Texas Turnout Tide | Amy Coney Barrett’s Confirmation | South Korea’s Samsung King Dies

Plus: Trump Has Sold $118 Million Worth Of Property Since Taking Office

Good morning.

Voters across the U.S. have cast their ballots in record numbers ahead of election day on November 3, with one state leading the way. In Texas, voters have already submitted 7 million votes, approximately 80% of the number of total ballots cast in 2016.

The Biden campaign sees Texas as an election battleground, with Kamala Harris becoming the first vice-presidential contender to campaign in the Lone Star state in three decades. The Trump side appears confident in Texas resisting a blue wave—Trump isn’t making a campaign stop there at all—despite polls showing a close race in traditionally red-voting states.

In other news today, the Senate is expected to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, South Korea’s richest person has died, Facebook is changing Whatsapp forever.

And in case you missed it, senior editor Dan Alexander reported on how at least $5.4 million has flowed into the president’s business from a lease agreement involving a Chinese state-owned bank in Trump Tower.


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What Else To Know Now

A recent executive order from the Trump administration will make it easier to fire federal employees such as economists and yes, scientists like Dr Anthony Fauci.

The Department of Health and Human Services reportedly cancelled a coronavirus vaccine advertising plan that would have offered Santa Claus performers early access to a Covid-19 vaccine in exchange for promoting its benefits to the public.

Top Take-Aways

A Democratic filibuster to delay the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett failed on Sunday, with senators voting 51-48—largely along party lines—all but guaranteeing the result of a final vote on Monday.

President Trump joined millions of Americans who have voted early, in person. He cast his ballot in Florida and once again disparaged mail-in voting—despite Trump campaign ads purportedly showing a mail-in ballot with his signature.

A majority of the U.S. states who are best-placed to lead a clean energy transition voted for Trump in the 2016 election—but the president continues to dismiss renewable energy despite the sector’s increased growth.

The Biden campaign has received more than double the amount pledged to Trump by billionaire donors in the last two weeks of October. Billionaires are also dumping millions into pro-Trump or pro-Biden super-PACs, which do not have contribution limits.

Lee Kun-hee, the 78-year-old ailing chief of the sprawling Samsung empire, has died in Seoul on Sunday. South Korea’s richest man, Lee was perhaps most famous for telling his executives to “change everything but your wife and kids,” in a 1993 declaration that shaped the tech giant for decades to come.

Morgan Stanley has nearly doubled its valuation of Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX—from $52 billion in July to over $100 billion. Here is why Forbes is sticking with investors’ more conservative valuation.

Whatsapp announced plans to enable commercial functionalities such as shopping, payments and customer service—but can the Facebook-owned messaging platform turn from personal communication to commerce without compromising on security?

Big Number: $7.2 billion—the estimated amount of unpaid rent that 1.3 million renter households ($5,400 each) will owe by December 31, when the national eviction moratorium is due to expire. 

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