Forbes Daily: Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ Caps Off Dominant Awards Season Run

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Good morning,

If Coco Chanel ever inspired you to remove an accessory before leaving the house, Iris Apfel would’ve probably told you to put it back on.

The world lost a fashion icon earlier this month when Apfel passed away at 102. Known for her eccentric style and thick-rimmed glasses, she was a hard-worker throughout her long career, and fame for her unique, maximalist aesthetic wouldn’t come until she was 84.

She’d then go on to become a professor at 90, she published a book at 96 and signed a modeling contract at 97. Her story is a great lesson in pushing back against stereotypes about what older people can or should do.

BREAKING NEWS

Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, and Charles Roven, winners of the Best Picture award for “Oppenheimer,” in the press room at the 96th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ended a years-long Academy Awards drought for big-budget blockbusters on Sunday, winning the Oscar for best picture and six other prizes and bucking a trend of small-budget or independent films winning the prize. Oppenheimer’s global box office earnings stand at $957 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo, making it the biggest global earner to win the Academy’s top prize since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which won in 2004.

At least 50 people were injured on a flight from Sydney to Auckland operated by Chilean airline LATAM, after the Boeing 787-9 aircraft experienced a technical issue that caused it to suddenly lose altitude. It’s the latest in a concerning trend of air travel incidents, which prompted the FAA to issue a so-called safety call to action last month.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Last week’s jobs report showed rare signs of weakness in the labor market in February, as the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 3.9%—its highest level since the Federal Reserve began hiking interest rates in early 2022. But job growth still came in above economists’ forecasts as the U.S. added 275,000 jobs last month, topping consensus estimates of 200,000.

TECH + INNOVATION ​​

A Firestorm Tempest drone, the airframe of which can be printed in under 24 hours.

FIRESTORM LABS

Firestorm Labs, a San Diego-based defense startup, has quietly raised $12 million from the likes of Lockheed Martin and scored Pentagon contracts to develop a shipping container-sized drone factory that can manufacture war-ready drones in less than a day using 3D printing. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine entering its third year, Firestorm believes its xCell factory could be tested on the frontlines.

Apple will reinstate Epic Games’ developer account, according to a blog post update from the Fortnite developer, just days after terminating it and calling the game company “verifiably untrustworthy.” Epic Games said in the post it was informed Apple has committed to the European Commission that it will reinstate its developer account after the governmental body opened an inquiry into the matter.

MONEY + POLITICS

Former President Donald Trump posted a $91.6 million bond Friday after losing writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against him, and will also appeal the eight-figure judgment. Trump faced a Monday deadline to put up the money he owes in the case, as he had 30 days after the judgment on Feb. 8 to either pay cash or post an appeals bond before Carroll could ask the court to enforce the judgment and seize Trump’s assets.

SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

Max Verstappen (with longtime rival Lewis Hamilton) felt that Formula 1 spun off course when it veered from racing to entertainment.

ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

When the third season of Drive to Survive, the world’s glitziest infomercial for Formula 1 racing, was released in early 2021, the show immediately went to the top of the Netflix global charts—and ESPN’s ratings for Grands Prix surged right behind it. In this exclusive excerpt from The Formula, see the inside story of how the hit Netflix series forever changed F1 and gave the sport a long-awaited foothold in America.

SCIENCE + HEALTHCARE

Last week, three fiber optic cables were damaged in the Red Sea, causing a reduction in internet bandwidth in the region that could take weeks or months to repair, due to ongoing conflict in Yemen. The three cables carried about 25% of the internet traffic in the region, and while the damage does not appear to have been deliberate, the incident highlights just how easily internet connectivity could be attacked during international conflicts.

The FDA has delayed a decision on whether it will approve donanemab, Eli Lilly’s new Alzheimer’s drug, despite study results that showed it could significantly slow cognitive and functional decline. The FDA said it was planning to convene an advisory committee to further assess donanemab’s safety and efficacy. Eli Lilly says it expects approval of the drug “will be delayed beyond the first quarter of 2024.”

TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE

Using an ancient wheat from Southern Italy’s Puglia region, Frank Grillo’s Altamura vodka began with a simple idea: What if you could drink a loaf of bread? So Grillo and his business partner launched Altamura Distilleries with their personal savings, and expect to triple last year’s sales in 2024—projecting revenues close to $2 million.

DAILY COVER STORY The Billion-Dollar Unraveling Of Ryan Breslow

PHOTO BY AARON KOTOWSKI FOR FORBES

TOPLINE Ryan Breslow was dancing barefoot in a geodesic dome when his investors sued him last July.

An aggrieved shareholder was accusing Breslow, the once-billionaire founder of payments unicorn Bolt, of draining millions of dollars from the company by defaulting on a personal loan secured by its cash. Rather than liquidate his shares to cover the debt, Breslow had allowed $30 million to be swept from Bolt’s bank account, the lawsuit alleged. And when three board members insisted he repay the company, he forced them out instead.

These problems were an ocean away in Ibiza, Spain, where Breslow was headlining a mindfulness retreat centered around dance and “the pursuit of happiness.” But back home, the suit was among a host of legal battles, bitter money squabbles and shaky ventures that awaited him.

Over the past two years, Breslow has repeatedly attempted to use his Bolt equity to take out large loans, and has tried to expense seven-figure travel and security bills to Bolt after stepping down as CEO, according to internal documents, court filings, and interviews with more than a dozen friends, advisors and colleagues.

Breslow declined to comment on a detailed list of questions sent by Forbes saying they contained “too much inaccuracy.” However, his October 2023 motion to dismiss a lawsuit by Activant, the aggrieved Bolt shareholder, confirmed the $30 million loan’s existence and terms, as well as his non-repayment at the time. Bolt declined to comment.

WHY IT MATTERS For years, Breslow had personified Silicon Valley success with an archetypal story: a public school kid who dropped out of Stanford University to found Bolt, a one-click payments company that became a venture capital darling and raised $1 billion in funding, earning him a spot on Forbes’ list of the world’s youngest billionaires and a cover story. By early 2022, Wall Street heavyweights like BlackRock and H.I.G. Growth had lined up to back a $355 million Series E funding round, valuing Bolt at $11 billion and Breslow’s personal stake at over $2 billion.

But instead of catapulting Bolt to new heights, the 2022 deal marked the start of a turbulent 18-month period for Breslow, pocked with acrimonious lawsuits and a showdown with one of Bolt’s earliest backers.

MORE Inside Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s $1 Billion Philanthropic Mess

FACTS AND COMMENTS

Singapore was the only stop in Southeast Asia for Taylor Swift’s globetrotting Eras tour, a privilege its government paid for, and the city-state’s economic growth projections for 2024 are seeing a boost as a result, according to Bloomberg:

2.5%: Annual GDP growth projection for Singapore this year, up from the 2.3% that had been predicted

Over 50,000: Number of attendees at each of Swift’s six concerts in the country

$225 to $300 million: Amount added to Singapore’s economy in Q1 from foreign tourists attending Swift’s concerts

STRATEGY AND SUCCESS

Have you filed your taxes yet? If not, you’re in good company, the IRS says the number of returns it has received so far is slightly behind this point last year. So whether you’re starting or finishing your 2023 1040, here’s our essential guide on the 2024 tax filing season, with tips on all the new and last minute twists out there to confound taxpayers this year.

VIDEO QUIZ

Junk food fiends probably already know their habit is unhealthy, but a recent British Medical Journal study found that eating more ultra-processed food was tied to which of the following adverse health outcomes?

A. A 50% increase in risk of cardiovascular death

B. A 12% increase in risk of developing Type 2 diabetes

C. A 48% increase in risk of an anxiety diagnosis

D. All of the above

Check your answer.

ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

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