Raphael Stevens

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s known for his powerful family ties and for pushing conspiracy theories, has attracted several rich supporters.
Veteran Wall Street executive Omeed Malik took Kennedy to a ritzy dinner in Las Vegas that featured Hillary Clinton and Gary Cohn as guests.
Kennedy has already enjoyed support from wealthy executives such as Elon Musk, David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya.

Omeed Malik, CEO, Colombier Acquisition Corp at the New York Stock Exchange, June 17, 2021.
Source: NYSE

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist who’s now running for president, has another wealthy backer in his corner: veteran Wall Street executive Omeed Malik.
Last month, Malik took Kennedy to a swanky private dinner at the Bellagio in Las Vegas to rub elbows with an array of political power players, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Attendees at the dinner, which coincided with the SCALE Global Business Summit, included former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, ex-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Democratic megadonor Marc Lasry, the people said.
Many of the attendees were listed as speakers at the summit. A spokeswoman for Cohn confirmed his attendance at the dinner and that the gathering included many of the speakers at the summit. Representatives for Kennedy, Clinton, Pompeo, Summers and Lasry did not return requests for comment about the dinner. A spokesperson for Johnson could not be reached.
While these people said Kennedy didn’t pitch himself as a candidate, his attendance at the dinner represents another way to beef up his presence in the political conversation despite having publicly pushed numerous conspiracy theories, including debunked takes on vaccines. The people declined to be named to in order to speak about private deliberations and conversations.
The election was nonetheless on attendees’ minds at the dinner. A person familiar with the matter said there were some, including Clinton, who suggested that President Joe Biden’s age could be a hurdle that he’ll need to shrug off to voters. Clinton also cheered on Biden’s tenure as president, another person said. She previously said at a Financial Times event in May that Biden’s “age is an issue. And people have every right to consider it.” Biden will turn 82 soon after next year’s general election, while former President Donald Trump will be 78 come November 2024.
Kennedy has also gained a little traction in polls pitting him against Biden in the Democratic primary race. A June Quinnipiac poll shows Biden with 70 % support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, while Kennedy has 17% in approval among those same groups.

Name recognition is likely a part of that. Kennedy is the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential run in 1968, and the nephew of late President John F. Kennedy, who was shot dead in 1963.
Malik, meanwhile, joins other rich donors in their support for Kennedy. Venture capitalist David Sacks and fellow tech leader Chamath Palihapitiya hosted a fundraiser for Kennedy this month, according to a tweet by Palihapitiya. The tweet said that “turnout was amazing” and attendees were Democrats, Republicans and independents. The event raised approximately $500,000 for Kennedy’s campaign, according to another person with direct knowledge of the matter. Kennedy was also once a guest on Sacks and Palihapitiya’s podcast.
Billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk hosted Kennedy in a recent Twitter Spaces. Malik joined the discussion. Musk said last year he was leaning toward backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president. He later hosted a glitchy Twitter Spaces for the Florida Republican when he announced his run for president.

Malik gears up to host fundraisers

Malik will also host a campaign fundraiser for Kennedy in the ritzy Hamptons in July, according to those with direct knowledge of the matter. CNBC has also reviewed an invitation to the Sag Harbor gathering. The invitation, which does not name Malik, says the event will feature cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a dinner featuring a discussion with Kennedy.
Tickets for the gathering are going for $6,600, the max an individual donor can give directly to a campaign. Often, half goes toward a primary account and the other half goes toward a general election pool of funds.
A Malik-hosted Hamptons event for DeSantis is also in the works for July, according to one of the people.
A spokesman for the DeSantis campaign did not return a request for comment. Malik himself has donated to candidates on both sides of the aisle. He gave to DeSantis when he ran for reelection in 2022, as well as Biden’s 2020 campaign and with Donald Trump’s failed second run for the White House, according to data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets.
Malik worked as a managing director at Bank of America until 2018 before a reported controversy that, according to the New York Post, led to an eight figure settlement with the firm that he won.
Malik has since created his own lane on Wall Street with two firms: 1789 Capital and Farvahar Partners.
The Post reported that Malik is launching a new fund through 1789 Capital called EIG — or entrepreneurship, innovation and growth.
The paper said the $150 million fund is backed GOP megadonor Rebekah Mercer who helped finance Breitbart and later Cambridge Analytica, and former Republican Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters who used to work for fellow Republican financier Peter Thiel. More

Top officials at the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf have been invited to testify at a Senate hearing July 11 on the deal, and the tour said it would participate.
The invitations were issued Wednesday by Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson, chairman and ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and mark an early phase of what appears likely to be a broad probe of the merger
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s Yasir al-Rumayyan all received letters.

