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Good morning readers. Boeing's been branded a felon after agreeing to plead guilty to criminal fraud over the deadly 737 Max crashes yesterday morning. The deal includes a $243.6 million fine, installs an independent compliance monitor for three years and a $455 million penalty for compliance and safety. Victims' families argue the plea deal is too lenient, calling for a public trial to fully expose the company's wrongdoing. By pleading guilty, the airline avoids going to trial while it desperately tries to flip the script on its recent manufacturing and safety crises.

Let’s jump into today’s storylines.

In today’s digest:

• Media, tech titans head to the “summer camp for billionaires” at Sun Valley

• Headline Hustle: Europe’s markets don’t know how to react after French election results, Reid Hoffman is backing Smartmatic with $10 million to fight Fox news, thousands of Samsung workers walk out for three-day strike

• McDonald’s axes salads from its menus

• Pulse Points: What’s Trending

MEDIA

Big moves in streaming and sports on the agenda at Sun Valley conference

This week, as media bigwigs and tech giants gather in Idaho’s Sun Valley for the annual Allen & Co. conference, the buzz is all about the future of streaming and the reshaping of sports media rights. Known as the "summer camp for billionaires," this isn’t your typical industry meet-up—it’s where media megadeals go down and a venue for the companies’ brass to talk about the future of their businesses, as well as the overall economy.

From Disney’s Bob Iger to Amazon’s Andy Jassy, the guest list reads like a who’s who of industry leaders. While it’s not confirmed if all these top execs will show up, their companies’ strategies and potential collaborations will be hot topics.

Top of the agenda?

Figuring out how to make streaming profitable in a market where everyone’s trying to outdo each other. There’s a lot of talk about streaming companies possibly teaming up. Given the high costs and fierce competition, experts say there’s a strong ‘vibe’ that joining forces might just be the secret sauce these companies need to stay ahead in the streaming game.

Sports are also a big piece of the puzzle, especially with the NBA’s media rights up for grabs.

• Streaming services are stepping up, challenging traditional networks for a piece of the action.

• The shift to digital platforms has been a game changer for players like Amazon (with its Thursday Night Football on Prime Video) and more recently Netflix, showing just how much tech is transforming the sports broadcasting landscape.

The conference is not all about business. Politics is also on the table, with conversations likely touching on everything from economic policies to the upcoming elections. More recently, the conversation has focused on whether or not Joe Biden will, or should, remain President after his not-so-stellar performance on debate night against Donald Trump.

Looking ahead…with the backdrop of the Paramount deal and with elections around the corner, all eyes will be on how these discussions translate into actions post conference.

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IN THE KNOW

Headline Hustle

🇫🇷 European markets don’t know how to react after French election results. French stocks and bonds wavered Monday after the left-wing parties outperformed the far right in parliamentary elections, leading to potential gridlock. The euro remained steady but the yield on 10-year bonds fell to 3.18%, reversing earlier gains. Meanwhile, the CAC 40 index was up 0.13% but has dropped 3.9% since President Macron's snap election call. Concerns over policy paralysis and France's fiscal stability remain, with significant spending commitments from the New Popular Front adding to uncertainties.

💰️ Reid Hoffman is backing Smartmatic to the tune of $10 million to fight Fox News. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is backing Smartmatic with over $10 million to help it fight defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax over 2020 election lies. The lawsuits seek billions in damages for falsely accusing Smartmatic of rigging the election, with trials set for 2025. Fox News and Newsmax deny any wrongdoing, while Hoffman's investment highlights ongoing tensions over election misinformation.

🚶 Thousands of Samsung workers walk out for three-day strike. Thousands of unionized Samsung Electronics workers in South Korea began a three-day strike on Monday, demanding higher wages and better working conditions. The National Samsung Electronics Union, representing about a quarter of Samsung's workforce, said 6,500 workers participated. Samsung reported no immediate production disruptions. The strike follows Samsung’s optimistic second-quarter earnings forecast, showing a significant recovery in its chip-making business. Despite the walkout, Samsung's shares rose 0.5%, as traders appeared unconcerned about the union action's impact on the company's operations.

FOOD

McDonald’s is removing ‘salads’ from its menu

McDonald’s is chopping salads off the menu, and it seems the fast food giant isn't missing the greens. As the king of quick bites leans into its core staples—burgers, fries, and irresistible $5 deals—salads have been tossed aside, not just because of preference, but also practicality.

Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, put it bluntly at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum in June: "If people really want salads from McDonald’s we will gladly relaunch salads. But what our experience has proven is that’s not what the consumer is looking for from McDonald’s.”

The message is clear: when people hit the Golden Arches, they're not hunting for a harvest bowl; they want the comfort of crispy fries and a hot fresh burger.

How salads made it to the menu in the first place

The salad saga began pre-pandemic when McDonald’s, aiming to dodge the "veto vote"—the movement where a group or family skips a restaurant due to lack of options for all dietary preferences—tried to keep up with the health trend wave.

But despite their efforts, salads never really took root. The final straw came in 2018 when a health scare linked to their salads caused a temporary pull from 3,000 stores, and by 2020, amidst the chaos of COVID-19, McDonald’s streamlined their offerings to focus on what sold best.

Now, the focus is on fine-tuning the staples. Instead of betting on salads or the McPlant burger, which also didn’t quite catch on, McDonald’s is doubling down on what it does best. For now, the company is sticking to its guns (or buns, rather), banking on the basics that have fueled its empire for decades.

SNIPPETS

Pulse Points

• Tropical Storm Beryl swept across the Texas coast on Monday, causing power outages for over 2 million people and businesses in the Houston area and heavy rains that led to numerous high-water rescues. The storm is expected to impact several more states in the coming days.

• Despite record summer air travel demand, U.S. airline profits aren't reaching new highs. Carriers will need to explain this disconnect when they report quarterly results this month.

• Three Columbia University deans were removed from their positions for sending text messages that included "disturbing ancient antisemitic tropes" during a May forum on Jewish issues, according to a letter from Columbia officials to the university community on Monday.

• Serena Williams tried to cash her first $1 million cheque through a drive-thru ATM.

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