The daily business briefing: June 20, 2023
IndiGo places a record order for Airbus jets, Alibaba announces an unexpected leadership shakeup, and more


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
1. IndiGo airline makes record order for Airbus planes
Indian airline IndiGo announced a record order for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft on Monday on the first day of the Paris Airshow. The deal, valued at $55 billion before adjusting for bulk order discounts, would be the biggest single airline purchase in history. With the new order, IndiGo has committed to buying 1,330 planes from Airbus, the European rival of U.S. aircraft maker Boeing. IndiGo said the new planes would help it reduce its operating costs and increase the fuel efficiency of its fleet. India is the fastest growing G-20 economy, and its airline market, with a rush of first-time flyers since pandemic restrictions ended, could soon replace China as the industry's main source of growth.
2. Alibaba announces leadership reshuffle
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced Tuesday its CEO and chair Daniel Zhang is stepping down from those jobs and will focus on his responsibilities as head of the company's cloud division. The unexpected shakeup comes as Alibaba presses ahead with its plan to split into six businesses. Zhang took over leadership of the cloud unit in December after it had what Alibaba described as its "longest major-scale failure" in more than a decade, according to Reuters. Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai, a longtime confidant of billionaire co-founder Jack Ma, will take over as board chair, and Eddie Wu, head of Alibaba's core Taobao and Tmall online commerce divisions, will take over as CEO. Alibaba shares fell 2.4% in New York pre-market trading.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. 1.5 million lose Medicaid coverage
About 1.5 million people have lost Medicaid health coverage in recent weeks as some states cut back now that the coronavirus public health emergency is over. Most of those who have lost coverage were dropped because they didn't complete paperwork for a required eligibility review. The Biden administration said it was wrong to deprive so many people of coverage in such a short period. The biggest cuts have come in Florida, which has dropped several hundred thousand people. Half of those dropped in May were in Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.
4. Stock futures rise after S&P 500, Nasdaq extend weekly winning streaks
U.S. stock futures fell early Tuesday ahead of a trading week shortened by the Juneteenth holiday. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.4% at 6:30 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were down 0.5%. Markets were closed Monday for Juneteenth, but the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq are coming off their best weeks since March. The S&P 500 gained 2.6% last week, its fifth straight positive week. The Nasdaq rose 3.3%, marking the first time since 2019 it has gained in eight consecutive weeks. The gains suggested investors were responding positively to the Federal Reserve's June decision to pause its campaign to aggressively raise interest rates to fight high inflation.
5. Companies pledge to find work for 250,000 refugees in Europe
Dozens of multinational companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Marriott, and Hilton, pledged on Monday to hire, train, or find work for 250,000 refugees in Europe over the next three years. The agreement came ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday. Kelly Clements, United Nations deputy high commissioner for refugees, said the commitments are "absolutely essential" as there are 110 million displaced people worldwide, 12 million of them from Ukraine, and nearly half live in Europe. "Having money and a job can help them get a bit of dignity and a feeling that they are contributing, which can be cathartic," said Margot Slattery, global head of diversity and inclusion at workplace facilities management company ISS.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 launch of the U.S. print edition. Harold has worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, Fox News, and ABC News. For several years, he wrote a daily round-up of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two sons.
-
The daily business briefing: September 22, 2023
Business Briefing Rupert Murdoch steps down as Fox, News Corp. chair, Cisco to buy Splunk in $28 billion cash deal, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 21, 2023
Business Briefing The Fed leaves rates unchanged, Biden cancels debts for University of Phoenix borrowers, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 20, 2023
Business Briefing Disney says it will invest $60 billion in theme parks, Instacart shares rise in debut, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 19, 2023
Business Briefing Instacart prices its shares at top of range in IPO, the UAW threatens to widen its strike, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 18, 2023
Business Briefing UAW strike continues after union rejects latest offer, China detains some Evergrande wealth management staff, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 15, 2023
Business Briefing United Auto Workers strike against Detroit's Big 3, Arm shares climb in year's biggest IPO, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 14, 2023
Business Briefing Surging fuel prices increased August inflation, chipmaker Arm prices its IPO at $51 a share, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 13, 2023
Business Briefing Google's antitrust trial gets underway, Apple unveils its first iPhone with USB-C connectors, and more
By Harold Maass Published