Tesla's S&P 500 Milestone | Bezos’ $800 Million Climate Gifts | Hurricane Iota’s Threat

Plus: America’s New Wind Billionaire Says The Green Revolution Has Been Won 

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Positive results from the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine trials injected a new dose of optimism in the fight against coronavirus—but increasing deaths from diseases like measles, for which effective vaccines exist, remind us that the fight against the pandemic needs to occur on multiple fronts. We also look at the recipients of Jeff Bezos’ Earth Fund’s first donations and lift the lid on Airbnb’s performance as the company files for its IPO.

In The News Today

The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump last week asked for options on a possible military strike on Iran’s main nuclear site in his last weeks in office.

Huawei has sold its low-budget smartphone subsidiary, Honor, in a bid to beat U.S. sanctions and allow the company to survive.

Top Take-Aways

“I couldn’t have expected better results,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel tells Forbes, commenting on the company’s preliminary data from phase 3 trial of their Covid-19 vaccine. It’s another watershed moment in the fight against coronavirus—this is how stocks reacted and, more generally, what you need to know about Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.

The existence of an effective vaccine isn’t enough to stop the spread of a deadly disease—look at what’s happening with measles, a vaccine-preventable disease that was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but whose infection and death rates are now climbing.

The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted yet another blow to billionaire Richard Branson, whose space tourism startup Virgin Galactic had to reschedule a planned spaceflight test in line with New Mexico’s latest restrictions—causing a 10% drop in the company’s shares.

In a year that could have broken Airbnb, a company filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed Monday, ahead of its IPO, showed some signs of resilience despite growing losses.

Tesla will enter the prestigious S&P 500 next month, a landmark moment for the 17-year-old electric carmaker, whose shares are now up more than 440% for the year.

Hurricane Iota, the 30th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, is heading to Central America and rapidly intensifying, to the point it could become the strongest storm of the 2020 season, which is not even over yet.

Jeff Bezos has announced the first recipients to receive donations as part of his $10 billion Earth Fund. Nearly $800 million were disbursed to 16 organizations working on fighting climate change and protecting the environment and wildlife.

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