DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Trump Is Owed an Extra $1 Billion Stake in Truth Social
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Jason Karaian | Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump’s already sizable stake in his social media company is set to jump by more than $1 billion, as he’s rewarded with additional shares in the parent of Truth Social — the result of its stock price staying high in recent weeks. Mr. Trump is already the largest shareholder of Trump Media & Technology Group with 79 million shares, a stake currently worth nearly $3 billion. He’s now due 36 million more shares under what is known as an “earnout,” additional stock that would push the value of his stake to over $4 billion. Trump Media merged with a public shell company last month and made its debut on the Nasdaq on March 26. The new shares would raise Mr. Trump’s stake to about 65 percent of the company.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, Trump, He’s Organizations: Republican, Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump Media, Nasdaq

Tesla plans to lay off more than 10 percent of its work force in an effort to cut costs, Elon Musk, the automaker’s chief executive, told employees on Monday. The job cuts, amounting to about 14,000 people, come as the company faces increasing competition and declining sales. The email was earlier reported by Electrek, an online news site, and Handelsblatt, a German business newspaper. The move is the latest sign that Tesla may not be as unstoppable as it once seemed. The company’s sales are no longer growing at a rapid pace, and it has been slow to introduce new models.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, Mr, Musk, ”, Electrek Organizations: Elon, The New York Times Locations: Asia, Europe

☆ Many People and Companies Have Made Millions on Trump Media’s Stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Matthew Goldstein | Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Shares of former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company continued to surge on Wednesday, extending the gains on its first official trading session on the Nasdaq the day before. After another double-digit percentage gain, the parent of Truth Social approached $9 billion in market value, a windfall for insiders awarded shares in the company. The biggest beneficiary is Mr. Trump, the company’s largest shareholder, whose stake is worth more than $5 billion, on paper. No other shareholder comes close, according to regulatory filings, but many of Trump Media’s executives have seen their net worth swell this week, in some cases by many millions of dollars. Devin NunesTrump Media stake: More than $7 million

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Devin Nunes Organizations: Nasdaq, Truth Social, Trump Media’s, Devin Nunes Trump Media

☆ Unilever to Cut 7,500 Jobs and Spin Off Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Unit
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Unilever, the consumer goods giant, said on Tuesday that it would cut 7,500 jobs and spin off its ice cream unit, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, to reduce costs and simplify its portfolio of brands. The moves would make for “a simpler, more focused and higher performing Unilever,” Ian Meakins, the London-based company’s chair, said in a statement. The group’s ice cream unit generated 7.9 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in sales last year, or about 13 percent of the group’s total. The division is home to Ben & Jerry’s, which Unilever acquired in 2000, along with other brands like Cornetto, Magnum, Talenti and Wall’s. The spinoff is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Persons: ” Ian Meakins, Hein Schumacher Organizations: Unilever Locations: London

☆ Stocks in Japan Hit Record High, Surpassing 1989 Peak
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Joe Rennison | Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stocks in Japan have looked cheap because of a weak yen, which has been a boon to exporters that make their profits overseas. Important changes to the corporate sector have also given shareholders more rights, allowing them to push for changes that favor their stock holdings. Earnings at large Japanese companies are set to rise by more than 40 percent in their latest quarterly results, according to Goldman Sachs. The biggest companies, like Toyota and SoftBank, have also reported some of the biggest earnings surprises, the bank’s analysts noted. Toyota recently rose to a record market value for a Japanese company, about $330 billion, surpassing the mark set in 1987 by the telecom conglomerate NTT.

Persons: haven’t, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Japan Exchange Group, Toyota, NTT Locations: Japan, China

☆ Will Food Prices Stop Rising Quickly? Many Companies Say Yes.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Few prices are as visible to Americans as the ones they encounter at the grocery store or drive-through window, which is why two years of rapid food inflation have been a major drag for U.S. households and the Biden administration. But now, the trend in grocery and restaurant inflation appears to be on the cusp of changing. After months of rapid increase, the cost of food at home climbed at a notably slower clip in January. And from packaged food providers to restaurant chains, companies across the food business are reporting that they are no longer raising prices as steeply. In others, it’s because the prices that companies pay for inputs like packaging and labor are no longer rising as sharply.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Shoppers

☆ Microsoft’s Stock Recovers After Hiring OpenAI Outcasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Jason Karaian | More About Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The unexpected ouster on Friday of Sam Altman, OpenAI’s co-founder and chief executive, set off a chain of events that erased tens of billions from Microsoft’s market value, a sign of how important OpenAI is to the tech behemoth. Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI, and Apple, Google and Meta have rushed to catch up with their own A.I. Microsoft’s stock has been on a roller coaster since Mr. Altman’s departure from OpenAI, dropping on Friday and continuing to slide in after-hours trading. The decline of more than 2 percent translates into an enormous loss of value for a company with a market capitalization approaching $3 trillion. Microsoft’s stock price served as a referendum of sorts on its partnership with OpenAI.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI’s, Altman’s, Mr, Altman Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI, Silicon Valley

The report is also expected to find that gains in average hourly earnings were solid but decelerated to 4 percent from a year earlier. The September report showed an unexpectedly strong gain of 336,000 jobs — a figure that will be revised Friday — and a year-over-year wage gain of 4.2 percent. has reached tentative contract agreements with the three major U.S. automakers and told striking members to return to their jobs. “We expect the October employment report to show a large deceleration in job growth, although the moderation will be overstated by the impact of striking autoworkers,” Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note. “Excluding those workers,” she added, “job growth will still be relatively robust, although narrowly based.”Since early 2022, the benchmark interest rate set by the Federal Reserve has surged from near zero to more than 5 percent.

