The big picture: GLAAD's 2019-2020 report onLGBTQ representation in TV found that 10% of regular characters expected to appear on primetime programming in the past year were LGBTQ — the highest percentage in 15 years.
The pandemic has upended Thanksgiving and the shopping season that the holiday kicks off, creating a new crop of economic winners and losers.
The big picture: Just as it has exacerbated inequality in every other facet of American life, the coronavirus pandemic is deepening inequities in the business world, with the biggest and most powerful companies rapidly outpacing the smaller players.
Many Americans chose to travel by plane ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Why it matters: The CDC advised Americans on Nov. 19 not to travel for Thanksgiving, and that doing so may increase the chance of contracting and spreading COVID-19. The U.S. is currently seeing the most coronavirus cases and the greatest strain on hospitals since the start of the pandemic.
Stripe, a San Francisco-based digital payments infrastructure company, is in talks to raise new private funding at a valuation of at least $70 billion, and perhaps as high as $100 billion, per Bloomberg.
Why it matters: This would make Stripe the world's second-most valuable venture-backed company, or maybe the most valuable if ByteDance divests its majority stake in TikTok by this Friday's CFIUS deadline. It's also another indication that Stripe's founding Collison brothers are reticent to bring the company public.
ViacomCBS said Wednesday it is selling book publishing behemoth Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media giant Bertelsmann SE & Co., for $2.175 billion in an all-cash deal.
Why it matters: The deal brings together the biggest and third-biggest book publishers in the U.S., which means it could be met with antitrust scrutiny.
Tesla's market capitalization blew past $500 billion for the first time Tuesday.
Why it matters: It's just a number, but kind of a wild one. Consider, via CNN: "Tesla is now worth more than the combined market value of most of the world's major automakers: Toyota, Volkswagen, GM, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and its merger partner PSA Group."
A move by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin could handcuff his likely successor Janet Yellen's ability to immediately restart Fed economic programs.
Driving the news: Mnuchin is planning to shift $455 billion in unspent CARES Act funds into a special account that would require Congress' permission to access, Bloomberg reports.
It's the time of year when Wall Street shops are rolling out predictions for where they see the stock market headed in the coming year. There's one common theme: Widespread distribution of a vaccine is the reason to be bullish.
Why it matters: Analysts say vaccines will help the economy heal, corporate profits rebound and stock market continue its upward trajectory.
Amazon may get more media buzz, but there is simply no retailer, or grocer, in America that does more business than does Walmart. And that gives John Furner, its head of U.S. operations, one of the best views into Black Friday and Thanksgiving grocery shopping.
Axios Re:Cap talks to Furner about what he's seeing from his unique perch, and what pandemic-driven changes he expects will outlast the virus.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rule changes that would make it possible for gig companies to give equity to their workers as part of their compensation if they meet certain requirements.
Why it matters: This is something gig companies including Uber and Airbnb have asked the SEC to do over the years as a way to share their companies' upside with these non-employees.
