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Monopoly Money

The Department of Justice is suing Visa

60% of debit transactions in the US run on the company’s network

9/25/24 9:24AM

Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced that it’s suing Visa for monopolizing the debit payment market, alleging that the company paid competitors like PayPal to stay out of its way and entered into various agreements with merchants that meant they could face penalties for using alternative providers.

Debit dominance

On the face of it, Visa looks a lot like a monopoly. The company’s ~60% share of all US debit card transactions helps it rack up more than $7 billion in processing fees, according to the DOJ, with Attorney General Merrick Garland observing: “Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing – but the price of nearly everything”. It’s not just in America either, as debit payments have become an increasingly important part of Visa’s global business too.

In 2009, Visa processed $2.68 trillion in payments, with around a third coming from debit transactions, while credit cards accounted for almost 55%.

Fast forward almost 15 years, and about $86 trillion worth of Visa transactions later, the bulk now comes from debit cards, which accounted for 45% (a whopping $5.5 trillion) of all Visa payments.

The new lawsuit marks the first major antitrust case in the financial services industry under Biden, though the administration has been looking into Visa’s debit market practices since 2021. Given its staggering market share, as well as the company’s rising processing fees, which have drawn the attention of other regulators around the world, many may feel that the DOJ’s action could have come a little sooner.

Nate Becker2/7/26

Hims to stop offering copy of Wegovy pill following FDA scrutiny

Hims & Hers said it has decided to stop offering its newly launched copycat version of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill, after the telehealth company drew criticism from the Food and Drug Administration.

“Since launching the compounded semaglutide pill on our platform, we’ve had constructive conversations with stakeholders across the industry. As a result, we have decided to stop offering access to this treatment,” Hims wrote on X.

Shares of Hims are down double digits in premarket trading on Monday, while Novo Nordisk ADRs are up more than 6% as of 5:20 a.m. ET.

On Friday afternoon, the FDA said it would take “decisive steps” to restrict GLP-1 compounding. Department of Health and Human Services General Counsel Mike Stuart said on social media Friday he had referred Hims to the Department of Justice “for investigation for potential violations by Hims of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and applicable Title 18 provisions.”

Hims launched the product last week, a seeming copy of a recently released and patented drug, which immediately drew fire from Novo Nordisk and regulators.

Hims & Hers Comms on X

Shares of Hims are down double digits in premarket trading on Monday, while Novo Nordisk ADRs are up more than 6% as of 5:20 a.m. ET.

Hims launched the product last week, a seeming copy of a recently released and patented drug, which immediately drew fire from Novo Nordisk and regulators.

Hims, long flying under regulators’ radar, finally strikes a nerve with its Wegovy pill copy

It’s unclear if the pill Hims is selling works or if the FDA will allow it.

J. Edward Moreno2/6/26

$1.3M

Max Knoblauch2/6/26

There’s still plenty of money to be made in brainrot. The top 1,000 Roblox creators earned an average of $1.3 million in 2025 — up 50% from the year prior — according to CEO Dave Baszucki on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

Roblox paid out $1.5 billion to creators last year, meaning its top 1,000 creators took home about 87% of the total pool.

Like other creator economy giants, Roblox rewards its biggest creators for their contributions to user engagement. Creator-made titles like “Grow a Garden” and “Steal a Brainrot” substantially boosted playing time over the course of the year. In September, the company increased its developer exchange rate, or the ratio of in-game currency to cash payout, by 8.5%.

Texas Governor Abbott And Google Make Economic Development Announcement In Midlothian

Alphabet could buy some pretty huge businesses with the amount of money it plans to spend this year

AI outlays have gone full nut-nut. Even Google, one of the most capital-efficient businesses of all time in its heyday, is spending like there’s no tomorrow.

Tom Jones2/6/26

CFO Mandy Fields sees e.l.f. Beauty in growth mode, as company beats on sales and earnings

The new owner of rhode beat estimates for its fiscal third quarter and boosted its guidance for the full year, even as headwinds in the UK and Germany continued.

Claire Yubin Oh2/4/26