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JIM FARLEY relishes a challenge. In January Ford’s boss, an enthusiastic amateur racer of historic cars, made his professional debut on the track in a powerful modern Mustang GT-4. Yet the risks of tearing round a circuit are nothing compared with manoeuvring Ford, which on June 16th will celebrate 120 years in business, through a new age of carmaking. Ford, like other legacy firms, is trying to reinvent itself to compete in an era of electrification and software-defined vehicles. It faces established rivals as well as newcomers, foremost among them Elon Musk’s Tesla. Amid this packed grid, Mr Farley is charting a singular racing line.Established carmakers have long been written off by investors as clunkers, characterised by low growth, low margins and an unmatched ability to destroy shareholder value. Between 2014 and Mr Farley’s taking the wheel in October 2020, Ford’s market capitalisation shrivelled by three-fifths, to $27bn. After a euphoric spike in early 2022, when it hit $100bn on enthusiasm about the company’s electric plans, it is back down to $55bn. But as befits a racing driver, Mr Farley is undaunted. He has reorganised the company into three units, focusing on electric vehicles (EVs, in which Ford plans to invest $50bn between 2022 and 2026), on high-margin petrol-driven ice cars and on Ford’s world-beating commercial-vehicle business. He thinks that Ford can boost operating margins from 6.6% in 2022 to 10% by 2026 and turn EV-related losses, which are forecast to reach $3bn in 2023, into profits. Mr Farley’s plan hinges on learning a thing or two from the disrupters, whose contribution to the industry he is quicker to acknowledge than most other car bosses are. “Tesla has influenced a lot of our thinking,” he admits. Most important, he has a clear idea of where emulating rivals plays to his company’s competitive advantage and, critically, where it does not. Mr Musk’s biggest contribution to carmaking may be proving that electric vehicles (EVs), which have been losing the incumbents money for years, can turn a profit. Tesla’s operating margin, of 17% in 2022, was comfortably higher than those that most established carmakers enjoy on their petrol-powered ranges. To achieve his goal he is following Mr Musk and reversing years of industry practice that left the big marques’ largest suppliers to manage those lower down the value chain. Ford is not the only legacy carmaker to be bringing more of the supply chain in-house. Rivals such as General Motors (GM) and Volkswagen are also building battery “gigafactories” close to their big markets. But Mr Farley is, like Mr Musk, busier than most bosses in negotiating directly with mining firms to secure battery minerals. Ford has already signed deals to guarantee supplies of 90% of the lithium and nickel it needs for the 2m evs it wants to be producing annually by 2026. Ford even intends to process some of the lithium in America. This should help it reduce the industrywide reliance on Chinese refiners. It also ensures that electric Fords qualify for subsidies under the “made in America” terms of the Inflation Reduction Act, a giant green-funding law passed last year. As a result, Mr Farley hopes soon to be making the cheapest batteries in America at Ford’s plant in Michigan.Mr Farley is also emulating Mr Musk is trying to pare back the industry’s notorious complexity. Just as a lighter, nimbler machine has a better chance of staying ahead of a big and powerful one on the track, the thinking goes, a simpler company should be able to negotiate the twists and turns of industrial change. Famously, Tesla makes just four models with few options for customisation. Similarly, Ford’s next generation of electric pickups will come with one cabin, one frame and one standard battery in just seven basic formats, says Lisa Drake, Ford’s overseer for ev industrialisation. That compares with an options list for the bestselling petrol-powered F-150 pickup that allows for millions of combinations. Rather than integrating hundreds of parts from suppliers, each with chips that needs to work in harmony, Ford’s new ev architectures, set for launch in 2025, will share more common mechanical and software underpinnings.Where Mr Farley’s thinking and Mr Musk’s diverge is over what besides manufacturing vehicles carmakers ought to be doing. Mr Musk has an expansive view of his company’s role, which stretches from designing Teslas’ infotainment system to building a charging network where owners can top up their batteries. Mr Farley, by contrast, is focusing squarely on manufacturing vehicles and is happy to outsource some of the other things. In May Ford stunned many observers when it signed a deal with Mr Musk’s firm to grant Ford EVs access to Tesla’s North American Supercharger network, with its 12,000 charging stations. Soft powerMore surprising even than the charging deal is Ford’s decision to continue relying on outside partners for a lot of in-car software. This flies in the face of received wisdom in the industry, according to which things like infotainment systems, from satellite navigation to music streaming, will increasingly determine the car-owning experience, differentiate car brands and generate revenues from new services. Tesla does not accommodate Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto platforms, which connect motorists’ smartphones to their cars’ dashboard. gm recently declared that it would ditch CarPlay and Android Auto and come up with its own better system. Mr Farley sees the need to keep control of computer programs in critical areas such a safety and security. But he accepts that Ford has lost the battle for the cockpit to big tech. There are signs that some incumbents may be becoming more clear-eyed about their limitations. On June 8th GM announced it had made a similar charging arrangement with Tesla. More would probably benefit from greater realism about their software prowess. Stick to what you do well and leave the rest to others is a lesson that many of Ford’s rivals could usefully learn themselves. ■ More

Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed to oppose President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health – and any other health nominee – until the administration delivers a plan to lower prescription drug prices. 
The Biden administration will not be able to confirm its NIH director pick, Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, without the support of the Vermont independent. 
Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, also issued a report analyzing the cost of prescription drug prices that were developed with the help of NIH funding and research. 

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill about 11 Senate Democrats who sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to invoke the 14th Amendment to avoid a catastrophic debt default, in Washington, May 18, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed to oppose President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health – and any other health nominee – until the administration delivers a plan to lower prescription drug prices. 
“I will oppose all nominations until we have a very clear strategy on the part of the government … as to how we’re going to lower the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs,” Sanders said late Monday in an interview with The Washington Post.

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Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, controls when his panel reviews nominees for the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Biden administration will not be able to confirm its NIH director pick, Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, or any other current or future health agency nominee without the support of the Vermont independent. 
The administration announced its intent to nominate Bertagnolli, a cancer surgeon who leads the National Cancer Institute, last month. 
The White House told the Post that Biden shared Sanders’ concern on drug pricing, which is why the president signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, “the most consequential law addressing the high cost of prescription drugs.”
A provision of the act penalizes drugmakers for charging prices that rise faster than inflation for people on Medicare.

Lawmakers, researchers and advocates have repeatedly warned that drug prices in the U.S. outpace those in other nations and ultimately harm Americans who need to access lifesaving treatments. 
Sanders, a frequent pharma critic, along with the committee’s Democratic majority issued a report Monday analyzing the cost of prescription drugs that were developed with the help of NIH funding and research. 
The report concluded that Americans consistently pay higher prices for NIH-backed drugs compared with people in other countries.
The White House said in a statement Monday that Biden shared Sanders’ concern on drug pricing — “which is why he signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, the most consequential law addressing the high cost of prescription drugs.”
A provision of the act penalizes drugmakers for charging prices that rise faster than inflation for people on Medicare.

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The average price of new treatments that NIH scientists helped invent over the past two decades is $111,000, according to the report. With the exception of one treatment, U.S. prices exceeded those in other G7 countries, the report added.
For example, a drug for severe mouth sores called Kepivance costs $19,000 in the U.S., according to the report. But the treatment, developed by biotech company Sobi, only costs $5,000 in Italy.
The report also argued that federal officials are missing opportunities to ensure that pharmaceutical companies set reasonable prices for new medicines that are funded in part by taxpayer support.
“The federal government should also stop giving away monopolies on public inventions,” the report said. It provided examples of how health officials appear to have “handed over taxpayer technology while obtaining little in return.” More

Online retailer Overstock.com has placed a $21.5 million bid for some of Bed Bath & Beyond’s assets, including its intellectual property.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s stores, which are currently being liquidated, are not part of the offer.
Competing bids are due by Friday. Overstock.com’s offer will set the floor for a bankruptcy-run auction that is expected to take place on June 21.

A “Store Closing” banner on a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Farmingdale, New York, on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.
Johnny Milano | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bed Bath & Beyond’s brand name may be the only part of the failed retailer that lives on.
The home goods chain, which also owns Buy Buy Baby stores, received a $21.5 million offer from online retailer Overstock.com for some of its assets, including its intellectual property, according to court papers filed Tuesday.