Persons: Nancy Vanden Houten, Jerome H, Powell, Mr, “, ” Organizations: Bloomberg, United Automobile Workers, Oxford Economics, Federal Reserve

Persons: Nancy Vanden Houten, Jerome H, Powell, Mr, “, ” Organizations: Bloomberg, United Automobile Workers, Oxford Economics, Federal Reserve

Most economists think that while the hit could be substantial, it will not be so big that it would plunge America into a recession. Goldman Sachs analysts expect renewed student loan payments to cost households about $70 billion per year. But the student loan payments will also restart at the same time consumers face a number of other headwinds, including shrinking savings piles, a cooler job market and higher price levels after two years of rapid inflation. Retailers have begun to publicly fret that the resumption of student loan payments could collide with those other developments, pushing their shoppers closer to a breaking point. Executives from companies like Walmart, Macy’s, Best Buy and Gap have all warned analysts and investors that student loan payments may put pressure on shoppers’ budgets, eating into some of their sales in the process.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Biden, Julia Coronado, “ It’s, ” Organizations: Hollywood, United Auto Workers, Retailers, Walmart, Macy’s

Aides said that President Biden urged both sides of the dispute to stay at the negotiating table. Just before the strike vote, Mr. Biden called Shawn Fain, the president of the U.A.W. How Mr. Biden navigates the situation could have a significant impact on his hopes for re-election. Mr. Biden won the state over former President Donald J. Trump with just over 50 percent of the vote. “They talk about labor, but they don’t say ‘union.’ It’s ‘union.’ I’m one of the — I’m proud to say ‘union.’ I’m proud to be the most pro-union president.”

Persons: Biden, Biden’s, “, ” Mr, “ You’ve, ”, Eddie Vale, You’ve, Vale, Shawn Fain, Donald J, ’ ”, ’ It’s, ’ Organizations: United Auto Workers, Republican, White, Democratic, AFL, CNN, Trump, Labor Locations: Michigan, America, United States, Philadelphia

☆ ‘Going Concern,’ Going Bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A going concern is a company that will continue to operate for at least a year. But the term is rarely brought up unless a company is in trouble — that is, in cases where it has doubts it could continue as a going concern. If managers or auditors believe that a company is at risk of going bust within 12 months, they are required to formally express that doubt in their financial accounts. The dreaded warning, usually buried in the fine print, often leads to sharp declines in a company’s stock price, angst for creditors and worries among employees. As companies have been upended by the pandemic, high inflation and pummeled by rising interest rates, going-concern warnings in company filings have spiked, according to Audit Analytics, a research firm.

Already, it was the biggest weekend haul in North America since 2019, and the fourth-largest ever, before adjusting for inflation. The weekend was also noteworthy for its variety, with “Barbie” collecting $162 million, “Oppenheimer” $82.4 million and the rest of the features, including “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Sound of Freedom,” adding nearly $70 million. Typically, the biggest weekends for domestic ticket sales have been dominated by a single blockbuster. During the highest grossing weekend, in April 2019, “Avengers: Endgame” accounted for nearly 90 percent of the box office. “Barbie,” by comparison, accounted for just over half of the box office over the weekend.

Persons: “ Barbie, “ Oppenheimer, ”, ’, “ Barbie ” Organizations: Hollywood, “ Locations: North America

☆ Elon Musk cambia el logotipo de Twitter a una X
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Noam Scheiber | Ryan Mac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Ahora enfrenta a un competidor bien financiado en Threads, el servicio similar a Twitter recientemente presentado por Meta, la compañía que es dueña de Facebook. Musk ha tenido una larga afinidad por la letra X. Es el autor de The Escape Artists. Más sobre Noam ScheiberRyan Mac es un reportero de tecnología enfocado en la responsabilidad corporativa en la industria tecnológica mundial. Ganó un premio George Polk en 2020 por su cobertura sobre Facebook y vive en Los Ángeles.

☆ What All the Single Ladies (and Men) Say About the Economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Aftershocks from the coronavirus pandemic continue to rumble across the U.S. economy, and Signet Jewelers shared a surprising one this week: The company is selling fewer engagement rings this year because, it says, singles who were stuck at home during lockdowns failed to meet their would-be fiancés in 2020. Shares of Signet, the largest jewelry retailer in the United States, tumbled after the company cut its forecasts for sales and profit for the rest of the year. In a way, the engagement ring has become a sparkly microcosm of the American economy. The bridal jewelry business is being buffeted by the delayed effects of the pandemic, rapid inflation that is squeezing consumers and a growing sense of nervousness among shoppers. Some of the volatility is owed purely to the pandemic.

Persons: lockdowns, Kay Organizations: Signet Jewelers, Signet, Kay Jewelers, Zales Locations: U.S, Virginia, United States

☆ Smaller U.S. Banks Say the Crisis Is Contained but Fears Persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jason Karaian | Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The abrupt collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank threw the entire industry into turmoil and exposed fissures in the financial foundations of some smaller banks. A month later, the nation’s biggest banks are raking in billions and will likely keep doing so even if the economy softens. Deposits are falling and the cost of keeping customers is rising, eating into profits. And fears remain about the value of investments and loans, especially ones backed by real estate. One of the banks attracting the most concern among investors, First Republic, is set to report its results on Monday after the markets close.

Search resuls for: "Jason Karaian"

16 mentions found