Forbes Daily: Apple Stock Falters Amid High Stakes For New iPhone

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Good morning,

Skills-based hiring has been all the rage, as many U.S. employers move away from requiring college degrees.

Walmart told Forbes on Monday that 75% of its U.S.-based roles no longer require a degree, as Senior Editor Jena McGregor reported in the latest Future of Work newsletter. Now, the company has joined up with major employers like Bank of America, Verizon, Accenture and Microsoft to create a “shared skills taxonomy,” or a common way to describe skills.

As more organizations eliminate diploma requirements, there are alternative ways to validate the skills required for different positions. “What we want to do is build a way to assess individuals against those skills,” says Walmart Chief People Officer Donna Morris.

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FIRST UP

Market expectations now favor a larger interest rate cut, as the Federal Reserve is widely expected to make its first rate cut since March 2020 this week. But economists are split: JPMorgan’s top U.S. economist Michael Feroli has told clients he anticipates the Fed to cut rates by 50 basis points, while Goldman Sachs’ chief U.S. economist anticipates a 25 basis-point cut, explaining “larger cuts have historically come in the context of an obvious crisis or at least a layoff spiral,” which the U.S. is far from today.

A panel of federal judges heard arguments Monday in TikTok’s challenge of the law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. The judges were focused largely on the recommendations algorithm that powers TikTok’s powerful For You page, which is the primary determiner of what videos people see on the app.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Apple’s stock faltered nearly 3% Monday amid concerns about potentially weaker-than-expected demand for the AI-focused iPhone 16. Stakes are high for the world’s most valuable public company ahead of the phone’s release Friday, as Apple comes off its lowest quarterly iPhone revenues since 2021.

WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The U.S. is home to one-third of the world’s centi-millionaires, or people with liquid assets of $100 million or more, as the number of super-wealthy residents soars, a new report from Henley & Partners said Tuesday. But David Young, president of the committee for economic development at The Conference Board, a think tank, said in the report that the upcoming election could lead to a shift “as centi-millionaires turn to countries that provide greater economic and political security.”

TECH + INNOVATION

Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of the enterprise tech giant, said Monday it is pledging another $500 million to generative AI ventures, bringing the company’s commitment to AI investments to $1 billion in the last 18 months, Salesforce exclusively told Forbes. Through the fund, debuting in 2023, Salesforce has quietly amassed a portfolio of some of the industry’s heaviest hitters, including Anthropic, Cohere, Mistral and Hugging Face.

MONEY + POLITICS

President Joe Biden said the Secret Service “needs more help” after a second potential assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Sunday, urging Congress to allocate more resources to the agency. The man arrested in connection with the incident was charged with two gun counts in federal court Monday.

MORE: The acting director of the Secret Service said Monday that the suspected gunman did not fire his gun before he left the scene and “did not have a line of sight” to Trump. Still, the FBI said the assassination attempt was “extremely serious” and the agency continues to gather information.

SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

Federal authorities arrested rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs late Monday in Manhattan after a federal grand jury indicted the music mogul, who has faced a string of sexual assault allegations in recent months—all of which he has denied. While the charges against Combs have not yet been made public, the indictment is expected to be unsealed this morning.

TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE

The TSA has proposed holding off full enforcement of the REAL ID deadline by two years until May 5, 2027. It would be the fourth time since the pandemic that the U.S. has delayed the deadline, as the Department of Homeland Security expects to only reach 70% compliance by May 2025.

DAILY COVER STORY

This Billionaire’s Startup Wanted To Build A Space Station. Now It Can Barely Pay Its Bills

TOPLINE Axiom Space, a startup cofounded by billionaire Kam Ghaffarian, has a lofty goal: to build private space stations that allow humans to live and work off-planet en masse.

But lately, the Houston-based company has been struggling to survive. Former employees and space industry stalwarts told Forbes that a severe cash crunch, business challenges and a cold reception to its latest fundraising efforts have hamstrung the company and led to extensive layoffs and pay cuts.

Axiom had intended to build an orbiting outpost using the International Space Station as a base. The plan was to build modularly, connecting sections of “Axiom Station” to the ISS, finishing work on them in space and finally detaching the completed station to fly free. It would make money by hosting tourists and companies looking to use microgravity conditions for things like drug development and semiconductor manufacturing. But Forbes has learned the plan has been upended by Axiom’s slow progress on the first module and the prospect that the ISS may need to be deorbited two years earlier than planned.

Now, a year after raising $350 million at a valuation of $2 billion, giving it a total of $500 million in funding, the startup is struggling to convince investors to give it more money to fund a smaller, less commercially lucrative station, former employees told Forbes. The lack of fresh capital has exacerbated long-standing financial challenges that have grown alongside Axiom’s payroll, which earlier this year was nearly 1,000 employees.

In an interview discussing a range of issues raised by Forbes’ reporting, Ghaffarian conceded that Axiom was facing challenges, including a tough fundraising environment, that required a “right sizing” of staff. But he said he expects to close on fresh funding by the end of the year, and that the future is bright. “All my [space companies] where we are doing things that have never been done before, it is not a straight line.”

WHY IT MATTERS “NASA is hoping that a private station will be in orbit by the time the ISS is brought down,” says Forbes Senior Editor Jeremy Bogaisky. “Axiom’s struggles may be a harbinger of the rough road ahead for other space station developers that got off to a later start.”

MORE Boeing’s Bad Year Is About To Get Worse

FACTS + COMMENTS

A new study finds rates of sexual violence in the U.S. are roughly the same as the time immediately after the #MeToo movement, which raised awareness and moved the needle on legislative protections:

82%: The share of women surveyed who reported experiencing harassment or assault in their lives, compared to 81% in 2018

25 to 34 years old: The study found an apparent increase in sexual harassment and assault that people in this age group have experienced

54%: The share of all people who have experienced verbal sexual harassment, the most common form of such behavior

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

Making a career change is a big move, but there are ways to make the process easier. Don’t assume you have to start over—assess the skills you’ve developed and what can transfer to the new career path. And unless you need to go back to school (such as for a law degree), try getting experience by volunteering or freelancing. Lastly, stay professional during the transition and avoid burning bridges at your current job.

VIDEO

QUIZ

Reservations are now open for a restaurant purchased and saved from bankruptcy by the creators of South Park, after they previously made the establishment famous in a fan-favorite episode. What kind of cuisine does it serve?

A. Thai

B. Chinese

C. Mexican

D. Italian

Check your answer.

Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.