The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another has been taken into custody, two law enforcement officials said, bringing an end to a nearly two-day search that put the state on edge.

Vance Boelter was arrested Sunday evening. The arrest was confirmed to The Associated Press by law enforcement officials were who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their Champlin home, about 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) away.

Boelter was captured in Minnesota, though officials didn’t immediately say where.

A criminal complaint unsealed Sunday night says Boelter faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the deaths of the Hortmans and the wounding of Hoffman and his wife.

The Hoffmans were attacked first at their home in Champin early Saturday. After police in nearby Brooklyn Park learned of that shooting, they sent patrol officers to check on the Hortmans’ home.

Brooklyn Park police officers arrived just in time to see Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home, the complaint says. It says they exchanged gunfire with Boelter, who fled inside the home before escaping the scene.

The complaint indicates the shooting at the Hoffmans’ home was called in by their adult daughter.

Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office via AP

A massive search

Earlier Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said authorities found a car very early Sunday they believed Boelter was using, a few miles from his home in Green Isle, in the farm country about an hour west of Minneapolis. He also said they found evidence in the car that was relevant to the investigation, but did not provide details.

Authorities named Boelter, 57, as a suspect, saying he wore a mask as he posed as a police officer, even allegedly altering a vehicle to make it look like a police car.

Evens confirmed that investigators found a cowboy hat near the vehicle and believe it belonged to Boelter. The superintendent also said authorities interviewed Boelter’s wife and other family members in connection with Saturday’s shootings. He said they were cooperative and were not in custody.

The FBI had issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

More than 100 law enforcement officers including SWAT teams were searching the area, including nearby homes, Evans said. He also said they had received more than 400 tips from the public.

The earlier search happened in rural Sibley County, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Minneapolis, where Boelter had a home with his wife and five children. Residents in the area received an emergency alert about the located vehicle that warned them to lock their doors and cars.

The shootings come as political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated amid deep political divisions. Lawmakers said they were disturbed by the attacks as Twin Cities residents mourned.

Brightly colored flowers and small American flags were placed Sunday on the gray marbled stone of the Minnesota State Capitol along with a photo of the Hortmans. People scrawled messages on small notes including, “You were our leader through the hardest of times. Rest in Power.”

Pam Stein came with flowers and kneeled by the memorial. An emotional Stein called Hortman an “absolute powerhouse” and “the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.”

No details on motive

Authorities have not yet given details on a motive.

A list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from the fake police vehicle that was left at the crime scene, the officials said. The writings and list of names included prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about healthcare facilities, according to the officials.

Evans clarified that while he described the materials on Saturday as a “manifesto,” the papers were not a political or ideological treatise. He said it was more of a notebook, listing lawmakers and other people, with various thoughts mixed in. He declined to give details.

A Minnesota official told AP lawmakers who had been outspoken in favor of abortion rights were on the list. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

The attacks prompted warnings to other state elected officials and the cancellation of planned “No Kings” demonstrations against President Donald Trump, though some went ahead anyway, including one that drew tens of thousands to the State Capitol in St. Paul. Authorities said the suspect had “No Kings” flyers in his car.

Boelter is a former political appointee who served on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, records show, though it was not clear if or how well they knew each other.

Around 6 a.m. Saturday, Boelter texted friends to apologize for his actions, though he didn’t say what he had done.

“I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way. … I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused,” he wrote in messages viewed by AP.

Two Democrats targeted

On Sunday evening, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar shared a statement from Yvette Hoffman expressing appreciation for the outpouring of public support.

“John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Yvette Hoffman said in a text that Klobuchar posted on social media. “He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive. We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark.”

On social media, Gov. Tim Walz remembered Hortman on Sunday as, “The most consequential Speaker in state history.”

Hortman, 55, had been the top Democratic leader in the state House since 2017. She led Democrats in a three-week walkout at the beginning of this year’s session in a power struggle with Republicans. Under a power-sharing agreement, she turned the gavel over to Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth and assumed the title speaker emerita.

Hortman used her position as speaker in 2023 to champion expanded protections for abortion rights, including legislation to solidify Minnesota’s status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who travel to the state to seek abortions — and to protect providers who serve them.

The couple had an adult son and an adult daughter.

Hoffman, 60, was first elected in 2012 and was chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, which oversees one of the biggest parts of the state budget. He and his wife have one adult daughter.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© George Walker IV—AP Photo

• Stock futures were higher on Sunday as investors weighed the impact of the escalating Israel-Iran conflict that shows no signs of any potential off-ramps ahead. Oil prices rallied after Israel attacked key areas of Iran’s energy infrastructure over the weekend, while Tehran said closing off the Strait of Hormuz was under serious consideration. Fed policymakers will meet in the coming week.

U.S. stocks signaled a rebounded Sunday night as futures rose amid the escalating Israel-Iran conflict that shows no signs of any potential off-ramps ahead.

Stocks sold off sharply on Friday after Israel launched an air campaign that struck Iran’s top military leadership, nuclear facilities, and bases around the country.

Over the weekend, both sides continued their bombardments with key areas of Iran’s energy infrastructure increasingly targeted. That includes oil refineries, fuel depots, and a massive natural gas field.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed higher, rising 44 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.14%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.20%.

U.S. oil prices pared earlier gains, climbing 1.1% to $73.79 per barrel, and Brent crude rose 1% to $74.94. That’s after oil soared 7% on Friday as markets reacted to the early stages of the Israel-Iran conflict.

An Iranian lawmaker said over the weekend that closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint in the global energy trade, was under serious consideration. The equivalent of 21% of global petroleum liquids consumption, or about 21 million barrels per day, flows through the strait.

In a note on Saturday, George Saravelos, head of FX research at Deutsche Bank, estimated that the worst-case scenario of a complete disruption to Iranian oil supplies and a closure of the Strait of Hormuz could send oil price above $120 per barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped 0.9 basis point to 4.415%. The dollar fell 0.17% against the euro and 0.17% against the yen. Gold rose 0.2% to $3,459.90 per ounce.

Surging oil prices reignited inflation fears, just as consumer price data was showing more signs that President Donald Trump’s tariffs were having minimal impact so far.

That put upward pressure on the 10-year yield on Friday as hopes for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve later this year dimmed.

Inflation, tariffs, and the volatile geopolitical landscape will be top of mind when Fed policymakers are due to meet this Tuesday and Wednesday.

While they aren’t expected to adjust rates, they will release a fresh set of forecasts for future rates and economic indicators. Chairman Jerome Powell will also hold a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Atta Kenare—AFP via Getty Images

With Federal Reserve officials signaling an extended hold on interest rates, investors and economists will look to Chair Jerome Powell this week for clues on what might eventually prompt the central bank to make a move, and when.

A fourth straight meeting without a cut could provoke another tirade from President Donald Trump. But policymakers have been clear: Before they can make a move they need the White House to resolve the big question marks around tariffs, immigration and taxes. Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear sites have also introduced another element of uncertainty for the global economy.

At the same time, the generally healthy, if slowly cooling, US economy has few expecting a rate move any time soon. Investors are betting the central bank won’t lower borrowing costs until September at the earliest, according to pricing in futures contracts.

“The safest path to take in that situation, when there is no urgency to cut rates right now, is to just sit on your hands,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.

Policymakers gather June 17-18. They’ll release a statement at 2:00 PM Washington time, and Powell is scheduled to take questions from reporters 30 minutes later.

Difficult Choices

The president’s tariffs are widely expected to raise prices and slow growth, risks that officials flagged in their last post-meeting statement. That could eventually force the Fed to make a difficult choice as the economy pulls them in opposite directions.

“I don’t think at this point there’s anything to be alarmed about,” said David Hoag, fixed income portfolio manager at Capital Group. “But the longer we have uncertainty — for the consumer, for companies in terms of planning — the more concerned I’ll get about the fundamentals of the economy deteriorating.”

