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More than a week after former President Donald Trump predicted his own arrest, the Manhattan grand jury weighing whether to bring criminal charges against the billionaire is reportedly set to take a break until late April.

That further delays a vote for potential indictment in an investigation that has gone on for years.

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BREAKING NEWS

Pope Francis, 86, was hospitalized in Rome and will be treated for several days for a pulmonary infection that caused him to have difficulty breathing, according to the Vatican.

The New Mexico district attorney overseeing the criminal prosecutions of Rust actor Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed for a fatal 2021 on-set shooting stepped down from the case Wednesday, marking the second prosecutor to depart the high-profile case.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter was part of a massive round of layoffs Disney enacted this week as the entertainment giant sets out on its plan to ax 7,000 employees.

The Adani Group is reportedly proceeding with its plan to secure up to $1 billion in privately placed bonds in an effort to reassure stockholders as the company battles allegations of market manipulation and accounting malpractices.

WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The Adani brothers took their infrastructure empire to the pinnacle of Indian capitalism. Then they lost nearly $70 billion in 14 days amid massive fraud claims. Forbes looks at how two ambitious siblings built the Adani Group by flying close to the sun and making friends in all the right places, yielding a controversial conglomerate that may just be too politically connected to fail. More: Gautam Adani’s secretive older brother Vinod is worth nearly $10 billion, a fortune that Forbes recently uncovered while investigating a maze of shell companies. Could he be the mastermind behind his brother’s empire?

With a net worth that Forbes estimates at $2.2 billion, former professional poker player Chow Shing Yuk has become a rare startup billionaire in Hong Kong thanks to his logistics and delivery giant Lalamove. The company’s IPO prospectus showed Chow sold 2.17 million shares to its investor Tencent for $100 million in December, valuing the company at about $7.8 billion.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz defended his billionaire status to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) by saying, “I earned it,” during a contentious Senate hearing Wednesday on the company’s labor practices.

TECH + INNOVATION

Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak are among hundreds of high-profile technologists, entrepreneurs and researchers urging AI labs to “immediately pause” work on artificial intelligence systems for at least six months so humanity can evaluate the risks of the “out-of-control race” to deploy ever more advanced products.

PHARMA + HEALTHCARE

Leading up to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the venture capital world was already tightening its wallet when it came to startup funding, and the healthcare space was no exception. But even as employers and consumers prepare for an economic downturn, opportunity may still exist in one area of healthcare: Medicaid.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a four-milligram spray dose of Narcan, a drug used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, for over-the-counter use Wednesday. It’s the first time such a drug is available without a prescription. (Photo: AP/Matt Rourke).

Daily Cover Story

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Legal Defense Is Being Funded With Alameda Money He Gifted His Father

TOPLINE Sam Bankman-Fried, the former billionaire boss of fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX, claimed to have $100,000 in his bank account last November. Now he’s headed to his fraud trial in October armed with a pricey defense: a stacked roster of powerful attorneys.

Turns out, the one-time crypto king has been paying legal fees from a multi-million dollar gift he gave his father while still CEO at FTX, funded by money borrowed from FTX’s sister company Alameda Research, two sources with operational knowledge of both companies told Forbes.

It’s been alleged that some $10 billion in customer deposits were secretly diverted to Alameda by the former CEO. Meanwhile, a source close to Bankman-Fried told Forbes that his defense costs are likely in the single-digit-millions range. His parents have reportedly leveraged their own assets to financially support their son.

WHY IT MATTERS “If these funds were improperly given to his father, because of this commingling of assets, it creates questions as to whether FTX could seek to claw them back as it seeks to maximize the amount of remuneration that it will give to the exchange’s creditors,” say Forbes Senior Writer Sarah Emerson and Steven Ehrlich, director of research for digital assets. If this happens, the status of Bankman-Fried’s white shoe legal defense could be compromised.

MORE Exclusive: Sam Bankman-Fried Knew Plenty About His Alameda Research Hedge Fund–And Sent Details To Forbes Just Months Ago

FACTS AND COMMENTS

Soaring egg prices led to Cal-Maine Foods, the nation’s biggest egg producer, experiencing a seven-fold year-over-year jump in quarterly profits in the three-month period ending February 25.

291,000: Number of cartons of eggs Cal-Maine Foods sold last quarter.

$323 million: Cal-Maine’s profits from last quarter.

718%: Increase in profits from the same period in 2022.

STRATEGY AND SUCCESS

Middle managers are increasingly facing mounting pressure and job requirements as they experience unique tensions between different groups of colleagues while also supporting employees who are struggling with their wellbeing. All in all, it’s a special person who can navigate the maze of demands, find balance among all the pressures and meet the needs of diverse groups of stakeholders. Here are five ways organizations can support middle managers so they don’t become stressed out, burned out or ineffective.

VIDEO

Arkansas Sues TikTok And Meta For Allegedly ‘Deceiving’ Users

QUIZ

A new California bill aims to ban multiple chemicals found in food products like Skittles, Little Debbie baked goods and other items. One of the substances is the “flour improviser” ingredient potassium bromate. Which country has already prohibited the use of it in food?

A. China

B. Canada

C. Brazil

D. All of the above

Check if you got it right here.

ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

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BEYOND THE NEWSROOM

• Join us virtually for the 2023 Forbes CIO Summit on April 12, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET as we gather some of the world’s top CIOs, CTOs, CDIOs and futurists for an amazing mind share focused on leadership, innovation and transformation. The summit is designed to inform, challenge and delight as we examine several key issues of importance to technology leaders.
• Join us at the 2023 Forbes Under 30 Summit in Botswana on April 23-26, 2023, This year includes performances by award-winning artists, conversations with top business leaders, exclusive networking with entrepreneurs from across the continent and the globe, plus game drives, a bush party and regional excursions. Register now.
• Looking ahead: The 2023 Forbes Future Of Work Summit will take place in New York and virtually on June 1. Here, we’ll explore the forthcoming impact of artificial intelligence, shifting dynamics between workers and employers, and more. Sign up to stay tuned for updates.

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