Justice Department Accuses Visa of A Debit Card Monopoly

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Good morning,

We’ve all been tied up with monotonous tasks in the workplace, from submitting PTO requests to troubleshooting IT issues. But what if AI could do it for you?

That’s the premise behind conversational AI platform Moveworks, which CEO Bhavin Shah claims has helped enterprises save millions of dollars by freeing up teams for more important tasks. The company announced Tuesday that it had crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, a milestone many buzzy AI startups have yet to reach.

And while it’s a lesser-known name, Moveworks is used by some 5 million employees across companies like Toyota and Salesforce.

FIRST UP

The Justice Department accused Visa of monopolizing the debit card market in a lawsuit Tuesday, where Attorney General Merrick Garland said the financial services giant can collect fees that “far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market.” Visa charges $7 billion in debit card fees annually, per the DOJ, and its debit card business accounts for an estimated 60% of all debit transactions in the U.S.

Former crypto exec Caroline Ellison received a two-year prison sentence Tuesday for the financial crimes committed alongside her ex-boyfriend and former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried, in spite of her extensive cooperation against Bankman-Fried. Ellison served as the chief executive of Alameda Research, the sister firm of FTX, and Alameda’s unraveling as it lost FTX customer funds led to the eventual bankruptcies of both firms and the arrests of Bankman-Fried, Ellison and other executives.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

In a highly anticipated Congressional hearing Tuesday, U.S. Securities and Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and his fellow commissioners faced intense scrutiny over the agency’s handling of digital asset regulation. The hearing laid bare the growing tension surrounding the SEC’s oversight of cryptocurrencies, which critics argue has become overreaching and legally ambiguous.

Consumer confidence saw its biggest drop since August 2021, according to the monthly Conference Board survey, as voters identified the economy as their top issue heading into the presidential election. “The plunge in consumer confidence in September underscores the growing pressure on many households as the labor market weakens,” Nationwide economist Ben Ayers wrote in emailed comments.

WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Billionaire Jared Isaacman became the first private citizen to conduct a spacewalk, and in an interview with Forbes, described the experience as “overwhelming.” He took part in the historic Polaris Dawn mission earlier this month, reaching the highest Earth orbit any human has been to since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang finished selling shares in the company worth more than $700 million, according to a regulatory filing, sending the company’s market cap close to $3 trillion. Huang is the 13th-richest person in the world, worth roughly $106 billion after an increase of about $4.2 billion Tuesday, according to Forbes’ latest estimates.

MONEY + POLITICS

Billionaire Mark Cuban warned that former President Donald Trump’s threats to impose a 200% tariff on John Deere if it moves production to Mexico could destroy “one of the most historied companies in the United States of America.” During a Kamala Harris campaign call Tuesday, Cuban, a frequent Trump critic, explained that if Trump were to move forward with the John Deere tariffs, it would make it cheaper for Chinese manufacturers to compete with John Deere.

SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre revealed during a testimony before the House of Representatives that he’s been diagnosed with the degenerative nervous system disease Parkinson’s. The former Green Bay Packers star made the announcement while discussing a company he’d invested in that was working to develop a drug to treat concussions. A 2020 study found that suffering even a single concussion increased a person’s likelihood of later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease by 57%.

SCIENCE + HEALTHCARE

Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen defended the prices of the company’s popular diabetes and weight loss medication in testimony to a Senate committee on Monday, as monthly supplies of Ozempic and Wegovy are sold for $968.52 and $1,349.02, respectively. But Jørgensen said the prices of both drugs have declined, and argued his company is reducing overall health care costs among Americans with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE

In advance of Hurricane Helene making landfall near Tampa Thursday morning, major U.S. airlines are already issuing travel waivers allowing passengers flying in or out of impacted airports to rebook without paying the fare difference. Currently a Tropical Storm, Helene is expected to strengthen rapidly as it passes over the unusually warm Gulf of Mexico before hitting Florida’s Gulf Coast as Hurricane Helene.

DAILY COVER STORY

Plaid’s Former Billionaire CEO Has A Bold Plan To Revive Its Growth

TOPLINE Zach Perret, cofounder and CEO of 12-year-old Plaid, took the stage at the company’s annual customers conference in June. The 37-year-old opened with a pitch that evoked fintech’s go-go days of 2021—a time when San Francisco-based Plaid raised $425 million in funding at a $13.4 billion valuation, making Perret briefly a paper billionaire. “The optimism and the energy in fintech is back,” he said, later adding, “the fintech-ification of everything is happening everywhere.”

Despite such public bravado, Perret is clear-eyed about the challenges he faces as he tries to recharge Plaid’s mojo and ready it for going public, perhaps in 2026. He made his mark building the data plumbing for fintech–connecting consumers and their bank accounts to new services provided by the likes of Venmo, Chime, Robinhood and Affirm. Now he’s aiming to build products, too, by leveraging that connectivity and the vast troves of financial information Plaid continuously collects on 100 million-plus consumers.

Perret is creating services in three lines of business: credit-risk analytics, fraud prevention and pay-by-bank (where you pay directly from your bank account instead of with a credit or debit card). What they all have in common is that Plaid’s existing network of connections could give it an edge.

With many of the fintechs it serves in the doldrums, Plaid’s revenues grew only 12% in 2023, down from a 23% growth rate in 2022, according to people familiar with its financials. Yet it still booked $308 million in revenue and is on track for 20% top-line growth in 2024, sources say.

WHY IT MATTERS Perret and his fellow executives describe the company as being at an “inflection point” and poised for much faster expansion. But big challenges remain. One is that the three new product areas Plaid is targeting are all intensely competitive. Another is that, with 1,100 people, the company is no longer a small, nimble startup, yet it will need to make fast, difficult decisions on where to cut and invest.

MORE Inside Fintech’s Newest Unicorn: A Credit Card Backed By Your Home

FACTS + COMMENTS

Smartsheet, an enterprise work management software platform, announced Tuesday that it will be acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in an all-cash deal. But New York hedge fund Eminence Capital appears to be the big winner in the agreement among active investors:

$8.4 billion: How much the deal is worth

41%: The premium shareholders will receive per share over the stock’s average closing price for the past three months

4.3 million: The number of Smartsheet shares Eminence Capital held as of its latest filing, for around a $90 million profit

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

The psychological contract in the workplace—once characterized by long-term employment and clear career ladders—has given way to a more fluid, tenuous relationship. But leaders can help bridge the gap by being clear and honest in all communication, and creating spaces for employees to voice their concerns without fear of repercussions. And actions speak louder than words: Follow through on verbal commitments, even if they are small.

VIDEO

QUIZ

Rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris won a $71 million lawsuit against the maker of a popular line of dolls. Which dolls are they?

A. Bratz

B. Barbie

C. American Girl

D. L.O.L. Surprise!

Check your answer.

Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.