So far, however, the economy isn’t flashing warning signs that would prompt the Fed to intervene.

The unemployment rate has held steady for three months even as job growth has slowed, in part because a sharp decline in immigration is also lowering the supply of workers. The longer the jobless rate remains stable, the longer the Fed can hold rates as a defense against potentially higher inflation.

Yet price data has also provided little to worry about. Underlying inflation rose by less than expected in May for the fourth straight month. Treasuries rose last week on the news, bolstered by wagers on more than one rate cut this year. The yield on two-year notes, most sensitive to the Fed’s policy, declined by more than seven basis points on the week to 3.96%.

Still, officials are likely to wait for additional months of data to understand how much of the tariffs are being passed on to consumers. Israel’s airstrikes on Iran will raise additional questions. Fed officials traditionally look through energy price moves, but an oil price shock could affect inflation expectations.

Fresh Projections

Fresh economic forecasts and rate projections this week could provide helpful guidance to how officials are thinking. They’ll be the first since Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of sweeping tariffs on April 2.

As analysts ponder the results, the range of possibilities is unusually large. 

If officials predict that unemployment will rise this year meaningfully above the 4.4% they forecast in March, that would suggest policymakers may cut rates before the fourth quarter, said Shah.

Some Fed officials, including Governor Christopher Waller, have already signaled an openness to cutting because they believe policymakers can view the expected impact of tariffs on consumer prices as temporary — as long as inflation expectations remain anchored. That aligns with market-based measures suggesting traders also believe the tariff price bump will be short-lived.

But should officials raise their expectations for inflation, that could reduce the number of cuts they project this year to one, from the two seen in March, said Matthew Luzzetti, chief US economist for Deutsche Bank. Strategists at Barclays warned of just such a “hawkish” surprise in a note to clients.

Officials might also consider the substantial uncertainty over the final state of Trump’s policies and simply leave their projections unchanged.

“I’d be surprised if the dots move much,” said Zachary Griffiths head of investment-grade and macroeconomic strategy at CreditSights. “It’s been a roller-coaster ride” since the Fed last released projections in March. “On net, I think we’re probably in a somewhat similar situation,” he said.  

Late Support

Some economists say the timing of the Fed’s next moves will eventually come down to how long it takes for Trump’s policies to show up in the economic data — and how strongly that raises concerns about a downturn.

In a Bloomberg survey of economists conducted June 6-11, 42% of respondents predicted the Fed will hold rates steady until there’s more concrete weakness in the economy.

Julia Coronado, founder of the research firm MacroPolicy Perspectives and a former Fed economist, said she expects rate cuts beginning in October or December in response to the more notable labor-market slowdown she estimates will materialize by then.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Al Drago—Bloomberg via Getty Images

 Melissa Hortman’s influence at the Minnesota Capitol and her power as a Democratic leader to shape the course of a deeply divided Legislature were a far cry from her job as a teenager making chili-cheese burritos and overshadowed her volunteer work training service dogs for veterans.

She was a lifelong Minneapolis-area resident who went to college in Boston and then returned home for law school and, with degree fresh in hand, worked as a volunteer lawyer for a group fighting housing discrimination. Elected to the Minnesota House in 2004, she helped pass liberal initiatives like free lunches for pubic school students in 2023 as the chamber’s speaker. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she helped break a budget impasse threatening to shut down state government.

Tributes from friends and colleagues in both parties poured in after Hortman and her husband were shot to death early Saturday in their suburban Brooklyn Park home in what authorities called an act of targeted political violence. Helping Paws, which trains service dogs, posted a message on its Facebook page, along with a 2022 photo of a smiling Hortman with her arm around Gilbert, a friendly-looking golden retriever trained to be a service dog and adopted by her family.

“Melissa Hortman was a woman that I wish everyone around the country knew,” U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a longtime friend and Democratic ally, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Klobuchar added: “She was a true leader and loved her work, but was always so grounded and such a decent person. I think that’s probably the best word to describe her. You look at her pictures and you know what she was about.”

Helping Paws via AP

The shootings followed a big Democratic dinner

The killings of Hortman and her husband early Saturday followed the shootings and wounding of another prominent Minnesota lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, at their home in Champlin, another Minneapolis suburb. Hoffman is chair of the Senate committee overseeing human resources spending. A nephew posted Sunday on Facebook that the Hoffmans were out of surgery and recovering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The Hortmans, the Hoffmans and other top Democrats had gathered at a downtown Minneapolis hotel Friday night for their party’s annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner. It’s named for two Minnesota liberal icons who served both as U.S. senators and vice presidents, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.

Minnesota Democrat and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said she saw both lawmakers at the dinner.

“So it feels so personal, because we’re all very good friends, of course, to have that have happened so shortly after we were all together,” Smith said on CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday.”

Outside the state Capitol in St. Paul, a memorial to Hortman and her husband included flowers, candles, small American flags and a photo of the couple. Visitors left messages on Post-It notes commending Hortman’s legislative work, including, “You changed countless lives.”

Hortman supplied a key vote for a budget deal Democrats disliked

Legislative colleagues described Hortman as funny, savvy and fiercely committed to liberal causes. When lawmakers convened in January with a vacancy in a Democratic seat in the House giving the GOP a temporary advantage, Hortman led a boycott of daily sessions for more than three weeks to force Republicans into a power-sharing arrangement.

Republicans were intent this year on ending state health coverage for adult immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, authorized in 2023 as part of a sweeping liberal program. Democrats wanted to keep it, and lawmakers began June — the last month of the 2025 budget year — without having passed a 2026-27 spending blueprint.

Hortman helped negotiate a package that included a bill ending the state health coverage for adult immigrants on Jan. 1, 2026. She was the only House Democrat to vote for it last week— the 68th vote it needed to pass the chamber.

She told reporters afterward that Republicans insisted on the bill, and Minnesota voters who gave the House an even partisan split expect the parties to compromise. But she acknowledged she worries about people who will lose their health insurance.

“I know that people will be hurt by that vote,” she said, choking up briefly before regaining her composure. “We worked very hard to get a budget deal that wouldn’t include that provision.”

Tacos, auto parts, physics and Habitat for Humanity

Hortman’s earliest jobs didn’t suggest that she’d become a power in Minnesota politics. The earliest job listed on her LinkedIn.com profile, when she was 16, was as a cook and cashier at a restaurant, where she made tacos and, “most importantly, chili cheese burritos.” She also worked for caterers and was a runner at an auto parts store, putting inventory away and retrieving items for customers.

Her husband, Mark, earned a physics degree from the University of North Carolina and later, a master’s of business administration. He was the chief operating officer of an auto parts company for 10 years before co-founding a business consulting firm. He was active in Helping Paws and worked with homebuilding nonprofit Habitat for Humanity.

Melissa Hortman earned a degree in philosophy and political science from Boston University, where she also worked as a residence assistant in one of its dormitories. She earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota, but also a master’s of public administration from Harvard University.

She served a decade on the board of a local nonprofit providing transportation and car repairs for low-income residents. She also was part of a committee in 2005 considering whether Minneapolis should submit a bid to host the Summer Olympics.

“We remember Melissa for her kindness, compassion, and unwavering commitment to making the world better,” Helping Paws said in its Facebook message.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Glen Stubbe—Star Tribune via AP File

• Amid Israel’s punishing air strikes, Iranians clogged roads and highways on Sunday to leave Tehran, according to reports. That came as fresh attacks targeted Iran’s energy infrastructure, including fuel supplies and a top natural gas field. Reduced electricity supplies could worsen an energy crisis that had already been hitting Iranians for months.

Israel’s sustained air campaign against Iran, including on Tehran, prompted residents of the capital to flee, clogging roads and highways.

There were traffic jams on roads leading out of the city while others trying to flee were hailing taxis as they held suitcases, according to the New York Times.

