Raphael Stevens

Viewership for the Summer Olympics in Paris so far has been blowing past the 2021 Tokyo Games, and the opening ceremony scored a bigger audience than Rio did in 2016.
Hip-hop artist and entertainer Snoop Dogg’s role in the Paris Olympics has been a big part of the draw — and is generating a lot of social media buzz.
Snoop Dogg, whose first role in the Olympics was a highlight show with Kevin Hart in 2021, has been growing his relationship with NBC.
Snoop Dogg will also be a new judge on “The Voice” this fall.

Snoop Dogg attends the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Qualification on day two of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Bercy Arena in Paris on July 28, 2024.
Arturo Holmes | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Millions of viewers in the U.S. are tuning into the Summer Olympics in Paris — and many of them are getting a big dose of Snoop Dogg as part of the experience.
Beginning with the opening ceremony, the five-day total audience delivery average was 34 million viewers, combining daytime and primetime coverage, up 79% from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, according to an NBC Sports release.

Executives of Comcast’s NBCUniversal — the TV and streaming broadcaster of the Games in the U.S. — have been touting not only the success of their production, but also of the celebrities and personalities employed as part of the coverage, namely Snoop Dogg.
The hip-hop artist turned sports commentator and entertainer has been on the sidelines at the Games in Paris, talking to athletes and their families, trying out sports with Olympic stars and taking a crack at analysis.
Molly Solomon, NBC’s executive producer of the Olympics, referred to Snoop Dogg as an “ambassador of happiness” during a press call this week.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by his popularity, but you never ever underestimate Snoop Dogg,” said Solomon, calling out his “wonderful mix of swagger and positivity and just the charisma and vibes are so positive.”

Snoop Dogg carries the Olympic flame during the last stage of the Olympic torch before the opening ceremony in Seine-Saint-Denis, France, on July 26, 2024.
Victoria Valdivia | Hans Lucas | AFP | Getty Images

Snoop Dogg, who joined the Olympic torch run, has generated considerable buzz on social media — from clips of him cheering alongside Olympians’ family members to snapping numerous selfies with athletes and those on the sidelines, including tennis legend Billie Jean King.

He has spurred some viral moments, including by cheering alongside U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel’s wife and baby son when Team USA won its first gold medal and dancing in the crowd as the U.S. women’s gymnastics team responded from the mat.
His swimming lesson from Olympic legend Michael Phelps also floated around the internet.
“The first time I ever actually watched him on Olympic coverage was the track and field trials back in June,” said Krissy Birdsall, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, adding she has been watching more of the Games due to the favorable time difference in Paris. “He was pretty entertaining. And he kind of brought a different perspective into the world of track and field.”

Pumped-up audience

NBCUniversal had been banking on the success of the Paris Olympics, and Snoop Dogg, for the past few years.
The rapper, once known for hits such as “Gin and Juice,” got his first spin at the Olympics in 2021 when he hosted a highlight show with comedian Kevin Hart on Peacock. While viewership for the Tokyo Games that year was lackluster, and few live events aired on Peacock, their show captured the audience, with various clips going viral.

Snoop Dogg is interviewed at the beach volleyball event on day five of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on July 31, 2024.
Carl Recine | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

“Snoop set the Olympic world on fire in Tokyo,” Solomon said in an interview with CNBC. The following year, NBC’s executives met with Snoop Dogg to discuss his future place in the Olympics broadcast, she said.
“He really wanted to go to the Olympic city, and tell the athletes’ story,” Solomon said.
Solomon and “Primetime in Paris” host Mike Tirico talked up Snoop Dogg’s work before the Games during a press call in July, noting his early arrival ahead of the opening ceremony and his relationships with athletes.
For his part, Snoop Dogg made his prep work sound a bit simpler.
“My preparation for prime time is being me,” he said during the press call, adding he was “sliding into the practice facilities with different teams. … I’m one of those individuals that likes to get involved.”
Ahead of the Games, Snoop Dogg was also present at the Olympic trials earlier this summer, and since then has popped up in various places. While Tirico, singer Kelly Clarkson and former National Football League star Peyton Manning led the opening ceremony, Snoop Dogg was interviewing American athletes while donning the same Ralph Lauren blazer as them.
“Snoop Dogg is one of those people that can totally just transcend and be versatile,” said Kendall Wright, a student at Northwestern University.
He has been decked out in USA gear, including an NBC jacket emblazoned with his name and T-shirts with the faces of star athletes such as Coco Gauff and Kelly Cheng.

