fortune--2020-02-07--T-Mobile has its cake and eats it too as sales and profits rise

There’s typically a pretty simple trade-off for wireless carriers between growth and profits. Cutting prices or offering enticing promotional deals bring in more new customers, but hurt profits. Keep prices steady or increase them and profits gain, but more customers may defect.
The usual pattern was quite obvious in the fourth quarter results at Verizon, which chose to attract more customers but sacrifice some profits. But it was surprisingly missing from T-Mobile’s financials, as the third-ranked carrier appeared to pull off the rare trick of attracting more new customers without cutting into its profitability.
On Thursday, T-Mobile said it had added 1 million regular monthly phone customers in the fourth quarter, the same gain as a year ago and more than Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint combined. At the same time, T-Mobile increased revenue 4% to $11.9 billion, while net income surged 17% to $751 million.
“We’ve had a long history of understanding promotions and learning what it takes to win real customers that stick with you,” T-Mobile president and chief operating officer Mike Sievert told Fortune. The former Microsoft and AT&T marketing exec who joined T-Mobile in 2013 will take over as CEO from John Legere, who is retiring, on May 1.
AT&T and Verizon both cut monthly prices on some of their unlimited data plans in the second half of 2019, while T-Mobile kept its already lower priced plans in place. Verizon was also aggressive in offering “buy one, get one free” phone offers to entice switchers, while T-Mobile focused more on trade-in offers that don’t generate as many new lines but, perhaps, bring customers more likely to stick around for a while.
T-Mobile will continue tweaking its offers to stay competitive, not just with its larger wireless rivals, but also with new cable players Comcast, Altice, and Charter, says T-Mobile chief marketing officer Matt Staneff. “It just kind of depends on what the industry throws at us and what’s going on in the marketplace,” Staneff says. “We’ll continue to adjust our playbook to take advantage of that.”
The carrier is planning on expanding its faster 5G network this year. It already covers an area where 200 million people live, far more than rivals, but at speeds that aren’t much faster than its current 4G LTE network. This year, expect a lot more 5G gear in the field and new phones with better capabilities, says chief technology officer Neville Ray.
“When mainstream mega-brand phones support 5G as the default and not as just an option, then adoption will go through the roof,” Ray says. “And that’s something that we expect to be seeing starting pretty early on this year.”
T-Mobile’s stock price, which has been the best performer in wireless this year, gained 3% to almost $85 in midday trading on Friday, almost hitting its all-time high. So far in 2020, T-Mobile’s share price is up 8% versus a 2% drop for Verizon, 1% decline for AT&T, and 5% decline by Sprint.
A federal judge in New York is currently weighing whether to allow T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion merger with Sprint to go forward. Both the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission signed off on the deal, but about a dozen state attorneys general sued, arguing that the combination would reduce competition and lead to higher prices.
Sievert said he and other executives remain optimistic that the judge will approve the merger, but all he can do now is wait.
“If I told you it was easy waiting to know which future is in front of us, I’d be lying,” he says.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—What you need to know about new IBM CEO Arvind Krishna
—Startup uses A.I. to identify molecules that could fight coronavirus
—Governments deploy surveillance tech to track coronavirus victims
—How marketers are increasingly using A.I. to persuade you to buy
—Predicting the biggest tech headlines of 2020
Catch up with Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily digest on the business of tech.


fortune--2020-02-07--Why the world’s toughest activist hedge fund is after SoftBank

Hyundai recalls over 400,000 cars for issue that could cause engine fires

Since public markets rejected WeWork, SoftBank is pushing for profitability across its portfolio companies.
Now it will be on the flip side of the table: activist investor heavyweight Elliott Management is pushing the telecom giant for shakeups in a bid to boost its valuation.
Elliott, founded by billionaire Paul Singer, has amassed a stake in SoftBank worth over $2.5 billion stake and is calling for corporate governance changes to boost the stock’s price, according to the Wall Street Journal’s reporting Thursday.
Among other overhauls, including greater transparency into SoftBank’s investing decisions, Elliott is calling for the company to buy back between $10 billion to $20 billion in shares to “help close a yawning gap between the company’s market value and the value of stakes in companies in which it has invested,” per the Journal’s reports.
Shaken by WeWork and other risky bets, investors backed away from the telecom company and pushed its valuation Thursday to $89 billion, a fraction of the $210 billion valuation of its stakes in Alibaba, Sprint and its Japanese telecom business alone.
So Elliott saw an opportunity.
But some background: the name “Elliott Management” can sound like a death knell to CEOs. After becoming the target of an Elliott activist campaign in 2017, then Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush began researching the firm online. The results, as he told The New Yorker, felt like “Googling this thing on your arm and it says, ‘You’re going to die.’” Bush was later pushed out of the company.
Elliott has a reputation for being particularly aggressive, even in the intrinsically hardball world of activist investing. When a company’s management fights back, private investigators have been alleged to lurk near the CEO’s home or look for dirt on executives in court documents and social media. The fights can turn public—and ugly. In 2015, Samsung published an illustration of Singer with a vulture beak after the hedge fund initiated a campaign against the company. Elliott has denied specific allegations: “Elliott has always behaved ethically in its disputes with corporate managements and boards.” (For more, read the 2017 dive into the company by Fortune’s Jen Wieczner.)
But so far, talks between SoftBank and Elliott have been…relatively cooperative, according to the two companies.
“Elliott’s substantial investment in SoftBank Group reflects its strong conviction that the market significantly undervalues SoftBank’s portfolio of assets,” an Elliott representative wrote in a statement. “Elliott has engaged privately with SoftBank’s leadership and is working constructively on solutions to help SoftBank materially and sustainably reduce its discount to intrinsic value.”
And from SoftBank: “SoftBank always maintains constructive discussions with shareholders regarding their views on the Company and we are in complete agreement that our shares are deeply undervalued by public investors. SoftBank welcomes feedback from fellow shareholders.”
Elliot’s stake comes at a time when activist investing—once shunned abroad—has grown rapidly in Japan under the encouragement of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is trying to wake up a sleepy economy.
Third Point began targeting Sony last year. Hong Kong-based Oasis Management has its bow notched at the operator of the Tokyo Dome. Elliott has taken aim at hotel operator Unizo. While activist investing has its problems, Abe is hoping investors will push complacent companies into “unlocking value.”
So far, SoftBank shares are moving in the right direction. Buoyed by positive news that broke around the same time (Uber says it expects to reach EBITDA profitability early, while SoftBank earnings beat), shares are up 11% since Thursday’s open.
Now let’s see if the campaign does unlock long-term value—without unleashing a greater media circus.
Housekeeping: Lucinda here, filing in for the day. Please send new deals to Polina.Marinova@Fortune.com, who returns Monday.
VENTURE DEALS
- Netskope, a Santa Clara-based security cloud provider, raised $340 million in funding valuing the firm at $3 billion. Sequoia Capital Global Equities led the round.
- Tricolor, a Dallas-based firm focused on financing used vehicles, raised $30 million from an unnamed institutional investor.
- Masabi, a London-based firm focused on public transport fares, raised an undisclosed amount from Shell. Masabi previously raised $20 million growth funding round led by Smedvig Capital.
- Paystand, a Scotts Valley, Calif.-based b2b fintech focused on payments, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Investors including DNX and Battery Ventures participated.
- Worlds, a Dallas-based spatial AI company spun out of Hypergiant Sensory Sciences, raised $10 million in Series A funding funding. Align Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Chevron Technology Ventures, PIVA, and Hypergiant Industries.
- Nuurv, a London-based wearables maker, raised $9 million in funding. Hiro Capital led the round.
- SureSale, an Los Angeles-based used vehicles inspection firm, closed $7 million in Series A funding. Upfront Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Coffin Capital and Ventures.
- Plannuh, a Boston, Mass.-based startup using AI for marketing budgeting and planning, raised $4 million in seed funding. Glasswing Ventures and Gradient Ventures led the round.
- Gebeya, an Ethiopean edtech focused on training software developers, raised $2 million in seed funding. Partech and Orange Digital Ventures led the round, and was joined by Consonance Investment Managers.
- RevOps, a San Francisco-based sales productivity platform, raised $1.6 million in seed funding. Gradient Ventures led the round and was joined by Caffeinated Capital.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
- Advent International and Crosspoint Capital Partners will acquire Forescout Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSCT), a San Jose, Calif.-based cybersecurity firm, for $33.00 per common share in an all-cash deal valued at $1.9 billion.
- CompassMSP, a portfolio company of Route 2 Capital Partners, acquired Western Digitech, a Miami, Fla.-based IT services provider. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- An affiliate of J.F. Lehman & Company acquired Integrated Global Services, a Richmond, Va.-babsed, provider of surface protection solutions and technologies for energy, power generation and other industrial markets. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- MPE Partners recapped Teel Plastics, a Baraboo, Wisconsin-based firm specializing in plastic extrusion and injection molding capabilities. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- AE Industrial Partners acquired American Pacific Corporation, a Cedar City, Utah-based manufacturer of critical chemicals military and space programs, from Huntsman Family Investments. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Industrial Opportunity Partners acquired COMP Cams, a Memphis-based maker of automotive aftermarket products. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Africa Capitalworks Management acquired a significant minority equity shareholding in Gaselia Industries Group, a West African beverages group. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- FTV Capital and True Wind Capital invested in Sysnet Global Solutions, a Dublin-based provider of cyber security and compliance solutions. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
OTHER DEALS
- Endeavor Group Holdings acquired a minority stake in SailGP, a London-based sailing event organizer backed by Oracle’s Larry Ellison, giving it a $200 million valuation.
- Kyocera Document Solutions America acquired Quality Digital Office Technology, a York ,Penn.-based firm focused on office technology. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Sovos acquired Booke Seminars, a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based provider of educational accounting seminars to employees of insurance companies. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- SAIC (NYSE:SAIC) agreed to acquire the U.S. Federal business of Unisys Corp. (NYSE: UIS), a Blue Bell, Penn.-based tech services firm, for $1.2 billion.
- Green Street Advisors agreed to acquire Real Estate Alert, Commercial Mortgage Alert, Hedge Fund Alert, and Asset-Backed Alert, four publications in the commercial real estate and financial industries, from Harrison Scott Publications. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
IPOs
- PPD Inc., a Wilmington, N.C.-based drug development and laboratory management service for biopharmaceuticals, raised $1.6 billion in an offering of 60 million shares at $27, the high end of the $24 to $27 range.The firm posted revenue of $3.8 billion and income of $96.3 million in 2018. Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners (56.7% pre-offering), Carlyle (23.8%), the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (9.2%), and the Government of Singapore (9.2%) back the firm. It plans to list on the NYSE as “PPD.” “Read more.”
- Warner Music Group, New York-based record label, filed for an $100 million IPO. The firm posted revenues of $4.5 billion in the year ending Sept. 2019, and net income of $256 million. Len Blavatnik backs the firm. The firm has yet to select an exchange and ticker. Read more.
- Schrodinger Inc., a New York-based predictive molecule-discovery software platform maker for biopharmaceuticals, raised $202 million in an offering of 11.9 million shares priced at $17, above its $14 to $16 range. The firm posted revenue of $66.7 million and loss of $28.4 million in 2018. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and David E. Shaw back the firm. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “SDGR.” “Read more.”
Beam Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech focused on gene editing technologies, raised $180 million in an offering of 10.6 million shares priced at $17, within its $15 to $17 range. The firm has yet to post a revenue and posted losses of $116.7 million in 2018. ARCH Ventures (21.1% pre-offering) and F-Prime Capital Partners (17.8%) back the firm. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “BEAM.” “Read more.”
- Professional Holding Corp., a Coral Gables, Fla.-based bank, raised $57 million in an IPO of 3.1 million shares priced at $18.50, below its $19 to $21 range. The firm posted total interest income of $28.2 million and net income of $6.8 million in 2018. BayBoston Capital, EJF Capital, and Emerald Advisers back the firm. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “PFHD.” Read more.
EXITS
- Salesforce acquired Evergage, a Somerville, Mass.-based firm customer data platform. Arrowroot Capital backed the firm.
- Apollo Global Management agreed to acquire Covis Pharma, a Baarn, Netherlands-based pharmaceutical company, from Cerberus Capital Management. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Gridiron Capital completed its sale of Dent Wizard, a Bridgeton, Mo.-based provider of automotive reconditioning services and vehicle protection products, to Bain Capital-backed Dealer Tire. Gridiron is also making a significant investment in the combined company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Hg Capital acquired a stake in smartTrade Technologies, a french hosted software provider for trading desks, from Keensight Capital and Pléiade Venture.
FIRMS + FUNDS
- Brookfield Infrastructure Fund IV raised $20 billion in equity commitments, above a target of $17 billion.
- Mercer closed its fifth private investment fund at $2.7 billion.
- Sweat Equity Ventures launched with a $30 million fund.
- August Equity raised $392.6 million for its fifth venture capital fund, per the SEC.
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fortune--2020-02-07--Republican candidate Joe Walsh drops out of 2020 presidential race