One resident of Tehran who gave his name only as Alireza told the Washington Post that they left the capital Sunday for Iran’s northern Gilan province after a building near his home was hit by an air strike.

“We were lucky to leave very early,” he said. “Right after us the roads got really crowded.”

The Post and Times also reported that long lines were forming as gas stations, some of which had to resort to rationing, as Iranians rushed to fill up.

The rush to Tehran’s gas stations came as Israel also struck critical pieces of Iran’s energy infrastructure, including oil refineries and fuel depots.

Atta Kenare—AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, a separate attack on the Pars South gas field, considered to the world’s largest reservoir of natural gas, is also set to worsen an energy crisis that has slammed Iranians for months.

The Pars field is critical to Iran’s domestic energy production, and more than 90% of Iran’s electricity is generated by gas-powered plants, according to the Institute for the Study of War in an assessment on Sunday.

Even before Israel’s bombardment, Iran had been suffering through an energy crisis for months, due to sanctions, mismanagement, old infrastructure, over-consumption, and earlier Israeli attacks.

That forced Iran to impose regular blackouts to conserve energy, leaving universities, shops and factories in the dark.

“Disruptions to Iran’s natural gas production will likely worsen the country’s ongoing energy crisis and lead to more widespread electricity blackouts, however,” ISW said on Sunday. “Iranians have previously protested against the regime in response to energy shortages. Demonstrations over the rising gas prices in 2017 and 2018 escalated into broader challenges for the regime’s stability.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Atta Kenare—AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump rejected a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.

After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilize the region.

Asked about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.

“But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri later called reports about the Israeli plan to kill Khamenei “fake.”

Netanyahu in the Fox interview also said regime change “could certainly be the result” of the conflict “because the Iranian regime is very weak.”

Trump’s rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating on U.S. targets in the Middle East while also predicting Israel and Iran would “soon” make a deal to end their escalating conflict.

Trump in an early morning social media posting said the United States “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran” as Israel and Iran traded missile attacksfor the third straight day. Iran, however, has said that it would hold the U.S.—which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry—for its backing of Israel.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” Trump said.

Hours later Trump took to social media again to predict “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal.”

The U.S. president said he has a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities “just like I got India and Pakistan to make” after the two countries’ recent cross-border confrontation.

India struck targets inside Pakistan after militants in April massacred 26 tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any links to the attackers. Following India’s strikes in Pakistan, the two sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto borders, followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and airbases.

It was the most serious confrontation in decades between the countries. Trump on Sunday repeated his claim, disputed by India, that the two sides agreed to a ceasefire after he had offered to help both nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate.

Trump also pointed to efforts by his administration during his first term to mediate disputes between Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia.

“Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” Trump said. “Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump is set to travel later Sunday to Canada for Group of Seven leaders summit where the Mideast crisis will loom large over his talks with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan and the European Union.

There’s a divide in Trump world about how far the president should go in backing Israel.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson are among the prominent backers of Trump who have argued voters backed Trump because he would not involve the nation in foreign conflicts.

GOP Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul praised Trump for having shown restraint and said he hoped the president’s “instincts will prevail.”

“So, I think it’s going to be very hard to come out of this and have a negotiated settlement,” Paul said in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ”I see more war and more carnage. And it’s not the U.S.’s job to be involved in this war.”

In an interview aired on CBS’ “Face the Nation” GOP South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he preferred diplomatic efforts, but if diplomacy doesn’t work Trump should “go all in” on destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

“If that means providing bombs, provide bombs,” he said. “If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Alex Brandon—AP Photo

• Iran has launched hundreds of missiles at Israel in response to its expansive air strikes, though not as many as expected. Meanwhile, Israel has targeted Iran’s missiles as well as its ability to launch them. The Institute for the Study of War said Iran’s rate of attack is already slowing down from its initial barrages.

The conflict between Israel and Iran escalated over the weekend as both sides appeared to expand their range of targets, including energy infrastructure.

But despite Israel’s aggressive air strikes and even suggestions that they are aimed at the regime itself, Iran has not responded in kind, launching fewer missiles than expected and at a declining rate.

That’s because Israel has targeted Iran’s stockpile of missiles as well as its ability to launch them, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

“The frequency of Iran’s missile barrages targeting Israel has decreased since the start of the Israeli air campaign on June 12, which suggests that Israeli strikes are impacting the rate at which Iran can launch missiles at Israel,” ISW researchers wrote in an assessment on Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday, Iran conducted six waves of attacks using 100-200 missiles, ISW estimated. But since Saturday, Iran has only conducted two waves of attacks using 35-40 missiles each.

Using the high end of each ISW estimate, that means the initial waves averaged about 33 missiles each, while the subsequent waves have averaged 20 missiles.

On Saturday, ISW’s analysis of the Israel-Iran conflict noted that Tehran had reportedly planned to launch 1,000 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to Israeli attacks. But ISW’s tally at the time put the total at just 200.

“Iran has used significantly fewer munitions in its response to Israel than originally planned because the IDF destroyed and damaged missile launchers and silos that Iran planned to use to retaliate against Israel,” ISW wrote.

Before the current conflict started, U.S. and Israeli estimates put Iran’s stockpile of missiles at about 2,000, but not all of them have enough range to reach Israel, according to ISW.

If that number is accurate, then Iran’s current rate of missile launches at Israel may not be sustainable for much longer.

Amer Shallodi—Anadolu via Getty Images

To be sure, Iran has inflicted significant damage and caused fatalities, but Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system has been intercepting many attacks, limiting the effectiveness of Iran’s retaliation.

Other analysts have previously noted that Iran has few viable military options, and its overall capabilities have been severely degraded by Israel.

That could force Tehran to look for ways to retaliate in ways that don’t involve launching missiles. An Iranian lawmaker said Saturday that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint in the global energy trade, was under serious consideration. The equivalent of 21% of global petroleum liquids consumption, or about 21 million barrels per day, flows through the strait.

Meanwhile, Israel is continuing its own barrage and expanding its targets to include Iran’s energy infrastructure. After wiping out much of Tehran’s top military leadership as well as pummeling nuclear and military facilities, Israel has hit fuel supplies and the Pars South gas field, considered to the world’s largest reservoir of natural gas.

The Pars field is critical to Iran’s domestic energy production, and more than 90% of Iran’s electricity is generated by gas-powered plants, according to ISW.

“Disruptions to Iran’s natural gas production will likely worsen the country’s ongoing energy crisis and lead to more widespread electricity blackouts, however,” ISW said on Sunday. “Iranians have previously protested against the regime in response to energy shortages. Demonstrations over the rising gas prices in 2017 and 2018 escalated into broader challenges for the regime’s stability.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Nir Keidar—Anadolu via Getty Images

• The man that authorities say is a suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers on Saturday had a complex financial and professional history. While he signaled he was open to job opportunities in the food industry, he reportedly worked at a funeral home while also served as director of security patrols at a private-security firm.

Vance Boelter, who was named as a suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers on Saturday, left behind a complex financial and professional history.

He remains on the run with a manhunt underway. State Rep. Melissa Hortman, 55 years old, and her husband were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home. Elsewhere in Champlin, state Sen. John Hoffman, 60, and his wife were also shot at home and are recovering after undergoing surgery. Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as “an act of targeted political violence.”

While Boelter was listed as director of security patrols for private-security company Praetorian Guard Security Services, it’s unclear if that was his primary source of income.

He worked for an eye donation center, according to David Carlson, who shared a house in Minneapolis with Boelter and told Reuters he’s known him since fourth grade.

Carlson also said Boelter was working at a funeral home while experiencing financial and mental health challenges, according to the New York Times.

On Friday, Boelter gave Carlson four months of rent in advance, or about $900 total. A federal law enforcement official told the Times that Boelter emptied a bank account before the shooting.

Despite his various jobs, Boelter’s LinkedIn profile picture carries the green “#opentowork” banner. His professional history includes a stint as a 7-Eleven general manager as well as various positions at food companies like Greencore, Del Monte, Johnsonville Sausage, and Nestle.