Snoop Dogg cheers the USA team for women’s gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Wally Skalij | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

“It’s a sporting event, but it’s not your traditional audience,” John Fortunato, a communications and media management professor at the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business, said of the Olympics. “You see him at the various events, and he has so much personality that he can relate to the audience as a fan. That’s really where his appeal is.”
Snoop Dogg is sticking with NBC. Fans will get more of him on NBC and Peacock this fall when he joins the coaching seats on “The Voice.”
“I understand why Snoop Dogg and Alex Cooper have been looped into the Olympics, especially for the millennial and Gen X audience,” said Jenna Mindes, a human resources professional from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
She is a big fan of gymnastics and went to the Olympic trials in Minneapolis this summer. However, she has not loved the inclusion of celebrities in the Olympics.
“I think for gymnastics and maybe less mainstream sports, big fans are kind of gatekeepers who take their sports very seriously … and celebrities entering the conversation almost seems to dilute the sport,” she said.
There has been “a lot more pop culture, celebrities and a lot more Snoop than we’ve had before,” said NBC Sports President Rick Cordella, adding that this has helped to popularize the Paris Olympics.

Snoop Dogg poses for photos with American sportscasters Bob Costas (L) and Al Michaels at beach volleyball on day five of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on July 31, 2024.
Carl Recine | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Meanwhile, the “Gold Zone” show on Peacock, which shows multiple live sports at once and is led by Scott Hanson of “NFL Red Zone” in a similar format, has become a big hit, as has the watch-along show led by Alex Cooper, host of the podcast “Call Her Daddy.”
“We’ve really taken a different path at how we approach this,” Cordella said of Peacock’s Olympics strategy, which has been a big part of the viewership numbers.
The success of the Paris Olympics follows the lowest-ever rated Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, as well as the lesser-watched Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022.
The Tokyo Olympics faced myriad issues. They were delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic; no family and fans were present at the events; few, if any, events were available on streaming service Peacock; and there was a severe time difference for U.S. viewers.
Since July 26, the Paris Olympics audience has been on a roll, according to NBC Sports. The opening ceremony, which took place on the Seine River, had 28.6 million viewers, compared to 17.9 million for Tokyo and 26.5 million for the 2016 Rio Games, making it the most-watched Opening Ceremony since 2012 in London. 
During a recent interview with NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt, Snoop Dogg said he never expected to play this role “in his wildest dreams,” especially after watching the Olympics when he was a child.
“I’m the biggest kid in the crowd,” he told Holt of his cheering on the U.S. athletes at the games.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

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DraftKings is planning a tax on consumers in states with the highest sports betting tax rates, as the company looks to boost profit.
Starting January 1, it will implement a gaming surcharge on winning bets in states with multiple betting operators and where the tax rate is above 20%.
The announcement came as the sports betting operator released its second-quarter earnings, which marked the company’s first-ever profitable quarter as a public company.

