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☆ Penthouse to prison: Sam Bankman-Fried's journey from crypto king to convicted conman
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of failed crypto exchange FTX, will head on Thursday to a federal court in downtown Manhattan, where U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will deliver his sentencing. After a month of personally dabbling in the market, Bankman-Fried launched Alameda Research, named after the California county that housed his first office. The so-called crypto winter of 2022 wiped out hedge funds and lenders across the crypto universe. May of 2022 brought the crash of stablecoin Luna, creating a domino effect that sent crypto prices plunging, devastating other lenders. On Nov. 2, 2022, crypto trade site CoinDesk publicized details of Alameda's balance sheet, which showed $14.6 billion in assets.

Persons: Samuel Bankman, MacKenzie Sigalos, Sam Bankman, Fried, Damian Williams, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, they'd, FTX, Amr Alfiky, Jane Street, Goldman Sachs, stablecoin Luna, Solana, Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao, Jane Rosenberg, he'd, Cromwell, John J, Ray, confidants, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami Organizations: CNBC, Metropolitan Detention, U.S, District, Prosecutors, Reuters, Jane, Alameda Research, Formula, Democratic, Voyager, Alameda, FTX, Industry, Investors, Enron, Securities and Exchange Commission, Stanford University Locations: San Francisco, he's, Brooklyn, Manhattan, U.S, New York City, South Korea, Alameda, California, Miami, Washington, Solana, FTX, New York, Palo Alto , California

☆ Advisory firm ISS tells Disney shareholders to side with Nelson Peltz in proxy fight
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-21 | by ( Michele Luhn | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger. While siding with Peltz, ISS told shareholders not to back Rasulo in the fight, citing his previous positioning as a potential successor to Iger. "Though we do not have any concerns about his ability to serve as an objective director, we recognize that Rasulo's potential presence might create added friction on the board," ISS said. Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, earlier this week endorsed Disney's slate of board nominees. Large institutional shareholders will often — but not always — vote based on the recommendation of either of the two proxy advisory firms.

Persons: Nelson Peltz, Bob Iger, Peltz, Jay Rasulo, Iger, Trian, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Disney, Blackwells, Roy Disney, Jamie Dimon, George Lucas, Glass Lewis, Lewis, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami Organizations: Walt Disney, New York Stock Exchange, Services, Trian Fund Management, Disney, ISS, JPMorgan Chase, Disney's

☆ Palo Alto Networks shares drop most since 2012 IPO
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, speaks on CNBC's "Squawk Box" at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 16, 2024. Palo Alto Networks shares dropped 28% on Wednesday, the worst trading session since the cybersecurity hardware and software maker's 2012 initial public offering. The company lowered its full-year billings outlook to a range of $10.1 billion to $10.2 billion, from $10.7 billion to $10.8 billion. The revenue guidance moved to a range of $7.95 billion to $8 billion, from $8.15 billion to $8.2 billion. WATCH: Chart of the Day: Palo Alto Networks

Persons: Nikesh Arora, Palo, Wells, Andrew Nowinski, Stefan Schwarz, Arora, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami Organizations: Palo Alto Networks, MGM Resorts, Defense, Systems, Rosenblatt Securities, Palo Alto Locations: Davos, Switzerland, 23andMe, U.S, Palo, billings

☆ Circle confidentially files for IPO following banner year for crypto stocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The public listing is expected to take place once the SEC finishes its review, "subject to market and other conditions," Circle said in the two-paragraph press release Thursday. Founded in 2013, Circle is best known as the issuer of USD Coin, the world's second-biggest U.S. dollar pegged stablecoin, which was launched in 2018. But the SPAC market collapsed in 2022, and Circle ended that agreement in December of that year, just after crypto exchange FTX spiraled into bankruptcy. Coinbase , which took a stake in Circle in August, jumped almost 400% in value in 2023, and other crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy and bitcoin miner Marathon Digital enjoyed hefty rallies. WATCH: SEC approves spot bitcoin ETFs

Persons: USDC, Bitcoin, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S, Concord, Corp, Marathon Digital

☆ Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman returns to headquarters for talks following his abrupt ouster
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI participates in the "Charting the Path Forward: The Future of Artificial Intelligence" at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week in San Francisco, California, on November 16, 2023. Sam Altman, the recently ousted CEO of OpenAI, arrived as a guest Sunday at the headquarters of the company he founded. Altman posted a photo of himself on X, formerly Twitter, wearing an OpenAI visitor badge, writing, "first and last time i ever wear one of these." Jason Kwon, OpenAI's chief strategy officer, also posted a photo of Sam with the badge. Microsoft , Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and venture firm Thrive Capital are part of an effort to reinstate Altman or have been in discussions with him, sources familiar told CNBC.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Jason Kwon, Sam, Brad Lightcap, Lightcap, Greg Brockman, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami, Jordan Novet Organizations: Economic Cooperation, APEC, OpenAI, Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, CNBC Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California

☆ The $8 billion Sam Bankman-Fried criminal trial starts today — here's what's at stake and how we got here
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

In the first trial, Bankman-Fried faces seven criminal counts related to the collapse of the crypto empire he built, including wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Alameda, FTX and a host of subsidiaries Bankman-Fried founded filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware. FTX's own terms of use specifically forbade him, or Alameda, from using customer money for anything — unless the customer allowed it. And from FTX's inception, there was a lot of customer money. Bankman-Fried and other executives admitted to each other that "FTX customer funds were irrevocably lost because Alameda had appropriated them."