“Hi everyone! I’m looking to get back into the U.S. Food Industry and I’m pretty open to positions,” he posted a month ago. “Other Leadership positions outside of the Food Industry I’m willing to hear about as well.”

The LinkedIn profile also says Boelter is CEO of Red Lion Group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he has delivered sermons as a pastor, according on online videos.

In addition, he and his wife once led a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries, according to the Times, which cited an archived version of a website that said Boelter previously traveled to the Gaza Strip and West Bank where he “sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn’t the answer.”

Boelter is also listed on federal tax forms as the president of a Minnesota-based nonprofit called You Give Them Something to Eat, though there’s no indication of any spending or income, according to the Washington Post.

His housemate Carlson said Boelter was against abortion and voted for President Donald Trump but generally avoided talking about politics.

He shared with local media text messages he got from Boelter before the shooting that suggested something dire was about to happen.

“I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Stephen Maturen—Getty Images

President Donald Trump said that it’s possible the US could become involved in the Israel-Iran conflict.

“It’s possible we could get involved,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday. He noted that the US is “not at this moment involved.” 

The US has jet fighters, ships and ground-based air-defense systems positioned near the warring countries to help counter any Iranian attack on American assets or people. It has not yet openly assisted Israel in its strikes, but has helped the country defend itself.

In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump said that many calls were taking place and that “we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” 

Referring to a phone call between Trump and Vladimir Putin on Saturday, the president told ABC he would be “open” to having the Russian president mediate the conflict. 

“He is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it,” Trump said.

Russia is a strategic ally of Iran. The two nations worked against the US in wars in Syria and Iraq. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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President Donald Trump earned $57.7 million from token sales by the crypto firm he and his sons helped launch last year, according to his required federal financial disclosure forms.

The financial disclosure, released Friday by the Office of Government Ethics, provided details on his sprawling empire, including hundreds of millions of dollars in income from his hotels, golf resorts and cryptocurrency ventures.

The $57.7 million came from sales by World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm launched last year before the election. Trump and his three sons, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump, are among the company’s founders, according to its website. 

That haul wasn’t the largest source of the president’s income from private holdings. Trump Endeavor 12 LLC, a Miami-based company that owns golf courses and a resort, produced $110 million. His Mar-a-Lago Club generated more than $50 million in resort-related revenue.

Trump, who’s worth an estimated $4.8 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, valued 22 assets at more than $50 million, including Mar-a-Lago, his Turnberry, Scotland, golf resort and his stakes in World Liberty Financial and Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which owns his Truth Social platform. Officials disclose the values of their holdings in broad ranges with “over $50 million” the highest, which means that they can’t be used to calculate an individual’s net worth. Trump Media, for example, is currently worth $2.2 billion.

Fight Fight Fight LLC, which sells Trump’s meme coin, was launched in January and wasn’t included in the disclosure, which covers 2024. The company hosted a dinner that Trump attended for the 220 largest holders of the $TRUMP coin in May. The event, when announced in April, caused the coin’s price to shoot up 56%.

CIC Digital LLC, the entity that earns money through licensing Trump’s image on nonfungible tokens, produced income of $1.1 million in 2024. It also holds a wallet holding Etherium worth at least $1 million.

The 234-page disclosure also lists hundreds of trademarks Trump owns across the world, including in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Venezuela and other countries, and details his personal investments that aren’t part of his business empire, as well as first lady Melania Trump’s holdings.

Trump listed 11 outstanding debts on the form, including two judgments against him won by author E. Jean Carroll involving allegations of sexual assault and defamation and one owed from the criminal fraud case for which he was convicted of 34 felonies. Those debts were stayed pending the outcome of appeals Trump has filed. 

He did not list any outstanding debt to lawyers or law firms stemming from the criminal and civil cases. Save America, his leadership political action committee, has paid most of those fees. 

Trump had seven outstanding real estate loans, including mortgages in amounts of more than $50 million on Trump Tower, Trump National Doral and 40 Wall Street. He also listed debt on his American Express credit card of at least $15,000. 

Vice President JD Vance also disclosed assets for him and his wife, Usha Vance, worth at least $6.5 million.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Israel launched an expanded assault on Iran on Sunday, targeting its energy industry and Defense Ministry headquarters, while Tehran unleashed a fresh barrage of deadly strikes.

The simultaneous attacks represented the latest burst of violence since a surprise offensive by Israel two days earlier aimed at decimating Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

New explosions boomed across Tehran as Iranian missiles entered Israel’s skies in attacks that Israeli emergency officials said caused deaths around the country, including four in an apartment building in the Galilee region. A strike in central Israel killed an 80-year-old woman, a 69-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy, officials said.

Casualty figures weren’t immediately available in Iran, where Israel targeted its Defense Ministry headquarters in Tehran as well as sites that it alleged were associated with the country’s nuclear program. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed that Iranian missiles targeted fuel production facilities for Israeli fighter jets, something not acknowledged by Israel.

Amid the continued conflict, planned negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program were cancelled, throwing into question when and how an end to the fighting could come.

“Tehran is burning,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media.

Both Israel’s military and Iran state television announced the latest round of Iranian missiles as explosions were heard near midnight, while the Israeli security cabinet met.

Israel’s ongoing strikes across Iran have left the country’s surviving leadership with the difficult decision of whether to plunge deeper into conflict with Israel’s more powerful forces or seek a diplomatic route.

Urgent calls to deescalate

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites set a “dangerous precedent,” China’s foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting.

Israel — widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days have killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s U.N. ambassador has said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have repeatedly said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon before Israel unleashed its campaign of airstrikes targeting Iran beginning Friday. But Iran’s uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, and on Thursday the U.N.’s atomic watchdog censured Iran for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program his top priority, said Israel’s strikes so far are “nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.”

In what could be another escalation if confirmed, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli drone struck and caused a “strong explosion” at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. It would be the first Israeli attack on Iran’s oil and natural gas industry. Israel’s military did not immediately comment.

The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defense systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.

Iran calls nuclear talks ‘unjustifiable’

The sixth round of U.S.-Iran indirect talks on Sunday over Iran ’s nuclear program will not take place, mediator Oman said. “We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.

Iran’s top diplomat said Saturday the nuclear talks were “unjustifiable” after Israel’s strikes. Abbas Araghchi’s comments came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat.

The Israeli airstrikes were the “result of the direct support by Washington,” Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn’t part of the strikes.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, adding that “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”

US helps to shoot down Iranian missiles

Iran launched its first waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. The attacks killed at least three people and wounded 174, two of them seriously, Israel said. The military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where.

U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.

Israel’s main international airport said it will remain closed until further notice.

First responders were looking for survivors and clearing the remnants of a missile that fell on a neighborhood outside of Tel Aviv early Sunday morning.

An Associated Press reporter saw streets lined with damaged and destroyed buildings, bombed out cars and shards of glass.

Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors in some of the areas that were too hard to access. Some people were fleeing the area with their belongings in suitcases.

‘More than a few weeks’ to repair nuclear facilities

Israel attacked Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.

Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including “infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion,” and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said four “critical buildings” at the Isfahan site were damaged, including its uranium conversion facility. “As in Natanz, no increase in off-site radiation expected,” it added.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures, said that according to the army’s initial assessment “it will take much more than a few weeks” for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had “concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.”

Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran.

Among those killed were three of Iran’s top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard’s aerospace division, which oversees its arsenal of ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division: Gen. Majid Mousavi.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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• The secondary market for private equity stakes is booming as buyers are eager to snap up assets being shed by investors. There’s reason to believe Harvard, Yale, and other elite institutions might be getting a good deal, even as they sell their holdings at a discount to current valuations. 

Some of the country’s most elite institutions are offloading parts of their private equity portfolios. As funds take longer to return money to investors, Harvard and Yale are selling at a discount with endowments looking for more liquidity and flexibility amid economic turbulence.