Former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh ended his Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump on Friday, abandoning an effort that faced long odds and financial struggles from the start.
“I’m suspending my campaign, but our fight against the Cult of Trump is just getting started. I’m committed to doing everything I can to defeat Trump and his enablers this November.” Walsh said in a tweet.
Walsh had cast his ballot for Trump in 2016 and declared he would be “grabbing his musket” if the Republican Trump lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton. But Walsh eventually soured on Trump, deriding him as “nuts,” “cruel” and “incompetent.” He has also acknowledged that he helped “create” Trump through his own brand of “personal, ugly politics.”
The tea party favorite turned radio talk show host became Trump’s second 2020 primary challenger when he announced his candidacy in August, saying the incumbent was unfit for office and must be denied a second term. He presented himself as a conservative choice for people who were fed up with the chaos of the Trump era. Brimming with confidence over his campaign prospects, Walsh declared, “I think this thing … will catch on like wildfire.”
But Walsh faced fundraising hurdles and obstacles from the Republican Party from the start. A number of state parties canceled their primaries and other nominating contests in an effort to protect Trump from the fate of George H.W. Bush, the last one-term president who faced a serious primary challenger and subsequently lost his reelection bid. Last year, the Republican National Committee issued a nonbinding resolution to declare the party’s undivided support for Trump.
Walsh also failed to get his name on the ballot in some states, including Vermont, Mississippi and Walsh’s home state of Illinois.
At times, Walsh struggled to differentiate himself as a viable Trump alternative. He courted controversy on social media in the years before his presidential run and was frequently pressed about those comments while on the campaign trail.
“There were some times when I went over the line and said things to be a little too provocative,” Walsh told a crowd at a college convention in New Hampshire in January.
Walsh’s singular campaign focus was criticizing Trump. He was often quick to ridicule former South Carolina congressman Mark Sanford for making fiscal conservatism the crux of his 2020 Republican presidential candidacy during his brief time in the race.
“This isn’t about the debt and this isn’t about tariffs and it’s not about any issue,” Walsh said when Sanford ended his run in November. “Trump’s unfit. It’s an emergency, and that’s the only reason you get into a primary against a sitting president.”
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—2020 candidates’ positions, and records, on economic issues that affect women
—How a company with 120 Facebook likes ended up at the center of the Iowa caucus firestorm
—Europe’s refugee crisis is getting worse—for these children
—Fortune Explains: The debt ceiling
—America’s young voters could sway 2020 results. What will it take to get them to the polls?
Get up to speed on your morning commute with Fortune’s CEO Daily newsletter.


fortune--2020-02-07--Uber still isn’t a business built to last

This is the web version of Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top tech news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here.
Uber lost $8.5 billion last year, and investors still cheered the news not because it is moving closer to making money but rather because, according to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, it is moving along the “path to profitability.”
A few things from its earnings report that jumped out at me:
Despite these stunning losses, Uber still has $11.3 billion in cash, the result of its prodigious fundraising over the years.
While Uber’s “adjusted net revenue,” a measurement that subtracts the bounties it pays drivers to drive, grew 41% in the fourth quarter, the “take rate,” or the percentage of Uber’s haul after paying the bounties, dipped slightly from the previous quarter.
The more revenue the Eats delivery business collects, the more it loses.
Uber’s second-biggest money loser, after Eats, is the unit that houses its self-driving car unit, which consumes about $130 million each quarter. Were Uber to eliminate this business altogether it would be in spitting distance of making money.
When Uber talks about getting close to profitability, it means that in a sense that excludes debt payments and some other expenses. That’s all well and good, except that the company has $5.7 billion of long-term debt. That’s down from $6.9 billion at the end of 2018 but still a real concern.
The picture is brighter because Uber continues to grow its top line, continues to dump some business units, and is spending less on a percentage basis to incentivize drivers. But it is a long way from being a business that is built to last.
Adam Lashinsky
Twitter: @adamlashinsky
Email: adam.lashinsky@fortune.com
This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman.
NEWSWORTHY
Representation without taxation. Don't call it HQ2; it's more like HQ1.01. Amazon said it plans to increase its staff stationed in Bellevue, next door to Seattle, from 2,000 to 15,000 within a few years. The expansion may be a reaction to Seattle's new tax on big companies to provide funds to fight homelessness.
Tempest in a teapot. Now that they've fixed everything that was ailing AT&T, the good folk at activist hedge fund Elliott Management have moved on to attack other targets. Next up: the bloated Japanese telecom and investment giant SoftBank Group. Elliott says it has bought a $2.5 billion stake in Masayoshi Son's creation. Expect a really stern letter addressed to Son arriving any minute.
Starry visions. While we're on the subject of the machinations of tech billionaires, consider the portfolio of Elon Musk. Tesla's stock has been booming and crashing on a daily basis lately. It may have some company soon in the Musk universe. SpaceX is considering selling a stake in its space Internet unit, Starlink, to the public, CNBC reports.
Monetization mambo. I was just thinking about how the world definitely needed one more streaming service when the news hit that ViacomCBS is not content with CBS All Access and its bajillion Star Trek spinoffs. It wants to create another subscription streaming service that will include Showtime. Think of the potential Homeland spinoffs: Better Call Saul at the CIA. All Brody's Ghosts. Please, make it stop. In other ViacomCBS news, the company may sell the CNET website it bought over 10 years ago for $1.8 billion.
Your eyeballs are grateful. OK, yes, there may be too many streaming services. But Netflix did one small thing to make the world nicer. The streaming service said it would let customers turn off autoplay of promotional trailers in its apps.
Hanging chads. According to an annual report by the Federal Communications Commission, about 21 million people lack access to broadband Internet connections. The agency's methodology has frequently been questioned and now a study by market tracking firm BroadbandNow finds the actual number of unconnected at 42 million. Meanwhile, FCC chair Ajit Pai on Thursday announced his plan to pay Intelsat and a few other large satellite operators as much as $15 billion to convince them to quickly move out of a swath of airwave frequencies known as the C-Band, which could be super useful for 5G back on the ground.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The Internet created a perfect distribution mechanism for all kinds of specialized information, and multiple ways to monetize it. In his seminal essay "1,000 True Fans," Wired editor Kevin Kelly explained how niche content creators could thrive: Make something great and get 1,000 people to pay $100 a year for it. But why stop there? Li Jin, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz who focuses on the consumer sector, sees room for even greater specialization. How about something that attracts just 100 people to pay $1,000 a year, she writes in a blog post.
Put simply, if you can convince a small number of super-engaged people to pay more, you can also have a general audience that pays less. By segmenting the customer base and offering greater value to top fans—at a higher price point—creators can earn a living with a smaller total audience.
Again, returning to the examples above, this isn’t purely hypothetical. One creator on Teachable who advises artists on how to sell their art made $110,000 last year with only 76 students, at an average of $1,437 per course. Another creator who teaches physiotherapy made $141,000 with only 61 students, at an average price point of $2,314 per course. On Podia, the average revenue per user is increasing, as well. Creators who started out solely selling courses on the platform can now further monetize their audience by expanding into downloads and membership subscriptions. While making a living off the 100 True Fan model is far from commonplace, it’s increasingly possible.
FOR YOUR WEEKEND READING PLEASURE
A few long reads that I came across this week:
Behind Amazon’s HQ2 Fiasco: Jeff Bezos Was Jealous of Elon Musk (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Determined to meet Bezos’s demand for Tesla-size government handouts, the HQ2 team became victims of their own hubris.
When Social Media Is Too Much, Some Teens Tune Out (Wall Street Journal)
While Instagram and the like are key to keeping up with friends, some high-schoolers admit that they often need a break.
Kingdom Comeback: The Chiefs’ Seven-Year Journey to a Super Bowl Title (Sports Illustrated)
The coach arrived in Kansas City grieving the death of a son, tasked with saving a franchise in unfathomable crisis. The loyal GM followed him and found the quarterback who would change everything. And on Sunday, with yet another come-from-behind victory, Andy Reid finally finished what he needed to do—lift the Lombardi Trophy—for everyone but himself.
Eat Pray Roll (Medium)
I needed a vacation from my adult life — from myself, really. I tried new jobs, no job, exercise, meditation, sex, food. Then I tried “molly."
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Shadow Inc.: How a company with 120 Facebook likes ended up at the center of the Iowa caucus firestorm By Morgan Enos
Startup uses A.I. to identify molecules that could fight coronavirus By Jeremy Kahn
An SEC commissioner’s plan to make ICOs legal again By Jeff John Roberts
Citadel’s Ken Griffin thinks the trade war with China will cost America its tech crown By Lucinda Shen
Why mobile carriers are bidding billions for more 5G airwaves By Aaron Pressman
Click here to oust the board— Inside the A.I. startup that’s transforming activist investing By Adrian Croft
The 5 top tech skills companies want in new hires right now By Anne Fisher
BEFORE YOU GO
Speaking of too many streaming services, too many sequels, and too much content, the cast of Friends is reportedly about to sign on for a retrospective special reunion of sorts, possibly to be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. So no one told you life was gonna be this way?
Aaron Pressman
On Twitter: @ampressman
Email: aaron.pressman@fortune.com


