TECH

Musk Takes a Bite Out of Apple

We kick off your Saturday morning with a cartoon—or at least a story that feels like one.

Elon Musk, Apple, and a Wall Street Journal reporter found themselves at the center of a social media beef that goes back to Apple's potential acquisition of Tesla in 2016...and previews the electric vehicle fights yet to come.

It all started when a review of a new book about Tesla by the WSJ’s Tim Higgins revealed that Elon Musk told the CEO of Apple that he wanted to become the CEO of Apple.

The context: 

• According to Higgins’s book, Apple boss Tim Cook and Musk were on the phone discussing a potential acquisition of Tesla by Apple. Once Musk lobbed the idea of him running Apple, Cook angrily hung up the phone.
• Musk denied the conversation took place. “Cook & I have never spoken or written to each other ever,” he said on Twitter. 

Musk was clearly feeling spicy because later in the day he tweeted, “Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the internet. Epic is right.” He’s referencing the lawsuit filed by Fortnite developer Epic Games that attacks Apple’s meaty cut of App Store revenue. 

Musk's been at this for a while

On Tuesday, Musk turned an ordinarily dull earnings call for Tesla’s Q2 into a popcorn-and-white-wine event when he attacked Apple not once but twice. One of those moments:

• “Our goal is to support the advent of sustainable energy,” Musk said. “It is not to create a walled garden and use that to bludgeon our competitors, which is sometimes used by some companies.” And then he, and we can’t make this up, fake coughed and said “Apple” like a middle school student interrupting class.

Why would Musk be angry with a smartphone maker? Since 2014, Apple has been developing an autonomous, electric vehicle that would compete with Tesla, a project Musk has mocked for years. He told the German newspaper Handelsblatt in 2015, “No, seriously, it’s good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches.” 

Musk also called Apple a “Tesla graveyard” where employees who couldn’t hack it at his company ended up. 

Zoom out: As the most valuable public company in the world, Apple's got a $2.4 trillion target on its back. Tesla joins Epic Games, Facebook, Spotify, and many other companies trying to chip away at its dominance. 

HOUSING

Requiem for a Moratorium

The CDC's eviction moratorium ends today, leaving millions of Americans uncertain about their housing future. House Democrats rushed to extend it yesterday, citing the Delta variant and a lagging rental aid program, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

The backstory: President Trump first signed an executive order protecting renters last August, and the CDC handed down a freeze on evictions in September. That moratorium has been extended three times.

• Landlords have come out against more extensions, saying they’ve already footed the bill for $27 billion in unpaid rent.

Another program introduced to help out renters has failed miserably. Out of the $47 billion in rental aid that was approved, only $3 billion had been used as of June. It was up to states to divvy up the money, but they’ve struggled to set up programs to do so.

Looking ahead...some states have already extended their own eviction moratoriums past July, but 8.2 million adults remain behind on their rent or mortgage as of July 5, per the Census Bureau.

TRAVEL

Smokey Bear Says: Only Congress Can Help Us

The Senate subcommittee for National Parks held a hearing Wednesday to discuss how everyone you went to high school with took a hiking vacation this summer.

31+ million people visited a National Park in June alone, resulting in overcrowding and hours-long wait times for trails and entrance into parks.

• Yellowstone recorded almost 1 million visits in June, up 64% from June 2020 and 20% from June 2019. 2021 is already the park’s busiest year on record.

But parks and their neighboring towns are short on resources. From 2011–2019, US park staff decreased 16%. And it’s not just a problem because visitors are bored waiting in line; less staff + huge crowds = more litter and park defacement. 

Looking ahead...some parks have already instituted ticketed entry to alleviate congestion, but one of the biggest problems is the amount of actual car traffic in parks. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill currently being negotiated could expand parks' transit services.

+ This isn’t going to help matters, but we just think you should know: Entry to all National Parks is free next Wednesday on the one-year anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act.

SPONSORED BY WALMART

We’re Gonna Say the Word ‘Save’ A Lot

You know we always like to be honest with you, dear reader. So don’t be surprised when we have said the word “save” about 50 times by the end of today’s content for Walmart+.

Of course, Walmart+ is the membership that can save you time and money. You get free same-day delivery¹ on fresh groceries and more from your store, and also free shipping with no order minimum². 

That’s two things that save you time and money. Oh, want another way to save? How about getting select prescriptions for free³? No need to save your applause for that one. You’ll also get member prices on fuel with Walmart+, which can help you save at the pump.

