🌍 Musk gets the funds

Good morning,  Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

Elon Musk secured $7 billion in funding to buy Twitter. Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder and Tesla board member, is pitching in $1 billion.

Rate hikes didn’t go over well… Stocks slumped on Wall Street, with the Nasdaq and Dow indices having their worst days since 2020.

…but oil’s doing swell. Prices rose to their highest since March, buoyed by an OPEC+ output ratification and a US plan to replenish crude reserves later this year.

The US publishes April’s jobs report. The data are released at 8.30am US eastern time today, and growth is expected to remain strong.

Boeing is moving its headquarters to the Washington area. The company is shifting from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia, because of “proximity to our customers and stakeholders.”

What to watch for

Hong Kong will put on a show of “democracy” on Sunday (May 8) when a tiny group of electors votes for a single Beijing-approved candidate who is all but guaranteed the job of chief executive.

That person is John Lee, an ex-cop and former security chief who pushed for a disastrous extradition law that sparked massive protests in 2019. For that debacle, Lee was rewarded with a promotion to the city’s second highest office. Now, barring unforeseen circumstances, he will become Hong Kong’s top official. (Like his predecessor Carrie Lam, Lee is sanctioned by the US).

Preordained elections are hallmarks of authoritarian regimes. But Lee’s appointment is also significant for another reason: he’ll be the city’s first chief executive without an extensive civil service or business background. His law enforcement pedigree suggests national security issues are China’s top priority for Hong Kong.

How to drink sustainably

If your Cinco de Mayo drinking plans are extending into the weekend (but for various reasons, you’re done with tequila), you may be tempted by mezcal.

Over the past decade, mezcal has increasingly joined tequila as the Mexican spirit of choice. But with booze comes overindulgence. In the case of mezcal, the boom has led to the overharvesting of wild agaves (also available in Spanish).

5.8 million: Liters of mezcal Mexico exported in 2019

50%: Increase in American imports of mezcal in 2019

53: Species of Mexican agave used to make mezcal

But there is a way to drink mezcal sustainably. According to Quartz reporter Samanth Subramanian, there’re at least three things you should look for—two of which fly.

The business of bullshit

Bullshit is everywhere and takes many forms, but in workplaces it’s often evidenced by acronyms, excessive jargon, and information-poor communication. Do you think you have a good bullshit detector? Take our test to find out.

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Surprising discoveries

More than 350,000 Korean teenagers own Samsung stocks. Collectively, their shares are worth around $890 million.

Lagos’s “Face-Me-I-Face-You” homes signal the city’s population boom. The name comes from awkwardly divided single-family homes where doors face one another.

Ms. Pac-Man finally gets her due. The 41-year-old arcade game entered the World Video Game Hall of Fame, seven years after Pac-Man.

New Zealand has nearly eradicated a deadly cattle disease. Only a single farm has mycoplasma bovis, a bacterial infection that has killed more than 175,000 cows.

Pasta as we know it—dry and ready to boil—was born in the 1200s. Sicily was its hometown, but how did the food find its way to pantries globally? Find out in the latest episode of the Quartz Obsession podcast.

🍝 Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, nice neighbors, and Ms. Pac-Man arcade machines to [email protected]. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Hasit Shah, Julia Malleck, Mary Hui, Anne Quito, and Morgan Haefner.