made here and to celebrate the workers who make them,” Eastwood says, adding that he’s heavily involved in every step of Made Here’s design and manufacturing process. “I’m all in—for all the good, or bad, or the ugly. I’m in it.” SRP: $14–$17.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—The mental health benefits of cow cuddling
—Couples are including cannabis at their weddings. How you can, too
—These tailors show that custom suiting is no longer just for men
—The food scene in South Philly is more than just cheesesteaks
—The best travel destinations for every season of 2020
Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis.


fortune--2020-02-28--California voting changes raise concerns for Super Tuesday

Major changes to the way people vote have election advocates on edge as Californians cast ballots in a high-profile primary that was moved up from June so the country’s most populous state could have a bigger say in picking the Democratic presidential nominee.
More than 2.7 million of 20.6 million registered voters had returned ballots in early voting as of Thursday, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. California is among several states holding elections on Super Tuesday, and the state’s 416 delegates are a rich prize for the Democrats slugging it out for the nomination.
“We’re going into this election with record registration and a whole lot of energy,” Padilla said in a phone briefing with reporters Thursday.
California’s primary also comes amid massive changes aimed at expanding voter participation: new voting equipment, vote centers that are replacing polling places in some counties and expanded same-day voter registration.
Those changes may confuse some voters. The fear is that California will end up with a mess much larger than the Feb. 3 debacle in Iowa, where the Democratic Party could not declare a winner for several days because of problems with a new cellphone app used to collect data from caucus sites, among other blunders.
The results of competitive races, such as the presidential primary, likely won’t be known Tuesday. California accepts ballots arriving up to three days after election day and has expanded same-day voter registration, so ballot counting will continue well after Tuesday. There were more than 2 million ballots left to process after the 2016 primary.
Paul Mitchell, vice president of data firm Political Data Inc., expects turnout in California to be around 50%, roughly the same as in the 2016 primary, with most people voting Tuesday. He said there’s excitement for the Democratic presidential race, but Republicans have little reason to vote in the primary despite congressional races on the ballot.
Election observers are keeping tabs on Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous county with more than 5.5 million registered voters and an upgraded $300 million voting system, including new ballot-marking devices.
It’s also among 15 counties — up from five in 2018 — that have replaced traditional polling places with multipurpose vote centers, where people who live anywhere in the county can vote early, drop off ballots, register to vote or vote on election day.
The vote centers’ rollout last weekend was bumpy, with some opening late or not at all because supplies hadn’t arrived or workers didn’t have correct information to start new touch-screen ballot markers.
Los Angeles County is the only one of the 15 counties with vote centers that did not automatically mail ballots to all registered voters, increasing the possibility that people will have no ballot and won’t know where to go on election day.
The county has taken extra steps to educate voters about the change, says Jonathan Stein, head of the voting rights program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus.
Still, “in a county that enormous, all of the public outreach efforts in the world are still going to fall short,” he said.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office did not return calls and emails seeking comment. Registrar Dean Logan posted Saturday on Twitter that the new equipment worked well but there is “more work ahead to ensure better coordination of facilities and logistics.”
The transition to vote centers is huge, says Orange County Registrar Neal Kelley, and he worries he’ll get calls from irate voters on Tuesday: “I’m standing in front of the garage I’ve voted at for the last 20 years — why is it not open?”
Orange County has 1.6 million registered voters, and returns are 35% higher than they were at this point in 2016, he said.
Also new this year, Californians can register to vote up to 8 p.m. on election day wherever ballots are cast, which could mean a surge of last-minute ballots, including provisional ballots that take longer to count.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said she’s not surprised people are holding on to their ballots as they debate the merits of the candidates — a still-evolving pool is precisely why lawmakers moved up the election date — but she and others worry about an election day meltdown with long lines.
“It’s fine to wait,” she said. “Just don’t wait too long, and for God’s sake, don’t put your ballot in the mail on election day.”
Another group that voting advocates say will face problems and perhaps contribute to longer lines is the state’s 5 million “no party preference” voters. They are given a nonpartisan ballot that lists no presidential candidates unless they specifically request a ballot from one of the three parties that allows them to vote in their presidential contests without re-registering: Democratic, Libertarian or American Independent.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Are we undergoing an industrial revolution or a phase change?
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—How the 2020 election could influence your personal finances
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fortune--2020-02-28--Plague-themed app yanked from Apple’s App Store in China

China’s clampdown on the COVID-19 coronavirus has extended to video games.
The country’s government has removed the popular Plague Inc. game from the Apple app store in that country, declaring that it “includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China.”
Ndemic Creations, makers of the epidemic-themed game (where players try to create and mutate a virus to cause a global pandemic that wipes out the earth’s population), said in a blog post the reason for the announcement was unclear and the company was working to resolve the situation.
“We have a huge amount of respect for our Chinese players and are devastated that they are no longer able to access and play Plague Inc.,” the company said We are working very hard to try and find a way to get the game back in the hands of Chinese players – we don’t want to give up on you – however, as a tiny independent games studio in the UK, the odds are stacked against us. Our immediate priority is to try and make contact with the Cyberspace Administration of China to understand their concerns and work with them to find a resolution.”
Plague Inc. was first released eight years ago, long before the coronavirus outbreak. It has been played by over 130 million people worldwide and was a big hit in China. As COVID-19 has dominated headlines, the game has experienced a new surge in popularity and has been recognized by the CDC and other health organizations for its educational properties in demonstrating how disease spreads.
More must-read stories from Fortune :
—Trump budget cuts could become a big problem as coronavirus spreads
—China cracking down on VPNs in coronavirus crisis
—China tries to restart economy as outbreak slows. Is it heading back to work too soon?
—5 reasons coronavirus statistics seem inconsistent
—Coronavirus may be the straw that breaks the back of oil fracking
Subscribe to Fortune’s Brainstorm Health newsletter for daily updates on biopharma and health care.


fortune--2020-02-28--Biogen is doubling down on Alzheimer’s with a massive gene therapy deal