fortune--2020-02-07--Layoffs start rippling through the Boeing 737 Max supply chain

Layoffs are increasing in the global supply chain for the troubled 737 Max airliner after Boeing decided to pause production in January. And the job cuts could get even worse as suppliers that have so far avoided them say they’ll likely have to slash their workforces if production doesn’t resume soon.
Spirit AeroSystems, which makes 737 fuselages in Wichita, Kan., laid off 2,800 workers last month. Following that reduction—by far the largest among 737 suppliers—credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded Spirit’s bond rating and said the workforce cuts put the area’s local economy at risk.
Meanwhile, GKN Aerospace, a global supplier to many airplane makers, has announced a few dozen layoffs at facilities from Sumner, Wash., and in the United Kingdom, where it let 37 contractors go.
“It’s too early to put a final number” on layoffs, GKN Aerospace spokesman Wes Bates says. He adds that the cuts are part of an ongoing process, and that the company “continues to consider what steps to take on a site-by-site basis.”
The U.K.-based manufacturer supplies Boeing with winglets, part of the engine housing for the Max, and other components. It also makes windows for Spirit AeroSystems, which installs them in the fuselages it makes for Boeing.
The cuts come on the heels on regulators worldwide grounding the 737 Max after two fatal crashes—one in October 2018 and another the following March. Together the crashes killed 346 people.
Boeing continued production, albeit at a slower rate, until stopping entirely in January. Unable to deliver those aircraft, it has nearly 400 737s in storage.
In a conference call with Wall Street analysts last week, Boeing’s new chief executive, David Calhoun, intimated that his company may restart manufacturing as soon as April. He did not specify, however, whether he was referring to production by suppliers or by the Max’s final assembly lines in Renton, Wash.
Delays getting regulators to re-certify the plane as safe are already sapping the overall U.S. economy. In January, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Max crisis could knock half a percentage point off economic growth in 2020.
In the meantime, suppliers increasingly are feeling squeezed. But Boeing “believes this decision is least disruptive to maintaining long-term production system and supply chain health,” says Paul Bergman, a Boeing spokesman. “We will work closely with our supply chain to ensure we are ready to safely and smartly return to production.”
The company has thousands of outstanding 737 orders, enough work to keep its Renton plant busy well into the 2020s. If Boeing hopes to fill those orders in a timely manner, it cannot risk starving its supply chain now.
With that in mind, Bergman says: “We are extremely engaged, especially as we navigate the current MAX grounding and production rate outlook. Suppliers’ health and rate readiness will be critical as we assess production rates going forward.”
Several smaller suppliers that are heavily dependent on 737 work for revenue say they have either already laid workers off, as well as furloughed workers and cut back hours to reduce labor costs.
“We’ve managed so far, but it hasn’t been easier,” says the CEO of a Washington-based supplier. The executive, whose company supplies parts directly to Boeing as well as some of its other suppliers, spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of Boeing retaliating against his company.
“If this lasts much longer (through February), we will have hard choices to make,” says the CEO, who adds that work for the 737 accounts for slightly more than one-third of his company’s revenue.
During the previous decade, Boeing leaned on suppliers to cut its own costs as part of its push to maximize profit margins. Those successive efforts left some suppliers with considerably less margin to weather the current crisis, according to several industry analysts.
Precision Castparts, a major metal fabricator, issued layoff notices in Oregon last week, according to Clackamas County, which is holding workshops for the laid off employees. Roughly 150 workers were let go, according to Oregon’s state government.
Additionally, Senior Aerospace AMT, a major supplier of aircraft structural parts, recently issued layoff notices, according to news reports.
In another cutback, managers at a Seattle-area machine shop tell Fortune they let 20 workers go–about 10% of their workforce—and face similarly tough decisions in the coming weeks.
“We’ll be scrambling to ramp up” when Boeing restarts 737 production, says one of the managers who was not authorized to publicly speak about the company.
Struggles at one supplier, even a small one, can create bottlenecks and other problems that ripple through a global supply chain.
“The tier 2, tier 3 suppliers are the most vulnerable, and it’s a flashing red light,” says Kevin Michaels, principal at the aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory. Industry insiders typically classify suppliers by tiers: Boeing buys directly from tier 1 suppliers, who procure from tier 2 companies, who in turn buy from tier 3s.
“If I run a 100-person parts machining company in Wichita, Kan.—if I lose half of my volume—can I stay alive?” he says. “The answer for some is yes, and answer for some is maybe not.”
Correction, February 7, 2020: A previous version of this story misspelled the GKN Aerospace spokesman’s name.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Why China is still so susceptible to disease outbreaks
—The rich own stocks, the middle class own homes. How betting it all on real estate is a wealth gap problem
—Bakkt aims to turn your rewards points into a wallet you can spend anywhere
—Stock scammers are using the coronavirus outbreak to dupe investors, SEC warns
—WATCH: Why CEOs are pessimistic about 2020 business outlook
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fortune--2020-02-07--Messy Iowa caucuses leave cash-poor candidates scrambling

The Iowa caucuses weren’t just a colossal political mess. They were a massive money drain for Democratic presidential contenders who poured millions of dollars into a contest so marred by technical glitches that its ultimate outcome will be marked with an asterisk.
That’s forced a reassessment of political strategy born of financial necessity for candidates strapped for money. It has also created a predatory environment for stronger candidates trying to pick off donors of weaker ones.
And then there is the case of Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor who is funding his own campaign and holding something that has come to be called a “friend raiser” rather than a fundraiser. He merely is asking for support from donors to other candidates rather than asking them to write his campaign a check.
The chase for campaign money always runs in parallel to the primary calendar, but at this stage of the race, candidates’ finances can be a ready proxy for the state of their political strength.
That’s placed an even bigger spotlight on New Hampshire, where many of the cash-poor candidates were trying to raise money in between campaign stops ahead of the Feb. 11 primary.
As results from Monday’s Iowa caucuses were still being tabulated, former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who both trailed in the state, shifted their money around, canceled ad buys and sent out emails pleading for donations ahead of Friday’s debate.
“We’ll keep this brief. If we don’t hit our $600,000 debate fundraising goal by tomorrow night, we could enter the New Hampshire (get out the vote) weekend without the resources that we need to succeed,” Biden’s campaign said in a fundraising email.
Biden, who has low cash reserves and has struggled to raise money, has pegged his bid for the nomination on his appeal in more diverse states that follow New Hampshire. But after a poor showing in predominantly white Iowa, he’s being squeezed.
Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor who did quite well in Iowa, has been reaching out to past Biden donors to gauge their interest in jumping ship.
Bloomberg’s “friend raiser” tactic is targeting on-the-fence donors whom Biden needs and who could further hinder his fundraising efforts.
“Donors panic. Supporters panic,” said Ian Sams, who was the primary spokesman for California Sen. Kamala Harris before she bowed out of the 2020 presidential race after struggling to raise money. “The challenge is convincing supporters that panic is not the wisest reaction and that they should keep faith in the plan that they’ve been outlining for a year.”
Although no winner has been declared in Iowa, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared to be the victor in the race to replenish his bank account. Sanders, who is nearly tied with Buttigieg for the lead in Iowa, announced a $25 million January fundraising haul on Thursday. The stunning sum, which was raised from his legions of grassroots donors who contribute small sums online, relieves the strain that $50 million in spending at the end of 2019 placed on his campaign finances.
That puts him in a “strong position to compete in states all over the map,” said campaign manager Faiz Shakir.
The campaign will immediately increase staffing in states that vote during the Democratic primary’s Super Tuesday, on March 3, and also plans to spend $5.5 million on television and digital ads in eight new states: Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
And Sanders will expand ad buys the campaign already made in California and Texas, the two largest states voting on Super Tuesday.
Biden and Warren are taking a different route.
Biden this week canceled a $119,000 ad buy in South Carolina, where he has polled strongly. Warren cut even more, canceling $350,000 in planned television advertising for later this month in Nevada and South Carolina.
“I just want to be careful about how we spend our money,” she told reporters after a Wednesday rally at a community college in Nashua, New Hampshire, near the border with Massachusetts.
Buttigieg, meanwhile, has been raking in money after his Iowa performance. This week he attended three fundraisers in New York and New Jersey. And on Saturday, his husband, Chasten, will be on Biden’s home turf in Philadelphia.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, an early Biden donor, said Biden’s Philadelphia donor base is strong and runs deep given the former vice president’s long-standing connection to the state and city. Biden was born in Pennsylvania and represented neighboring Delware in teh U.S. Senate for more than three decades.
“We give to Joe because we believe he’d be a good president. But we also help him because he’s been a friend, a great personal friend and a friend to Philadelphia,” said Rendell, who is also a former Philadelphia mayor. “We’re not bailing.”


