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Business

Starbucks hired it’s new CEO… from Chipotle

If your company is ever in a pinch just hire this guy. Last week, Brian Niccol, the former CEO of Chipotle, announced he would be leaving the company to take the helm at Starbucks, which sent the coffee retailer’s stock climbing.

Niccol will leave the fast-casual burrito chain at the end of the month, after six years with the company, and will start as Starbucks Chairman and CEO on September 9th.

A needed change

Starbucks current CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, will leave the company after a lackluster year-and-a-half as head of the coffee giant.

Under his leadership, Starbucks' sales in important regions were regrettable:

• In the US, same-store sales were down 3% in the third quarter of this year.

• In China (the companies second-largest market), cheaper alternatives lowered same-store sales by 14%.

• Shares in the company fell over 20% during his tenure and lowered its sales outlook twice in 2024.

Starbucks also saw increasingly dire calls from activist campaigns to make adjustments in the company, along with an open letter from former Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, which lambasted Narasimhan’s handling of the company.

He still gets a buttload of cash: Despite his rough time as CEO, Narasimhan could still earn between $7.8 million and $13 million, which comes from his regular salary, yearly cash incentive, and other benefits.

It’s already had an effect

Once Starbucks announced the change, its stock immediately skyrocketed nearly 25%, and is still up 23% since the hiring (as of writing). The ascent was a record one-day gain for the corporation, netting it $21.4 billion in value and wiping all its losses for the year.

• It also marked the best day since its 1992 IPO.

• On the other hand, Chipotle had the biggest loss in the S&P 500, with shares closing down 7%.

Under Niccol’s leadership, Chipotle's expansion has quickened, as seen by a 14.3% sales increase in 2023. Starbucks is hoping he can do the same for them.

The GOAT of food business: Niccol spread Chipotle's online ordering and helped the company recover from its post-E. Coli sales drop. Under him, the company's market cap increased from ~$12 billion in 2018 to nearly $72 billion as of this month. Not to mention, he was also behind Taco Bell’s transformation into a fast food powerhouse.

Health

Mpox listed as global emergency as infections spread to other continents

Did we really need an evolved Monkeypox right now? Come on dude. This week saw the first known international spread of a more serious strain of monkeypox, prompting European administrators to upgrade Africa's risk assessment from low to moderate.

When did this become a thing?

Two years ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a different variety of mpox that infected about 100,000 people globally and more than 32,000 in the US, a global health emergency.

Now, on Wednesday of last week, the WHO raised the same warning and labeled mpox a global health emergency after infections spread across the globe.

A vaccine already exists: So far, Bavarian Nordic and Emergent Biosolutions are the only CDC recommended vaccines. Bavarian Nordic says it has 300,000 doses ready to go and could export over 10 million by the end of next year.

• Africa would require almost $4 billion to combat mpox, according to Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Each dose costs over $100.

Bavarian Nordic CEO, Paul Chaplin, told Bloomberg, “We have inventory and we have the capabilities… [but] pricing is no doubt going to be an issue.” The company’s stock is up 48% since last week.

Law

If you agree to Disney+ terms and conditions the company isn’t liable for your death

Yeah, it’s about as bad as it sounds. Disney said it wants a wrongful death lawsuit thrown out because the person who died signed up for Disney+. I really wish I was kidding.

When Jeffrey Piccolo's wife passed away from a severe allergic reaction during a meal at the Florida resort last year, he launched a wrongful death case against Disney and the restaurant owners.

• The married couple chose that restaurant in particular due to its promises about accommodating those with food allergies.

However, the entertainment conglomerate claims that since Mr. Piccolo signed up for a free trial of Disney+ in 2019, he cannot sue the company because he agreed to the terms of use and has to settle outside of court.

What do the terms of use say?

Users must resolve problems with Disney through arbitration, a private agreement conducted outside of court, according to the terms of use for both the theme park app and Disney+.

Those terms of use, which users are required to agree to in order to make an account, state that "any dispute between You and Us, Except for Small Claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration." See the full terms here.

Disney’s claims are “fatally flawed”

According to Piccolo’s legal team and many online, the company’s claims that signing up for one single service simply covers all possible interactions with the company, and potentially one’s life, are ridiculous.

Piccolo’s lawyers hammered Disney’s response, saying it was “outrageously unreasonable” and that extending terms of use to cover literal matters of life and death “borders on the surreal.”

Piccolo's legal team also assert that the terms and conditions weren't accepted by his wife, and Piccolo is acting on behalf of her estate, therefore the arbitration clause is meaningless.

So what happens now? A florida judge will decide in October if Disney’s motion to settle by arbitration instead of a court proceeding is legally viable or not. According to one legal expert, the company is “pushing the envelope of contract law.”