This is the web version of Brainstorm Health Daily, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top health care news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here.
Happy Friday, readers.
You may recall that Biogen stunned the biotech world last fall when it announced it would be reviving its left-for-dead experimental Alzheimer’s treatment aducanumab. The company wasn’t just bringing the treatment back to life, it plans on submitting to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for regulatory approval, hoping to lay claim to the first medicine ever approved to treat the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s (rather than just its symptoms).
That controversial decision was spurred by a new analysis of data from aducanumab trials (more on that here). And we’ll find out soon enough if the gamble will work. But in the meantime, Biogen is plowing forward in a risky therapeutic space many other companies have abandoned after decades of failure.
Biogen has now struck a massive gene therapy deal with Sangamo Therapeutics, sending the smaller firm’s share soaring as much as 30% in early Friday trading. The collaboration will involve a series of Sangamo’s preclinical experimental treatments in the central nervous disorder space, including two therapies that would use gene regulation in order to tackle Alzheimer’s (ST-501) and Parkinson’s disease (ST-502), respectively.
Biogen will pony up an eye-popping $350 million in upfront cash for the partnership, underscoring the scale of its commitment to CNS treatments. And, unlike aducanumab, which targets amyloid plaque in the brain (a plaque seen in patients with Alzheimer’s), these new assets will home in on other kinds of targets such as tau.
“Biogen will collaborate with Sangamo on a new gene regulation therapy approach, working at the DNA level, with the potential to treat challenging neurological diseases of global significance,” said Biogen R&D chief Alfred Sandrock in a statement.
Read on for the day’s news, and and have a wonderful weekend.
Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy
DIGITAL HEALTH
Can a computer detect emotions from your face? Nature has a fascinating report on an ongoing debate within the psychological community about whether or not A.I. algorithms can detect emotions in human faces. The debate centers on whether or not facial expressions in and of themselves are universal in expressing certain emotions. One study found that "Westerners and East Asians had similar concepts of how faces display pain, they had different ideas about expressions of pleasure." (Nature)
INDICATIONS
FDA pushes back decision on Zogenix epilepsy drug. Shares of Zogenix tumbled on Thursday (and into Friday) after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pushed back a decision on whether or not to approve the company's epilepsy drug Fintepla. The agency was originally supposed to reach a verdict on the drug by the end of March but is now extending the review period by three months. Zogenix executives reiterated confidence in the treatment's data in a statement, but investors are clearly spooked for now. Fintepla is meant to treat a rare epileptic disorder called Dravet syndrome. (BioPharma Dive)
Gilead may be teeing up an M&A for a cancer biotech. Let the rumor mill churn. Everyone loves to speculate about who Gilead will or won't buy (and the general buzz around the company has been growing given its coronavirus ambitions). The latest target of interest, according to a number of reports, is Forty Seven, an upstart biotech specializing in new form of cancer treatments. Bloomberg reports that Gilead has "approached" the company for either a partnership or straight up buyout.
THE BIG PICTURE
Five more countries report their first coronavirus cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday that coronavirus may spread across the globe as five more countries reported their first known cases. "The scenario of the coronavirus reaching multiple countries, if not all countries around the world, is something we have been looking at and warning against since quite a while," said the WHO's Christian Lindmeier during a press briefing. Nigeria, Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Lithuania are the five nations with new cases (although all appear to stem from Italy, where infections have spiked in recent weeks). (Reuters)
REQUIRED READING
Worried about the stock market? Resist the urge to panic, by Ben Carlson
Bath & Body Works is getting a lift from the coronavirus crisis, by Phil Wahba
In A.I., what would Jesus do?, by Jeremy Kahn
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fortune--2020-02-28--Coronavirus crackdown: How companies like Ernst & Young are going to extremes to avoid infections

Companies are growing increasingly concerned as the coronavirus spreads across the globe—and are taking new, more extreme precautionary measures to mitigate its impact on their employees.
Professional services firm Ernst & Young instituted new preventative protocols on Wednesday, this time in the U.S. as well, prohibiting employees from attending “not-client-critical” external events of more than 100 people, and also requiring employees to request to attend “client-critical” events of over 100 attendees, according to an internal email viewed by Fortune. To boot, the company, which employs 284,000 people globally, is requesting employees cancel or postpone (until April) any internal meetings of more than 25 people (from different offices), instead requesting employees conduct meetings via video or other remote meeting channels. Ernst & Young told Fortune that while these details stand as guidelines, the company is asking employees to check with their risk managers regarding particular meetings or events of larger size.
For some employees like Chris Petryk, an attorney working on a contract for EY based in Secaucus, New Jersey, the email came as a surprise. “My eyes and ears perked up,” he recounts to Fortune. Petryk has been following the virus closely since the outbreak began, but was taken aback at the severity of the precautions.
“That an email like that is going out to all American employees of a company that size as severe and serious as [the email] was [was surprising],” Petryk says. “I think people [are] more concerned about [cancelling meetings and travel] than the actual virus.”
In addition to new meeting and event protocols, EY expanded its travel ban on outward and inward travel until April 1 to or from South Korea, Japan, and areas in Northern Italy. According to the email, employees who have traveled in the aforementioned areas (plus China, Hong Kong, and Macau indefinitely) are being instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days, at least until April 1. Ernst & Young told Fortune in a statement that “The safety and wellbeing of all EY people, clients and communities remains our primary concern,” and that EY is “monitoring this situation closely and will be updating guidance as developments warrant” in accordance with local government and WHO guidelines.
Apart from EY’s new intensive measures, Nestle SA and L’Oreal SA both instructed employees to avoid traveling for business altogether until mid-to-late March.
At Amazon, the company confirmed to Fortune that additional precautions are being put in place, including employees being asked to self-quarantine and work from home if they are or have been traveling in areas in Asia and, now, parts of Europe. An Amazon spokesperson told Fortune that the company is continuing to provide “precautionary advice to our employees in line with health and safety guidelines provided by the WHO and regional health authorities like the CDC.”
Still, others like IBM are operating on a more country-specific basis, as the company told Fortune that it is “complying with local governmental regulations concerning travel, having our employees work from home where recommended and deciding on our participation in large meetings and trade shows on an individual basis.” IBM has also restricted travel to and from China and Milan, Italy, and is en masse encouraging employees in China, Japan, South Korea and northern regions of Italy to work from home, in accordance with local authorities in those regions.
Coca-Cola Co. and Kraft Heinz Co. are limiting employee travel from affected countries as well, and others like German power company RWE AG are also cancelling large, nonessential external or internal events.
A hard hit?
In terms of impact, those like Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial, are more concerned about the ripple effect of additional corporate travel bans.
“[For] the individual companies who are adjusting their travel schedules for their employees, … it is not a big deal, but the airlines, the hotels … This is a really big deal for the travel and hospitality space,” Cox tells Fortune.
That space has been hit hard in recent weeks, as airlines like United Airlines have suspended 2020 guidance, with its stock trading down around 18% for the week. To wit, hotel company Marriott International announced Thursday that the company anticipates a roughly $25 million hit to its monthly fee revenue due to coronavirus impact.
But for investors watching companies’ growing concerns, Cox notes: “To the extent that companies are making these decisions, … I think those serve to do nothing more than put at bay the risks of a conflagration of [risks tied to coronavirus spreading].”
UBS Wealth Management’s Michael Crook, head of Americas investment strategy, sees a risk in continued restrictions. While he doesn’t think the majority of companies dealing with internal travel or quarantine restrictions will feel too much impact, uncertainty is still the key factor. “The longer that these restrictions and lack of willingness to travel persists, the bigger impact we’ll see,” Crook tells Fortune. “Not only industries that are in the travel industry, but supply chain problems. There are a lot of follow-on effects there.”
Concern mounts as virus spreads
Corporate concerns are seemingly only increasing as new cases surface, including a confirmed case in the U.S. that popped up in California on Wednesday night, which possibly might be the first case of “community-spread” coronavirus, or an infection that was not directly tied to travels in China or contact with those who had.
President Trump said during a press conference Wednesday that it was “not the right time” to institute more restrictions on entry to the country, but that “we may do that.”
So far, the virus has reportedly infected over 82,000 people worldwide.
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—Warren Buffett lays out a succession plan—for his Berkshire shares
—Europe’s first big Covid-19 outbreak roils global markets
—Investors shouldn’t underestimate election volatility, warns UBS
—You can now buy a fractional share of Amazon stock
—Big ideas for fixing global cities’ most daunting challenges
Subscribe to Fortune’s Bull Sheet for no-nonsense finance news and analysis daily.


fortune--2020-02-28--How will mind-bending startups fare on the public markets?