fortune--2020-02-07--This is the big factor holding women back from CEO jobs

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! A scientist working to address the coronavirus crisis fights rumors that her lab caused it, Christina Koch earns a place in history, and women without P&L experience lose out on CEO gigs. Have a lovely weekend.
– FAQs on P&Ls. When those of us who work on Fortune‘s annual Most Powerful Women list sit down to start evaluating candidates, there’s one question that comes up early and often for any executive who’s not yet a CEO: Does she have P&L—a.k.a. profit-and-loss—responsibility?
The reason we focus on that question is because it’s the same one corporate boards and bosses ask when they’re looking for contenders for CEO and other top jobs. And as this fascinating Wall Street Journal story by Vanessa Fuhrmans illustrates, lack of P&L experience is one of the biggest factors holding women back in the upper reaches of corporate America.
I’d encourage you to read Fuhrmans’ story in full, but here are just a couple of the points that jumped out at me:
– Companies are paying attention to the need to elevate women—or at least a woman or two—into their senior ranks, but they’re not being “methodical” when it comes to grooming high-potential women for the top jobs. Research backs this observation, showing that female employees are getting less leadership training, less encouragement to aim for a P&L role, and less sponsorship their male counterparts.
– Excellence can actually hurt a woman’s chance at advancing. Preparing for a CEO role typically means learning many facets of the business (particularly the revenue-generating ones). But when women are doing great work in, say finance or HR, bosses are often loathe to pull them out of that role in order to let them try their hand at a job with a P&L. And women can be reluctant to force the issue, hoping their good work will eventually be rewarded.
– Some of these behaviors are driven by an unspoken assumption that women are just less ambitious than men. Yet the Journal notes that an individual company’s culture can make a difference—one study found that women who rate their firm positively on gender diversity are more likely to say that they’ve pursed a leadership position than those who give their employer poor marks.
While none of these findings are exactly surprising, the piece does an admirable job of digging into each issue and spelling out how these myriad factors intertwine. But perhaps the most compelling aspect of the story is the many women who boldly shared their own experiences—some positive, others painful and frustrating—attempting to navigate the many, many slippery rungs that lead to that elusive corner office.
Kristen Bellstrom
kristen.bellstrom@fortune.com
@kayelbee
Today’s Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe. Editor’s note: A previous version of this newsletter misspelled Vanessa Fuhrmans’ name. We regret the error.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Don't forget the work. Christina Koch was celebrated as one of the astronauts to complete the first all-female spacewalk—after suit-size hurdles—in October. But that feat was a matter of coincidence and timing, as was her new record: the longest stay by a female astronaut in space, at 328 days. This essay argues that we should also pay homage to Koch's achievements more directly related to her skill: research on the role of gravity on plants—which could affect our ability to grow food in space. New York Times
- The ClassPass curse? ClassPass, founded by current chairman Payal Kadakia, has had some unfortunate effects on fitness studios, according to this reporting. Studios say the fitness platform's pricing algorithm is causing them to lose money and encouraging former direct customers to start paying less via the subscription program—a situation that they believe has escalated as the new unicorn pursues profitability ahead of a potential IPO. ClassPass says, "We are always rooting for our partners to succeed. Doing so is core to our mission, while also being in our economic best interest." Vice
- Space spinoff. SpaceX will spin off and pursue an IPO for Starlink, its business that plans to provide internet service from space. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell says that Starlink is "the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public," compared to the rest of the private space exploration company. Bloomberg
- Food for thought. Ahead of Land O'Lakes' 100th birthday, the cooperative led by CEO Beth Ford is rolling out a new marketing approach that highlights the people behind the brand: farmers. The move is meant to appeal to shoppers who increasingly want a deeper connection to what they eat. Fortune
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: SoftBank partner Kirthiga Reddy joins the board of WeWork. Walmart hires Adobe chief human resources officer Donna Morris as chief people officer. Sara Patterson, former VP of HR and talent for Walmart eCommerce, joins Compass as chief people officer. Former Brittania Industries CEO Vinita Bali joins the board of Cognizant. Rothy's hires Method's Saskia van Gendt as head of sustainability. Forbes promoted Lynn Schlesinger to CMO.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Batting away rumors. Scientist Shi Zhengli runs one of the world's largest databases about bat-related viruses out of a lab in Wuhan, China. Her work has proved crucial as researchers raced to understand the origins of the coronavirus. But others are now blaming Shi for the virus, saying it escaped from her lab. As she works to study the virus, she responded to the online rumors on WeChat, saying that the disease "had nothing to do with the lab." South China Morning Post
- BOW down. Fun fact: women are now the fastest-growing demographic in hunting. The state of New York is now counting on them to deal with deer overpopulation on Long Island. The state's Department of Environmental Conservation even runs a program called BOW, or Becoming an Outdoor Woman. New York Times
- DNA downturn. Just like its fellow woman-led DNA testing competitor 23andMe, Ancestry.com laid off employees this week amid a slowdown in the consumer DNA testing market. CEO Margo Georgiadis cited the fact that "most early adopters have entered the category" already. The layoffs affected 6% of Ancestry's workforce, or about 100 people. CNBC
- Showing restraint. Kim Kardashian West talks to the New York Times about her shapewear line Skims, now selling via Nordstrom. She's learning "restraint"—fitting for a shapewear venture—about what to spend her time and brand power on. New York Times
ON MY RADAR
Stop blaming history for your all-white, all-male movie New York Times
Golf World Cup set for shake-up with plans for mixed-gender teams Guardian
How Kelly Clarkson's talk show became the purest joy on TV—and the first daytime hit in almost a decade The Daily Beast
What the New York Times' Rukmini Callimachi wears to interview the world's most dangerous terrorists Elle
PARTING WORDS
"I literally was sitting there being like, how did I get here and how did I become the spokesperson for this?"
-Musician Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast on discussing sexism in the music industry


fortune--2020-02-07--Whistleblower doctor’s death stirs an online rebellion against China’s coronavirus response

Chinese social media feeds erupted late Thursday and early Friday with news of the death of Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old Wuhan doctor-turned-whistle-blower who was arrested after warning of the dangers of coronavirus in early stages of the outbreak. Li passed away after being infected with the virus.
The wave of posts, however, went far beyond offering condolences to the doctor and his family; Li has become a symbol of the government’s perceived mishandling of the outbreak. He’s come to represent not just the virus’s persistent spread, but also Beijing’s apparent muzzling of information about the outbreak. And his death on Friday sparked a rare rebellion on China’s Internet.
In December, Li was one of eight doctors who posted online that the coronavirus, still in its infancy then, bore a startling resemblance to SARS and might be transmissible between humans. Li, along with seven other doctors, was then detained in early January by Wuhan authorities and made to sign a statement that he was “spreading rumors” and forced to delete his social media posts. But the mixed messages disseminated to the public didn’t stop there. At one point, Wuhan officials said that human-to-human transmission of the virus was limited; it’s evident now they knew then it was much more dangerous.
On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly called U.S. President Donald Trump to say that his government has spared no effort in fighting the disease that as of Friday had infected over 30,000 people and killed at least 638. Yet swaths of the Chinese public seemed unconvinced as online frustration boiled over after Li’s death.
Mourning becomes a movement
Chinese social media posts “have evolved from a reaction to a whistleblower’s death [into] a political campaign requesting freedom of speech and political openness,” said professor King-wa Fu of the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong. “Public frustration is real and widespread.”
The phrase “we want freedom of speech” temporarily trended on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter amid reports of Li’s death. “Some people will be scrubbed from WeChat, some will be scrubbed from Weibo,” one user wrote, referencing censors that routinely erase online content Beijing deems politically sensitive, like calls for free speech. “But slowly and inevitably the powerless will break through the wall. The government needs to operate but we also need justice and equality.” Other users posted screenshots from the recent TV show Chernobyl, making comparisons to how officials covered up the nuclear disaster in its early stages.
A medical staff member walks past a flower tribute to the late ophthalmologist Li Wenliang at the Houhu Branch of Wuhan Central Hospital in Wuhan on February 7, 2020. AFP/Getty Images
The reactions to Li’s death are significant in that they’re coming from segments of Chinese society that are generally supportive and uncritical of the government, said Victor Shih, a Chinese politics professor at the University of California San Diego.
“What struck me is that even upper middle class and government professionals unanimously felt that this rule breaker [Li] was a good person, and much better than many who are in charge,” said Shih.
The online outpouring represents the largest and most public call for democracy in decades, according to Fu. What’s more difficult to determine is how Beijing will react; whether such demands will lead to more openness and transparency by the government or not.
Shih is not convinced that information will flow more freely since “controlling information is a major priority [for Beijing] during emergencies,” and two officials leading the response to the outbreak have close ties to the government’s propaganda bureau.
Living the outbreak online
The flurry of posts also points to just how much of the coronavirus outbreak is being lived online. As 50 million people in Wuhan and its surrounding areas remain under lockdown, and much of the rest of the country exists in various states of either self-imposed or government-ordered travel restriction, people are glued to their phones, a primary source of information about the outbreak. It’s a departure from how China’s last major outbreak unfolded. When SARS hit in 2003, smartphones did not exist, and only about 6% of the country (or roughly 80 million people) were even using the Internet. Now, upwards of 60% of the country (or 850 million people) are online. During SARS, people relied almost exclusively on government sources on TV and in newspapers for updates. China’s new media landscape means there are more avenues for information, but that proliferation has also bred mistrust.
Workers continue to prepare beds at Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center on February 4, 2020, anticipating that the coronavirus will stricken thousands more people in the city thought to be the epicenter of the outbreak. Getty Images
Fortune spoke with several people in China about how they have been digesting news of the outbreak online over the past few weeks. They said in addition to some government-run news sources, that they have been relying on a mix of messages between friends and family, social media feeds, and following the platforms of people and sources they consider reliable.
“I have no idea about what the right information about coronavirus is, even from the government,” said a source in Shenzhen, who wished to remain anonymous due to political sensitivities. He added that he trusts the videos he comes across more than written reports because at least then he can see what’s happening.
“Both true information and misinformation are disseminated sufficiently fast that the government is not able to fully control it,” said Fu. At the same time, online channels have sparked recognition among users that they are not alone in their doubts. “When people feel ‘Our view is not isolated,’ they are encouraged to break the silence as opposed to the long, chilling atmosphere of the past,” he said.
Ultimately, any online frustrations is exacerbated by there being no end in sight to a disease that continues to spread by the thousands each day.
“(My friends and relatives) are so afraid,” said the person in Shenzhen, who is originally from a small village near Wuhan that is currently under lockdown. “I have no idea when it will get better. They also have no idea. That’s why they are so anxious.”
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Why China is still so susceptible to disease outbreaks
—Startup uses A.I. to identify molecules that could fight coronavirus
—Stock scammers are using coronavirus to dupe investors, SEC warns
—Governments deploy surveillance tech to track coronavirus victims
—WATCH: Coronavirus outbreak has disrupted global economy
Subscribe to Fortune’s Brainstorm Health for daily updates on biopharma and health care.


