Elon Musk has retaken the title of world’s wealthiest person.The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer surpassed luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault on Wednesday after shares of Arnault’s LVMH fell 2.6% in Paris trading.
Musk and the 74-year-old Frenchman have been neck-and-neck for the top spot this year in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a listing of the world’s 500 richest people. Arnault first surpassed Musk in December as the tech industry struggled and luxury showed resilience in the face of inflation. LVMH, which Arnault founded, owns brands including Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Hennessy. Faith in the luxury sector’s buoyancy is starting to fade amid mounting signs of slowing economic growth, particularly in the critical market of China. LVMH shares have tumbled about 10% since April, at one point wiping $11 billion from Arnault’s net worth in a single day.
Musk, meanwhile, has gained more than $55.3 billion this year, largely due to Tesla. The Austin-based automaker — which comprises 71% of his fortune — has rallied 66% year-to-date.
Tag: Elon Musk
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Musk overtakes Bernard Arnault to become world’s richest person again
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Twitter to have a new CEO in six weeks: Elon Musk
SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Elon Musk said Thursday, May 11 that he has found a new CEO for Twitter, or X Corp. as it’s now called. He did not name the person but she will be starting in about six weeks, he said. Musk, who bought Twitter last fall and has been running it since, has been insisting he is not the company’s permanent CEO.
The Tesla billionaire said in a tweet Thursday that his role will transition to being Twitter’s executive chairman and chief technology officer.Musk h as been saying for nearly six months that he plans to find a new CEO for San Francisco-based Twitter.In mid-November, just a few weeks after buying the social media platform for $44 billion, he told a Delaware court that he does not want to be the CEO of any company.
While testifying, Musk said “I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time.” More than a month later, he tweeted in December: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job.” The pledge came after millions of Twitter users asked him to step down in a Twitter poll the billionaire himself created and promised to abide by. In February, he told a conference he anticipated finding a CEO for Twitter “probably toward the end of this year.”(Source: AP)
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Forbes’ billionaire list 2023: Elon Musk
- loses top spot to Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault, chairman of French luxury goods company LVMH, became the world’s richest person, replacing Tesla boss Elon Musk, whose net worth slipped by about $39 billion in the past year to $180 billion, according to the Forbes’ annual ‘World’s Billionaire’s List 2023′. The French luxury goods tycoon estimated current net worth has increased by more than $50 billion in the past year to $211 billion. Arnault and Elon Musk frequently switch positions on Forbes’ list of ‘Real-Time Billionaires’.
According to Forbes, Musk’s fortune has decreased since his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, which was financed with Tesla shares, concerning investors and causing Tesla stock to drop drastically last year. Tesla recovered a good portion of those losses this year but is still far lower than it was before Musk purchased Twitter.
Tesla shares have decreased by 50% since Elon Musk took control of Twitter a year ago, according to Forbes. According to the magazine, SpaceX is a success for Musk because its valuation climbed by $13 billion to $140 billion over the previous year. LVMH boss Bernard Arnault had a good 2022 because of record-high profits at the luxury conglomerate, which comprises Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Tiffany & Co. Shares of LVMH have climbed 25% over the past year. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, tumbled to third rank with a net worth of $114bn after losing $57bn, as his e-commerce giant’s share price fell nearly 40 per cent.
More members of the Forbes list are Americans than citizens of any other country. The US (735 billionaires) is followed by China (495), India (169) and Germany (126).
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Elon Musk fires Twitter staff again despite promises of no more layoffs: Report
Despite promising in November 2022 that there will be no more layoffs, Elon Musk has fired more employees from Twitter, as per a report in The Verge. Tech site The Information first reported about layoffs hitting the sales team last week. In the third round of job cuts since November, dozens of employees from the sales and engineering departments were affected. Musk has reportedly directed staff to revamp the microblogging site’s ad targeting in a week to mimic Google’s search ads, which rely on keywords instead of a user’s activity and profile data. One of the fired workers, who reported directly to Musk and managed engineering for Twitter’s ads business, took to Twitter to share his opinion on improving the algorithm. Marcin Kadluczka, who had been a Twitter employee for seven years, tweeted that it may be possible for the company to change how its ads work in two or three months, but not in a week – which was Musk’s deadline.
“Thank you tweeps. End of 7 years at Twitter! Elon musk for learnings and energy in last 3 months to improve Twitter and Ads! I believe Twitter can really improve ads in 2-3 months (no necessarily in a week though). Wish I could be actually fired not just deactivated,” he wrote.
Musk’s aggressiveness to boost its ads business has invited criticism even from former Twitter ads chief Bruce Falck, who said the billionaire has no clue of what he is speaking about. To this, Musk replied that Twitter’s ad relevance was the ‘worst on Earth’.
“My apologies, you must be a genius, which is why Twitter has the worst ad relevance on Earth. Almost nobody buys anything on Twitter, but almost everyone on Instagram does. That is being fixed,” the Tesla CEO wrote.
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Twitter users can soon earn money from micro-blogging platform, says Musk
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said that the micro-blogging platform is “spinning up subscriptions” so that users can “charge” their followers for specific content.
When one user posted a long tweet with the new Blue feature that allows subscribers to create tweets of up to 4,000 characters. Musk replied, “Good use of long tweet! Next update will allow much longer tweets with basic formatting, so you can post any content on Twitter.” “We’re also spinning up subscriptions, so you can charge people for some content and they can easily pay with one click.” Many users expressed their thoughts on Musk’s post. While one user asked, “Charging to read a tweet? Or paywall?”, another commented, “Great idea. Now an author can publish his entire book on Twitter perhaps one chapter at a time. Leave the first few tweets as free and rest paid.” The upcoming feature will be a great opportunity for the users to earn money from their followers on the micro-blogging platform. Meanwhile, last week, the micro-blogging platform announced that it will no longer allow non-Twitter Blue users to use text messages as a two-factor authentication (2FA) method, after March 20.