A psychedelics-drug startup is hoping it can take public market investors on a trip.
Mind Medicine, a psychedelics-based medicine startup, raised $24.2 million in funding from investors including Bail Capital, Cannell Capital, and Grey House Partners. Additional investors include Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary.
The company plans to go public on the Toronto-based NEO Exchange on March 3, and list directly through a reverse takeover of Broadway Gold Mining. MindMed claims it will be the first psychedelic pharmaceutical company to be listed on a public stock exchange.
MindMed develops something that its co-founder JR Rahn hopes will become the “antibiotic for addiction.” It’s based on a non-hallucinogenic derivative of ibogaine, a psychoactive compound that has been used for more than 50 years to treat addiction. Ibogaine treatment centers exist outside of the United States, but the substance has been illegal in the country for more than 50 years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Kevin O’Leary told the WSJ that he agreed to back the company as Rahn vowed to focus only on medicinal use. “If this can actually cure opioid addiction, that is a big, big opportunity,” O’Leary told The Journal. “Why wouldn’t I want a piece of that?”
Wow, curing opioid addiction! That’s a lofty goal. With all due respect to Rahn and O’Leary, I’m always skeptical of companies with such promises.
Last week, Fortune published a fascinating deep dive on why investors are fueling a psychedelics movement. Financiers from Wall Street to Silicon Valley see psychedelic drugs as a potential elixir for all sorts of psychiatric afflictions, including OCD and PTSD, opioid addiction, alcoholism, eating disorders, cluster headaches, and suicidal ideation.
When I shared the article with the readers of my weekly newsletter The Profile, one person raised an important point about psychedelics: “The problem is that mass production will try to blanket every case with it. That’s where we run into issues of people getting addicted to them (for a brain truly unbalanced the drugs provide relief, but for someone not in that severe a state, then can do more harm than good).”
While MindMed may be responsible with the drug, what about the rest of the industry? A lot of questions remain unanswered as psychedelics are still a nascent industry. Private investors have an appetite for psychedelic-drug companies, but I’m very curious to see how the public market investor receives it.
Polina Marinova
Twitter: @polina_marinova
Email: polina.marinova@fortune.com
VENTURE DEALS
- Veev Group, a San Mateo, Calif.-based integrated real estate developer, raised $97 million in Series B funding. Zeev Ventures and Lennar Ventures co-led the round, and was joined by investors including Eclipse Ventures, Green Spring Associates, Khosla Ventures, and Western Technology Investment.
- Ladder Financial, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based life insurance startup, raised $37.5 million in Series C funding. Brewer Lane Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including World Innovation Lab, Lightspeed, Canaan, and RRE.
- Ribbon Health, a New York City-based healthcare data platform for payers, providers, and digital health companies, raised $10.25 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, and was joined by investors including Y Combinator and BoxGroup.
IPOs
- Lion Air, an Indonesian airline, deferred its IPO due to global stock markets shaking from coronavirus fears, Reuters reports citing sources. Read more.
- ZoomInfo Technologies, a Vancouver, Wash.-based platform for sales and marketing, filed for a $500 million in an initial public offering. It posted revenue of $293 million in 2019 and loss of $78 million. TA Associates and Carlyle back the firm. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “ZI.” Read more.
EXITS
- DocuSign will acquire Seal Software, a developer of AI-driven contract analytics services, for $188 million. Seal Software had raised approximately $58 million in funding from investors including Toba Capital.
FIRMS + FUNDS
- Fifth Wall, a Venice, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $100 million for its retail fund.
- Anthemis, a London-based venture investment firm, raised $90 million for its latest fund, Anthemis Insurance Venture Growth Fund I.


fortune--2020-03-01--Coronavirus rumors spread on an app cripple LA’s Koreatown restaurants

One way the wealthy hope to avoid coronavirus ?
Private jets

In a Koreatown restaurant known for its beef bone broth soup, the lunchtime crowd Friday was half its normal size. The reason was a virulent rumor about a customer with coronavirus.
Han Bat Shul Lung Tang was one of five restaurants that lost business after being named in posts on a Korean messaging app that warned a Korean Air flight attendant with the virus had dined there during a layover in Los Angeles more than a week ago.
“It’s fake news,” owner John Kim said, and he had proof. His restaurant was closed at the time because of a water leak, a fact confirmed by the Department of Public Health.
The rumor about the flight attendant was dispelled Friday morning by the Republic of Korea consulate in Los Angeles. In a statement posted in Korean on Facebook, the consulate general said the attendant who visited Los Angeles on Feb. 19-20 had gone to two businesses but neither was in Koreatown. Later in the day, public health officials said the flight attendant was not contagious while in the city.
The rumor and the impact on the restaurants was a prime example of how fears of the virus combined with the speed and reach of social media can quickly cripple the healthiest of businesses and focus suspicion on ethnic communities.
The virus, which began in China, has been spreading worldwide and has taken a big toll lately in South Korea. Lawmakers and advocates for immigrant communities have warned about xenophobia and discrimination aimed at Asian Americans.
State Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, said Chinese businesses, in particular, were experiencing large economic losses as a result of racism and fear.
A group representing Koreatown restaurants said business in general was down about 50% since the rumor spread on the Kakao Talk app on Monday.
One message circulating on the app provided details of the flights the attendant worked on and listed the restaurants that said she purportedly visited with the message: “Please share with everyone to avoid these ktown spots,” using an abbreviation for Koreatown.
“In the Korean-American community here, it went like wildfire,” Alex Won said Friday as he ate a bowl of beef brisket soup at Han Bat Shul Lung Tang. “It’s sad.”
Won said he got the message from friends and family members, but never really believed it because it wasn’t reported in the news. He stopped at the restaurant at the start of the week and found it closed because of a water leak. He was happy to return for a late lunch Friday and was surprised to find he was the only diner.
“I’ve never seen it this empty,” he said. “There’s always people here.”
Owners of other restaurants named in the post said business died almost instantly.
At Honey Pig, a Korean barbecue restaurant with 25 tables, only six parties were seated during one bad day of business this week, owner Chin Kim said.
Customers had been calling to inquire if the rumors were true, and some asked more outlandish questions, Kim said. One woman who had dined at the restaurant recently called to ask if it was safe to attend her daughter’s upcoming wedding, Kim said.
Owners were frustrated they couldn’t get more information from public health officials. Korean news media reported Thursday that South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a female flight attendant who tested positive for the virus had traveled to Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said it was aware of reports about the flight attendant but had no confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until late Friday. That’s when it said she did not develop symptoms of the illness known as COVID-19 until after leaving LA, so she posed no risk while in the city.
With a rumor they couldn’t confirm or deny, some restaurants took no chances. Video circulated on social media of a worker in a hazmat-type suit spraying down the floors at Hangari Kalguksu, a noodle soup house.
The sign outside Hanshin Pocha, a bar offering traditional Korean snack fare, boasts “never been closed since 1998.” Nevertheless, the establishment shuttered Tuesday to sanitize the restaurant. Bottles of hand sanitizer were lined up on a counter next to bottled water.
“It’s a bad rumor, but people like bad rumors,” said Jay Choi, manager of Hanshin Pocha.
Choi and others talked about the need to find and punish the person who started the rumor. He said he was looking into hiring a lawyer to take legal action.
On the streets of Koreatown, some pedestrians wore surgical masks. But they were not the norm.
Zhang Bin, a college student from China, and his roommate have worn the masks for protection since the virus broke out.
“I think even if the stewardess didn’t come to the restaurants, we still need to protect from the virus,” he said. “The speed and the spread of the disease is so fast.”
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Trump budget cuts could become a big problem as coronavirus spreads
—China cracking down on VPNs in coronavirus crisis
—China tries to restart economy as outbreak slows. Is it heading back to work too soon?
—5 reasons coronavirus statistics seem inconsistent
—Coronavirus may be the straw that breaks the back of oil fracking
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fortune--2020-03-01--This Raja Ampat yachting adventure might be the world’s most exclusive escape