fortune--2020-02-07--China’s dream of overtaking Hollywood this year has been shattered by the coronavirus

China is no longer on track to dethrone the U.S. as the world’s No. 1 movie market this year.
The coronavirus has clobbered the burgeoning Hollywood rival, virtually wiping out ticket sales during the recent seven-day Lunar New Year holiday — a week that’s been historically the busiest for box-office collections. Theaters across the country have remained shut since Jan. 24, while the fear of infection has prompted people to avoid crowded places.
Losses from the collapse of ticket sales mounted to $1 billion during the festive period, according to estimates by Rance Pow, chief executive officer of cinema industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway. That number is about 10% of the anticipated revenue in 2020, and is set to rise as uncertainty over the outbreak persists.
The impact of a virus that’s killed more than 600 people and slammed the local movie market is likely to spread to Hollywood, which is increasingly relying on Chinese audiences for growth as domestic ticket sales decline. Walt Disney Co. said this week that the epidemic is a headwind for its studio.
“The loss will do significant financial damage to both theaters and production companies in China, and if theaters remain closed for several more weeks, the financial harm will expand,” said Lindsay Conner, partner and leader of the entertainment consultancy of Los Angeles-based Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. “With Chinese theaters closed due to the outbreak, Hollywood’s plans for distributing new films in China are also uncertain.”
Shares of Wanda Film Holding Co., a cinema operator controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, have plunged 25% since Jan. 17. Imax China Holding Inc., which operates giant screens, has tumbled 21%, while Beijing Enlight Media Co., Ltd., one of China’s largest studios, slid 17%.
China has already overtaken the U.S. in terms of numbers of cinema screens following a building boom that helped box-office sales climb sixfold since 2010. Analysts were predicting the market to surpass the U.S. in terms of revenue this year.
Movie ticket sales in the country, excluding booking fees, rose 4.1% last year to 58.9 billion yuan ($8.5 billion), compared with 9.7 billion yuan in 2010. Imported films accounted for about 36% of box office sales last year in China, the largest overseas market for U.S. films.
Exhibitors have said they have set no date for re-opening cinemas. That means potential delays in China for big-ticket films from Hollywood such as Disney’s “Mulan” — based on a legendary Chinese female warrior — and Pixar’s “Onward,” which are set for March debuts in the U.S., according to Pow.
For companies such as Disney, the hit is not just on the movie business. Its theme park in Shanghai has closed as well, along with Disneyland in Hong Kong, which had already been hit by the city’s political unrest. Executives at the Burbank, California-based entertainment giant said Tuesday the theme park shutdowns would pare about $175 million off revenue in the current quarter.
Local language movies set to open during the Lunar New Year holiday then canceled included “Detective Chinatown 3,” the third installment of one of China’s most commercially successful comedies, “Leap,” based on the true story of the Chinese women’s volleyball team, and “Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification.”
“Even if the virus ended today, the backlog of films to release — all Chinese — is pretty large,” said Chris Fenton, a film producer and U.S.-Asia Institute trustee. A delay in the China release of “Mulan,” would also raise the question of whether Disney would postpone the U.S. release, he said.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Stock scammers are using coronavirus to dupe investors, SEC warns
—Asia worries about big events like the Olympics amid coronavirus spread
—Why China is still so susceptible to disease outbreaks
—Looking to cut emissions, Europe eyes a “sustainability” tax on meat
—Fortune Explains: Tariffs and trade wars
Catch up with Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily digest on the business of tech.


fortune--2020-02-09--How to watch the 2020 Oscars live online for free—without cable

For universities that have come to rely on China , the coronavirus poses an unprecedented risk

Hollywood’s biggest night of the year gets underway Sunday—and it’s a year where anything could happen.
The Joker, The Irishman and Jojo Rabbit will battle six other films for the Best Picture trophy and oddsmakers say there’s no clear frontrunner. While The Joker received 11 nominations, it didn’t sweep the Golden Globes (though star Joaquin Phoenix did take home the Best Actor award).
This is the 92nd year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has honored the best films and performances of the year. But the ceremony at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, Calif. starts long before the first award is handed out.
Whether you’re pulling for a favorite film or just want to debate the fashions of the evening, it’s one of the biggest television events of the year.
Got questions about this year’s Oscars ceremony? We’ve got answers.
What time do the Oscars start?
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony will be held Sunday, February 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET
What channel can I watch the Oscars on?
ABC is hosting this year’s Oscars and it’s the only broadcast channel that will air the event. Other networks, though, will provide coverage of events outside of the Dolby Theater (see below).
What time does red carpet coverage of the 2020 Academy Awards begin?
ABC will kick off its Oscars pre-show at 6:30 p.m. ET, but if you want an early start, E!’s Live From the Red Carpet will start airing at 5 p.m. ET and will run right up until the Oscars begin. And E!’s Countdown to the Red Carpet starts as early as 1 p.m. ET.
How can I watch the Oscars for free if I don’t have cable?
If you don’t have a cable or satellite subscription, the best way to watch any network program for free on a big screen is with a good HD antenna. The 2020 Oscars will be broadcast by ABC—meaning you’ve got a good chance of capturing the game over the air, which costs nothing beyond the equipment prices. Be sure to test the antenna in multiple locations in your home to find the most reliable signal.
How can I stream the Oscars live online if I don’t have a cable subscription?
There are loads of online options to watch the Oscars, some completely free and others with free trial periods. If you’re not near a TV, you can log into ABC.com to watch the show. Don’t have a cable subscription (which you’ll need to watch the official stream online)? Here are a few other options that work just as well.
Locast.org
This free service lets you watch local broadcast channels with no monthly fees or contracts. The hiccup is: It only services part of the country.
Hulu with Live TV
You can try the service free for a week. Once that’s up, you’ll pay $45 per month.
YouTube TV
After a seven day trial, you can expect monthly charges of $50.
Sling TV
Dish Network’s Sling is one of the original cord cutter options. Its lower tiered “Orange” plan will run you $30 per month. A more comprehensive “Blue” plan bumps the cost to $45-per-month. (Both have ABC.) You’ll have a 7-day free trial first.
AT&T TVNow
Formerly known as DirecTV Now, AT&T’s streaming service will run you $65 per month and up after a 7-day free trial.
Who’s hosting the 2020 Academy Awards?
Comedian Kevin Hart was originally announced as host, but he backed away when some anti-gay tweets he posted a decade ago resurfaced. So, for the second year in a row, the Oscars are bypassing a host. ABC announced last month the focus would be on “huge entertainment value, big musical numbers, big comedy and star power.”
Where can I watch this year’s Best Picture nominees?
Where to watch: Currently in theaters. Also streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube.
Where to watch: Streaming on Netflix
Where to watch: Currently in theaters
Where to watch: Streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube, as well as On Demand on many cable systems
Where to watch: Currently in theaters. Also streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube.
Where to watch: Streaming on Netflix
Where to watch: Currently in theaters
Where to watch: Streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube, as well as On Demand on many cable systems
Where to watch: Streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu and Google Play, as well as On Demand on many cable systems
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—How Randy Newman’s family built a film-scoring dynasty
—How much is an Oscar worth?
—Charlize Theron and John Lithgow reflect on Bombshell’s indelible impact
—HBO’s “McMillion$” shows how cheaters scammed McDonald’s Monopoly
—Content is king: Inside Netflix’s streaming wars strategy
Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis.


