November 09, 2026

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Happy Monday. Last week, the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, FL, experienced significant flooding that submerged the internal roads caregivers use to deliver 3,000 pounds of chimp food per day via golf cart to the 200 resident primates.

While all the animals were safe and some veterinarians and staff stayed on property during the emergency, a 38-year-old chimp named Kaleb had to ride out the flood in an area of the preserve cut off by water. Thankfully, Save the Chimps bought a delivery drone a little while ago in case of emergency, and the organization was able to deliver Kaleb bananas and oranges by air.

Kaleb didn’t have the heart to tell his caretakers that he was getting his own Postmates deliveries with his burner phone, but he appreciated their efforts.

—Holly Van Leuven, Brendan Cosgrove, Neal Freyman

In today’s newsletter, we’ll get into:

Nvidia’s CEO admitting to an affair with a Chinese spy
UFC’s CEO being (jokingly?) offered the White House press secretary role
Chefs getting stressed by top restaurant lists

Markets: Year-to-Date

Nasdaq

24,579.43

+5.75%

S&P

7,376.86

+7.76%

Dow

51,285.73

+6.70%

10-Year

4.859%

+69.6 bps

Bitcoin

$74,788.92

-14.54%

Krispy Kreme

$4.17

+3.73%

Data is provided by

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 8:30pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

Markets: Chip stocks showed some signs of life last Friday, but they’re still down 29% over the past five weeks, according to the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and Yahoo Finance. Big news out of Nvidia yesterday might further impact it today (more on that just below).
Stock spotlight: The Hot Light is on at Krispy Kreme. The donut-maker is up nearly 39% over the past month, easily outpacing tech giants like Apple.

unexpected turn

Nvidia CEO admits to illicit affair with Chinese agent

Nadja Wohlleben/Getty Images

Yesterday, Nvidia revealed that it was investigating co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang after he told the board that Alice Huang (no relation), his close business contact whom US intelligence determined to be a spy for the Chinese government, was also his extramarital affair partner.

In a statement to employees, Jensen Huang said, “I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”

A company spokesman revealed that Huang would remain in charge during the probe, and its board said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.”

Potential ramifications

Lascivious details aside, the situation offers a unique test for the massively valuable semiconductor company. According to Bloomberg:

Nvidia’s unconventional organizational structure, designed by Huang—who famously dreamed up his company at a Denny’s—has the CEO overseeing about 60 direct reports tasked with “rapidly implementing his decisions.”
Huang has said that keeps the company agile, but it also makes him hard to replace. He has stated publicly that he wants to maintain his role for decades to come.
Nvidia doesn’t have a public succession plan, and Huang’s “relentless” schedule means no one is prepared to replace him promptly if the board ever seeks his removal.

This complicates the US–China race for AI supremacy. President Trump has blocked Nvidia’s most advanced chips, Blackwell and Rubin, from entering China. And even before this revelation, Alice Huang’s company, Megaspeed, was investigated by the Commerce Department on suspicion of smuggling the advanced chips into China.

Asked about Huang’s affair last night, President Trump, who has consulted with the Nvidia CEO on AI policy, told reporters, “He has done an amazing job for our country” and that Huang should stay on as CEO.

Big picture: Nvidia is largely seen as the most powerful driver and beneficiary of the AI stock market boom. Last October, it became the first publicly traded company to reach a valuation of $5 trillion.—HVL

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Holiday special: Use code BREW10 for 10% off. Fair warning: People may start asking if you can host dinners.

World

Tour de headlines

UFC CEO Dana White and President Donald Trump

💥 UFC CEO will meet with President Trump today after (jokingly) being offered press secretary role. On Saturday, Trump said on Truth Social that Dana White, the head of UFC and “a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States” and implored him, “Dana, please take the job!” White subsequently told reporters that he had a meeting scheduled at the White House today, although CNN reported that an anonymous source close to White said he had turned down the job. Trump and White brought a UFC fight to the White House’s South Lawn, called UFC Freedom 250, on June 14, Trump’s 80th birthday. White also spoke at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Republican National Conventions. Last night, Trump told reporters he was kidding, then added, “But it was an example of something where I was kidding, and then people said, you know, that’s actually a pretty good idea.”