Want to know what all these savings add up to? We saved that for a little later in the ol’ Newsletter.

Keep reading, or go ahead and save yourself some time and sign up for Walmart+ and get a free 15-day trial here.

GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: 45% of remote employees work from a couch regularly, according to a study from home improvement marketing firm CraftJack. It gets even crazier: 38% of remote workers work from their bed regularly, 20% work outdoors, and 19%...in a closet. 

Quote: US Soccer “has spent more than three decades treating the women as an afterthought, discriminating against them through inferior wages and working conditions, and forcing the women to struggle for the equal pay and fair treatment they deserve.”

For the first time, the US men’s soccer team got directly involved in the women’s wage discrimination lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation. Representatives for the men’s union wrote that the organization’s treatment toward women “sends a corrosive public message to women and girls.”

Read: For some light weekend reading, here’s how the coronavirus infects cells and why Delta is so dangerous. (Nature)

PERSONAL FINANCE

Money Matters: How to Practice Safe Investing

In this new Summer 2021 segment, the Brew’s personal finance writer Ryan Lasker is nose-diving into our inbox to address your personal finance questions. Submit your money woes here.

Stock market index funds are known as the “safe” method of investing, but they can still tank with the market. Are they really a good option for my savings?—Alex from Florida

Stock market index funds can be a great way to grow your savings—in the long-term. 

Here’s why investing pros like them: built-in diversification. In a single transaction, you’re investing in hundreds, even thousands, of companies across a variety of sectors. Diversification helps you avoid irreparable, Tower of Terror-esque drops in your portfolio’s value. It’s exactly what the (former?) dogecoin millionaire didn’t do.

But if you’re looking to tap into your savings in the next five years, you may want to look elsewhere than the stock market. Like you said, markets sometimes tank (the S&P 500 has dropped more than 10% several times per decade), which is OK if you don’t need the money right away.

Still, since their inception, the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow have recovered from every loss and reached new heights.

PS: Later this summer, Ryan will be writing a twice-weekly personal finance newsletter to make you smarter about your money. Become one of the first subscribers.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Walmart and Disney, two of the country's largest private employers, are requiring some of their workers to be vaccinated.
• Former President Trump’s tax returns must be handed over to the House Ways and Means Committee, the DOJ said yesterday.
• Broadway shows will require proof of vaccination and masks when they return this fall.
• How mixed reality is transforming the travel industry.

Olympics links

• US swimmer Caeleb Dressel set a world record as he took gold in the men's 100m butterfly. 
• The US women’s soccer team beat the Netherlands on penalty kicks to advance to the semifinal.
• Here’s every wipeout from surfing’s Olympic debut.
• Top-notch camera work.

SPONSORED BY WALMART

The savings spiel continues. With Walmart+, you’ll save 1.5 hours per week⁴, $84 per year on fuel⁵, and $816 per year on groceries⁶. We’ll save you the trouble and just go ahead and yell, “Yowza,” for you. Seems that when Walmart+ says it’s the membership that can save you time and money, they mean it. Get a free 15-day Walmart+ membership right here.

BREW'S BETS

What to watch this weekend: Woodstock 99 and The White Lotus on HBO Max, the Lollapalooza livestream on Hulu, and The Green Knight in theaters.

Weekend conversation starters:

• Define “herd mentality.”
• Is this the best way to enter a baseball game?
• What is the nicest thing someone’s said to you? (Shoutout to Jane.) 
• A game that's literally about conversation starters

FROM THE CREW

Want to Win Me?

Of course you do. Our inaugural Business Olympiad, where readers select standouts from around the business world, has reached Finals Week, and it’s time to up the stakes. 

Introducing Predict the Podium, a competition where you'll have the chance to guess who will take home the gold, silver, and bronze medals in each Olympiad event. The most accurate prognosticator will walk home with those stylin’ custom Brew sneaks.

Predict the Podium here.

GAMES

Brew Crossword: Splash

New look, same great crossword for your Saturday morning. Play it here.

✳︎ A Note From Walmart

1. $35 order minimum.  Restrictions apply.
2. Excludes freight & Marketplace items
3. Not available in all states. The program is not insurance & cannot be combined with insurance.
4. Savings based on 2 store trips per week. Excludes time spent shopping online
5. Savings based on 140 gallons per month per family & 16 miles consumed per gallon.
6. Savings based on 2 deliveries per week vs. non-member $7.95 fee.