A $1 slice of Apple, WeWork's $2 million settlement, and Michael Bloomberg's ad spree

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Hello!

Imagine the following scenario: You're a first time investor who wants to start trading on a fancy new app you've downloaded to your iPhone. But your dream investment, Apple, has a stock price of around $310, more than the $200 you've put aside to start investing.

Enter: fractional-share trading.

As Dan DeFrancesco and Rebecca Ungarino report this week:

At a time when some of the most popular stocks are at all-time highs, fractional-share trading allows customer exposure to companies they might not typically be able to afford whole shares in. Consider shares of Amazon, trading this week north of $2,000.

Interactive Brokers, Robinhood and Fidelity have launched an offering in recent months, and Charles Schwab says it plans to.

Dan and Rebecca talked to nearly a dozen insiders and executives about the rise of fractional-share trading in mainstream retail investing to understand who wins, who loses, and what it says about the industry today. You can read their story here.

And you can read more about the strategy at Interactive Brokers, which has consistently led the way in introducing new features like fractional-share trading, right here.

In related news, Morgan Stanley this week announced a $13 billion deal to buy E-Trade. Rebecca broke down why the Wall Street bank, which has 15,000-plus financial advisers catering to the super-wealthy, is buying a discount broker known for its talking baby ads.

And Dan talked to industry insiders who said the deal could kick off a buying spree for wealth-management fintechs. He explained why banks could be ready to "open up their pocketbooks" and what it means for startup valuations.

wework sexual harrassment real estate 4x3

Elsewhere this week, Meghan Morris, Julie Bort, and Dakin Campbell reported that WeWork paid over $2 million to a woman who threatened to expose claims of sex, illegal drugs, and discrimination in a horrifying 50-page document.

From their story:

The story is the result of a months-long investigation, in which they spoke with 18 current and former executives and employees who were either involved with the company's investigation or familiar with the real estate team more broadly, revealed how the department escaped scrutiny for years. Business Insider also learned of several other WeWork settlements while investigating these claims.

You can read the full story here.

Lastly, Patrick Coffee, Lauren Johnson, and Tanya Dua had a string of stories this week on the advertising pros operating Michael Bloomberg's political advertising machine.

Happy reading!

-- Matt

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