What we’re reading (2/1)
“Why Tim Cook Is Going All In On The Apple Vision Pro” (Vanity Fair). “Inside Apple Park, the tech giant’s CEO talks about the genesis of a “mind-blowing” new device that could change the way we live and work. A-list directors are already on board—’My experience was religious,’ says James Cameron—but will your average iPhone user drop $3,500 on a headset?”
“McKinsey’s Leader Survives, But Voting Reveals Cracks At Elite Consulting Firm” (Wall Street Journal). “The voting laid bare dissatisfaction within one of the world’s most lucrative partnerships. It also exposed the potential drawbacks of an unusual governance structure that gives McKinsey’s partners the power to choose their leader every three years. The structure works when business is booming as partners who bring in millions have little reason to agitate for change. The past few years have been anything but stable.”
“The Fed Is Taking It Slow. But The Markets Want More.” (New York Times). “U.S. economic reports have been sparkling. The economy appears to be booming, the labor market looks strong and inflation seems to be on the decline. Yet this seemingly propitious combination has locked the Federal Reserve into inaction. At its policymaking meeting this week, the Fed decided to do precisely nothing. It held the main policy rate, known as the federal funds rate, steady at about 5.3 percent, where it has stood since August.”
“U.S. Winning World Economic War” (Axios). “The United States economy grew faster than any other large advanced economy last year — by a wide margin — and is on track to do so again in 2024…America’s outperformance is rooted in its distinctive structural strengths, policy choices, and some luck. It reflects a fundamental resilience in the world's largest economy that is easy to overlook amid the nation's problems.”
“Matt Levine’s Money Stuff: Texas Tempts Tesla” (Money Stuff). “[T]he bet here for Elon Musk is reasonable: If he moves Tesla to Texas, and then demands that Tesla’s board pay him $100 billion to keep a reasonable fraction of his time and attention on Tesla, and Tesla’s extremely accommodating board says ‘sure whatever you want,’ and a majority of shareholders approve the pay package, and one disgruntled shareholder sues, and the case goes to Texas business court, and the complaining shareholder comes into court citing conflicts of interest and the board’s lack of independence and the Delaware cases on ‘entire fairness,’ and Elon Musk comes into court saying ‘well that may all be true but what you are missing is that I am Elon Musk,’ and Texas Governor Greg Abbott is in the first row of spectators with a big sign saying ‘TX <3 U ELON,’ is the Texas business court, in its first real high-profile case, going to say ‘actually it’s illegal to pay Elon Musk that much’? It absolutely is not. That much is pretty predictable.”
