Raphael Stevens

Nearly half of millennial millionaires have at least 25% of their wealth in cryptocurrencies, as the crypto boom continues to create wealth for young, early adopters, according to the CNBC Millionaire Survey.Fully 47% of millennial millionaires surveyed have more than 25% of their wealth in cryptocurrencies, according to the survey of 750 investors with at least $1 million in investible assets. More than a third of millennial millionaires have at least half their wealth in crypto.The results highlight a new generational divide in wealth creation from crypto, with younger investors who spotted the trend early on able to earn vast fortunes, and grow their existing investments, from the surge in the prices of bitcoin, ether and other crypto.Older millionaires are far less likely to believe in or invest in crypto. Fully 83% of American millionaires have none of their wealth in crypto, and only one in 10 keep more than 10% of their wealth in crypto assets, according to the survey. None of the baby boomer millionaires or older generations have more than 10% of their wealth in crypto.”The younger investors jumped on it early when it was not as well known,” said George Walper, president of Spectrem Group, which conducted the Millionaire Survey with CNBC online in April and May. “The younger investors were more intellectually engaged with the idea even though it was new. Older investors and the boomers were largely saying ‘Is his legit?'”The importance of crypto to young millionaires could shift the wealth management industry, as private banks, brokers and wealth management firms scramble to cater to a new, crypto-heavy clientele. In the coming years, the key to attracting the next generation of wealthy clients could be more about crypto than traditional stocks, bonds, private equity and hedge funds.”We’re already seeing the industry responding,” Walper said. ‘We see more and more providers offering access to crypto investing. It’s changing fast.”The generational divide among millionaires is even more stark when it comes to nonfungible tokens. Most millionaires say they don’t know what an NFT is, and more than a third say they are an “overhyped fad.” Yet two-thirds of millennial millionaires say NFTs “are the next big thing.”Nearly half of millennial millionaires surveyed own NFTs, and another 40% say they don’t currently own an NFT but have “considered” it. That compares with 98% of baby boomer millionaires who say they don’t own any NFTs and aren’t considering it.”NFTs have only recently started to be part of the media coverage,” Walper said. “So the older generations are further behind on the understanding.” More

In this articleMALuke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe back-to-school season is usually a time of new beginnings, but consumers are more eager than usual for a fresh start after the pandemic. That emotion will fuel spending, according to a new forecast.Back-to-school sales in the U.S. are expected to grow 6.7% from 2019 and 5.5% from last year’s Covid days, according to a forecast by Mastercard SpendingPulse. The company uses nonautomotive spending patterns online and in stores to make retail projections for the period that spans from mid-July to early September.The sales season is typically a major driver for retailers as families buy school supplies, clothes and college dorm decor. This year, however, it will also serve as a barometer for consumer confidence as Covid cases wane in the U.S. and many people return to routines like full days in a classroom, meetings at the office and a busier roster of activities.”There is added significance largely because we are in a very rapidly changing consumer environment and reopening economy,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former Saks CEO.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsFor retailers, the 2021 back-to-school season comes at a critical moment. Some, such as Amazon, Walmart and Target, face challenging year-over-year comparisons because of unusually high sales of groceries and other essentials for time spent at home during the pandemic. Other hard-hit retailers, such as Macy’s and Kohl’s, are trying to make up for lost time as merchandise like shoes, dresses and denim catch shoppers’ attention again.Apparel in particular will likely have a steep year-over-year jump as consumers fill up their closets. Apparel sales are expected to rise about 78% compared with the back-to-school season in 2020 and 11% from the 2019 season, according to Mastercard’s forecast.Sadove said people want to look fresh and fashionable as they get ready to reunite with co-workers or classmates, attend weddings and go out more. “There’s a pent-up demand for newness, for change,” he said.One of the beneficiaries of that will be department stores with a 25% year-over-year increase, according to Mastercard, as consumers return to malls and browse in stores again.For many consumers, online shopping will remain a habit. E-commerce sales are expected to decline by nearly 7% year over year but will be 53% higher than the back-to-school season in 2019.Retailers have yet to roll out splashy TV ads and circulars of kids wearing new outfits and shiny backpacks. Yet Amazon, Walmart and Target’s summer sales could jumpstart back-to-school shopping early. Amazon Prime Day is June 21 and 22. Walmart and Target have already announced