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The Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer’s Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid for adults who are at high risk of getting severely sick with the virus.
Paxlovid is specifically advised for the treatment of mild to moderate coronavirus in adults older than 50 and people who suffer from certain medical conditions that place them at a higher risk of ending up in the hospital or dying from Covid-19.
Pfizer and the FDA view the treatment as an important complementary tool to vaccination that can help high-risk Americans manage their Covid infections and ultimately save lives. 

Jennifer Lorenzini | Reuters

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday granted full approval to Pfizer’s Covid antiviral pill, Paxlovid, for adults who are at high risk of getting severely sick with the virus.
Paxlovid is specifically advised for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid in adults older than 50 and people who suffer from certain medical conditions that place them at a higher risk of ending up in the hospital or dying from Covid.

That includes those who have diabetes, heart conditions, cancer or a weak immune system. 
As many as three-quarters of adults in the U.S. are at risk of severe Covid.
“Today’s approval demonstrates that Paxlovid has met the agency’s rigorous standards for safety and effectiveness, and that it remains an important treatment option for people at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including those with prior immunity,” Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director for the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a press release.
The FDA first made Paxlovid available in December 2021 under emergency use authorization for high-risk individuals ages 12 and up. Under that designation, the FDA quickly approved the treatment based on preliminary clinical trial data. 
The FDA’s latest decision means there is now extensive clinical data indicating Paxlovid is safe and effective.

The treatment consists of two medications: nirmatrelvir, which blocks a key enzyme that the Covid virus needs to replicate, and ritonavir, which boosts the first medication’s ability to fight the infection. 
Both Pfizer and the FDA view the treatment as an important complementary tool to vaccination that can help high-risk Americans manage their Covid infections and ultimately save lives. 
FDA researchers estimated, based on Covid rates in January, that Paxlovid could “lead to 1,500 lives saved and 13,000 hospitalizations averted each week” in the U.S.
But it’s unclear how many people will take the treatment later this year. 
About 4 million doses of Paxlovid are available at pharmacies and health care providers nationwide for free, according to the Health and Human Services Department. In addition, the U.S. government has a stockpile of 9.6 million doses.
Once that stockpile runs out, the government expects to shift the distribution of Paxlovid to the commercial market. 
That means Pfizer will sell Paxlovid directly to health-care providers at a price the company hasn’t disclosed. Paxlovid is priced at about $530 per course now. 
Pfizer, which saw Paxlovid sales jump to nearly $19 billion in 2022, expects revenue from the drug to drop 58% in 2023. 
In March, an independent panel of advisors to the FDA recommended the treatment based on three of Pfizer’s clinical trials.
One trial examined high-risk adults who were unvaccinated and had no prior Covid infection. 
That trial found Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 86% in adults treated within five days of their first symptoms, and 89% in those treated within three days, according to an FDA review of the company’s data.
No major safety concerns were identified in the trial, the review said, though the agency flagged 137 medications that may lead to serious adverse reactions if they interact with Paxlovid. 
The FDA said the most common drugs that caused safety issues were immunosuppressants, which are often used to treat HIV and organ transplant patients. 
The FDA’s office of surveillance and epidemiology recorded 271 reports of serious adverse events potentially related to drug interactions with Paxlovid, including 147 hospitalizations and six deaths, as of late January. 
FDA staff said those events could potentially be avoided by adjusting the dose of certain drugs, increasing patient monitoring and ensuring that product labeling informs prescribers and patients of potential drug interactions. 
For some doctors, another area of concern is Paxlovid “rebound cases.” That’s when patients who take the treatment see their Covid symptoms return or test positive shortly after they initially recover.
Reports of those cases cropped up not long after Paxlovid first entered the market.
Both President Joe Biden and his former chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci seemingly recovered from Covid after taking the antiviral cocktail but tested positive again soon after recovering.
An FDA review of Pfizer’s clinical trials found overall rates of rebound ranged from 10% to 16%, “with no evidence of a higher rate of symptom rebound or moderate symptom rebound” in patients who received Paxlovid compared with patients who received a placebo.
Those results also held regardless of patients’ risk of severe disease, or whether the omicron variant or an earlier strain of the virus was dominant, according to the FDA review.
Correction: The U.S. has about 4 million doses of Paxlovid available at pharmacies and health care providers nationwide. A previous version of this story misstated the figure. More

Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein paid school tuition for the children of then-governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose wife made efforts to enable student visas and a work license for young women connected to Epstein, according to a court filing by JPMorgan Chase.
Those tuition payments by Epstein allowed then-Gov. John de Jongh Jr. “to funnel additional money to his political campaigns,” JPMorgan said in the filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The former governor’s wife, Cecile de Jongh worked for Epstein, managing his companies in the territory.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is due to be deposed Friday in a lawsuit by the Virgin Islands alleging the bank enabled sex trafficking by Epstein.