🇮🇱 Israel’s president gave opposition leader Eisenkot first chance to form government. Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave Gadi Eisenkot, the former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and leader of the centrist Yashar party, the first chance to form a coalition government after neither his bloc nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s secured a majority in the country’s parliamentary elections on Oct. 27. Eisenkot now has six weeks to form a government, a fraught endeavor that experts say will require fragile negotiations, compromises, and/or broken promises. Options before Eisenkot include entering a power-sharing agreement with Netanyahu, relying on support from two Arab-led parties, or forming a coalition with ultra-Orthodox religious parties, which insist on military exemption. Eisenkot campaigned on equal military service.

⚠️ Voluntary recall of toddler snack sent Once Upon a Farm stock tumbling. The product involved is Tractor Wheels, a popular soft-baked bar intended for children aged 1 to 3. Reports that the bars can “quickly form into a dense, dry, and sticky mass during consumption” led to the recall, according to the company’s statement posted on the US Food and Drug Administration’s website. Separately, other reports from parents have indicated that pieces of metal may have ended up in some Once Upon a Farm products. Co-founded by actress Jennifer Garner, the organic food company for kids IPO’d in February and made a splash. But news of the recall sent the stock down 38% last week, obliterating $242 million of market value.—HVL

de-glazing

Chefs are having reservations about ‘best-of’ lists

Chefs inside the Disfrutar restaurant in Barcelona

A scene from inside Disfrutar, a previous The 50 winner. Europa Press News/Getty Images

Of all the ways for a chef to taste success, being named the world’s best restaurant has to be one of the sweetest. This year, Asador Etxebarri in Atxondo, Spain, gets to Basque in the glory of that honor, according to The 50, a group that highlights top-notch hospitality establishments. But—like the food at grill-happy Asador Etxebarri—the whole process is getting flamed.

Meal ticket: Being included on The 50’s list boosts visibility and revenue, but that’s also part of the problem, since an owner’s focus can get caught up in making the list rather than improving their restaurant. Or, as Ivan Brehm, the chef-owner of Michelin-starred Nouri in Singapore, told CNBC, “Guides and lists now shape the industry they claim to assess.”

Making the list takes effort, too: Ana Roš, whose Hiša Franko restaurant in Slovenia was ranked 60th, opted to skip this year’s best-of event in Lima, Peru, saying the award ecosystem demands significant time, money, and work commitments, like press events and international travel.

It’s not just restaurants: According to finance platform Tide, the average UK worker spends about 2.8 hours per week on self-promotion, which can include vocalizing wins in meetings and writing performative LinkedIn posts that do things like describe brewing a pot of coffee as “optimizing liquidity ratios.”—BC

Reader Poll

Do rankings like The 50 best restaurants or Michelin stars affect your dining decisions?

Yes, I seek out places that have been recognized.
I don’t go looking for them, but if I stumble upon them, I want to try them.
No, I am not a fancy restaurant person.
No, they are never near me.
Yes, it means I will never eat there because they are too expensive.

Syllabus trivia

An extremely popular humanities class at Harvard has become almost as difficult to get into as the university itself.

Below are some of the classic books on the reading list (not exactly beach reads). Can you name the authors?

Emma
The Wealth of Nations
Frankenstein
The Fire Next Time and Notes of a Native Son
On the Genealogy of Morality

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Answer

Jane Austen
Adam Smith
Mary Shelley
James Baldwin
Friedrich Nietzsche

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: “lascivious,” meaning “definitely not PG.” Thanks to Robert from Providence, RI, and the many other readers who felt compelled to make the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.

✳︎ A Note From SoFi

SoFi Coach℠: SoFi Coach℠ Chat is a tool for financial data and insights. Coach replies are automated ideas to consider based on your information and not financial advice or investment advice and do not guarantee results. Replies are based on limited data. Coach may present SoFi products. You are solely responsible for your financial decisions. Offered by Social Finance, LLC.

✤ A Note From Chase for Business

*JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.

Written by Holly Van Leuven, Brendan Cosgrove, and Neal Freyman

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