A weathered wooden pier juts from the alabaster shore on the isle of Mansuar—a jungled sliver of limestone in Raja Ampat, Indonesia—into the cyan sea, an unremarkable jumble of planks and pilings perched a few yards above the glassy surface. But just below it, the Yenbuba jetty—named for the island’s tiny village—morphs into an aquatic Xanadu, teeming with Technicolor and life. Countless fish painted in riots of pattern—teal parrotfish finned in lavender, fawn pufferfish spotted with white—dart among posts studded with Gorgonian sea fans, their lacelike fronds flitting in shades of amber, fuchsia, and tangerine. A panoply of other coral types—staghorn, elkhorn, pipe, brain—blanket the ocean floor, creating a rainbow-hued reefscape so varied and vivid it’s dizzying to behold.
Such kaleidoscopic submarine scenes are commonplace in Raja Ampat (“Four Kings”), a chain of some 1,500 islands strewn like jewels across 29,000 square miles off the west coast of West Papua province. Straddling the Pacific and Indian oceans and anchored by the four large islands for which it’s named, the archipelago makes up the heart of the Coral Triangle—the most biodiverse marine environment on earth. Home to 76% of the world’s coral species—over 550, compared with 70 in the Caribbean—and some 1,500 types of fish, it’s often called a “species factory” by scientists, thanks to its plethora of endemic organisms (more than 70 species of reef fish, coral, and crustaceans), a list that grows with every new discovery. Simply put, Raja Ampat remains one of the world’s last virtually untouched places and a bona fide Valhalla for scuba divers and snorkelers alike.
Over 550 species of reef-building corals—75% of the world’s coral species—are found in Raja Ampat. Claire Mann
Luxury meets legacy at sea
That just a handful of tiny eco-resorts exist here contributes crucially to a landscape that has barely changed since 18th-century spice traders sailed these storied waters. Most visitors opt for liveaboard boats, which travel between the islands’ many far-flung destinations by night, offering the best, most efficient way to experience their myriad charms.
And there’s no better way to explore this singular paradise than aboard Prana by Atzaró. Having first set sail in September 2018, the 180-foot superyacht—the largest and most luxurious of its kind in the world—is modeled after two-mast sailing ships called phinisi, traditional Indonesian vessels hand-built in the south of the sprawling, scorpion-shaped island of Sulawesi by its Bugis people, master seafarers since ancient times.
These so-called Sulawesi schooners were originally constructed according not to drafted plans but in keeping with a series of key proportions memorized by these legendary shipwrights and passed down through generations. The enduring art of phinisi shipbuilding—which draws upon a healthy dose of age-old ceremony to this day—is so unique that it was inscribed in Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2017.
The ship’s expansive outdoor space offers ideal vantage points for relishing sunsets and stargazing after nightfall. Courtesy of The Atzaro Group
This rarefied mélange of history, ritual, and craftsmanship manifests masterfully in Prana by Atzaró. Fashioned entirely of teak and ironwood, her heft—411 tons—is palpable, her hand-hewn planking smooth and substantial underfoot. With almost 10,000 square feet of usable space across four decks and nine suites, the yacht—whose other seasonal itineraries include Indonesia’s Komodo National Park and the Spice Islands—sleeps 18 and is available exclusively for full-ship charter.
Prana’s elegant solidity dovetails with the ubiquitous refinement of its onboard experience. Cabins combine contemporary design with discerning touches like hand-beaded Indonesian artifacts and amenities including smart TVs, rain showers, and stocked minibars. Those lucky enough to score Batavia, the exquisite master suite, will rejoice: Tucked away at the rear of the upper deck and measuring over 600 square feet, it boasts wraparound windows, double sinks, and a 215-square-foot outdoor terrace, whose plush cushioned benches are perfect for soaking up Raja Ampat’s ravishing beauty.
Measuring over 600 square feet, the yacht’s jaw-dropping Batavia master suite, located at the rear of the upper deck, features wraparound windows and a spacious private terrace. Courtesy of The Atzaro Group
Ample sun beds and roomy seating areas offer plentiful options for unwinding alfresco. There’s also a yoga deck that doubles as both an outdoor movie theater and a jaw-dropping cocktail party setting at dusk, when guests sip gin and tonics while colonies of flying foxes—large fruit bats that inhabit the island of Mioskon—crowd the blazing, pink-streaked sky as the sea slowly swallows the sun.
A peerless paradise
While luxuriating aboard is tempting—there’s even a small spa staffed by Balinese therapists—Raja Ampat’s staggering natural bounty beckons. Twice a day, guests pile into two tenders to zip off to another must-see site, in search of manta rays, tasseled wobbegong sharks, and myriad other fascinating residents.
At Anita, a celebrated snorkeling spot near the island of Piaynemo, a shallow circular canyon ringed by coral walls creates a mesmerizing underwater Eden, slashed with sunlight and brimming with colorful coral bommies (column-like outcrops) in a slew of shapes and sizes. As ribboned sweetlips and orange clownfish play cat and mouse, a 200-strong shoal of blue-gold fusiliers suddenly storms the scene, their neon-yellow tails flashes of dazzle in the lucent depths. Nearby, a Hawksbill sea turtle—characteristically unfazed by the commotion—hovers above a two-tiered table coral sheltering a supersize sea star that virtually glows electric-cobalt.
Five of the world’s seven species of rare and endangered sea turtles thrive in Raja Ampat. Jason Reposar
Describing the astonishing splendor of Raja Ampat defies hyperbole. Take Wayag, a cluster of islands in the West Waigeo region that are arguably its most arresting. On an exhilarating tender ride to the local ranger station through mazes of karst islets clad in towering palms, the water’s hypnotizing hue—shifting from crystalline aquamarine in the lagoons to pellucid sapphire in the open sea—will leave even the world-weariest traveler gobsmacked. Standing knee-deep among blacktip reef sharks as they patrol the shallows at the station—the sun-blasted sand blindingly white and the ocean striped in glittering bands of azure and indigo—you’ll wonder if you’ve somehow landed on another planet.
Awe-inspiring spectacles abound above the surface as well as below—deserted beaches, wild mangroves, and lush emerald rain forests among them. On the islands of Gam, Waigeo, and Batanta, intrepid birders seek out elusive birds of paradise, the exotic creatures that British scientist Alfred Russel Wallace—who spent eight years exploring Raja Ampat beginning in 1854, where he devised the theory of natural selection independently of Charles Darwin—called “one of the most beautiful and wonderful of living things.”
Gourmet cuisine and beach barbecues
If all this marveling leaves you famished, you’ve come to the right ship. Much like overstating Raja Ampat’s otherworldly majesty, exaggerating the quality of Prana by Atzaró’s world-class cuisine is a tall order. The sprawling early-morning spread will seduce even avowed breakfast foes with steaming bowls of spicy nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), heaping platters of pineapple, papaya, and purple dragon fruit, and eggs cooked perfectly to order.
Prana by Atzaró’s array of world-class cuisine, served alfresco at lunch and dinner, includes both Indonesian and Western favorites. Jason Reposar
Alfresco lunches are veritable feasts usually served family-style—think delicately roasted local snapper, zingy papaya salad with peanuts and mint, and tender shrimp sautéed in spicy sambal—that elicit choruses of compliments until the last bite. Dinners—both family-style smorgasbords and artful multicourse affairs—prove equally irresistible. An authentic Lebanese extravaganza with silky hummus, lamb shawarma, and crispy falafel earns raves, as does a hearty steak dinner that commences with mushroom quinoa risotto and concludes with fruit-topped panna cotta.
Memorable beach barbecues showcase the considerable talents of the yacht’s ever-smiling, supremely competent crew. Guests are squired by tender to a nearby island for a festive repast of succulent grilled lobster and apropos fixings, washed down with icy margaritas and crisp rosé, served at the water’s edge under a dual canopy of twinkling white lights and a star-spangled sky. An entrancing fire dance—performed by Anaëlle, one of Prana’s charming dive instructors—rounds out an evening for the books.
Protecting an increasingly vulnerable ecosystem
While Raja Ampat’s relative isolation has helped safeguard its near-prehistoric quality, its fragile ecosystem still faces a barrage of threats from activities like illegal fishing and improper waste disposal. Efforts to protect the islands, undertaken by the organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International, include designating a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) and creating more sustainable tourism activities that benefit local residents.
Home to the richest marine biodiversity remaining on the planet, Raja Ampat has been described by scientists as a “species factory” thanks to its plethora of endemic organisms. Claire Mann
One of the most pioneering marine conservation initiatives underway is the Kalabia, a 110-foot former tuna trawler that brings interactive environmental education to more than 100 of the area’s remote coastal villages. Kalabia won the 2018 Unesco-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development and is expanding its programming to reach all Papuan communities in the near future.
As for increasingly devastating and less manageable catastrophes—namely global warming—research suggests that many of Raja Ampat’s coral species may be more resistant to rising ocean temperatures—offering hope that they might replenish others nearby damaged by coral bleaching.
Meanwhile, the islands’ remoteness has helped stave off the over-tourism to which destinations like Hawaii and the Maldives have fallen prey. Sorong—West Papua’s largest city and the gateway to Raja Ampat—is served by a few daily direct flights from Jakarta but not from Bali, Indonesia’s most popular tourist hotspot. The relative complexity of acquiring land in the country, coupled with governmental efforts to deter development, has also kept visitor numbers in check—but for how long, who’s to say.
Launched in September 2018, the 180-foot teak-and-ironwood Prana by Atzaró is the largest and most luxurious phinisi yacht in the world, with almost 10,000 square feet of usable space across four decks. Courtesy of The Atzaro Group
In The Malay Archipelago, his 1869 account of his years in Raja Ampat, Alfred Russel Wallace wrote, “Situated upon the Equator, and bathed by the tepid water of the great tropical oceans, this region…teems with natural productions which are elsewhere unknown.” With commitment, vigilance, and plenty of luck, may its ineffable magic endure.
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—The most anticipated books of 2020, according to Goodreads
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—The magic of the wedding industry’s most exclusive conference
—High-tech fitness offerings are the newest luxury hotel must-have
—The best travel destinations for every season of 2020
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fortune--2020-03-01--Billionaire Tom Steyer ends 2020 presidential bid