Earlier this month, Twitter had confirmed that it will charge Rs 650 per month for its Blue service with verification on the web and Rs 900 on Android and iOS mobile devices in India.
Moreover, Blue subscribers in the US can create long tweets of up to 4,000 characters.
Blue users will also see 50 per cent fewer ads in their home timeline.
From social media to ChatGPT, cyber
criminals quick to adopt new tech
Forget Jamtara that has kept on inspiring cyber thugs to steal your data or money via traditional, OTP-based methods to date. Brace yourself for a new age of hacking via artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools.
A new crop of con artists is now thriving that is utilising newer means — from social media platforms to UPI-based frauds and from operating fake gambling websites to now working on AI chatbot ChatGPT — to rob you of your hard-earned money. A woman was duped of Rs 27 lakh last week by a woman fraudster who promised her handsome returns on investment in digital marketing on WhatsApp.
“The task was to like and subscribe to YouTube accounts,” the victim said in the FIR.
The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch last week busted a racket involved in forging documents including Aadhaar cards, PAN card, and driving license for obtaining SIM cards, opening bank accounts and taking loans. On interrogation, police found that the con group used ordinary persons who don’t have any ID documents for preparing these documents and further misusing them. Cyber-security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia has unearthed a new type of fraud online. Every day from 5 p.m., several satta (gambling) websites start trending on Google, which offer quick money upon playing the satta that starts from as little as Rs 100 and goes into thousands.
“These websites start appearing in the evening and every website guarantees profits. These gambling websites are being run with tier 1 and 2 city names like Delhi Satta King, Disawar gali Satta, Shri Ganesh Chart, Satta King Delhi Bazar and more,” Rajaharia told IANS.
Those who place satta, using various UPI payment platforms, get nothing in return as the winning prize always goes to people these websites had already selected.
Source: IANS
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Short seller Hindenburg accuses billionaire Gautam Adani of ‘largest con in corporate history’
I.S. Saluja
NEW YORK (TIP): It may be the biggest scandal in corporate history in India in recent times. The Hindenburg report on Adani conglomerate has created shockwaves in the financial world. Nobody can wish away or wash away the findings of the Hindenburg investigation. It is not the first time that Hindenburg has investigated a corporate .
Earlier, in 2020, Hindenburg published a report detailing malfeasance at the electric vehicle firm Nikola Corp. Hindenburg said Nikola had engaged in an “intricate fraud,” including an instance in which the company faked a video that appeared to show one of its electric trucks driving down a highway. In actuality, the company “simply filmed it rolling down the hill.” Nikola founder Trevor Milton was later found guilty of securities fraud after Hindenburg’s allegations prompted an investigation
A New York Post report of January 25 quoted Hindenburg Research Group as alleging that Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest man, is pulling “the largest con in corporate history” through his India-based conglomerate Adani Group”
Hindenburg — whose previous targets have included electric truck makers Nikola and Lordstown Motors — revealed in a research note late Tuesday it had taken a short position in Adani Group and alleged that Adani’s rise in wealth was fueled by a variety of illegal misdeeds, The New York Post said.
“We have uncovered evidence of brazen accounting fraud, stock manipulation and money laundering at Adani, taking place over the course of decades,” Hindenburg claimed in the note.
Adani, 60, amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes at $125.5 billion before the Hindenburg report — overseeing a sprawling network of companies with holdings across several industries, including control of major ports and airports, energy, real estate and cement.
“Adani has pulled off this gargantuan feat with the help of enablers in government and a cottage industry of international companies that facilitate these activities,” the firm added.
He began Wednesday, January 25, trailing only French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in overall wealth, according to Forbes. But Adani lost an estimated $6.5 billion during the day after the Hindenburg report, dropping him to fourth behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The firm noted that Adani Group has “previously been the focus of 4 major government fraud investigations” alleging money laundering, corruption and theft of taxpayer money.
Hindenburg said it conducted a two-year investigation of the Adani business empire — with research that included dozens of interviews, including some with former company executives, as well as an analysis of internal documents and due diligence visits at company-controlled sites.
The report alleged that Adani, several family members and other company executives oversee a network of offshore shell companies located in tax havens across Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean.
Hindenburg alleged that some of the shell companies appeared to be hastily cobbled together, with websites “featuring only stock photos, naming no actual employees and listing the same set of nonsensical services.”
Hindenburg alleged that many of the shell companies are reportedly operated by Adani’s older brother, Vinod, or his “close associates.”
“The Vinod-Adani shells seem to serve several functions, including (1) stock parking / stock manipulation (2) and laundering money through Adani’s private companies onto the listed companies’ balance sheets in order to maintain the appearance of financial health and solvency,” Hindenburg said.
Hindenburg included a list of 88 questions about company operations that “we hope the Adani Group will be pleased to answer.” “Even if you ignore the findings of our investigation and take the financials of Adani Group at face value, its 7 key listed companies have 85% downside purely on a fundamental basis owing to sky-high valuations,” Hindenburg said.
The short seller stressed that its report “represents our opinion and investigative commentary” and urged readers to draw their own conclusions about Adani Group.
Adani Group has dismissed the report as baseless. Adani Group CFO Jugeshindar Singh said the company was “shocked” by Hindenburg’s allegations and issued a firm denial.
“The report is a malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations that have been tested and rejected by India’s highest courts,” Singh said.
“The timing of the report’s publication clearly betrays a brazen, mala fide intention to undermine the Adani Group’s reputation,” Singh added.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman was all praise for U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report on Indian conglomerate Adani Group, calling it “highly credible” and “extremely well researched.” Billionaire investor Bill Ackman was all praise for U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report on Indian conglomerate Adani Group, calling it “highly credible” and “extremely well researched.”
