Forbes Daily: What’s Next After Donald Trump’s Guilty Verdict

---

This is a published version of the Forbes Daily newsletter, you can sign-up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here.

---

Good morning,

This was anything but a normal commencement season, as students walked out of ceremonies in protest of the war in Gaza, and some speakers made controversial comments. But many speakers also gave powerful career advice to new graduates that we could all heed.

Actress Quinta Brunson told Temple University graduates that there’s power in your connections from college when looking for your next opportunity. Thasunda Brown Duckett, the first female president of financial services firm TIAA, told Howard University’s graduating class not to look in your rearview mirror, but to focus on the present and future.

And billionaire telecom entrepreneur Robert Hale, who donated $1,000 in cash to each graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, reminded the class not to fear failure.

FIRST UP

Former President Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records Thursday, becoming the first former or sitting president to ever be convicted on criminal charges. Each of the 34 counts Trump was convicted on is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 per offense and/or up to four years in prison—but legal experts believe it’s unlikely, but not out of the question, that he’ll be sentenced to prison as a first-time offender.

MORE: Shares of the social media company that constitute a majority of Trump’s net worth tanked after the jury delivered its verdict. The stock of Trump Media, parent company of Truth Social, fell almost 10% in after hours trading by 5:45 p.m, which would amount to a $532 million decline in the value of Trump’s shares.

Those 34 counts could be the first of many, as Trump still faces an additional 54 felony charges against him in his three remaining criminal cases. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of the criminal cases against him, insisting that the charges are all “witch hunts” designed to harm his presidential campaign.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

The Dow Jones Industrial Average faltered Thursday thanks in large part to a massive selloff for software giant Salesforce, as the business software platform’s earnings report included weaker revenue forecasts than expected. The Salesforce malaise is indicative of the investor angst about turning AI hype into earnings growth—for pretty much every technology company other than Microsoft and Nvidia.

When wildly popular drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy first took off, there were dire predictions for the food industry, but Nestlé’s CEO said Thursday that the nutritional needs of customers on the drugs are “just shifting.” That’s created an opportunity for companies like Nestlé to respond to their needs by promoting healthier “companion products,” he said, including the company’s upcoming frozen food line, Vital Pursuit, which is geared toward GLP-1 drug users.

TECH + INNOVATION

Elon Musk has agreed to testify in the SEC’s investigation into his $44 billion purchase of X—formerly known as Twitter—in 2022, according to court documents filed Thursday. In October 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Tesla’s centibillionaire CEO for allegedly refusing to testify in its investigation into whether Musk violated securities laws when he began buying shares of Twitter leading up to his purchase of the entire company.

OpenAI identified and disrupted five influence operations involving users from Russia, China, Iran and Israel that were using its AI technology, including ChatGPT, to generate content aimed at deceptively influencing public opinion and political discourse. Those behind the operations used AI to generate content shared across a variety of platforms, including code for bots and to create the false appearance of engagement by generating disingenuous replies on social media posts.

MORE: OpenAI is formally relaunching its previously abandoned robotics team, Forbes has learned, as investment into AI-powered robotics heats up. The company is currently hiring research engineers to rebuild the team, which it had shuttered in 2020, according to three sources.

SCIENCE + HEALTHCARE

Novo Nordisk has filed nine lawsuits against medical spas, wellness clinics and pharmacies for allegedly selling impure products claiming to contain semaglutide, the active ingredient in its weight loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. The companies are selling or marketing compounded drugs claiming to contain semaglutide, some of which were up to 24% impure, Novo Nordisk claims, adding the impurities pose “possibly serious and life-threatening reactions” like anaphylaxis.

TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE

Beginning next week, Thailand will roll out an initiative that will allow travelers from 93 countries to stay up to 60 days, and relax rules for digital nomads, students and retirees. Thailand is hoping these moves will collectively help juice its stuttering economy, as it aims for a record 40 million foreign tourism arrivals in 2024, with an anticipated revenue of $95.3 billion.

