Daily dozen | Forbes: Crypto Crash Deepens; Republicans point fingers at Trump; Twitter’s ‘Tough Times’

The Democrats’ risky strategy of sinking money to promote far-right candidates during the Republican primaries apparently paid off in the midterms. Discount chain Grocery Outlet is using supply chain disruptions to its advantage as it appeals to inflation-scarred Americans. Plus, Forbes published our annual 2022 China’s 100 Richest List, which shows a shocking 39% drop in cumulative wealth compared to last year.

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In the news today

• In the days leading up to former President Donald Trump’s expected announcement of a 2024 bid to return to the White House, some Republicans are pointing fingers at him for the party’s worse-than-expected showing in Tuesday’s by-election. The billionaire’s chosen candidates ultimately had a mixed showing in the competitive races, which reportedly angered Trump.
• Binance is reportedly bailing on the deal to buy Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX which was once valued at $32 billion, saying that FTX’s liquidity problems are beyond our control or ability to help. The latest development in FTX’s surprise revelation threatened to send the price of bitcoin below $16,000 in a serious broader market fall.

Top take-aways

The Democrats’ risky strategy of investing in ads that gave a boost to far-right candidates during the Republican primaries apparently paid off in the midterms, with many of the nominees losing to Democrats in key battleground states Tuesday night. The play was based on a chance that hard-right politicians would end up being largely unpalatable in swing states with large numbers of independent or moderate voters.

Voters in Maryland and Missouri passed a ballot measure in the midterm elections to legalize recreational marijuana for adults, becoming the 20th and 21st states to do so. Meanwhile, in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota — the other three states where the idea was floated — voters rejected similar measures. As cannabis legalization spreads across the nation, including in a new red state, here’s what it means for federal prohibition.

Elon Musk reportedly scrapped remote work and ordered all Twitter workers back to their offices expected to work “at least 40 hours per week,” while he also warned of “difficult times ahead” in his first email to employees since taking over the social media company.

The grocer takes advantage of supply chain disruptions, happily selling mountains of overstocked wine, meat, cheese and snacks at bargain-basement prices to American families shaken by 40-year highs in inflation. Forbes dives into the quirky discount store that makes billions of dollars by appealing to an influx of new customers seeking “a solution to the problem of high-cost food”.

Billionaire money manager Ron Baron remains optimistic on investing in Tesla, even though the company’s shares are down 50% since the start of 2022 amid the broader market sell-off, and he maintains he sees “huge opportunities” on the horizon despite a brutal year so far for US stocks. Baron, who founded his firm Baron Funds four decades ago, predicts a recovery in the markets by the end of 2024.

Mainland China’s economic, political and pandemic problems swirled together to contribute the biggest fall in fortunes since then Forbes started tracking the country’s richest more than two decades ago. In our 2022 China’s 100 Richest List, their combined wealth plunged 39% to $907 billion from $1.48 trillion just a year ago. The minimum net worth needed to make the cut will drop to $3.5 billion from $5.7 billion.

Today’s must-read

America’s Best Employers for Veterans

For the third consecutive year, Forbes partnered with Statista to identify the 200 companies on our list of America’s Best Employers for Veterans, which highlights companies that are successful in attracting veteran job seekers. While compiling the list, we considered factors including focus on veteran career development, leadership opportunities, pay, diversity and more. See if your company made the leap alongside industry leaders like NASA, Google and Lockheed Martin.

In case you missed it

In just over two years, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave away $12.8 billion to more than 1,200 organizations. Many of her gifts share a common thread: they ended up in the wallets of large national nonprofits with local affiliates spread across the country. What is more of a mystery, however, is how Scott chooses which affiliates the money goes to. In fact, it’s so much of a puzzle that they don’t even know her reasoning.

Tips you can trust

• The alarming rise in public displays of anti-Semitism, highlighted by recent social media posts from basketball star Kyrie Irving, sounds one wakes up company managers with responsibility for workplace culture. Now is a time when companies can proactively work to confront growing threats against large sections of their employees, and be very mindful of crushing hateful discourse in the office.
• Meta became the latest tech giant to drastically downsize its workforce, laying off 11,000 employees representing 13% of its workforce. Further cuts in the startup and technology sectors are likely on the cards; here’s how companies ended up at this point and what workers can do if they are released.

Must see video

Elon Musk’s fortune falls below $200 billion as Tesla hits 52-week low

Tesla shares hit a 52-week low on Tuesday, pushing Elon Musk’s fortune down to an estimated $195.6 billion — just the second time since Oct. 1, 2021, that the world’s richest man has been worth less than $200 billion. Investor concerns about a potential new Republican-led Congress affecting the clean energy sector and new Covid-19 lockdowns in China have put pressure on the car company’s shares, as have recent Tesla recalls centered on governance issues.

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