Jeff Bezos awards Eva Longoria and Admiral Bill McRaven with $100 million

TheStreet’s J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Friday, March 15.

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J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

Stocks were in the red to close out today's session. The Dow closed down 190 points, the Nasdaq closed nearly 1 percent lower, and the S&P closed six tenths of a percent lower.

Inflation remains a top concern for investors following back-to-back hotter than expected inflation reports. Wall Street is looking ahead to the Fed meeting which kicks off on March 19th and concludes on the 20th with comments from Chair Jerome Powell. Investors are nearly certain the central bank will hold interest rates steady for another straight month.

In other news, actress Eva Longoria and retired Navy Admiral Bill McRaven are this year’s recipients of the Bezos Courage and Civility Award. The pair will each receive $50 million from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez.

The award, which has been handed out since 2021, is given to those who attempt to find solutions to tough problems, try to unite people, and embrace civility. Longoria is a champion for education and entrepreneurship in Latino communities, while McRaven serves on the board of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

The first recipients of the award were CNN’s Van Jones and chef Jose Andres - each of them received $100 million. Dolly Parton was the lone winner in 2022, and there was no recipient last year.

In 2022, Jeff Bezos promised to give away the majority of what is currently a $200 billion fortune. According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, he is, for the time being, the second richest person in the world - behind only LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.

That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.