The floodgates are open. Almost a week after a bill that curbs voting access in Georgia became law — and nearly one month after it passed the state's House — a slew of corporations have come out against voter suppression.
Why it matters: In an era where businesses are more outspoken (and being pressured to be that way), their silence on this issue had been deafening.
Data: FactSet; Note: Stock listed on the London Stock Exchange, trading time in ET and share price in U.S. dollars; Chart: Axios Visuals
Food delivery company Deliveroo’s much-anticipated public listing in London had a rough first day on the market.
Why it matters: Deliveroo was expected to be a watershed moment for London’s stock exchange as the biggest company to go public since Glencore nearly a decade ago, and the first of hopefully many more Big Tech IPOs.
Endeavor, the talent agency and live events company led by Ari Emanuel, has agreed to acquire 100% of Ultimate Fighting Championship, according to information contained in a Wednesday afternoon IPO filing.
Background: Endeavor currently has a 50.1% stake in UFC, based on a 2016 deal done alongside private equity firms Silver Lake and KKR.
Google told workers in an email Wednesday that it expects some U.S. employees to be able to return to the office in the coming month.
Why it matters: Tech companies, among the first to shut their offices a year ago, are largely shifting to hybrid work environments, allowing some employees to continue working remotely part or all of the week.
In the wake of the pandemic, more companies will begin "going digital first," prioritizing their digital infrastructures over physical office spaces, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said Wednesday during an Axios virtual event.
Why it matters: The pandemic has accelerated pre-existing trends towards digitalization and prompted some companies to undergo digital transformations that otherwise may have taken them much longer, Butterfield said.
The carried interest loophole is beginning to look immortal.
Driving the news: President Biden today will unveil a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that the White House hopes to pay for via changes to the corporate tax code. But it will not include any changes to individual income taxes, including on capital gains.
Delta Airlines will begin filling middle seats again on May 1 — reversing a change made in April 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, per a news release.
Why it matters: Delta is one of the last airlines to unblock middle seats. The company says increased consumer confidence and the rollout of coronavirus vaccines have lowered potential risks. All passengers will still be required to wear face masks.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian condemned Georgia's new election law as "unacceptable" in a memo circulated to staff on Wednesday, claiming that the "entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie" about widespread voter fraud in 2020.
Why it matters: The Atlanta-based airline is one of the largest employers in Georgia and was facing calls for a boycott over its stance on the Republican-crafted law, per the Washington Post.
The BBC's Beijing correspondent John Sudworth has left the city and relocated to Taiwan after nine years, citing threats, surveillance and intimidation of his team in the wake of their reporting on Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang.
The big picture: The number of foreign correspondents reporting from China has dwindled over the past several years as tensions have ratcheted up between Beijing and the West.
President Biden's attempt to steer huge energy infrastructure plans through Congress and his wide-ranging executive agenda are together creating intense lobbying and advocacy efforts to shape the policies.
Why it matters: The new proposal for an energy infrastructure package is vastly larger than the roughly $90 billion for clean energy in the 2009 stimulus, and the constellation of interests in play is huge.
Electric aviation startup Lilium is going public via merger with a special purpose acquisition company as it looks to commercialize a seven-seat vertical takeoff and landing plane (VTOL) for regional travel.
Driving the news: The Munich-based company yesterday announced a merger with Qell Acquisition Corp. that values the combined company at roughly $3.3 billion.
72 Black executives signed onto an open letter Wednesday demanding corporate America take action to fight GOP-led legislation that would restrict voting access in at least 43 states.
Why it matters: "The campaign appears to be the first time that so many powerful Black executives have organized to directly call out their peers for failing to stand up for racial justice," the New York Times writes.
The total number of U.S. mortgage applications declined last week for the fourth straight week, and the ninth time in 11 weeks, data released this morning by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed.
Why it matters: The consistent downturn in applications shows just how much the housing market has weakened since January when mortgage rates hit all-time lows, and unlike in February when economists pointed their fingers at cold weather, this slump appears to be market-driven.
Confidence is returning to U.S. consumers as the government ramps up big spending programs that are putting money directly in Americans' bank accounts and COVID-19 vaccinations increase.
Why it matters: The return of confidence itself is reassuring, but more economists also are expecting that a major increase in hiring this month is behind the improvement.
UnitedMasters, a music distribution platform that serves as a kind of Substack for musical artists, on Wednesday announced that it raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Apple.
Why it matters: Apple rarely participates in venture capital rounds, let alone leads them. In fact, the last one we can find was a 2017 investment in Didi Chuxing.
We've recapped how the pandemic upended the working world, but what's coming next?
The big picture: As vaccinations send people back to work and the world comes out of pandemic hibernation, these are the biggest trends to watch for in the workplace this year, according to experts.
China, like all other rich countries, lends billions of dollars to needy governments. A major new study from Georgetown University's Anna Gelpern and others shows that China's debt contracts are particularly unfriendly to debtor nations — and to the international community as a whole.
Why it matters: China is using debt contracts to place it at a geopolitical advantage not only to its debtors, but also to all other rich nations.
A non-disclosure agreement signed by a 2016 Trump campaign staffer cannot be enforced because it's too vague, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Why it matters: The case of former Hispanic outreach director Jessica Denson, who in a separate suit in 2017 alleged she experienced discrimination and harassment on the campaign, is one of several where Trump "went after former aides that criticized him or his campaign" in order to "silence" them, the New York Times notes.
German carmaker Volkswagen clarified Tuesday it "will not be changing its name to Voltswagen," saying Monday's announcement of a rebrand was a joke.
Driving the news: The company posted a press release, dated April 29, to its website announcing the change, according to CNBC. The release, which called the change a “public declaration of the company’s future-forward investment in e-mobility,” has since been taken down.
