🌏 Zuck and cover

Good morning, Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

Dow in the dumps. Markets limped into the long weekend after UnitedHealth’s collapse, but this week’s mega-cap earnings could reshape the narrative.

Haute and bothered. Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, is hitting out at the EU and warning that tariffs could push the European luxury conglomerate’s production stateside.

DOGE is leashing a watchdog. According to reports, the Trump administration is firing nearly 90% of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s staff, essentially eliminating the agency.

Rx marks the spot. After Eli Lilly announced its potentially game-changing weight-loss and diabetes pill, CEO Dave Ricks promised to make the drug in the U.S.

WhatsApp with this monopoly trial?

The FTC’s blockbuster monopoly trial against Meta kicked off this week, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg spending 10 hours on the stand. The agency claims Meta used a “buy or bury” strategy to kill off rivals, while the company says it’s just trying to compete in a TikTok world. At risk is a potential breakup that could force Meta to spin off its most valuable apps.

Week 1 delivered the drama.

The FTC came prepared with receipts — like internal emails where Zuckerberg called Instagram a “viable competitor” in one and predicted that Meta might have to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp in another (long before regulators showed up). Meta reportedly offered up to $1 billion to settle the case, but the FTC wasn’t biting; the number is far below the agency’s ask — supposedly 30 times that.

The real showdown, though, is still ahead. Expert testimony — where judges tend to focus in antitrust cases — will likely play a huge role in determining whether Meta is truly a monopoly. Quartz’s Harri Weber has more on how old emails and new rivals could unravel Meta’s empire.

Stream Queen

Netflix just announced a quarterly performance worthy of a blockbuster sequel. In the first quarter of 2025, the company posted an almost-$3-billion profit on $10.54 billion in revenue — with an eye-popping 31.7% operating margin.

While the streamer has stopped reporting subscriber counts, Netflix says it now reaches 700 million people globally, thanks to its strategy of creating content that’s local, scalable, and cost-effective. The result? Margins that rival Big Tech, not Big Media.

Global tastes helped rule the quarter — the U.K.’s Adolescence was the most-watched series, while French and Mexican films cracked the top 10 all-time for non-English films. Meanwhile, the ad-supported tier is picking up steam, and Squid Game season three is just around the corner.

Bottom line: Netflix doesn’t care how many people hit “play” as long as Wall Street keeps hitting “buy.” Quartz’s Catherine Baab has more on what’s in Netflix’s queue.

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