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\u27a1\ufe0f Did someone forward you this email? If you would like to receive this information directly, every morning before the markets open in New York, <\/strong>sign up here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeff Bezos won\u2019t pretend he didn\u2019t see this day coming. Sure, when he was sitting in his Bellevue, Washington, garage in 1995, at a makeshift desk made from a wooden door, he probably wasn\u2019t imagining that his nascent online bookshop would grow into the largest company in the world. Instead, he may have been puzzling over how to set up extension cords to keep his computers and servers running without tripping his home\u2019s circuit breakers. Or he may have been mulling over changing the name of his tiny startup, then called Cadabra, to Amazon.<\/span><\/p>\n And anyhow, Bezos said, sitting at that original door-desk in his study in Washington, D.C., bigness was never the point. \u201cI don\u2019t want us to take pride in being big,\u201d <\/span>Bezos told <\/span>Fortune<\/span><\/i><\/a>. \u201cI want us to take pride in servicing customers. And it turns out, if you service customers really well, that will drive growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The corporations on <\/span>our annual list of the world’s 500 largest companies<\/span><\/a> generated $43.1 trillion in combined revenue in 2025, up 3.2% from the previous year. Together, they employ 70.2 million people, and their revenue represents more than one-third of the world\u2019s GDP. The Global 500 earned $3.39 trillion in profit in its most profitable year ever. Amazon overtook Walmart at the top of the list this year, ending the latter\u2019s 12-year run.<\/span><\/p>\n But perhaps the real story is the rise inside the Fortune 500 of chipmakers like Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor, and Chinese companies like Tencent and Alibaba. Fortune subscribers get early access to <\/span>the full list<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n U.S. futures were down only marginally prior to the open in New York after European markets eked out some gains, perhaps signaling a pause in the collapse of semiconductor stocks globally that we\u2019ve seen over the last 24 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dutch chipmaker ASML declined 5.80% yesterday and is down another 3.48% in overnight trading, after CXMT debuted on the stock market in China. Micron, Intel, and TSMC all took hits as well. CXMT also gave up 4% today\u2014but that came after a runup of nearly 500% yesterday. On South Korea\u2019s highly volatile KOSPI, SK Hynix lost 14.65% and Samsung declined 13.39%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHaving undercut everything from steel to cars, it now looks like China is coming for the chip fabricators,\u201d Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp of trading platform IG told <\/span>Fortune<\/span><\/i> in an email. \u201cNothing is more likely to prompt a rout in a tech name than suggestions that China is poised to produce a homegrown version.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe chip selloff went global overnight,\u201d the strategy team at Saxo said this morning. \u201cMounting doubts over returns on AI capital spending sent semiconductors lower for a third session, with MSCI’s Asia Pacific gauge dropping as much as 3.6% to its lowest since May. Nvidia’s fresh round of deals worth more than $750 billion has raised questions over circular funding, <\/span>and a report<\/span><\/a> that a Chinese state-backed firm [as yet unnamed] has begun mass-producing immersion DUV lithography machines added a competitive threat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sixteen percent of companies have reported Q2 earnings so far and 91% have exceeded expectations, according to Morgan Stanley. So why is the S&P 500 still sitting some way below its all-time high? Investors are nervous that we\u2019re near the top, according to Lisa Shalett and her team at the bank. \u201cInvestors are starting to suspect we are reaching peaks,\u201d she said in a note on Monday. \u201cWe consider weak price reaction to seemingly good news very noteworthy; it could signal investor sentiment that has grown more focused on profit sustainability, cash flows, margins and peaking rates of change.