This is Nick. This is Jack. And we have your next holiday picked: a Private Island. According to the WSJ, it’s never been cheaper to have a private island experience. There’s one in Norway going for $250/night. Or you can grab your 50 closest friends and book the one in Scotland for $2K/week that’s fully stocked with wine and haggis. We’ll wait for the Venmo request…

Stocks enjoyed a big day of gains Thursday as several companies beat expectations with their earnings reports. But Sam Bankman-Fried didn’t. He was found guilty in “one of the biggest financial frauds in history.” More on that below.

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1) Would You Pay $17 For Ad-Free Instagram?

Meta is officially offering an ad-free version of Facebook and Instagram in Europe for $17/month. Now the French can scroll bare feeds for a fee…

Why are they doing this? Europe has concerns about the fundamentals of Meta’s business model, i.e. giving you social media for free but targeting you with Chacos ads and hoarding your swipe data. 

• The gist: The European Union required Zuck to offer an alternative. A version that strips…the ads. And he finally caved 🏳. 

• The news: So now Europeans can pay $17/mo for ad-free Instagram. Meta will continue tracking your data either way, but if you pay, you won’t see freakishly relevant ads in your feed anymore.

For context: Facebook says it’s a social media platform, but it’s really an ad company. Your swiping patterns provide insights that marketers are willing to dump buckets of $$$ into the Metaverse for. But is ad-free swiping really worth $17?

The Takeaway: A price is a signal: Zuck wants this ad-free instagram to fail. $17/ month is a thick ask. That’s more than HBO Max’s ad-free tier. Here’s the thing: Meta says it “respects the spirit and purpose” of the regulations and “is committed to complying”….but we respectfully disagree. 

• 🚨 If Meta wanted to honor the intent of the law, they would’ve priced the ad-free tier at a more reasonable $8/month — Because that’s how much Meta makes off each ad-viewing European user.

• 🚨 But instead, Meta’s charging 2x that price — And we think that’s a signal they don’t want people to sign up.

• 🚨 Maybe Zuck’s worried a paying user may quit Insta after seeing any price show on their credit card statement.

But no matter the reason, any price is a signal — and this high price signals Zuck doesn’t want people buying it.

2) Estée Lauder’s Makeup Bar After TSA

Estée Lauder’s stock dropped 20% to a 6-year low after its earnings this week. And there’s a shocking stat about makeup and airports that’ll pucker your lips (more on that in a bit). 

The TL;DR on Estée Lauder: It’s based in NYC but speaks with a French accent. Sounds cute, but it's the 2nd biggest beauty company on the planet, valued at $40B (or about 10 Lyfts). And it owns the whole cosmetics counter: Mac, Clinique, & Bobbi Brown, to name a few. 

• 🔻 But the stock chart just smudged like red lipstick—it’s down 55% this year.

The shocking stat:  A whopping 29% of Estée Lauder’s makeup sales are at the airport. Turns out, stocking up on lip color at LAX is the move. But foreign travelers haven’t been flying as much as Americans lately (especially high-spending Chinese travelers), which lead to EL’s bad quarter. But can we talk about that stat again?

• 💄 Nearly 1 out of 3 lipsticks from Estée Lauder is sold at an airport.

• ✈️ That’s why the company snagged exclusive spots for a Clinique Counter at Duty Free or GlamGlow vending machine by Gate 43B.

The Takeaway →

Estée Lauder found the perfect captive audience. In traditional retail stores, you can comparison shop — or just leave. But when you’re in Terminal 4 at JFK you have 3 hours to burn and you can’t leave (and you’re spending like you’re already on vacay) …it’s the perfect mix for a captive retail audience. So Estée has turned airports into their own department store.

On the pod today:

🎢 Six Flags is merging with Cedar Point in a $8B deal. To hear about how Daffy Duck and Batman have more value than roller coasters, listen to today’s pod.

🧑‍⚖️ Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of all 7 criminal charges. Now, a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison is in store for the FTX crypto founder. 

💊 Moderna stock fell because only 5% of Americans have gotten the latest COVID shot. The mRNA vaccine maker expects revenue to drop ~$4B next year before new vaccines come out in 2025. 

📱 Apple’s stock dipped after it reported it’s expecting a weaker holiday season than expected. And sales for every hardware product declined year-over-year in the 3rd Quarter except the iPhone. 

🚗 Toyota gave its non-unionized workers at US factories a 9% pay raise to try to match what Detroit’s unionized workers got. 

☕ Starbucks stock is up 10% after the earnings report showed that premium drinks are “the new normal” #OrangeMochaFrappuccinos

💁🏼‍♀️ The top business schools are enrolling more women than men. Of the 5 top schools, women now make up at least half of full time MBA students. 

🌿 NYC-based, Magnolia Bakery is turning its cupcakes into cannabis edibles. The chocolate and cookie category of edibles’ sales are down ~25% compared to last year. 

💜 McDonald’s and Crocs just collabed on slip-ons that Grimace would kill for. 

And one more thing. Any other private island-esque retreats we should have on our radar?

—Nick & Jack