A year-and-a-half wait tested its mettle, but Nippon Steel finally got its $14.9 billion deal.

On Monday, days after the US government signed off on the Japanese firm’s contentious acquisition of stateside competitor US Steel, Trump administration officials disclosed initial details of a special “gold” share that gives Washington extraordinary powers over the combined operation’s future.

Class G is in Session

The deal is heavy even by metal standards — it’s the Trump administration’s attempt to stake out a new path for balancing national security and the influx of foreign capital. Nippon Steel had been trying to close the purchase of US Steel since December 2023. The Biden administration halted it over national security concerns and an 18-month purgatory followed. Meanwhile, the already struggling US Steel endured significant headwinds while in the holding pattern, including a drop in annual net earnings to $384 million last year from $895 million in 2023, which was compounded by weak demand for steel due to global oversupply. The culprit? China increasing exports as its real estate sector sputtered.

The transaction finally moved ahead after Nippon pledged billions in investments and the Trump administration secured a guarantee that the US government would hold a single share of preferred stock, dubbed class G for “gold,” in the combined entity. That share affords close to a dozen extraordinary powers, which Nippon wanted to end after three or four years. But Trump officials dug their heels in and, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tweeted Saturday, the “gold” share’s powers will exist in perpetuity. Initial details have left markets pricing US Steel right where Nippon’s offer landed in 2023:

• Under the national security agreement Nippon and US Steel signed on Friday, the “gold” share will allow the US government to block the combined company from delaying or reducing $14 billion in promised investments, moving production or jobs abroad and closing or idling plants before certain timeframes. The US will also appoint a board member handpicked by the sitting president and have the right to veto any move to relocate US Steel’s headquarters out of Pittsburgh or to change its name. Lutnick said it will also have controls over “employee salaries, anti-dumping pricing, raw materials and sourcing outside the US, acquisitions and more.”
• US Steel shares rose 5.1% on Monday and, at $54.85, closed mere pennies away from Nippon’s $55-per-share offer. They have gained 61% this year, climbing dramatically late last month after the Trump administration began telegraphing that it expected a deal. That suggests a significant amount of gains around the deal are already priced in.

The Golden Oldies: The “gold” share concept was pioneered in the 1980s by Conservative UK Prime Minister Marget Thatcher, who used the privileged stock to preserve certain controls over state-owned enterprises her government privatized. Other European countries followed suit, but the practice fell out of favor in the early 2000s after the European Court of Justice restricted the use of gold shares, arguing they impede the free movement of capital.

It’s a bird … it’s a plane … it’s an … electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, or eVTOL (neither of which exactly rolls off the tongue, if you ask us).

As Airbus lands major sales and Boeing tries to regain its credibility at this year’s Paris Air Show, the upstart not-quite-a-plane, not-quite-a-helicopter, not-quite-cleared-for-liftoff eVTOL industry is climbing closer and closer to achieving its sky-high ambitions. For key US players Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation, the show comes at a critical moment.

Icarus Moment

Both Archer and Joby went public in 2020 during the SPAC craze. Like a lot of SPAC companies, their appeal to investors was largely speculative — and, five years later, remains somewhat speculative (neither has completed a commercial flight yet). But promises of a Jetsons-esque future of battery-powered flying taxis are starting to look a little more real, especially after a slew of developments in just the past couple of weeks.

At the end of May, Joby announced it received $250 million from Toyota, the second tranche of a $500 million investment from the major automaker announced in October (which itself followed a previous $394 million investment from Toyota). Then, last week, came the big news: As part of a broader initiative to promote domestic drone production, the White House issued an executive order to launch a pilot program for the nascent industry.

The announcement brought renewed interest to the pair of eVTOL firms, which showed both companies may have climbed a little too close to the sun:

• Shares of Joby had spiked more than 30% in the days immediately following the announcement of the Toyota cash infusion. That led analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to quell some of the excitement, downgrading the stock from overweight to neutral while highlighting the company’s high cash-burn rate and lack of near-term upside.
• Archer, meanwhile, seized the opportunity presented by the White House’s encouraging executive orders to sell $850 million of stock on Friday, which dragged its share price down 15%. It did recover nearly 4% on Monday, however.

Cleared for Takeoff: But what about the question that may matter the most: When will these birds finally fly? It’s tough to say. Both companies have scored deals to launch air taxi services in the United Arab Emirates, with Archer saying industry standards in the country should be finalized by next month and Joby saying service could start as soon as early next year. Both companies have also struck deals with major US airlines — Archer with United and Joby with Delta — to eventually ferry passengers to and from major US airports. Archer has also struck a deal to become the official air taxi partner of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, which shows the lengths to which Angelenos will go to avoid their infamous traffic jams.

Aaron Burr vs. Alexander Hamilton, Optimus Prime vs. Megatron and… AmEx Platinum vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve. The two luxury credit card rivals are going tit-for-tat, with Chase and American Express each announcing overhauls of their cards’ perks and appearances.

American Express said yesterday it’ll roll out “major updates” to its Platinum credit cards this fall, days after JPMorgan Chase announced a refresh to its Sapphire Reserve credit card set to roll out this summer.

The two cards both have steep annual fees that put them in direct competition for a spot in consumers’ wallets, and the upcoming updates could shift which one gets thrown down the most at group dinners.

Credit and Don’t Forget It

American Express launched its Platinum card in 1984, trailblazing the premium, points-based credit card market. Chase crashed the party in 2016 with the Sapphire Reserve card, which went viral for its 100,000-point sign-up bonus.

Last year, Chase was the top credit card issuer, according to Nilson, with $1.3 trillion worth of purchase volume. American Express came in second with purchases totaling $1.2 trillion. Citi, Capital One, and Bank of America were distant runners-up.

Chase and American Express are jostling for the top spot, while offering similar, travel-focused perks. One place the wallet wars are playing out is at the airport:

• American Express has dozens of “Centurion” lounges around the world, but as complaints about overcrowding have cropped up, jetsetters have sought alternatives for their pre-flight beer and nap.
• Chase opened its first Sapphire Reserve lounge two years ago and now has eight clubs up and running. Capital One, whose Venture X Rewards card competes for the same customers, has opened five lounges since 2021.

Maxed Out: Americans have about four credit cards on average, per Experian, and credit card debt is still near record highs after cooling off slightly in the first quarter (typical post-holiday pullback). But wallet space is limited when fees are $500+ per card. The Platinum card costs $695 annually, while the Sapphire Reserve rings in at $550. When issuers roll out their card refreshes, it’s possible they’ll raise prices again. Figuring out how much people are willing to pay for which perks could help one card get a swipe above the competition.