The United States is not afraid to take ideas from other countries—we borrowed democracy from Greece, hockey from Canada, and apple pie from Britain. But what about a sovereign wealth fund?

The idea of the US establishing a sovereign wealth fund akin to Norway’s or Abu Dhabi’s gained momentum in the last week across the political spectrum. Former President Trump endorsed the concept during a speech on his economic policy agenda for a second term, and the Biden administration has been quietly cheffing up a proposal for a wealth fund over the past several months, Bloomberg reported.

What is a sovereign wealth fund?

It’s essentially an investment fund run by the government. Similar to how a hedge fund or a private equity firm operates, the government would set aside a pot of money and invest it in assets such as stocks, bonds, startups, or real estate.

It’s about more than making money: Trump and Biden officials described the fund as a key tool the country could deploy to win the global technological arms race and better compete against geopolitical rivals like China. For example, the wealth fund could finance capital-intensive sectors such as shipbuilding, nuclear fission, and quantum cryptography that don’t offer near-term ROI for private investors.

But just because we could, doesn’t mean we should

Critics of a US sovereign wealth fund point out that most other places that have created one—Norway, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, etc.—share a common trait: They made oodles of money selling oil and run budget surpluses. The US, on the other hand, has spent more than it takes in every year since 2001 and has a total debt load of more than $35 trillion. It is not remotely in a fiscal position to pursue a sovereign wealth fund, opponents say.

Zoom out: The United States may not have a sovereign wealth fund, but certain states do. Alaska, for instance, established a state fund in 1976 from its oil wealth and doled out $1,312 to every Alaskan last year.—NF

Monogram (Nasdaq: MGRM), known for their autonomous robotic surgical systems, completed a crowdfunded public offering and Nasdaq listing last year. What’s next?

They just filed for FDA approval to market and commercialize their patented AI joint replacement tech. By the year 2027, 50% of knee replacement surgeries will be robotic—up from 12% today.

Now, Monogram’s offering a new chance for investors: the opportunity to invest in preferred stock with an 8% dividend (in cash or kind). Their common stock closed as high as $3.18 in the past two weeks, but the unlisted preferred stock (which is convertible into one share of common) is available for $2.25/share.

Monogram currently plans to close the Series D Preferred offering on September 12, 2024.

Starliner returns home safely but without its astronauts. The Boeing capsule with enough malfunctions that NASA deemed it too risky to transport its crew back to Earth touched down in the New Mexico desert just after midnight on Saturday morning. NASA’s Steve Stich said that everything went so well with the capsule that in hindsight it would have been an “easy decision” to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams home on the flight. Instead, they will remain in space until February (assuming there are no delays) as they await a lift home from a SpaceX spacecraft.

In more Boeing news, the company likely avoided a disastrous strike. Boeing reached an agreement with the Machinists union on a new contract, probably averting a huge strike that was set to begin Friday (assuming membership approves the tentative deal, which is being lauded by both sides). The 33,000 West Coast employees represented by the union will receive a 25% pay increase over the four-year contract, bigger contributions to 401(k) plans from Boeing, more time off, and reduced employee contributions for health insurance plans. The deal also includes a promise from Boeing to build its next new plane at a union plant in the Puget Sound area.

Americans come up short in US Open finals. American Jessica Pegula fell to Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka 7–5, 7–5 in the women’s final on Saturday, one year after Sabalenka lost in the final to American Coco Gauff. Sabalenka became the sixth woman to win the US Open after losing in the final the previous year and the first to do it since Serena Williams in 2012. One day later, American Taylor Fritz lost 6–3, 6–4, 7–5 to Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the men’s final. Fritz was attempting to become the first American man to win a major title since Andy Roddick pulled it off in 2003.

OnlyFans—the platform you pretend to only vaguely know about—revealed some stunning (financial) figures on Friday, showing that the adult content giant remains on its rocket-ship trajectory following its pandemic boom.

• Revenue rose 20% in the fiscal year ending November 2023 to $1.3 billion and profits grew to $485.5 million, also a 20% gain.
• The number of OnlyFans creators jumped 29% to 4.1 million. Users swelled 28% to 305 million and spent $6.6 billion on the platform, up from $5.6 billion a year ago.

All this is making OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky absurdly rich. He received $472 million in dividends in the fiscal year and has earned more than $1 billion over the previous three years.

What’s the secret to success? The lucrative business model of user-generated content. OnlyFans creators sell videos, photos, and private messages to customers through one-time fees or recurring subscriptions, and the platform takes a 20% cut.

It’s distancing itself from the pack. MindGeek, the company that operates Incognito mode regulars Pornhub and Brazzers, only does about half as much business as OnlyFans. These days, OnlyFans is likely the “biggest and most profitable (mostly) porn operation in the world,” per Business Insider’s Peter Kafka.—DL

Stay ahead of cold season. Being sick takes a toll on the whole family, especially parents, who are missing work at record rates to take care of their sick kids. That’s why Needed, in partnership with perinatal and pediatric practitioners, created an easy-to-take, delicious Immune Support designed for the whole family—little ones included. Get 20% off today with code HELLONEEDED.

The Washington Wizards legend and former Chicago Bull has had his mansion north of Chicago on the market for 12 years and counting, the WSJ reports. Despite lowering the initial asking price from $29 million to $14.855 million—those latter digits add up to his iconic “23” jersey number—finding a buyer has been difficult. And maybe it’s because of that obsession with 23: The 56,000-square-foot home comes with a bespoke gate adorned with “23” along with other Jordan-specific features that have made it difficult to sell, something luminaries like Derek Jeter, Joe Pesci, and Slash have run into when selling their ultra-personalized properties.

If you’re looking for fodder for a Jordan–LeBron debate, James put his Los Angeles house on the market in 2021 for $20.5 million and sold it three months later for $19.6 million.

It’s chonky.

Apple will unveil iPhone 16 and more at its most important event of the year: The star of today’s “Glowtime” event will be Apple Intelligence, the company’s collection of AI features designed to bring the newest iPhone into the future and make it somewhat confusing when you see “AI” typed out somewhere. Apple Intelligence will be integrated into apps like Notes and Mail and help upgrade Siri, though not for another several months.

Google and the DOJ return to court for a rematch: Last month, the DOJ won a landmark case against Google when a judge ruled the company maintained an illegal monopoly on the online search market. Prosecutors will present a similar argument about Google’s advertising tech in a second antitrust trial beginning today. They’ll try to prove that Google used monopolistic tactics to drive up prices for customers, lock in publishers and advertisers to its products, and force websites to develop workarounds in response. One analyst estimated that a loss could result in Google paying at least $100 billion in damages to advertisers.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will debate on Tuesday: In their only scheduled debate before the presidential election in November, Harris and Trump will have their microphones turned off when the other person is speaking and no live audience, which is a real shame with the event taking place in Philadelphia. ABC News’s David Muir and Linsey Davis will serve as moderators as polls show a neck-and-neck race for president.

Everything else…

• Wednesday marks the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.
• The 76th annual Primetime Emmys will air on ABC on Sunday, hosted by father-son duo Eugene Levy and Dan Levy. FX’s Shogun (25) and The Bear (23) lead the way in nominations.
• Friday the 13th is…well, you can figure that one out.