Happy Friday,

It’s not every day journalists find themselves translating Morse code, so when Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey responded to a recent Forbes inquiry on his $10 million donation to nonprofit OpenSats in all dots and dashes, I was delighted to see that my colleague Michael del Castillo was up to the task.

Sure beats the “💩” emoji (ahem).

BREAKING NEWS

Senate Republicans are casting doubt on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s June 1 deadline for raising the debt ceiling—a sentiment that bolsters their bid to buy time to negotiate spending cut demands, and one that aligns with views among financial experts.

It’s not just PacWest: Regional bank stocks plummeted amid contagion fears, including Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorporation, falling by more than a third, its lowest point since 2013, and Memphis’ First Horizon, falling more than 32% after it announced a mutual agreement to terminate a merger with TD Bank.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Seattle transplant Chris Howard carved out a spot among the world’s best seed investors after a decade of grinding his way to Silicon Valley’s inside track. He launched Fuel Capital in 2013 and uses his marketing background to define the pitch—after an early investment in Teespring, he moved into their office to help run its marketing team. More: The Midas Seed List 2023

Adidas is still feeling the financial impact of cutting ties with Kayne West and his Yeezy brand last year after the rapper’s antisemitic outbursts. Despite reporting better-than-expected first quarter profits of $66 million, the discontinuation of Yeezy led to a $441 million year-over-year drop in overall sales.

WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP

It sure is good to be king. Ahead of his coronation this weekend, King Charles III oversees a $46 billion portfolio of assets held in trust for the kingdom—including billions in investments, opulent palaces, glittering jewels and priceless art. Charles also inherited an estimated $500 million from Queen Elizabeth II. The late monarch’s will likely be sealed for at least 90 years, so the exact distribution of her personal assets is unknown.

New financial disclosures show that former President Donald Trump is flush with cash after leaving the White House, thanks to refinancing a San Francisco office tower and the sale of his D.C. hotel. Most of his estimated $425 million war chest is held in safe investments, which makes sense for a guy who is 76 years old, maintains a portfolio of riskier real estate assets, and might need a few hundred million to handle legal issues.

TECH + INNOVATION

No company has done more than ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, when it comes to getting VCs onto the Forbes Midas List, including No. 1 Neil Shen. But Washington politics and regulatory limbo still cast “dark clouds” over the world’s most valuable startup.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey announced he will donate $10 million to help bitcoin “become the native currency of the internet,” with $5 million set aside to further develop the decentralized social protocol Nostr. It levels the playing field after a $13 million investment he made into a similar open-source social protocol before leaving Twitter last year, which is now being developed as Bluesky.

Coinbase took to the courts last week hoping to force the SEC to act on its request for broader federal regulation of cryptocurrency and digital assets, a move that appears to have paid off, at least for now. A federal appeals court gave the agency 10 days to explain why it sat on the leading U.S. crypto exchange’s July 2022 request. It’s “not a signal that Coinbase will win,” a lawyer cautioned, and another predicted the agency is likely to keep its response as vague as possible.

SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

A jury found singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran not liable in a copyright infringement lawsuit that alleged his hit “Thinking Out Loud” stole elements from the iconic 1973 Marvin Gaye song “Let’s Get It On.” It’s a victory for the music industry—in closing arguments, Sheeran’s lawyer warned the alternate decision could have “a devastating impact on future musicians.”

New York and California launched a joint investigation into allegations of workplace discrimination within the NFL. It will focus on the league’s alleged “hostile work environment” at its offices in the two states, including potential violations of state and federal pay equity and anti-discrimination laws.

TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE

The cruise industry is officially back. Royal Caribbean dramatically upped its earnings forecast for 2023 by nearly 50%. Shares for the world’s largest cruise line were up 8%, and competitors Carnival and Norwegian also saw a 4% bump on the optimistic forecast. Cruise bookings are at their highest level ever, and occupancy is on pace to hit a record rate by year’s end, according to analysts.

DAILY COVER STORY

Ben & Jerry’s Cofounder Gets Fully Baked With New Nonprofit Cannabis Company

TOPLINE Ben Cohen, the “Ben” from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, was smoking a joint one summer night in 1970 when he and a friend got busted by the cops. At that time, marijuana was just as illegal in New York as heroin and a small doobie could land you in jail. “Eventually, as we were white middle-class guys, we ended up getting tickets for littering a lighted cigarette butt on the beach,” he told Forbes.

The experience stuck with Cohen, who believes that if he had been Black, that night would have ended very differently. He’s not far off: Even as 38 states have legal medical marijuana programs and 22 allow adult-use sales, Black Americans are still more likely to be arrested for possession than white people in every state that has legalized or decriminalized marijuana possession (through 2018).

And with only about 2% of cannabis businesses being Black-owned, Cohen wanted to do something to address the harms of America’s prohibition on pot and help more Black entrepreneurs get a foothold in the industry.

Cohen’s newest venture, Ben’s Best Blnz (or B3), is launching its first sales of cannabis and pre-rolled joints in dispensaries throughout Vermont. While Ben & Jerry’s donated about 8% of its pre-tax profits to human rights, environmental and social justice causes, B3 is set up as a nonprofit and will donate 100% of its profits to organizations focused on funding Black-owned cannabis companies and helping get people released from prison on cannabis charges.

WHY IT MATTERS “I don’t need more money,” Cohen says. “But I’m an entrepreneur and what motivates me is justice. I’m very motivated by the idea of trying to create a more just world. And it’s a beautiful pairing of using this substance that had created all this oppression for Black people to create, hopefully, wealth for Black people.”

MORE Meet The Billionaire King Of Rolling Papers

FACTS AND COMMENTS

Apple beat Wall Street expectations for its first quarter earnings, thanks to its strongest ever-sales in its services unit, which includes iCloud, the App Store and its credit card business:

$94.8 billion: First quarter sales, smashing analyst estimates of $92.9 billion.

$2.65 trillion: Apple’s market capitalization, making it the most valuable company in the world.

$555 billion: How much market cap Apple has gained this year, alongside a 32% rally in share price.

STRATEGY AND SUCCESS

While there are benefits to having a higher credit score, before you stress it’s worth understanding their purpose and how they’re calculated. Credit scores measure whether you’re good at borrowing money, not managing it. Here are the five components of a credit score, according to FICO, and it says it all about you and your money.

VIDEO

QUIZ

The Biden administration outlined plans to tackle which one key emerging risk in the technology space over growing calls for regulation?

A. Semi-autonomous robots

B. Artificial intelligence

C. Drones

D. Facial recognition

Check if you got it right here.

ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

Deadline next week: The Forbes Cloud 100 recognizes the leading privately-held cloud companies in the world. Know a company that deserves a spot? Submissions for the eighth annual list are now open through May 12.

BEYOND THE NEWSROOM

  • The 2023 Forbes Future Of Work Summit will take place in New York and virtually on June 1. Here, we’ll explore the forthcoming impact of artificial intelligence, shifting dynamics between workers and employers, and more. Sign up to stay tuned for updates.
  • The Forbes Iconoclast Summit will convene the world’s most iconic visionaries, financial titans, pioneering technologists, and key executives for high-level conversations on the most critical issues impacting our economy and markets today. Join us in New York City on June 12.

Thanks for reading! Follow along with us on Twitter for by-the-minute updates on the latest business and financial news throughout the day.