Joe Biden does his best Bill Pullman; Grab-ing the biggest SPAC deal; Larry Culp’s “sacrifice;” CDS ETF; and more!

MarketWatch hires McEnery to cover markets [Talking Biz News]
MarketWatch.com has hired Thornton McEnery to cover markets./He will start later this month…. Before the Post, McEnery was executive editor and senior editor at Dealbreaker.

Biden directs all states to make all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccine by May 1 [CBS News]
"It will make this Independence Day truly special — where we not only mark out independence as a nation but our independence from this virus," Mr. Biden said. But to attain this goal, he said, "I need every American to do their part…." Mr. Biden also said his administration is on track to reach 2 million shots a day and to reach his original goal of 100 million shots in arms on his 60th day in office, just 10 days from now.

Simon Hu resigns as Ant Group CEO following regulatory crackdown [CNN Business]
"The Ant Group Board of Directors has accepted Mr. Simon Hu's resignation request, due to personal reasons," said a spokesperson for the Alibaba affiliate…. Eric Jing has been named Ant Group's new CEO, according to the company's website. Jing had previously served the company in that position from 2016 to 2019.

Southeast Asia's Grab in talks for U.S. listing via $40 billion SPAC deal: sources [Reuters]
A deal, if confirmed, would make it the largest ever blank-check transaction.

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang tops $84 billion market cap after soaring in market debut [CNBC]
The company’s stock began trading at $63.50 apiece. Shares closed at $49.25…. The company had priced its shares at $35 apiece, above its target range of $32 to $34 each.

GE Chief Received Special Stock Award Now Valued at $100 Million [WSJ]
Larry Culp voluntarily gave up his salary after Covid-19 struck and also declined his cash bonus, yet the General Electric Co. boss last year received a special stock award that at the end of 2020 was valued at more than $100 million…. His salary for the year was $653,409.

Hedge fund boss Crispin Odey not guilty of indecent assault, judge rules [Guardian]
Returning his verdict at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday, Rimmer said: “I am left unsure of [the complainant’s account] because despite the strength of her emotion and tears, her credibility has been thrown into question and her evidence is riddled with troubling inconsistencies.”
He added: “Where there is any doubt in a criminal case, given the high standard of proof, it must be resolved in favour of the defendant. I cannot dismiss the possibility that no more than your unwanted verbal advance or proposition to the complainant occurred on the evening in question.”

Harley Bassman Wants to Prove History Wrong With a New CDS Fund [Bloomberg Quint]
Bassman… is co-manager for the Simplify Credit Hedge ETF, a proposed new fund that will invest up to 50% of its assets in credit-default swap index payer options…. Previous products tied to default swaps have struggled to gather assets or shuttered. CDS trading is normally the province of hedge funds and other institutional players, requiring a hard-to-get-license known as an ISDA Master Agreement and a large pool of assets….
“There’s really not many ways available in tradeable format to protect against the credit markets freezing,” said David Schawel, chief investment officer at Family Management Corp. “This seems to be a viable one.”

Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion fetches $51 million after a judge denies a request to freeze the sale. [NYT]
A lawyer for Mr. Epstein’s estate said the seven-story mansion on East 71st Street was sold earlier this week — although for considerably less than the initial $88 million asking price…. The attorney general, Denise George, requested the asset freeze after the estate said a cash crunch was preventing it from providing new money to the restitution fund. The judge overseeing the administration of Mr. Epstein’s estate ruled that Ms. George did not have legal standing to request the asset freeze.