Mark Zuckerberg told Meta’s board he may leave California to avoid the billionaire wealth tax voters decide in 12 days.

Zuckerberg told Meta’s board he may leave California to avoid a wealth tax voters decide in 12 days. The US and Israel have a post-midterm Iran strike plan. Super Typhoon Champi is heading toward Taiwan. Here is Thursday.

Mark Zuckerberg told Meta’s board he is considering moving his primary residence out of California to avoid Prop 40, the one-time billionaire wealth tax on the ballot in 12 days. He would have to sell Meta stock to pay it.

Mark Zuckerberg disclosed in a Meta financial document that he would need to sell Meta stock to pay the 5% one-time wealth tax under California’s Prop 40 if voters approve it on November 3, and told Meta’s board of directors he was considering moving his primary residence out of California, presumably to try to avoid the tax.

Zuckerberg’s net worth is approximately $246 billion. A 5% one-time tax on that would be roughly $12.3 billion. Prop 40 has a specific legal structure: residency is fixed as of January 1, 2026, meaning a billionaire who was in California on New Year’s Day owes the tax if voters approve it, even if they move before the vote or before the payment date. Zuckerberg’s disclosure that he is considering leaving is a real-time demonstration of the wealth tax debate’s central empirical dispute: whether the threat of taxation actually causes billionaires to leave, or whether the announcement of departure is a negotiating posture. The Google founders moved to Florida earlier this year. Zuckerberg is now discussing it openly in a board document. Each departure reduces the tax base, which is why Prop 40 opponents say the measure could raise less than projected. Each announcement of potential departure is also a political message delivered directly into a campaign that is 12 days from its verdict.

The US and Israel have a post-midterm plan for a possible strike on Iran. Brent crude hit $111 on the news. The midterm elections are 12 days away.

NPR reported Thursday that the US and Israel are planning for a possible strike on Iran following the November 4 midterm elections, with a person briefed on war planning telling NPR the plan exists. Brent crude surged to over $111 per barrel on the news and continued geopolitical tensions.

Iran has been the central geopolitical fact of 2026. The US-Israel war against Iran began February 28. The Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted since March. Gas has been above $4 per gallon for a record number of days. Two-thirds of Americans want the war ended. The Trump administration struck the Russian diesel deal in October partially to offset oil prices. Trump has repeatedly said publicly that Iran still has cards to play and has not been defeated. A post-midterm attack plan, reported 12 days before the election, has a specific political logic: acting on it after the vote avoids having it be a campaign issue, but reporting it before the vote makes it one anyway. Brent at $111 on the news confirms what oil markets already believe: another escalation with Iran pushes prices higher. The record 158 days above $4 at the pump could extend well into winter.

Super Typhoon Champi passed within 10 miles of Guam with Category 5-equivalent winds and is now heading toward Taiwan and the northern Philippines. It is forecast to be the world’s seventh Category 5 storm of 2026.

Super Typhoon Champi passed within approximately 10 miles of the southern tip of Guam Saturday with winds the National Weather Service called “extremely dangerous” and “life-threatening,” before tracking northwest across the Philippine Sea toward Taiwan, where it is forecast to make its closest approach around October 23 to 24, according to forecasters Thursday. It is the third typhoon to affect the Mariana Islands this year and is forecast to intensify further before landfall.

Typhoons are the Western Pacific name for the same type of storm as Atlantic hurricanes and Eastern Pacific cyclones — rotating tropical systems that build energy from warm ocean water. This year’s Pacific storm season has been extraordinary: 2026 is already the most energetic Pacific hurricane season on record, with the El Niño climate pattern amplifying the intensity of storms across the region. This brief covered Hurricane Polo on October 15, which a climate study found was the longest-lasting Category 5 Pacific storm on record, made 23 times more likely by climate change. Champi is forecast to become the season’s seventh Category 5 storm, approaching Taiwan, a geopolitically sensitive island already on high alert following China’s live-fire drills two weeks ago, with the potential for destructive winds, flooding, and mudslides in northern Luzon, the Philippines. The storm does not care about the political context of its landfall. The people who live in its path do.

The United States designated a new national park on Thursday, the first designation in years.

The US designated a new national park on Thursday, according to AP reporting, adding to the 63 units that currently make up the national park system.

The United States has 63 national parks, managed by the National Park Service, which was founded in 1916. National parks are the highest designation for public land protection, distinct from national monuments, national recreation areas, and national forests, which have different rules about development and use. A new national park designation typically follows years of advocacy, congressional legislation, and presidential action. The last national park designation was New River Gorge in West Virginia, which became the 63rd national park in 2020. Thursday’s new designation, whose specific name and location the AP reported as Thursday’s top story, is a rare act of land conservation in an administration that has otherwise emphasized energy production on federal lands. The details of which area received the designation and what protections it carries will determine its long-term significance.

Pope Leo ended his cancer treatment on Thursday. Nine days ago he had part of his lung removed.

Pope Leo XIV completed his post-operative cancer treatment on Thursday, approximately nine days after surgery on October 13 removed the lower lobe of his right lung following a confirmed diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma.

Leo has recovered at a pace that surprised many observers. He was diagnosed during surgery on October 13, left Gemelli Hospital on October 17, appeared at a Vatican window on October 19 thanking well-wishers, and completed treatment on October 22. His lead surgeon said on October 17 that Leo could be fully recovered in time for his planned Latin America tour on November 6 to 17, with stops in Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. The Vatican has not yet confirmed the cancer’s stage, which determines whether surgery was sufficient treatment or whether further intervention will be needed. What Thursday confirmed is that the post-operative treatment phase, the immediate medical management following the surgery, has concluded. He is 71 years old. He had part of his lung removed nine days ago. He is done with treatment. The 12 days until his Latin America departure is now the next medical milestone to watch.

