Investment

Billionaire Poised to See Return on Investment in Neil Gorsuch

Published

10 months ago

January 17, 2024

Billionaire Philip Anschutz has made a lot of smart investments over the course of his career, having leveraged his father’s oil and gas business into a sprawling business empire that’s come to include not just fossil fuel extraction but sports teams, a Christian-themed production company, railroads, Coachella and large parts of Los Angeles. Among his best investments, though, might be those he’s made in Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Gorsuch has well-documented ties to Anschutz and his private holding company, the Anschutz Corporation. For 10 years, starting in 1995, Gorsuch worked at a firm representing Anschultz’s business interests. The 84-year old magnate personally campaigned for Gorsuch to be appointed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals during the George W. Bush administration. Since then, the justice has been, per The New York Times, a “semi-regular” speaker at Anschutz’s Davos-meets-Yellowstone-style ranch near Greeley, Colorado, called Eagle’s Nest, on subjects such as the rule of law. Gorsuch co-owned a property in the Centennial State with Anschutz’s chief council and an Anschutz executive, and sold it off just after his appointment to the Supreme Court.

And now, on Wednesday, Neil Gorsuch will be hearing oral arguments in a case that could significantly ease regulations on Anschutz’s businesses. Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the case in question, is one of a pair of decisions which, once decided, could overturn the so-called Chevron deference, a legal precedent that (broadly speaking) grants federal agencies the authority to interpret federal statute. The term “Chevron deference” dates to the original 1984 case Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. Gorsuch’s own mother was head of the Environmental Protection Agency when the NRDC sued it to block a set of industry-friendly rules that the EPA was proposing to institute. Chevron—which stood to benefit from the lax new regulations—brought a countersuit after the NRDC won the case against the EPA. An ensuing Supreme Court decision in the oil company’s favor, handed down after Neil Gorsuch’s mother had been forced to resign over unrelated matters, established what is now known as the Chevron deference, which holds that federal courts should largely defer to federal agencies’ interpretation of Congressional statutes. While the initial decision was made against environmentalists, it’s since been used to uphold more stringent environmental rules, among other federal regulations, that businesses—and especially corporate polluters—dislike. Overturning it has become a prize for the right-wing legal movement.

Gorsuch hasn’t exactly been shy about his disdain for the Chevron deference. In 2022, he wrote in one dissent that it deserved a “tombstone no one can miss,” out of respect for “the ordinary individuals who are unexpectedly caught in the whipsaw of all the rule changes a broad reading of Chevron invites.”

Anschutz may well be among those “ordinary individuals” Gorsuch had in mind. The Washington Examiner owner has extensive connections not just to Gorsuch, but to a network of Republican-aligned groups eager to see the Chevron deference go. He’s funded Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing non-profit representing plaintiffs in the Loper case. Anschutz’s foundations have also donated generously to other groups that have filed amicus briefs in support of overturning Chevron, including the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the Pacific Legal Foundation and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. He’s donated, as well, to the Federalist Society, which has been a key player in planting right-wing judges throughout the judicial branch. Since 2016, Anschutz has also given generously to Republican politicians and campaign groups, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Committee.

Watchdog groups, including Accountable.US, have called on Gorsuch to recuse himself over his relationship with Anschutz. As of writing this, on Tuesday afternoon, he hasn’t done so. Should Gorsuch eventually opt to side with Loper Bright Enterprises and overturn the Chevron doctrine, it’ll cement the Supreme Court’s reputation as a pay-for-play venue where billionaires can fetch a big return on their investments in future Supreme Court Justices and the organizations that help them into their august robes.

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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

7 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

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Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

4 weeks ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

1 month ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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