But both sides of such deals can make surprising gains. 

This portfolio maintenance doesn’t appear linked to President Donald Trump’s attack on university finances, including a possible tax hike on endowments. Industry skeptics think these sales, however, highlight growing concerns that returns in the opaque world of private equity aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be.

“With elite universities’ private equity investments on the auction block, the big reveal is coming,” Nir Kaissar, founder of asset management firm Unison Advisors, wrote in a Bloomberg opinion column on Thursday.

University endowments typically make for ideal investors in alternative assets—with virtually infinite investment horizons, they can ride out wild gyrations in the public markets by locking up billions of dollars over several years. 

On its face, that move has been a no-brainer. As Kaissar noted, Bloomberg’s weighted index of U.S. PE funds returned 9.4% year over year from 2007 to 2024. The index’s annualized standard deviation, a common measure of volatility, was just 7.2%.

The S&P 500 gained 10.5% in that span with a standard deviation of 16.8%, a much worse return on a risk-adjusted basis.

These numbers, however, may not reflect the underlying picture. Unlike stocks trading on public exchanges, the prices of private assets don’t change based on the whims of investors day-to-day.

Instead, valuations of most private companies, real estate properties, and other assets PE firms hold are typically based on subjective assumptions that don’t fluctuate like public equity markets do, Tim McGlinn, an investment veteran and former adjunct finance professor at Seton Hall, told Fortune.

“There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that,” said McGlinn, who blogs about the alternatives industry at TheAltView.net. 

But when investors or prospective investors believe the holdings can actually be sold at those prices, “that’s when things become problematic.”

Ultimately, private equity firms make money for investors by exiting their investments, when they attempt to turn notional valuations on paper into cash. Therefore, there must be some correlation between the performance of public and private assets, said Jason Reed, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame.

“If the market’s doing really well broadly, well then you’re going to have lots of opportunities for businesses to buy your company, other private equity companies to buy your company, to take them public and IPO them,” he told Fortune. “But if the economy is not doing great, businesses are struggling, then you’re not going to have as many opportunities overall to sell.”

Harvard and Yale sell PE stakes

Billionaire hedge fund owner Bill Ackman, a Harvard alumnus, has claimed his alma mater’s $53 billion endowment, almost 40% of which is allocated to private equity, is significantly overstated.

“I believe that a substantial part of the reason why many private assets remain private despite the stock market near all-time highs is that the public market will value private assets at lower values than they are being carried at privately,” Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital, wrote in a social media post last month.

The Harvard Management Company, which oversees the university’s endowment, declined to comment. It recently agreed to sell roughly $1 billion of its PE stakes, following a similar move in the summer of 2021. That came at a time of “significant ebullience,” the university noted in its 2022 financial report, allowing the school to avoid discounts the funds would have faced just over a year later.

Yale, meanwhile, is negotiating a nearly $3 billion sale of private equity holdings at a discount of less than 10%, a spokesperson for the Yale Investments Office told the school’s newspaper. The university pioneered the institutional push into alternative assets, with 95% of its $41 billion endowment allocated to growth-oriented assets like PE, venture capital, real assets, and global equities.

“Following a months-long review, the University is in process to sell select private equity fund interests,” Yale said in a statement to Fortune. “Private equity remains a core element of our investment strategy, and we continue to commit significant capital to our existing world-class partners, while pursuing new private equity opportunities to support the long-term growth of the Endowment.”

This doesn’t appear to be a distressed sale, McGlinn said, but the deal is otherwise hard to evaluate. More mature funds trade very differently than newer ones, and various positions are typically packaged together in these types of transactions.

“Yale being Yale, you can assume they’re getting the best price they can,” McGlinn said.

Buyers juice returns with ‘NAV squeezing’

Still, investors in PE funds, known as “limited partners,” sold their stakes at an average discount of 11% compared to the net asset value, or NAV, of these holdings on their balance sheets, according to Jeffries.

It may seem odd that universities are looking to sell when valuations are likely down across the board this year as borrowing costs remain elevated. But demand in the secondary market is booming. Secondary sales increased 45% to $162 billion last year, per Jeffries.

As a result, Yale, Harvard, and other universities could take much less of a haircut than they might have feared while also booking gains on their initial stakes.

That’s because there is reason to believe many buyers are willing to overpay, McGlinn said. Regardless of what secondary funds dish out to acquire these stakes, he explained, they are allowed to then mark these investments up to the old net asset value. 

McGlinn calls this process “NAV squeezing.” As The Wall Street Journal reported last year, it can result in one-day windfalls of 1,000% or more, gains that McGlinn said secondary funds report as real returns.

“It makes your brain melt,” he said.

Comparing NAV squeezing to a Ponzi scheme might go too far, said Jeffrey Hooke, a senior lecturer in finance at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and a longtime critic of PE. But he agrees it looks quite shaky, even if the technique is permissible according to generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.

“It’s almost like a full wash and rinse cycle,” said Hooke, formerly the principal investment officer of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.

Universities, of course, get to be on the other side of these deals. Even though they are selling their PE stakes at a discount to NAV, they could be getting more than the capital they had committed to those investments up until this point. 

In other words, endowments might still be escaping with a profit.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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• Several businesses are offering discounts and free products on June 15. That’s especially true of restaurants, with BOGO deals and discounts.

Dads love the adulation aimed their way on Father’s Day. The presents, though? Those sometimes fall short.

So this year, instead of spending money on something superfluous, maybe show dad that you appreciate all he’s done in a budget-friendly way. (You know he appreciates a budget by how he walks around the house yelling about lights being left on.)

While there aren’t quite as many giveaways and discounts being offered for dad’s special day as there were for mom’s, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. No matter what your budget is, there’s likely a way to show your dad you love him without breaking the bank.

Here are a few to keep an eye out for:

Burger King

If you’re a member of the company’s Royal Perks loyalty program, you can get a free Whopper with a purchase of one for full price.

Shake Shack

Prefer a different burger? Shake Shack is offering a buy-one-get-one Double Shackburger. Just use the promo code DADMODE on the Shack App or when ordering online. You can also use it when ordering at an in-Shack kiosk.

IHOP

Dad usually makes the pancakes, but maybe this year, you turn the tables. Order pickup or delivery at IHOP today and you’ll save 20% on your first online order. Use promo code IHOP20.

Dave & Buster’s

Loyalty members will get 50% off all food today.

KFC

KFC has not one, but two specials for Dad’s Day. For $20 you can get either a Fan-Favorites Box (which includes four pieces of KFC chicken, 12 KFC Nuggets, four biscuits, Fries, and four dipping sauces) or a Double Mash Meal (seven pieces of Original Recipe or Extra Crunchy chicken, two large Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, and four biscuits).

Rita’s Italian Ice

Things getting a bit hot where you live? Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard is offering app users a $1 Small Italian Ice with a $1 minimum purchase

Fogo de Chao

All dads who have a meal in-restaurant will receive $25 off Two Churrasco Experiences to be redeemed on a future visit. One lucky pop will also win their own at-home churrasco grill.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Getty Images

It happens to a lot of us. A new LinkedIn connection request pops up without a note, a message, or a reason. Perhaps the person shares a few mutual connections, but they’re essentially a stranger. 

Some people are willing to accept any request that comes their way. Others, however, are more guarded, and only looking to connect with people they know personally. But the question remains: should you accept or decline LinkedIn invitations from an unknown person? 

As a career expert at hiring platform Indeed, Priya Rathod often gets these kinds of invitations. 

“I personally get several requests where there’s no mutual connections, no note. I’m just left wondering who this person is and why they want to connect with me,” she tells Fortune.

Career experts that Fortune spoke with say there’s no blanket formula for how to treat these invitations. Instead, they emphasize that the choice is a personal one: Some people may prefer a carefully curated professional network, while others see strength in numbers. And they add that while it’s not strictly forbidden to send a LinkedIn request to a stranger, there are some important rules that aspiring networkers should keep in mind. 

