Good Morning. Turns out you can be wildly profitable and still hand out 8,000 pink slips, if a robot's next in line. We break down Meta's bet.

We also unpack a deadly cliff inheritance, SpaceX's $1.7T debut, and why most people ask for too little (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers).

Starting today, Meta began notifying roughly 8,000 employees that their jobs are gone, about 10% of its 78,000-person workforce. Workers receive the news by email. US staff get at least 16 weeks of base pay, plus two weeks per year served and 18 months of health coverage.

The cuts arrive during record profits, not a downturn. Meta is also canceling 6,000 open roles and shifting 7,000 employees into new AI-focused teams. This is the third round of layoffs in 2026, all aimed at funding the company's AI buildout.

The reason is the spending. Meta has guided 2026 capital expenditures as high as $145 billion, up from $39 billion in 2024, nearly all of it for data centers and chips. Morale is reportedly at an all-time low, with some workers requesting the severance outright.

Spanish police arrested Jonathan Andic yesterday in connection with the death of his father, Isak Andic, the billionaire who founded fashion giant Mango. The 71-year-old died in December 2024 after falling roughly 500 feet down a cliff while hiking near Barcelona.

Jonathan, 45, was the only witness, and he stands to inherit a piece of a 4 billion euro empire. He and his two sisters control 95% of Mango. Investigators flagged inconsistencies in his account and reportedly strained ties over who would run the company.

Police first ruled it an accident, then reopened the case in March 2025 and began treating it as a possible homicide by October. A judge set bail at 1 million euros, already paid, ordered his passport surrendered, and required weekly court appearances.

Ukraine is now pounding Russian oil refineries with fast-improving drones, and that fight is reaching the global pump. On Sunday, Ukraine launched one of its largest strikes of the war, with Russian air defenses intercepting over 600 drones and hits near Moscow killing at least three (WSJ).

The energy angle cuts both ways. A US-led war on Iran has driven up oil prices, and an easing of US sanctions on Russian crude has helped Moscow keep funding the war despite refineries burning behind its lines.

On the ground, Russia's advances are the slowest in two years, and its monthly casualties of 30,000 to 35,000 now top recruitment. Analysts warn this isn't a turning point yet. Putin shows no sign of backing down, and war moves in cycles of adaptation.

Jim Rohn argued the whole art of getting what you want comes down to one underrated skill: asking. Most people are good workers and poor askers, and that gap, not lack of opportunity, is what holds them back.

His three points (video):

Then the part with teeth, two ways to ask: First, ask with intelligence. Don't mumble a vague wish. Define it: how high, how soon, what size, how much. A clearly described goal works like a magnet, and the sharper the description, the harder it pulls. Second, ask with faith. Plan like an adult, but believe in the plan like a child, before skepticism talks you out of it.

We'd add one thing Rohn leaves out: don't just ask for what your future self wants someday, ask as that person now. Define the goal, then act like it's already yours today. That's the “Future Self Now.”

Michael Caine recites Kipling's "If—", the poem that guided him since boyhood, from Korean War soldier to acting legend. The lesson: treat triumph and disaster as the same two impostors. Neither lasts, so let neither move you. Hold your standard when others lose theirs. That steadiness, not the win, is the real mark of a man.

▲ SpaceX IPO targets $80 billion raise and $1.71 trillion valuation, tripling Saudi Aramco's record-setting 2019 debut

▲ Amazon ends Kindle Store support for pre-2013 e-readers, affecting 2 million devices and sparking jailbreak workarounds (how to video)

▲ Musk loses OpenAI lawsuit in court but wins the PR war with his "Scam Altman" campaign | The Art of War

▲ Zyn surges through Trump world as FDA eases pouch rules after president's lunch with tobacco executives

▲ Artificial egg lets chickens grow outside the body, eyeing the 12-foot extinct moa next

He ran 13 marathons, in a row, in these [Gear*]

AI turns 70s erotic magazine into film [Cannes]

Looney Tunes joke divides internet [Video]

Pollock sells for $100M at auction [Blog]

World’s first Pokemon themed airport [Photos]

Income inequality, state by state [List]

Is this comedian the next Walt Disney? [Blog]