U.S. Virgin Islands’ former Gov. John P. de Jongh participates in a meeting dealing with health care at the Southern Governors’ Association convention in Little Rock, Arkansas, Aug. 16, 2014.
Danny Johnston | AP

Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein paid school tuition for the children of then-governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose wife made efforts to secure student visas and a work license for young women connected to Epstein, according to an updated court filing Thursday by JPMorgan Chase.
Those tuition payments, whose duration and amounts were not revealed, allowed then-Gov. John de Jongh Jr. “to funnel additional money to his political campaigns,” JPMorgan said in the filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Epstein also “offered to fund Governor de Jongh’s defense in the Governor’s criminal case,” where the then-governor was charged in 2015 in connection with the use of public funds to make security improvements at his private residence, according to the filing. Those charges were dropped in early 2016 by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice.
JPMorgan alleges Epstein’s generosity was part of his broader effort to build sway on the islands.
The filing is part of the bank’s defense of a civil lawsuit by the U.S. Virgin Islands alleging JPMorgan facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women. Epstein, who was a JPMorgan customer between 1998 and 2013, owned two private islands in the territory and abused multiple young women at his residence on one of those islands.
JPMorgan denies wrongdoing in the case.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is due to be deposed Friday for the Virgin Islands’ lawsuit, as well as for a similar one filed against the bank by an accuser of Epstein.

