The daily business briefing: August 27, 2020
TikTok's CEO resigns as 'political environment' shifts, Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine shows promise among elderly, and more
- 1. TikTok CEO steps down, citing new 'political environment'
- 2. Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine shows promise among elderly
- 3. Bezos becomes 1st person with net worth above $200 billion
- 4. Novavax CEO says filing for U.S. approval of COVID-19 vaccine expected in December
- 5. Stock futures fall ahead of Powell speech
1. TikTok CEO steps down, citing new 'political environment'
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer announced early Thursday that he had resigned just three months after taking the job, because the "political environment has sharply changed." President Trump says the popular short-video app, owned by China's ByteDance, is a security risk, and he has ordered a ban on the social media company unless its U.S. operations are sold to an American company. ByteDance is suing the Trump administration over the executive order, but also talking to Microsoft about a potential sale. "I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for," Mayer said. TikTok will be led on an interim basis by U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas.
2. Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine shows promise among elderly
Moderna said Wednesday that its potential COVID-19 vaccine induced promising immune responses in older adults during an early-stage clinical trial. The biotech firm tested its experimental vaccine on 10 adults between 56 and 70, and 10 aged 71 and older. The older patients produced neutralizing antibodies believed necessary to build immunity at similar rates as the younger patients. The news offered hope for protecting older people who have been identified as vulnerable to severe complications from COVID-19. Moderna is among the leading firms racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Its candidate, mRNA-1273, is undergoing late-stage human trials to judge its safety and effectiveness.
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. Bezos becomes 1st person with net worth above $200 billion
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos on Wednesday became the first person with a net worth of more than $200 billion in the four decades Forbes has tracked the wealth of the world's richest people. Bezos' wealth surged by $4.9 billion on Wednesday as Amazon's stock gained 2 percent, pushing his net worth to $204.6 billion, $90 billion more than that of the world's second richest person, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. And Bezos' fortune took a hit last year, when ex-wife MacKenzie Scott received 25 percent of his Amazon stake in their divorce settlement. Even adjusted for inflation, Bezos' current fortune is the biggest in history. Gates was the first person to cross the $100-billion milestone. In 1999, near the height of the dot-com bubble, Gates' net worth surpassed $100 billion to about $158 billion in today's dollars.
4. Novavax CEO says filing for U.S. approval of COVID-19 vaccine expected in December
Novavax expects to file for U.S. approval of its experimental coronavirus vaccine in December, CEO Stanley Erck told Czech newspaper Hospodarske Noviny in an interview released Thursday. Erck said that since part of the vaccine will be produced in the company's Czech plant that country will have access to the product, too. Novavax on Monday announced that it had started lining up volunteers for the second phase of its vaccine candidate's clinical trials. Abbott Laboratories said on Wednesday that it had won U.S. marketing authorization for its COVID-19 portable antigen test, which can provide results within 15 minutes. The test, about the size of a credit card, could be used to screen people at large gatherings. It will sell for $5.
5. Stock futures fall ahead of Powell speech
U.S. stock index futures edged down early Thursday as investors awaited an address from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq were all down by 0.2 percent or more. Powell is speaking at the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he is expected to introduce a new pandemic-era tool to fight economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Powell is expected to acknowledge that inflation is lagging below the central bank's 2 percent target, and signal greater flexibility on inflation, with the Fed shifting to an "average inflation" target because periods of below-average price growth can offset periods of high inflation.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
5 blustery cartoons about the Stormy Daniels testimony
Cartoons Artists take on gag orders, lurid details, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Idea of You review: 'impossible escapism' starring Anne Hathaway
The Week Recommends Steamy romcom about a 40-year-old who falls for a boy band singer
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: May 11, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 24, 2024
Business Briefing The S&P 500 sets a third straight record, Netflix adds more subscribers than expected, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 23, 2024
Business Briefing The Dow and S&P 500 set fresh records, Bitcoin falls as ETF enthusiasm fades, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 22, 2024
Business Briefing FAA recommends inspections of a second Boeing 737 model, Macy's rejects Arkhouse bid, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Geopolitics and the economy in 2024
Talking Point The West is banking on a year of falling inflation. Don't rule out a shock
By The Week UK Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 19, 2024
Business Briefing Macy's to cut 2,350 jobs, Congress averts a government shutdown, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 18, 2024
Business Briefing Shell suspends shipments in the Red Sea, December retail sales beat expectations, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 17, 2024
Business Briefing Judge blocks JetBlue-Spirit merger plan, Goldman Sachs beats expectations with wealth-management boost, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 16, 2024
Business Briefing Boeing steps up inspections on 737 Max 9 jets, Zelenskyy fights for world leaders' attention at Davos, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published