PGA Tour logo during the third round of the Travelers Championship on June 24, 2017, at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Fred Kfoury | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

Key lawmakers on Wednesday invited the officials behind the proposed deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf to testify at a Senate subcommittee hearing.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, respectively, said the panel will hold a hearing July 11 on the merger.

Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Johnson, R-Wisc., requested testimony from the tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and Yasir al-Rumayyan of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
In a letter to Monahan on Wednesday, the senators said the subcommittee would examine the proposed deal and the Saudi fund’s “investment in golf in the United States, the future of the PIF-funded LIV Golf, the risks associated with a foreign government’s investment in American cultural institutions, and the implications of this planned agreement on professional golf in the United States going forward.”
In response to the invitation, a PGA Tour spokesperson told CNBC they “look forward to appearing before the Senate Subcommittee to answer their questions about the framework agreement we believe keeps the PGA TOUR as the leader of professional golf’s future and benefits our players, our fans, and our sport.”
The tour did not say if Monahan, who was named future commissioner of the new entity but recently went on a leave of absence as he recuperates from a medical condition, would testify. The organization has so far not specified what the medical ailment is.
The Public Investment Fund did not respond to a request for comment.

“Fans, the players, and concerned citizens have many questions about the planned agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf,” Johnson, the ranking member, said in a release. “I look forward to hearing testimony from the individuals who are in the best positions to provide insight to the public regarding the current state of professional golf.”
The subcommittee on investigations has broad jurisdiction to probe everything from corporate abuses to government waste. But committee hearings are relatively rare — this one will be only the second this year — and they typically mark the early phase of a longer investigation.
This one is no exception. Earlier this month, Blumenthal announced his intention to use the committee to investigate the merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV in light of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.
He gave Norman and Monahan until June 26 to furnish hundreds of records and internal communications.
In a sign of how serious the probe could become, Blumenthal later told CBS that if the PGA Tour or LIV fails to provide the information he is seeking, he would be willing to use “any of the tools at our disposal, including subpoenas and hearings, recommendations for action and legislation.”
Blumenthal has expressed a particular interest in whether the PGA Tour deserves to keep its tax exempt nonprofit status as a business association that benefits its members.
Since the PGA Tour’s founding in 1929, it has evolved into a $1.5 billion behemoth, fueled largely by major tournament revenues, broadcast rights and licensing fees.
If LIV makes a major investment in the PGA Tour, it would ostensibly create an unprecedented situation where a foreign investor would stand to benefit from buying into an American tax exempt organization.
On Wednesday, a PGA Tour spokesperson emphasized that the U.S. group remains officially a business association, and that the tour, not LIV, will oversee any partnership.
The PGA Tour is “working toward negotiating a final agreement that is in [its members’] best interest and ensures that the tour leads any new venture,” said the representative.

Shock and scrutiny

Earlier this month, the PGA Tour announced the deal with its Saudi-backed rival that would end pending litigation between the two entities. The entities have said they would merge business operations to form a larger, soon-to-be-named enterprise chaired by Al-Rumayyan.
In the wake of the deal announcement — which came as a surprise following months of feuding and lawsuits — U.S. officials started pressing for more information about the genesis of the deal and what it means for the sport.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon last week raised antitrust concerns, asking the Justice Department to investigate the deal. Soon after, the DOJ’s antitrust division informed the PGA Tour that it would review the proposed merger.
The proposed agreement has stirred questions across the board. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf had been trading barbs for some time, and both leagues had claimed that the other’s contracts and policies restricted golf talent and stifled proper competition.
Golfers have been divided between the two organizations, as some left the tour for the lofty paychecks doled out by LIV.
Since its launch in 2022, LIV has been mired in controversy and criticism. The Public Investment Fund is not, in fact, publicly held, as its name might suggest. It is a sovereign wealth fund controlled by the Saudi crown prince, Muhammed bin Salman.
The fund has been accused of “sportswashing,” trying to use LIV Golf to improve the image of the oil rich nation and distract from the kingdom’s history of human rights violations. More

