Elon Musk's super-app ambitions might be a fool's errand
Hi! Dan DeFrancesco in NYC.
Today, we've got stories on David Solomon's real-estate side hustle, Ken Griffin's latest donation, and the foods you should eat to keep your heart in good shape.
But first, everything is coming up Elon .
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1. The everything everywhere all at once app.
Elon is at again.
Whether it's charging, or not charging, for blue check marks or blowing up mega-rockets, Elon Musk's businesses get plenty of scrutiny.
However, one of the billionaire's ideas is getting far less attention, despite the impact it could have on seemingly every American.
Insider's Paige Hagy looked into Musk's plans around turning Twitter into a super app and spoke to industry experts about the strategy.
A super app, or everything app, as Musk calls it, encompasses everything (no duh!) from messaging to banking to shopping. In short, if it's something you can do on your phone, you can do it on a super app.
Musk has never publicly disclosed specific details on how he'd build a super app. However, as Paige details, recent steps he's taken involving Twitter point to him using the social-media platform as the foundation for one. But industry experts remain torn around the feasibility of Musk's plan.
In many ways, an everything app is the holy grail of tech development. There's a lot of talk of bundling services in finance. Imagine bundling services for your entire life.
Think about the revenue that type of app would generate. Think about the data that type of app would collect.
But even though the model has been proven out in other regions — super apps are particularly popular in Asia — it hasn't caught on in the US. And honestly, for good reason. Americans have a tough time agreeing on anything, let alone a single app they'll entrust to run their lives.
Look at the issues consumer-focused fintechs have faced in recent years. The strategy of grabbing market share in a specific vertical — banking, trading, payments — and then expanding into other areas has largely fallen flat. Now imagine trying to do that on a much larger scale.
All that being said, it's still Elon Musk. You don't become one of the richest people in the world without accomplishing some things that others thought to be impossible.
Click here to read more about Elon Musk's plans for creating an everything app.
In other news:
2. First Republic is up for sale. The beleaguered regional bank is considering its strategic options as it continues to struggle in the wake of the recent bank crisis. In the meantime, the bank plans to cut its headcount by as much as 25%. More here.
3. Add real-estate mogul to the list of David Solomon's side hustles. The Goldman Sachs CEO, who also moonlights as a DJ, is an investor in a luxury real-estate developer with a resort in the Bahamas. More on Solomon's investment and why some are concerned about the potential conflict it poses.
4. Kenny Giving is at again. Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin donated $20 million to Miami Dade College, one of the country's largest and most diverse schools. Here's what Griffin told recent graduates in his commencement speech for the school.
5. RIP CS First Boston. The soon-to-be-acquired Credit Suisse officially axed its deal to buy Wall Street vet Michael Klein's boutique bank. So ends Klein's vision of leading a spin off of Credit Suisse's investment bank. More on what could have been here.
6. Commercial real estate's woes could ruin your pension. Some of the biggest holders of commercial-real-estate debt are pension funds. As the sector faces trouble, here's why it might be bad news for your retirement.
7. How things came undone at Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank saw $75 billion in customer deposits walk out the door before the rescue deal from UBS, The Wall Street Journal reports. More on the bank's final days.
8. Read this before you start scheduling your work day. Professors from the Kellogg School of Management detailed five strategies for being as efficient as possible while you work. Check them out here.
9. Get back in the gym without literally getting back in the gym. If you're trying to get that summer bod but don't want to shell out for a gym membership, fear not. This is everything you need to build a home gym on a budget.
10. The stuff to eat to keep your heart in good shape. A cardiologist detailed four different meals that'll keep your heart healthy. Check them out here.
Curated by Dan DeFrancesco in New York. Feedback or tips? Email ddefrancesco@insider.com, tweet @dandefrancesco, or connect on LinkedIn. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.