Biden's Gun Ban, LeBron is a Billionaire, More Oil

Your Daily Debrief

June 3rd, 2022

Good morning, and happy Friday! It’s National Donut Day, and here’s what we have for you:

Today’s Highlights

President Biden calls for a ban on assault weapons and new gun laws
LeBron James becomes first active NBA player to achieve billionaire status
OPEC and allies agree to increase oil production

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President Biden calls for a ban on assault weapons and new gun laws

In a speech he gave to the nation last night following a recent string of mass shootings, President Biden demanded that lawmakers pass far-reaching limits on guns, including a ban on assault-style weapons.

On top of calling for the ban, the president urged Congress to expand background checks, raise the purchase age for firearms, and enact “red flag” laws after massacres in Texas and New York.

Speaking from the Cross Hall in the White House, Biden remarked, "This isn't about taking away anyone's rights. It's about protecting children. It's about protecting families. It's about protecting whole communities. It's about protecting our freedoms to go to school, to a grocery store, to a church without being shot and killed.” The president also added, "I respect the culture, the tradition, the concerns of lawful gun owners. At the same time, the Second Amendment, like all other rights, is not absolute."

Biden's address came one day after a shooter killed four people in a Tulsa medical facility, nine days after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde that left 19 children and 2 teachers dead, and nineteen days after 10 Black people were gunned down at a supermarket in Buffalo.

LeBron James becomes first NBA player to achieve billionaire status

According to Forbes, LeBron James is now the only active NBA player to have a net worth of at least $1 billion.

James has earned a salary of over $385 million from his 19-year basketball career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat–meaning he has built up the bulk of his worth elsewhere. Forbes estimates that the four-time NBA champion has “raked in upwards of $900 million in income from endorsements and other business ventures,” including investments in the production company SpringHill Entertainment (which he co-founded), fitness startup Tonal, ridesharing company Lyft and upstart pizza chain Blaze Pizza, among others.

Becoming a billionaire is something James has talked about in the past. In a 2014 interview with GQ, he said, "It's my biggest milestone. Obviously I want to maximize my business. And if I happen to get it, if I happen to be a billion-dollar athlete, ho. Hip hip hooray! Oh, my God. I'm gonna be excited."

The only other NBA player on the Forbes billionaire list is Michael Jordan, who didn’t hit the $1 billion mark until 2014…more than a decade after he retired from playing.

OPEC and allies agree to increase oil production

The group of oil-producing nations known as Opec Plus said that it plans to raise oil production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August, marking a roughly 200,000 increase from its current production boost of an additional 432,000 barrels per day each month.

A variety of factors have contributed to higher oil prices recently, including an EU agreement to ban the majority of oil imports from Russia, and a lack of refining capacity to turn crude oil into motor fuel. The White House had been lobbying Middle East oil giants for months to increase supply at a quicker pace in order to lower price pressures, and after Opec Plus announced the plan to boost production levels, the Biden administration hailed the higher output as a diplomatic breakthrough. In response, administration officials said the President would visit Saudi Arabia–the de facto leader of OPEC–this month.

White House Press Karine Jean-Pierre said in a prepared statement that “the United States welcomes the important decision from OPEC Plus today to increase supply by more than 200,000 barrels per day in July and August based on new market conditions.”

News of the planned production increase didn’t alleviate market concerns around tight supply; after the announcement on Thursday, prices of oil rose to over $117 per barrel.

Around the Globe

Japanese researchers broke a new data speed record with a fiber optic transfer of 1.02 petabits per second, which they said is enough to facilitate more than "10 million channels of 8K broadcasting per second”
Chinese Ministry of Commerce says it “firmly” opposes the United States entering new trade talks with Taiwan
Turkey renames itself “Türkiye” in the United Nations after a request from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to “increase our country's brand value”

On the Homefront

Tulsa police reveal the shooter that attacked Saint Francis Health System medical center targeted the doctor who performed his back surgery last month
14-year old Harini Logan of San Antonio won the Scripps National Spelling Bee after participating in the competition’s first-ever spell-off where she spelled 21 words correctly in 90 seconds
House Judiciary Committee advances a wide-ranging package of gun control legislation called the “Protecting Our Kids Act”

Glitz and Games

Kim Kardashian calls for father of slain Uvalde student to be temporarily released from prison so he can attend his daughter’s funeral
New York appeals court upholds incarcerated film producer Harvey Weinstein’s conviction of rape
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick announces his retirement from the NFL at age 39 after 17 seasons

Money Moves

Major indexes in the stock market started lower but rose steadily throughout the day (Dow 1.33%, Nasdaq 2.69%, S&P 500 1.84%)
Winklevoss twins announced they will lay off 10% of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust’s employees due to “crypto winter”
Resigning Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg has sold over $1.7 billion worth of Meta (Facebook) stock since 2012

Tip & Tricks

Bump This: Get nostalgic with “Friday I’m in Love” from goth-rockers the Cure on Spotify
Chow Down: Check out this list for where to score free donuts for National Donut Day
Nerd Out: Regenerative medicine company 3DBio Therapeutics successfully gave a woman with a rare ear deformity a 3D-printed ear made from of her own cells
Freak Out: A 21-year-old man broke into the Dallas Museum of Art and destroyed several historical exhibit pieces along with museum property because he “got mad at his girl,” per Dallas police
Hot Goss: Lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced to 4 years in jail for stealing book proceeds from client Stormy Daniels
Life Hack: You can remove underarm stains in clothing by spraying lemon juice on the area before you wash them

Question of the day

Would you rather live at the top of a New York City luxury apartment building or in a hillside mansion with views as far as you could see? Let us know here:

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Looking Back…

On June 3rd, 1989, the Chinese government called in the military to squash a pro-democracy demonstration put on by over 100,000 people in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, resulting in hundreds of deaths.⁠