U.S. satellite communications giant Intelsat walked away from merger discussions with Luxembourg-based competitor SES on Thursday, CNBC confirmed.
The merger would have created a combined U.S. and European satellite business valued at over $10 billion.
Both companies are increasingly under pressure from a shift in the satellite communications market, with SpaceX’s Starlink representing a key disruptor.

A company jet tests a new satellite communications antenna for inflight Wi-Fi service.

U.S. satellite communications giant Intelsat walked away from merger discussions with Luxembourg-based competitor SES on Wednesday, CNBC confirmed.
Intelsat ended the discussions after differences arose with SES over business priorities, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC. It also wasn’t clear whether the merger would lead to more value creation compared with Intelsat continuing on its own, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public matters.

The merger would have created a combined U.S. and European business valued at over $10 billion, as has previously been reported.
Both companies are increasingly under pressure from a shift in the satellite communications market from video broadcast to data services, leading to a flurry of consolidation in the sector. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has most notably disrupted the market, with its Starlink business growing to more than 1.5 million customers in under three years since debuting the service.
An Intelsat spokesperson declined CNBC’s request for comment, saying that the company “engages in strategic conversations with potential partners on a regular basis” but does not discuss “the content or outcome of those discussions.”

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SES did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Bloomberg first reported the talks ending.
The collapse of the merger talks comes shortly after SES announced CEO Steve Collar would step down at the end of this month. The move came as a surprise within the space industry, as Collar’s career at SES spans more than 20 years. More

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With summer hiring season in full swing, small business owners are expressing continued concerns over filling roles to meet consumer demand.
Data from the National Federation of Independent Business shows labor quality as the most important problem for nearly a quarter of its members surveyed in May.
The sectors feeling the crunch most include construction, manufacturing and transportation, according to the NFIB.

Alison Schuch, owner of Fells Point Surf Company.
Courtesy: Alison Schuch

As summer arrives, Alison Schuch, owner of Fells Point Surf Co., is down about 10 workers at her two beach retail locations as a perfect storm of reasons drives a post-pandemic hiring crunch.
A lack of affordable summer housing, scant child-care availability, inflation and the rebalancing of work and life in recent years have combined to make the applicant pool different from what it once was.

“It’s just been hard to kind of balance the expectations of the team and the needs of the business and the needs on both sides,” Schuch said, “and then also the expectations of the customers — because, you know, having to close early because we don’t have enough people.”
“Customers want what they want. Convenience has become a huge important factor, because you can go online and get anything you want,” said Schuch, who has Fell’s Point Surf Co. stores in the Fells Point area of Baltimore, Maryland, and Dewey Beach, Delaware, as well as sister store Tangerine Goods in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
With summer hiring season in full swing, small business owners such as Schuch have lingering concerns about filling roles to meet consumer demand. Labor quality was the most important problem for nearly a quarter of National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, members surveyed in May, according to the small business advocacy organization.
Labor quality has fluctuated between being the No. 1 and the No. 2 most important issue for NFIB members in recent months. The sectors where businesses are feeling the labor shortage most acutely include construction, transportation and manufacturing, but retail and restaurant owners are also reporting challenges.
In May, 44% of owners reported job openings they couldn’t fill, while 38% said they were searching for skilled workers, the NFIB said. While owners have concerns about future business conditions and a potential recession, they’re still trying to hire and raise wages to entice workers.

Brendan McCluskey said he’s feeling the lack of talent available for hire in his Baltimore construction business, Trident Builders. Finding skilled workers is among the biggest issues he said he currently has in a competitive landscape, and the shortage is driving wages higher.
“We’re on the precipice of having some real opportunities for growth, and [the concern is] am I going to be able to staff it?” McCluskey said. “I’m trying to get to the next level and almost like the next weight class, and which would allow us to stabilize our revenues, grow, invest in people, invest in systems, frankly, just make more money.”

