📝 usncan Note: New $18 Billion Beverage Deal Amid Rising Coffee Prices
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For many high school students in the midst of college application season, President Donald Trump’s war on higher education adds a new layer of stress.
In addition to typical considerations like academic fit or net cost, it’s critical to examine how a school might be impacted by cuts to research funding and foreign student admissions. Forbes’ latest America’s Top Colleges list, out today, can serve as a guide for parents and students navigating these difficult choices: The ranking of these 500 institutions examines academic, financial and career outcomes.
Some names may not be surprising, like No. 1 MIT, where recent graduates earn a median salary of $110,200. But other schools, like the Georgia Institute of Technology, also boast an impressive ROI.
FIRST UP
After the merger Dr Pepper and other soft drink brands owned by Keurig Dr Pepper will be split from the coffee business.
Getty Images
In a deal worth about $18.3 billion, Keurig Dr Pepper said it will acquire the firm that owns Peet’s Coffee, and then split its coffee and soft drink businesses, leading shares of the beverage giant to tank more than 11%. The move comes as President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on imports from Brazil—the world’s largest coffee exporter—have led both businesses to warn of price impacts.
In a new lawsuit, Elon Musk’s xAI is accusing Apple and OpenAI of colluding to prevent other AI companies from reaching the top of the App Store’s rankings, as the billionaire makes good on his previous legal threats. The suit claims that the companies are “manipulating the App Store rankings to cause the X and Grok apps to perform worse,” and Musk’s artificial intelligence startup requests billions in damages.
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BUSINESS + FINANCE
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
There could be more federal investments in major corporations coming, President Donald Trump and a top White House official signaled Monday, despite concerns such deals could politicize private firms. Trump slammed critics of the government’s purchase of an $8.9 billion equity stake in Intel, making the U.S. the tech stalwart’s third-largest shareholder.
TECH + INNOVATION
Payments in a settlement over a class action lawsuit against Meta were set to start hitting consumers’ wallets this month, but court filings show a portion of the funds—Forbes estimates $150 million—are now under intense legal scrutiny. There’s increased controversy over the dubious practices of class action payouts, and Forbes recently documented the ways private equity-owned firms are quietly profiting.
MONEY + POLITICS
Russell Vought, the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The CFPB wants the input of banks and fintechs to rewrite a Biden-era open banking rule governing access to consumer financial data. Under the original rule, customers would have been able to access and share financial information tied to their bank accounts with fintechs and other third parties without incurring a fee, but the banking lobby immediately sued to strike it down.
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he was moving to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, sharing an official White House letter that he had sent to Cook telling her, “you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.” The move marks a significant escalation in the president’s battle with the central bank’s leadership, though Cook issued a statement questioning the legality of Trump’s move, saying that “he has no authority” to fire her.
The Justice Department will challenge California’s recently-approved redistricting proposal, the state’s effort to counteract a President Donald Trump-backed plan to redraw the Congressional map in Texas. The legislation establishes a special election for Californians to vote on the map that would likely add five Democratic seats to the House, in what could be the beginning of a redistricting fight between red and blue states.
SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT
Frances Tiafoe is taking a roughly 3.3% stake in the New York Atlantics of the Pro Padel League. “It was a no-brainer,” he tells Forbes.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Tennis star Frances Tiafoe is investing in another kind of racket sport that’s coming for pickleball: padel. Tiafoe is taking a roughly 3.3% stake in the New York Atlantics franchise of the two-year-old Pro Padel League, valuing the team at more than $10 million, up from the $200,000 fee that franchises had to pay to join the league in 2023.
DAILY COVER STORY
Why AI Stocks Are Giving Some Investors Dotcom Bubble Déjà Vu
Matthias Kulka/Getty Images
The dotcom bubble is a cautionary tale for today’s investors, who have bid prices up on the belief that AI will revolutionize the world the same way the internet did.
The information technology sector makes up more than 33% of the S&P 500 index, matching the levels of the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s. Semiconductor designer Nvidia alone makes up 8% of the index thanks to its $4.3 trillion market cap, up tenfold in three years. But even if AI is as transformative as most expect, the stocks that have been the biggest beneficiaries thus far may not be winners in the coming decades.
The S&P 500 is priced at about 30 times earnings today, significantly more expensive than the typical historical average of around 20. The Nasdaq 100 currently has a P/E of 33. At the peak of the dotcom bubble in early 2000, the S&P 500 had a multiple of 34, and the Nasdaq 100 had one over 70.
“Bubbles burst not because the story is completely wrong, but because around the margins the story is wrong,” says Rob Arnott, founder and chairman of investment advisor Research Affiliates. “The story of the rate of growth, the time horizon of growth, is unrealistically optimistic, and the risk of competition eroding market share is underestimated.”
WHY IT MATTERS
“Millennial and Gen Z investors have never experienced a prolonged, severe market crash like our parents went through in both the early 2000s and in 2008, so it’s been easy to see any sign of trouble as a buying opportunity,” says Forbes staff writer Hank Tucker.
“It’s worth using some caution in today’s market, though, with valuations for AI companies at levels that have previously been unsustainable. Jumping into risky investments, especially buying the dip after they’ve lost 10% or 20%, has generally worked well for the last 15 years, but it might not lead to a quick payoff next time.”
MORE Five Ways To Avoid The Five Hottest Stocks
FACTS + COMMENTS
As the world’s best tennis players took to the court for the start of the U.S. Open this weekend, they sported luxury watches, jewelry and more. Nearly every top player has a contract with a high-end watch brand:
Eight: The number of diamonds in No. 1 women’s tennis player Aryna Sabalenka’s jewelry pieces, to commemorate her eighth U.S. Open
$90,000: The price of the watch from Swiss watch brand De Bethune worn by Jessica Pegula, the No. 4 women’s player and daughter of oil billionaire Terrence Pegula
$2,150: The value of the Gucci duffle bag sported by No. 1 men’s player Jannik Sinner
STRATEGY + SUCCESS
It’s rarely obvious when your boss is setting you up to fail, but it’s critical to spot the behaviors and know how to respond to protect your career. It could look like leaving you off of important updates or being given impossible deadlines—no matter what it is, keep a paper trail. Seek support from trusted mentors and colleagues, and prepare to move onto your next opportunity by keeping your résumé and LinkedIn current.
VIDEO
QUIZ
A prominent denim brand released a video ad featuring a girl group with members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland and the U.S. that some are contrasting to American Eagle’s controversial Sydney Sweeney ad. Which brand is it?
A. Levi’s
B. Good American
C. Wrangler
D. Gap
Check your answer.
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.