Elon Musk said Thursday that Tesla and SpaceX could merge. He runs both. Tesla is public. SpaceX is worth $350 billion and is not.

Elon Musk said Thursday that a merger between Tesla and SpaceX was possible as he discussed the companies’ relationship, following Tesla’s third-quarter earnings report. Tesla cut its 2026 capital spending plan to approximately $20 billion from more than $25 billion and announced its Robotaxi service is targeted to launch in Dallas next month.

Elon Musk is the CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, which are technically separate companies. Tesla is publicly traded on the Nasdaq. SpaceX is privately held, valued at approximately $350 billion in its most recent private funding round, and has been preparing for a public offering. A merger between a public company and a private company of that scale would be one of the largest corporate transactions in American history and would require shareholder approval from Tesla’s investors. The specific mechanics, what Tesla shareholders would receive, how SpaceX’s valuation would be established for exchange purposes, and whether the combined entity would stay public, have not been spelled out. Musk raising the possibility during a Tesla earnings call is a specific kind of corporate communication: it creates optionality, generates interest, and signals that the two companies’ futures are linked in Musk’s mind in ways that go beyond their current shared reliance on Starlink. Tesla’s Robotaxi launching in Dallas next month is the near-term test of whether the autonomous driving promise the company has been making for years actually works in an American city.

Private equity buyouts of hospital systems are linked to measurably worse emergency care outcomes, according to new research. The number of private equity-owned hospitals has more than doubled since 2010.

Medical policy researchers released new findings Thursday showing a direct correlation between private equity buyouts of regional hospital systems and measurable worsening of emergency care patient outcomes, adding to a body of evidence examining what happens to healthcare quality when financial investors take ownership of hospitals.

Private equity is a form of investment where firms buy companies, typically using borrowed money, with the goal of improving operations and selling at a profit within a few years. When applied to hospitals, the model has generated significant controversy: hospitals have higher patient volumes, more stable revenue, and less competitive pressure than most businesses, making them attractive to investors, but they also provide essential services where cost-cutting has direct patient consequences. Emergency care in particular is difficult to reduce in volume or staff without affecting outcomes, because emergencies are not scheduled and cannot be deferred. The finding that private equity ownership correlates with worse emergency outcomes arrives in a healthcare landscape where the Trump administration has cut Medicaid spending and California voters are about to decide whether to tax their billionaires to fund healthcare. The research adds a specific empirical finding to a political debate about who owns healthcare in America and what they owe the communities where their hospitals operate.

The average American renter now needs 16 years to save for a down payment and closing costs. In 2016 it took nine years. The math has broken.

A new analysis found that the average renter household in the United States now needs 16 years to save enough for a home down payment and closing costs, up from approximately nine years a decade ago and representing a fundamental shift in the accessibility of homeownership for the majority of Americans.

A down payment is typically 20% of a home’s purchase price, though some loan programs allow lower amounts with additional insurance costs. Closing costs are fees paid at the time of purchase, typically 2-5% of the purchase price. Together they represent the upfront cash a buyer must have before a mortgage covers the rest. The doubling of the savings timeline from nine years to 16 years is the result of two forces moving in opposite directions: home prices have increased substantially faster than incomes, and interest rates rose to their highest levels in decades, further reducing purchasing power. A renter saving for a home while simultaneously paying rent is trying to save against an appreciating target: every year of saving is also a year during which home prices may increase, requiring more savings. Sixteen years is not a number that describes a temporary affordability problem. It describes a structural shift in who gets to own a home in the United States and under what circumstances. The people who already own are building equity. The people who are renting are watching the gap widen one month at a time.

The thread underneath Thursday

Zuckerberg told Meta’s board he is considering leaving California before voters decide on Prop 40 in 12 days, disclosing he would need to sell roughly $12 billion in Meta stock to pay the 5% one-time wealth tax if approved. The US and Israel have a post-midterm plan for a possible strike on Iran, with Brent crude surging above $111 on the report and 12 days remaining before the vote. Super Typhoon Champi near-missed Guam with Category 5 equivalent winds, is now heading toward Taiwan and the northern Philippines, and is forecast to become the season’s seventh Category 5 storm in the world’s most energetic Pacific typhoon season on record. The US designated a new national park. Pope Leo completed his post-operative cancer treatment nine days after lung surgery, on track for his November Latin America tour. Elon Musk raised the possibility of merging Tesla and SpaceX while Tesla announced its Robotaxi service is targeting a Dallas launch next month. New research found private equity hospital buyouts directly correlate with worse emergency care outcomes. The average renter now needs 16 years to save for a down payment. California state workers staged a one-day strike. Trump merchandise stores are closing.

Eight sections, 12 days until the midterms. Brent is at $111. The typhoon is heading for Taiwan. See you tomorrow.

What to watch tomorrow: Watch whether the US government provides any detail or denial of the post-midterm Iran strike plan, because a report that the US and Israel are actively planning a new military action against Iran 12 days before an election is the kind of story that demands an official response, and the administration’s posture on it will shape both the final stretch of the campaign and the diplomatic signals Iran receives. Watch Super Typhoon Champi’s track as it approaches Taiwan and the Philippines, because a storm forecast to intensify further before a landfall on a geopolitically sensitive island requires close tracking. Watch whether any California billionaires beyond Zuckerberg publicly announce they are considering leaving before the November 3 vote, because each departure announcement shifts the Prop 40 debate from abstract economics to concrete examples. And watch Tesla’s Robotaxi announcement for any Dallas launch date confirmation, because Musk has promised fully autonomous vehicles for years and an actual public service launch would be the most concrete demonstration yet of whether the technology works outside controlled testing. See you tomorrow.

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