Comprehensive immigration reform would also help fill the gap, according to some industry advocates, such as the National Restaurant Association. The group has urged Congress to take action to strengthen visa policies and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, shorten waiting periods for asylum seekers and create the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement program. EWEA, which was introduced in a House bill last month, would allow workers to come to the U.S. to fill “market-driven” roles on nonimmigrant three-year visas.
“There is no silver bullet to solving the industry’s recruitment challenge, but even incremental changes in immigration policy would be a significant step forward,” Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs at the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement.
“The restaurant industry is growing its workforce at a faster pace than the rest of the economy,” he added. “We expect to add another 500,000 jobs by the end of the year, but with one job seeker for every two open jobs, operators are fighting to fill positions. Growing the workforce with legal foreign workers would be a win-win for employers in desperate need of employees and individuals seeking training and opportunity.”
Back at the beach shops, Schuch said she’s noticed a slight pullback in consumer spending as shoppers seem to be watching spending more closely. But she hopes to continue to operate with a long-term mindset, even in the face of staffing challenges.
Keeping workers happy is top of mind.
“We’re only as strong as our weakest link, and I want us all to be strong and I want people to enjoy coming to work,” she said. “I think people is probably the No. 1 thing that keeps me up at night right now.” More

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the sale of cell-cultured chicken by Good Meat and Upside Foods.
Outside the U.S., only Singapore has issued approval for the sale of cell-cultured meat.
Upside Foods announced that it has already processed its first order for cultivated chicken.

Chicken produced in a laboratory from chicken cells.
Terry Chea | AP

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the sale of cell-cultured chicken in a landmark decision that clears the path for consumers to try it out themselves, the two startups that received the first approvals said Wednesday.
Cultured meat, also known as cultivated, cell-based or lab-grown protein, is made by putting stem cells from the fat or muscle of an animal into a culture medium that feeds the cells, allowing them to grow. The medium is then put into a bioreactor to support the cells’ growth, creating an end product that looks and tastes like traditional meat.

Proponents of cultured meat say it’s healthier and more environmentally friendly than traditional meat. Outside the U.S., only Singapore has cleared the sale of cell-cultured meat.
The USDA issued approval to Good Meat, a subsidiary of Eat Just, along with Upside Foods. Both companies had already received the go-ahead months earlier from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which said each company’s lab-grown chicken is safe for human consumption.
As a result of the decision, the USDA will inspect cultured meat facilities, just as it does traditional meat processing plants and slaughterhouses.
The meat produced by Upside Foods and Good Meat will be labeled as “cell-cultivated chicken” when sold to consumers.
Good Meat has also received approval to sell its cultured meat in Singapore, where it’s been available to consumers since December 2020.

“This announcement that we’re now able to produce and sell cultivated meat in the United States is a major moment for our company, the industry and the food system,” Eat Just CEO and co-founder Josh Tetrick said in a statement.
Good Meat’s manufacturing partner, Joinn Biologics, also received USDA approval to make the cultured meat.
Chef Jose Andres has placed the first order to sell Good Meat’s cultured chicken to serve it in an undisclosed Washington, D.C., restaurant, the company said.
Upside Foods has also received its first order for cultivated chicken already. Chef Dominique Crenn will serve it in limited quantities at Bar Crenn in San Francisco.
“This approval will fundamentally change how meat makes it to our table,” Upside Foods founder and CEO Uma Valeti said in a statement. “It’s a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future — one that preserves choice and life.”
As consumers’ interest in plant-based meat wanes, investors have instead been betting on the cultured meat industry. To date, Eat Just has raised $978.5 million, and Upside Foods has raised $608.4 million, according to PitchBook data.
Even armed with cash and regulatory approval, cultured meat startups face many hurdles before their products can become mainstream. Companies are trying to figure out how to create bioreactors massive enough to allow them to achieve scale. The expensive media, the inputs that feeds cells, keep prices for the finished product very high.
On top of that, startups will have to convince consumers that they want to eat meat grown in a lab rather than on a farm.
But expectations are high for the industry, if it manages to overcome those obstacles. By 2030, McKinsey predicts cultured meat could provide as much as half of 1% of the world’s meat supply, representing billions of pounds and $25 billion in sales. More