“Lest there be doubt that Epstein’s goal was to gain influence, First Lady [Cecile] de Jongh explicitly advised Epstein on how to buy control of the USVI political class,” the filing says.
The document also refers to one time when Cecile de Jongh was “asking Epstein what visas the ‘ladies’ have and trying to arrange English as a Second Language classes for them.”
Former Gov. de Jongh served as Virgin Islands governor between 2007 and 2015.
Cecile de Jongh worked for Epstein, managing his companies in the territory. She made $200,000 in 2007 alone, the filing notes.
CNBC has reached out to the de Jonghs for comment through an asset management firm in the Virgin Islands where the former governor is a director.
The filing was first docketed Tuesday with extensive redactions, but it was refiled Thursday, with some details about former Gov. de Jongh and Cecile now visible. Also visible are allegations related to current Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and his immediate predecessor in that office, Kenneth Mapp.
Bryan, who is due to be deposed June 6 in the case, suggested schools to which Epstein should donate $50,000, the filing said. Bryan also asked $30,000 go to the Virgin Islands Little League, according to the document.
Portions of the filing that were visible Tuesday said the government of the Virgin Islands was “complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.”
JPMorgan said Epstein — who died in 2019 by a jailhouse suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges — gave top officials in the territory money, advice and favors as they looked the other way when he trafficked young women there.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands, in an emailed statement responding to the updated filing, said, “JPMorgan Chase facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, and should be held accountable for violating the law.”
“This is an obvious attempt to shift blame away from JPMorgan Chase, which had a legal responsibility to report the evidence in its possession of Epstein’s human trafficking, and failed to do so,” the spokesperson said.
The document calls Cecile de Jongh, who managed Epstein’s companies there when she was first lady, “a ready partner” in helping Epstein transport young women to exploit in the Virgin Islands, where he maintained a home.
The bank alleged Cecile de Jongh was “Epstein’s primary conduit for spreading money and influence throughout the USVI government.” The filing said she emailed him in 2011 proposed language for a bill in the Virgin Islands legislature that would update sex offender monitoring laws.
“This is the suggested language; will it work for you?” she asked in that email, according to the filing.
The document also said Epstein, who was a registered sex offender due to his conviction in Florida state court in 2008 for soliciting sex from a minor, replied, “We should add out of country for more than 7 days, otherwise I could not go for a day trip to Tortola, at the last minute.”
JPMorgan alleged Epstein, despite receiving “lucrative tax incentives” and “lax enforcement” of his sex offender status from the Virgin Islands, “still could not freely transport and exploit young women without assistance from USVI government officials.”
The filing said Cecile de Jongh “arranged for Epstein to meet with a local immigration lawyer to assist at least one” young woman who needed a visa to visit the American territory.
Cecile de Jongh also “contacted the University of the Virgin Islands … to find out whether three young women could enroll there to obtain student visas,” according to the filing.
“Perhaps cognizant of the risk in having a registered sex offender sign the letter, First Lady de Jongh wrote to Epstein that he should think about whether ‘[he] should sign [the letter] or one of us,'” the document said.
“Ultimately UVI structured a bespoke class to enroll victims and provide cover for their presence in the territory — the same year Epstein donated $20,000 to the university through one of his companies,” the filing said.
“In addition to visas, some of the young women Epstein brought to the island also neededemployment,” the filing noted.
The document said when one of those women needed a dental license, “First Lady de Jongh reached out to the Director for the Office of Professional Licensure and Health Planning at the USVI Department of Health regarding a ‘new practice act’ that would have ‘significant changes and allowances for reciprocity.'”
“The Director wrote to Ms. de Jongh that once the act went before the Senate Committee she would have a ‘clearer idea on what [the young woman’s] options are moving forward,'” it said.
The filing alleged Cecile de Jongh also reached out to contacts in the attorney general’s office and solicitor general’s office about the new rules.
“Ultimately, First Lady de Jongh was successful,” the filing said. “The young woman eventually setup a local dental practice in the USVI and shared an office with Epstein’s companies.”
In detailing claims Cecile advised Epstein on how to use his money to control politicians in the Virgin Islands, the filing says Epstein, at her suggestion, “explored paying monthly retainers to USVI politicians to ensure their ‘loyalty and access.'”
“First Lady de Jongh suggested that Epstein ‘consider putting Celestino [White] on some sort of monthly retainer. That is what will get you his loyalty and access,'” said the document.
White was a Virgin Islands senator.
The filing also details how Epstein met often with the leadership of the Virgin Islands Port Authority, which leased hangar space to him at its airport, where women were brought in for Epstein.
Cecile de Jongh at one point asked Epstein, on behalf of her husband, the governor, “if he would support” the bid by then-Sen. Carlton Dowe to return to the Port Authority, the filing said.
Dowe, according to the message from Cecile, would be a “good person for us” there, the filing said.
“Based on his government connections, when traveling through the USVI’s airport accompanied by young women as a registered sex offender, Epstein could count on his ‘great relationship’ with the officials there to avoid scrutiny or detection,” the filing said.
“In sum, in exchange for Epstein’s cash and gifts, USVI made life easy for him,” JPMorgan’s filing said.
The document added, “The government mitigated any burdens from his sex offender status. And it made sure that no one asked too many questions about his transport and keeping of young girls on his island.” More

Dollar Tree missed Wall Street’s earnings per share estimates but beat on revenue.
Shares of the company plunged in early trading.

Erin Scott | Reuters

Shares of Dollar Tree plunged more than 16% in intraday trading Thursday after the company fell short of Wall Street’s earnings expectations for the most recent quarter and slashed its profit outlook for the full year.
The stock closed about 12% lower at $136.66 a share.

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Here’s how the discounter did in its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $1.47, adjusted, vs. $1.52 expected 
Revenue: $7.32 billion vs. $7.28 billion expected 

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended April 29 was $299 million, or $1.35 a share, compared with $536.4 million, or $2.37 a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company reported earnings of $1.47 per share, falling below Wall Street projections.
Sales rose to $7.32 billion, up from $6.9 billion a year earlier. 
Same store sales were up 4.8% compared to an expected uptick of 3.6%, according to Street Account estimates. 
Following the disappointing quarter, Dollar Tree lowered its profit outlook for the full year to a range of $5.73 to $6.13 per share, down from a prior range of $6.30 to $6.80 per share. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had been expecting full-year earnings of $6.68 per share.