Budrul Chukrut | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Mobile betting powerhouse DraftKings is planning a tax on consumers in states with the highest sports betting tax rates, as the company looks to boost profit.
The company announced Thursday that starting next year, it will implement a gaming surcharge on winning bets in states with multiple betting operators and where the tax rate is above 20%. That includes Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

“We decided that the best course of action is to do what really every other industry [does] — whether it’s hotels, taxis — whatever else you buy generally has some kind of tax,” DraftKings CEO and co-founder Jason Robins told CNBC.
The announcement came as the sports betting operator released its second-quarter earnings, which marked the company’s first-ever profitable quarter as a public company. DraftKings reported revenue of $1.1 billion, roughly in line with consensus estimates, according to LSEG.
Fears of tax hikes in gaming pressured DraftKings stock and other betting companies such as FanDuel back in May, when Illinois approved a tax hike on sports betting revenue. The sliding tax rates impose 40% levies on companies with the largest adjusted gross revenue. New York and New Hampshire each maintain 51% tax rates on sports betting companies.
In a letter to shareholders Thursday, Robins said the new surcharge will be nominal for the customer. In Illinois, for example, it will amount to a low- to mid-single-digit percentage of net winnings.
“If you made a $10 bet to win $20, you would pay like 30 cents,” Robins said, citing an example.

Arrows pointing outwards

An illustration of the DraftKings app, introducing a new gaming surcharge.
DraftKings

DraftKings is believed to be the first U.S. operator to implement a tax on the winnings of a bettor. Robins said he weighed it heavily and hopes it causes states to think twice about the tax rate.
“I do think that if states start to realize that above a certain level, we can’t invest in our product and customer experience in the way that we need to … it might make them think differently about it,” he added.
He is also considering customers’ response. “We’re not going to hide it,” Robins said. “Obviously, we could see some customers drop off, and player betting activity, if they don’t like it.”
Robins says DraftKings is not including the new tax in its guidance.
The company raised revenue guidance to a range of $5.05 billion to $5.25 billion from previous guidance in the range of $4.80 billion to $5 billion. The updated guidance equates to 38% to 43% year-over-year growth.
But the sports betting giant lowered its 2024 adjusted EBITDA guidance to between $340 million and $420 million, down from previous guidance of $460 million to $540 million.
The company reported a profit during the second quarter for the first time, posting net income for the three-month period that ended June 30 of $63.8 million, or 10 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $77.3 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier. 
Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected a per-share loss of 1 cent for the period.
Revenue rose to $1.1 billion, up 26% from $874.9 million a year earlier. The company said the revenue increase was driven primarily by continued healthy customer engagement, expansion into new jurisdictions and the acquisition of lottery app Jackpocket.
“The overperformance that we are seeing with customer acquisition, the launch of Washington D.C., our expectation for Jackpocket to deliver positive EBITDA next year as well as underlying trends with our existing customers and our performance on the handle side, all should offset the Illinois tax increase next year,” Robins said on the company’s earnings call. “So even if we don’t get any benefit from the fee, we will see still $900 million to $1 billion in adjusted EBITDA next year.”
More than 30 states now allow some form of sports wagering, and many of them permit mobile and online betting. DraftKings is live with mobile sports betting in 25 states and Washington, D.C. The company’s iGaming division is live in five states.
The company said so far this year, 10 more jurisdictions have either introduced legislation to legalize mobile sports betting or introduced a bill that may result in a mobile sports betting referendum during an upcoming election.
DraftKings also announced its first ever $1 billion share repurchase program. The company has a market cap of about $14 billion.

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All doses of Eli Lilly’s highly popular weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro are now available in the U.S., according to an update on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database.
The update comes one day after Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said shortages of Mounjaro and Zepbound would end “very soon.” 
Demand for weight loss and diabetes drugs has trounced supply for months, pushing Eli Lilly and its rival Novo Nordisk to invest billions to ramp up manufacturing. 

An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

All doses of Eli Lilly’s highly popular weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro are now available in the U.S., according to an update on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database on Friday. 
A previous update said some doses of the treatments were still in short supply. Some doses of Mounjaro have been in shortage since as early as 2022, while doses of Zepbound joined the FDA’s shortage list earlier this year following its U.S. approval in November. 