Hindenburg’s report on Wednesday accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens and stated it held short positions in the company via its U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments.
Adani group loses $48 billion since January 25; FPO takes a hit in light of Hindenburg report
Adani Enterprises Ltd began a record $2.45 billion (₹20,000 crore) secondary share sale for retail investors on Friday, as a heavy selloff in Adani group companies intensified after an attack by a U.S.-based short seller.
Seven listed companies of the Adani conglomerate — controlled by one of the world’s richest men Gautam Adani — have lost a combined $48 billion in market capitalization since Wednesday, January 25, and saw falls in its U.S. bonds after Hindenburg Research flagged concerns in a report about debt levels and the use of tax havens.
Adani Enterprises aims to use the share sale proceeds for capital expenditure and to pay debt. The anchor portion of the sale saw participation from investors including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority on Wednesday.
Bidding for the Adani Enterprises share sale for retail investors started on Friday and will close on January 31. The firm has set a floor price of ₹3,112 ($38.22) a share and a cap of ₹3,276. But on Friday the stock slumped to as low as ₹2,721.65, well below the lower end of the price offering.
Adani group stocks took a beating, falling up to 20% after Hindenburg Research’s damaging allegations. The group’s flagship Adani Enterprises, which launched the ₹20,000 crore FPO on Friday, tanked 18.52%. Adani Ports plunged 16%, Adani Power by 5%, Adani Green Energy by 19.99%, and Adani Total Gas by 20%.
In two days, the Adani group firms have lost a whopping ₹4,17,824.79 crore from their market valuation. The market valuation of Adani Total Gas plummeted ₹1,04,580.93 crore while that of Adani Transmission by ₹83,265.95 crore. Adani Enterprises market capitalization fell by ₹77,588.47 crore, Adani Green Energy lost ₹67,962.91 crore and Adani Ports by ₹35,048.25 crore.
The market valuation of Ambuja Cements declined by ₹23,311.47 crore, Adani Power by ₹10,317.31 crore, ACC by ₹8,490.8 crore and Adani Wilmar by ₹7,258.7 crore. The rout took shares of Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship company, well below the offer price of its secondary sale, which had initially been offered at a discount.
In its report, Hindenburg said key listed Adani Group companies had “substantial debt”, putting the conglomerate on a “precarious financial footing”, and that “sky-high valuations” had pushed the share prices of seven listed Adani companies as much as 85% beyond actual value.
Billionaire U.S. investor Bill Ackman said on Thursday, January 26, that he found the Hindenburg report “highly credible and extremely well researched”.
Hindenburg said it held short positions in Adani through its U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments, meaning it is betting that their price would fall.
The Hindenburg report has encouraged political parties in India to demand a thorough investigation into the working and practices of the Adani Group.
Congress has demanded a ‘serious investigation’ by RBI and SEBI into allegations levelled against the Adani Group. In a strongly worded statement, Congress general secretary in-charge of communication Jairam Ramesh asserted that exposure of financial institutions like the Life Insurance Company of India (LIC) and the State Bank of India (SBI) to the Adani Group would have implications for the country’s financial stability and crores of depositors “whose savings are stewarded by these pillars of the financial system”.
“Normally a political party should not be reacting to a research report on an individual company or business group prepared by a hedge fund. But the forensic analysis by Hindenburg Research of the Adani Group demands a response from the Congress party,” Ramesh said, adding, ”This is because the Adani Group is no ordinary conglomerate: it is closely identified with Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the time he was Chief Minister”.
The ports-to-power conglomerate, however, had said the charge against the Adani Group was “malicious, unsubstantiated, one-sided, and was timed to ruin the public listing of its shares”.
“The allegations require serious investigation by those who are responsible for the stability and security of the Indian financial system, viz. the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),” Ramesh said.
“The allegations of financial malfeasance would be bad enough, but what is worse is that the Modi government may have exposed India’s financial system to systemic risks through the liberal investments in the Adani Group made by strategic state entities like LIC, SBI and other public sector banks,” he added.
The Congress leader said as much as 8% of LIC’s equity assets under management, amounting to a sum of ₹74,000 crore, are invested in the Adani Group of companies, while public sector banks have lent to the Adani Group twice as much as the private banks, with 40% lending being done by SBI. “Indians are increasingly aware of how the rise of Modi’s cronies has exacerbated the problem of inequality, but need to understand how this has been financed by their own hard-earned savings. Will the RBI ensure that risks to financial stability are investigated and contained? Are these not clear-cut cases of “phone banking”?” asked Ramesh.
Asking if there is a quid pro quo between the Modi government and the Adani Group, the Congress leader alleged, “In perhaps, the most egregious case of crony capitalism, the previous operator of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, India’s second busiest airport, was raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Board of Investigation (CBI) after it rejected an offer by the Adani Group”.
“The operator agreed to sell the airport to Adani a month later and it is a mystery what happened to the ED and CBI cases thereafter,” Ramesh added.
Lok Sabha member Manish Tewari said on Twitter that if the Hindenburg report was even partially correct, “it merits both a Joint Parliamentary Committee-much like the 1992 JPC & a Supreme Court Monitored investigation to get to the bottom of the matter. The Budget Session of Parliament begins 31st Jan 2023”.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Randeep Surjewala tweeted, ”Exposure of #LIC in Adani Group is ₹77,000 CR. LIC has today lost ₹23,500 CR in invest value in Adani Group i.e. at ₹53,000 CR against ₹77,000 CR. LIC is money of People of India. In any other country, heads would have rolled including that of FM# HindenburgReport.”
