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☆ Why Big Tech Is Still Minding Its Bills
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Google began laying off hundreds of employees this week across several divisions. Photo: Gene Blevins/Zuma PressEven the deepest pockets have their limits. Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet sit on a combined $184 billion in cash and short-term investments. Those two, along with big tech peers Microsoft , Apple and Facebook -parent Meta Platforms, hold the highest such balances among nonbanking companies on the S&P 500, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Amazon and Alphabet are also currently generating just under $95 billion combined in annual free cash flow.

Persons: Gene Blevins Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, P Global Market Intelligence

SpaceX launched Starship and its Super Heavy booster toward space for the second time on Saturday. Sitting atop its stainless steel Super Heavy booster, Starship stands nearly 400 feet tall. If Starship did reach space on Saturday, it is the largest and most powerful launch system to ever do so. AdvertisementSpaceX's explosions aren't necessarily failure in Musk's eyesThe complete Starship-Super Heavy system first attempted to reach space in April. AdvertisementIt took seven months to make all those adjustments, regain regulatory approval for flight, and prepare to launch Starship a second time.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Elon, John Insprucker, SPadre.com livestreams, Gene Blevins, Yusaku Maezawa, That's, it's Organizations: SpaceX, Super, NASA, Service, Elon Musk's, Reuters Locations: Boca Chica , Texas, of Mexico, SPadre.com

☆ Boxing’s Rarest Bout: A Battle of Undisputed Champions
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Jim Chairusmi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Canelo Alvarez, left and Jermell Charlo, right, display their respective title belts alongside promoter Tom Brown. Photo: Gene Blevins/Zuma PressSaul “Canelo” Alvarez has become one of the biggest stars in boxing by taking on the toughest fighters of his generation, including Miguel Cotto, Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev. He’s fought at least one world champion every year for the past decade, which is increasingly rare in a sport where top stars often spend years ducking each other.

Persons: Canelo Alvarez, Jermell Charlo, Tom Brown, Gene Blevins, Saul “ Canelo ” Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev, He’s

Starship is SpaceX's next-generation rocket crucial for the company's commercial launch business and Musk's aim to start human colonies on Mars. The U.S. offers few such options and export controls would make building a foreign launch site difficult. SpaceX has eyed another Kennedy Space Center launch site for future Starship launches, LC-49, a few miles from LC-39A. But that location is in the midst of a lengthy environmental review that could take years. Plans for that orbital launch site, Spaceport Camden, were nixed by a local referendum after a lawsuit raised concerns about its environmental impact.

☆ TikTok is looking more and more like a record label. It’s annoyed many in the music industry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Allbirds is one of the brands I'm looking at. TikTok is looking more and more like a record label. When TikTok launched SoundOn, a song-distribution and artist-services platform, some in the industry wondered whether it was trying to muscle its way into record labels' territory. TikTok is now looking to hire people who will "identify, sign, and develop new artists" as well as "design live show and merchandise strategies for artists globally." Get a front-row seat to TikTok's transformation into a record label here.

BOCA CHICA, Texas, April 17 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX called off the highly anticipated debut launch of its newly-combined Starship cruise vessel and Super Heavy rocket in the final minutes of countdown due to a frozen valve, delaying the uncrewed test flight for at least two days. But the California-based space company announced in a live webcast that it was scrubbing the planned 90-minute flight into space for a minimum of 48 hours, citing a frozen pressurization valve in the lower-stage rocket booster. A successful debut flight would also instantly rank the Starship system as the most powerful launch vehicle on Earth. But neither stage would be recovered for the expendable first test flight to space. After separating from the Starship, the Super Heavy booster is expected to execute the beginnings of a controlled return flight before plunging into the Gulf of Mexico.

REUTERS/Gene BlevinsBOCA CHICA, Texas, April 17 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX made final preparations early on Monday to launch its powerful new Starship rocket system to space for the first time, on a brief but highly anticipated uncrewed test flight from the Gulf Coast of Texas. But neither stage will be recovered for the expendable first test flight to space, expected to last no more than 90 minutes. The Federal Aviation Administration just last Friday granted a license for what would be the first test flight of the fully stacked rocket system, clearing a final regulatory hurdle for the long-awaited launch. As designed, the Starship rocket is nearly two times more powerful than NASA's own Space Launch System (SLS), which made its debut uncrewed flight to orbit in November, sending a NASA cruise vessel called Orion on a 10-day voyage around the moon and back. Reporting by Joe Skipper in Boca Chica, Texas, and Joey Roulette in Denver; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Customers view semi automatic guns on display at a gun shop in Los Angeles, California December 19, 2012. REUTERS/Gene BlevinsMarch 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday blocked California from enforcing a state law requiring new semiautomatic handguns to have certain safety features, finding it violates the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in Santa Anna, California is the latest in a line of decisions striking down state gun laws following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights. The judge said it would not take effect for 14 days to give the state a chance to appeal. The California Rifle & Pistol Association and four individuals sued the state last year to challenge the law.

☆ Elon Musk hints Starship rocket may explode on first orbital launch, predicting 50% chance of success and 'guaranteeing excitement'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

SpaceX is prepping for the first orbital launch of Starship, the cornerstone rocket for Elon Musk's Mars ambitions. Musk estimated 50% odds of success and hinted the rocket could blow up on the first orbital attempt. Other Starships are waiting in the wings and one of them will likely reach orbit this year, he said. Gene Blevins/Reuters; SPadre.comIf successful, the launch will prove the world's first fully reusable orbital rocket, setting the stage for SpaceX to revolutionize the orbital economy. That's a major money-saving measure, since SpaceX would not have to build a new upper stage for every rocket launch.

☆ Powerball jackpot hits $1 billion — but only if you pick the less-popular prize option. If you win, here's the tax bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The annuity option is higher than it has been, relative to the cash option, due to higher interest rates that make it possible for the game to fund larger annuitized prizes, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs Powerball. The cash option, however, is driven by ticket sales. Assuming you were like most winners and chose the cash option, a 24% federal tax withholding would reduce the $497.3 million by $119.4 million. The top federal income tax rate is 37% and this year applies to income above $539,900 for individual tax filers and $647,850 for married couples. While some jurisdictions have no income tax — or do not tax lottery winnings — others impose a top tax rate of more than 10%.

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