Snitches get riches: Inside the SEC whistleblower boom

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Hello, and happy Sunday! Here’s what’s on the radar today:

• Jaguar’s risky rebrand: A polarizing campaign sparks buzz ahead of its EV relaunch.

• Black Friday spending spree: Americans defy inflation to embrace the shopping tradition.

• Streaming crushes cable: Gen Z turns away from traditional TV in record numbers.

• Amazon’s $75B AI push: The tech giant doubles down on Anthropic and AWS investments.

• SEC whistleblower windfalls: Snitches are cashing in big, with payouts reaching $82M.

Jaguar's Rebrand: Copy Nothing or Crash Everything?

Jaguar’s recent rebrand 🐆🪄🎨 and "Copy Nothing" campaign have stirred plenty of conversation — some loving, some loathing. The brand’s flashy, car-free ad, filled with phrases like "Create exuberant" and "Delete ordinary," feels more LinkedIn-influencer than luxury carmaker. But it’s all part of Jaguar’s bid to reinvent itself ahead of its 2026 electric vehicle relaunch.

Despite being branded a "disasterclass" by critics, the campaign has done what it set out to do: get people talking. Google searches for "Jaguar cars" spiked to a five-year high during the campaign’s debut week.

Jaguar’s MD, Rawdon Glover, doubled down on the approach, telling the Financial Times that the company is deliberately avoiding the traditional automaker playbook: "If we play in the same way, we’ll get drowned out."

With three EVs slated for 2026 and an exclusive Miami car reveal in December, Jaguar is leaning into bold moves to secure its place in the modern EV market. Whether the campaign’s a win or a misstep, it’s undeniably put the spotlight on the 90-year-old brand.

Black Friday Spending Defies Global Crises

Despite inflation and ongoing global crises like the war in Ukraine, Americans are still swiping their cards for deals. 💳 🛍️ According to a Deloitte report, average per-consumer spending during Thanksgiving weekend is expected to jump 15% year-over-year, hitting around $650 between November 28 and December 2.

Retailers and e-commerce platforms have been fueling the frenzy with heavy marketing, and it’s paying off. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports that 200 million customers shopped over the five-day period last year, up from 197 million in 2022. Black Friday remains the top shopping day, with Cyber Monday and Saturday trailing close behind.

Interestingly, while Cyber Monday was coined relatively recently in 2005, Black Friday has roots dating back to the 1950s. Initially a term coined by Philadelphia police to describe post-Thanksgiving traffic chaos, it evolved into a positive reference for businesses entering the "black" (profit) by the 1980s. One thing’s for sure: the spending tradition shows no signs of slowing.

Goodbye Cable: Gen Z Turns Off Traditional TV

Streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime have taken over screens across the U.S., leaving traditional TV struggling to stay relevant—especially among younger audiences. 📺 🙅 According to Nielsen, adults aged 18-34 watch less than five hours of live or timeshifted TV weekly, while those 65 and older clock in over 40 hours. That’s nearly ten times more.

The shift is even more dramatic when considering how many young adults skip traditional TV altogether. Statista reports that half of 18-to-24-year-olds in the U.S. don’t watch any traditional TV, compared to just 29% of those aged 55-64. If younger generations are any indicator, traditional TV is rapidly losing its grip on the future of entertainment.

$75 Billion and Counting: Amazon’s Relentless AI Push

Amazon is pulling no punches in the AI race. After dropping $4 billion on Anthropic earlier this year, the company doubled its stake in the AI startup last week, bringing its total investment to $8 billion. 💰📈 Anthropic, which recently launched its AI assistant Claude, claims it can outshine OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro in writing, coding, and even deciphering humor.

But Amazon isn’t just funding startups—it’s spending big on the infrastructure needed to power its AI ambitions. The company’s capital expenditures are expected to hit a record $75 billion this year, most of it poured into AWS data centers and custom chips. That’s part of a broader Big Tech trend: Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet collectively spent nearly $60 billion on capital investments in Q3 alone, a 59% jump from last year. car

AWS is the engine behind Amazon’s AI play, driving two-thirds of its operating profit despite making up just 16% of its revenue in 2023. And the spending spree isn’t slowing down anytime soon. CEO Andy Jassy described the investments as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” with plans to ramp up even further in 2025.

Snitching Pays: SEC Whistleblowers Score Big Bucks

Turns out, there’s a new way to make it big on Wall Street: whistleblowing. In fiscal year 2024, the SEC dished out over $255 million to 47 whistleblowers, including a whopping $98 million shared between two individuals. One walked away with $82 million—the kind of life-changing cash that’s hard to earn through talent, luck, or even a killer work ethic.

Here’s the kicker: $98 million doesn’t even crack the top five payouts in SEC history. The biggest? A jaw-dropping $279 million linked to a bribery case against Ericsson. 😲 Since its launch in 2011, the SEC’s whistleblower program has rewarded over $2.2 billion to 444 individuals, averaging around $5 million each. Not bad for spilling the beans.

People are catching on. The SEC received nearly 25,000 tips in 2024, with two prolific individuals submitting more than half of them. With awards ranging from 10% to 30% of enforcement sanctions over $1 million, it’s no wonder they’re trying their luck.

As the saying goes, snitches get riches—and with payouts like these, it’s easy to see why.