(Source: New York Post, Agencies)
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Twitter set to launch ‘verification for organizations’ feature
Elon Musk-owned Twitter has announced to soon launch the ‘Verification for Organisations’ feature which was earlier called ‘Blue for Business.’ The company said that it will review applications and allow a limited set of organisations to use the feature.
“We will soon launch Verification for Organisations, formerly known as Blue for Business. You can apply for early access via our waitlist,” Twitter posted. As a subscriber, you and your business will receive business accounts and affiliation badges through our self-serve administrative portal, according to the company. “We’ll be reviewing applications and opening up access to a limited group on a rolling basis in the coming weeks,” said the micro-blogging platform.
The company is frantically trying to monetise its platform via various means.
Since Musk’s takeover, the billionaire has been aiming to boost the company’s revenue, including charging money for its $8 Blue subscription service with verification.
Twitter will soon start selling usernames via online actions that have remained inactive in order to boost its revenues.
It is unclear how much Twitter will charge for selling inactive usernames.
Several advertisers have left the micro-blogging platform, as the company cuts internal revenue projections.
Meanwhile, Musk said that Twitter will soon publish tweet recommendation code and make account/tweet status visible “no later than next month”. Source: IANS
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Google’s trying to bring new features to older versions of Android with kit for developers
Android’s open-source nature has helped propel it to the status of the most popular smartphone operating system in the world. But that also means that there are so many devices out there running the OS that keeping them updated with the latest version is a gargantuan task. Google has been trying to do something about this for years now, but the update situation continues to remain a mess. Acting on that, the company is now trying something new and has just released the first public version of the Extension SDK, aiming to bring features of the latest Android versions to older versions.
As part of the announcement, Google is opening up Photo Picker API support to Android 12 and Android 11. Photo Picker was introduced with Android 13 and lets users give access to only recent images on their device (or cloud), rather than potential access to all files via the usual document picker.
Only Android 13 has it right now, but with this release from Google, developers will be able to include support for the new Photo Picker in their apps. Since it’s an app-side thing, no system update will be necessary to see the tool.
Not everything with this release is about bringing newer features to older versions of Android, though. The Extension SDK may also be used to update Privacy Sandbox on newer versions of Android without having to roll out major OS updates. According to Google’s own description of the feature, Privacy Sandbox on Android “aims to develop new technologies that improve user privacy and enable effective, personalized advertising experiences for mobile apps.” Since the Extension SDK is aimed at developers looking to implement certain features in their apps, its workings are obviously complicated. In the broader sense, Google’s been trying to modularise components of Android since Android 10, helping the company make new functionality backwards compatible on already-released Android versions.
Twitter redesigns homepage for iOS app
Recently, Elon Musk announced that Twitter will soon make some changes to its user interface. And it looks like the microblogging platform has started rolling out a redesigned homepage interface.
As it turns out, the redesigned user interface is only available on the iOS version of the Twitter app. The updated interface replaces the ‘Home’ and ‘Latest’ tabs with ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ tabs and lets users easily switch between the two. For convenience, the two new tabs are pinned on top of the timeline. Earlier, users had to tap on the star-like icon that appeared on the top of the timeline and choose between ‘For You’ and ‘Latest’ tweets.
For the uninitiated, the ‘For You’ section displayed tweets you might be interested in while the ‘Latest’ section showed the latest tweets from accounts you follow. Also, Twitter is yet to confirm if the changes will make their way to the Android version of the app, so we will have to wait and see.
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Elon Musk sells USD 3.58 billion worth of Tesla stock
Elon Musk sold another USD 3.58 billion worth of Tesla stock this week, but it wasn’t clear where the proceeds were being spent. The Tesla CEO, and new owner of Twitter, sold the sharesin three days, according to a filing posted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Musk has sold nearly USD 23 billion worth of Tesla stock since April, with much of the money likely going to help fund his USD 44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
The sale comes as shares of the electric vehicle and solar panel maker have collapsed, losing over half their value since Musk first disclosed in April that he was buying up Twitter stock.
The falling shares have bumped Musk from his status as the world’s wealthiest person, with his net worth falling to USD 174 billion, according to Forbes.
He was passed last week by French fashion and cosmetics magnate Bernard Arnault.
Investors have been punishing Tesla stock of late as Musk has spent much of his time running Twitter, raising fears that he’s distracted from the car company.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Musk is now a villain in the eyes of Tesla investors. Source: AP
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Elon Musk proposes to reinstate everyone Twitter banned
SAN FRNCISCO (TIP): Twitter CEO Elon Musk has kicked off a fresh poll to find out how many of his over 118 million followers support or reject the move to reinstate all the previously banned users back on the micro-blogging platform who have not violated any law. “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?” he asked in a tweet.
So far, “yes” is clearly in the lead.Several users expressed their thoughts on Musk’s post. While one user commented, “Let the people speak,” another said, “YES. No more politically motivated bans!” Based also on a poll, Twitter CEO Elon Musk on November 20 had announced that former US President Donald Trump has been allowed to rejoin the micro-blogging platform.Musk tweeted, “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated.”
He kicked off the poll on November 19 to find out how many of his over 117 million followers support or reject the move to reinstate Trump on the platform.
(Source: Agencies)
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Elon Musk warns of Twitter bankruptcy as more senior executives quit
California (TIP)- Twitter Inc’s new owner Elon Musk on Thursday, November 10, raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt, capping a chaotic day that included a warning from a US privacy regulator and the exit of the company’s trust and safety leader. The billionaire on his first mass call with employees said that he could not rule out bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported, two weeks after buying it for $44 billion – a deal that credit experts say has left Twitter’s finances in a precarious position. Earlier in the day, in his first company-wide email, Musk warned that Twitter would not be able to “survive the upcoming economic downturn” if it fails to boost subscription revenue to offset falling advertising income, three people who have seen the message told Reuters.