Demand for weight loss and diabetes drugs has trounced supply for months, pushing Eli Lilly and its rival Novo Nordisk to invest billions to ramp up manufacturing. 
The FDA’s update comes one day after Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told Bloomberg that the shortages of Mounjaro and Zepbound would end “very soon.” 
“I think actually today or tomorrow we plan to exit that process,” he told the outlet in an interview. 
A spokesperson for Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the FDA’s update on Friday. 
All doses of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes injection Ozempic are available in the U.S. as of Friday, according to the FDA’s database. Meanwhile, the FDA said some doses of Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy have limited supply.

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The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage dropped 22 basis points to 6.4% Friday, according to Mortgage News Daily.
The drop followed a weaker-than-expected monthly employment report, which sent bond yields falling fast.
The recent high on the 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.52% in late April, and home sales have been falling ever since.

A “For Sale” sign in front of a home in Arlington, Virginia, on Aug. 22, 2023.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage dropped 22 basis points to 6.4% Friday, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is the lowest rate since April 2023. The 15-year fixed rate fell to 5.89%, its lowest level since early May 2023.
The drop followed a weaker-than-expected monthly employment report, which sent bond yields falling fast. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury.

“Between [Federal Reserve Chair Jerome] Powell’s equivocal openness to ‘multiple cuts’ in 2024 on Wednesday and this morning’s sharply weaker jobs report (something Powell didn’t even know about on Wednesday), the more aggressive rate cut narrative is quickly coming into focus,” wrote Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily. 
There are still two inflation reports and another employment report before the Fed’s September meeting, Graham noted, adding, “If they don’t offer strong counterpoints to recent data, the rate cut cycle has not only begun, but it will likely involve a certain sense of urgency.”
The 30-year fixed rate started the week at 6.81%, so the drop in just the past five days is dramatic. The recent high was 7.52% in late April, and home sales have been falling ever since. Buyers were battling not just high interest rates, but also high home prices and a lack of supply. Supply has since improved, but prices are still overheated.
The difference in just a few months is stark when it comes to affordability. In April, a buyer looking to purchase a $400,000 home with a 20% down payment and a 30-year fixed mortgage would have been facing a monthly payment of about $2,240, not including insurance and property taxes. Today, that monthly payment would be about $2,000. More buyers would also qualify for the loan at today’s lower rates.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home have been running about 15% below where they were at this time last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This latest drop could kick-start demand.
“The market is moving ahead of the Fed, bringing down longer-term rates including those for mortgages, which should lead to both more home purchases and a pickup in refinance activity,” wrote Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, in a news release.

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Delta CEO Ed Bastian told employees that they would get two passes for travel anywhere the airline serves.
Delta struggled to recover from the botched CrowdStrike software update that sparked an outage of Windows systems around the world.
The more than 5,000 cancellations and reimbursements to customers cost Delta some $500 million, Bastian told CNBC earlier this week, and it plans to sue for damages.

Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, speaks during a keynote at CES 2020 in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, 2020.
Bridget Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on Friday offered employees two free travel passes to thank staff members who were caught in massive disruptions last month sparked by a botched CrowdStrike software update that stranded thousands of customers and crew.
Delta had more trouble than competitors in recovering from the outages that took thousands of Windows machines offline around the world, affecting industries from health care to banking.

The carrier canceled more than 5,000 flights between July 19 and July 24, more than it did in all of 2019, according to FlightAware. Bastian said earlier this week that the incident cost the company about $500 million, a sum that is equal to about 40% of Delta’s second-quarter profit. A crew-tracking platform was a contributor to the cancellations and disruptions, the airline has said.
Delta told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that the airline had to manually reset 40,000 servers.
The disruption “has been a humbling moment for our company,” Bastian said in his note on Friday, which was seen by CNBC. “I know it’s been extremely difficult, and I’m deeply sorry for what you have endured. An operational disruption of this length and magnitude is simply unacceptable — you and our customers deserve better.”
Upward of 4,000 Delta flight attendants picked up more than 6,100 trips during the disruptions, receiving extra pay, according to another Delta staff memo on Friday.
“Your efforts throughout have been nothing short of heroic,” Bastian told staff.

