Good morning, and time for some Friday feedback. I got lots of it for my post on whether Walmart should further restrict gun sales. A sampling:
“I don’t read Mr. McMillon’s statement as a prelude to a change as you seem to. I read it as a possible prelude to change, but also a possible prelude to a well-considered defense of weapon sales in the midst of a terrible epidemic in a nation with an increasingly complicated relationship with the Second Amendment.”
-D.G.
“There is reason to believe a real discussion on gun access AND gun violence is long overdue in this country. Any discussion needs real thought, not five second sound bites blaming it on this or that. It also needs to include a discussion on what the impact of Hollywood movies and TV shows with unrelenting gun violence and video games with the same has on gun violence in the U.S..”
-L.T.
“We have one side arguing for laws that don’t work and another side defending rights that aren’t threatened….We will never have effective regulation of firearms in the United States or any hope of addressing the frequency of mass shootings, mass murder, and domestic terrorism until we quit fighting over crap that doesn’t matter.”
-B.C.
“I really feel for (McMillon) right now. He has a business to run. But this is truly a legacy moment; potentially a historic moment…I hope his board would support him to do the ‘harder right over the easier wrong.'”
-C.B.
More news below.
Alan Murray
alan.murray@fortune.com
@alansmurray
TOP NEWS
Goldman Charged
The Malaysian government on Friday said it had filed criminal charges against 17 current and former directors at Goldman Sachs, over a corruption scandal involving the country's 1MDB fund. The country's attorney general said the directors held the highest executive positions in the relevant Goldman subsidiaries, which it is investigating for involvement in the scandal. Goldman said the charges were misdirected and would be vigorously defended. FT
Uber Expands its Food-Delivery Business
Uber is expanding its food-delivery arm into groceries, after that side of the business marked a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing set of earnings. The Uber Eats revenue rose 72% year-on-year, compared to 14% for the business overall, which is losing more money than ever. Uber had a record quarterly loss of $5.23 billion, largely due to costs associated with its IPO earlier this year. FT / WSJ
Bayer Looks to Settle Cancer Claims
The German chemical giant has proposed paying as much as $8 billion to settle more than 18,000 lawsuits over allegations its Roundup product causes cancer. Plaintiffs' lawyers are looking for more than $10 billion to drop claims, but just the hint of a resolution helped Bayer's stock rise 11% on Friday in Frankfurt, its highest intra-day jump in a decade. Fortune
Hong Kong Airport Sit-In
About a thousand protestors were staging sit-ins at Hong Kong's airport on Friday, carrying signs and distributing flyers to arriving passengers about the protests. The protests are now the greatest crisis since the island's return to China from Britain in 1997, according to commentators, and the outrage has spread from extradition laws to more generalized demands for greater democracy. Reuters
AROUND THE WATER COOLER
A Food Crisis Is Coming
The world is facing a food supply crisis as a result of climate change, the UN said on Thursday. A report warned that land and water resources are being exploited at an "unprecedented rate," and the window of time to address the crisis is closing. More than 100 experts in 52 countries participated in the report, which also laid out solutions that involve a massive re-evaluation of land use and agriculture. NBC
Trump and SoulCycle
This time, the potential backlash against SoulCycle isn't for the price of its classes or its cultural potency, but the chairman's links with President Trump. Stephen Ross, the chairman of Related Companies, which has a majority stake in SoulCycle (and Equinox gyms), is set to host a fundraiser in the Hamptons for Trump, drawing mixed feelings from devotees—some are livid, some just want to forget about politics. New York Times
JPMorgan's Epstein Connection
Jeffrey Epstein, now facing sex trafficking charges involving underage girls, remained a client of JPMorgan until 2013—years after compliance officers at the bank advised it cut ties over reputation and legal risks. Former executives and employees allege compliance officers were overruled after one of the highest-ranking executives intervened to keep him as a client. A JPMorgan spokesman disputed the claims. New York Times
'Mass Shootings' Branded as Risk Factors
Risk factors for corporations are usually competition, consumer behavior, natural disasters—not mass shootings. But as shootings have come to be seen as increasingly commonplace, some companies are acknowledging they are a genuine risk—and saying so in their financial reports. Major casino companies, for instance, have done so, noting the fallout from the Las Vegas shootings in October 2017. Fortune
This edition of CEO Daily was edited by Katherine Dunn. Find previous editions here, and sign up for other Fortune newsletters here.