“A lot of people hate getting a LinkedIn connection request from a random person, because it’s a bit uncomfortable,” says Gracie Saskersian, associate dean of Columbia Business School’s Career Management Center. “On the other hand networking is about engaging with both people that you know in your personal network, as well as people who are a couple of degrees removed. And those are the folks who have proved to be the most valuable resources during a job search.”

To accept or decline? 

There are two schools of thought when it comes to receiving a LinkedIn request from a stranger.

The first is that all requests are welcome. This is especially prevalent among early-career workers trying to build their professional network, and it can be tempting to accept all invites in an effort to boost numbers and reach a threshold like 500 connections. Other people may just want a larger group of connections for their posts to have a bigger impact. 

“I’ll accept almost everyone,” says Tim Toterhi, CHRO advisor, author, and career coach. That includes recent graduates, colleagues or anyone who’s read his latest book—as long as the connection request comes with a brief explanation. He does try to avoid pictureless individuals or people with blank profiles as a way to weed out bots or scammers, but Toterhi says he’s willing to connect with most humans as long as there’s some level of intent behind it.

“We each have a right to decide what kind of network we are building and whether that network is meant for intimacy, influence, or impact,” says Arianny Mercedes, who previously helped lead talent management at American Express, and is now the founder of Revamped, a global career and workplace consultancy.

She adds, however, that the downside to a “more is more” approach to LinkedIn is an increasingly noisy timeline. “Every time we accept a new connection, we allow another voice into our digital field,” she says. 

The second school of thought is that LinkedIn invitations should be considered carefully. That means declining or ignoring requests from strangers. 

“It’s about relevance, not rejection,” says Nirit Peled-Muntz, chief people officer at HR technology company HiBob. “For me, it’s about treating people the way I’d want to be treated. That doesn’t mean accepting every request, but it does mean being thoughtful and kind where possible.” 

Michael Mandel, co-founder and CEO of CompStak, a platform for commercial real estate data, recently posted his own list of criteria for rejecting LinkedIn invitations. People who promote the number of connections they have, describe themselves as “thought leaders” and “visionaries,” or frequently use the rocket ship emoji, are all disqualified. 

He even noted that he wished he had an “AI agent that automatically rejects LinkedIn invitations” based on that criteria.

The right way to send a blind invitation

Reaching out a stranger on LinkedIn is possible, career experts say, and sometimes even encouraged. You just have to go about it the right way. 

“Sending a connection request is really akin to walking up to someone in-person at a networking event and asking for an introduction or doing it yourself,” says Rathod. “So it is okay, but there are some very key things that you need to keep in mind.”

The main thing is to include a short, well-written missive along with the request. Career experts say it’s the number one differentiator as to whether or not they’re willing to accept a request from someone they have not actually met. 

LinkedIn members are also much more likely to connect with people who have interacted with their content, according to the company’s internal data. Around 20% of users say having mutual connections is one of the most important factors in deciding who to connect with. 

Andrew McCaskill, a career expert at LinkedIn with more than 30,000 followers on the platform, says he typically gets 10 direct connection requests per day, and only knows the names of one or two people. McCaskill is in a unique position in that he works for LinkedIn, but even then he says he doesn’t accept connection requests from just anyone—he’s much more likely to accept a request from someone who’s been following his work, or who he’s interacted with on the platform before. They must also share the reason they’re reaching out to him.  

“If I’m looking at a line of people who are asking me for a direct connection, I’m going to look at the note first. Writing the note says that I don’t just want a connection, I’d like you to be my connection,” he tells Fortune. 

Most professionals don’t have the time to “go through all the mental gymnastics” around whether or not they’ve met said person, he adds. If it takes too much effort, more often than not he leaves it for later. “Once it gets lost in that shuffle I may never return to it.”

When it comes to writing that all-important note to go along with a connection request, experts say it’s crucial to make sure it isn’t too detailed—avoid sharing a long career history. Instead, just write one or two sentences about why you’re contacting someone. 

“Anything from a shared industry to similar goals or admiration for their work can make a big difference in how their request is received,” says Rathod.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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• Mitzi Perdue, the double-heiress of Sheraton hotels and Perdue farms, grew up wearing hand-me-downs and getting a public education. She’s quick to draw her pursestrings by flying economy, riding the subway, and living in a modest  apartment—despite sitting on a fortune from two billion-dollar American businesses. The 84-year-old journalist and philanthropist says it helps her understand “the real world.”

The thought of a billionaire’s lifestyle may conjure up images of Great Gatsby mansion-buying and jet-setting at the drop of a hat. But the life of an heiress with the wealth of two billion-dollar American businesses looks a lot different. 

Mitzi Perdue was born into the Sheraton hotel family, and at just the age of 26, she and her siblings inherited their father Ernest Henderson’s controlling stake of the business. The success of her family’s $12.2 billion hospitality company meant she was now sitting on a considerable nest egg.

Her fortune would only swell after marrying her late husband Frank Perdue, the “chicken king” who led America’s largest chicken-producer, Perdue Farms, which brought in over $10 billion in revenue last year. The double-heiress has the riches to retire and live a life of extravagance—but it’s in her nature to look at wealth differently. 

“The Hendersons and the Perdues did not encourage extravagance,” Perdue tells Fortune. “In both families, nobody wins points for wearing designer clothes.”

The 84-year-old has access to a trust from her family’s billion-dollar business, alongside the wealth from the Perdue empire. Yet she still lives just like anybody else: taking her shoes to the cobbler instead of buying new ones, riding the subway, flying economy, and living in a modest apartment instead of a house.

Perdue has lived a double life—having access to immense privilege and money from two business empires, while holding down a regular job and living frugally. 

“My apartment building I lived in for 14 years is very solidly middle-class, and I love it,” Perdue says. “If you’re always going on private jets, what inkling do you have about the real world?”

Her frugal and down-to-earth lifestyle: wearing second-hand clothes, flying economy, riding subways

Perdue was born in 1941, and as a war baby and fifth child of the Hendersons family, she grew up wearing hand-me-downs. She says she went to public school for a period of her life, later enrolling in private school and pursuing a Harvard education. When she was in her late 20’s her father died, opening up the floodgates of her inheritance. But she wasn’t enticed by the idea of throwing in the towel and lounging for the rest of her life. 

“I could have just put everything in the stock market and let somebody else manage it,” Perdue says. 

Interested in agriculture, Perdue soon bought land near the University of California, Davis so the college could run experiments on the agricultural area. She spent many hours a day managing the rice farm, but years later decided to become a journalist covering farming practices and mental health.

Starting in 2022, she began covering the conflict in Ukraine and sold her $1.2 million engagement ring from her late husband to benefit humanitarian efforts in the war-torn region. She’s currently working on developing an AI trauma therapist for victims in Ukraine, which has lacked the resources to keep up with demand. For all of her work trips, she always flies economy.

Perdue has also lived in an apartment building in Salisbury, Maryland, for many years, rubbing shoulders with working-class residents like nurses and police officers. She says one year’s rent in her one-bedroom flat costs just as much as what her New York City friends pay in one month. 

“Several Perdue employees live in the same building,” Perdue says. “It’s nice, but no one would call it posh.”

And as a self-proclaimed “low-maintenance badass” frequently visiting New York City, she rides the subway instead of booking Ubers. Perdue also gets her shoes reupholstered, rather than buying new pairs; and designer outfits are shrugged off, as she doesn’t like flashing her wealth. Her frugal philosophy is more than just skin-deep.

“I’m unaware of getting praise for wearing really expensive clothes—you get praised like heck for being an Eagle Scout, or working for Habitat for Humanity,” Perdue continues. “You get praise for serving others.”

