Last year saw record-breaking sales for the cannabis industry. But despite being legal in some form in most states, the federal landscape is murkier.
A Biden Administration proposal would have made the most significant change to cannabis in more than 50 years by reclassifying the drug, but that’s on hold for now. While rescheduling it would allow cannabis businesses to claim tax deductions for business expenses, a new bill introduced in the Senate aims to prevent that on federal tax returns.
If passed, the bill would be a major blow to cannabis businesses looking for relief, since right now, they face an effective tax rate between 40% and 70%, depending on the state. Still, some in the industry told Forbes in November they were cautiously optimistic about a second Trump presidency.
FIRST UP
Fourteen states sued DOGE Thursday, alleging Elon Musk’s “virtually unchecked authority” is unconstitutional as criticism of the increasingly powerful agency builds. The lawsuit challenged the alleged “unlawful delegation of executive power” to Musk that they say has unraveled federal agencies and “caused widespread disruption.”
TikTok returned to Apple’s App Store on Thursday evening, after it was removed from app stores last month when a federal ban against it briefly became effective. The company received a letter from the Justice Department, and though the contents are unclear, it was assured by the Trump Administration there wouldn’t be immediate enforcement of a ban, according to Bloomberg.
This is a published version of the Forbes Daily newsletter, you can sign-up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here.
BUSINESS + FINANCE
President Donald Trump signed a memo Thursday directing his administration to conduct a country-by-country review to determine reciprocal tariffs, in which the U.S. imposes the same taxes on other countries’ imports as they impose on U.S. goods. The tariffs won’t take effect yet, but they’re part of a slate of trade policies that economists say will increase prices for American consumers.
Inflation grew faster than expected last month, but investors are better equipped than they used to be to combat the erosion of their savings, Forbes’ William Baldwin writes. Real interest rates are high, and investors can get a guaranteed 2.4% return, in purchasing power, on a 30-year Treasury Inflation Protected Security.
WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Optometrist billionaire Herbie Wertheim and his wife Nicole Wertheim divorced in October after more than five decades, but a court battle over the division of what Forbes estimates is a $4.5 billion fortune is still ongoing. The lawsuit between Nicole and Herbie Wertheim shines a light on a different form of power struggle for wealthy couples going through divorce: control over the assets in their charitable foundation.
Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm has done extremely well for herself in the past year—largely by selling off most of her shares in the electric car company. She unloaded over 65% of her shares and options in the past 12 months, yielding $168 million before taxes–benefitting from the stock’s spike following President Donald Trump’s election victory in November.
TECH + INNOVATION
Billionaire Elon Musk will drop his $97.4 billion bid to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI if the company ends its push to convert to a for-profit entity, his legal team said, amid an escalating feud between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Musk submitted his unsolicited bid on Monday, though Altman rejected the offer, telling Bloomberg that OpenAI is “not for sale.”
The State Department removed mention this week of Musk’s Tesla in a potential $400 million contract to buy armored Cybertruck vehicles, as questions swirl about conflicts of interest involving Musk’s high-profile White House role and his business empire. The billionaire denied the reports about Tesla securing the contract, and the State Department said the inquiry was made before President Donald Trump took office. Musk’s companies have gotten $13 billion in federal government contracts over the last five years, according to the New York Times.
MONEY + POLITICS
The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks, after he won over some skeptical senators wary of his vaccine views. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a survivor of childhood polio, was the only Republican to vote against the confirmation, citing Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism, a day after voting against Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.
The Trump Administration has started mass layoffs at several federal agencies, part of an effort to cut budgets by 30% to 40% at most agencies and dismantle others entirely, though the legality of such moves is in question. It’s unclear how many have been affected by the layoffs, which are separate from the buyout deals the administration offered to more than 2 million federal workers.
TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE
Air travelers saw another day of flight delays and cancellations Thursday as a major winter storm system continued to blanket large parts of the country. Roughly 19% of the total scheduled flights in the U.S. were disrupted as of Thursday evening.
DAILY COVER STORY
Crypto-Loving Robinhood Is Dogecoin Champion As It Continues To Court Young Dumb Money
TOPLINE The world’s eighth most valuable crypto, dogecoin, with a $39 billion market cap, has been on a tear. In the last 12 months the token, which represents nothing more than faith in the digital image of an adorable shiba inu dog, has gained 220%.
That’s wonderful news for Robinhood, because recent SEC filings revealed that the crypto-friendly discount broker’s customers owned about 35 billion dogecoin tokens, about 24% of the memecoin’s entire circulating supply, worth about $8.8 billion today, but as much as $16.4 billion in December 2024.
Of course dogecoin is not the only crypto that Robinhood’s millions of customers are fond of trading. The broker is now the leading traditional brokerage firm in digital assets and is beginning to challenge the market dominance of crypto exchange-purists like Coinbase. According to Robinhood’s fourth quarter results, cryptocurrencies were the firm’s top revenue generator, up 700% in a year, accounting for $358 million of its $1.01 billion in Q4 net revenues, or 35%.
It is no surprise that the billionaire founders of Robinhood, Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, who launched their upstart zero-commission brokerage in 2013 with the mission to democratize investing, have again embraced a diet of junk food to nourish their crypto-hungry young traders. Robinhood has long courted rookie investors by gamifying its platform. Some 75% of its 25 million active accounts are held by Millennial and Gen Z investors. Like meme stocks, whose trading often defies traditional valuation metrics, meme coins go a step further—there are no real assets or fundamentals, period.
WHY IT MATTERS “Robinhood has attracted $27 billion worth of crypto assets in the top 5 of the 2025 Forbes Most Trusted Crypto Providers globally,” says Javier Paz, Director of Data and Analytics at Forbes. “This quarter, most of the firm’s record revenue came as payments for its crypto order flow—much of that demand for meme coins like Dogecoin, Shibu Inu and Trumpcoin.
“This remarkable traction in a competitive newer field is testament to the firm’s disruptive pricing (zero fees) and evokes the months before 2018 when Schwab caved in—and the wider retail brokerage industry with it—to Robinhood’s zero price policy for stock trading. Stock trading became a cost of doing business, and it appears that crypto is headed that way, ushering a period of industry consolidation.”
MORE Inside The Wild Money Machine Fueling Crypto’s Stupidest Bubble
FACTS + COMMENTS
YouTube TV announced Thursday night that it has agreed to a short-term deal with Paramount to keep CBS, Nickelodeon and several other networks owned by the media company on the streaming service—avoiding a blackout of those channels. Negotiations over a new distribution deal will continue:
$8: The credit users would be offered if Paramount’s content is unavailable for an “extended period”
23: The number of Paramount’s networks that would have been pulled from YouTube TV, including Comedy Central and MTV
Over 8 million: The number of subscribers YouTube TV had as of February 6, 2024
STRATEGY + SUCCESS
Hard work alone won’t guarantee you get a promotion. Many employers are looking for someone who can think like a leader before they have the title, and curiosity is a good way to show your growth potential. Ask questions that challenge the status quo, seek feedback and show how you are acting on it, and take on high-visibility projects.
VIDEO
QUIZ
A legal battle between two sides of the Qatar royal family over ownership of one of the world’s most famous diamonds ended Thursday after a court ruling. What is the name of the 70-carat gem?
A. Cat’s Eye
B. The Great Star of Africa
C. The Regent
D. Idol’s Eye
Check your answer.
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.