TRENDS + EXPLAINERS

With a reverse mortgage, you borrow against the equity in your home, freeing up cash. But they aren’t the solution for everyone: They can be pricey, and taking one out means that you are exhausting the equity in your home.

DAILY COVER STORY

Meet The Tiger Woods Of…Darts?

TOPLINE Nothing has been the same for Luke Littler since December, when the story of a mild-mannered 16-year-old British phenom advancing to the finals of the Professional Darts Corporation World Championships turned him into an overnight celebrity in the United Kingdom. Suddenly Littler was appearing on talk shows alongside actress Millie Bobby Brown, fielding DMs from David Beckham and rubbing shoulders with the players of his beloved Manchester United. His Instagram account skyrocketed from 4,000 followers to more than 1.3 million.

Yet as the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) comes to New York for its annual U.S. Darts Masters event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden this weekend, the now-17-year-old Littler is somewhat reluctant to embrace his new role as the face of his sport.

“I've got the popularity, which is a good thing,” says Littler, a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe class of 2024. “But I'd love to just have no one know who I am and just get on with my life as a nobody.”

That seems unlikely now, given that his World Championship final was the most-watched program—excluding soccer—in Sky Sports history, peaking at 3.7 million viewers. And “Luke the Nuke” has spent the last five months proving the success was no fluke. His finals run qualified him for the 16-week Premier League Darts season, where he finished at the top of the standings and won the season-ending playoff last week in front of more than 14,000 fans at London’s O2 Arena.

“For all the doubters, hello!” Littler shouted to the crowd during his post-match interview, in a rare outburst of emotion. “You're not doubting me anymore!”

The major title netted Littler $350,000, bringing his total prize money to just over $825,000 since January. When combined with endorsements, royalties and appearance fees, Forbes projects Littler will earn more than $1.5 million (before taxes) in 2024. Matt Porter, CEO of the Professional Darts Corporation, predicts Littler will finish among the top three earners in the sport at the end of the year.

WHY IT MATTERS Littler’s emergence as the sport’s biggest star, someone capable of minting new darts fans—the so-called “Luke Littler effect”—could mean even more for the bottom line of Matchroom Sport, the Brentwood, U.K.-based company that owns the PDC and, by extension, essentially the sport of professional darts. It’s already a lucrative business for Matchroom, producing estimated net profits of more than $28 million in the fiscal year 2023 (ending June 30) on $63 million in revenue. Darts accounts for nearly half of the net profits posted by the entire company, which has an estimated $365 million in total revenue and operates in boxing, snooker and a handful of other sports.

MORE The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 25 And Under For 2024

FACTS + COMMENTS

Concert tour sales between October and March saw a significant spike compared to the same time frame the previous year, Billboard reported. And that’s not including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which is already the highest-grossing tour of all time:

$1.5 billion: The amount grossed by the top 10 concert tours giving data to Billboard that performed between October 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, an 83% increase from last year

More than $230 million: The amount U2 has grossed from its residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, the top-grossing tour of the year so far

$190 million: The amount that Pink and Madonna each grossed during the period, the second- and third-highest grossing acts reporting data to Billboard, respectively

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

As the season of summer vacations begins, some employees are participating in a new trend called “quiet vacationing,” or taking time off without formally communicating it to their manager. One recent study revealed that the current corporate culture around taking paid time off stops employees from utilizing their vacation days. But while quiet vacationing may seem appealing, you risk undermining trust with your employer, and could face disciplinary action. Instead, talk to your manager about your workload and stress levels, and ask about getting some time off for self-care.

QUIZ

A celestial event called the “planetary parade” will occur next week where several planets will appear to be in a straight line from Earth, but only two will be visible to the naked eye. Which of the following planets is one of them?

1. Saturn
2. Neptune
3. Jupiter
4. Mercury

Check your answer.

ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

Want to keep up with the latest on all things tax? Forbes senior writer Kelly Phillips Erb is covering it all in our newest newsletter, Tax Breaks. You can sign up here.