👇 The News Ensues

⚖️ Ex-French President Convicted

On Monday, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of corruption and influence-peddling while in office – the second time in the last ten years a former French president has been convicted of a crime.*

• Sarkozy was convicted of trying to bribe a judge for information regarding a separate investigation into political donations received by Sarkozy, and sentenced to three years in prison (with two of them suspended). He is likely to appeal.

More: Sarkozy is scheduled to stand trial later this month on a separate charge of illegally funding his 2012 re-election campaign.

*Even More: Former president Jacques Chirac was convicted in 2011 for embezzlement and misusing public funds.

🏛️ The Ultra Millionaire Tax Act

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the “Ultra Millionaire Tax Act” in the Senate yesterday.

• The bill would establish an annual tax of 2% on the assets of households and trusts worth more than $50M (which increases to 3% after $1B).

It is unknown when Congress might consider the bill, which lawmakers say is unlikely to be enacted in the near future.

🏫 CA’s Back-to-School Bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a deal with state legislators to provide up to $6.6B in assistance for public schools returning to in-person learning.

• Included in the bill is $2B in grants for schools that return to in-person learning up to at least second grade by the end of March.
• The remaining $4.6B represents unconditional relief for schools.

More: The legislature is expected to vote on the bill Thursday.

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

Image: British Antarctic Survey

• A 490-square-mile iceberg broke off an ice shelf in Antarctica on Sunday – an area larger than New York City.

⚡ Power Outage

Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, the largest and oldest such entity in Texas, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, saying it was overwhelmed with $2.1B in charges after last month’s winter storm caused a statewide energy crisis.

• During the storm, Texas regulators raised wholesale prices to $9K per megawatt-hour for more than 4 days straight. (For context, the average charge in 2020 was $22 per megawatt-hour.)

More: On Friday, Texas regulators “effectively shut down” a separate electric retailer named Griddy Energy after it was unable to make payments.

💵 Special ‘K’

Swedish fintech company Klarna raised $1B in a new funding round valuing the company at $31B (nearly triple its $11B valuation last September).

• With this funding round, which was oversubscribed four times, Klarna retains its position as the highest-valued private European fintech company.

More: Similar to U.S-based Affirm, Klarna offers consumers the option to pay for an item online in installments rather than all at once ('buy now, pay later').

🏬 Retail, Retail, Retail:

• All 270 Apple stores in the U.S. were open yesterday for the first time since pandemic-related closures began last March. (The company’s stock also rose 5.4% – its best day since October.)
• Tonal, a company that sells a wall-mounted smart home fitness trainer, announced a partnership with Nordstrom to incorporate 50-square-foot stations in at least 40 department stores by the end of 2021 (pictured here).
• Walmart is dropping the $35 minimum order requirement for its “Express” delivery – a service where consumers can pay a flat $10 fee to have up to 65 items delivered within two hours or less.

⏰ Catch Up Quick:

📈 The S&P experienced its best single-day performance in nearly nine months yesterday. (S&P +2.38% | Dow +1.95% | Nasdaq +3.01%)

🔬 China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the country’s R&D spending increased more than 10% last year to reach a record $378B. (For context: U.S. R&D spending is expected to be $134B for 2020).

🌳🌳 The Atlanta Food Forest

With its closest grocery store located a 30-minute bus ride away, the neighborhood of Browns Mill in Southeast Atlanta resides in what the USDA calls a “food desert.”

• Nearly 1 in 3 Browns Mill residents are below the poverty level, and the lack of supermarkets has caused many to live without access to clean and healthy food.

Images via The Conservation Fund

A Community Effort
The Conservation Fund set out to change these statistics by transforming an abandoned and overgrown plot of local farmland into the nation’s largest public free food forest.

• The initiative is part of the Conservation Fund’s larger mission to bring healthy food within a mile of 85% of Atlanta’s 500k residents by 2022.

Along with fresh food, the park near Browns Mill will also bring paid jobs, community building events, and STEM learning opportunities to the area’s young students.

Image: CBS

"It's really a park for everyone,” Carla Smith, an Atlanta councilwoman who helped start the project, told CNN.

• "Every time I go there's a community there who respects and appreciates the fresh healthy foods. There's a mentality there that people know to only take what they need."