- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
- The big story: Trump punishes the WSJ for its Epstein scoop.
- The markets: Low drama.
- Analyst notes from Deutsche Bank on housing, JPMorgan on the tariffs, and Goldman Sachs on mortgages.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. Thirty-three days. That’s how long it took from the time AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot greeted Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin in his London office to announcing a $4 billion manufacturing facility in the state at a press conference in Washington yesterday. Soriot said it’s the European pharma giant’s largest-ever single manufacturing investment, negotiated at the fastest-ever speed. “Usually, this kind of discussion takes months,” he told me in D.C. “Sometimes you have a meeting of minds.”
One thing that Soriot shares with the governor, not to mention other European pharma rivals, is an understanding that it’s important to visibly invest in the U.S. right now. AstraZeneca’s announcement is part of a $50 billion commitment to new U.S. facilities by 2030, much like the tens of billions in spending recently announced by Roche, Novartis, and Sanofi—and billions announced by their U.S. rivals.
The threat of tariffs is a factor in beefing up AstraZeneca’s U.S. manufacturing, of course, but Soriot says the investments make sense on other levels. “Our pipeline is moving quickly,” he told me. That’s especially true when it comes to the market for innovative weight-management drugs like oral GLP-1, which will be manufactured at the facility site, which has not yet been named. “Our bet is the U.S. economy will continue to grow and the U.S. will continue to dominate innovation.”
Then again, Soriot noted that China is also innovating fast. The drugmaker is investing billions there to beef up R&D and presumably help sway the political winds in his company’s favor.
If anywhere is falling out of favor for AstraZeneca as a place to produce new drugs, it’s the company’s home continent. “Europe is losing ground,” he said. “They’re focused more on social benefits and managing costs. It’s like one company is trying to drive the top line, creating opportunities and economic growth, while another company is trying to manage costs and staying flat on the top line. That doesn’t work.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
Trump bans WSJ from press pool
The White House will not allow a reporter for the paper to cover the president’s upcoming tour of Scotland. The move came after Trump said he would sue the WSJ for its report that said he wrote a lewd birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein. Context: The WSJ—and particularly its editorial board—has been on a campaign against Trump since the beginning of his administration.
Trump objected to Israel’s bombing of Syria
In further evidence of a split between Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House confirmed that Trump called the Israeli leader because he was “caught off guard by the bombing in Syria and the bombing of the Catholic church in Gaza” and wanted to rectify these situations," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The statement follows previous reports that some in the White House feel that Netanyahu is acting like a “madman.”
China approaches peak oil moment
Within two years, China may reach the point where its use of oil goes into decline. Beijing has worked fiercely to build out its electric vehicle infrastructure and the result is that the country is no longer as dependent as it once was on oil from the U.S. or the Middle East.
JPMorgan’s Dimon softens tone on Bitcoin
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon used to describe Bitcoin as a “fraud” that would “eventually blow up” but now his bank is looking at using clients’ crypto holdings as a collateral for loans. Dimon still isn’t a fan. In May he said, “I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy bitcoin. Go at it.”
Bessent continues criticism of the Fed
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent questioned the effectiveness of the Federal Reserve during a Monday appearance on CNBC. “What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful,” Bessent said.
Porsche CEO warns of more cuts
Porsche CEO Oliver Blume warned his employees last week that further job cuts are expected due to a decline in demand from China and to President Trump’s economic policies, among other factors. The cuts will be in addition to the 3,900 jobs in Germany that the company expects to eliminate by 2029.
Anthropic switches tune on AI in applications
AI company Anthropic told Fortune that it will now allow job applicants to use AI to prep materials for their application—but not while in interviews or during most assessments. “At Anthropic, we use Claude every day, so we’re looking for candidates who excel at collaborating with AI,” the company’s guidelines read.
That $500 billion Stargate AI plan is mostly vaporware, so far
Stargate, the AI project announced by President Trump, billionaire investor Masayoshi Son, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, has yet to achieve anything. Building data centers is difficult—you need to gather a massive amount of space, power, and semiconductor chips all in one place—and the project is proceeding more slowly than its leaders want.
Why AI hallucinates—and what is being done to stop it.
Excellent longread from the FT on one of the most difficult problems in AI: How to stop it from making stuff up.
The HR chief at Astronomer has not yet lost her job
One possibility: She is negotiating an exit package, the NY Post theorizes.
The markets
S&P 500 futures were off 0.13% this morning after the index hit a new high, at 6,305.60, up 0.14% yesterday. The S&P has never been above 6,300 before. The UK’s FTSE 100 was clinging on above 9,000, at 9,008.61 in early trading. STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.37% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.11%. China’s CSI 300 Index was up 0.8%. Bitcoin is still above $118K.
From the analysts
Deutsche Bank on housing: “In 2024, more US homebuyers were aged 70 and above (20% of buyers) than under 35 (around 15%). In fact, 46% of homes were purchased by those aged 60 and over,” per Jim Reid et al.
JPMorgan on the tariffs: “The tariff announcements over the last few weeks are broader and higher. While those on Vietnam and Indonesia were in line with expectations, the additional tariffs on Brazil, Canada, and Mexico were not. Nor was the higher 50% rate on copper. Consequently, if these tariffs (along with the extensions to semiconductors, lumber, and pharmaceuticals) are realized, then the effective tariff rate could well exceed 20% (Figure 1). All eyes are therefore on 1 August, which is the new deadline set by the administration for countries to finalize trade deals,” Jahangir Aziz, and Bruce Kasman.
Goldman Sachs on mortgages: “Sustained higher mortgage rates will continue to have their most pronounced impact on housing turnover. 87% of mortgage borrowers have interest rates below current market rates, and 66% have rates 2pp below market rates, strongly disincentivizing them from moving. As a result, we expect annual existing home sales of just 4.1mn, 23% below 2019 levels but in line with the pace of the last two years,” per Ronnie Walker et al.
Around the watercooler
Inside Ares’ push to $750 billion—and the unconventional leadership strategy behind its private credit dominance by Leo Schwartz
Astronomer’s new interim CEO breaks his silence after the tech company’s viral scandal shook the internet by Lily Mae Lazarus
A weak housing market could deliver rate cuts and rescue the Fed from Trump by Jason Ma
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards.
