☕ Midtown tragedy

A CEO was fatally shot in Manhattan… December 05, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( Presented By [SmartAsset]( Good morning. Your Morning Brew Wrapped is here! You opened 315 emails, read 90 stories about Starbucks’s stumbles, and regretted not buying Nvidia stock on 14 separate occasions. Your Newsletter Evolution: In January, you were a What Else is Brewing Link Lurker; by May, you were a Jim Cramer Hyperpop News Blork; and in November, you were a Puzzle Goth Prizewinning Sweet Potato. —Matty Merritt, Cassandra Cassidy, Molly Liebergall, Holly Van Leuven, Neal Freyman Breaking overnight: Bitcoin topped $100,000. More on this major crypto milestone tomorrow morning... MARKETS Nasdaq 19,735.12 +1.31% S&P 6,086.49 +0.61% Dow 45,014.04 +0.69% 10-Year 4.180% -4.0 bps Bitcoin $102,680.76 +3.84% Nvidia $145.14 +3.48% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: The three major indexes [closed the day up]( with tech stocks giving Nasdaq the biggest bump. Speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit yesterday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was in “remarkably good shape.” Investors are expecting a small rate cut when the central bank meets later this month.  CRIME [UnitedHealthcare CEO killed in targeted shooting]( [crime scene in midtown manhattan]( Bryan R. Smith/Getty Images Brian Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was [fatally shot]( around 6:45am ET yesterday while walking to a conference for the company’s investors at a hotel in midtown Manhattan. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called it a “brazen, targeted attack.” Surveillance footage showed the gunman waiting for Thompson outside of the New York Hilton Midtown for several minutes while wearing a black hoodie and carrying a grey backpack. When Thompson approached the hotel, police said the suspect shot him several times before fleeing, possibly on an e-bike. Three 9mm shell casings were found at the scene, but a food cart vendor nearby said he didn’t hear any shots, leading police to believe the gunman used a silencer. The suspect was last spotted in Central Park yesterday and remains at large (as of publication). Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information on the shooting. It’s still unclear why he was targeted Thompson’s wife said he had been receiving threats that were being investigated, but officials say it’s common for healthcare execs to receive threats due to the nature of their job. Thompson led UnitedHealthcare—a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group and the largest private health insurer in the US—since April 2021, and had worked at the company since 2004. The division Thompson oversaw employs roughly 140,000 people and has been the subject of multiple federal investigations surrounding accusations that the company systematically denied patients treatment. Despite the suspect still being at large last night, the annual Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony took place just four blocks from where the shooting occurred.—MM Presented By SmartAsset [$1b startup disrupting retirement industry]( [SmartAsset]( This Princeton grad’s startup raised $161m to [help people plan for retirement](. If you’re one of the whopping 110m Americans over age 50—or a wise millennial planning ahead—SmartAsset’s no-cost tool makes it easy to find vetted financial advisors serving your area. Research suggests that people who work with a financial advisor could end up with about 15% more money to spend in retirement.¹ Get retirement ready. [Try SmartAsset’s free quiz]( to get matched with up to three financial advisors serving your area, each legally bound to work in your best interests. It’s never too late to plan to work toward financial freedom. [Get your financial advisor matches today](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [protesters stand outside the supreme court with signs] Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Supreme Court heard challenge to gender-affirming care ban. The complaint, brought by the Biden administration against Tennessee’s restrictions on the treatments, would impact similar laws in 26 states. The Tennessee ban prohibits medical providers from administering [puberty blockers or hormone treatments]( to transgender youth. The federal government says the ban is a form of sexual discrimination. Tennessee state Senator Jack Johnson, who originally introduced the bill, said, “You can’t get a tattoo in Tennessee unless you’re 18. You can’t smoke. You can’t drink. … It felt like this was the best public policy to prevent kids from suffering from irreversible consequences, things that cannot be undone.” In arguments, the justices appeared to side with Tennessee. A decision is expected by June. French PM Michel Barnier ousted by no-confidence vote. Three months after being appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron, the conservative Prime Minister Barnier [got booted]( by members of left- and right-wing parties after he bypassed the lawmakers to force a budget bill through Parliament. Macron has asked Barnier to stay in a caretaker role while the president finds a replacement PM, which will be tricky since no party in the lower house has a working majority. The BBC reports that Macron will be acting quickly because President-elect Trump will be in Paris this weekend for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and it would be kinda embarrassing for him to discover the nation got a new [golden rooster]( but…doesn’t have a functioning government. Saudi Arabia is losing its oil dominance as US eyes more domestic production. While the kingdom has long dominated the OPEC alliance and wants to[keep oil prices high]( to fund its trillion-dollar infrastructure projects, other member nations are pushing back ahead of an OPEC+ meeting today. (The US is not a member of either coalition.) They want to make as much money as possible before President-elect Trump returns to office and his “drill, baby, drill” plans further dent Americans’ need for foreign oil. The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials anticipate the US will produce an average of 13.2 million barrels of oil per day this year, which was 47% higher than Saudi Arabia’s average in October.