Good morning. It's Thursday, May 28, and welcome to this week's Business & Finance newsletter. This week, we're covering credit reports, Estée Lauder and, in light of its upcoming IPO, Elon Musk's SpaceX. If you have any feedback for us (or if you just want to say hi!), feel free to reply to this email and send a note.
Thank you for being a reader!
—Phoebe Bain, 1440 Business & Finance Section Editor
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Credit Where Credit's Due |
Credit reports 101
Used to calculate credit scores and determine creditworthiness, credit reports are comprehensive documents that detail the credit history of a person or business, including current and former lines of credit, bankruptcy records, and more.
Credit assessments actually started in the 1700s as a way to evaluate businesses’ financial standing rather than consumers’. The early 1800s brought efforts to standardize the credit reporting system as more businesses were started that needed loans, and the labor movement’s success in the second half of the 1800s led to an increased need for standardized consumer (rather than business) credit reporting as workers made more money.
Today, credit reporting companies (think: the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) source the information in credit reports from financial institutions, such as banks and credit card companies. They then provide credit reports to lenders, landlords, utility providers, and others who use the information for decision-making purposes. Credit scoring companies FICO and VantageScore use the information in credit reports to determine one's credit score.
Explore everything else we've found on Credit Reports.
Also, check out ...
> Visualize the 5,000-year history of consumer credit in one infographic. (View)
> Find out how to get a copy of your credit report. (Read)
> Some argue that credit reporting promotes economic inequality in the US. (Watch)
> One in five Americans has an error on their credit report. (Read) |
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Check Out This Great AirPods Pro 3 Offer |
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Plus, Apple Card allows you to earn rewards, thanks to no fees, real cash back on every purchase, and no impact on your credit score when you apply. Ready to make your credit card do more for you? Apply for Apple Card right here.
Terms apply. |
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Who was Estée Lauder?
Born Josephine Esther Mentzer in 1908, Estée Lauder is best known as the cofounder of Estée Lauder Companies and a pioneering entrepreneur whose success paved the way for many of today's female founders. Today, Estée Lauder is the world's second-largest cosmetics brand, with a market cap exceeding $25M as of May 2026.
Lauder's mother and father were Jewish immigrants from Hungary and Czechoslovakia who immigrated to the US in the late 1890s. When she began school, she changed her childhood nickname, "Esty," to "Estée" to sound French, which later helped her rival European luxury brands. Her Uncle John, a Hungarian chemist, first introduced her to the science behind skin care, providing the foundational ideas for her earliest products. She officially started Estée Lauder in 1946, earning her first retail space at the legendary Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949.
Much of Estée Lauder's success stemmed from her laser focus on serving her target market: wealthy women who saw beauty as an investment. She revolutionized brand marketing and loyalty strategies, pioneering the "free gift with purchase" concept that's now ubiquitous in cosmetic retail. These free samples often led to repeat visits and purchases, driving strong demand and high brand visibility.
Explore everything else we've found on Estée Lauder.
Also, check out ...
> Why Estée Lauder personally demonstrated her early products at hair salons. (Listen)
> Explore old photos of Estée Lauder's life. (View)
> "Telephone, telegraph, tell a woman:" Hear about Estée Lauder's legendary vision for word-of-mouth marketing. (Listen)
> The story of how Estée Lauder once broke a bottle of the hit perfume "Youth Dew" to convince French department stores to carry the product. (Read) |
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🫶 Humankind: A Florida man spent days tracking down the owner of a fanny pack containing $30K he found in a Wawa convenience store. |
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SpaceX, explained
No other private corporation has done more for humanity's efforts in space than Elon Musk-owned Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the Texas-based company pioneering reusable rockets, launching thousands of communications satellites into orbit, and building spacecraft to colonize Mars.
After founding a series of startups, Musk looked to jump-start global interest in colonizing Mars by launching a rocket carrying a plant or animal as a publicity move. But he found that rockets were very expensive compared to the value of the materials used to create them. So in 2002, Musk founded SpaceX and implemented a vertically integrated supply chain—where materials are made in-house—to slash costs, imploring his team to test and simplify every manufacturing rule and process to save money.
Today, a SpaceX orbital rocket is 97% cheaper than those used in the 1960s by Russia, and the company launches more rockets into space than all other nations and companies combined. It filed documents to prepare for an IPO on May 20, 2026, and its S-1 revealed that the company is spending enormous amounts of money to help power the AI era.
Explore everything else we've found on SpaceX.
Also, check out ...
> Critics of SpaceX argue that the company is bad for the environment. (Read)
> Watch a supercut of the various iterations of SpaceX's Starship rocket. (Watch)
> Read SpaceX's IPO prospectus for juicy details about the company's future. (Read)
> Learn how to read a prospectus. (Read) |
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One Story We're Taking Stock In |
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From 2003 to 2023, the number of Americans who read for pleasure fell by 40%, and a separate survey revealed that 40% of Americans did not read a single book in 2025. And yet, private-equity-owned Barnes & Noble—the literary retailer that many declared dead after it went through four different CEOs in six years and lost more than a billion dollars in market value—is thriving. In December, the bookstore announced plans to open an additional 60 stores in 2026, and a potential IPO is reportedly on the horizon.
Its unusual CEO might be the reason why. James Daunt is arguably better known for creating one of the world's most beloved indie bookstores, London's Daunt Books. But since Elliott Advisors, the private equity firm that purchased Barnes & Noble in 2019, tapped Daunt as CEO that same year, the retailer has experienced a comeback. The below feature story (one of the most fascinating pieces we read this week) outlines how a private equity firm's rare permission to let a CEO become more independent and experimental has led to financial success. |
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> How Barnes & Noble became private equity’s most radical retail experiment. (Read) (Some users may experience a paywall.) |
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> Learn exactly how a private equity deal works. (1440 Topics) |
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You’re in luck because Apple Card is running an amazing promotion right now. Get a new Apple Card and buy a pair of AirPods Pro 3 at Apple by June 15, and you can earn back the cost of these headphones via Bonus Daily Cash, up to $250 total. Starting July 1, each month you make 10+ purchases, you’ll earn $25 Bonus Daily Cash, through April 30, 2027. Limitations and spend requirements apply.
Plus, Apple Card has so many more benefits, including zero fees, no impact on your credit score, and unlimited Daily Cash back. Take advantage of this limited time offer and apply for a new Apple Card right here!
Terms apply. |
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