Several major U.S. airlines indicated Thursday that their businesses have taken a hit from a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant.
Why it matters: A recent decline in bookings and an increase in cancellations have triggered a much lower revenue forecast for airlines than previously anticipated. The trend, which was earlier reported by AP, threatens to stifle the industry's rapid recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, which halted air travel in its early days.
HCA Healthcare is not yet mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for its doctors, nurses and other staff, CFO Bill Rutherford said during the Morgan Stanley health care conference Thursday.
Why it matters: HCA is one of the largest health systems in the country with 275,000 employees and 187 hospitals, many of which are in coronavirus hot spots. Health care trade groups have urged health care employers to mandate the vaccines due to the spread of the Delta variant.
As the first Theranos trial begins, there have never been fewer incentives to uncover or prosecute corporate fraud.
Why it matters: There was a brief crackdown on white-collar crime at the end of last year, as Republican prosecutors negotiated deals before a new administration was sworn in. Now, however, there's no such urgency.
Axios Pro Rata, our daily deals newsletter, on Sunday morning will host a Peloton fundraising ride, with proceeds to benefit Tuesday's Children, a nonprofit established after 9/11 to benefit victim families.
Why it matters: Tuesday's Children continues to pursue that mission, but has expanded to help other families impacted by terrorism, military conflict or mass violence.
The uptake for Aduhelm, the controversially approved Alzheimer's drug, has been a lot slower than expected as the drug faces "near-term challenges," Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos said at the Morgan Stanley health care conference Thursday.
Between the lines: Physicians want to see Aduhelm's clinical trial data, which has not been published in a medical journal yet, and they want to know how and if they'll be paid for administering the IV drug, which has a $56,000-per-year list price.
Solugen, a Houston-based developer of plant-derived chemicals, raised $350 million in Series C funding at a $1.5 billion pre-money valuation co-led by Baillie Gifford and GIC.
Why it matters: This is a new front in the decarbonization battle, given the dominance of petroleum-based chemicals. Solugen says the big dollars will help it build "bioforges" around the world, adding that they're cheaper and take less time to build than do typical petrochemical or fermentation plants.
Tom Steyer is putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to fighting climate change. And other people's money too.
Driving the news: Steyer, the former presidential candidate and billionaire founder of Farallon Capital, today launched Galvanize, a climate tech investment platform that will back companies from the seed-stage through private equity and project finance.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, speaking virtually Thursday to the City Club of Cleveland, will appeal to business to back President Biden's social-infrastructure plans as "a competitive advantage" for America.
What she's saying: "I get it. We’re asking you to pay more in taxes," Raimondo, who has met with more than 100 CEOs since joining the Cabinet, says in remarks shared first with Axios.
Technology that automates recruiting and hiring can be partly to blame for the current labor shortage, according to a new Harvard Business School and Accenture study.
Driving the news: More than 90% of employers in the U.S., U.K, and Germany surveyed said that they use automated systems to filter or rank candidates first. Those systems often eliminate candidates that could be a good fit for jobs with training, but whose resumes don’t precisely match the pre-set criteria.
Marc Lasry, the billionaire businessman and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, has been named chairman of OZY Media, the digital-first media and entertainment company founded in 2013 by CEO Carlos Watson.
Why it matters: Lasry, who currently serves on OZY's board and is an investor in the company, wants to help the company strike deals that will help it grow.
COVID concerns are keeping a growing number of Americans out of the labor market.
Why it matters: The wave of Delta variant infections over the past two months has renewed worker fears, which threatens to exacerbate ongoing labor shortages.
The conventional wisdom that more people across the board are more likely than ever to leave their jobs is wrong, according to extensive polling by Gallup.
What is true: Self-identified disengaged workers are ditching jobs faster than ever, the data reveals.
At the opening of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' trial, the prosecution and the defense offered two divergent portrayals of the defendant to the jury: she is either a calculating CEO who lied to get money, or a zealous entrepreneur who made mistakes along the way.
Why it matters: The trial in San Jose, which is expected to last 13 weeks, is the highest-profile fraud case yet to come out of Silicon Valley, where startups often "fake it 'til they make it."
Coinbase has bank envy. It wants to offer a dollar-denominated savings account — but those plans have been predictably halted by the SEC.
Driving the news: Coinbase seems genuinely surprised and upset about this. While their product looks like a heavily-regulated bank savings account, the SEC merely wants to regulate it as a security. But Coinbase doesn't even want that level of regulation.
Ads for next year's Super Bowl LVI are nearly gone, NBC executives said Wednesday. Some of the most recently sold units went for $6.5 million — a new record.
Why it matters: Despite a decline in viewership, Super Bowl ads continue to become more expensive, given that the big game is the single-best opportunity for advertisers to reach a large amount of people at once.
"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" broke box office records over Labor Day weekend, but what comes after is what concerns Simu Liu.
What they're saying: "I worry that this is a flash in the pan … a single moment that will disappear in time and not a part of a greater movement," he told me Wednesday morning.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce confirmed the Australian airline will ban passengers not vaccinated against COVID-19 from international flights, traveller.com.au first reported Wednesday.
The big picture: Joyce indicated in November he planned for Qantas to require international travelers provide proof of vaccination. He aims to have the mandate in place by December, when the airline plans to resume global operations. All Qantas staff must be vaccinated by March 2022 unless they have a medical exemption.
United Airlines staffers who are granted religious exemptions for the company's COVID-19 vaccination mandate will be placed on temporary unpaid leave starting Oct. 2, the airline told employees in a memo.
Driving the news: United last month became the first major U.S. airline to institute a vaccine mandate for employees, and acknowledged then it would consider exemptions for religious, personal or medical exemptions.
Warehouse workers in California would gain more legal pathways to fight speed quotas set by employers under a bill passed Wednesday in Sacramento that addresses a growing trend at some of the country's largest workplaces.
Why it matters: This bill is the first of its kind and could help ensure the safety and well-being of a massive and growing workforce.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday it has assessed more than 800 of over 2,000 reports of pollution in the wake of Hurricane Ida. Nearly 350 of these have been reports of oil spills.
What's happening: The Coast Guard has established a pollution response team in Baton Rouge following the reports that have emerged since the Aug. 29 hurricane, which first made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph in Port Fourchon, Louisiana — a key oil industry hub and staging area.