—HVL PRIVACY [The FBI wants you to encrypt your messages]( [Phone with a digital lock floating above]( Francis Scialabba Your Certified Financial Planner the FBI. Yesterday, US officials effectively sent the “don’t txt me on here” message to Americans when they urged people to use encrypted messaging apps as a large-scale [cyberattack]( continues to unfold. What cyberattack? The China-backed hacking group nicknamed Salt Typhoon is running an espionage campaign to amass information on American politics and government, according to officials from the FBI. Salt Typhoon first came to light in October when it obtained access to calls and messages on the AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies networks, reportedly focused on targets in and around Washington, DC. Officials now have some trepidation that the full extent of the compromise is larger than previously understood. They have not said when they expect telecommunication systems to be fully recovered. How to encrypt: Privacy experts recommend using Signal and WhatsApp, two apps that automatically provide end-to-end encryption for calls and messages. Messages within an operating system—i.e., from Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone—are also encrypted. But beware of standard SMS text messages and regular phone calls, which are not encrypted. Check out this [guide]( from the US’ cyber defense agency for more information.—CC Together With McKinsey & Company [McKinsey & Company]( Was new tech always big business? Before email and smartphones, did tech loom large in the business world? Find out in [this 250-page bonus issue]( where McKinsey chronicles what’s changed—and what’s stayed the same—in the last 60 years of tech and business. Get it for free as part of McKinsey Quarterly’s 60th [birthday celebration](. MUSIC [Pop is so back in Spotify’s annual ego-check]( [Spotify Wrapped 2024 logo]( Spotify Arena tour queens dominated indie fans’ favorite holiday yesterday: the release of Spotify Wrapped. Eight of the 10 most-streamed albums of the year on Spotify came from women artists: Taylor Swift (thrice), Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Karol G, Ariana Grande, and SZA. Spotify’s main attraction: Swift took top global artist for the second year in a row, generating 26.6 billion platform streams this year. A lot of that was thanks to The Tortured Poets Department, which was the most-streamed album on Spotify. Fewer data stories. Instead of sound towns, music personalities, and audio auras of yester-Wrappeds, [this year’s recap]( included a Mad-Libs-sounding tracker of your listening eras—e.g., “Pink Pilates Princess Strut” for heavy Chappell Roan and Charli XCX phases—that doubled down on Spotify’s similarly [bizarrely named]( Daylists. More AI. Spotify broke from its history of building Wrapped in-house to include Google’s podcast-generating tool NotebookLM. It turns your Spotify recap into a shareable, AI-generated audio clip of two “hosts” complimenting your music taste…so take that, group chat. Premium subscribers can ask a different AI bot that launched on Spotify this year to make custom Wrapped-inspired playlists. Also…audiobooks joined the rundown this year (A Court of Thorns and Roses took first, you sick freaks), and the top song among Gen Z in the US was “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, Spotify [told]( trend reporter Casey Lewis.—ML STAT [Prime number: Zepbound vs. Wegovy results are in](#) [two boxing gloves, one that says zepbound and one that says wegovy] Morning Brew Design Researchers compared the two popular weight loss drugs in a [head-to-head trial]( for the first time, and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound won. Zepbound helped participants lose an average of 20.2% of their body weight in 18 months, compared to Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, which led to 13.7% weight loss on average for its test group in the same time period. That means the Zepbound group patients lost 47% more weight than those in the Wegovy group. The study, which Eli Lilly sponsored, involved 751 participants who were obese or overweight and had a related health issue (though not diabetes). Lilly said it would publish the full results of the trial in a peer-reviewed journal, to which Novo Nordisk went, Yep, you do that, bud, saying it would wait for the full data release. The company reiterated that Wegovy is the only weight loss drug that shows it has the ability to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. Results of the head-to-head trial are likely to be presented next year.—HVL NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Fed Chair Jerome Powell]( said he isn’t concerned about the central bank losing its independence under a Trump presidency while speaking at the DealBook Summit. - [Coca-Cola]( drastically scaled back its plastic-reduction goal. - [Jared Isaacman]( the billionaire who became the first private astronaut to complete a spacewalk earlier this year, has been chosen by President-elect Trump to head NASA. - [Mercedes]( gave Pope Francis the first all-electric Popemobile. - [A missing woman in Pennsylvania]( may have been swallowed by a sinkhole, according to authorities. RECS [To-do list banner] Invest before midnight: Top investors like SoftBank are backing [Pacaso]( the disruptor that’s earned $100m+ in gross profits with their real estate co-ownership platform. [Invest before Pacaso’s share price changes at midnight]( Fact-check Gladiator II: Find out [what is and isn’t accurate]( about the flick. Be prepared: Here are [eight kinds of emergency kits]( you may want to have ready. He’s gonna love it: Want modern style that’s ready for work and the weekend? [Cuts]( has it all. Shop best-selling styles, trending gifts, and modern looks at [30% off sitewide]( Suspiciously smooth: Henson’s [high-quality razors]( feature an exceptional design and zero gimmicks…so what’s the catch? Get the full story [in our latest video]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Brew Mini: Neal completed today’s Mini in 51 seconds. Can you take it to our Chief Puzzle Goth Prizewinning Sweet Potato? [Find out here](. Three Headlines and a Lie Three of these headlines are real and one is faker than your overloaded cookie swap schedule. Can you spot the odd one out? - Barry Keoghan lookalike contest planned in cemetery [canceled]( - Japan [unveils]( chilled ‘drinkable mayo’ - What we know about the company [representing]( itself as Enron - Red Lobster CEO: ‘It could be the greatest [comeback’]( in restaurant history SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a905682a]( ANSWER We made up the one about the Barry Keoghan lookalike contest. Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: trepidation, meaning “nervous or fearful feeling, apprehension.” Thanks to Stephen from East Hartford, CT, and several others for bravely making the suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✢ A Note From SmartAsset 1. [The Journal of Retirement (winter 2020)](. The projections or other information regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of your future results. Please follow the link to see the methodologies employed in [The Journal of Retirement study](. ✤ A Note From Pacaso This is a paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at [invest.pacaso.com](. Written by [Matty Merritt]( [Cassandra Cassidy]( [Molly Liebergall]( [Holly Van Leuven]( and [Neal Freyman]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. View our privacy policy [here](. Copyright © 2024 Morning Brew. All rights reserved. 22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011