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Grab Bag

Fortnite makes its comeback in the EU

Just in line with the new season, Epic Games was able to get Fortnite up and running on phones again. After intense regulatory changes and a legal battle with Apple that spanned over three years, Fortnite will finally be seen on iPhones again in Europe.

The game, however, will only be installable through an iPhone version of the Epic Games Store and another third-party app store called AltStore PAL. Android users can also get the game from the Epic Games Store, which was released on Saturday.

How did they get Fortnite back on phones?

Apple is required to let iPhone users to download rival app stores, such as Epic's, in accordance with the EU's new Digital Markets Act. The DMA wants to ensure large platforms still make room for competition, which Apple didn’t have a lot of before:

• The tech company got in trouble with regulators this spring for purposely making it harder for developers to turn customers to third-party app stores.

• Apple also faced a lawsuit from the Department of Justice which accused them of building a monopoly that discouraged any kind of competition.

In addition, Epic Games has also argued that Apple keeps including redundant steps in the download process to steer people away from the game, despite Apple's claims to simply be safeguarding the privacy of users.

• The two companies have been fighting it out since 2020, with it starting when Epic found a way to move around Apple’s in-app purchase fees.

  • Apple takes 30% of all revenue from in-app purchases.

• As a result, a plethora of lawsuits were launched and both EU and US antitrust regulators got involved, leading us to the current situation.

An ongoing battle: Epic is continuing to try and get other developers to join its alternative app store so it can gain momentum against Apple, but the iPhone maker won’t let them do it so easily. Over 22% of the company’s revenue was made from its service unit, which includes its App Store.

Why you should go to the Minnesota state fair

I mean who can deny a cold beer and a bucket of cheese curds? Starting August 22nd, the “Great Minnesota Get-Together” will be held for 12 glorious days, and there’s quite a few things you won’t want to miss.

While I may be a bit biased as an annual attendee (and Minnesotan), it’s hard not to point out the unparalleled experience you get when you go to the MN state fair… especially since you can find anything on a stick.

Fun fact: The “things-on-a-stick” obsession began in 1901 when then-Vice President Teddy Roosevelt gave one of the country’s most famous political speeches in US history, urging people to “speak softly and carry a big stick.”

People like it… a lot

While many think the Texas state fair may be the best and biggest, they would be wrong. The Minnesota state fair boasts the largest average daily attendance of any state fair in the country and second highest total attendance (next to Texas) with over two million visitors each year.

Held in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, the state fair has been iconic since its inception, with several traditions that many would goff at:

• The first annual event was the creation of a butter sculpture to support local dairy farmers (over 900 pounds were used last year).

  • This goes hand in hand with the “All You Can Drink Milk Stand”.

• The 50-year-old, five-story, giant slide.

• Live births (of cows and pigs, not humans).

• Colosseum events.

• DIY fishing.

…and many more.

What’s new this year?

While the staples mentioned above will all be there, old favorites like funnel cakes and Sweet Martha’s Cookies (which sells 3 million cookies each day and has been around since 1979) will return, but so will quite a few new items:

• 63 new specialty beverages, such as a s'more slushie, apple pie hazy cider, and… mustard beer?

• That pairs with 33 brand-new dishes like deep-fried ranch dressing and cookie butter crunch mini donuts.

• Two new rides, The Defender and The Kraken, are sure to make you regret ingesting all the beer and fried food.

• And a bunch of new exhibits, vendors, and competitions like quilts on-a-stick (I told you we like sticks).

Plus, to help you navigate the vast campgrounds, events, rides, food, drinks, and more, the fair launched an official app you can download on your phone.

On the downside: One thing that you won’t see this year is freshly milked cows because of the dairy industry’s worries about the bird flu. Despite that, the popular Miracle of Birth Center will still feature a host of cute baby animals to pet and look at.

Now tell me, what isn’t there to love? At least besides the blistering heat, massive crowds, and strenuous parking situations.

Fast Facts

Pool Party: Walmart has been selling pool noodles like hotcakes. Combining all the pool noodles sold last quarter would stretch the length of 30,000 football fields, according to according to CFO David Rainey. 

Chicken Wire: Perdue recalled 167,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after consumers found metal wire in some packages.

Island Increase: A review of land data on 709 atolls (small, shallow islands often found in chains) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans found that 89% of the tiny land masses have grown in size or stayed the same over the past several decades, while only 11% shrunk.

Dictators Dream: North Korea is set to reopen to tourists for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Sub Sales: Subway reportedly convened an “emergency” meeting of franchisees to unveil new plans that would get customers in stores amid a big sales drop.