fortune--2020-02-09--For universities that have come to rely on China, the coronavirus poses an unprecedented risk

How to watch the 2020 Oscars live online for free—without cable

Liu Feiyang was supposed to start a degree in human resource management at Australia’s Monash University in the first week of March.
Instead, Liu is at home in Chengdu, the capital of China’s western Sichuan province. The 18-year-old is unable to fly to Australia because of a travel ban on arrivals from China enacted to combat the spread of the coronavirus that had sickened more than 37,000 people worldwide and killed over 800 as of Sunday.
“[The travel ban] means that students are unable to enter school normally, and future plans will be completely disrupted,” Liu said of the Australian government’s restrictions.
Zhexuan Huang, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, hails from Wuhan, the virus epicenter that the Chinese government has put under a travel lockdown. He had to take a leave of absence from college because he was unable to leave Wuhan and return to Penn in time for the start of the spring semester, and university policy does not allow for remote learning.
Liu and Huang are not alone. As China’s economy has boomed in recent decades so too as the enrollment of Chinese students abroad. The most recent data from China’s Ministry of Education pegged the number of students at overseas universities at 662,000 in 2018, up from 179,800 in 2008. But the outbreak of the coronavirus and the subsequent travel bans aimed at stemming its spread have trapped many Chinese students at home, unable to return to their foreign schools.
What’s more, universities in China, in line with government mandates, have postponed classes due to the outbreak, leaving foreign students studying abroad in China in utter limbo, ordered by their universities to return to their home campuses or having to make the choice themselves.
“Many of us were completely lost in trying to understand what we had to do,” said one New York University student who planned a semester abroad but returned to New York after NYU Shanghai postponed classes.
A reliance at risk
The coronavirus’s disruption to higher education is likely to reach beyond the student experience. In the U.S., international students are a vital source of revenue for universities because their tuition is rarely discounted. Since most are not eligible or do not require financial aid from private universities, they pay full tuition. International students at public universities pay out-of-state fees.
Chinese women wear protective masks as they walk in the street in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than 37,000 on Sunday, Feb. 9. Kevin Frayer—Getty Images
In 2000, Chinese students made up around 10% of international students in the U.S., versus more than 30% today. There were more than 360,000 Chinese students in the U.S. in the 2017-18 school year, according to the Institute of International Education.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has grown so financially reliant on Chinese students’ tuition that it purchased an insurance policy to protect the university against a sudden drop in Chinese student enrollment caused by a political event, visa issue, or health scare. A UIUC spokesperson said all of UIUC’s 5,800 Chinese students have been contacted and “as far as we know” have returned to campus. “We have not experienced any enrollment drop.”
International student tuition fees are counted as exports in the U.S., so a drop in tuition could hit gross domestic product. International students contributed $39 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018, according to the NAFSA Association of International Educators.
International students “significantly subsidize American students,” said Dick Startz, a professor of economics at the University of California at Santa Barbara. “Loss of revenue from international students would be bad for many American universities and disastrous for some.”
Startz said any “really big effects” would only start to happen if the coronavirus was still not contained and travel bans were still in place by May or June, when students would normally be returning to their home countries. For now, Startz said, it is a “potential crisis that would seem to call for some advance planning,” like addressing the uncertainty facing Chinese applicants or considering contingencies for next year’s budget.
Since U.S. college semesters generally started before the U.S. instituted travel restrictions, most Chinese students were back on campus already, said Brad Farnsworth, vice president of global engagement for the American Council on Education. “If the restrictions continue for several months, however, we could see an impact on Fall 2020 enrollments,” he said.
Such an impact would be unprecedented, Farnsworth added.
“The SARS outbreak is the closest comparison, and there are now roughly six times more Chinese students in [the U.S.] Higher education connections are much deeper and more complex, and the costs of disruption will be much greater,” he said.
Universities in Canada and Australia also depend on international students, who inject billions of dollars into the economy and help create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Chinese students make up the largest fraction of the international student body in each country—one third of Canada’s and almost half of Australia’s.
Terrible timing
The rapid spread of the coronavirus coincided with summer break in Australia and the Lunar New Year holiday in China, the country’s biggest holiday when most people return home to their families.
The timing meant that more than half of Australia’s Chinese students—some 100,000, according to the education minister—had not returned to Australia when the government on Feb. 1 banned people who arrived from or transited through China in the last 14 days from entering the country.
A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he waits for a taxi in Beijing, China. Much of the country has shut down as the government tries to control the coronavirus’s spread. Kevin Frayer—Getty Images
Australia’s universities, English-language colleges, and schools could lose more than $5 billion at “minimum” if the travel ban prevents some Chinese students from returning to school, said Phil Honeywood, chair of an education ministry task force advising the government on the impact of the virus. International students contributed around $25 billion to Australia’s economy during the 2018-19 academic year.
“There’s no doubt the international education sector is one of the absolutely key sectors when it comes to Australia’s exports,” education minister Dan Tehan told Australia’s ABC News.
Tehan added that it was too early to consider refunding students who have already paid their tuition fees, but did not rule out the possibility.
Liu, the Monash student, is against the travel ban; he says it has the potential to upend students’ career trajectories. And he’s well aware of the value he and his peers add to Australia’s economy. “[O]nce Chinese students are banned from entering the country, there will be economic decline,” he argued.
Officials in Australia are mulling the possibility of arranging video and online courses for students in China who are unable to return to campus, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Liu says he’s scared he won’t be able to go to university. “I don’t want to take classes online,” he said.
Liu added that if he is unable to fly to Australia in time for the start of the semester and if Monash—which has 11,000 Chinese students in its 83,000 student body—offers online classes, he will not take them, and instead defer his acceptance.
“I’ll wait for Australia to open its doors,” he said.
Coming home from abroad
After the Chinese government postponed the start of the semester for its own schools and colleges, U.S. universities with centers, research institutes, and study abroad programs in China scrambled to coordinate backup plans.
Some New York University students were already in Shanghai, ready to start their semester abroad, when the university told them that classes would be postponed and moved online.
Alec Liu, a sophomore in NYU’s Stern School of Business, decided to return to the U.S., along with many of his classmates, because he did not want to take remote classes and he was worried about the possibility of being quarantined or not being able to go outdoors in Shanghai.
Another Stern student who returned to New York and wished to remain anonymous said the process of returning was “quite rough” because the university did not provide enough information on how to register for classes or arrange last-minute housing.
A spokesperson for NYU defended the university’s response, saying it reached out to students in the abroad program on Jan. 24 with information about their options to return to New York or stay in Shanghai.
“All students who opted to return to New York to continue with their education were provided with clear housing assignments in a matter of days,” the spokesperson said.
The NYU Shanghai campus will remain closed until at least March 1, in accordance with a municipal government directive. Professors will teach classes remotely starting Feb. 17, and in-person classes will resume “as soon as it is deemed safe and practical,” said June Shih, director of university communications for NYU Shanghai.
But more than 300 full-time students enrolled at New York University Shanghai opted to leave for NYU’s campuses outside of China because of the coronavirus, Shih said.
Monash University’s campus in Suzhou is “closed until further notice,” according to a notice on the school’s website.
Johns Hopkins University’s Hopkins-Nanjing Center in Nanjing in eastern China is still closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. School officials have not determined whether it will reopen or remain closed. Princeton University’s summer program, Princeton in Beijing, which starts in June, is also waiting to see how the coronavirus situation develops before making a decision.
Many universities in China are considering what to do if the entire spring semester ends up cancelled, said Yossi Sheffi, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation and Logistics. MIT has a center in Ningbo, China, that launched in 2016. “So it’s not, ‘Hey, in a week or two everything will be fine.'” he said. “They are making plans ‘just in case’ and waiting to see how the problem proceeds.”
Though initially frustrated by the lockdown in Wuhan, Huang, the Penn student, is now viewing it as an opportunity to connect with his hometown.
Huang, a mathematical economics major, wakes up every day and records his and his relatives’ body temperatures to report to their residential committee. His family has donated money and face masks to local hospitals and is organizing free supplies of the family company’s nutritional canned soups to give to coronavirus patients and front-line medical workers.
It’s difficult to find anyone willing to do the deliveries, Huang said, so he plans to buy protective suits and deliver them himself.
“I was definitely a little frustrated at first that I would not be able to carry out my plan for this semester,” Huang said. “But now I just feel fortunate that I can be here to support my family in this hard time.”
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fortune--2020-02-09--‘The Farewell’ and Adam Sandler triumph at the Indie Spirit Awards