What Perdue gets from tightening her pursestrings 

People who have not grown up with wealth may question why a billionaire would want to live life like the rest of the population: working 9-to-5, sardining on subways instead of calling private cars. The heiress and journalist says her reasoning stems from the emptiness of taking, and the joy of giving. 

“I’d sure rather have a life of a feast of unending joy versus not being able to count five happy days,” Perdue says. “If you want to be happy, think what you can do for somebody else. If you want to be miserable, think what’s owed to you.”

Mega-yachts and silk pajamas don’t fill the void for Perdue—rather, philanthropy and hard work make her feel full. A huge part of Perdue’s understanding of having wealth versus living a wealthy life came from both sides of her family. She noted that family businesses that are able to last 100 years are a rarity, but the Hendersons and Perdues were able to make it by putting their best foot forward. 

“The families that last learn stewardship,” Perdue said. “They’re not there to go spend it all. They’re there to be stewards for the next generation.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Chance Yeh—Getty Images

• As freshly minted college graduates look ahead to a tough job market, some may be wondering how useful their degrees might be. But for those looking to climb the ladder in Corporate America, the path to success doesn’t always run through business school. Some top CEOs studied subjects that have nothing to do with their industries.

If you just got a degree in medieval studies, then congratulations. But if you’re not going to pursue that subject further in grad school, then you may be wondering how useful it is in today’s job market.

Buyer’s remorse for new college graduates is nothing new. But those entering the workforce now are facing a slowing economy, high uncertainty among businesses amid President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and AI eliminating many entry-level jobs.

A deep dive into the leadership of the Fortune 500 shows that many, many, many, many CEOs did indeed get a bachelor’s degree in business or a master’s degree in business administration. Also, tech bosses often have engineering degrees, finance chiefs have economics or accounting degrees, and pharmaceutical CEOs have medical degrees.

But there’s still hope. For those looking to climb the ladder in Corporate America, the path to success doesn’t always run through business school. Some top CEOs studied subjects that have nothing to do with their industries.

A notable example is LinkedIn cofounder and founding CEO Reid Hoffman, who has a bachelor’s in “symbolic systems” from Stanford University, which says it integrates computer science, linguistics, math, philosophy, psychology, and statistics. He then got a master’s degree in philosophy from Oxford University.

In 2017, he told Business Insider that “philosophy is a study of how to think very clearly,” and it’s been useful in investing and being an entrepreneur.

“Formulating what your investment thesis is, what the strategy is, what the risks with the approach are, what kinds of things you would be doing with it, are all greatly aided by the crispness of thinking that comes with philosophical training,” he added.

Similarly, Palantir CEO and cofounder Alex Karp got bachelor’s in philosophy from Haverford College, a JD from Stanford Law School and a PhD in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University in Frankfurt.

Despite running a data-mining software company that offers AI-powered platforms to governments and businesses, he has said he learned coding on the job. He told the New York Times last year that not getting a business degree actually helped.

“There’s nothing that we did at Palantir in building our software company that’s in any MBA-made playbook. Not one,” he explained. “That’s why we have been doing so well.”

Karp revealed that “the single most valuable education I had for business” came at the Sigmund Freud Institute, a psychoanalysis research center, where he worked while getting his doctorate.

“You’d be surprised how much analysts talk about their patients. It’s disconcerting, actually. You just learn so much about how humans actually think,” he said, adding that he used that knowledge to help motivate his engineers.

Among Fortune 500 CEOs, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky has a bachelor of fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. According to the company, his creative roots are embedded in Airbnb’s culture, product and community.

“This design-driven approach has enabled a system of trust that allows strangers to live together, and created a unique business model that facilitates connection and belonging,” it says.

Here are some other Fortune 500 leaders who have less conventional educational backgrounds:

• Juan Andrade, CEO of financial services firm USAA, has a bachelor’s in journalism and political science from the University of Florida and a master’s in international economics and Latin American studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
• Leon Topalian, CEO of steelmaker Nucor, has a bachelor’s in marine engineering from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
• Maria Black, CEO of human resources services provider ADP, has a bachelor’s in political science and international affairs from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
• Laura Alber, CEO of home furnishings chain Williams-Sonoma, has a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
• Richard Hayne, CEO of retailer Urban Outfitters, has a bachelor’s in social relations from Lehigh University.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Getty Images

The grand military parade that President Donald Trump had been wanting for eight years kicked off Saturday with tanks, troops and a 21-gun salute, playing out against the counterpoint of protesters around the country who decried the U.S. leader as a dictator and would-be king.

The Republican president, on his 79th birthday, sat on a special viewing stand south of the White House to watch the display of American military might, which began early as light rain fell and dark clouds loomed. It’s a procession Trump tried to make happen in his first term after seeing such an event in Paris in 2017, but the plans never came together until this year, when it was added to an event recognizing the Army’s 250th anniversary.

Hours before the parade was set to start, demonstrators turned out in streets and parks around the nation to decry the Republican president as a dictator or would-be king.

They criticized Trump for using the military to respond to those protesting his deportation efforts and for sending tanks, thousands of marching troops and military aircraft out for a show in the U.S. capital.

In Washington, anti-war protesters unfurled signs that said “Homes not drones” not far from a display of armored vehicles, helicopters and military-grade equipment on the National Mall set up to commemorate the Army’s birthday. Vendors outside the festival sold gear marking the military milestone. Others hawked Trump-themed merchandise.

Stephanie Scarbrough—AP Photo

Doug Haynes, a Navy veteran who voted for Trump, attended the daylong festival to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday, but said that the parade scheduled for later “was a little over the top.”

Pointing at a nearby tank, Haynes said that having them roll down the street is a “very bold statement to the world, perhaps.”

The military procession was set to step off from the Lincoln Memorial later Saturday, under the threat of stormy weather and to the accompaniment of protests elsewhere in the city.

Trump brushed off the possibility of both disruptions, with a social media post Saturday morning that said the “great military parade” would be on “rain or shine.” The protests, he said earlier, “will be met with very big force.” Hours ahead of the parade, crowds of protesters with anti-Trump signs marched toward the White House, escorted by police vehicles and officers on bicycles. Some held a giant banner that read: “TRUMP MUST GO NOW.”

The parade was added just a few weeks ago to the planned celebration of the Army’s birthday and has drawn criticism for its price tag of up to $45 million and the possibility that the lumbering tanks could tear up city streets. The Army has taken a variety of steps to protect the streets, including laying metal plates along the route.

About 6 in 10 Americans said Saturday’s parade was “not a good use” of government money. The vast majority of people, 78%, said they neither approve nor disapprove of the parade overall, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson—AP Photo

The daylong display of America’s Army comes as Trump has shown his willingness to use the nation’s military might in ways other U.S. presidents have typically avoided. In the last week, he has activated the California National Guard without the governor’s permission and dispatched the U.S. Marines to provide security during Los Angeles protests related to immigration raids, prompting a state lawsuit to stop the deployments.

He similarly sought to project military strength during his first presidential term, saying in 2020 that he wanted forces to “dominate” the streets following racial justice protests that turned violent and warning governors that he was prepared to send in active-duty fighters if they did not call out the National Guard in their states.

Earlier this week, Trump raised eyebrows during a speech at Fort Bragg when members of the 82nd Airborne Division, who were directed to stand behind Trump, booed and cheered during his incendiary remarks, including condemnation of his predecessor, Joe Biden. There also was a pop-up “Make America Great Again” merchandise stand nearby selling souvenirs to troops in uniform.

The Defense Department has a doctrine that prohibits troops from participating in political activity while in uniform. Members of Congress and military leaders have expressed concerns about the political displays during the speech at Fort Bragg.

Saturday’s pageantry was designed to fulfill Trump’s expressed desire for a big parade that he tried to get done in his first term after seeing one in Paris on Bastille Day in 2017. Trump said after watching the two-hour procession along the famed Champs-Élysées that he wanted an even grander one in Washington.

