Plus: The Eighth-Generation Heir Driving Big Changes At Philippines’ Oldest Conglomerate Ayala |
Good morning,
Some of history’s most impactful business founders—Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, to name a few—dropped out of college in pursuit of a greater goal. But with concerns about artificial intelligence weighing heavily on today’s college students, some are choosing to leave their studies behind in favor of working full-time. Forbes heard from students eager to work in AI safety who cited fears of AGI and the threat they believe it spells for humanity, and from others who worry there simply won’t be jobs left once they graduate. “If your career is about to be automated by the end of the decade, then every year spent in college is one year subtracted from your short career,” said Nikola Jurković, who graduated from Harvard in May.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
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| Entrepreneur Daniella Pierson has cozied up to everyone from Diane von Furstenberg to Selena Gomez, burnishing her image—as founder and CEO of lifestyle newsletter The Newsette and cofounder of mental health startup Wondermind—while her businesses have unraveled. “I don’t know that she actually cares about building a successful business as much as she cares about being able to say she’s a badass CEO,” a former employee told Forbes. “It’s all smoke and mirrors.” Jake Becraft founded Strand Therapeutics with an idea that he believed could change the way doctors treat cancer, by lighting up tumor cells. Eight years later, the company is close to making that dream a reality. Strand’s preliminary phase 1 clinical trial showed that its first programmable mRNA drug—which instructs tumors to produce signals that make them visible to the body’s immune system—is not only safe, but can shrink tumors in cancer patients who had otherwise run out of treatment options. With $250 million in funding and a $550 million valuation, Strand is aiming to hit the market by 2030. |
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 | | GERIC CRUZ FOR FORBES ASIA |
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| Just over a decade ago, Mariana Beatriz Zobel de Ayala was a 24-year-old equity analyst working on Wall Street when she got a call from her father, Jaime Augusto. The chairman of the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp., nudged his eldest daughter to come home. “He hinted at opportunities in the Philippines,” Mariana recalls. There was never any pressure, she adds, with the option of her returning to New York left on the table. But her sense of duty won out and she quit her job at JPMorgan: “It was the right thing to do.” After spending 12 years learning the ropes in various roles across the 191-year-old banking-to-property group, Mariana, 36, was appointed this March as a managing director at Ayala Corp. She’s tasked with sprucing up its vast leasing portfolio of aging malls, office buildings and hotels. At the same time as her elevation, her brother Jaime Alfonso, 34, and cousin Jaime Urquijo, 37, were named executive directors at the group. With these promotions, Ayala Corp. said, the next-generation of leaders is in place to drive its future growth. Ayala Corp. traces its roots to a distillery built in 1834 by Antonio de Ayala, and the family was a key player in developing Makati City, a financial hub in the broader Manilla metropolitan area. Mariana’s grandfather Jaime Zobel de Ayala, 91, under whom the family’s $3.4 billion fortune is listed at No. 7 on Philippines’ 50 Richest for 2025, took the helm in 1983. “We’re firing on all cylinders in the next few years,” Mariana tells Forbes Asia. As one of the stewards of a storied legacy and with her dad’s office just a few doors away from hers, the Harvard-and-Insead grad isn’t taking things lightly. “We’ve seen how the prior generations charted new paths,” she says. “That’s something we hope we can continue to do.” |
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| Mariana says her father’s big theme for the group is to build more consumer-focused businesses, and that resonates with her. While she appreciates her father’s counsel, she says she’s learned the most by observing how he makes decisions: “He stays true to his values even when he encounters rough winds.” |
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| Apple promised another $100 billion investment to expand manufacturing in the U.S., adding to a $500 billion commitment announced earlier this year by CEO Tim Cook. The announcement includes a new “American Manufacturing Program” that would bring more of Apple’s supply chain into the U.S., with plans to manufacture critical components domestically. Apple shares rose 5% Wednesday following the news. MORE: Trump also announced on Wednesday a 100% tariff on chips and semiconductors exported to the U.S., while noting companies like Apple would receive exemptions for producing goods domestically. Following through on his threat to raise tariffs against India, President Donald Trump doubled the levy on imports from the country, from 25% to 50%. The additional tariff, which the president said was “because they’re buying Russian oil,” will go into effect within 21 days. In a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs called the reciprocal tariffs “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.” |
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| Amazon-owned robotaxi company Zoox got the green light from regulators to operate its purpose-built electric vehicles without steering wheels, pedals or mirrors—a first-ever exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on such features. The waiver clears the way for Zoox, founded 11 years ago, to launch its robotaxi service later this year in Las Vegas, with San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles and Atlanta to follow. |
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| ESPN’s new standalone streaming service—which carries a price tag of $29.99 per month—will launch August 21, the Walt Disney Company said Wednesday, just hours after the broadcaster announced a deal to purchase the NFL Network from the football league. As part of the deal, the NFL will acquire a 10% equity stake in ESPN. The broadcaster also announced a new partnership with WWE, which will make the network the exclusive home to premium events such as WrestleMania. MORE: Fox One, a new streaming service featuring the entirety of Fox’s video portfolio, will also launch August 21 at a price of $19.99 per month, CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced. Like ESPN, the big draw will be sports—specifically Fox’s NFL and Big 10 football games. |
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| Texas Governor Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking the court to declare that state Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, forfeited his office when he fled the state in an effort to block Republicans’ redistricting efforts. Texas law gives the state Supreme Court power to issue a “writ of quo warranto” against state officials, which is a legal determination over whether the official has the right to hold office. It’s unclear how the court will rule it this case, though it is made up entirely of Republican justices. |
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| New research from the Federal Reserve outlines how five countries used gains on their official gold holdings to raise government funds. It does not propose the U.S. do the same, and critics cite inflation as a major concern, but the Fed noted that a recent bill proposes the use of revaluation proceeds to create a sovereign wealth fund or a strategic bitcoin reserve: |
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$11 billion | The value of U.S. gold reserves, 261.5 million ounces, based on a price per ounce that was set in 1973 | |
| More than $750 billion | The value at today’s market price | |
| ‘I can say today we’re not revaluing the gold’ | Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on the All-In podcast in March |
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| With ultra-polished websites and slick promotional materials, researching top colleges these days can feel like searching for substance in a luxury ad campaign. Prospective students and their families should go straight into individual department pages, especially for their ideal majors. Skip any official “Student Life” pages in favor of checking out the student newspaper. |
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| GAMES | | QUIZ | | A new movie streaming on Amazon Prime Video starring rapper-actor Ice Cube has been universally panned, earning a shocking 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is a modern adaptation of which classic science fiction novel? | | A. | “Fahrenheit 451” | | B. | “War of the Worlds” | | C. | “1984” | | D. | “Dune” |
| | | FRASE BY FORBES |  | Unscramble today’s anagram to solve this hidden phrase!
Stumped? Scroll to the bottom of today’s newsletter for a hint. |
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