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Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

Table of Contents

• Elizabeth Holmes Sells Out 2,000 Theaters

• Elon Musk Promises SpaceX Shares to Children

• Anthropic to Give 5% to ‘Public Benefit’ Fund

• Defense Stocks Fall on Midterm Expectations

• Matt’s Tuesday Stack™

• Poll of the Day: Public Benefit Fund?

• Poll of the Day: No Wonder He Needs Good PR

What’s the Stock Market Up To, Eh?

$SPX ( ▲ 0.41% )  $DJI ( ▼ 0.07% )  $NDX ( ▲ 1.59% )  

Companies Mentioned in Today’s Newsletter

$SPCX ( ▲ 1.32% )  $ANTHZZX ( ▲ 0.83% )  $ITA ( ▼ 0.63% )  $LMT ( ▼ 0.7% )  $NOC ( ▼ 1.77% )  $LHX ( ▼ 1.88% )  

Elizabeth Holmes Sells Out 2,000 Theaters

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s three-hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything, debuted to over 2,000 sold-out shows across 855 screens this weekend, grossing an estimated $15 million. That makes it the highest-grossing nonmusical documentary launch since 2004's Fahrenheit 9/11, with critics hailing the project as “unmissable” and “off the charts bonkers.”

While Holmes serves her federal prison sentence, the film captures both her final month before prison and her second year behind bars. In the end, while Holmes once promised to revolutionize healthcare with a single drop of blood, her downfall accomplished something equally unbelievable for cinema: Getting thousands of people to sit through a three-hour documentary in packed theaters.

Elon Musk Promises SpaceX Shares to Children

Move over traditional piggy banks, because Elon Musk has a bold new financial plan for American children: rocket equity. In an early-morning post on X, the world’s richest man pledged to donate one share of SpaceX $SPCX ( ▲ 1.32% ) stock to “every kid in America” next year. With roughly 72 to 73 million children under age 18 in the U.S., the pledge is estimated to be worth between $10.5 billion and $10.7 billion. Musk declared, “This will be the first of many.”

The pledge emerged right after AI rival Anthropic announced it was committing 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund (on which more below 👇🏻). Skeptical of corporate benefit funds, Musk chimed in directly on X. Replying to Anthropic’s news, he posted, “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public.” Moments later, he added, “That’s what I will be doing” — and just seven hours later, he announced the stock giveaway for children.

How will millions of minors actually receive or hold private rocket stock? Musk provided no distribution details and did not respond to requests for comment. But I’ll take my kid’s through his Trump Account, please. While SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and her husband Robert previously pledged shares to over 2 million children in Texas, Musk’s track record warrants caution. In 2021, he promised $6 billion to the UN World Food Program if they could show how to solve world hunger; the UN created a plan, but Musk never donated. Furthermore, lockup provisions prevent him from selling or trading the bulk of his stock until June 2027.

Still, Elon needs a bit of positive press, as you’ll see from today’s poll results below.

Quote of the Day

Anthropic to Give 5% to ‘Public Benefit’ Fund

Ahead of its planned $2 trillion initial public offering, AI startup Anthropic $ANTHZZX ( ▲ 0.83% ) says it will commit 5% of its shares to a new Public Benefit Fund. As the company grows, it plans to toss in another 2% for every 50 percent bump in valuation above an undisclosed baseline.

The move comes amid escalating public anxiety over job automation, power-hungry data centers, and rogue software. In its own IPO filings, Anthropic warned investors that advanced AI poses an “existential risk to humanity” and could “manipulate, blackmail and exhibit other unpredictable behaviors.” Founded in 2021 by ex-OpenAI researchers, the startup wants a financial safety net ready for the fallout. The company explained that its new wholly owned LLC will pursue “bolder approaches” to address AI job losses, including “direct distributions to specific populations.” As Anthropic summarized, “The more Anthropic grows, the larger the share of the company that can be dedicated expressly to the public good.”

Whether giving 5% back buys public forgiveness remains to be seen. But if AI ever does replace your job, at least you might receive a direct payout funded by the algorithm that took it.