Billionaire Tom Steyer ended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination after a disappointing finish in South Carolina, where he had hoped to make a stand.
Steyer didn’t garner enough of the vote to get any delegates. He had been betting on a strong performance in that state after doing poorly in the first three early contests, failing to crack the top four slots in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
“I can’t see a path where I can win the presidency,” Steyer said in Columbia, South Carolina. “I have no regrets.”
In South Carolina, he spent millions on television ads before the other candidates invested in the state.
Steyer entered the race in July on a platform of reforming the role of money in politics and combating climate change. He also brought a willingness to spend freely from his personal fortune to deliver his message.
His departure leaves Michael Bloomberg as the only candidate left in the race who is self-funding his campaign.
(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
Steyer decided to run despite announcing in January 2019 that he wouldn’t seek the presidency and would instead focus on Need to Impeach, his advocacy organization devoted to removing President Donald Trump from office.
Steyer vowed to spend $100 million on his campaign. He spent almost three times that much, with expenditures of $271 million through the end of January.
He participated in four debates. Despite his efforts, Steyer never rose to be a top-tier candidate. He averaged at or below 2% nationally throughout the race according to RealClearPolitics.
Before running for president, Steyer founded Farallon Capital where he served as a co-senior managing partner and was a partner and member of the executive committee of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. He and his wife signed the “giving pledge” agreeing to donate half of their net worth to charity within their lifetime. In 2013, Steyer launched the progressive political action committee NextGen America, which works to mobilize young voters and push progressive issues.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Are we undergoing an industrial revolution or a phase change?
—Twitter’s testing new ways to fight misinformation. Is open-source the answer?
—Meet Trump’s Giuliani-approved power broker—and Melania’s new senior adviser
—Angela Merkel is on her way out. Meet her potential replacements
—How the 2020 election could influence your personal finances
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fortune--2020-03-01--Biden wins South Carolina, hopes for Super Tuesday momentum

