Consulting standard-bearer McKinsey & Co. will pay $573 million to resolve state investigations and allegations related to its role “in helping ‘turbocharge’ opioid sales, a rare instance of it being held publicly accountable for its work with clients.” A rather recent “trove of documents” from several lawsuits showed how McKinsey “worked to drive sales of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin painkiller” even after Purdue pleaded guilty to misleading doctors and regulators about OxyContin’s risks and likely forced McKinsey’s hand here - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and HuffPost
Just how serious is that microchip shortage that we told you about a few weeks ago? Well, consider the case of General Motors, which is idling three plants in North America next week due to the “global shortage of semiconductors that is rippling through the automotive industry” - NYTimes and WSJ
Speaking of autos, Daimler has revealed plans to “spin off its trucks business, in a move highlighting how conventional auto makers are under pressure to boost their stock-market value” - WSJ and MarketWatch
Andy Jassy’s ascension to Amazon’s top spot is likely about more than just a lifetime of faithful service to the company. It also doubles as “one of the clearest signs yet that fortunes in the tech industry are increasingly made in the cloud” - WSJ
Recently disclosed regulatory records from Deutsche Bank show that Rosemary Vrablic—the “senior private banker” responsible for the family account of the last president—“was pushed out of her job in December following an internal investigation that concluded that she did business with a client without properly disclosing it” - NYTimes and Bloomberg
Jazz Pharmaceuticals has reached a deal to buy cannabis-based epilepsy treatment drugmaker GW Pharma for a reported $6.7 billion in a bid to “strengthen Jazz’s neuroscience drug pipeline” - WSJ and MarketWatch
Yes, bitcoin’s having something of a moment again (and as compared to meme stocks, it’s looking downright stable), but assuming you’ve got it on hand—what can you actually get with it? Well, “an awful lot,” apparently, but not always very easily - NYTimes
As for the memers, Wednesday was kinder to them that the rest of the week’s been - WSJ
What about GameStop ringleader Keith Gill (he of the Roaring Kitty and red headband)? Well, a regulator in Gill’s home state of Massachusetts has some questions for him (and his former employer, MassMutual) - NYTimes
And while we’re at it, Bloomberg considers what the “Robinhood crisis” of gamifying stocks tells us about the “hidden costs” of the no-fee trading model it touts - Bloomberg
More big tech war by proxy, this time down under. Microsoft has come out in support of the media use law that’s caused Google to threaten to pull its search engine from the entire country. Any guesses on what the potential replacement might be? Bing, bing, bing. That’s correct – Law360
On the continuing relevance and magic of “Calvin & Hobbes,” one of my all-time favorites, a quarter-century after Watterson said goodbye - StarTribune
Stay safe.
