This is a published version of the Forbes Daily newsletter, you can sign-up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here.
Good morning,
Amid war in the Middle East and a looming government shutdown, the U.S. House of Representatives is still at an impasse without a Speaker. Everyone from Donald Trump to George W. Bush has been floated as an option in the two weeks since Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster.
But Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) gained traction in his bid for Speaker on Monday as he secured more votes from representatives who previously said they would not vote for him. The House is scheduled to vote for a new speaker today, and Jordan’s confidants believe he is less than 10 votes away from securing the support he needs, the New York Times reported.
BREAKING NEWS
President Joe Biden will visit Israel Wednesday in a show of solidarity with the country ahead of its looming ground offensive into Gaza. The president’s visit was announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said Biden will express his “ironclad commitment” to Israel’s security. After Israel, Biden will travel to Jordan to meet with other Arab leaders to “reiterate” that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and aid for civilians in Gaza, the White House said.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Monday that an ethics code for Supreme Court justices would be “a good idea.” Barrett also suggested her colleagues on the court are broadly in support of ethical guidelines more in line with those that lower court judges are required to adhere to, saying “there’s unanimity among all nine justices that we should and do hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards possible.”
BUSINESS + FINANCE
The start of the week saw welcome news for investors, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, its best daily performance since September 14, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.1% and 1.2%, respectively. Last week’s strong beginning to a string of third-quarter earnings reports buoyed the gains, but Morgan Stanley’s top U.S. equity strategist warns a period of pain could be ahead after earnings season fades.
One of Monday’s top stock gainers was Lululemon, which S&P Dow Jones Indices announced late Friday would replace video game giant Activision on the S&P 500 after its deal with Microsoft closed. Shares of the fitness wear giant rose 10% to reach their highest price in more than a year.
TECH + INNOVATION
Some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley have accepted billions from the venture investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion Public Investment Fund, but it’s only publicly backed one European firm, Swedish venture capital fund Northzone. The Middle East kingdom is in the midst of an unprecedented push to use state money to not only break its own economy’s reliance on fossil fuels but to become a major dealmaker in tech, sports and video gaming.
MONEY + POLITICS
Documents submitted into trial evidence last week show that Donald Trump’s longtime go-to lender, Deutsche Bank, fell for many of his lies, giving the bank a distorted view of its most famous client. For instance, a Deutsche credit report says 40 Wall Street, one of Trump’s many buildings, has 72 floors with 1.3 million square feet of “premier office space,” when documents show it is actually 63 stories and contains 1.1 million square feet of office space. The square-footage mistake alone could have theoretically caused Deutsche to overvalue the property by about $50 million.
Migrant families separated under a Trump-era policy will be allowed to request asylum in the U.S. and get benefits like housing and legal counsel as part of a court settlement filed Monday by the Biden administration and the ACLU. The settlement ends a yearslong legal dispute after 3,881 children were separated from their families at the southern border during President Donald Trump’s administration.
MORE: As the nation’s current influx of migrants continues, Massachusetts, one of the Democratic-run areas struggling to keep up, said it will run out of space to house migrants seeking shelter in the state. Gov. Maura Healey called on the federal government for assistance, saying it “bears ultimate responsibility for this situation.”
SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT
The NBA posted a record $1.66 billion in sponsorship revenue during the 2022-23 season, 1.3% more than the previous year, according to IEG. Major new league deals with Sorare and Hisense, jersey patch deals between the Chicago Bulls and Motorola and the San Antonio Spurs and Self Financial, the Heat’s new naming rights deal with Kaseya, and new global sponsorships from Abu Dhabi preseason games all more than make up for the $20 million lost from deals with now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
Disney is raising prices at both Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., but there’s a loophole: authorized resellers can continue to sell tickets at former prices while supplies last. Buying tickets in advance, visiting during off-peak times and buying multi-day tickets can also save you money.
SCIENCE + HEALTHCARE
Novo Nordisk, manufacturer of popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, will acquire the drug ocedurenone for $1.3 billion. The Danish firm says the experimental drug could be used to treat uncontrolled hypertension, with potential applications for treating cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease. An estimated 122.4 million people age 20 or older in the U.S. have high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association.
DAILY COVER STORY
TOPLINE Plenty of politicians make big money after leaving office: Just ask Nikki Haley, Mike Pence or Joe Biden. They all leveraged some combination of tried-and-true moneymaking methods for political figures: writing books, hitting the speech circuit or tapping the private sector for board seats and consulting cash.
But of all the people running for president today, nobody has played the game better than Chris Christie. Christie, a lifelong lawyer and public servant who was among the poorest 2015 presidential hopefuls, is now one of the richest people vying for the Oval Office in 2024.
The former New Jersey governor and his wife, Mary Pat, reported $1 million to $2 million in assets when Christie left office in 2018, plus a $1.3 million house in Morris County, New Jersey. Today, the couple’s net worth has more than quadrupled, according to Forbes’ estimates.
How’d they build such a big fortune in such a short period of time? By doing all of what Haley, Pence and Biden did combined—only bigger—cashing in via books, speeches and plenty of work at both the Christie Law Firm and Christie 55 Solutions, a consulting shop.
WHY IT MATTERS All told, the Christies’ fortune has ballooned to an estimated $15 million, more than every Republican presidential hopeful except North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy—and, of course, his former friend, Donald Trump, who is way ahead of everyone else in terms of net worth and polling alike. If Christie continues to poll in the single digits, though, at least his family is set up for a very comfortable second political retirement.
MORE Here’s How Much Donald Trump Is Worth
FACTS AND COMMENTS
In its opening weekend, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film became the highest-grossing concert film of all time, according to AMC. It’s the second-best-ever domestic opening in the month of October for any type of movie:
$92.8 million: The amount Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour earned in domestic theaters during its three-day debut
$73 million: The lifetime gross of the Justin Bieber: Never Say Never movie, which previously held the all-time record
More than 3 million: The number of fans who have attended an Eras Tour show
STRATEGY AND SUCCESS
Open enrollment is in full swing at many companies, and if sorting through the options for health insurance coverage is overwhelming, here are a few basics to keep in mind: HMOs tend to be cheaper, but your options can be more limited for seeing a specialist and out-of-network care, while PPOs allow for more flexibility in choosing a specialist or location. A plan with a lower deductible and out-of-pocket maximum will be the most expensive, but it may be the best option if you have a greater need for medical care.
QUIZ
With the opening of locations in New York and North Carolina, one low-cost European fashion brand is closer to its plan to have a total of 24 stores in the U.S. and 463 worldwide by the end of the year. Which retailer is rapidly expanding in the Southeast?
A. C&A
B. Primark
C. H&M
D. ZARA
ACROSS THE NEWSROOM
- From cutting-edge science to biotech to VC deals, Forbes’ InnovationRx newsletter offers the latest headlines at the intersection of health and business. Click here to sign-up, and we’ll see you in your inbox Wednesdays.
Thanks for reading! Follow along with us on Twitter for by-the-minute updates on the latest business and financial news throughout the day.