Yoel Roth, who has overseen Twitter’s response to combat hate speech, misinformation and spam on the service, resigned on Thursday, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. In his Twitter profile on Thursday, Roth described himself as “Former Head of Trust & Safety” at the company.
Roth did not respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg and tech site Platformer reported his exit first.
Earlier on Thursday, Twitter’s Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner tweeted that she had quit.
Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty also resigned, according to an internal message posted to Twitter’s Slack messaging system on Thursday by an attorney on its privacy team and seen by Reuters. Robin Wheeler, the company’s top ad sales executive, told employees in a memo that she was staying at the company, a person who had seen the message said, diverging from earlier media reports that she too would be leaving. “I’m still here,” Wheeler tweeted late on Thursday. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it was watching Twitter with “deep concern” after the three privacy and compliance officers quit. These resignations potentially put Twitter at risk of violating regulatory orders. Musk attorney Alex Spiro told some employees in an email late on Thursday that Twitter would remain in compliance. “We spoke to the FTC today about our continuing obligations and have a constructive ongoing dialogue,” Spiro wrote. He stated that only Twitter, not individual employees, could be held liable against the orders.
“I understand that there have been employees at Twitter who do not even work on the FTC matter commenting that they could (go) to jail if we were not in compliance – that is simply not how this works,” he wrote.
In his first meeting with many employees at Twitter on Thursday afternoon, Musk warned that the company may lose billions of dollars next year, the Information reported.
Source: Reuters
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Facebook parent Meta cuts 11,000 jobs, 13% of workforce
Facebook parent Meta is laying off 11,000 people, about 13% of its workforce, as it contends with faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter to employees on Wednesday, November 9.
The job cuts come just a week after widespread layoffs at Twitter under its new owner, billionaire Elon Musk.
There have been numerous job cuts at other tech companies that hired rapidly during the pandemic. Zuckerberg as well said that he had made the decision to hire aggressively, anticipating rapid growth even after the pandemic ended. “Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected,” Zuckerberg said in a prepared statement.
“Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.” Meta, like other social media companies, enjoyed a financial boost during the pandemic lockdown era because more people stayed home and scrolled on their phones and computers. But as the lockdowns ended and people started going outside again, revenue growth began to falter.
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Twitter chaos deepens as key executives quit
SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Twitter chief security officer Lea Kissner along with other key privacy or security executives step down Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter descended ever deeper into chaos on Thursday, November 10, as key security executives resigned from the platform, drawing a sharp warning from U.S. regulators. The walkouts came a day after the turbulent launch of new features introduced by Tesla and SpaceX owner Musk following his $44 billion buyout of the influential messaging app. Musk on Thursday, November 10, warned employees that the site was burning dangerously through cash, raising the specter of bankruptcy if the situation was not turned around.
“I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter,” tweeted chief security officer Lea Kissner, who reportedly stepped down with other key privacy or security executives. In the most extraordinary exit, U.S. media reported that Yoel Roth, the site’s head of trust and safety stepped down just a day after staunchly defending Musk’s content moderation policy to advertisers.
The convulsions followed the unveiling of the site’s long-awaited Twitter Blue subscription service, which allows users to pay $7.99 per month for a coveted blue tick, as well as a separate gray “official” badge for some high-profile accounts.But the release descended into tumult on Wednesday when Musk scrapped the new gray label almost immediately, overshadowing the launch of the pay service, which is currently only available on the mobile app on iPhones and in the United States.The launch also saw the emergence of a flurry of fake accounts as users used the opportunity to impersonate celebrities and politicians such as NBA star LeBron James or former British prime minister Tony Blair. Early media reports also said Robin Wheeler, who held a key role linking Twitter with advertisers and was considered a key Musk ally inside the company, was leaving but late Thursday she tweeted: “I’m still here.”
‘’Deep concern,’ says Federal Trade Commission
The chaos drew a rare warning from the Federal Trade Commission, the US authority that oversees consumer safety which had put Twitter under watch for past security and privacy breaches. “We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” a spokesperson for the FTC said in a statement. “No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees,” the spokesperson added, referring to past commitments by Twitter to obey U.S. privacy rules. Violating FTC decisions could cost Twitter millions of dollars in fines. The 51-year-old entrepreneur fired half of the 7,500 employees of the California company a week ago, 10 days after buying the site and becoming its sole owner. For the first time since the layoffs, Musk on Thursday addressed his remaining employees and urged them to help the site reach one billion users, according to employee text messages seen by AFP.
Musk also warned that the company was bleeding cash and expressed fear about the effects of the poor economy on his newly bought business. “You may have noticed I sold a bunch of Tesla stock. The reason I did that is to save Twitter,” he is reported to have said.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives meanwhile warned that the Twitter episode could have serious repercussions for electric car manufacturer Tesla. “Brand destruction is our biggest worry with this Twitter circus show. It’s that simple and I can’t ignore it for Tesla stock,” Ives wrote on the site. Twitter is also crippled by the decision of advertisers to stay away from the platform, concerned about Musk’s plans. The tycoon announced he was ending work-from-home policies at Twitter, which had been a widespread practice at the San Francisco-based company. “If you don’t show up at the office, resignation accepted,” he told employees.
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Amber Heard quits Twitter after ex Elon Musk takes over as CEO
After Elon Musk acquired Twitter and took charge as CEO after finalising a $44 billion takeover, many Hollywood celebrities along with Amber Heard deleted her Twitter account. Recently, she lost lost her defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp. After which, she was supposed to pay $10.35 million to Johnny. Taking to Twitter, an account named, ‘That Umbrella Guy’ shared a picture of Amber’s Twitter account which read, “This account doesn’t exist.” The screenshot was captioned, “Amber Heard has deleted her Twitter.” Reacting to this information, one person wrote, “So glad she is taking care of herself.” Second person commented, “Ex-boyfriend Elon told her to delete it.” Third person wrote, “She can’t afford the monthly fee to keep her checkmark now.” Many people posted their speculations around deleting her Twitter handle. It is still not clear why she left Twitter.
