Recapping Facebook whistleblower’s testimony before the Senate on Tuesday, in which she “gave lawmakers an unvarnished look into the inner workings of the world’s largest social network . . . and detailed how the company was deliberate in its efforts to keep people—including children—hooked to its service.” The key takeaway: Facebook knows how but refuses to make its platforms safer, so Congress needs to force Zuck’s hand - NYTimes and TechReview and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and HuffPost and Law360 and TechCrunch
Checking in on Fed Chair Powell and his current chances for reappointment to lead the central bank, a guessing game that’s become something of a roller coaster ride thanks to varying levels of Senate support and a recent ethics scandal involving two regional Fed presidents engaging in questionable securities trading while on the job - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
Meanwhile, banking industry trade groups have coalesced in their opposition to OCC nominee Saule Omarova, a pick meant to be “a compromise between the competing demands of moderate and progressive” members of the President’s party. Some are even pulling out the big guns (references to the “Soviet economic system”—yes, really) in their effort to sink her nomination - NYTimes
Though no fan of cryptos himself, SEC chair Gary Gensler clarified on Tuesday that he has no plans to “follow China’s lead in banning digital tokens.” Instead, Gensler confirmed that his and other regulators’ priorities are “ensuring that the industry adheres to investor and consumer protection rules, anti-money laundering regulations and tax laws” - Bloomberg and Law360
Welcome to another Wall Street Whipsaw Week, where shaky markets can’t find solid ground—especially for tech stocks—and are making volatility the name of the game - MarketWatch
Aaaaand, the Ozy litigation has begun. Late Monday, a former Ozy investor—LifeLine Legacy Holdings—filed suit against the media company for alleged “fraudulent, deceptive and illegal conduct” in the run up to its recent collapse - NYTimes and Law360
This week at the Theranos criminal fraud trial is kicking off with the relationship between Elizabeth Holmes and her top deputy, Sunny Balwani, front and center - WSJ
Unhappy with the fee structure undergirding the Apple Pay system, many big banks that were once itching to work with Apple when its mobile wallet launched in 2014 are now quietly pushing Visa “to change the way it processes certain Apple Pay transactions” to “trim the fees that banks pay to Apple” - WSJ
Hertz has named former Ford CEO, Mark Fields, as the rental car company’s new interim CEO, the latest step in its emergence from bankruptcy protection that sees the company “under new ownership” and welcoming high “demand for rental cars . . . after bookings were crushed in the early days of the pandemic” - WSJ
If you saw the lines at either of the Dinkytown locations, you wouldn’t be surprised to learn that chicken purveyor Raising Cane’s is “sending corporate staff to work in restaurants amid a severe shortage of Americans willing to work hourly jobs.” The company has committed to trying to hire 10,000 new restaurant workers in the next 50 days to sate consumers’ demand for its chickeny goodness - Bloomberg
On the incredibly human impulse to consume that which we fear (even when the danger remains) - NYTimes
Stay safe, and get vaxxed,
MDR
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