Overstock.com’s stalking horse bid – which will set the floor at the expected bankruptcy-run auction – also includes the business internet and mobile properties and all business data. The offer doesn’t include Bed Bath & Beyond or Buy Buy Baby’s store locations, which are running going-out-of-business sales.
Competing bids are due by Friday. Bed Bath said in a statement it is still soliciting other offers. The auction is expected to take place June 21.
The sale process had been extended recently as discussions had continued with prospective stalking horse bidders.
In recent weeks discussions have centered around the assets for Buy Buy Baby, often considered the crown jewel of the Bed Bath & Beyond portfolio. The Buy Buy Baby assets in particular had attracted interested bidders.
It’s long been thought that Bed Bath & Beyond’s stores wouldn’t attract interest, although CNBC previously reported that bidders were interested in its digital assets.

Bed Bath & Beyond had sought chapter 11 protection in April, following months of numerous failed turnaround efforts and bankruptcy warnings.
The retailer had 360 namesake stores and 120 Buy Buy Baby locations that were open when it filed for bankruptcy. It had previously committed to closing all of its Harmon FaceValue stores. More

Toronto-based billionaire Michael Andlauer has reached a deal to acquire the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The deal, which is reportedly valued at nearly $1 billion, sets a record as the highest price paid for a NHL team, the person said.
Andlauer is a minority owner in the Montreal Canadiens.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Alex Auld (35) stops Nashville Predators’ Patric Hornqvist, right, during second-period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, Ontario, Feb. 9, 2012.
Fred Chartrand

The National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators have found a new owner.
Toronto-based billionaire Michael Andlauer has agreed to acquire the Senators, setting a record for the highest price paid for an NHL team, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The deal is said to be valued at nearly $1 billion, Sportico earlier reported.
Andlauer is already a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens and had been called out in reports as an interested bidder for the Senators months ago. As part of the deal for the Senators, Andlauer will have to sell his stake in the Canadiens, The Athletic reported.
The businessman is also the CEO of ATS Healthcare Group, which he founded in 1991.
The team went up for sale last year after its previous owner, Eugene Melnyk, died at 62. Melnyk had owned the Senators since 2003, when he bought the team for $92 million.
Galatioto Sports Partners led the sale on behalf of the Melnyk family. More

Boeing handed over 50 airplanes to customers last month, up from 35 in April, though it trails rival Airbus in deliveries so far this year.
Boeing last week said a new manufacturing flaw will slow near-term deliveries of its 787 Dreamliners.
The Paris Air Show kicks off on Monday, when Boeing, Airbus and other aerospace manufacturers will meet with customers and potentially announce more new orders.

Boeing 787 Dreamliners are built at the aviation company’s North Charleston, South Carolina, assembly plant on May 30, 2023. 
Juliette Michel | AFP | Getty Images

Boeing handed over 50 airplanes to customers last month, up from 35 in April, though it trails rival Airbus in deliveries so far this year as the Paris Air Show approaches.
The deliveries included eight 787 Dreamliners. Boeing last week said a new manufacturing flaw — the second disclosed this year — will slow near-term deliveries of the wide-body planes, which are in high demand due to the recovery in international travel.

Boeing has delivered 206 planes so far this year, behind the 244 that Airbus has handed over in the first five months of the year.
Both Boeing and Airbus have announced plans to increase output of new planes to meet strong demand in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
Arlington, Virginia-based Boeing reported gross orders of 69 planes for May, up from 34 in April. Net of 11 cancellations it sold 58 planes, most of them 737 Max jets.
The Paris Air Show kicks off Monday, when Boeing, Airbus and other aerospace manufacturers will meet with customers and potentially announce more new orders in the first in-person iteration of the event since before the pandemic. More

“The region is more than capable of being part of this global phenomenon, recent phenomenon of the rise in sports as part of the global economy,” Al-Falih said of the Middle East.
The PIF is rapidly expanding into sports, hosting a Formula One Grand Prix and major boxing matches, and buying British Premier League soccer team Newcastle United.
The two-year-long fight between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf ended with a stunning announcement last week the archrivals would be joining forces.

The controversial mega merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf is just one step in the kingdom’s ambitious tourism and investment strategy — and its pursuit of big-name sports is just getting started.
“We’re sort of a proponent to find ‘all of the above’ strategy in sport,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih told CNBC’s Dan Murphy in Riyadh.

