While the world’s richest person contemplates the stars, the man who will replace him has his eyes very much on the colossus his boss built. Steeped in the company religion of putting customers first, moving fast and being frugal, Andy Jassy shares the competitive streak and mistrust of conventional wisdom that marked Jeff Bezos’ ascent to stratospheric wealth. Now that Bezos is stepping down as chief executive officer of Amazon.com, let us introduce you to the man who takes over for him next week. —David E. Rovella Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic worldwide. Here are today’s top stories The pace of U.S. hiring accelerated in June, with payrolls increasing by the most in 10 months and a historic surge in the Black male workforce. Nonfarm payrolls jumped by 850,000, bolstered by strong job gains in leisure and hospitality, according to the Biden administration. The unemployment rate edged up to 5.9% however because more people voluntarily left jobs while the number of job seekers climbed. The news helped equities advance again. Stocks climbed on speculation the economy is recovering at a pace that won’t prompt the Fed to soon cut the liquidity that’s been fueling Wall Street exuberance. Here’s your markets wrap. Citigroup said it will increase annual base salaries for its junior bankers, making it the latest Wall Street lender angling to retain younger staff in the face of pandemic-induced burnout. The bank is increasing salaries for program vice presidents, analysts and associates in its banking, capital markets and advisory unit, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. Indeed, there’s a lot of cash being thrown around. The world’s biggest pension fund posted a record return for the fiscal year ended March, boosting its assets to a new high and beating its benchmark for the first time in seven years. A protracted heat wave continues to fuel scores of wildfires in Canada’s western provinces, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling an emergency meeting of a cabinet crisis group. A wildfire burns above the Fraser River Valley near Lytton, British Columbia, on July 2. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg Some people who received the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 shot in the U.S. are now seeking out doses of a messenger-RNA vaccine, such as the shots made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, fearing their initial inoculation won’t protect them from the virus. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who is presiding over the central bank’s examination of digital currencies, has been meeting with some big names in the cryptocurrency space, a look at his diary shows. International Business Machines President Jim Whitehurst is stepping down after three years at the century-old technology company. The departure marks one of the first major corporate reshuffles under Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna, who took the helm last year and has moved quickly to reshape IBM and return it to growth. Shares fell. Jim Whitehurst Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg What you’ll need to know tomorrow At least Elon is staying on the ground. Virgin magnate Richard Branson announced he plans to fly to space on July 11, days before a similar journey by that other billionaire, Jeff Bezos. The VSS Unity spacecraft is to carry three Virgin Galactic employees and two pilots from the launch site in New Mexico (as well as Branson). Bezos is planning a trip to space July 20 from nearby West Texas aboard a rocket made by Blue Origin, the Amazon founder’s space company. Richard Branson Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing will return on July 6. Bloomberg’s Weekend Reading will return on July 10. Like getting the Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters. It’s time to Power On. A new weekly newsletter by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman will deliver Apple scoops, consumer tech news, product reviews and the occasional basketball take. Sign up to get Power On in your inbox on Sundays. |