Georgia Decides | China’s New Richest Person | Tracking The Stimulus Check

Plus: How The Stock Market Might Perform If Democrats Sweep Georgia

Good morning.

It’s a big day for democracy in America as Congress meets to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, off the back of Senate runoff elections in Georgia which puts control of Congress within the Democrats’ reach. We also look at how China’s bottled water mogul became the world’s sixth richest person, and at fintech startup Affirm’s upcoming IPO.

In The News Today

Georgia elected its first-ever Black Senator, Democrat Raphael Warnock, and could put Democrats in a position to take control of the Senate should Democrat Jon Ossoff win over incumbent Senator David Perdue.

The World Health Organization has expressed disappointment after China denied entry to an international team of experts studying the origins of the novel coronavirus.

Top Take-Aways

Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly told President Donald Trump he lacks the power to overturn the election result due to be certified by Congress today.

President Trump has signed an executive order that effectively bans a number of Chinese apps including Ant Group’s Alipay, WeChat Pay, and Tencent QQ in the U.S.

While Chinese fintechs struggle, American ones thrive. Affirm, the San Francisco buy-now, pay-later startup led by PayPal cofounder Max Levchin, has priced its IPO in the range of $33 to $38 per share, implying a valuation of around $9 billion.

China’s newly crowned richest person, Zhong Shanshan, is perhaps better known for his bottled water empire—but it's his controlling stake in a pharmaceutical firm that produces test kits for infectious diseases that is responsible for his skyrocketing net worth.

The World Bank said it expects global economic output to report a complete recovery in 2021, but warned that surging levels of government debt could hamper growth in the years to come.

The IRS has launched the Get My Payment tool in English and Spanish to help people track the status of both their first and second stimulus check—here’s what you need to know.

While passengers are flying less, air travel safety arguably matters more than ever. AirlineRatings.com released its annual list of the world’s safest airlines for 2021—only one U.S. carrier makes the top ten.

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