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Elon Musk is under federal investigation, Twitter says in court filing
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in his $44 billion takeover deal for Twitter Inc., the social media company said in a court filing released on Thursday, October 13.
While the filing said he was under investigations, it did not say what the exact focus of the probes were and which federal authorities are conducting them. Twitter, which sued Mr. Musk in July to force him to close the deal, said attorneys for the Tesla Inc CEO had claimed “investigative privilege” when refusing to hand over documents it had sought.
In late September, Mr. Musk’s attorneys had provided a “privilege log” identifying documents to be withheld, Twitter said. The log referenced drafts of a May 13 email to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The court filing, which asked a Delaware judge to order Mr. Musk’s attorneys to provide the documents, was made on October 6—the same day that the judge that paused litigation between the two sides after Mr. Musk reversed course and said he would proceed with the deal. “This game of ‘hide the ball’ must end,” the company said in the court filing.
Alex Spiro, an attorney for Mr. Musk, told Reuters that Twitter’s court filing was a “misdirection.” Twitter declined to comment on Mr. Spiro’s response and to Reuters queries about its understanding of any investigation into Mr. Musk. The SEC did not immediately respond to request for comment and the FTC declined to comment.
The SEC has questioned Mr. Musk’s comments about the Twitter acquisition. In April, the SEC asked Mr. Musk whether the disclosure of his 9% Twitter stake was late and why it indicated that he intended to be a passive shareholder. Mr. Musk later refiled the disclosure to indicate he was an active investor. In June, the SEC asked Mr. Musk in a letter whether he should have amended his public filing to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon the deal.
The Information, a tech news site, reported in April that the FTC was scrutinizing whether Musk failed to comply with an antitrust reporting requirement as he amassed his stake in Twitter. Twitter said in June that the takeover deal with Musk had cleared an antitrust waiting period for review by the FTC and U.S. Justice Department.
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Elon Musk’s 20 Million Tesla Sales Goal By 2030 Driven By Battery Technology
The secret behind Elon Musk’s goal of selling 20 million Tesla’s a year by 2030 lies in its pioneering battery technology. The good news is that by using bigger cells and a new process to dry-coat electrodes, Tesla could halve the cost of a Model Y battery, saving more than 8% of the car’s U.S. starting price, battery experts with ties to the company said. The bad news is that it’s only halfway there, according to 12 experts close to Tesla or familiar with its new technology. That’s because the dry-coating technique used to produce the bigger cells in Tesla’s 4680 battery is so new and unproven the company is having trouble scaling up manufacturing to the point where the big cost savings kick in, the experts told Reuters.
“They just aren’t ready for mass production,” said one of the experts close to Tesla. Still, the gains Tesla has already made in cutting battery production costs in the past two years could help boost profits and extend its lead over most electric vehicle (EV) rivals. Musk’s promised improvements in battery cost and performance are seen by investors as critical to Tesla’s quest to usher in an era where it can sell a $25,000 EV for a profit – and stand a better chance of hitting its 2030 targets.
Battery systems are the most expensive single element in most EVs, so making lower-cost, high-performance packs is key to producing affordable electric cars that can go toe to toe with combustion-engine rivals on sticker prices.
Tesla is one of only a handful of major automakers that produce their own EV batteries and by manufacturing Model Y cells at U.S. plants, the SUV will remain eligible for U.S. tax credits when many rival EVs may no longer qualify.
Among the 12 battery experts Reuters spoke with, nine have close ties to Tesla and three of the nine have examined Tesla’s new and old battery technology inside and out through teardowns.
Source: Reuters
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Elon Musk targets ad tech firms in Twitter suit over takeover deal
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is attempting to walk away from his deal to acquire Twitter Inc , is seeking documents from advertising technology firms as part of his quest to gain more information on bot and spam accounts on Twitter, according to filings in a Delaware court on Thursday. Twitter has sued the Tesla chief executive, who has accused Twitter of hiding information about how it calculates the percentage of bots on the service, for attempting to walk away from the $44 billion agreement. A trial is scheduled for October 17. Musk’s lawyers have subpoenaed both Integral Ad Science (IAS) and DoubleVerify for any documents or communications on their involvement in reviewing accounts or participation in any audit of Twitter’s user base.
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Twitter disobeyed orders of Indian govt, put third-largest market at risk: Elon Musk
NEW DELHI (TIP)- Elon Musk, in his confidentially filed countersuit in Delaware court, relied on Twitter’s litigation in India to counter the social media giant’s claim of breach of their merger agreement by Musk.
Musk has claimed that Twitter failed to disclose its litigation with and the investigation by the Indian government. According to Musk, Twitter initiated risky litigation against the Indian government—thereby placing Twitter’s third largest market at risk. Musk has claimed that Twitter’s decision to challenge the Indian government’s decisions is a departure from the ordinary course as it has in the past followed obligations imposed by governments, including going as far as blocking pro-Ukrainian accounts for the Russian government. Referring to India’s IT Rules, Musk has argued that India’s information technology ministry imposed certain rules in 2021 allowing the government to probe social media posts, demand identifying information, and prosecute companies that refused to comply.
Musk has said that while he is a proponent of free speech, he believes that moderation on Twitter should “hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates.”
It has been claimed by Musk that as a result of India’s new rules, Twitter faced various investigations by the Indian government, requests to moderate content, and requests to block certain accounts. India is Twitter’s third largest market, and thus any investigation into Twitter that could lead to suspensions or interruptions of service in that market may constitute an MAE, which is a material adverse event.
