Hello, N2K’ers!

The subject of this week’s world famous News Haiku^TM competition is that Delta $DAL ( ▲ 1.17% ) and United Airlines $UAL ( ▲ 1.76% ) are being sued by passengers who claim they were duped into paying up to $100 extra for window seats that did not have actual windows. Email me your haiku by today at noon ET and get ready for glory.

Now let’s talk about the news you Need2Know, eh?

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• 👑 Ellison takes richest man title from Musk

• Chase CEO: Economy shows signs of slowing

• Stocks hit new records for second day straight

• Trump administration appeals ruling blocking firin …

• Klarna shares jump 30% on Wall Street IPO

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▲ 0.3% ) $DJI ( ▼ 0.48% ) $NDX ( ▲ 0.03% )

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$ORCL ( ▲ 35.95% )  $BBERG ( 0.0% )  $MSFT ( ▲ 0.39% )  $TSLA ( ▲ 0.24% )  $JPM ( ▲ 0.9% )  $MS ( ▲ 1.25% )  $KLAR ( ▲ 14.55% )  $AFRM ( ▼ 4.02% )  

👑 Ellison takes richest man title from Musk

Oracle $ORCL ( ▲ 35.95% ) co-founder Larry Ellison has dethroned Elon Musk to become the world's richest person, according to Bloomberg $BBERG ( 0.0% ) . Ellison's net worth soared to $393 billion after Oracle's stock surged dramatically yesterday — adding $100 billion to his fortune in just over half an hour. Ellison, a college dropout, now holds the title thanks to Oracle's impressive earnings and over $300 billion in new AI-based contracts for the firm. As he optimistically stated, “AI Changes Everything,” especially his bank balance.

How rich is Larry Ellison? He has a billion-dollar limit on his credit card. He also hired private investigators to sift through the trash of a research group Oracle suspected of being funded by Microsoft $MSFT ( ▲ 0.39% ) during the company's antitrust trial. He’s also twice tried to buy an NBA team but been turned down. 

Meanwhile, Musk's net worth is under pressure as Tesla $TSLA ( ▲ 0.24% ) struggles on the stock market (and on the market-market), dropping 14% this year. Despite his efforts to shift focus to Tesla’s future potential with AI and robotics, disappointing sales and a shrinking market share have dented investor confidence. Particularly notable is Tesla's recent 40% sales drop in the European Union, amid customer backlash over Musk's controversial support for right-wing politicians. 56% of N2K readers would turn down a free Tesla for the same reasons, according to a recent poll.

While Forbes still lists Musk’s net worth at $439 billion, discrepancies in valuing his private holdings contribute to the difference between him and Ellison on the Bloomberg list.

Song of the day: Grant Lee Phillips, “Closer Tonight”

This song from the singer’s 12th studio album juxtaposes society’s soaring scientific and technological breakthroughs with the ever-present shadow of our self-destructive tendencies. I can’t imagine why you’d want to listen to a song about that right now. But still.

Chase CEO: Economy shows signs of slowing

JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon $JPM ( ▲ 0.9% ) has good reason to make public statements about something other than his own reputation right now. The New York Times ran an utterly damning several-thousand-word investigation into how the bank “enabled the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein” under Dimon’s leadership, throwing doubt over Dimon’s claims never to heave heard about Epstein before 2019. Here’s the most damning line:

Anyway. Dimon has now raised concerns about the slowing U.S. economy in the wake of the largest jobs data revision in over two decades. The Labor Department this week revised its nonfarm payroll estimate for the year through March 2025, slashing the figure by a staggering 911,000 jobs. Dimon expressed concern over the revision, calling it “the sharpest revision in over 20 years and worse than Wall Street expected.”

The latest data paints a picture of an economy that’s losing momentum faster than previously believed. Dimon said the downgraded job growth highlights cracks in the labor market, despite most Americans still being employed and continuing to spend. However, the JPMorgan chief noted that “confidence may have weakened,” pointing to a mixed economic environment where household resilience is softening, even as corporate profits remain stable.

Today on the ‘gram: A spherical roboball

Post of the day: A cultural high point

Quote of the Day

Stocks hit new records for second day straight

Whatever Jamie Dimon says, Wall Street is riding high as encouraging inflation data and Oracle’s groundbreaking AI contracts pushed major indexes toward record highs for the second day straight.

The rally comes as optimism grows around the Federal Reserve potentially cutting interest rates next week. A Wednesday report showed inflation at the wholesale level unexpectedly slowed in August, offering hope that price pressures are easing. Chris Larkin at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley $MS ( ▲ 1.25% ) , remarked, “Wednesday’s update essentially rolled out the red carpet for a Fed rate cut next week.” 

Meanwhile, Oracle $ORCL ( ▲ 35.95% ) stole the spotlight. Fueled by AI-related demand, its stock soared nearly 35%, marking what may be its best single-day gain since 1992. CEO Safra Catz revealed that Oracle expects cloud infrastructure revenue to grow 77% this year, driven by major multi-billion-dollar contracts in the AI space.

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👍️ 

Yes yes yes yes yes.

Trump administration appeals ruling blocking firing of Fed governor

The Trump administration has escalated its effort to gain more control over the Federal Reserve by appealing a recent ruling that blocks the president from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The decision follows U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb’s ruling, which established that President Trump does not have the authority to remove Cook based on unproven allegations.

At the core of the case are claims that Cook committed mortgage fraud by misrepresenting two properties in Michigan and Georgia as primary residences to secure better loan terms. Cook's legal team denied the allegations while highlighting that she wasn’t given the opportunity to respond to the claims before facing termination. They argue that federal law limits the president’s authority to fire Federal Reserve governors, allowing removal only for causes like misconduct or poor job performance during their time in office.

If the Supreme Court agrees to weigh in, the case could challenge longstanding independence traditionally enjoyed by the Federal Reserve. Economists favor this independence, noting it allows the Fed to make difficult economic decisions, like raising interest rates to curb inflation, without political interference.

The stakes are high: Trump has criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates fast enough, and gaining control of the board could give him a 4-3 majority, potentially reshaping Fed policy.

Klarna shares jump 30% on Wall Street IPO

Klarna $KLAR ( ▲ 14.55% ) , the Swedish pioneer of the "buy now, pay later" movement, made a remarkable entry on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, with its shares surging by 30%.

The company’s shares were priced at $40, above the forecasted range, giving Klarna a valuation north of $15 billion. With this, Klarna becomes the second-largest publicly traded BNPL firm in the U.S., trailing only Affirm $AFRM ( ▼ 4.02% ) . Klarna CEO and co-founder, Sebastian “easy for you to say” Siemiatkowski, highlighted the significance of the U.S. market in the company’s growth plans. “It’s the largest consumer market in the world, and it’s the biggest credit card market in the world. It’s a tremendous opportunity, from our perspective,” Siemiatkowski said.

Klarna’s popular “pay-in-4” service, enabling customers to split payments into four interest-free installments, has gained favor globally. Siemiatkowski, a known critic of traditional credit cards, views Klarna as a consumer-friendly alternative. “We’re looking to steal away customers from the big credit card companies,” he said, emphasizing that Klarna’s approach minimizes financial exploitation.

With second-quarter revenues at $823 million, U.S. consumers are clearly eager for alternatives in the credit market.

Poll of the day: Do you ever ‘buy now pay later’?

Poll results: You’re skeptical of the iPhone Air

We asked: “Do you fancy yourself an iPhone 17 Air?”

You answered:

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 A thousand bucks for basically a thinner iPhone ain't worth it (677)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Oh yes, I'm excited by the new product! Let me at it! (61)

738 Votes

via @beehiiv polls