President Biden on Friday said he believes the Equal Rights Amendment is the "law of the land" as the U.S. Constitution's 28th Amendment — though with only days left in his term, his power on the issue is not immediately clear.

Why it matters: The measure proposed more than a century ago would guarantee equal rights, legally, regardless of sex. The president claims it has met the standards to become part of the constitution, which would require the National Archivist to formally publish or certify it.

• The Biden administration did not immediately respond to Axios' request.
• Last month, the U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan said that the ERA could not be certified because of "established legal, judicial and procedural decisions" and called on new action from Congress.
• "The underlying legal and procedural issues have not changed," a spokesperson for the National Archives said in a statement to Axios.

What he's saying: "I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex," Biden said in a Friday statement.

• "We, as a nation, must affirm and protect women's full equality once and for all."
• The American Bar Association said the amendment has passed all hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution, Biden said on Friday.

Context: Reproductive rights organizations and advocates have backed the ERA to establish sexual health protections as GOP states limit abortion access, and especially after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

• In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the measure. Proposed amendments become part of the Constitution after being ratified by at least 38 states.,

Between the lines: Just before Virginia ratified the amendment, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel during President-elect Trump's first term issued a memo claiming it considered the ERA expired since a 1982 ratification deadline was missed.

• The same office affirmed that decision in 2022 in another opinion.

Congress first passed the amendment in 1972 with a 7-year ratification deadline in its preamble (The deadline was extended by three years). By 1982, only 35 stated had ratified the ERA.

Go deeper: Biden jabs at Trump in farewell address, but pledges peaceful transition

President Biden plans to write a book after leaving office, the White House confirmed to Axios, giving him an opportunity to try and shape the narrative around his presidency and the tumultuous weeks leading to his historic withdrawal from the 2024 race.

Why it matters: There's a glut of reporting coming out on Biden's fateful decision to run again in 2024 and ultimately step aside after his disastrous debate with President-elect Trump — most of it unflattering to the 82-year-old president.

• Biden's own version of those events has hardly registered, beyond his contentious claims that he could have beaten Trump.
• If the book project comes to fruition, it will be a chance for Biden to lay out, in full, his views on what he accomplished and why he handled the 2024 cycle the way he did.
• NBC News first reported that Biden was planning a book. A White House spokesperson confirmed the plans but did not provide additional details.

Between the lines: Biden was remarkably successful at holding his party together and passing consequential legislation during most of his term. He continues to contend that history will look kindly upon his four years in office.

• But he's leaving under a cloud, and handing power back to the man he vanquished in 2020 and condemned as a danger to American democracy.
• A widespread belief has set in among Democrats that by clinging on for too long, Biden helped doom his party — and the country — to a second Trump presidency.
• Biden, his family members, and some of his longtime aides disagree. He told USA Today last week that he still thinks he would have beaten Trump, while conceding he's not certain he could have handled the rigors of the presidency for four more years given his age.

• Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon's 2024 comp rose 26% from the year prior, the firm said Friday.
• The Wall Street CEO will be paid $39 million for 2024, up from $31 million in 2023.
• He and Goldman's president, John Waldron, stand to earn millions more over the next 5 years.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and his top deputy, President and COO John Waldron, stand to make millions if they continue to run the bank over the next five years, according to new compensation figures released Friday.

On Friday, the bank released pay details for its top leaders in a regulatory filing. It said Solomon received a roughly 26% bump in pay over last year, with his 2024 compensation totaling $39 million. The bank split that out across a base salary of $2 million, performance stock units of Goldman equity amounting to $25.9 million, an incentive bonus of $2.78 million, and a cash portion of $8.33 million.

Solomon and Waldron each received $80 million in restricted stock units that vest over a five-year period — a sign that the bank plans to keep them around for at least the next half decade. The bank called them "retention RSUs," suggesting its intent on hanging on to Goldman's two top leaders.

