10 Weekend Reads – The Big Picture

• JPMorgan’s Risky, 5-Day Dash to Help Warner Bros. Split in Two: Offering creditors a deal that would leave them with billions less than they were owed, despite the notes having an investment-grade rating. The bankers used a novel strategy, including a rushed five-day deadline and an “anti-boycott” provision, to force an agreement and prevent creditors from organizing opposition to the deal. The strategy worked, with more than half of bondholders agreeing to the new terms, and Warner Bros. was able to split itself into two companies, despite its massive debt load. (Bloomberg)

• Why Vanguard, Champion of Low-Fee Investing, Joined the ‘Private Markets’ Craze: Traditional money managers, after years of cutting fees, look to tap in to higher-cost private investments. (Wall Street Journal) see also Vanguard will soon crush fees for even more investors. Pity the firm’s rivals (Economist)

• From eight-year-old ‘influencers’ to trans anarchists, today’s gun owners aren’t who you think: The demographics of gun ownership are changing, with a huge uptick in Black and Latino people, women and members of the LGBTQ community. Meanwhile, gun influencers are getting younger and younger. Holly Baxter speaks with the people at the forefront of the change — and considers how high a price people feel they have to pay for freedom. (The Independent)

• American Mid: Hampton Inn’s Good-Enough Formula for World Domination: Hampton has become the largest US chain, and a global export, by being rigorously OK. The waffle makers are standing by. (Businessweek)

• Out of space: Picturing the big, crowded business of satellite internet: Space-based internet is remaking Earth’s orbit — and fueling a gold rush. (Rest Of World)

• A Shrinking Housing Market Means Upheaval for Buyers: Big companies like Compass, Rocket, and Zillow are trying to create one-stop shopping venues for home buyers. (Barron’s)

• The Rough Road to Rio: An MG Adventure for the Ages: By June 19, 1954, the day Frank Baker and Gérard Fabry arrived in their MG TD at the northwest border of Guatemala, the wet-season rains of the Southern Hemisphere were in full swing. All the first-year Harvard Business students wanted was to get to Brazil, but their timing could not have been worse. Already 16 days and 5000 miles into their trip, as they idled in the downpour at the guard station, the real adventure was just beginning—one that would press their and the car’s limits. What happened next is a story that has outlived them both. (Hagerty)

• What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues. Six traits can determine your ‘it’ factor, according to researchers who measured coolness around the globe. (New York Times) see also Cool People: What does it mean to be a cool person? Is being cool the same thing as being good? Do the attributes of cool people vary across cultures? We answer these questions by investigating which values and personality traits are associated with cool people and whether these same attributes are associated with good people. (American Psychological Association)

• Why Can’t Americans Sleep? Insomnia has become a public-health emergency. (The Atlantic)

• This Is Not the Way We Usually Imagine the World Will End: Stars passing close to the sun could cause planets to collide, including with Earth, or even be ejected as rogue planets, new simulations show. (New York Times)