France Faces 'Moment of Truth', Elon Musk's Fortune & Biometric Border System Woes

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes. On today's podcast: (1) French Prime Minister Michel Barnier warned lawmakers that France has reached its "moment of truth," as far-right leader Marine Le Pen is set to join a left-wing coalition to topple his government as soon as this week. (2) The UK doesn't need to trade off its special relationship with the US against its European alliances, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, despite concern that President-elect Donald Trump's plans to ramp-up tariffs will drive a wedge between the allies. (3) SpaceX is in discussions to sell insider shares that could boost the value of Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company to around $350 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. (4) Elon Musk's record-setting Tesla Inc. pay package was struck down once again by a Delaware judge, threatening to wrest billions of dollars from the world's richest person and one of Donald Trump's closest confidants. The stock options package was initially worth $2.6 billion and spiked to $56 billion by the time the judge cancelled it. The package was worth $101.5 billion at Monday's closing price. (5) Previously unreported documents show how the rollout of a landmark new EU biometric border system has been dogged by financial and technical problems that have led to multiple delays. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.