Plus: The World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2025 |
Good morning,
Elon Musk is among the billionaires who joined President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia this week. And it’s not surprising, since the world’s richest man is himself embracing Middle East investors.Several Musk ventures have done deals with the Saudis in recent weeks, including Starlink and X. But Musk hasn’t always had a rosy relationship with the Kingdom—its sovereign wealth fund had built nearly a 5% stake in Tesla in 2018, before Musk falsely tweeted that he had funding secured from the Saudis to take the automaker private. The SEC sued the Tesla CEO, and the Saudis reportedly sold off most of their Tesla shares in 2020. But the improved partnership shows Musk has strengthened his role on the global stage in Trump’s second presidency, and is willing to use foreign capital to grow his empire.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
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| While many have speculated that the Qataris offered President Donald Trump one of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets to curry favor, there may be a simpler rationale: They just don’t want it anymore. The royal family of Qatar, owner of one of the largest private jet fleets in the world, has failed to sell the plane, and giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Trump claimed Thursday that India has proposed a deal under which it would charge no tariffs on U.S. goods, though he did not provide further details about the potential deal. The president’s comments come just days after he suggested he had offered trade perks to India and Pakistan to secure a ceasefire between both sides after the nuclear powers were involved in a four-day-long skirmish. |
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|  | | Illustration by Neil Jamieson for Forbes |
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| For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete. But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs. Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr FC and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes. On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018. And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over the man in the No. 2 spot, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry. There are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes. For instance, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137 million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke 12-month earnings records for the NFL and MLB. Combined, these 10 athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from 2024’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990. This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million. |
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| “Superstar athletes are making more money than ever—and that upward trajectory figures to continue,” says Forbes assistant managing editor Brett Knight. “Golfers have benefited from the entry of the Saudi-backed LIV league, with the new competition driving up purses even on rival tours, and the NBA and the NFL are seeing their salary caps soar as the leagues’ revenue demolishes records. This year, the cutoff for the world’s 50 highest-paid athletes is $53.6 million; next season, at least nine NBA players will exceed that figure with their salaries alone.” |
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| Qatar Airways will purchase 210 jets from Boeing, the companies announced as President Donald Trump arrived in the country Wednesday, the second stop on a Middle East tour that has increased scrutiny around the president’s personal business there. Boeing shares closed at their highest point since last February after the announcement. MORE: Trump, joined by U.S. business executives, has announced agreements worth hundreds of billions of dollars during his visit to the Middle East, including for defense, aviation and artificial intelligence projects. They include $600 billion in Saudi investments, though some of the projects were already in the works, and an agreement with Qatar for investments worth more than $243.5 billion. |
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| UnitedHealth Group is being investigated for possible Medicare fraud, according to the Wall Street Journal, sending shares of the healthcare company sliding in after-hours trading just one day after its CEO announced he was stepping down from his position. The specifics of the criminal allegations against UnitedHealth Group are unclear, according to the Journal, which reported that the Justice Department’s healthcare-fraud unit is leading the investigation. |
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| A hotline connecting air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport with their counterparts at the Pentagon has been broken for years, the FAA acknowledged Wednesday, following the fatal midair collision between a regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter earlier this year. FAA officials only learned of the issue this month, Franklin McIntosh, FAA deputy head of air traffic control, testified at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Since then, military flights to the Pentagon have been suspended. |
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| Republicans in the House are hoping to wring cash from private colleges: The GOP’s proposed tax bill would hike the tax on the investment earnings of the richest college endowments from 1.4% to as high as 21%. Three additional proposals could also hit schools’ bottom lines, such as a change to the way schools’ vulnerability to the tax is calculated, a tax on some nonprofit royalty income, and increased taxes on private foundations. The increased taxes would generate $15.9 billion in revenue over the next 10 fiscal years. |
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$2,500 | The increased amount for the child tax credit, up from $2,000, per child, but only for four years | |
| $30,000 | The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly, which would be made permanent | |
| $3.7 trillion | The cost of the tax portion of the bill over the next decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation |
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| Bad leadership can have a major impact on morale and a company’s performance, and there are certain behaviors to keep an eye on. The most obvious signs are a lack of communication or accountability, a tendency to micromanage direct reports, resistance to change and a lack of empathy. If you’re dealing with a bad manager, set clear boundaries, seek support from colleagues you trust and focus on what you can control. |
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| GAMES | | QUIZ | | The maker of a popular video game console said it could consider moving manufacturing from China to the U.S. to avoid tariff hikes, though such a move would likely take years. Which console is it? | |
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