WEALTH

Great Scott!

Yesterday, MacKenzie Scott announced she donated $2.7 billion to 286 organizations working to address issues including poverty, racial equity, and higher education.

In her 2019 divorce settlement with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott received a 4% slice of Amazon, which was worth $36 billion at the time. Thanks to the company's rising valuation, today she's the world's 20th wealthiest person.

But she's not like other billionaires

The speed and volume of Scott's giving, as well as the types of organizations she's supporting, is "highly unconventional," the NYT reports. 

Instead of splashing her name across a big foundation or philanthropic effort like, just for the sake of example, her ex-husband's Bezos Earth Fund, Scott focuses on direct giving to smaller institutions that may be passed over by the biggest donors.

Last year, she dispersed $6 billion in what is believed to be a record annual sum by a living person. And there's plenty more where that came from: Like some other billionaires who have pledged to give away their fortune, Scott's wealth continues to grow faster than she can spend it; Forbes estimates her current net worth at $60 billion.

Will Jeff follow suit? 

In 2020, Bezos created a $10 billion climate change fund and announced the first ~$800 million in grants. He's expected to be slower dishing out his fortune while he decides how to maximize its impact.

But donations from Scott's and Bezos's Amazon fortunes can be a catch-22 for activists, who on the one hand may not want money tinted by a large carbon footprint and allegations of labor abuse...but on the other hand could really use the funds.

Big picture: As a recent ProPublica report reminded us, many billionaires' wealth is structured in such a way that they pay next to nothing in income taxes. Scott acknowledged wealth disparities in a Medium post announcing her donations yesterday, writing, "It would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands, and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others."

FINANCE

The Big Four's Getting Bigger

A quarter of the Big Four accounting firms is getting about one-third bigger, to be more precise. Yesterday, PwC said it'll spend $12 billion to grow its workforce, which currently stands at 284,000, by 100,000 over the next five years.

Where will those hires come from?

1) The Asia-Pacific region, where PwC plans to double its presence

2) 10,000 from its college mentorship program for Black and Latino students

3) Candidates with experience in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and artificial intelligence/machine learning

PwC also plans to shake up some of its current workforce by combining its accounting and tax services divisions into a new unit called "trust solutions." Following Big Four scandals involving tax shelters and sketchy auditing practices, the firm is looking to rebuild clients' trust.

• FYI, PwC's revenue growth is slowing, and it ranks third among the Big Four in market share. 

Bottom line: PwC is betting that helping clients with their diversity and sustainability initiatives will be key to its competitiveness.

ECONOMY

The Experience Economy Is Back

Retail sales fell 1.3% in May, which may not seem that important or interesting until you consider how it reflects major changes in the post-Covid economy.

What's going on: People are paying less for things, like sweatpants, and more for experiences, like things you shouldn't do in sweatpants. This is the opposite of what happened during the pandemic, when people could really only buy...things. 

To illustrate the point, restaurant sales have eclipsed grocery sales for the first time since March of last year. 

Restaurant Business

Less spending on goods and more spending on services could bring better balance to the off-kilter economy. The surge in demand for physical products last year caused supply chains to become more tangled than your headphones, sending consumer prices higher. 

Along with alleviating pressure on supply chains, more services spending means people are finally enjoying experiences they couldn't during the pandemic, like vacations and live music.  

Bottom line: Consumer spending has rebounded from the 2020 recession, but stimulus payments, supply chain bottlenecks, and business reopenings are clouding the long-term picture. 

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: Turns out your morning brew can deliver business news in five minutes and reduce your probability of death. Studies show that people who drank three-to-five cups of coffee a day were 15% less likely to die early from all causes, and moderate coffee drinkers showed a 50% reduction in suicide risk, per the NYT.

Quote: “If you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York. None of this, ‘I'm in Colorado and work in New York and am getting paid like I'm sitting in New York City.’”

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman wants to see employees back at the bank's offices by Labor Day or else face a pay cut. “If you can go into a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office,” he said at a conference yesterday, echoing other top bank chiefs who are over remote work.

Read: Decadence and Andreessen's dilemma. (Ross Douthat)

MEDIA

Call Spotify Daddy

And only Spotify. The not-just-music streamer has purchased the exclusive rights to the Call Her Daddy podcast from Barstool Sports. Variety reports the three-year deal is valued at more than $60 million.

Some background for the non-Daddy gang: Call Her Daddy is the fifth-most popular podcast on Spotify and consistently in the top 15 across all platforms. The raunchy pod was originally co-hosted by Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn—before a contract dispute with Barstool split the duo.

What this deal means for Spotify: The company continues to ramp up its investments in podcasts. It's previously struck exclusive deals with the Obamas, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Joe Rogan (not a list we expected to write today) and acquired podcast companies including Gimlet and Anchor. 

What it means for Barstool: CEO Erika Nardini said on her podcast yesterday that host Alex Cooper will "still be partnering with Barstool Sports," but not on podcasts. Instead, watch out for a newsletter and merchandise platform.

Looking ahead...Call Her Daddy will start airing exclusively on Spotify July 21.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Lina Khan, a prominent Big Tech critic, was confirmed as the commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.  
• DraftKings stock fell 4.2% yesterday after Hindenburg Research (of Nikola and Lordstown Motors fame) said it has a short position in the sports gambling company.
• The US and EU reached a truce in their 17-year trade conflict over aircraft subsidies to Boeing and Airbus. 
• The original code for Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web is up for auction at Sotheby's as an NFT.
• What went down during the pandemic at JFK8, Amazon's only fulfillment center in NYC.

BREW'S BETS

An investment worth sprinkling a little cash into. Irrigreen’s Robotic Sprinkler Head is poised to disrupt the $6 billion landscaping industry with tech that eliminates waste and reduces outdoor water bills. Learn more about investing in Irrigreen here.*

Zero’s the hero. High interest on a high credit card balance flat out stinks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. This card is a top pick for 0% interest rates on both balance transfers and purchases. Scope the deets here.*

Word search: We've got a brand new game for you today—a word search, but with a special Brew twist. Try it out here.

Think again: Here's a long list of common misconceptions from Wikipedia. Did you know that Napoleon wasn't short, but was in fact taller than the average Frenchman of his time?

FROM THE CREW

Mission Palmpossible?

Retail Brew is the newsletter that gives you insights and analysis on all the action in the retail industry. Lately, they’ve been getting their hands dirty. By placing them all over Amazon’s new pay-by-palm system. Yep, Retail Brew just tested out Amazon One, the company's biometric in-store checkout tech. Read here to find out how well the futuristic solution works.

GAMES

Podcast Trivia

If Call Her Daddy was the fifth-most popular podcast on Spotify last year, what were the other four? 

ANSWER

1. The Joe Rogan Experience 2. TED Talks Daily 3. The Daily 4. The Michelle Obama Podcast