Joe Biden scored a convincing victory in South Carolina’s Democratic primary on Saturday, riding a wave of African American support and ending progressive rival Bernie Sanders’ winning streak.
The victory came at a crucial moment in Biden’s 2020 bid as the moderate Democrat bounced back from underwhelming performances in the first three contests. The race now quickly shifts toward next week’s “Super Tuesday,” when voters in 14 states award one third of the total number of presidential delegates.
Biden hopes the South Carolina victory will be enough to establish him as the clear alternative to Sanders as the race moves into a new phase. Standing in Biden’s way is former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, one of the world’s richest men, who has spent more than half a billion dollars courting voters in dozens of states yet to vote.
The South Carolina primary was the first major test of the candidates’ appeal among black voters. And while it gave the 77-year-old Biden a win when he most needed it, he must still prove that he has the financial and organizational resources to dramatically expand his campaign in the next 72 hours. He will also be under pressure to rely on his decades-long relationships with party leaders to create a new sense of inevitability around his candidacy.
Even before news of Biden’s win was declared, Bloomberg announced his own plan to deliver a three-minute prime-time address Sunday night on two television networks. He didn’t say how much he paid for the air time, which is unprecedented in recent decades.
And Sanders was already peeking ahead to Super Tuesday, betting he can amass an insurmountable delegate lead at that point. After two consecutive victories and a tie for the lead in Iowa, the 78-year-old Vermont senator’s confidence is surging.
Sanders was spending the lead-up to Super Tuesday campaigning in the home states of two major Democratic rivals, betting he can score a double knockout blow — or at least limit the size of their victories.
In a power play, Sanders hosted a midday rally Saturday in downtown Boston, campaigning in the heart of liberal ally Elizabeth Warren’s political turf. Addressing a crowd of thousands on the Boston Common, Sanders said his success in the Democratic primary means “the establishment is getting very nervous” — but he never predicted victory in South Carolina.
On the eve of Super Tuesday, Sanders will host a concert in Minnesota, where home-state Sen. Amy Klobuchar is looking for her first win.
Sanders’ senior adviser Jeff Weaver was among the staffers dispatched to California on Saturday. He said Sanders is aggressively hunting for delegates, noting that their campaign’s experience during the 2016 primary against Hillary Clinton taught them that any candidate who finishes Super Tuesday with a significant delegate advantage will be difficult to catch.
“I’m confident we’re going to do very, very well across the country,” Weaver said of the coming days. He also sought to downplay the importance of South Carolina, where Biden was “expected to win.”
Moments after Biden’s victory was confirmed, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe formally endorsed the former vice president and encouraged the Democratic Party’s moderate wing to unite behind him. On CNN, he called on several candidates to get out of the race — “not after Tuesday, but tomorrow.”
But the Democrats’ 2020 primary election isn’t yet a two-person race.
In South Carolina, billionaire activist Tom Steyer spent more than $19 million on television advertising — more than all the other candidates combined — in his quest for his first top finish in four contests. At his state campaign headquarters on Saturday, Steyer said he felt optimistic going into the vote and was looking ahead to trips to Alabama and Texas, two Super Tuesday states.
Not ceding anything, Pete Buttigieg is fighting to prove he can build a multiracial coalition. And with the help of super PACs, Warren and Klobuchar vowed to keep pushing forward no matter how they finished on Saturday.
Still, Saturday was all about Biden and whether he might convince anxious establishment Democrats to rally behind him at last.
Elected officials inclined to embrace his moderate politics had been reluctant to support him after bad finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire and a distant second place in Nevada last week. Yet fearing Sanders’ polarizing progressive priorities, they’re still searching for an alternative who’s viewed as a safer bet to defeat Trump in November.
Senior Biden adviser Symone Sanders shifted away from calling South Carolina Biden’s “firewall” and instead called it a “springboard,” on par with how the state boosted the presidential aspirations of Barack Obama in 2008 and Clinton in 2016.
That sentiment was echoed by former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod, who said a big Biden win in South Carolina could give him a Super Tuesday boost that might force several candidates to quickly consider whether to proceed, including Bloomberg.
“If Biden wins by a big margin, it will translate into a bigger day for him on Tuesday,” Axelrod said. “And if he beats Bloomberg by a significant margin on Tuesday, Bloomberg is going to have to consider what he’s doing here.”
Indeed, South Carolina represented much more than the fourth state on the Democrats’ months-long primary calendar.
It serves as the first major test of the candidates’ strength with African American voters, who will be critical both in the general election and the rest of the primary season.
African American voters in South Carolina backed Biden over any other candidate by a significant margin, according to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of the electorate. Close to half of black voters supported him, compared with 2 in 10 supporting Sanders and about the same for businessman Tom Steyer.
There was also evidence that Biden’s status as former President Barack Obama’s two-term vice president helped him win over African Americans.
VoteCast found that about 4 in 10 voters in South Carolina wanted to return to the politics of the past, compared to about a third in Iowa and New Hampshire. That includes the roughly 50% of African American voters who said they want a Democratic presidential nominee who would emulate the Obama’s presidency.
By comparison, roughly two-thirds of white voters wanted a presidential candidate who would bring fundamental change to Washington.
While voting technology was a concern in two of the last three primary contests, South Carolina uses a wide array of voting technology that presents unique challenges.
Saturday’s election in South Carolina marks the first statewide test of its new fleet of electronic voting machines, a $50 million upgrade from an old and vulnerable system that lacked any paper record of individual votes. The new machines produce a paper record that can be verified by the voter and checked after the election to detect any malfunction or manipulation.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Are we undergoing an industrial revolution or a phase change?
—Twitter’s testing new ways to fight misinformation. Is open-source the answer?
—Meet Trump’s Giuliani-approved power broker—and Melania’s new senior adviser
—Angela Merkel is on her way out. Meet her potential replacements
—How the 2020 election could influence your personal finances
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fortune--2020-02-29--One way the wealthy hope to avoid coronavirus? Private jets

Growing fear over coronavirus is battering commercial airline stocks, but private jet operators are seeing a spike in demand as well-heeled travelers look to minimize their public exposure and find alternatives to suspended flights.
“There’s undoubtedly been a rise in demand for short-notice, on-demand charter,” said Adam Twidell, chief executive officer of jet charter provider PrivateFly. “We’ve had a very significant number of inquiries, for group evacuations, and from corporates and individuals.”
Requests have included a decontamination team looking for transport within Asia and a family traveling to Bali from Hong Kong who wanted to avoid exposure to other people on a commercial flight. Charter company Victor recently had a film studio ask about flying 50 people to Los Angeles from Tokyo to limit interaction with other travelers.
Such inquiries are becoming more common after the virus, which first emerged in Central China in December, has since spread to six continents, operators say.
“The number of private jet requests have gone up—especially on long-haul flights,” said Richard Lewis, U.S. president of Insignia Group, which organizes travel for wealthy clients. “They’re not willing to share the cabin with other people.”
Not cheap
It’s not cheap, but can be relatively competitive with luxury commercial travel.
The cost of flying round-trip from New York to London on a 12-seat Gulfstream IV is about $140,000, although squeezing that many people onboard removes some of the comfort factor. That compares with $10,000 for a first-class ticket flying commercial, complete with a lie-flat bed.
For individuals and companies willing to pay extra, it’s a way to minimize the risk of infection.
JetSet Group, a New York-based charter company that books roughly 150 flights a month, has seen business spike about 25% in the last few weeks. Fear of the virus appears to be driving the demand, said founder and CEO Steve Orfali, based on customer feedback,.
Many of his clients have medium-sized business and have to travel to see factories or stores. Others are considering it for family vacations.
“When they’re going on a personal trip, they don’t want to expose their family, so they’re anteing up and paying for a private jet rather than first-class tickets for everyone and risking it,” he said.
People who don’t normally fly private are also calling. Orfali said he hopes they’ll become regular clients after experiencing the convenience and time savings of such travel.
Most operators realize the extra demand generated from the coronavirus may be temporary, especially if the outbreak continues to pummel stocks.
‘Heavily invested’
“Our clients are people who are heavily invested in the markets,” said Richard Zaher, founder and CEO of Paramount Business Jets in Leesburg, Virginia. “When they’re losing millions of dollars, they’re not going to necessarily want to go on vacation to a place where they’re going to spend a lot of money and also possibly expose themselves to people who may carry the virus.”
“This is not good for private aviation,” he added.
PrivateFly’s Twidell shares that concern.
“Any short-term gain is obviously balanced with longer-term concerns and challenges, including the impact on the global economy,” he said. “Even now, while we’re seeing short-term additional demand, other clients are changing or canceling their travel plans.”
Authorities are stepping up measures to stop the spread of a disease that’s caused more than 2,800 deaths worldwide. Japanese schools will shut for about a month, while Saudi Arabia has halted religious pilgrimages that draw millions to cities including Mecca and Medina. In Monaco, the government has asked employees returning from risk areas to quarantine themselves for two weeks and the Israeli government has requested that citizens reconsider plans to travel abroad.
Routes cut
Commercial airlines have been among the hardest hit. American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. have lost about a quarter of their combined market value since the start of the year with analysts warning that the drubbing may get worse as the disease curbs demand for travel.
All three have suspended direct flights to mainland China through April, severing what had become a key business route. British Airways Plc and Air France-KLM have enacted similar restrictions. On Friday, United, the biggest U.S. carrier on trans-Pacific routes, pared more service to Asia, including canceling flights to Tokyo’s Narita Airport from Los Angeles and Chicago.
Travelers who still need to get around are seeking out private jet operators to fill the void of suspended flights.
Vimana Private Jets, which charters trips for the uber-wealthy, has helped clients with business meetings in Beijing in recent weeks. The jets don’t typically stay long on the ground in China. Instead they fly to Vietnam while they wait for the return leg to mitigate the risk of infection to crew.
‘Fluid situation’
Still, the logistics of flying into high-risk virus areas is becoming increasingly complicated, said PrivateFly’s Twidell. For one, it’s often hard to find the aircraft or sufficient crew to fill all the requests.
“Operational protocols are changing daily,” Twidell said. “It’s a very fluid situation.”
Paramount Business Jets is getting a lot of requests to fly people out of Asia, Zaher said. It’s not easy. There are difficulties finding available aircraft and complying with new restrictions such as making sure passengers who have visited China have been out of the country and observed for 14 days without showing symptoms.
“Our clients are requesting aircraft that haven’t flown to mainline China, for example, and are asking for a crew that has been temperature-checked,” said Zaher, whose company arranges about 500 flights a year.
Planes and their passengers still must respect any quarantined areas, and must undergo additional screening procedures for trips to and from risk areas.
Flights coming into the U.K. from such locations are subject to inspections by port authorities, whose powers include “detention of the aircraft, passengers, stores, equipment and cargo” if they constitute a danger to public health, according to the Association of Port Health Authorities’ website.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Trump budget cuts could become a big problem as coronavirus spreads
—China cracking down on VPNs in coronavirus crisis
—China tries to restart economy as outbreak slows. Is it heading back to work too soon?
—5 reasons coronavirus statistics seem inconsistent
—Coronavirus may be the straw that breaks the back of oil fracking
Subscribe to Fortune’s Brainstorm Health newsletter for daily updates on biopharma and health care.


