🌍 Breezy Yeezy chats

Plus: Bad returns on climate? More CEOs say OK.

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Photo: Getty Images (Justin Sullivan) Good morning, Quartz readers! Wishing you were at the World Economic Forum in Davos right about now? We get it. Join executive editor Heather Landy for on-the-ground reporting by signing up for our annual Need to Know: Davos newsletter. It's free! Here's what you need to know Apple beat Samsung in global smartphone sales for the first time ever. The US-based company shipped nearly 235 million units last year, compared to its South Korean rival's 227 million. Hyundai is offering Americans cash to buy electric cars. Buyers of three models can get $7,500 as the South Korean automaker tries to catch up to its competitors that qualify for US-specific tax credits. Burger King will spend $1 billion buying its own restaurants. The company is swallowing its largest US franchisee as part of a turnaround plan. Spirit Airlines stock lost almost half its value after a judge blocked JetBlue from buying it. The ruling comes after the US Department of Justice sued to stop the merger last March, as part of a push to halt deals that the Biden administration regards as anti-competitive. Adidas's boss wanted some breezy chats, and got a lot of Yeezy When Adidas executive Bjørn Gulden took over last year, he had a request for his 60,000 employees: Call me, maybe. For a bit, giving out his phone number to each employee meant being contacted as many as 200 times a week. Gulden told The Wall Street Journal while some saw the invitation as crazy, he was on a mission to jumpstart a turnaround at the sneaker maker. That hasn't exactly happened yet. Adidas is forecasting a €100 million ($106 million) loss for 2023, though that's better than its previous estimate of €450 million ($489 million). Losing wasn't quite what employees wanted to talk about though. They were more concerned with the rapper Ye. Elon Musk has a quarter-sized Tesla ask Elon Musk wants more control over Tesla—25% to be exact. The desire is ​​a reversal from two years ago, when he sold off 22 million Tesla shares to buy Twitter, reducing his stake in the EV maker from 17% to about 13%. Graphic: (Quartz) What's driving his change of heart? Robots. Musk said he's "uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control." And if he doesn't get it, he'll build his machines elsewhere. Bad returns on climate investments? More CEOs will take it Over the next three years, a third of CEOs expect that climate change will alter how their organization creates, delivers, and captures value. That stat is from PwC's latest Global CEO Survey, and is way up from less than a quarter of respondents who said the same in the annual survey's previous five installments. Four out of 10 CEOs told PwC that they'd even accept lower returns if it meant helping the planet. For a growing number of chief executives, that means being OK with taking anywhere from a 1% to 6% hit on climate investments when compared to stakes in other ventures. That sentiment, of course, isn't a consensus—a lot of CEOs admitted that they don't even have a climate action plan. And some leaders are turning their eyes from the threat of a warming planet toward what to do about generative AI. Message from Our Partner Curious how the business of culture is shaping up? Spot emerging trends with TheFutureParty. Every morning, they deliver insights into the entertainment, media, and tech news of today so you can ride the cultural waves and drive your business to success. Join 200k+ driven professionals by subscribing now for free. Quartz's most popular 🍔 Meet the man taking on big fast food and candy brands for allegedly stiffing customers 🌮 Fast food menu items that aren't as advertised, according to customers 🎒 The Gates Foundation has approved its largest annual budget yet 🐇 Rabbit unveiled a new device to help phone users manage their apps 🤖 Microsoft is expanding its Copilot AI subscription for Office apps 💸 JPMorgan settles alleged violations of whistleblower protections with $18 million payment to SEC Surprising discoveries A 93-year-old rower is as fit as a 40-year-old. Richard Morgan didn't even start exercising regularly until he was 73. New Orleans-style chicken wings are a hit in China. One place they're not a hit? New Orleans. The first rhesus monkey was cloned. It was created to speed up medical research, since the species's physiology is similar to humans, but animal rights advocates are criticizing the cloning. A 29 million-year-old nest of eggs was found. They belonged to grasshoppers, which were prancing around even way back then. Got a memory you want to show someone? AI can help with that. In our latest Quartz Obsession podcast episode, host Heather Landy talks to Pau Garcia from Domestic Data Streamers about a global research project that uses artificial intelligence to generate images of the memories of early-stage dementia patients. 🎧 Listen to "Synthetic memories: Generating the past" now on Spotify | Apple | Google | Pandora Did you know we have two premium weekend emails, too? One gives you analysis on the week's news, and one provides the best reads from Quartz and elsewhere to get your week started right. Become a member or give membership as a gift! Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, Richard Morgan life hacks, and New Orleans-style chicken wings to talk@qz.com. Today's Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner. 🌐 View or share this email online.

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