The two “positive space” passes Bastian offered employees are confirmed seats like a customer would have, different from the free standby flying airline employees often do if there are available seats.
The Delta organizing committee of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which is in the middle of a campaign to unionize Delta’s flight attendants, said the offer of passes “just isn’t going to cut it.” The organizing committee, in a written statement, said airline management routinely makes “meager adjustments to keep the operation running without making changes significant enough to prevent a future meltdown.”
Delta’s operation has since stabilized but the flight cancellations and delays stranded thousands and scarred Delta’s high reliability standings. Its executives frequently point out Delta’s successful work to win over both leisure and corporate customers who are willing to pay more to fly the carrier, marketing itself as a premium airline.
A Delta spokesman earlier this week said the airline has processed “thousands” of refunds and reimbursement requests. 
The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating Delta’s disruptions, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said last week. Similar disruptions at other carriers, such as the massive 2022 holiday meltdown at Southwest Airlines after winter storms, have highlighted how technology issues can severely disrupt air travel.
Bastian said Delta plans to pursue legal action against CrowdStrike and Microsoft “to recover our losses caused by the outage” and that it has hired law firm Boies Schiller Flexner.
Microsoft declined to comment. CrowdStrike said it has “no knowledge of a lawsuit and have no further comment.” 

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All of the investments made this year by Bezos’ family office — called Bezos Expeditions — have been in artificial intelligence, according to data provided to CNBC by FINTRX, a private wealth intelligence platform.
Bezos Expeditions has always tilted heavily toward tech.
Fully 70% of the family office’s investments are in technology, according to FINTRX.
According to the UBS Global Family Office Report, AI is now the favorite investment category for family offices.

Jeff Bezos at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 10, 2024.
David Grogan | CNBC

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high net worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Jeff Bezos has been making headlines for his big-ticket purchases — from a $165 million estate in Los Angeles and a $177 million property on Miami’s Indian Creek to his $500 million yacht.

Yet, Bezos’ biggest recent buying binge may be in artificial intelligence, through his family office.
All of the investments made this year by Bezos’ family office — called Bezos Expeditions — have been in artificial intelligence, according to exclusive data provided to CNBC by FINTRX, a private wealth intelligence platform. While the amounts he invested are not disclosed, Bezos Expeditions participated in funding rounds totaling more than $1 billion.
In January, the Amazon founder and executive chairman invested in the $73.6 million Series B round of Perplexity AI, an AI-powered search engine company. He also invested in a $63 million follow-on round in April. The value of Bezos Expeditions’ January investment likely doubled by April, since the company says its valuation soared to between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.
In February, Bezos Expeditions invested in Figure AI, the humanoid-robot company that also counts Nvidia and Microsoft as investors. The venture round totaled $675 million.
In July, he invested in a $300 million Series A round of Skild AI, which is focused on making AI systems for machines and robotics devices.

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Bezos Expeditions has always tilted heavily toward tech. Fully 70% of his family office investments are in technology, according to FINTRX. The next-biggest category is consumer goods, at 16%, followed by financial services and manufacturing, both at 13%. But now, his primary focus seems to be AI.
In a podcast interview in January, Bezos said AI tools are “not inventions, but discoveries” that will have profound effects on technology and change. “These powerful tools are much more likely to help us and save us even than they are to unbalance, hurt us and destroy us,” he said.

Bezos has plenty of company among family offices. According to the UBS Global Family Office Report, AI is now the favorite investment category for family offices. More than three-quarters, or 78%, of family offices surveyed plan to invest in AI in the next two to three years — the most for any category.
Amazon has also been ploughing money into AI. The company plans to invest more than $100 billion in data centers over the next decade and invested $4 billion in Anthropic, the AI safety and research firm.
Bezos recently filed a stock-sale plan to unload another $5 billion worth of Amazon shares this year, after selling $8 billion worth earlier this year. With more than $13 billion in cash, Bezos will now have even more money to bet on the AI boom.

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