fortune--2020-02-29--Trump says additional coronavirus cases ‘likely,’ ups travel restrictions

The U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea.
Vice President Mike Pence announced the new restrictions and warnings as President Donald Trump said 22 people in the U.S. have been stricken by the new coronavirus and that additional cases are “likely.” Trump added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus’ spread.
“We want to lower the amount of travel to and from the most impacted areas,” said Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human Services. “This is a basic containment strategy.”
Trump provided an update on the virus after the first reported U.S. death Saturday, of a woman he described as being in her late 50s and having a high medical risk. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was “no evidence of link to travel” in the case of the woman who died.
Trump said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus, as he tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked by the virus threat.
On Friday, health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who didn’t travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus. The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases.
But Trump encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying “there’s no reason to panic at all.”
He added he wasn’t altering his routine either. “You’re talking about 22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think we’ll be in very good shape.”
Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a “hoax” cooked up by his political enemies. Speaking at a rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of “politicizing” the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he’s ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.
“They tried the impeachment hoax. … This is their new hoax,” Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administration’s coronavirus response.
Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus.
“Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying,” he said.
Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the virus isn’t enough. They’ve signaled they will provide substantially more funding.
Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he’s taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Trump budget cuts could become a big problem as coronavirus spreads
—China cracking down on VPNs in coronavirus crisis
—China tries to restart economy as outbreak slows. Is it heading back to work too soon?
—5 reasons coronavirus statistics seem inconsistent
—Coronavirus may be the straw that breaks the back of oil fracking
Subscribe to Fortune’s Brainstorm Health newsletter for daily updates on biopharma and health care.


fortune--2020-02-29--Why you should tumble round the idea of a circular economy

Take, make, use, dispose. For decades, this has been the standard approach to production and consumption. Companies take raw materials and transform them into products, which are purchased by consumers, who ultimately toss them out, creating waste. But as warnings about climate change and environmental degradation grow ever louder, people are starting to challenge the sustainability of this model. Many business leaders and governments — including China, Japan, and the U.K.—argue that we should ditch this linear system in favor of a so-called circular economy of take, make, use, reuse, and reuse again and again.
What’s wrong with the linear economy?
It often leads to a system that is inefficient, costly, and depletes natural resources. The mining of commodities from gold to coal can spoil ecosystems and disrupt nearby communities. Making steel from ore requires a large amount of energy, which produces Earth-warming carbon dioxide. A byproduct of the linear model is material waste, which takes up space and may include contaminants. Trash ends up in undesirable places. The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch is only the most well-known example of global-scale plastic pollution. Yet products like steel and plastic can be reused, refurbished and recycled to capture untapped value. A totally circular economy—with no waste and no new materials at all—is likely impossible to achieve, but squeezing the maximum waste out of the system could curtail use of new resources.
Sounds like recycling. How’s it different?
The two ideas are connected, but they’re not the same. The phrase “circular economy” pops up in the work of a few resource economists dating back at least to the 1980s. Its use in recent years has come to connote an approach that’s more systemic and ambitious than recycling. For example, to maintain quality, plastic bottle makers need to blend recycled plastic with virgin material. Instead, a truly circular economy would involve no new material inputs at all, reducing emissions, waste, and eventually costs. Some industries are already coming close to this—almost all of a car can be reclaimed, for example. But some have far to go—97% of the materials used to make clothing are brand new, and 73% of these products are incinerated or put into a landfill. This isn’t a totally new idea—the slogan “make do and mend” was popularized during World War II to encourage as little waste as possible.
Is anyone skeptical?
Yes. Making a production cycle fully self-sufficient is virtually impossible. Some new input will always be necessary, and some waste will always be created. Recycling paper over and over, for example, produces paper of increasingly low quality. Also, building a circular economy can entail high upfront costs, requiring investment to redesign products and switch to recycled materials. The U.K. estimates the cost of shifting to a circular economy to be about 3% of gross domestic product. The expense can feed concerns that companies will go for quick fixes rather longer-term sustainable practices.
What is feasible?
A more circular supply chain. This can mean changing to recycled materials, extending the life-cycle of a product and improving recovery at the end of its life. New Jersey-based TerraCycle has launched the “Loop” initiative, a collaboration with household names such as Nestle to provide common products—ice-cream for example—in packaging that can be returned and refilled. There is a multinational push by General Motors, BMW, and Toyota to create an aftermarket for used electric car batteries, which can be used for chilling beer at 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan or banking solar energy in Cameroon. And New York startup Rent the Runway offers designer dress hire for events like weddings and galas, allowing clients to dodge one-wear purchases, while earning the company a $1 billion valuation.
What are governments doing?
They’re trying to push consumers and producers toward a more circular economy. The German government offers grants to design products that have a lower environmental impact or are cheap to repair. In Chile, the government said it will aim to make all plastic reusable. The Netherlands is investing $40 million in a special fund that will start financing deforestation-free agriculture, to be matched by a donation from Rabobank Group. The European Commission has a circular economy action plan, which includes transforming the way plastic products are produced and recycled. It’s also part of China’s five-year plan.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—In China, oil won’t be the only sector battered by the coronavirus
—Energy emissions plateaued in 2019
—Oil demand was set to rise in 2020, then the coronavirus outbreak hit
—Can Germany phase out nuclear energy and coal?
—Coronavirus may be the straw that breaks the back of oil fracking
Subscribe to The Loop, a weekly look at the revolutions in energy, tech, and sustainability.