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Record heat gives way to winter gas fears in Europe, Asia as Iran war rages on<\/span><\/a> – Jordan Blum<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018The UAE has been a fantastic investor\u2019: Jeff Zucker hails UAE partnership after Banijay merger<\/a> – Melissa Hancock\u00a0<\/p>\n China\u2019s exports are so huge they\u2019re now lowering inflation in other countries<\/span><\/a> – Eleanor Pringle<\/span><\/p>\n Gen Z say selling their secondhand stuff online is teaching them more about business than college\u2014and 85% of hiring managers agree<\/span><\/a> – Orianna Rosa Royle<\/span><\/p>\n Can a global car company survive today’s complicated world? Nissan hopes to find out<\/span><\/a> – Andrew Staples<\/span><\/p>\n How Wistron\u2019s early Nvidia bet made it an unsung winner of the AI boom\u2014and one of the biggest risers on this year’s Global 500<\/span><\/a> – Nicholas Gordon\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This CEO was bedridden 16 hours a day. She turned her own misdiagnosis into a self-funded, multimillion-dollar thyroid clinic<\/span><\/a> – Sydney Lake<\/span><\/p>\n There are signs that peace talks between the U.S. and Iran<\/b> might be more fruitful this time around, and fighting between the two remained suspended for a third straight night. White House sources told Axios that advisers to President Trump are considering whether Iran might be persuaded to compromise if the U.S. lifted sanctions on the country:<\/span><\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Benjamin Netanyahu<\/b> will meet Trump<\/span><\/a> in Washington today. The meeting could be a difficult one\u2014Israel wants to continue the war and finish the regime in Tehran, but the ongoing talks suggest Trump wants a resolution to the conflict.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the table:<\/b> a proposal from Oman<\/span><\/a> that it and Iran jointly supervise the Strait of Hormuz and charge nominal fees for safe passage.<\/span><\/p>\n The U.S. also has an economic incentive to end the war.<\/b> Iran has shown that it can close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in addition to the Hormuz, via its Houthi proxy group in Yemen. Losing access to both seaways would hurt the U.S. economy, according to Jason Pride and Michael Reynolds of asset manager Glenmede. \u201cA closure of the Bab el-Mandeb would mark a step change, instead weighing on GDP by an estimated 0.4% and lifting inflation by 0.7%,\u201d they said in a note to <\/span>Fortune<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n London is the city with the world\u2019s most expensive monthly public transport pass, estimated at over $250 by Deutsche Bank. And it\u2019s not even close. The next most expensive cities in which to commute daily are Sydney and New York, which are both nearer the $150 level.<\/span><\/p>\n Luxembourg is the cheapest place: Public transport there is free, a policy that makes it No.1 on Deutsche\u2019s quality-of-life ranking.<\/span><\/p>\n The share of capacity for stored liquid natural gas in Europe\u2014an unusually low level, according to Massimo Di Odoardo of Wood Mackenzie. \u201cEven under the best-case scenario, Europe enters the [winter] heating season at 75% capacity against a 90% five-year average,\u201d he said in a note.\u00a0 Prices are up 50% since June 12, due to the war. \u201cThe supply gap will not close quickly. No significant new [liquid natural gas] supply is expected over the next 9 to 12 months, with new Qatari capacity not online before the second half of 2027. Some emerging Asian economies face demand destruction, not just price pain. Wealthier nations can absorb the cost. Lower-income markets cannot,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Nvidia bets $5bn on Ilya Sutskever\u2019s AI breakthrough<\/span><\/a> – FT<\/span><\/p>\n Canadians’ travel pullback costs U.S. tourism billions<\/span><\/a> – Axios<\/span><\/p>\n Supreme Court approval hits record low as Republicans\u2019 support declines<\/span><\/a> – CNBC<\/span><\/p>\n Judge blocks Minnesota\u2019s first-in-nation ban on prediction markets run by Kalshi, Polymarket<\/span><\/a> – Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n Meta Is Fighting a Mountain of Social-Media Lawsuits\u2014at Just the Wrong Time<\/span><\/a> – WSJ<\/span><\/p>\nFORTUNE GLOBAL 500<\/h3>\n
Jeff Bezos on how his garage startup became the largest company in the world<\/b><\/h2>\n
See the Fortune Global 500 here:<\/b><\/h2>\n
THE MARKETS<\/h3>\n
China\u2019s CXMT wipes the floor with rival chipmakers<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Traders are nervous we\u2019re near the top, Morgan Stanley says<\/b><\/h2>\n
MORE FROM FORTUNE<\/h3>\n
IRAN<\/h3>\n
White House considers whether carrots may be more effective than sticks with Iran<\/b><\/h2>\n
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CHART OF THE DAY<\/h3>\n
The most and least expensive cities for public transport\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
NUMBER OF THE DAY: GAS SUPPLIES<\/h3>\n
54%<\/b><\/h2>\n
THE FRONT PAGES TODAY<\/h3>\n