At a Film Independent Spirit Awards that often stood in stark contrast to Sunday’s Academy Awards, Lulu Wang’s family drama “The Farewell” took the top prize, while Adam Sandler and the Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems” also landed awards.
The win Saturday for “The Farewell” was a surprise, but also a fitting finale to a Spirit Awards that exalted female filmmakers and put forth a far more diverse field of nominees than the film academy. Wang referenced the conversation around the dearth of female filmmaker nominated by the Academy Awards in her speech.
“You don’t have to encourage women. There are lots of women making films, in film school,” said Wang. “What women need is just the job. Give them the freaking job!”
The Spirits, held in an ocean-side tent on the Santa Monica, California, beach the day before the Oscars, often diverges greatly in tone from the weekend’s other, more formally attired award show across town. But the winners — including “Moonlight,” “Spotlight” and “Birdman” — have often lined up.
Yet more so than in years, the Spirit Awards hardly overlapped with the Oscars this time around. “The Farewell” was shutout by the film academy, which instead heaped nominations on bigger-budget epics including “1917,” “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and “The Irishman.” The Spirits, the premier awards ceremony for indie film, cap nominees at a budget of $22.5 million.
“The Farewell” also won best supporting performance by a female actor for Zhao Shuzhen, the grandmother (“Nai Nai”) in the film. Many expected the award to go to Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”). Wang said Shuzhen, a Chinese actress, couldn’t attend the show because of coronavirus travel restrictions.
The boutique studio A24 dominated the Spirits, winning trophies for “The Farewell,” “Uncut Gems” and “The Lighthouse.” “Uncut Gems” led all films with three awards, including best performance by a male actor for Sandler, best director for Josh and Ben Safdie, and best editing.
Sandler, who received a standing ovation, compared his Oscar “snub” to losing best looking in high school. But he did win best personality, an honor he compared to his Spirit Award.
“As I look around this room, I realize the Independent Film Spirit Awards are the Best Personality Awards,” Sandler joked. Referring to the Oscar nominees he said, “Their handsome good looks will fade in time, while our independent personalities will shine on forever.”
Only one Oscar favorite among the actors was also competing at the Spirits: Renee Zellweger. She won for her performance in the Judy Garland drama “Judy.” “Cheers to you from the beach, Ms. Garland,” Zellweger said.
And just one movie up for best picture on Sunday was nominated for the Spirit Awards’ top prize: Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” It won for Baubmach’s screenplay and was awarded the Spirits’ ensemble award, dubbed the Robert Altman Award.
Baumbach thanked “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho — the category’s expected co-winner on Sunday — for not being nominated for best screenplay. (Though a favorite for top awards on Sunday, “Parasite” won a single award at the Spirits, for best international film.)
In his second speech of the afternoon, Baumbach dismissed the idea that independent film and the Spirit Awards are “the minor leagues.”
“To me the movies we’re celebrating here today, they are the movies,” said Baumbach. “They are as major as anything.”
While this year’s Oscars only feature one acting nominee of color, the Spirits nominees — including nominations for Alfre Woodard (“Clemency”), Octavia Spencer (“Luce”), Taylor Russell (“Waves”) and Jonathan Majors (“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”) — were notably more diverse. All of the nominees for best supporting performance by a female actor were women of color.
While the Academy Awards have been criticized for again nominating an all-male field of directing nominees, Alma Har’el (“Honey Boy”) and Lorene Scafaria (“Hustlers”) were both among the Spirits’ nominees for best director. Olivia Wilde won best first feature for her high-school comedy “Booksmart.” A recently created grant for mid-career female filmmakers dubbed the Bonnie Award was also given to Kelly Reichardt (“Wendy and Lucy,” “First Cow”).
In her opening, host Aubrey Plaza alluded to the different perspective of the Spirits.
“The Independent Spirit Awards are always cooler than the Oscars,” said Plaza of the awards put on by Film Independent, a nonprofit group of about 7,000 film enthusiasts. “It’s the daytime, we’re on the beach, we recognize female directors.”
Best documentary went to “American Factory.” Willem Dafoe won best supporting actor for “The Lighthouse,” which also was honored for Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography.
The spotlight belonged to filmmaking couples at the Spirits. Though Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” was ineligible, her partner, Baumbach, thanked her from the stage. “Though she made a movie too expensive for the Spirit Awards, she’s no less independent than anyone here,” he said. Wang’s win came a year after her boyfriend, Barry Jenkins, won best feature at the Spirit Awards for “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
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—How the Indie Spirits and Oscars will reflect an exhilarating—and often odd—awards season
—How Randy Newman’s family built a film-scoring dynasty over the course of a century
—How much is an Oscar worth?
—Bombshell‘s Charlize Theron and John Lithgow reflect on the film’s indelible impact
—Taika Waititi on Kiwi humor, directing as Hitler, and why kids should see Jojo Rabbit
Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis.


fortune--2020-02-09--How to scale zen luxury, according to Robert De Niro

Farmers plant cover crops; athletes cross-train; actors—even the most A-list—brand.
On a Friday last November, Robert De Niro sinks into a cushy, beige couch at Nobu Ryokan, a Japanese style inn in Malibu, Calif., part of the hospitality company he owns with chef Nobu Matsuhisa and film producer Meir Teper. A 16-room compound of imported teak, glass, and stone, sandwiched between the Pacific Coast Highway, and the highway’s namesake, the inn—formerly the site of a 1950s motel—cost approximately as much to build as Mr. De Niro’s latest, Oscar-nominated film, The Irishman, cost to make ($160 million, according to Variety).
It’s the prestige picture of the Nobu portfolio, which includes 42 new Japanese restaurants, 10 hotels, and eight more venues still in development—an expansion plan that requires De Niro, Matsuihisa, and Teper to hunker down in a second floor suite with four members of their executive team so they can get on the same page. Provisions line the counters of a kitchenette: a platter of fruit, a tray of pale green cake.
“Someone had asked us a question,” says De Niro, tenting his fingers. He’s talking about the prospect of expanding into a city about which the group is still on the fence. “We can’t proceed without getting everybody’s approval,” adds Teper.
“We have to be very careful,” De Niro explains. “It was kind of obvious, in the beginning, everybody kept coming to us, asking if we wanted to bring a Nobu restaurant to them, give them the credibility, the cachet.”
An ocean-view room at the Nobu Ryokan in Malibu, Calif.
In 2007, Trevor Horwell—then the chief hotels officer for Hard Rock, now CEO of Nobu Hotels—brought him to San Diego’s Hard Rock Hotel. Hard Rock executives pitched De Niro on plugging a Nobu restaurant into their property. (The first Nobu restaurant opened in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood in 1993.) “That crystallized my feelings,” De Niro recalls. “Why are we doing this for them? Why aren’t we trying this for ourselves? We’ve earned this right, why are they capitalizing on that? And somebody said, ‘Eh, you don’t want to go into hotels, just stay in your place.’ I said, ‘Why do we have to do that? No. We should try. There’s no downside. Put that out to our prospective partners, and wherever we feel it’s a good, strategic place to be, a certain city, a certain locale, blah, blah, blah.’”
Strategic partners pay a licensing fee to use the Nobu name. The first Nobu Hotel opened in Las Vegas in 2013 (strategic partner: Caesars Palace). The Malibu ryokan opened in 2017 (strategic partner: Larry Ellison). Now, wannabe strategic partners are coming out of the warm, teak woodwork like so many termites.
Producer Meir Teper, chef Nobu Matsuihisa, and actor Robert De Niro at the Nobu Ryokan Malibu on Nov. 15, 2019. Courtesy of Nobu Hotels
“The first six months of next year are going to be the busiest time for us,” Horwell says. “We’re opening in London, Warsaw.”
“Chicago,” Teper adds.
“And Barcelona and possibly Riyadh,” Horwell continues. “We go where our customers come from. We have a lot of business from Saudi Arabia. We did a pop-up restaurant in Jeddah, and it was full, absolutely full. Everything there has changed. Before, ladies couldn’t drive. At our pop-up, we had a lady DJ not wearing an abaya. Lady, DJ, not wearing an abaya! That’s three huge things.” But back to the agenda. “So we have five hotels that we’re opening over the course of the next six months,” he says.
“With restaurants,” Teper notes.
“We just have to try and cope with that,” Horwell says. “Bob, you said something yesterday that really resonated with me: ‘Know what you have, because when you let it go, you never get it back.’”
“That’s right,” De Niro says, nodding gravely. “I’ve seen things—we’ve all seen things that all of a sudden become corporatized, or co-opted—that’s not the right word—it’s been bought by a bigger company, and they have a different philosophy. It’s a different management team, and if they have control over it, even the perception will be altered.” He adds, “It’s not a good thing.”
A suite bathroom at the Nobu Ryokan in Malibu, Calif. Courtesy of Nobu Hotels
But what’s the line between co-opting a place and just kind of zhushing it up? De Niro mentions an upcoming trip to Barbuda, a Caribbean island he first happened on 30 years ago and recently returned to, hoping to plant the Nobu flag. “When I got there, it was just the same,” he says. He pulls up a photo on his iPhone: turquoise water, white sand, not a soul in sight. “We went to find the owners, they were Italians, we got them.”
Negotiations with non-Italian factors—nature, resources—proved more difficult. “Now, we’re doing it very slowly,” De Niro says. “It’ll be kind of a Malibu beach inn with a Nobu pop-up.
“People come in on a boat, for a day trip, see where they want to be,” he adds. What if too many people want to be there? “I don’t know, that’s another kind of conversation,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “Whatever happens is just to keep this place simple and nice. People go there to really rest—what you traditionally would want to go to a place like that for. So it then has to be, for want of a better word, curated.”
He may speak the language of modern branding, but he leaves the rest to the pros. “I mean, I don’t run it,” the Nobu Hotels business, “day to day,” De Niro clarifies. “These guys all do that. I’m there when I’m needed, but I do get a lot of satisfaction out of it, to say the least. I have to do something for Irishman later, I have to do another something later.”
“Don’t worry, I’m gonna put you in the kitchen one day,” Matsuhisa jokes.
“And then I’ll go in and complain about the flavor of the sauce,” De Niro replies. He mimes tasting something from a spoon. “I’ll say, ‘Oh, no, no, no, no, no.’”
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fortune--2020-02-08--Here’s why analysts soured on Apple this week