"The Retention RSUs reflect the Board's desire to retain the current CEO and COO as a senior leadership team, sustain the strong momentum they have demonstrated in executing on our firmwide strategic priorities, help ensure stability and continuity in our senior leadership over the next five years and maintain a strong succession plan for the future of the firm," the bank said in a regulatory filing outlining what the board agreed to pay the bank's top leaders.

The pay structure appears to be a vote of confidence in Solomon's leadership, potentially putting to bed a narrative that emerged during the pandemic years that Solomon's decision-making and extracurricular pursuits like DJing had left him with chinks in his armor.

Goldman's Compensation Committee, which determines the CEO and President's salaries, pointed to several factors to explain its decision, including"strong fireside financial performance in 2024 and a significant year-over-year improvement as a result of strategic execution."

This week, the firm reported total 2024 net revenues of more than $53 billion, with almost $35 billion coming from its banking and markets division, in its earnings results for the fourth quarter of 2024. As of mid-January, its stock was trading at roughly $619 per share — 64% increase over a 12-month period.

What's more, in the regulatory filing, Goldman touted its prowess in both its global banking and markets and asset- and wealth-management business lines. The former encompasses services like advising on mergers and acquisitions, where Goldman is routinely at the top of the league tables, while the bank said that the latter division houses a "top 5 alternatives business" and elite services for managing the money of the ultra wealthy. Last year, the AWM group's assets under supervision swelled to a record $3.14 trillion, the firm said.

Beyond Solomon and Waldron's pay, the regulatory filing also announced that the bank will adopt a carried interest program in which its top leaders will also be paid based on the performance of Goldman's third-party alternatives business. The goal, the bank said, is to "attract and retain talent" at a time when the asset-management community is waging a war for the best professionals and has, at time, raided Goldman's ranks.

Reed Alexander is a correspondent at Business Insider. He can be reached via email at [email protected], or SMS/the encrypted app Signal (561) 247-5758.

• Bernard Arnault has gained more wealth in 2025 than anyone else, including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
• The LVMH CEO is now the world's fourth richest person after gaining $15 billion on Thursday.
• LVMH stock jumped 9% after a rival luxury goods company reported strong earnings.

A fashion mogul has gained more wealth this year than Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, or anyone else on the global rich list.

Bernard Arnault, the founder and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has become about $14 billion richer already in 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He leapfrogged Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison on Thursday to take fourth place on Bloomberg's rich list with an estimated $190 billion fortune, adding $15 billion to his net worth in just one day.

The luxury tycoon has gained more wealth this year than Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was up nearly $12 billion at Thursday's market close, and the "Donald of Dubai" Hussain Sajwani, up around $10 billion.

Zuckerberg and Musk are the next-biggest gainers. The Meta and Tesla CEOs have added around $9 billion and $7 billion to their respective fortunes in just over two weeks, respectively.

Arnault's net worth soared on Thursday as LVMH stock surged 9% to close at its highest price since September. Arnault owns about 48% of the luxury conglomerate, which houses around 75 brands, including Tiffany & Co, Dom Perignon, and Sephora.

The shares jumped on hopes of a rebound in luxury demand after rival Richemont — the owner of brands like Cartier and Chloé — reported record quarterly sales with around 20% growth across Europe, the Americas, Japan, and the Middle East and Africa.

Consumer appetite for pricey products came roaring back after the pandemic as people resumed traveling and shopping again. But the luxury business has struggled more recently as brisk inflation, higher interest rates, and economic fears have dampened demand even among well-heeled buyers.

Arnault, nicknamed the "Wolf in Cashmere," was ranked as the world's richest person last March with a $230 billion-plus fortune, but his net worth shrank by over $50 billion by December as LVMH stock tumbled. Despite his latest gains, Arnault is still less than half as wealthy as Musk, worth $439 billion.

Even accounting for Arnault's wealth decline, the world's 10 richest people added more than $500 billion to their combined fortunes in 2024, boosting their total worth to over $2 trillion.

The group benefited from the buzz around artificial intelligence, the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts, an improved US economic outlook, and hopes that Donald Trump's planned tax cuts and deregulation as president will boost corporate profits.