competing sales events that will overlap this period.Retail sales have bounced back, despite the pandemic-induced recession. They surged by 10.7% in March, according to the Commerce Department, but were flat in April. Strong sales in the first quarter inspired companies including Walmart, Macy’s, Levi’s and Gap to raise forecasts for the quarters ahead.Target’s chief growth officer, Christina Hennington, said on the first-quarter earnings call in mid-May that the retailer is “planning for one of our biggest back-to-school and college seasons ever.” She said consumers appear optimistic and eager to celebrate holidays and life events.Casey Hanson, a stay-at-home mother of two girls from Placerville, California, said she looks forward to more normalcy in the school year ahead.Last fall, her 6-year-old daughter, Matilda, started kindergarten at home. Hanson bought new clothes for Matilda and her 3-year-old sister, Margaret, who is in preschool. Yet the school supply list had different items than usual as they got an easel chalkboard, dry erase markers and an iPad to turn home into a classroom.Hanson said many parents took it hard as the pandemic stole away milestones, like the first day of school and opportunities to volunteer in the classroom.”It did feel like missing out a bit — like a moment you’ll never be able to get back,” she said.She said those emotions may influence families’ back-to-school shopping as some parents “feel like they definitely have to go big.”When Matilda returned to in-person school in January, she used her old glow-in-the-dark backpack and mermaid-themed lunchbox. This fall, Hanson said she will take her soon-to-be first grader to the store to pick out a brand new backpack, lunchbox and water bottle — most likely ones that are unicorn or rainbow-themed.”We missed out last year, but that’s OK,” she said. “We’re looking ahead.” More

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with a bipartisan group of members of Congress.Pool | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — The European Union and the United States are expected to call for more progress on an investigation into the origins of Covid-19, according to a draft EU document.The draft document, seen by CNBC, is the foundation for the outcome of an upcoming summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders which is due on Tuesday. Its wording could change right up until the end of the meeting. Speaking Thursday, European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs European summits, said: “The world has the right to know exactly what happened, in order to be able to learn the lessons.”We have to know where it did come from.Ursula von der LeyenEuropean Commission PresidentAt the same press conference on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “It is of utmost importance that we learn about the origin of the coronavirus.””There is this horrible pandemic, a global pandemic we have to know where it did come from in order to draw the right lessons and to develop the right tools to make sure that this will never happen again and, therefore, the investigators need complete access to whatever is necessary to really find the source of this pandemic,” she added.These statements follow Biden’s call last month for the World Health Organization to carry out a second phase of a probe into the origins of the virus, which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.A WHO report said earlier this year that the most likely cause of the virus was natural, and dismissed a lab-leak theory. But it suggested that further studies would need to be carried out.The U.S. Intelligence community said last month that it “does not know exactly where, when, or how the Covid-19 virus was transmitted initially but has coalesced around two likely scenarios: either it emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals or it was a laboratory accident.”The discussion on the origins of the coronavirus comes at a time when the U.S. and the EU also intend to discuss their broader relationship with China.While on the one hand, the U.S. and the EU want to criticize what they describe as human rights violations in China; on the other hand, they want Beijing to engage constructively on climate change policies and to open up certain parts of its economy.Biden is hoping that the EU will be a partner when it deals with China over the coming years.”Biden believes that with a broad coalition, you may be able to push China down a more constructive path. International pressure, that is pressure not coming from Washington only, could prove useful on any of these topics,” Jeremy Ghez, associate professor at H.E.C. Business School in Paris, told CNBC last week.The EU decided in March to put on hold the ratification of an investment agreement with Beijing — a deal that had been presented back in December, just weeks before the inauguration of Biden.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:EU and U.S. to call for a deeper probe into Covid origins India reports more than 6,000 daily Covid deaths — highest ever in the worldIn China’s new Covid hotspot, police detain those who violate virus prevention measures Fauci blasts ‘preposterous’ Covid conspiracies, accuses his critics of ‘attacks on science’ Top international health officials worry about new Covid variants that may be able to evade vaccines  This investment partnership is now frozen following a diplomatic row between Brussels and Beijing. In March, the EU decided to impose sanctions against China for its treatment of the ethnic minority Uyghurs and Beijing retaliated by announcing counter-sanctions against members of the European Parliament.The ethnic Uyghurs, who live mostly in China’s west, have been identified by the United Nations, United States, United Kingdom and others as a repressed group. China’s foreign ministry in March characterized such claims as “malicious lies” designed to “smear China” and “frustrate China’s development.” More

