Forbes Daily: Walmart’s Play For Chinese Sellers On Its Marketplace

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Here’s a new option for fantasy sports fans—chess.

Spearheaded by grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, the Norway-based Fantasy Chess has raised $3 million from high-profile investors, including billionaires Yuri Milner and Peter Thiel. “We’re trying to do more than just building a fantasy game,” says Carlsen.

Even though the chess startup is a novice, has no official product and just six employees, Carlsen has his eye on more than just fantasy. It’s looking to capitalize on pop culture, from Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit to Twitch stars like U.S. grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, the company wants to expand tournament streaming capabilities for elite players and even host events.

Let’s get into the headlines,

FIRST UP

Upstart electric vehicle maker Rivian said Volkswagen is investing up to $5 billion in the firm and that the two companies are forming a joint venture to develop an automotive software platform based on Rivian technology. The partnership positions Rivian to better compete with the leading EV maker Tesla, and Rivian shares jumped 50% in after-hours Nasdaq trading.

A Federal Reserve official known for having a more hawkish stance said she doesn’t expect an interest rate cut in 2024, dousing optimism among the Biden Administration for a cut ahead of the presidential election. Michelle Bowman, one of the Fed’s seven governors and one of the 12 voters on the Federal Open Markets Committee, went against median projections for a single cut this year, saying she doesn’t expect lower interest rates until “future years.”

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Walmart is encouraging sellers based in China to sell directly to U.S. customers through Walmart.com, a major shift for the retail giant that used to only allow American-based companies to sell on its third-party marketplace. It’s a result of pressure from Amazon and fast-growing Chinese e-commerce companies Temu and Shein. “That’s [what] Amazon looks like, that’s the direction Walmart is going …There is no massive pool of international sellers elsewhere,” Juozas Kaziukėnas, Marketplace Pulse’s CEO, tells Forbes.

Nvidia’s stock slightly recovered Tuesday, closing up more than 6% after a massive three-day selloff that ended its brief standing as the world’s most valuable public company. Nvidia’s market cap jumped back above $3 trillion after falling Monday in a dip that didn’t appear to have a clear catalyst. The company’s share price, fueled by the AI craze, is still up more than 150% since the start of the year.

TECH + INNOVATION ​​

Venture capital plays a crucial role for the highest growth startups, plus they receive benefits like alternative funding sources, valuable mentorship and industry connections. But, as highlighted by the speakers at the ForbesBLK Summit, Black founders struggle to receive a slice of that funding: Startups run by Black women received just 0.34% of U.S. venture capital dollars in 2022.

A fund that seeks to profit from the Solana Foundation’s recently outsourced engineering and product-design competitions has raised $60 million that could help the blockchain attract new developers. Solana only has about 20% of the development resources that rival Ethereum has working on projects based on their respective blockchains, venture capital firm Electric Capital estimates.

MONEY + POLITICS

Westchester County Executive George Latimer defeated progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., in a primary election on Tuesday, making Bowman the first progressive “Squad” member to be ousted from Congress. The race—widely seen as the most expensive House primary in U.S. history—underscored the divide among Democrats on the Israel-Hamas war, as the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC poured nearly $15 million into the race to unseat Bowman.

SCIENCE + HEALTHCARE

Gun violence is a public health crisis, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared in a first-of-its-kind advisory Tuesday, highlighting the sharp increase in gun-related deaths across the country, especially among children and adolescents. According to the advisory, gun violence has been the leading cause of death among Americans ages 1 to 19 since 2020—exceeding vehicle accidents, poisoning (both drug and non-drug-related) and cancer.

WORLD

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pleaded guilty Tuesday to one charge of violating the Espionage Act, following through on a plea deal for his freedom and effectively ending a decade-plus legal saga. Assange reached the plea deal after years of fighting extradition, a dropped sex crime investigation, indictments and time in London’s Belmarsh Prison.

TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE

Some good news if you’re traveling this Fourth of July weekend: Gas prices and domestic airfare are both down compared to last year. A gallon of regular gas currently costs $3.47, on average, according to the latest AAA data, a 3% drop from this time last year. Meanwhile, domestic airfare for the holiday weekend is averaging $263 per ticket, according to the travel app Hopper, down 18% from last year.

DAILY COVER STORY

ByteDance Doubles Down On TikTok Shop, Despite Threat Of A U.S. Ban

TOPLINE TikTok might be fighting for its life to continue operating in the United States, but that hasn’t stopped its China-based parent company ByteDance from betting on its newest growth machine: TikTok Shop.

Since President Joe Biden signed the law that threatens to ban TikTok nationwide, TikTok Shop has grown rapidly. Data from Route, an app that millions of online shoppers use to track all their e-commerce purchases in one place, shows a 13 percent jump in orders from TikTok Shop from April to May—almost double the average monthly increase (7 percent) since the beginning of this year.

When TikTok Shop was introduced in the U.S. last September, it quickly became the internet’s new favorite dollar store—setting itself apart from American e-commerce rivals like Amazon by focusing less on common staples and more on cheap, often heavily discounted novelty items and funky special purpose products reflective of the internet trend du jour.

By the beginning of 2024, the social media company was gunning to grow Shop tenfold in the U.S. to some $17.5 billion in sales, per Bloomberg, making it a core part of TikTok’s overall business that some estimate to be worth more than $100 billion.

Even after the divest-or-ban law passed in late April, ByteDance didn’t slow down. Instead, it reportedly halted expansion of TikTok Shop in Europe in May to pour resources into tightening its grip on the American market. TikTok now appears to be hiring hundreds of employees in the U.S. to support those efforts, according to job listings for TikTok Shop posted on the company’s career page and LinkedIn.

But TikTok Shop’s growth—and potential downfall—may prove to be a boon for China-based rivals Temu and Shein, both of which are growing rapidly in the U.S.

If the app does get banned in the U.S., the people spending millions on TikTok Shop would likely turn to the Chinese e-commerce companies rather than Walmart or Amazon, said Route CEO Michael Yamartino.

WHY IT MATTERS Its efforts appear to have paid off so far. The fact that TikTok Shop has largely gained momentum since President Biden signed the divest-or-ban bill shows just how little regulatory scrutiny has deterred the platform’s popularity in the U.S.

MORE How TikTok Shop Became The Internet’s Favorite New Dollar Store

FACTS + COMMENTS

The boom in demand for weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic may have caused a spike in cosmetic procedures last year, such as fillers, Botox, facelifts and neck lifts. According to a new report, rapid weight loss caused by the medication can result in decreased skin elasticity:

5%: The increase in plastic surgeries compared to 2022, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found

Nearly 9.5 million: The number of neuromodulator injections (including Botox), performed in 2023, making them the most popular minimally invasive cosmetic procedures

9 million: The number of prescriptions for Wegovy and Ozempic in the last months of 2022, a 300% increase from 2020

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

If your job search has fizzled recently, data from Vanguard could help explain why: In March, the hiring rate for high-income employees fell to its lowest level since 2014. Still, there are job-hunting strategies that can help anyone speed up their search: Jumpstart your efforts by leveraging AI, but resist the unfocused temptation to apply to hundreds of openings.

VIDEO

QUIZ

The first film of a two-part passion project for a Hollywood icon hits theaters this weekend, but dismal reviews and poor box office projections could lead to disappointment for the three-hour western. Which longtime actor wrote, directed, stars in and helped fund the upcoming release?

A. Emilio Estevez

B. Nicolas Cage

C. John Cusack

D. Kevin Costner

Check your answer.

ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

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Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff, with writing contributions by Tavon Thomasson.