Culture

NYC Hotel Workers Ratify 8-Year Contract Lifting Housekeeper Pay to $61/Hour by 2034

The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council's eight-year contract — ratified 6,050-11 — lifts NYC housekeeper pay from $40/hr to $61/hr by 2034 and over $100,000 a year by year six. The deal closed ahead of the 2026 World Cup, when a strike would have crippled MetLife hosting.

Culture

Lululemon Settles Proxy Battle With Founder Chip Wilson, Adds Two of His Nominees to Board

Lululemon will add two Chip Wilson nominees — former On co-CEO Marc Maurer and former ESPN CMO Laura Gentile — to its board, plus a third apparel-expertise director by October. Wilson agreed to an 18-month standstill against publicly attacking the company.

Sneakers

Dick's Q1 Sales Up 62.7% to $5.16B as Foot Locker Returns to Positive Comps

Dick's Q1 net sales jumped 62.7% to $5.16B in the first full quarter consolidating Foot Locker. The acquired business returned to positive comps (+0.6% overall, +6.4% US Foot Locker), 85 stores closed, and Dick's raised its full-year guidance on both segments.

Technology

Best Buy Beats Profit Estimates in Q1, Cuts Full-Year Guidance on Tariff Pressure

Best Buy beat Q1 profit estimates on $8.8B revenue and a 3.8% adjusted op income rate, but cut FY26 guidance — revenue to $41.1–41.9B from $41.4–42.2B, EPS to $6.15–$6.30 — citing tariff pressure on consumer electronics. Computing and tablets comp +6%.

Technology

Temu Fined €200 Million by EU Commission Over Illegal Products on Its Platform

The European Commission fined Temu €200M ($232M) — the second company sanctioned under the Digital Services Act — for failing to keep dangerous baby toys and unsafe chargers off its platform. Temu has until August 28 to deliver a remediation plan.

Culture

Naomi Osaka Defends "Black Party" Dinner for Tennis Players Ahead of French Open

Osaka and Taylor Townsend co-hosted a Roland Garros-week dinner for Black tennis players including Coco Gauff and Gaël Monfils. Osaka's response to the online backlash: "celebrating being Black and appreciating who we are will never be something I would consider saying sorry for."

Technology

Cognition Raises $1 Billion at $25 Billion Pre-Money Valuation, Up 2.5x in Eight Months

Lux Capital, General Catalyst, and 8VC co-led Cognition's $1B+ raise at a $25B pre-money mark — 2.55x the $10.2B post-money valuation set just eight months ago. The Devin maker reports $492M ARR and says 10x enterprise usage growth since January.

Technology

Google Engineer Charged With Using Internal Search Data to Net $1.2M on Polymarket

SDNY prosecutors charged Michele Spagnuolo, a 12-year Google staff infosec engineer, with using internal Year-in-Search data to bet $2.7M across 25 Polymarket outcomes and net $1.2M — including the winning pick that d4vd would be 2025's most-searched person. CFTC filed parallel civil case.

Sports

Manchester United Posts £37.7M Nine-Month Operating Profit Despite £16.7M Amorim Severance

Manchester United's nine-month operating profit hit £37.7M ($52.2M) — versus a £3.2M loss a year ago — even after eating a £16.7M ($22.4M) charge for sacking Rúben Amorim in January. Michael Carrick's takeover delivered a third-place finish and Champions League qualification.

Sports

Travis Kelce Buys Minority Stake in MLB's Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Heights native and Chiefs tight end joins the Dolan-Blitzer ownership group as a minority investor. Kelce becomes the latest active superstar — alongside LeBron James, Giannis, Cunningham, and Mahomes — to take a stake in an MLB club.

Sports

Jalen Hurts on Possible A.J. Brown Trade: "We're Focused on Learning the Offense"

After Wednesday's OTAs, Hurts called his A.J. Brown relationship "really good" but acknowledged the "lingering" trade rumor, with the receiver widely reported as headed to New England post-June 1. The Eagles QB's focus: learning new OC Sean Mannion's under-center scheme.

Sports

NY and NJ Attorneys General Subpoena FIFA Over 2026 World Cup Ticket Pricing

NY AG Letitia James and NJ AG Jennifer Davenport subpoenaed FIFA over MetLife World Cup ticket pricing — a 34% average price increase across 90+ matches Oct 2025–Apr 2026, July 19 final seats at $32,970, and fans assigned to inferior seats after FIFA added new front zones.