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Ellison, FTX, Wang, Judge Lewis Kaplan, Samuel Bankman, MacKenzie Sigalos, San Francisco —, SBF, Wang —, Nishad Singh —, Goldman Sachs, Binance, Damian Williams, Rehypothecation, —, Crypto, Solana, Zhao, he'd, Cromwell, John J, Ray, John Ray's, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami Organizations: Alameda Research, Southern, of, Stanford, MIT, U.S, New York Times, Bankman, That's, CNBC, Jane, Capital, University of California, Formula, Democratic, Twitter, Securities Exchange Commission, SEC, Futures Trading, United States Attorney's Office, CFTC, Alameda, Alameda didn't, Voyager, BlockFi, FTX, Industry, Investors, Zhao, Publicly, Sullivan, Enron Locations: Bahamas, Manhattan, New York, Alameda, of New York, FTX, Brooklyn , New York, San Francisco, South Korea, Alameda , California, Fried's Alameda, Berkeley, Miami, Washington, Delaware, California, Federal, Solana, Fried

☆ Flexport fires CFO, HR chief departs weeks after sudden ouster of Dave Clark as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Three weeks after Flexport founder Ryan Petersen fired Dave Clark as CEO and returned to run his supply chain software startup, the company has ousted its chief financial officer, and its human resources chief has resigned, CNBC has learned. Flexport informed CFO Kenny Wagers last week that he was being let go, according to people familiar with the situation. Clark and Petersen worked as co-CEOs of Flexport starting last September, and Clark took over as the company's sole CEO in March. Stuart Leung will become Flexport's Chief Financial Officer and report to Ryan Petersen, CEO, effective immediately. WATCH: Flexport CEO Petersen on company's plan to reinvest profits

Persons: Ryan Peterson, Ryan Petersen, Dave Clark, Flexport, Kenny, Stuart Leung, Leung, Petersen's . Petersen, Clark, Jeff Bezos, Petersen, Peter Thiel's, Jennifer Boden, Boden, Darcie Henry, Michael Brown, Stuart, Jennifer, " Petersen, Henry, Teresa Carlson, Tim Collins, Kelly Cheeseman, Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank, it's, excoriated Clark, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami Organizations: Flexport Inc, CNBC, Amazon, Fund, Restructuring, Founders Fund Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, Flexport, Shopify, Andreessen

☆ TikTok CEO says China-based ByteDance employees still have access to some U.S. data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Lawmakers and intelligence officials fear that U.S. user data could get into the hands of the Chinese government via ByteDance. TikTok said Thursday that Project Texas is already in action but there are many steps to reach its completion. The data on those servers is the kind that could theoretically still be accessed by China-based ByteDance employees for the time being. Once that data is deleted, according to TikTok, those employees will no longer have access to U.S. user data from the app. WATCH: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: I don't condone effort by former employees to access U.S. user data

☆ As Silicon Valley Bank comes under pressure, here's a list of the 15 most-shorted banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investor anxiety over tech-focused SVB Financial 's fund-raising plans sent its shares tumbling Thursday , but short sellers have been targeting several other banks too, data shows. Crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital was the most shorted stock among regional and national banks as of Feb. 28, according to the latest industry data compiled by FactSet. Earlier this week, shares in the bank fell 36% after the crypto industry lender said it is winding down operations and liquidating its bank. The following table shows the 15 stocks with the highest percentage of shares held short. More than 5% of Silicon Valley Bank's shares, worth $340 million were held short, FactSet data reveals.

☆ Grayscale refuses to share proof of reserves due to 'security concerns' as shares trade at a 45% discount to bitcoin
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Grayscale, the asset manager running the world's largest bitcoin fund, said in a statement that it won't share its proof of reserves with customers. Grayscale's flagship fund is the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, known by its GBTC ticker. The firm pointed to a letter sent by Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas on Nov. 18, which breaks down an accounting of the tokens held at Coinbase Custody. In a tweet, the firm added that the "laws, regulations, and documents that define Grayscale's digital asset products prohibit the digital assets underlying the products from being lent, borrowed, or otherwise encumbered." Barry Silbert's Digital Currency Group is the parent company of Grayscale, Genesis, and CoinDesk.

☆ FTX says it's removing trading and withdrawals, moving digital assets to a cold wallet after a $477 million suspected hack
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this photo illustration, the FTX website is seen on a computer on November 10, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Elliptic found that $663 million in various tokens were drained from FTX's crypto wallets. Of that amount, $477 million was taken in the suspected theft, while the remainder is believed to have been moved into secure storage by FTX. Miller, FTX's general counsel, said the decision to push digital assets into cold storage was meant "to mitigate damage upon observing unauthorized transactions." People who choose to hold their own cryptocurrency can store it "hot," "cold," or some combination of the two.

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