[The stream is slated to start at 8:30 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]A key Food and Drug Administration panel is holding a meeting Thursday to discuss the use of Covid-19 vaccines in children as young as 6 months old.The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting comes the same day Moderna said it has asked the U.S. agency to expand the emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents ages 12 to 17. The vaccine was authorized for adults in December.Pfizer and German partner BioNTech were cleared last month to use their vaccine for 12-to-15-year-olds.U.S. regulators are expected to grant Moderna’s request for use in teens. The approval process could take about a month, just in time for fall classes. Pfizer and BioNTech requested expanded use of their shot in adolescents on April 9, for example, and were authorized by the FDA on May 10. More

A view of the driveway leading to the residence at 777 Sarbonne Road in Bel-Air, California.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupSeven is a magical number for one of Bel-Air’s priciest spec homes.The glass and marble palace located at 777 Sarbonne Road in Los Angeles hit the market last month with an asking price of $87,777,777.The triple sevens in its address and price tag are just the beginning. Many of the home’s architectural details were designed in measurements that are multiples of seven.A black marble walkway leads to the home’s 14-foot glass front door.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupThere’s a giant front door made of glass that stands 14 feet tall and the ceilings in the massive living room are 21 feet high. At the end of the driveway, three oversized sevens measure 7-feet, 7-inches tall.Giant brass sevens at the end of the driveway are 7 feet, 7 inches tall.CNBCThe seven-bedroom, 11-bath residence is owned by cosmetic surgeon Dr. Alex Khadavi.”Seven is a number and theme that has affected me in every important aspect of my life,” Khadavi said in an interview, “from the age I came to America, to the floor level of my condominium.”Khadavi, who came to the United States in 1979 from Tehran, is 48.And notably, the home has been seven years in the making, and its dramatic before-and-after photos reveal a startling transformation.In 2014, the old facade of 777 Sarbonne was covered in yellow stucco and red awnings.Aaron Kirman GroupCNBC first reported on the property in 2014, when the site was home to an outdated stucco mansion purchased by Khadavi for $16 million. The doctor’s real estate broker, Aaron Kirman, told CNBC that a couple of months after Khadavi bought it, he received a $24 million offer from a developer who was looking to buy the unimproved property to tear down the old home and build a new one in its place.Instead of accepting the offer, which was an $8 million profit from his purchase price, Khadavi decided to develop it himself. He hired Ali Rad Design and began a seven-year journey to give the old mansion a facelift.How the living room appeared seven years ago.Aaron Kirman Group”Facelift is an understatement, but yeah, seven years and so many millions, I don’t even want to know how many,” said Kirman, who now co-lists 777 Sarbonne with Mauricio Umansky of The Agency RE.The living room has 21-foot ceilings and a floor-to-ceiling glass wall that opens to the backyard.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupThe mansion makeover was nearly a total teardown, its owner said. Only one wall from the old house is still standing. It’s in the modern home’s new living room.Gone is the red paint and black wrought iron walkway. Now, it’s sleek white walls, polished Carrera marble floors and a 21-foot-tall wall of glass that opens to jaw-dropping views of Los Angeles.Khadavi also built a secret into the living room that’s designed to dazzle guests. With the touch of a button, a portion of the floor that is hidden beneath a rug can be set into motion. It instantly begins rising toward the ceiling. Mirrored steel supports, powered by an industrial-strength hydraulic lift, push the marble 7 feet into the air. Within a few seconds, a sleek DJ booth and dance platform — previously hidden in a subterranean level of the home — take center stage.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsDr. Alex Khadavi sits above the living room on an elevated DJ booth powered by hydraulics.Joe Bryant | Aaron Kirman GroupHidden underground below the rising party platform is a vault, a red wine storage area, and the electronic brains of the house that control everything from sound systems to projectable nonfungible tokens. Khadavi said he plans to project the digital art over the pool and feature NFTs on monitors throughout the house.Further above the hydraulic DJ booth, and seemingly floating over the living room, is a dramatic glass bridge that leads to the owner’s suite.A glass-and-marble bridge overlooks the living room and leads to the owner’s wing.Marc & Tiffany Angeles / Aaron Kirman GroupThe owner’s sleeping quarters feature a white marble-clad fireplace and a wall of glass doors that slide open to a marble and glass terrace overlooking LA.A view of the owner’s suite and terrace.