Around July 6, 2022, Twitter launched a legal challenge against India’s government in court, challenging certain demands made by the government—suggesting that Twitter was under investigation between the signing of the Merger Agreement and the filing of its legal challenge.
It has been stated, Twitter determined to challenge the Indian government in a lawsuit rather than follow its instructions pursuant to 2021 Information Technology rules. Musk and buyers were not given notice of Twitter’s decision to litigate against the Indian government and were not asked to provide consent.
According to Musk, there’s been a breach of the agreement by Twitter as Musk and other buyers were not given notice of Twitter’s decision to litigate with India.
Twitter’s response
Twitter admitted that it did not contact Musk regarding its interactions with the Indian government. Twitter has averred that its publicly reported dispute over blocking orders issued by the Indian government was not cited a purported basis for termination by Musk parties until filing of the Counterclaims.
Twitter has denied Musk’s allegations that the investigations had to be disclosed to Musk parties under Section 4.11 of the merger agreement. It has said that the section does not require the disclosure of the company’s interactions with the Indian government. Twitter has denied that India is its third-largest market. It has also denied the allegations any investigation into Twitter that could lead to suspensions or interruptions of service in that market may constitute an MAE. According to Twitter, these are hypothetical statements or legal conclusions to which no response is required. Twitter has further responded that media outlets and Twitter’s own transparency disclosures have heavily documented the company’s interactions with Indian regulators since the Indian government announced restrictive regulations in February 2021, including requests by the Indian government that Twitter block certain accounts or otherwise moderate content.
Source: India Today
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SpaceX fires several employees who flayed CEO Elon Musk: Report
SpaceX, the rocket ship company run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has fired several employees involved in an open letter that blasted the colorful billionaire for his behavior, according to media reports.The reports published Friday, June 17, cited an email from Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president, saying the company had terminated employees who put together and circulated the letter. The letter writers denounced Musk for actions that they said are a “frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks.”
The New York Times was the first outlet to report the purge, based on information from three employees familiar with the situation. The employees were not named.
It’s unclear how many SpaceX workers lost their jobs, but Shotwell left no doubt that the company believed they had crossed an unacceptable line. “The letter, solicitations and general process made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views,” Shotwell wrote in her email, according to the Times . “”We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism.”
The firings occurred Thursday — the same day Musk addressed Twitter employees for the first time about his $44 billion deal to add that social media service to his business empire. The purchase is in limbo while Musk tries to determine whether Twitter has been concealing the number of fake accounts on its platform.
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Jack Dorsey steps down from Twitter’s board as Elon Musk fights over fake accounts
SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Jack Dorsey has stepped down from the Twitter board of directors, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk fights with the micro-blogging platform to reveal the actual number of fake/spam accounts. Bill Gates ‘poured’ millions into attacking Elon Musk, Tesla CEO tweets ‘wait until you find out what he put in your vaccine’. Dorsey quit as Twitter CEO in November last year, handing over the baton to Indian-origin Parag Agrawal who was then the CTO of the company. At the time, Twitter noted that Dorsey would stay on the board “until his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders”.
Dorsey has categorically said that he will never be the CEO of Twitter again, as reports of him rejoining the micro-blogging platform surfaced after the $44 billion takeover by Musk. Dorsey, who is now running financial payments platform Block (earlier Square), also said that no one should be the CEO of Twitter.
At the shareholders’ meeting on Wednesday, Twitter’s board voted to oust board member and Musk ally Egon Durban, CEO of private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, reports TechCrunch. Durban led Musk’s deal team during the 2018 failed effort to take Tesla private. Musk has put the $44 billion Twitter deal on hold over the presence of fake/spammy accounts and wants the micro-blogging platform to come clean on the actual number of bots.
(Source: IANS)
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Elon Musk puts plan to purchase Twitter on hold
Elon Musk tweeted on Friday, May 13, that his $44-billion cash deal for Twitter Inc was “temporarily on hold” while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the proportion of its fake accounts. Twitter shares initially fell more than 20% in premarket trading, but after Musk, the chief executive of electric car market Tesla Inc, sent a second tweet saying he remained committed to the deal, they regained some ground.
The shares were down 9.6% to $40.71 in trading on Friday, a steep discount to the $54.20 per share acquisition price.
Musk, the world’s richest person, decided to waive due diligence when he agreed to buy Twitter on April 25, in an effort to get the San Francisco-based company to accept his “best and final offer.” This could make it harder for him to argue that Twitter somehow misled him.
Since Musk inked his deal to acquire Twitter, technology stocks have plunged amid investor concerns over inflation and a potential economic slowdown.
The spread between the offer price and the value of Twitter shares had widened in recent days, implying less than a 50% chance of completion, as investors speculated that the downturn would prompt Musk to walk away or seek a lower price.
“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” Musk told his more than 92 million Twitter followers. Source: Reuters
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$44 billion Twitter deal ‘temporarily on hold’ over data on fake accounts; stocks slump
NEW YORK (TIP): Elon Musk tweeted on Friday, May 13, that his $44-billion cash deal for Twitter Inc was “temporarily on hold” while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the proportion of its fake accounts, says a Reuters report. Twitter shares initially fell more than 20% in premarket trading, but after Musk, the chief executive of electric car market Tesla Inc, sent a second tweet saying he remained committed to the deal, they regained some ground.
The shares were down 8.6% to $41.19 in midday trading on Friday, a steep discount to the $54.20 per share acquisition price. Musk, the world’s richest person, decided to waive due diligence when he agreed to buy Twitter on April 25, in an effort to get the San Francisco-based company to accept his “best and final offer.” This could make it harder for him to argue that Twitter somehow misled him.