fortune--2020-02-29--Joe Coulombe, founder of popular Trader Joe’s markets, dies

Joe Coulombe envisioned a new generation of young grocery shoppers emerging in the 1960s, one that wanted healthy, tasty, high-quality food they couldn’t find in most supermarkets and couldn’t afford to buy in the few high-end gourmet outlets.
So he found a new way to bring everything from a then-exotic snack food called granola to the California-produced wines that for flavor compared with anything from France. And he made shopping for them almost as much fun as sailing the high seas when he created Trader Joe’s, a quirky little grocery store filled with nautical themes and staffed not by managers and clerks but by “captains and mates.”
From the time he opened his first store in Pasadena, California, in 1967 until his death Friday at age 89, Coulombe watched his namesake business rise from a cult favorite of educated but underpaid young people — and a few hippies — to a retail giant with more than 500 outlets in over 40 states.
A giant yes, but one that across more than half a century has never lost its reputation for friendly service from employees decked out in goofy Hawaiian shirts, a newsletter that looks like it was published in the 1890s, and rows and rows of high-quality, moderately priced healthy food and great wine, even if you sometimes can’t ever again find exactly the same thing.
“He wanted to make sure whatever was sold in our store was of good value,” said Coulombe’s son, also named Joe, who added that his father died following a long illness. “He always did lots of taste tests. My sisters and I remember him bringing home all kinds of things for us to try. At his offices he had practically daily tastings of new products. Always the aim was to provide good food and good value to people.”
He achieved that by buying directly from wholesalers and cutting out the middleman, in many cases slapping the name Trader Joe’s on a bag of nuts, trail mix, organic dried mango, honey-oat cereal or Angus beef chili. He named several products after his daughters Charlotte and Madeleine and gave quirky names to others. Among them were Trader Darwin vitamins and a non-alcoholic sparkling juice called Eve’s Apple Sparkled by Adam.
He prided himself on checking out every vintage of wine from California’s Napa Valley, including Trader Joe’s standby, Charles Shaw, affectionately known as Two-Buck Chuck because it sold for $1.99. (It still does in the California stores, although shipping costs have increased the price in other states.)
“He sold a lot of better wines too,” his son noted with a laugh, recalling trips the family made to France to seek them out.
After selling Trader Joe’s to German grocery retailer Aldi in 1979, Coulombe remained as its CEO until 1988, when he left to launch a second career as what he called a “temp,” coming in as interim CEO or consultant for several large companies in transition. He retired in 2013.
Joseph Hardin Coulombe, an only child, was born on June 3, 1930, in San Diego and lived on an avocado ranch in nearby Del Mar. After serving in the Air Force, he attended Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s in business administration and met and married his wife, Alice.
A few years after graduation, he was hired by the Rexall drugstore chain, which tasked him with establishing a chain of convenience stores called Pronto. When Rexall lost interest in the stores, he bought them and had grown the chain to about a dozen outlets when the huge 7-Eleven company made a major push into Southern California.
“So I had to do something different,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2014. “Scientific American had a story that of all people qualified to go to college, 60% were going. I felt this newly educated — not smarter but better-educated — class of people would want something different, and that was the genesis of Trader Joe’s.”
His wife’s parents had introduced him to a world of foods previously unfamiliar to him, including fine olive oil, fresh seafood and inexpensive quality wine, and he figured things like that would be perfect for the younger audience he was seeking.
As he bargained for those products, he’d sometimes come across a particularly exceptional olive oil or vintage wine, never to find it again, and he wouldn’t stock an inferior product in its place.
He eschewed promotional gimmicks like loyalty clubs or loss-leader sales, getting the word out with brief radio spots and the Trader Joe’s “Fearless Flyer” newsletter, whose old-style appearance was inspired by another money-saving effort. He wanted to dress up the newsletter’s stories with illustrations he cut out of magazines, but he made sure he only took ones on which the copyrights had expired.
He passed such savings on not only to his customers but employees, which Trader Joe’s boasts are among retail’s best compensated, with medical, dental, vision and retirement plans and annual salary increases the company says range from 7% to 10%. Many workers have remained with Trader Joe’s for decades.
“He just had a visit yesterday from employee No. 1,” his daughter Charlotte said shortly before her father’s death.
He and his wife also became well known in Southern California philanthropic circles, contributing time and money to such causes as Planned Parenthood, the Los Angeles Opera and the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens.
Stories differ on how the name Trader Joe’s came about, with some saying it was inspired by a ride on Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise boat or a book he read called “White Shadows in the South Seas” or his favorite college hangout being a Trader Vic’s bar near Stanford.
Coulombe, who loved to travel, did acknowledge over the years that he had a fascination with the South Seas and put Trader into the name and a nautical theme inside the stores to lend that exotic appeal to customers.
In addition to his three children and wife of 67 years, Coulombe is survived by six grandchildren.


fortune--2020-02-29--Health questions swirled around Apple this week, from coronavirus to a heart study partnership

It’s hard to talk about Apple and its upcoming plans without first acknowledging the impact the coronavirus outbreak is having on its business. Apple’s supply chain is constricted, its China stores are operating on limited hours, and industry experts wonder whether this year’s new iPhones could be delayed.
Despite that, Apple CEO Tim Cook said this week that he believes China has the coronavirus under control. And he shared no sign that Apple’s 2020 could be hobbled by the global outbreak.
Also this week, Apple signed on with Johnson & Johnson on a new heart health study. And more signs are pointing to Apple releasing new wireless headphones. We even heard from famed investor Warren Buffett about his take on Apple.
Read on for more on all of that as well as other Apple news from the past week:
Cook talks coronavirus
Tim Cook tried to quell investor concerns this week that the latest coronavirus outbreak is significantly impacting Apple’s business. In an interview with Fox Business, Cook said he believes “China is getting the coronavirus under control.” He said Apple’s manufacturing partners have reopened factories in China and things are “getting back to normal.”
Two major departures
Apple lost two veteran executives this week, according to a Bloomberg report. Apple’s vice president of manufacturing design, Nick Forlenza, has retired, and a vice president of operations, Duco Pasmooij, is expected to leave the company soon, according to Bloomberg’s sources. Forlenza played an important role in Apple’s supply chain, which has taken a hit since in China thanks to the coronavirus. Pasmooij was working on Apple’s augmented reality efforts, according to the report. Cook has said on numerous occasions that augmented reality will be an extremely important part of Apple’s business in the coming years.
Apple teams with Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson division Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies announced a new heart health study this week called Heartline. The study, which will be conducted in partnership with Apple, will aim at identifying atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heart rhythm that can cause stroke or heart attack. Participants will wear an Apple Watch that will track their heart rhythms. Researchers hope Apple Watch will be a useful tool for identifying AFib and reduce serious cardiac events. But whether Apple Watch can get the job done is debatable.
Warren Buffett talks Apple
Warren Buffett said in an interview with CNBC this week that Apple is “an incredible company,” and he wishes he had “appreciated it earlier.” He added that Berkshire Hathaway considers Apple its third-most-important investment behind insurance and railroads. And in case you’re wondering, yes, Buffett has given up his flip phone for an iPhone.
Powerbeats in the works?
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week published Apple filings for Powerbeats 4 wireless headphones. The FCC filing says the headphones will work with Hey Siri, so users can say “Hey, Siri” to activate the virtual personal assistant to place calls, send messages, and more. It could also use the same H1 wireless communications chip Apple bundles in its AirPods. The chip improves wireless connectivity with Apple hardware. There’s no word when the Powerbeats 4 will be released.
Apple’s boring shareholder meeting
Apple held its annual shareholder meeting this week, and there wasn’t much news to report. According to reporters in attendance, Apple didn’t discuss any new products or the impact coronavirus is having on its business. Apple shareholders did, however, reelect all board members, approve executive compensation packages, and ratify the appointment of the company’s public accounting firm. A proposal to tie executive compensation to Apple’s sustainability efforts was rejected.
An Eero improvement
Amazon’s Eero routers were updated this week with Apple HomeKit compatibility. The feature gives Eero router owners more control over the connections HomeKit-enabled smart home devices can make throughout their abodes. Three settings let users decide whether connections between devices, the Internet, and other devices should be limited.
One more thing…
If you’re an Apple history collector, listen up. RR Auction is holding a “Steve Jobs auction featuring The Lifetime Collection of Apple Product Design Engineer, Jerrold Manock.” The collection includes a document Steve Jobs signed, a Macintosh design patent plaque, and more. You can see the full slate of items here.