Forbes Daily: Supreme Court’s Immunity Answer Raises New Questions

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Good morning,

A “Google Maps” for bacteria in the gut could be the key to more effective cancer treatments.

Immunotherapies are increasingly being used for cancer patients, but in some cases, a patient’s gut microbiome can prevent them from being successful. Startup Kanvas Biosciences’ technology tracks and labels specific interactions between the bacteria and immune cells in a patient’s gut, which the company aims to use to improve cancer treatments.

Kanvas Biosciences announced a $12.5 million fundraising round Monday, and after preclinical trials, hopes to crack the code of the microbiome in human clinical trials. “We know that the microbiome is absolutely critical to human health,” cofounder-CEO Matt Cheng told Forbes.

FIRST UP

Boeing’s $8.3 billion deal to acquire its largest supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, may be the best of bad options for the embattled companies, industry experts told Forbes. But it will take Boeing years to straighten out the money-losing supplier and the quality problems that have bedeviled both of them. “This is not going to solve either company’s problems,” says Cliff Collier, an aerospace consultant.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday that former President Donald Trump has immunity for official acts taken during his presidency, which will likely delay but not derail his federal criminal case for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The high court decided Trump can still be charged for actions outside his official duties, and now the lower court must determine which of Trump’s acts were official or unofficial—and the trial timeline remains uncertain as further appeals are possible. Speaking to reporters on Monday, President Joe Biden said the decision sets a “dangerous precedent.”

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Shares of online pet supply retailer Chewy dropped nearly 7% Monday despite a surge in premarket trading after trader Keith Gill, known online as “Roaring Kitty,” disclosed a stake in the company that was founded by the now-CEO of GameStop. Gill purchased a 6.6% stake in Chewy, which is worth about $251 million as of Monday’s share price, according to an SEC filing.

Tesla shares rose 6% on Monday, even after an expected decline in deliveries for the second consecutive quarter, with the electric carmaker expected to report about 436,000 vehicle deliveries for the period ending June 30. Analysts from Wells Fargo remain optimistic about Tesla’s future, though they caution about “disappointing fundamentals” and declining demand.

TECH + INNOVATION ​​

The European Commission accused Meta of violating the EU’s Digital Markets Act by forcing users to either pay for ad-free Facebook and Instagram or consent to sharing personal data for advertisers. This “pay or consent” model breaches EU competition rules, potentially leading to a fine of up to $13.5 billion.

MONEY + POLITICS

The Supreme Court punted Monday on two cases concerning whether Florida and Texas’ anti-social media “censorship” laws are lawful under the First Amendment—providing no real clarity for either GOP-led states or the social media companies challenging them, and sending both cases back to lower courts. The laws were enacted amid heavily disputed right-wing claims that social media companies are biased against conservatives.

SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

The Boston Celtics ownership group on Monday announced plans to sell the team, valued at $4.7 billion last year according to Forbes’ calculations, due to “estate and family planning considerations.” The sale is expected to occur late this year or in early 2025, with Wyc Grousbeck expected to remain as the team’s governor until 2028. This decision comes just weeks after the Celtics’ triumphant NBA championship win, their first since 2008.

MORE: Jayson Tatum, a five-time all-star who was drafted third overall by the Celtics in 2017, has reportedly agreed to a five-year, $314 million contract extension with the team—the largest contract in NBA history. The contract would extend the five-year, $163 million deal Tatum signed with the Celtics in 2020.

Billionaire media mogul Barry Diller is in talks with Paramount’s parent firm, National Amusements, for control of the media conglomerate, according to the New York Times. Diller attempted to acquire Paramount in the 1990s for $9.5 billion, according to Vanity Fair, but was outbid by Sumner Redstone, the father of Shari Redstone, who now owns the company as a controlling shareholder.

TRENDS + EXPLAINERS

Parts of President Joe Biden’s student loan repayment plan that were blocked by judges last week can continue, a federal appeals court said, but Biden’s broader effort to forgive many loans en masse remains stymied by the courts. Right now, borrowers are paying 10% of their discretionary income above 225% of the federal poverty line but, under the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan change, those payments are set to be cut to 5%.

DAILY COVER STORY

Elon Musk’s Laughable New Solution To Tesla’s Child Labor Worries

TOPLINE Last year, just after Tesla’s board and investors voted down a proposal to hire an outside monitor to ensure the electric vehicle maker’s cobalt suppliers weren’t using child or forced labor at mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Elon Musk pledged to do exactly that—plus “put a webcam on the mine.”

But Forbes has learned that a year later, Musk’s promised webcam hasn’t materialized as expected. Rather than a live camera feed, the Kamoto Copper Co. that’s Tesla’s main cobalt source instead posts a single photo of the sprawling mine complex in southern Congo every month, taken by an Airbus satellite orbiting far above the Earth. There are no children to be seen, but that’s because the resolution isn’t nearly sufficient to reveal anything smaller than processing facilities and the scarred landscape of a highly industrialized open-pit mine.

Tesla also claims to have had multiple third-party reviews of working conditions at Kamoto, which is owned by the global mining giant Glencore, according to its latest environmental impact report. “Four audits were conducted in 2023 and found no instances of child labor at our direct suppliers' sites,” the company said.

But neither the monthly satellite image nor the third-party reviews address ongoing problems with cobalt and copper mining, according to Courtney Wicks, executive director of Investor Advocates for Social Justice. She represented the group of Tesla shareholders last year who tried to get the company to adopt more rigorous guidelines for cobalt sourcing in 2023.

The discrepancy between Musk’s promised action on cobalt and the reality of what the company is doing isn’t unusual for a billionaire entrepreneur with a history of bold promises on which he’s failed to deliver (everything from the safety of Tesla’s plants and automated driving features to plans to create an “ecological paradise” at the company’s Austin plant.)

WHY IT MATTERS “Tesla’s stumbles in monitoring its cobalt supply underscore issues to be overcome in the shift away from fossil fuels to electric power in the auto industry,” says Forbes senior editor Alan Ohnsman. “From cobalt to lithium to nickel, it’s essential to ensure that raw materials aren’t being sourced with child or forced labor, or in ways that are highly damaging to the environment or human health.”

MORE ‘Elon Doesn’t Care About Tesla Anymore’: Musk’s Biggest Fans Are Turning On Him

FACTS + COMMENTS

Colleges and universities that give an admission preference to legacy applicants enroll lower proportions of Black, Hispanic and low-income students than those institutions that do not, a new report found. The practice has come under more scrutiny since the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in college admissions last year:

59%: The percentage of undergraduates who are white at selective institutions that consider legacy status, compared to 51% at institutions that don’t

Nearly one-third: The share of selective four-year higher education institutions that considered legacy status during the 2021-2022 academic year

More than 100: The number of institutions that have eliminated legacy admission policies since 2015

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

Leaving a job doesn’t mean you have to burn the entire bridge down; you can also leave with the bridge still intact. To resign professionally and maintain strong connections, provide at least two weeks’ notice and offer thorough handover documentation to ensure a smooth transition for your team. Avoid oversharing your reasons for leaving, focusing instead on assisting in the transition. Keep in touch with former colleagues—these connections can lead to future opportunities and collaborations.

VIDEO

QUIZ

Which ‘90s NBA superstar, famous for both his basketball skills and his musical talents, just made a splash on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart this week with his track “You Can’t Stop The Reign”?

A. Allen Iverson

B. Chris Webber

C. Shaquille O’Neal

D. Gary Payton

Check your answer.

ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

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Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff, with writing contributions by Tavon Thomasson.