Whoever emerges as the victor in the competition for TikTok will have to contend with another complication—this time from China, where on Friday the country “updated its export control rules to cover a variety of technologies it deemed sensitive, including technology that sounded much like TikTok’s personalized recommendation engine.” The change means that TikTok parent ByteDance “might need a license to sell its technology to an American” buyer – NYTimes and Bloomberg and WSJ

That reality aside, new bidders Centricus and Triller Inc. are hoping their late entry into the race for TikTok’s American assets [and $20 billion] will impress – Bloomberg

At the same time, despite the White House backing Oracle in its bid for TikTok over early suitor Microsoft, best not to underestimate the power of Microsoft’s “quietly effective Washington influence operation”—a side effect of the company’s disastrous antitrust run-in with the feds in the 90s – NYTimes

And here’s a better explanation for why Microsoft’s seemingly-odd bedfellow in the TikTok bid—that would be Walmart—might have an interest in the video app – NYTimes and WSJ

Newish SEC short forms for financial advisers meant to “provide ordinary investors with a simple way of evaluating financial advisers by asking and answering a handful of basic questions about matters including fees, misconduct and conflicts of interest” have, rather than easing the burden for investors, muddied the waters by “often contradict[ing] longer disclosures on the SEC website” and regularly underreporting past misdeeds – WSJ

A look at how another week of million+ unemployment claims is confirming what many feared—a substantial number of employees furloughed in the early days of the pandemic simply won’t be getting their jobs back at all – WSJ and Bloomberg

As the Times tells it, noting the splashy instances of fraud related to the government’s PPP program was relatively easy—especially when we’re talking “forged documents, stolen identities and false certifications” associated with the “diamond-laden $52,000 Rolex, a gambling spree at the Bellagio, [and] two Lamborghinis.” The hard part is rooting out the rest of the “illicitly obtained cash” that flooded the country as part of the $252 billion program aimed at providing pandemic relief – NYTimes

McDonald’s has made former HR chief David Fairhurst a primary focus of its “investigation into possible impropriety under former Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook.” New reporting shows that Fairhurst was ousted last fall for allegedly “making women at the company feel uncomfortable on numerous occasions at business events” – WSJ

PE giant KKR is closing in on a deal to “sell Epicor Software Corp. to a group led by private-equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC for around $4.7 billion, including debt.” KKR purchased the back-office and sales software company in 2016 for roughly $3.3 billion – WSJ

Meanwhile, hedge-fund billionaire (and convicted insider trader) Steven A. Cohen appears to have edged out other bidders (including A-Rod and JLo) to acquire a majority stake in the New York Mets – WSJ and NYTimes

Its namesake is heading out the door, but Abenomics appears to be the fiscal law of the land for the foreseeable future in Japan—for good or for ill – NYTimes and WSJ

China’s securities regulator has given BlackRock the official nod to set up a wholly owned mutual fund management country in the country, the “first foreign business” to get that approval – Bloomberg and WSJ

Monday morning’s as good a time as any for some waacking, no? – NYTimes

Stay safe,
MDR