The lower outlook was attributed to elevated shrink, or items that were damaged, lost or stolen, and a shift in product mix to consumables, which carry lower margins, Dollar Tree’s CEO Rick Dreiling said in a news release. 
“While we are seeing early results from our initiatives, we are not immune to the external pressures affecting all of retail,” said Dreiling.
“We are adjusting our EPS outlook as we expect the elevated shrink and unfavorable sales mix to persist through the balance of the year. We still expect earnings to be more back-end loaded this year as the benefits of lower ocean freight rates flow through.” 
The company largely maintained its full-year sales forecast, however, projecting net sales in the tightened range of $30 billion to $30.5 billion. Its forecasting low- to mid-single-digit comparable store sales.
For the second quarter, the company expects earnings per share of 79 cents to 89 cents in its second quarter versus Refinitiv consensus estimates of $1.22. 
Dollar Tree, which runs its namesake banner and Family Dollar, has been in the midst of a turnaround after shuffling up its executive leadership and raising prices. In January, Dreiling, a former executive with rival Dollar General, took over as CEO. Prior to that, it named Jeffrey Davis as its new chief financial officer in August.
Family Dollar has been in the midst of a reset, and it’s made progress, many stores remain “sub-par and very down-at-heel,” said analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData.
“With competition in the value space increasing from the expansion of other dollar store rivals and the growth of players like Aldi, it is imperative that Family Dollar offers a reasonable experience,” said Saunders. “The reward should be increased shopper share which is already starting to come through as consumers respond to the improvements being made.”
The company said it is also lapping outsized growth that came from its decision to increase prices from $1 to $1.25 on most products. 
Gross margins in the quarter declined 3.4 percentage points to 30.5% compared to the year ago period. The company attributed that to an “outsized margin benefit” that came when the company was first transitioning to its raised price. 
While other value-oriented retailers, such as TJ Maxx, have seen promising results this retail earnings season, Dollar Tree has fallen short. Even with the companies low prices, Dollar Tree shoppers have been focusing their spending on essential items, which carry lower margins, over discretionary purchases. More

DirecTV has struck a multiyear deal with EverPass Media to commercially provide the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package.
The agreement allows continuity for bars and restaurants, which have used DirecTV to bring out-of-market games to crowds on Sundays in previous years.
The NFL signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV for the residential “Sunday Ticket” broadcast rights in December.

Football fans watch the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks on at a sports bar in New Jersey on February 2, 2014.
Cem Ozdel | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

DirecTV has struck a multiyear deal to continue broadcasting the National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” package to commercial establishments, including bars and restaurants.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The NFL sold the “Sunday Ticket” commercial rights to EverPass Media, a joint venture owned by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and the NFL, earlier this year. The companies confirmed the “Sunday Ticket” deal on Thursday afternoon.

The agreement, which kicks in for the 2023 season, gives DirecTV the ability to use its network of satellite TV installations to connect sports bars, casinos, restaurants and hotels throughout the U.S. with “Sunday Ticket,” just as it has in previous years, said the people.
While this is the first deal EverPass has struck to distribute commercial rights, the contract doesn’t guarantee exclusivity, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The joint venture can negotiate a separate agreement with other cable or streaming companies that may want a commercial hookup outside of satellite TV, said the people. EverPass can also build its own commercial connection in future years and bypass third party licensing, one of the people said.
DirecTV has been the sole provider of “Sunday Ticket,” the NFL’s out-of-market Sunday afternoon package of games, since 1994. Bars and restaurants, such as Buffalo Wild Wings and Hooters, rely on “Sunday Ticket” to bring in big crowds on Sundays during the NFL season.
The NFL signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV for the residential “Sunday Ticket” broadcast rights in December. The agreement begins at the start of the 2023-24 season.
YouTube TV paid $2 billion per year to win the residential rights for “Sunday Ticket,” a price DirecTV was unwilling to pay.

DirecTV is co-owned by private equity firm TPG and AT&T, with AT&T owning 70% of the company.
The satellite TV provider has focused on its commercial sports rights business in recent months as a companion to streaming services, which don’t have the commercial rights. DirecTV announced in March it will air Major League Baseball’s “Friday Night Baseball” and Major League Soccer’s “Season Pass” games for its network of more than 300,000 restaurants, bars, hotel lounges, retail shops and other commercial venues. Both packages stream on Apple TV+ residentially.
DirecTV also has the rights to broadcast NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” commercially. Those games air on Amazon Prime Video for households.
WATCH: NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package agreement with YouTube is “a good deal,” says Bruin Capital founder More

Illumina shareholders ousted board chairman John Thompson.
Carl Icahn had urged shareholders to oust both Thompson and CEO Francis deSouza. DeSouza survived the fight.
An Illumina spokesperson said a new board chair will be chosen in the next few weeks.
Shareholders also installed Andrew Teno, a portfolio manager at Icahn Capital LP.
Icahn has accused Illumina’s executive management and board of poor oversight.

Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Activist investor Carl Icahn on Thursday won enough support from Illumina shareholders to oust the biotech company’s board chair.
Shareholders booted Chairman John Thompson. An Illumina spokesperson said a new chair will be chosen in the next few weeks.

Icahn had urged shareholders to vote off the company’s CEO, Francis deSouza, and Thompson from the nine-member board. DeSouza survived the proxy fight.
Shareholders also voted to install one of Icahn’s three board nominees, Andrew Teno, a portfolio manager at Icahn Capital LP, an entity where Icahn manages investment funds.
The vote was announced after Illumina’s annual meeting, marking a decisive end to a two-month proxy fight between Icahn and the company over a controversial acquisition. 
Illumina, in a statement, thanked Thompson for his service over the years, saying his executive and business experience was deeply valued.
Earlier this month, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that Illumina shareholders back Teno.

Icahn, who owns a 1.4% stake in San Diego-based Illumina, had proposed two other director candidates who are his current or former employees.
The vote is a blow to Illumina, which has claimed Icahn’s three nominees lack “relevant skills and experience” and would “threaten the progress” of the biotech company’s core DNA sequencing business.

Battle over Grail acquisition

Icahn has accused Illumina’s executive management and board of poor oversight, particularly with regard to the company’s $7.1 billion acquisition of cancer test maker Grail in 2021.
He has called on the company to unwind the “absurd and questionable” deal and oust deSouza “immediately.”
Icahn has slammed the executive for receiving a massive pay bump despite a steep drop in the company’s market value. 
Illumina’s market cap has plunged to roughly $33 billion from about $75 billion in August 2021, the month it closed the Grail acquisition. 
Much of Icahn’s resistance to the deal stems from Illumina’s decision to close it without approval from antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe.
The Federal Trade Commission in April ordered Illumina to divest itself of the acquisition over concerns that it would stifle competition and innovation. 
The FTC’s decision reverses an administrative judge’s September ruling, which dismissed the agency’s initial challenge to the deal.
The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, also blocked the deal last year over similar concerns.   
Illumina is appealing both orders and expects final decisions in late 2023 or early 2024.
The company has repeatedly defended its acquisition of Grail. 

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DeSouza told CNBC last month that the deal “makes sense” because Illumina can significantly expand the market for Grail’s early screening test, which can detect more than 50 types of cancers through a single blood draw. 
The CEO also touted Grail’s 100% revenue growth during the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. 
In 2022, Grail generated around $55 million in revenue. Illumina expects it to make up to $110 million this year. 
Icahn encountered his own criticism during the proxy battle.
Notable short seller Hindenburg Research accused Icahn Enterprises of being overvalued and likened it to “Ponzi-like economic structures.”
Icahn Enterprises has called those claims “misleading and self-serving.”
— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report. More

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office plans to quadruple the number of satellites on orbit over the next decade.
The spy agency is increasingly partnering with commercial space companies to do it.
NRO Director Chris Scolese said the agency is also looking to advance new technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, even quantum sensing and communications.

Dr. Christopher J. Scolese, right, nominee to be director of the National Reconnaissance Office, is introduced by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on nominations in Dirksen Building on Tuesday, June 4, 2019.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office plans to quadruple the number of satellites on orbit over the next decade. It will need commercial space companies to help do it.
The spy agency’s success toward that goal will involve “a combination of our partnerships with industry, the advancement of technology, and the coincident reduction in cost of all of those [launch and satellite] systems,” said NRO Director Chris Scolese, in a rare interview for CNBC’s “Manifest Space” podcast.

“It’s helped us improve our reliability so that we can achieve more with more capability at a lower cost,” he said.
The ambitious game plan speaks to the growing role of commercial space companies in national security work.
As startups multiply and spearhead technological advancements, government agencies are attempting to reduce some of the red tape around government contracting and are getting more creative in the ways they partner with industry. The NRO is no exception.

Follow and listen to CNBC’s “Manifest Space” podcast, hosted by Morgan Brennan, wherever you get your podcasts.

“It’s much, much less expensive to get into space, and it’s resulted in more commodity spacecraft, if you will, that we can buy off of a production line, which has really reduced the cost,” Scolese said. “Then if you marry those with the sensors that are needed to acquire the information, you can really then go off and expand your architecture in a very affordable way.”
The secretive agency provides the U.S.’ space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, collecting intel to be provided to policymakers, analysts, warfighters and even individuals responding to nature disasters.