Saturday’s event is expected to include about 6,600 soldiers, 50 helicopters and 60-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks, as well as possibly 200,000 attendees and heightened security to match.

The parade will wind down Constitution Avenue, lined with security fencing and barriers. Army helicopters and aircraft will fly above, and the march will be capped off by a parachute jump, a concert featuring “God Bless the U.S.A.” singer Lee Greenwood and fireworks.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP Photo

It remained unclear whether any protests would disrupt the parade, though several hundred demonstrators assembled in the hours before. Officials have said they had no indication of any security threat.

“No Kings” rallies — organizers picked the name to support democracy and speak out against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration — unfolding in hundreds of cities — were meant to counter what organizers say are Trump’s plans to feed his ego on his 79th birthday and Flag Day.

Ahead of a rally and march toward the White House on Saturday afternoon, about 200 protesters assembled in northwest Washington’s Logan Circle and handed out signs and danced to upbeat music from a local street band, including “This Land Is Your Land.”

The mood was celebratory as the group chanted “Trump must go now” before erupting in cheers.

A larger-than-life puppet of Trump was wheeled through the crowd, a caricature of the president wearing a crown and sitting on a golden toilet.

Other protesters waved pride flags and hoisted signs, some with pointed messages such as “I prefer crushed ICE,” referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Other messages were: “The invasion was HERE Jan. 6th, NOT in L.A.” and “Flip me off if you’re a FASCIST.”

With rain expected, there was a chance the parade could be interrupted by thunderstorms.

The Army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend the festival and parade.

The parade is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT, but parts of it — including the horse-drawn caissons and other units — start at the Pentagon, head over a bridge and meet up with some of the heavier tanks and equipment. Officials did not want the more-than-60-ton M1A1 Abrams tanks and Stryker vehicles crossing the bridge.

Timed down to the minute, the march will be divided into sections by history — with equipment and troops in full dress from each period.

It will include a total of 6,169 soldiers and 128 Army tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery, while 62 aircraft fly overhead.

At the end of the parade, Trump will swear in 250 new or reenlisting troops, and the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team will jump onto the Mall. That will be followed by a concert and fireworks.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Julia Demaree Nikhinson—AP Photo

The Trump administration directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels, after President Donald Trump expressed alarm about the impact of aggressive enforcement, an official said Saturday.

The move follows weeks of increased enforcement since Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump’s immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump’s second term.

Tatum King, an official with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote regional leaders on Thursday to halt investigations of the agricultural industry, including meatpackers, restaurants and hotels, according to The New York Times.

A U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to The Associated Press the contents of the directive. The Homeland Security Department did not dispute it.

“We will follow the President’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokesperson, said when asked to confirm the directive.

The shift suggests Trump’s promise of mass deportations has limits if it threatens industries that rely on workers in the country illegally. Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he disapproved of how farmers and hotels were being affected.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he wrote. “In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

While ICE’s presence in Los Angeles has captured public attention and prompted Trump to deploy the California National Guard and Marines, immigration authorities have also been a growing presence at farms and factories across the country.

Farm bureaus in California say raids at packinghouses and fields are threatening businesses that supply much of the country’s food. Dozens of farmworkers were arrested after uniformed agents fanned out on farms northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, which is known for growing strawberries, lemons and avocados. Others are skipping work as fear spreads.

ICE made more than 70 arrests Tuesday at a food packaging company in Omaha, Nebraska. The owner of Glenn Valley Foods said the company was enrolled in a voluntary program to verify workers’ immigration status and that it was operating at 30% capacity as it scrambled to find replacements.

Tom Homan, the White House border czar, has repeatedly said ICE will send officers into communities and workplaces, particularly in “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit the agency’s access to local jails.

Sanctuary cities “will get exactly what they don’t want, more officers in the communities and more officers at the work sites,” Homan said Monday on Fox News Channel. “We can’t arrest them in the jail, we’ll arrest them in the community. If we can’t arrest them in community, we’re going to increase work site enforcement operation. We’re going to flood the zone.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Damian Dovarganes—AP Photo

• The major stock indices ended Friday mostly flat despite President Donald Trump claiming China had violated a trade agreement hammered out more than two weeks ago between the People’s Republic and the U.S. 

Stock markets finished the week on an even note despite President Donald Trump calling out China on social media. The S&P 500 posted a slight dip of 0.02%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.4%, and the Dow Jones was up just 0.1%. 

On Friday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social, his own social media platform, that his administration struck a “FAST DEAL” more than two weeks ago to ratchet down a trade war between the People’s Republic and the U.S. 

He was referring to an agreement hashed out between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese counterparts in Switzerland to institute a 90-day pause on U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports and reciprocal tariffs from China. The deal saw the U.S. agree to reduce the surcharge on Chinese products from 145% to 30%, and the People’s Republic pledging to drop its retaliatory taxes from 125% to 10%.

But Trump claimed on Friday, without providing any evidence, that China had “TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT” with the U.S. His allegation follows comments from Bessent Thursday evening on Fox News that negotiations between the two superpowers were “a bit stalled.”

Trump’s claims against China came on the heels of court rulings that found he lacked the authority to impose all of the extensive slate of tariffs he had unveiled in early April. 

On Wednesday, the Court of International Trade, the top federal legal body that oversees trade disputes in the U.S., ruled that the 47th president didn’t have the legal authority to issue the sweeping tariffs he announced on what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2.  

But, on Thursday, a federal appeals court said, without ruling on the taxes’ legal merits, that many of Trump’s tariffs could temporarily remain while litigation plays out. The next hearing on the case is on June 5.

“The President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it Economic and Financial harm. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump posted Thursday on Truth Social after the appeals ruling.

Despite the muddled picture on Trump’s trade war, stocks were still up since markets opened last Friday. The S&P 500 has increased about 2.2% over the past week. (They were closed for Memorial Day on Monday.) Over the weekend, the president declared, after threatening the European Union with a 50% tariff, that he would delay implementing the taxes on European exports until July 9.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© ALLISON ROBBERT—AFP/Getty Images

• A 57-year-old man who has been named as a suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers worked at a private-security company that says he has been involved in “security situations” around the world, including in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The suspect remains at large, and a manhunt is underway across the Minneapolis area.

The suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers on Saturday worked at a private-security company that claims he has experience around the world.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman, 55 years old, and her husband were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home. Elsewhere in Champlin, state Sen. John Hoffman, 60, and his wife were also shot at home and are recovering after undergoing surgery. Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as “an act of targeted political violence.”

State authorities said they are looking for 57-year-old Vance Boelter, who remains at large with a manhunt underway across the Minneapolis area. 

According to the website for his company Praetorian Guard Security Services, Boelter is listed as director of security patrols, while his wife is listed as president and CEO.

“Dr. Vance Boelter has been involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip,” the site says. “He brings a great security aspect forged by both many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the U.S. Military.”

Another member of Praetorian’s leadership team includes a security training manager who is described as a retired undercover officer.

The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Law enforcement officials said a dark SUV with police lights was parked at Hortman’s home when they responded to the shooting, adding that a man dressed like a police officer was inside and opened fire on Brooklyn Park police officers before fleeing.

Praetorian’s website also says Boelter has worked for “the world’s largest food company based in Switzerland and the world’s largest convenience retailer based in Japan.”

That appears to align with a LinkedIn profile with Boelter’s name and photo that includes prior jobs as a supervisor at Nestle and a 7-Eleven general manager.

It doesn’t mention Praetorian Guard or any prior military experience, but lists his current job as CEO of Red Lion Group in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Minnesota Star Tribune cited an online video from two years ago that appears to show Boelter preaching in Congo and telling a congregation, “I met Jesus when I was 17 years old and I gave my life to him.”

The LinkedIn page also says Boelter has a doctorate in leadership and a master of science in management from Cardinal Stritch University. It says he has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from St. Cloud State University.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

© Alex Kormann—Star Tribune via AP