Plus: This Pharma Billionaire Is Developing A Cannabis Painkiller To Replace Dangerous Opioids |
Good morning,
Linear television may be on the decline, but its stars are still cashing in—for now.Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are among the highest-paid hosts on TV, according to Forbes’ latest ranking. Combined, the top 25 hosts earn an estimated $582 million, which is more money than the stars of popular scripted shows make. Some of the other hosts commanding significant salaries include sports broadcasters and celebrity chefs. But in the era of streaming, the good times won’t last forever. Platforms like YouTube don’t offer the same kind of guaranteed paychecks as traditional networks, and instead share a portion of ad revenue with creators.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
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Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery skyrocketed 29% Thursday, its largest ever single-day gain, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount Skydance plans to submit a bid backed by the billionaire Ellison family to acquire the media conglomerate. The reported proposal, which comes just weeks after the closure of the merger between Paramount and Skydance Media, would include Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable networks and movie studio.
In the latest successful Nasdaq debut, Home equity lender Figure Technology Solutions surged 40% before paring back its gains, as investor demand pours into crypto stocks. The company, which offers a blockchain platform designed to originate, fund, track and trade loans, upsized its IPO twice, bringing its total valuation at the offering to more than $5 billion. |
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| The doctor and founder of Munich-based pharmaceutical company Vertanical hopes to make the first cannabis-based painkiller prescribed by physicians and covered by insurance. The drug, currently called Ver-01, is not for stoners—each dose is low enough to avoid getting most patients high, the company says, but it packs enough low levels of cannabinoids (including THC) to relieve pain. A serial pharmaceutical and supplement entrepreneur, Vertanical founder Clemens Fischer runs a mini-empire through the Futrue Group, a Munich-based holding company with a collection of about 20 drug and R&D companies. Over the last two decades, he has built and sold a series of companies in the over-the-counter drug and supplement space, ranging from sleep aids to treatments for irritable bowel syndrome, amassing a $1 billion fortune. So far, the data from the clinical trials is promising: Ver-01 was found to be more effective than opioid painkillers with fewer side effects, including no evidence for addiction. The company is expecting a decision from the German and Austrian authorities later this year or early next year, which would allow the company to start selling its medicine. It hopes to launch Phase III trials in the U.S. in 2026. “We believe that we will be the first non-opiate chronic pain treatment worldwide,” says Fischer. |
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| “With 1 in 5 Americans still being prescribed opioids, and a $20 billion market, there is a huge opportunity for a new painkiller without addictive (or deadly) side effects,” says Forbes senior writer Will Yakowicz. “If Fischer's Vertanical is successful, it will not only help millions of people around the world, but it will also become a new blockbuster drug.” |
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President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to impact prices, as inflation jumped again in August, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. It’s the last economic report under consideration as the Federal Reserve weighs whether it will slash interest rates next week.
In the immediate aftermath of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, shares of gun manufacturers rose, in line with historical patterns of gun sales rising after high-profile shootings. The “gun industry has perverse incentives,” one expert previously told the New York Times after a 2022 school shooting, as people fear potential gun restrictions. |
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| WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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| The Forbes 400 list features the wealthiest people in the U.S., but most of the billionaires among its ranks are concentrated in just a handful of states: Over half live in the four most populous states, which account for nearly two-thirds of the list’s record $6.6 trillion in total wealth. California is home to the most Forbes 400 members, including Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, followed by New York, Florida and Texas. |
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| The FTC launched an inquiry into the tech firms behind popular AI chatbots over how they protect children and teens from the technology’s potentially negative impacts, as experts warn chatbots could pose a psychological threat to younger users. The probe will largely cover how the companies—including Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI—are taking steps to limit usage, and how users and parents are informed of potential risks. |
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| California will provide as much as $20 billion in extra funding to help complete the state’s beleaguered bullet train, as the state is also challenging the Trump Administration in court over its efforts to claw back $4 billion of federal funds. State legislators are reauthorizing California’s Cap-and-Trade program, which requires the biggest industrial emitters of greenhouse gases to buy pollution credits, with plans to direct $1 billion a year from that source to the rail project over the next two decades. |
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| The IRS announced it will shutter some of its Taxpayer Assistance Centers by the end of November in an effort to cut costs. The centers are designed to offer in-person help for taxpayers who cannot resolve their tax issues through other methods: |
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363 | The total number of Taxpayer Assistance Centers nationwide, nine of which will be closed | |
| 1.6 million | How many face-to-face meetings the IRS had with taxpayers at these centers in fiscal year 2023 | |
| $41.8 billion | How much money Congress clawed back from the IRS, after the funding was originally approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act |
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| When evaluating job postings, don’t focus solely on the salary and job title—you could be able to spot a toxic workplace in the description. For instance, if the job responsibilities aren’t clearly listed or the writeup includes phrases like “wears many hats,” that could be a sign of an employer with unrealistic expectations. And if the same position has been posted multiple times, it’s important to ask why, as high turnover can also be a sign of workplace issues. |
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| GAMES | | QUIZ | | As families struggle with the rising cost of childcare, one state will soon become the first in the U.S. to guarantee free universal childcare. Which state is it? | | A. | Arizona | | B. | New York | | C. | New Mexico | | D. | Colorado |
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