It’s a classified office with a classified budget within the Department of Defense. It’s partially staffed by CIA agents and is one of the country’s 18 intelligence agencies. 
In layman’s terms, the NRO operates America’s extensive network of spy satellites. 
Scolese said for specialized or unique capabilities, the traditional method of issuing a request for proposal and launching a competitive bidding and development process is still best.
But if there’s a relevant spacecraft or a sensor already under development or in production commercially, it may make more sense to simply purchase that off-the-shelf hardware.
Similarly, with some companies already taking images or operating radar programs, the NRO can “buy the data from them … so that we don’t have to … go off and duplicate activities that we can reliably get from industry,” he said.
An example: the Strategic Commercial Enhancement’s Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Framework, a program that enables the assessment and acquisition of new and emerging sensor technologies. The BAA has been used to procure electro-optical imagery, synthetic aperture radar and radio frequency sensing data, with various awards going to startups including Planet, BlackSky, Spire Global and others over the past few years.
From satellite images of Russia building up forces on the Ukraine border ahead of the 2022 invasion, to the data amassed and released publicly by companies like Planet regarding the Chinese balloon that traversed the continental U.S. in February, commercial players increasingly demonstrate their mettle.
“[It’s] the marriage of the two sets of capabilities,” said Scolese. “Then if you throw in our international partners as well, you really get a multiplication factor there that allows you to do more, and to do it more efficiently, as we do it with our partners.”
Beginning Wednesday, the agency will host a tech forum to engage further with executives from more than 100 companies that are expected to attend. The hope is that new ideas emerging within the private sector or academia could be applied to the NRO’s evolving operations.
Scolese said the agency is also looking to advance new technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, even quantum sensing and communications.
As space becomes a more contested domain, the NRO, much like the U.S. Space Force, is focused on securing assets, including implementing a “more proliferated architecture” of more satellites in more orbits, making it more difficult for adversaries or bad actors to do harm to critical space infrastructure.
NRO partners closely with both the U.S. Space Command and the Space Force. The agency and the Space Force, for example, are collaborating on the development of a highly classified new space situational awareness constellation called SilentBarker, for which the first satellite is expected to launch this summer.

“Manifest Space,” hosted by CNBC’s Morgan Brennan, focuses on the billionaires and brains behind the ever-expanding opportunities beyond our atmosphere. Brennan holds conversations with the mega moguls, industry leaders and startups in today’s satellite, space and defense industries. In “Manifest Space,” sit back, relax and prepare for liftoff. More

Ford Motor’s largest competition in electric vehicles isn’t U.S. leader Tesla or crosstown rival General Motors — it’s Chinese automakers, CEO Jim Farley said Thursday.
Farley used Warren Buffett-backed BYD as the prime example of a Chinese automaker that has successfully developed and sold EVs.
BYD has grown its sales in China from 445,000 units in 2015 to nearly two million last year, making it one of the top five automakers by sales in China, according to LMC Automotive.

Ford CEO Jim Farley at a battery lab for the automaker in suburban Detroit, announcing a new $3.5 billion EV battery plant in the state to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries, Feb. 13, 2023.
Michael Wayland/CNBC

DETROIT — Ford Motor’s largest competition in electric vehicles isn’t U.S. leader Tesla or crosstown rival General Motors — it’s Chinese automakers, CEO Jim Farley said Thursday.
Farley said Chinese companies such as Warren Buffett-backed BYD are ahead of the large U.S. automakers and startups on electric vehicles, specifically battery chemistry and other emerging technologies.

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“We see the Chinese as the main competitor, not GM or Toyota,” Farley said during the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit.
He used BYD as the prime example of a Chinese automaker that has successfully developed and sold EVs, first in China, and now Europe.
“I like BYD. Totally vertically integrated, aggressive … very, very impressive company. And they were always committed to electric,” Farley said when asked which company is doing EVs right.

BYD’s new luxury brand Yangwang is selling its first model, the U8, for more than 1 million yuan (US$160,000).
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng

BYD has grown its sales in China from 445,000 units in 2015 to nearly two million last year, making it one of the top five automakers by sales in China, according to LMC Automotive.
Farley’s comments echo those of industry experts and investors regarding the growth of BYD and other Chinese automakers, which have government backing in China.