“Any sport that has consumers globally and domestically is a sport we’re interested in as an investment opportunity, to not only create commercial returns for the investors, whether it’s the PIF or private investors, but also as an upgrade to the quality of life of Saudi Arabia, it’s part of our tourism agenda.”
The PIF is Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, a $600 billion sovereign wealth fund controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It’s being wielded as an economic tool for Vision 2030, a years-long project aiming at modernizing and diversifying the kingdom’s economy away from oil.
News that the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf were joining forces last week brought an end to a two-year battle between the archrivals.
The agreement, which includes the DP World Tour — also known as the PGA European Tour — will combine the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf into a new, yet-to-be-named for-profit company. 
Founded in 2021 with the goal of becoming the world’s premier professional golf tour, LIV Golf was backed by the PIF and had lured some of the biggest golf stars away from the PGA Tour with huge paychecks. That spurred lawsuits between the two entities until the decision to merge, which ended all pending litigation.

“The region is more than capable of being part of this global phenomenon, recent phenomenon of the rise in sports as part of the global economy,” Al-Falih said of the Middle East. “And golf is part of it, is a significant part of it, and it addresses an important segment of the population who also play and follow golf.”

Team Captain Brooks Koepka of Smash GC and caddie Ricky Elliott shake hands on the 18th green during day three of the LIV Golf Invitational – Jeddah at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club on October 16, 2022 in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.
Charles Laberge | LIV Golf | Getty Images

As part of the PGA-LIV merger, the Saudi PIF is now the exclusive investor in the new golf entity, and it has the right of first refusal on any new investment.
The PIF is rapidly expanding into sports, hosting a Formula One Grand Prix and major boxing matches, and buying British Premier League soccer team Newcastle United.
Saudi Arabia also lured soccer legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema with contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to play in local Saudi leagues, and it’s expected to bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
In the past few years, the mammoth PIF fund has also bought up stakes in major blue chip companies including Amazon, Uber, Alphabet, Microsoft, Boeing, Bank of America, Disney and Meta.
Al-Falih noted the power of sports to attract tourism, but also to offer something attractive to Saudis already in the country.
“Sport is a significant component of global economy, consumption, media, digital content, which is now in our hands and laptops and something that as individuals, as households, as corporates, it’s part of,” he said. “And of course, as a minister of investment, I welcome it as an opportunity for us to create more — Formula E, Formula One, boxing matches, football matches.”
“It’s part of retaining our Saudi citizens, global residents who choose Saudi Arabia as their home, to stay in Saudi Arabia and to consume this product that is of high demand,” the minister added, “and also to bring global followers of sport to the kingdom for the various activities and sports that will be taking place here.”

Racing teams prepare on the grid of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia. A missile attack ahead of the race raised fresh doubts about how host decisions are made.
Clive Mason | Getty Images

Numerous human rights groups and lawmakers in other parts of the world criticize Saudi Arabia’s financial involvement in the sports world as “sportswashing,” or an effort to cleanse its image of human rights abuses.
Saudi Arabia has long been criticized for its human rights record, which includes the imprisonment and execution of political dissidents, harsh penalties including death for members of the LGBT community, and the high-profile killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 by Saudi agents.
CNBC has contacted the Saudi Foreign Ministry for comment.

Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a photo with the jersey after signing with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr Football Club in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 30, 2022.
Al Nassr Football Club / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The kingdom’s aggressive campaign to promote its image as a reformed, socially liberalizing country is a key part of the crown prince’s Vision 2030. It includes expanded freedoms for women — though many female activists still remain behind bars — and allowing previously banned things like movie theaters and concerts.
Seventy percent of the Saudi population is under the age of 35, and the kingdom’s youth are highly digitally active and connected, creating an enormous market for televised sports and sporting events.
“We have one of the highest consumptions per capita of many sporting activities and … electronic sports and digital games,” the Al-Falih said. “Having these activities being created in Saudi Arabia, with ownership from Saudi entities like the PIF is going to direct that demand in positive ways and it’s going to create commercial returns. I think it’s going to increase the flow of investment by Saudi investors and, like I said, that will improve the quality of life and make Saudi Arabia a more attractive place for international visitors to visit and come and live in our country.” More

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., opened an inquiry into the merger of PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
The merger put a stop to pending antitrust lawsuits between the two organizations and comes amid controversy over the Saudi Arabian government’s plans for sports investment.
The Saudi government has been accused of wide-reaching human rights violations.