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupThe owner’s bath is also covered in white marble. The bookmatched Italian stone meets at its center where an oval-shaped bath and gold-colored designer chandelier are the focal point.The owner’s suite bath is clad in bookmatched white Carrara marble.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupAlong the bath’s glass wall is a double shower that runs the width of the room. And if you’d rather not shower in front of all of Los Angeles, the touch of a button can instantly fog the glass for privacy.The bedroom includes a massage room and two identical walk-in closets, each with a skylight and another golden chandelier dangling at its center.The owner’s suite has two identical walk-in closets, each with a skylight and a gold chandelier.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupTwo garages on the property look more like luxury car showrooms. One is covered in white marble and the other in black. Above the noir parking area is a separate two-bedroom guest house.A guest house sits atop a black marble-covered garage.Juwan Li / Aaron Kirman GroupOne side of the main residence’s exterior walls have been lined with faux plants to create an always green courtyard that frames a modern koi pond.The view from above the home’s outdoor koi pond.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupAn infinity-edged pool in the back of the house offers a front-row seat to panoramic skyline views.Skyline views from 777 Sarbonne’s infinity-edge pool.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupThe vista is protected by a view easement that cost the prior owner $500,000, Kirman said. The easement prevents the neighbor below from building a home or even growing a tree that will obstruct the view at 777 Sarbonne.”It’s a huge important aspect of the sale of this house,” Kirman said. “I think they got away light paying $500,000 because this house is all about the view and the view speaks for itself.”One of the outdoor seating areas is accented with fire features.Joe Bryant / Aaron Kirman GroupKhadavi accented those views with fire features and plenty of spots to sit back and take it all in.An outdoor lounge area features marble flooring and a path to the pool.Juwan Li / Aaron Kirman Group More

In this articleMRNAA nurse gives Sherri Trimble, 15, a shot of the vaccine at a vaccination clinic at Health First Medical Centre in Melbourne, Florida.Paul Hennessy | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty ImagesModerna said it has asked the Food and Drug Administration to expand the emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents ages 12 to 17.If approved by the FDA, it would likely dramatically expand the number of shots available to middle and high school students ahead of the next school year. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech were cleared last month to use their vaccine for 12-to-15-year-olds.Moderna said on May 25 its Covid vaccine was 100% effective in a study of 12-to-17-year-olds, making it the second shot to demonstrate high efficacy in younger age groups. Moderna’s two-dose vaccine, which is given four weeks apart, is already authorized for adults.The study the company cited included more than 3,700 adolescents. No cases of Covid were observed in participants who received two doses of the vaccine, while four cases were observed in the placebo group, according to the company.No significant safety concerns have been identified, and side effects generally are consistent with those seen in an earlier trial of adults, the company said. The most common side effects after the second dose were headache, fatigue, muscle pain and chills, Moderna said.U.S. regulators are expected to grant Moderna’s request for use in teens. The approval process could take about a month, just in time for fall classes. Pfizer and BioNTech requested expanded use of their shot in adolescents on April 9, for example, and were authorized by the FDA on May 10.Vaccinating children is seen as crucial to ending the pandemic. The nation is unlikely to achieve herd immunity — when enough people in a given community have antibodies against a specific disease — until children can get vaccinated, scientists say.Children make up around 20% of the total U.S. population, according to government data. Some 70% to 85% of the U.S. population needs to be vaccinated against Covid to achieve herd immunity, medical experts say, and some adults may refuse to get the shots. More experts say herd immunity is looking increasingly unlikely as coronavirus variants spread.Vaccinating kids may also hasten the return of in-person learning and after-school extracurricular activities such as sports, art and music, health experts say.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 28 eased its public health guidance for summer camps, saying fully vaccinated teens don’t need to wear masks or stay 6 feet away from others.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. More