Ben Fox 📚🗽🌎🇺🇦

Startup employee stock options are still broken 🇪🇺. Maybe if I make a cartoon about it @carlos_cuerpo:

My family moved to the US when I was 8, but by the time I turned 20, my dad was still on an H1B (waiting to get processed for a green card). Once I turned 21, I would age out as his dependent, despite the fact that I basically grew up in the US. I thought I'd have to become a code monkey after college, and even that only if I was lucky enough to win the H1B lottery. Otherwise, back to India. I had become a huge fan of @paulg's essays in college. I was actually depressed that my desire to start a startup or do something entrepreneurial was basically hopeless. Working on the promising podcast I was doing as a side project? A beyond impossible pipe dream. Even after 9 years, my dad wasn't able to get a green card - and the lines were only getting longer over time. I figured I'd be an old man before I could quit some FANG job and build my own thing. By some miracle, COVID travel restrictions cleared out the lines, and I got my green card literally months before I would have aged out. If not for this unbelievable coincidence, I would not be hosting the podcast. In the best case, I would be shifting pixels around in the 3rd sub-sub-menu of some big tech software. I'm incredibly grateful I made it through. But it's unconscionable that we put the kids of high skilled immigrants through all this anxiety, and in many cases make them repeat the nerve-racking indentured life trajectory that they had to watch their parents go through.

Trump's defeat in Iran is a stunning display of incompetence -- even more flagrant than George W. Bush's mishandling of Hurricane Katrina two decades ago. noahpinion.blog/p/iran-is-trum…

Social Security needs reform, but neither party is willing to take the lead on doing so. If we continue doing nothing, Social Security payouts will be cut automatically by 24% in 2032… That’s only two presidential elections away. 👉🏻 crfb.org/nostatespared

Wow, the S&P Dow Jones Indices has just officially announced that they will NOT be changing their inclusion rules to make it easier for “MegaCap” companies (such as @SpaceX) to be fast-tracked into the S&P 500. Their reasoning: "S&P DJI determined that exceptions to the financial viability, seasoning, and IWF requirements should not be granted solely based on market capitalization. The decision not to adopt the proposed exceptions preserves core index principles by maintaining consistent application of these key requirements. Although there may be trade-offs between strict adherence to these eligibility requirements and broad representativeness, the current methodology provides substantial market coverage and sector balance. As a result, the indices can continue to meet their stated objectives while preserving their role as representative and investable benchmarks for the U.S. equity market. No changes will be made to the eligibility criteria including financial viability screens, seasoning period, or minimum IWF, for the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400, or S&P SmallCap 600 as a result of the S&P Dow Jones Indices consultation on the treatment of MegaCap companies. Accordingly, there will be no changes to existing methodology for this index family." This means that the earliest @SpaceX could be eligible to be added to the S&P 500 would now be June 2027. The requirements that will now remain in place are: • No changes to S&P 500 eligibility rules for mega-cap companies. • Mega-cap companies will still need to wait 12 months after their IPO before being considered for S&P 500 inclusion. • S&P will not waive profitability requirements for mega-cap companies. The company must have positive GAAP net income in the most recent quarter, and the sum of the most recent four consecutive quarters. • S&P will not waive minimum public float requirements for mega-cap companies. At least 10% of a company's shares must be publicly tradable ("free float"). The S&P rejected proposals that would have: • Reduced the IPO seasoning period from 12 months to 6 months • Waived profitability requirements • Waived minimum public float requirements

USCIS is applying long-standing law and prior court decisions to require certain aliens with temporary visas who decide they want to permanently reside in the U.S. to return to their home countries to apply for permanent visas through the @StateDept. We're returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. Here’s what you should know: uscis.gov/newsroom/news-…