Hold your secrets close

Quote of the Day

Frequently engaged in fraud and theft, and employed third-party vendors to obtain unauthorized data or information.”

Market Snapshot

• A nearly ready tax bill sent U.S. indexes higher.
• An Olympic partnership with Team Canada boosted Under Armour shares 9%.
• Greek bonds dropped to their lowest level since 2006—the country has come a long way since its 2012 debt crisis.
• Bitcoin futures ended the week strong, climbing 8% to $18,160.

BP Sees New Life With Renewables

Remember those catchy “Say Hey” BP commercials? You know, the ones that branded BP as eco-friendly? What ever happened to those?

Or what about its “Beyond Petroleum” campaign?

Well after six years on the sideline, BP is revisiting renewable energy by acquiring a 43% stake in solar panel developer Lightsource for $200 million.

Which begs the question...why was being sustainable so incredibly unsustainable for BP?

We think you know the answer…

It’s because some spills require two hands to clean. And BP’s 2010 oil spill needed way more than that to clean up the 200 million gallons dumped into the Gulf of Mexico.

Of course, once that happened, an oil-soaked seagull wasn’t the best poster child of an environmentally friendly company.

And from an economic standpoint, things got just as sticky. BP is still shelling out money for the cleanup, with costs tallying up to $64 billion.

But eventually, you’ve got to get back on your feet

Demand for oil is on a slippery slope, with yearly growth slowing from 1.7% to 1% by 2040. Not to mention the swift rise of U.S. fracking presents a long-term threat to oil industry prices.

Which is why its acquisition of Lightsource allows BP to hedge through solar—an industry that promises 10-15% YoY growth over the next few years.

And unlike BP’s $8 billion misfire on renewables a decade ago, Lightsource won’t be developing the green tech itself—it’s simply an installation provider.

Which chief executive of alternative energy Dev Sanyal argues is the safer play with China undercutting solar panel prices at every turn.

If you need any indication of what Lightsource has got in store for BP, just look at the Thames Water’s Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir.

Uber’s Climbin’ in Your Window and Snatchin’ Your Trade Secrets

Uber’s finally in the clear with absolutely nothing to worry abo…

Just kidding. This time, ex-intelligence official Richard Jacobs is implicating Uber in systematically stealing competitor trade secrets.

If that sounds familiar...it is. Uber’s been neck deep in a $2.6 billion legal battle with Waymo—Alphabet’s self-driving arm. As the story goes, Uber stole IP relating to Waymo’s LiDAR technology (lasers that work as a self-driving car’s eyes and ears on the road).

But this latest revelation is a key to Uber’s side door. The 37-page “Jacobs letter” outlined illegal data collection methods, including wiretapping, bribery, undercover agents, and database hacking.

Come to think of it, Lyft’s mustache does look a little too real to be true.

Naturally, Uber is discrediting the letter (and even paid Jacobs $4.5 million initially to keep things quiet). But new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has already got Operation PR up and running: “Going forward we will compete honestly and fairly.”

Unilever Drops Its Curdled Margarine Unit

PE giant KKR is taking margarine off Unilever’s hands, acquiring the spreads business for $8 billion. It’s Europe’s largest leveraged buyout this year.

That’s not this deal’s only historic feature. Margarine has been synonymous with Unilever since the beginning—in 1929, the conglomerate was formed through the union of soap company Lever Brothers and margarine producer Margarine Unie.

And its popular “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” and “Country Crock” brands flavored many a baked potato. The margarine and spreads business brought in a cool $3.5 billion last year.

But revenue isn't growing.

Margarine has been deemed an imposter in today’s “all-natural” food culture...and while neither butter nor margarine is particularly good for you, butter is increasingly seen as the lesser of two evils. Per capita butter consumption passed margarine’s in 2005 and hasn’t looked back.

So if margarine is on the way down, why’s KKR dipping in? The business has steady cash flow, and KKR thinks it can flip the unit for a nice return marketing healthier ingredients to millennials. We are easily convinced, aren’t we.

A Brain Drain from Airbus

Many of Airbus’ top executives are heading for the exit row, and they’re not securing any oxygen masks on the way out.

Here’s a short list of who’s leaving (or plans to in short time): CEO Tom Enders, COO Fabrice Bregier, and long-time sales chief John Leahy.

The world’s second-largest planemaker is experiencing serious turbulence, as investigators across the globe probe sketchy business activities. It’s taken heat from the feds for possible bribery and fraud in a number of deals involving middlemen. And last month, French authorities raided Airbus HQ over a satellite deal with Kazakhstan.

Get out while you can, amirite?

It’s not all bad. There’s plenty of demand for Airbus’ products—just last week, Delta placed an order for 100 planes. The issue is getting them off the assembly line. Production backlogs for some planes extend eight years (a problem for Boeing, too)...and by then, we’ll all be zipping around in Uber’s flying cars.

What Else Is Happening…

• Hunter Harrison, the CEO of freight rail giant CSX, has passed away just days after taking a medical leave of absence.
• Google is shutting down its first venture into AR.
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi brought in $220 million in its opening weekend, easily beating last year's spin-off, Rogue One.
• Israel’s trade union held a nationwide strike protesting Teva’s job cuts.

Economic Calendar

• Monday     Earnings: No Events

                    Economic Events: Housing Market Index

• Tuesday    Earnings: FedEx

                  Economic Events: No Events

• Wednesday    Earnings: Bed Bath & Beyond, General Mills

                        Economic Events: Existing Home Sales

• Thursday   Earnings: Accenture, Nike, The Finish Line

                   Economic Events: GDP, Jobless Claims, Corporate Profits

• Friday       Earnings: No Events

                 Economic Events: Durable Goods, New Home Sales, Consumer Sentiment

Coffee Chat With Tony Xu

This is part two of a six-interview special on the gig economy, where we highlight industry leaders helping to shape the “future of work” around the globe.

Ready for an inspirational startup and founder story?

Look no further than DoorDash, the venture-backed, on-demand food delivery service headquartered in the Bay Area.

The company has raised $186 million in funding (most recently at a $700 million valuation) from top tier VCs including Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. It currently serves 42 markets, works with 40,000 local businesses, and has received over 10 million orders.

But more fascinating than the story of Dash, is that of its Head Dasher (CEO), Tony Xu.

DoorDash’s CEO wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

At the age of five, he and his parents emigrated from China to the United States with $200 to the family name. And now, after years of hustle and struggle, Tony is a proven startup exec and technologist endorsed by some of the largest venture capitalists in the world.

The Breakroom

Question of the Day

In a party of 35 people there are twice as many women as children and twice as many children as men. How many of each are there?

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Business Trivia

In 2016, 1.9 million Americans were employed in power generation. Can you rank these industries from most jobs to least?

Solar, oil, coal, wind, bioenergy, natural gas

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Stat of the Day

100 million—Number of Facebook posts analyzed to find the most click-baity three-words to use in a headline. The winner? “...will make you...”

Ex: “13 ways this newsletter will make you rich if you share it with your friends.”

Breakroom Answers

Question of the Day: 5 men, 10 children and 20 women.

Business Trivia: Oil (515,518), Natural Gas (398,235), Solar (373,807), Coal (160,119), Bioenergy (130,677), Wind (101,738)