Since then, technology stocks have plunged amid investor concerns over inflation and a potential economic slowdown. The spread between the offer price and the value of Twitter shares had widened in recent days, implying less than a 50% chance of completion, as investors speculated that the downturn would prompt Musk to walk or seek a lower price.
“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” Musk told his more than 92 million Twitter followers.
Twitter is planning no immediate action as a result of Musk’s comment, people familiar with the matter said. The company considered the comment disparaging and a violation of the terms of their deal contract, but was encouraged by Musk subsequently tweeting he was committing to the acquisition, the sources added. Musk came to Twitter’s office for a meeting on May 6 as part of the transaction planning process, a Twitter spokesperson said. There was no immediate reaction from the investors that Musk tapped last week to raise $7.1 billion in funding.
Spam or fake accounts are designed to manipulate or artificially boost activity on services like Twitter. Some create an impression that something or someone is more popular. Musk tweeted a Reuters story from ten days ago that cited the fake account figures. Twitter has said that the figures were an estimate and that the actual number may be higher. The estimated number of spam accounts on the microblogging site has held steady below 5% since 2013, according to regulatory filings from Twitter, prompting some analysts to question why Musk was raising it now. “This 5% metric has been out for some time. He clearly would have already seen it… So it may well be more part of the strategy to lower the price,” said Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Tesla’s stock rose 4% on Friday morning. The shares have lost about a quarter of their value since Musk disclosed a stake in Twitter of April 4, amid concerns he will get distracted as Tesla’s chief executive and that he may have to sell more Tesla shares to fund the deal.
There is plenty of precedent for a potential renegotiation of the price following a market downturn. Several companies repriced agreed acquisitions when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020 and delivered a global economic shock. In one instance, French retailer LVMH threatened to walk away from a deal with Tiffany & Co. The U.S. jewelry retailer agreed to lower the price by $425 million to $15.8 billion.
Acquirers seeking a get out sometimes turn to “material adverse effect” clauses in their merger agreement, arguing the target company has been significantly damaged. But the language in the Twitter deal agreement, as in many recent mergers, does not allow Musk to walk away because of a deteriorating business environment, such as a drop in demand for advertising or because Twitter’s shares have plunged.
Musk is contractually obligated to pay Twitter a $1 billion break-up fee if he does not complete the deal, and the language in the deal contract appears to cap any damages that Twitter can seek from Musk to that level.
But the contract also contains a “specific performance” clause that a judge can cite to force Musk to complete the deal. In practice, acquirers who lose a specific performance case are almost never forced to complete an acquisition and typically negotiate a monetary settlement with their targets. “The nature of Musk creating so much uncertainty in a tweet (and not a filing) is very troubling to us and the Street and now sends this whole deal into a circus show with many questions and no concrete answers as to the path of this deal going forward,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a note. Musk has said that if he buys Twitter he “will defeat the spam bots or die trying” and has blamed the company’s reliance on advertising for why it has let spam bots proliferate.
He has also been critical of Twitter’s moderation policy and has said he wants Twitter’s algorithm to prioritize tweets to be public and was against too much power on the service to corporations that advertise. Nevertheless, Musk is targeting advertising revenue to more than double by 2028, according to slides he presented to investors that were reported by the New York Times.
Ads are expected to make up about 45% of Twitter’s total revenue by that time, down from nearly all of its revenue today, according to the investor presentation.
Earlier this week, Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former U.S. President Donald Trump when he buys the social media platform, signaling his intention to cut moderation.
Trump, who started a rival site called Truth Social, took to his own platform to weigh in on the fracas.
“There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on bots or spam accounts,” Trump wrote in a post, adding that his site is much better.
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Elon Musk says Twitter may charge slight fee for commercial, govt users
Elon Musk has said Twitter Inc might charge a “slight” fee for commercial and government users, part of the billionaire entrepreneur’s push to grow revenue which has lagged behind larger rivals like Meta Platforms Inc’s Facebook. “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk said in a tweet. “Some revenue is better than none!” he added in another tweet.
Twitter declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Last week, Reuters reported that Musk told banks he would develop new ways to monetize tweets and crack down on executive pay to slash costs at the social media platform company. Musk also told the banks he planned to develop features to grow business revenue, including new ways to make money out of tweets that contain important information or go viral, sources told Reuters.
At the annual Met Gala in New York on Monday, Musk said the reach of Twitter was currently only “niche,” and he would want a much bigger percentage of the country to be on it. Musk, also the chief executive officer of top electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc, has been suggesting a raft of changes to Twitter since last month.
Source: IANS
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Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $41 billion
Billionaire Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for about $41 billion, just days after rejecting a seat on the social media company’s board. Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share, which was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Thursday, represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s April 1 close, the last trading day before the Tesla CEO’s more than 9% stake in the company was made public. Twitter’s shares jumped 12% in premarket trading.
“Since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company,” Musk said in a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor. “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk says in the filing. “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.” The buyout offer from Musk is just the latest development in his relationship with Twitter. The billionaire revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31. Only Vanguard Group’s suite of mutual funds and ETFs controls more Twitter shares. Source: Reuters
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Elon Musk to join Twitter Board after buying 9.2% stake
Elon Musk is joining Twitter’s Board of Directors a day after disclosing that the Tesla CEO took 9.2% stake in the social media platform. Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it entered into an agreement with Musk on Monday that will give the billionaire a seat on its Board, with the term expiring at its 2024 annual shareholders meeting. Musk, either alone or as a member of a group, won’t be allowed to own more than 14.9% of Twitter’s outstanding stock for as long as he’s a Board member and for 90 days after.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet the company had been talking to Musk in recent weeks and “it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.” “He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term,” Agrawal continued. Musk, who has 80 million Twitter followers, has also raised the possibility with his massive and loyal Twitter following, that he could create a rival social media network.