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

WASHINGTON — A top Democratic lawmaker launched a probe on Monday into the planned merger of the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., requested details of the agreement between the two organizations, including how the new combined entity will operate in light of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses, in letters to PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman.

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The letter from Blumenthal comes as the PGA Tour-LIV deal faces intense scrutiny and doubts about whether the merger can be completed, given the severity of prior claims in the golf leagues’ prior litigation against each other.
The Saudi government has been accused of wide-reaching human rights violations, including the orchestration of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
9/11 Families United, a group representing the families of victims of the terrorist attack, also slammed the merger due to Saudi Arabia’s involvement. Blumenthal has previously sided with victims’ families when another organization, the 9/11 Justice group, protested a LIV event at a golf course owned by former President Donald Trump.
The June 6 merger announcement was a “sudden and drastic reversal of a position concerning LIV Golf,” wrote Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The Tour and its commissioner had previously spoken out strongly against LIV and its role in professional golf.
Meanwhile, the Saudi government’s Private Investment Fund, which owns LIV, had made clear plans to use investments in sports to further the Saudi government’s objectives, according to Blumenthal’s letter.

“PGA Tour’s agreement with PIF regarding LIV Golf raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution,” Blumenthal wrote.
Before the agreement to merge, PGA’s rivalry with LIV included legal action between the two. The entities agreed to squash all pending litigation as part of their plan to combine commercial businesses and rights into a yet-unnamed for-profit company.
Monahan told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday that the merger is a benefit to the game of golf despite prior “tensions.”
The agreement will require the approval of the PGA Tour policy board, according to a memo to players from Monahan.
“We are confident that once Congress learns more about how the PGA Tour will control this new venture, they will understand the opportunities this will create for our players, our communities and our sport, all while protecting an American golf institution,” the tour told CNBC in a statement later Monday.
LIV Golf declined to comment on Blumenthal’s letters.
Blumenthal asked for answers to several inquiries, including an outline of corporate structure and records of any disputes between the corporate heads and any other stakeholders, by June 26.
– CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed to this report. More

Dick Clark Productions, alongside asset management company Eldridge, has acquired all the assets, rights and properties of the Golden Globes from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal will result in the end of the HFPA and its membership.
The next Golden Globe Awards will take place Jan. 7, 2024.

Golden Globe Awards on display during the unveiling of the nominations for the 80th Golden Globe Awards, Beverly Hills, California, Dec. 12, 2022.
Michael Tran | AFP | Getty Images

And the Golden Globes go to … Dick Clark Productions.
The California nonprofit announced Monday that it and asset management company Eldridge acquired all the assets, rights and properties of the Golden Globes from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal will result in the end of the HFPA and its membership.
Dick Clark Productions, which runs the Billboard Music Awards and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, will now plan, host and produce the annual Golden Globe Awards show. The company has also formed the Golden Globe Foundation, which will continue the HFPA’s legacy of entertainment-related charitable giving.
“As stewards of the Golden Globe Awards, our mission is to continue creating the most dynamic awards ceremony on live television viewed across the world,” said Jay Penske, CEO, chairman and founder of Penske Media and CEO of Dick Clark Productions. “We have a great team in place to grow this iconic brand and captivate new and existing audiences to celebrate the very best in television and motion pictures.”
The dissolvement of the HFPA and the transition of the Golden Globes to Dick Clark Productions comes on the heels of several controversies surrounding the journalist organization. In 2021, NBC refused to air the 2022 annual show due to concerns about the lack of diversity in the group’s ranks. The Golden Globes returned to NBC in 2023.
The fallout began in February 2021, when a Los Angeles Times exposé detailed that none of the 87 members of the group were Black and called into question the credentials of many of the LA-based journalists working for foreign media outlets. Many were found to only contribute sporadically to obscure overseas outlets.

For years, many within the industry and outside it questioned why certain projects and talent received HFPA award nominations and others did not. Often, the Golden Globes nominees differed sharply from those at guild award ceremonies and the Academy Awards.
There were also concerns about the HFPA’s practice of accepting gifts during its voting period after dozens of its members traveled to France to visit Netflix’s “Emily in Paris” set and were put in a five-star, $1,400-a-night hotel on the Paramount Network’s dime. The show subsequently received two Golden Globe nominations.
The next Golden Globe Awards will take place Jan. 7, 2024.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. More