Microsoft valuation surges above $4 trillion as AI lifts stocks
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were trading above all-time closing highs early Thursday, supported also by strong earnings from Facebook parent Meta and a US trade deal with South Korea that offset data showing an uptick in US inflation in June. — Agence France-Presse
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The new award is designed to gradually boost Musk's voting power, something he and shareholders have consistently said was key to keeping him focused on Tesla's mission. REUTERS/ Gonzalo Fuentes/ File photo Tesla has granted 96 million new shares worth about $29 billion to CEO Elon Musk, a move aimed at keeping the billionaire entrepreneur at the helm as he fights a court ruling that voided his original pay deal for being unfair to shareholders. In 2024, a Delaware court voided Musk's 2018 compensation package, valued at over $50 billion, citing that the Tesla board's approval process was flawed and unfair to shareholders. Musk kicked off an appeal in March against the order, claiming a lower court judge made multiple legal errors in rescinding the record compensation. Earlier this year, Tesla said its board had formed a special committee to consider some compensation matters involving Musk, without disclosing details. Tesla is at a turning point as Musk, its largest shareholder with a 13% stake, shifts focus from a promised affordable EV platform to robotaxis and humanoid robots, positioning the company more as an AI and robotics firm than an automaker. The new award is designed to gradually boost Musk's voting power, something he and shareholders have consistently said was key to keeping him focused on Tesla's mission, the special committee said in the filing. "While we recognize Elon's business ventures, interests and other potential demands on his time and attention are extensive and are confident that this award will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla," the committee said in a regulatory filing on Monday. It added that if the Delaware courts fully reinstate the 2018 CEO Performance Award, the new interim grant will either be forfeited or offset and there will be no "double dip," it added. The interim award shares vest only if Musk remains in a key executive role through 2027. They also come with a five-year holding period except to cover tax payments or the purchase price. Musk must pay Tesla $23.34 per share of restricted stock that vests, which is equal to the exercise price per share of the 2018 CEO Award, the company said in Monday's filing. Tesla shares rose more than 2% in premarket trading. Falling sales The stock has lost about a quarter of its value so far this year as the company grapples with a decline in sales wrought by its aging vehicle line-up, tough competition and Musk's political stances that have alienated some potential buyers. The challenges have been worsened by US government cuts in support for EVs, with Musk saying at a post-earnings call last month that the waning subsidies could lead to a "few rough quarters" for the company before a wave of revenue from self-driving software and services begins late next year. Data from research firm S&P Global Mobility shared exclusively with Reuters on Monday showed that Tesla's brand loyalty had plunged since Musk endorsed US President Donald Trump last summer. Tesla's aging lineup also faces stiffer competition from an array of EVs from legacy automakers, including General Motors, Hyundai and BMW. Cybertruck, the only new model Tesla has released since 2020, has proved to be a flop despite Musk's prediction of hundreds of thousands of annual sales. — Reuters
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US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — US President Donald Trump on Friday fired a top Labor Department official on the heels of a market-shocking weak scorecard of the US job market, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the figures and adding to already growing concerns about the quality of economic data published by the federal government. In a second surprise economic policy development, the door for Trump to make an imprint on a Federal Reserve with which he clashes almost daily for not lowering interest rates opened much earlier than anticipated when Fed Governor Adriana Kugler unexpectedly announced her resignation on Friday afternoon. 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She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Data concerns A Trump administration official who requested anonymity said that while all economic data is noisy, the White House has been dissatisfied with how large the revisions have been in the recent data and issues with lower survey responses. The problem started during COVID and has not been addressed in the years since. "There are these underlying problems that have been festering here for years now that have not been rectified," the person said. "The markets and companies and the government need accurate data, and like, we just weren't getting that," the official said. The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report, citing resource constraints. The government surveys about 121,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 631,000 individual worksites for the employment report. The response rate has declined from 80.3% in October 2020 to about 67.1% in July, BLS data shows. A Reuters poll last month found 89 of 100 top policy experts had at least some worries about the quality of US economic data, with most also concerned that authorities are not addressing the issue urgently enough. In addition to the concerns over job market data, headcount reductions at BLS have resulted in it scaling back the scope of data collection for the Consumer Price Index, one of the most important gauges of US inflation, watched by investors and policymakers worldwide. Trump's move fed into concerns that politics may influence data collection and publication. "Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act," said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute's Roosevelt Forward. "Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America's economic data is the foundation on which we've built the strongest economy in the world. 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Leading candidates for the next Fed chair include Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and Fed Governor Chris Waller, a Trump appointee who this week dissented with the central bank's decision to keep rates on hold, saying he preferred to start lowering them now. Trump, as he was leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate, said he was happy to have the open slot to fill. "I would not read any political motivation into what [Kugler is] doing, although the consequence of what she's doing is she's calling Trump's bluff," said Derek Tang, an analyst at LH Meyer, a research firm. "She's putting the ball in his court and saying, look, you're putting so much pressure on the Fed, and you want some control over nominees, well, here's a slot." — Reuters
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Microsoft valuation surges above $4 trillion as AI lifts stocks
NEW YORK — Microsoft surged above $4 trillion in market value early Thursday following strong earnings, as investor bullishness for artificial intelligence lifted major indices further into record territory. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were trading above all-time closing highs early Thursday, supported also by strong earnings from Facebook parent Meta and a US trade deal with South Korea that offset data showing an uptick in US inflation in June. — Agence France-Presse