Analysts are raising questions about the impact of coronavirus on Apple’s sales and the loyalty of Apple TV Plus users.
The week kicked off with TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reducing his iPhone shipment forecast by 10% for the current quarter over fears that coronavirus affect the company’s supply chain in China. Soon after, researcher Flixed said that many Apple TV Plus free-trial users aren’t keen to pay for the streaming-video service.
Apple’s troubles continued, when France announced that it had fined the company $27 million for a feature in iPhone batteries that slowed them down after prolonged use. Even Apple’s contracts with third-party repair companies came under fire for their “onerous” provisions.
It was a rough week for Apple. Here’s a summary of what happened:
How coronavirus affects Apple
The deadly respiratory illness coronavirus, which has infected thousands of people globally and killed hundreds, could impact Apple’s supply chain, analysts said this week. TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple’s iPhone shipments could drop by 10% this quarter because of delays in Chinese production. Several other analysts who spoke to Fortune this week all agreed: The longer the coronavirus problem continues, forcing the Chinese government and companies to shutter production, the greater impact it will have on Apple’s financial results.
Apple TV Plus problems
Apple TV Plus is “failing to resonate with customers,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a research note this week. Fewer than 10 million Apple device owners have signed on for a free trial, according to Sacconaghi, and even fewer will become paying customers. The analyst said Apple TV Plus’ slow uptake could be due to its “limited content offerings.” Meanwhile, streaming-video industry watcher Flixed said this week that just 28% of Apple TV Plus users who had signed up for the seven-day free trial actually became subscribers. Among those who received a one-year free trial to Apple TV Plus by buying Apple devices, only 59% currently plan to sign up and pay $4.99 monthly after their trial expires. Despite the sobering news for Apple, there was a glimmer of hope: The people who Flixed surveyed gave Apple TV Plus an average satisfaction rating of 7 out of 10.
Get ready for CarKey
Apple is working on technology that would allow car owners to use their iPhones or Apple Watches as car keys, according to Apple-tracking site 9to5Mac. The feature, called CarKey, is hidden in the recently released iOS 13.4 Beta, the article said. Although Apple hasn’t confirmed its existence, 9to5Mac was able to determine that the feature will let users open the Wallet app on their iPhones or Apple Watch, and then start and turn off their cars. It’s unknown which vehicles the features could work with. Apple’s iOS 13.4 is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
France fines Apple
France has fined Apple 25 million euros (about $27 million) for throttling iPhones that have aging batteries. In a statement this week, investigators said that iOS software updates in 2017 intentionally slowed down performance on older iPhones, like the iPhone SE and iPhone 6, and that the company failed to notify users about the change. Apple acknowledged that it released the software with throttling, but denied France’s accusation that it did so to push owners of older iPhones to upgrade. Apple said the throttling safeguarded older batteries and allowed aging devices to last longer.
Apple’s repair program policies
Last year, Apple said that it would allow small business owners to provide repairs to consumers for their Apple devices. This week, tech news site Motherboard obtained a copy of the agreement between Apple and those repair providers that raises questions about the requirements involved. The agreement lets Apple inspect providers at any time, with no notice, and even inspect providers up to five years after the they end their agreement. In interviews with Motherboard, attorneys and repair advocates called the agreement “onerous” on the providers.
The successful Apple Watch
Apple shipped 31 million Apple Watches worldwide last year, Strategy Analytics said this week. Apple outpaced the entire Swiss watch industry, which accounted for 21 million shipments last year. Apple Watch shipments were up 36% year-over-year, compared to a 13% year-over-year drop on Swiss watches.
One more thing…
February is Heart Month, and to celebrate, Apple is offering the same $100 trade-in credit value on old Apple Watch Series 2 and Apple Watch Series 3 models that is available for Apple Watch Series 4. Apple had previously offered credits of $60 to $70 on Series 2 and Series 3 models. The credits can be used for buying an Apple Watch Series 5.
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—Predicting the biggest tech headlines of 2020
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fortune--2020-02-08--Why zero-dosage, super-dry Champagnes are popping everywhere

Picking up the wine list at New York City’s Frenchette, a contemporary bistro in the trendy Tribeca neighborhood, guests will notice something unique about the sparkling wines: They all feature no dosage and are often labeled “brut nature.”
“It is something Champagne was missing for a long time and has begun a serious shift within the community,” explains Frenchette’s wine director Jorge Riera. “The more hands-on approach of the newer generation has tended to go the more natural—and drier—route [with] the wines.”
Zero-dosage Champagne, also called brut nature, is Champagne without sugar added in the dosage during the winemaking process. Most wine drinkers, though, have no idea what these terms really mean.
The process of making Champagne in the traditional method, as they have in France for hundreds of years, is complicated. But the gist is that Champagne undergoes two different fermentation cycles. The first turns grapes into still wine, like a winemaker would for a red or white from anywhere in the world. Then, there’s a second fermentation. This is what sets Champagne apart and gives the wine its bubbles. To kick off the second fermentation, though, winemakers would add a mixture of wine and sugar to the bottle before capping it. The yeast in the bottle of wine would eat at the sugar, kicking off fermentation, trapping CO2, and giving the bubbles, bubbles. If the yeast didn’t finish the sugar, those particles would be designated residual sugar left in the bottle and passed along to the sipper.
Champagne Laurent-Perrier Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature Courtesy of Champagne Laurent-Perrier
Not only was the sugar to help the fermentation, but it also served another important purpose: Sugar covered up imperfections in the wine. When Champagne first gained popularity as a style in the 1800s, it was a sweet wine that today would be termed demi-sec, with 32 to 50 grams per liter of sugar, or more. Over time, winemakers gradually decreased the amount of sugar as they learned more about farming techniques and winemaking processes. There is a detailed history, but long story short, by the latter half of the mid-1900s, Champagnes were largely a brut style, meaning they use up to 12 grams per liter of sugar. By comparison, brut nature is zero to three grams per liter of sugar, and zero-dosage Champagne add none.
“Why the dosage? This gesture was used very early on in Champagne to reduce the acidity of wines from grape harvest with little maturity,” says Anselme Selosse, the winemaker behind Champagne Selosse. (Responses have been translated from French to English.) “Adding a pinch of sugar can be compared to a cook adding a pinch of salt or a zest of citrus—the presence should not be felt, but it makes the dish shine and enhances the taste. The possibility of not dosing comes from the grape harvest at the right maturity.”
Selosse has gained a very loyal following for his wines, which all feature zero or low dosage, a style he started perfecting with the house’s 1975 vintage. He explains that he and his team conduct dosage tests for every harvest, up to 2.5 grams per liter. “We started listening to the wine and knowing what it needed,” Selosse says. “It’s very revealing.” He can even list off vintages—including 1996, 2004, and 2008—which he believes should not have sugar. (“In this case, the sugar does not integrate with the personality,” he adds.)
Though Selosse tests every year, he admits he finds that zero is, more often than not, the “most respectful dosage.”
Champagne Marie Courtin Courtesy of Champagne Marie Courtin
Similarly, Champagne Marie Courtin’s Dominique Moreau is all about no dosage in her wines. She believes in low intervention in winemaking, including farming her vineyards biodynamically for the past 15 years. She says that picking grapes with good maturity is the key, and by skipping added sugar, the real expression of the wine and terroir will show.
Selosse and Moreau are among a set of younger winemakers who have really embraced the style, leading it to hit wine store shelves in the past 10 to 15 years. While brut Champagne still makes up 96% of all Champagne sold in the U.S., the brut nature style has increased by 51% in 2018, year over year, according to the trade group Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne.
It’s not a style limited to smaller producers. Larger houses, like Champagne Laurent-Perrier and Champagne Pommery, make zero-dosage versions of their typically brut tentpole cuvèes. In late 2019, Champagne Laurent-Perrier launched its Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature, after 15 years of aging and experimentation. “We have long wanted to combine these two areas of expertise—zero dosage and blanc de blancs—but we just didn’t have enough of the right grapes to make it happen,” says Michelle DeFeo, president of Champagne Laurent-Perrier U.S. She notes the brand’s long history with low-dosage wines, including producing a zero-dosage Champagne in the 19th century and its ultra brut style that launched in 1981.
Pommery produced a zero-dosage version of its 2004 Cuvèe Louise, its higher-end Grand Cru cuvèe, when winemaker Clément Pierlot saw that the warmer year gave riper fruit. Owner Nathalie Vranken explains that it was fitting for the brand in that Madame Pommery had actually created the first brut Champagne in 1874, and the idea of freshness is at the heart of all the house’s wines. “The vintage can truly take center stage; it has nothing to hide,” Vranken says. “With zero dosage, wine connoisseurs can discover the best wine.”
Vranken notes a benefit to zero dosage that other winemakers and sommeliers also echo: its ability to pair with food. As an aperitif with small bites or as an accompaniment to an entire meal, it highlights the aromas and taste of the meal. It allows Champagne to be something enjoyed every day as part of a regular dinner, not just for special occasions or New Year’s Eve. That has the culinary industry—and foodies—jumping on the bandwagon.
Champagne Pommery Louise 2004 Nature en Coffret Courtesy of Champagne Pommery
Like anything, just because winemakers produce it doesn’t mean the public wants to drink it—but in the case of Champagne, it appears they do. “The wine drinking public is coming around to drinking more wines that are drier,” explains Dustin Wilson, cofounder of Verve Wine, a wine shop with locations in New York City and San Francisco, who also notes that he sees the shift to drier styles in categories beyond Champagne too. “Champagnes with more sugar carry more mass appeal, but for those who are more interested in what they are drinking and to better understand the complexities of Champagne, they are drawn to producers that are making wines in a lower dosage or no-dosage style.”
It’s still a small subset of the wine drinking population, though, that are asking for the style at a bar or restaurant. Justin Chearno, partner and wine director at the Four Horsemen in Brooklyn, admits that it’s rare for a guest not in the wine business to ask for a zero-dosage Champagne outright. The reason he is selling more zero-dosage Champagne is because he stocks more of it on the list. But he is able to introduce the wines to unassuming guests thanks to its gastronomical attributes. “It opens up the ability to pair the wine with a much wider variety of food and to think of Champagne as the grapes it contains rather than the process that made it,” Chearno says.
Champagne aficionados can likely see more of it in coming years, not only for its culinary accolades but also because it’s getting easier to make. “They’ve become easier to produce due to warmer growing seasons, which are unfortunately related to climate change,” DeFeo says. The consistently warmer weather in the Champagne region has led to riper grapes and lower acidity, meaning the addition of sugar is not as necessary to create a delectable wine. “With global warming, the producers of great no-dosage Champagne are kind of ahead of the game,” Chearno says. “As grapes get riper earlier, the need for sugar in the wine is sure to decline.”
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