Song of the Day: Nao, ‘Fly Away’

“Fly Away" is a standout track featured on British singer-songwriter Nao's album Autumn. Embracing her signature "wonky funk" and contemporary alternative R&B style, the song serves as a powerful display of her distinctive vocal range, so it’s a lot like this newsletter.

Defense Stocks Fall on Midterm Expectations

As prediction markets signal an impending Democratic sweep in Congress, U.S. defense stocks have taken a nose-dive. The iShares U.S. Aerospace and Defence ETF $ITA ( ▼ 0.63% ) plunged 16% between July and October, while industry heavyweights like Lockheed Martin $LMT ( ▼ 0.7% ) , Northrop Grumman $NOC ( ▼ 1.77% ) , and L3Harris $LHX ( ▼ 1.88% ) dropped up to 36%.

Why the sudden panic? Wall Street is betting that Donald Trump’s proposed $500 billion military spending expansion will get, let’s say…scrapped…if Republicans lose control of Congress. As Robert Stallard, a defense analyst at Vertical Research Partners, told the Financial Times, “Trump’s political fortunes and the chance of the Republicans losing the Senate have almost been in lockstep with the performance of defense stocks.” Stallard noted that while defense is traditionally bipartisan, this administration has made it partisan. He added that eccentric, high-profile projects personal to Trump — such as a “Golden Fleet” of battleships and a “Golden Dome” space shield — are now on the chopping block: “Anything that has Trump’s name on it or the word ‘golden’ could be at risk,” he said.

Other financial experts argue investors are overreacting. Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners pointed out that while Democrats aren’t calling for steep cuts, “defense can’t be viewed in isolation” and will likely be subsumed into broader domestic budget debates. Meanwhile, Randy Gwirtzman, a portfolio manager at Baron Capital, brushed off the doom-mongering, calling it a “misconception” that “if the Democrats win the midterms, defense is going to be destroyed. I really don’t think that’s the case.”

Still, you can’t argue with the stock prices.

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Matt’s Tuesday Stack™

Welcome to Matt’s Tuesday Stack™, where I tell you about three things I actually pay for, so you can feel worse about your own decisions.

Bluehost — I know, web hosting is about as sexy as a PTA meeting. But every one of us is sitting on a domain we bought at 1:00 a.m. and did nothing with. Bluehost is the "fine, I'll finally build the thing" button: one-click WordPress, decent uptime, plans cheaper than your daily coffee. I keep telling myself I'll learn to code. At minimum, I'll own the domain where I tell people that.

1Password — are you fed up trying to remember all your passwords? 1Password is a subscription-based digital vault and password manager that securely notes, generates, and autofills passwords, passkeys, credit cards, and sensitive notes. Useful!

Grammarly — Nobody admits they use a grammar checker, and everybody does. Grammarly is the difference between "per my last email" energy and actually sounding like the competent professional you're pretending to be on LinkedIn. The free tier catches your typos; the premium tier catches you being passive-aggressive. Worth it, either way.

Should You Check Your 401(k) Today?

👍️ 

Sure. Why not?

Poll of the Day: Public Benefit Fund?

Poll of the Day: No Wonder He Needs Good PR

We asked: Do You Think a Merger Between Tesla and SpaceX Would Be in Shareholders' Interests? Or Mainly in Elon Musk's?

You answered:

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Absolutely in shareholder interests. I cannot wait to buy a Cybertruck that doubles as a Mars rover. The cash-burn synergy will be legendary, and the combined company can print shares instead of money. (12)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Purely for Musk’s personal glory. Tesla’s balance sheet exists solely to act as a cosmic piggy bank for rockets. Why build affordable electric cars when you can use auto manufacturing profits to fund a Martian colony? (52)
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ It is for Musk, but the board will rubber-stamp it anyway. Tesla's independent directors will look at this complex, conflict-of-interest-riddled nightmare and declare it a stroke of absolute genius. (70)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ It benefits the grand simulation, most of all. Next, we will merge xAI and X into the pile to create the ultimate corporate Voltron. (11)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I'm sorry but didn't this man just cut Starlink access for Ukraine in the war with Russia? Doesn't that make him an ally of Vladimir Putin? Isn't this what the Magnitsky Act is for? To cut off his ability to do business in the West? (199)
344 Votes via @beehiiv polls

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