“BYD has a huge place, both from the electric vehicle perspective and also through the battery production side,” Philip Ripman, portfolio manager at Storebrand Asset Management, told CNBC Pro Talks last week.
Ripman, who manages the $1 billion Storebrand Global Solutions sustainable fund, highlighted BYD’s developments in cheaper, sodium-ion battery technology, which could potentially replace lithium batteries. He noted these could become prevalent in BYD’s more affordable EVs and help increase profit margins for the automaker.
Farley also noted BYD’s battery advantages compared to the current U.S. industry standard of lithium-ion batteries.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is presented at the New York International Auto Show, Manhattan, New York, April 5, 2023.
David Dee Delgado | Reuters

Ford earlier this year announced a new collaboration with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL, for a new $3.5 billion plant to build cheaper batteries in Michigan.
The facility will produce new lithium iron phosphate batteries, or LFP, as opposed to pricier nickel cobalt manganese batteries with lithium, which the company is currently using. It is expected to open in 2026 and employ about 2,500 people, according to the Detroit automaker.
Farley touted BYD’s role in building out that technology.
“BYD’s scale is way bigger than Tesla now, and they developed the LFP technology, which is a better battery,” Farley said.
The Ford-CATL deal has been criticized amid tensions between the U.S. and China. Specifically, Marco Rubio asked the Biden administration to review the deal, which includes Ford licensing CATL’s technologies. The Detroit automaker will own the new facility through a wholly-owned subsidiary instead of operating it as a joint venture with CATL.
Farley said if politics get in the way of allowing cheaper EV technologies in the U.S., the consumer is going to be “screwed” with higher prices.
“We have to work through that in our country. And I think they’re really interesting companies,” Farley said. More

Sandra Douglass Morgan became a gaming regulator the same year the Supreme Court cleared the path for legalized sports betting.
She found herself in an advisory role, helping to shape how other states adopted sports betting just as the gambling gold rush was beginning.
Now, she is president of the Las Vegas Raiders, making history as the NFL’s first woman of color to lead a team.

Sandra Douglass Morgan has seen a lot of changes in the five years since she was named to the Nevada Gaming Commission.
The same year she became a gaming regulator, the Supreme Court cleared the path for legalized sports betting. Since then, 32 other states and Washington, D.C., have launched sports betting.

During that time, Douglass Morgan went from gaming regulator to chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board to the corporate board of directors for casino giant Caesars Entertainment. Now, she is president of the Las Vegas Raiders, making history as the NFL’s first woman of color to lead a team.
Douglass Morgan said her Black and Korean heritage may have helped put her in the spotlight, but she pointed to her work outside the world of sports as being key to bringing diversity to the Raiders’ front office.
“It’s been exhilarating. I’m incredibly blessed that I’ve been given these opportunities, you know, based on my skill set and my experience,” Douglass Morgan told CNBC. “It’s been an amazing journey.”
In 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA , Douglass Morgan found herself in an advisory role, helping to shape how other states adopted sports betting just as the gambling gold rush was beginning.
“You had states and different jurisdictions … coming to Nevada and asking our team, ‘How do you regulate sports betting? And what are your relationships with your licensees and sportsbooks?'” Douglass Morgan said.

Courtesy of the Las Vegas Raiders

As the teams and leagues try to navigate headline-making scandals and potential pitfalls with sports betting, Douglass Morgan has brought vast knowledge and experience with responsible gaming and integrity.
She said sports betting is still in its infancy and education about gambling and all its rules is paramount for everyone in sports.
“Making sure that everyone — and it’s not just players, every single employee that’s with a club, whether it be on the football team side, or the business organization side — is aware of the rules, is aware of some of the pitfalls,” she said.
While sports and gambling mesh and evolve around the nation, the country’s gambling capital has become a preeminent sports destination of its own.
For the first time, Las Vegas will host the Super Bowl in 2024 at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Raiders, the city’s first NFL franchise. Vegas also is eagerly awaiting its first Formula One race this fall, and is wooing an MLB team, the Oakland As. It has already embraced its WNBA Aces and NHL Golden Knights.

Courtesy of the Las Vegas Raiders

The success of sports in Las Vegas feels personal to Douglass Morgan, who hails from the city and is raising her children there. At the helm of the Raiders she said she can help influence philanthropic and educational opportunities that improve the quality of life for her community.
And the history she’s making as president of the Raiders?
“I do feel a sense of responsibility to make sure that I’m not taking this position for granted. I know that just being named the president can hopefully inspire, you know, whether it be women and girls and people from a variety of different backgrounds to know that there are opportunities for them to be in sports management,” she said. More