🌍 Tipping toward $4 trillion

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Here’s what you need to know

Apple became the world’s most valuable company. At least for a bit, as the tech giant tussled with Microsoft and Nvidia for the No. 1 spot in market value, one that’s nearing the $3.3 trillion mark for all three.

Speaking of — a $4 trillion market cap isn’t out of the question for the companies this year, one analyst said. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives made the prediction in a research note yesterday.

Tesla investors are voting on Elon Musk’s pay today. If investors re-approve the plan, it could pave the way for Musk to buy up to 304 million Tesla shares.

Southwest Airlines CEO said he’s not quitting. Activist investor Elliott Management may have told Bob Jordan to get lost, but that’s not on his to-do list.

Johnson & Johnson will pay $700 million to settle talc baby powder suit. The case, which involved 42 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, alleged that the company misled consumers about the safety of its products.

The web is teeming with Ozempic scammers

Soaring demand for Ozempic, Wegovy and other weight loss drugs has boosted business for another line of work: online scams.

The scammers typically offer Ozempic and other weight loss drugs at a heavily discounted price and instead deliver either allergy medicine, insulin, saline solution, or nothing at all.

Here is the scope of just how much scams have proliferated on the web, according to a new report by digital security company McAfee:

183%: Increase in malicious phishing scams tied to Ozempic, Wegovy, and semaglutide in just the first four months of 2024

449: Risky websites identified

176,000: Phishing attempts

207: Scam postings on Craigslist and similar online marketplaces

Quartz’s Bruce Gil writes about what people should watch out for.

One big number: $17 billion

How much Larry Ellison, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Oracle, saw his net worth climb by because of the company’s stock rally

Ellison’s net worth made a $17 billion leap to $170 billion yesterday, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires tracker. This was the day’s largest gain of any billionaire on the list, Forbes said, and made Ellison the fifth richest person in the world.

More from Quartz

💰 The crypto company that tanked the market will pay an almost $4.5 billion penalty

😬 Elon Musk and SpaceX face a new sexual harassment lawsuit

🚛 FedEx is laying off up to 2,000 employees

🏨 76% of hotels are still understaffed even amid a ‘hiring spree’

📈 Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk could soon top Lego as Denmark’s biggest brand

😲 Boeing sold only 4 new planes last month — and zero 737 Max jets

Surprising discoveries

Vote for me and I’ll let AI call the shots, a candidate for mayor vowed. “I realized that this entity is way smarter than me, and more importantly, way better than some of the outward-facing public servants I see,” Victor Miller of Cheyenne, Wyoming said, per Wired.

Mars’s biggest mountains have early morning frost. When it’s especially cold, as much as 60 Olympic swimming pools worth of water can condense daily on the peaks.

Three kinds of instant ramen were banned in Denmark for being too spicy. Regulators are worried about how the capsaicin inside may affect kids.

Back in 2016, there was a one-way, first-class suite flight between New York and Abu Dhabi that cost $38,000. It included a three-room suite with a living room, double bed, and private bathroom with shower, and while it will likely never fly again, airlines sure won’t stop trying to woo business travelers. The latest Quartz obsession email looks at business class and why it’s so lucrative. Don’t get the obsession yet? Sign up for the weekly emails here.

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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, business class tickets, and spicy instant ramen to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.