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☆ Hestia Capital could be preparing to shake up the board at Pitney Bowes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

As a result, Hestia often invests in companies that might be misunderstood or not favored by the market, like GameStop, Best Buy and Pitney Bowes. Pitney Bowes' SendTech solutions business is the core enterprise that the company is generally known for: postage meters. The SendTech Solutions segment accounts for 38% of Pitney Bowes' revenue and generated $429 million in earnings before interest and taxes in 2021. Global Ecommerce comprises 46% of Pitney Bowes' revenue but lost $99 million of EBIT in 2021. Hestia will likely need more than just one board seat to drive change at Pitney Bowes.

☆ Banker bonuses are set to be so bad even the firm's revenue drivers are going to get dinged
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A man pauses outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 15, 2016 in New York City. While they aren't internally announced and paid until early next year, firms are wrapping up discussions about the size of bonus pools that divisions will be able to disperse from. And for many firms, the pools are being resized from Olympic to kiddie. The Financial Times reported Friday that JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America are considering cutting bonus pools within M&A and IPO teams by 30%. More on how crypto firms are hoping ads can quell trust concerns.

☆ Activision acquisition would be good for Microsoft and the overall stock market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

That implies that the other 35% of the market is made up of firms with equal to or less than about a 2% market share. For simplicity's sake, let's say an additional 17 firms have a 2% market share each to bring us to 100% of the market. That means the HHI, calculated by the market share number squared and then added together for all 27 companies, would be under 650. If the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal goes through, and you combine the market share concentration of the two companies, the HII would be just over 700. The other issue is how one measures the gaming market.

☆ The FTC is 'likely' to file a suit to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FTC is 'likely' to file a lawsuit to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit would signify a major step by FTC chair Lina Khan to reign in big tech companies. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERSMicrosoft first announced its purchase of Activision Blizzard, which manufactures popular video game titles like Call of Duty and Candy Crush, in January. This merger will benefit gamers and the U.S. gaming industry, especially as we face increasingly stiff competition from abroad," a spokesperson for Activision told Insider.

☆ FTC likely to file lawsuit to block Microsoft bid for Activision -Politico
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard logo in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNov 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) $69 billion takeover bid for video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Politico reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The acquisition could damage the industry if Microsoft refused to give rivals access to Activision's best-selling games, Britain's antitrust regulator has said. The deal has drawn criticism from Sony, maker of the Playstation console, citing Microsoft's control of games like "Call of Duty." A spokesperson for Microsoft said: "We are prepared to address the concerns of regulators, including the FTC, and Sony to ensure the deal closes with confidence.

☆ Mazda to invest $11 bln by 2030 to procure EV batteries - Nikkei
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Japan's Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T) plans to invest 1.5 trillion yen ($10.6 billion) by 2030 to procure electric vehicle (EV) batteries and cooperate with battery supplier Envision AESC, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday. The Hiroshima-based automaker will secure batteries and seek to increase production of fully electric vehicles at factories in Japan through the partnership with Envision AESC, the newspaper reported. Both Mazda and Envision AESC declined to comment. Mazda is set to hold a news conference at 0530 GMT on Tuesday to talk about it medium-term business plan. Shoichi Matsumoto, Envision AESC chief executive, told Reuters last month it was in talks with automakers in Japan, Europe, the United States and China for new supply deals.

☆ US and Indian troops are teaming up for tough training in the Himalayas near a tense border with China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

US soldiers are training with Indian troops in the Himalayas this month for exercise Yudh Abhyas. This year's version of the exercise is being held near India's disputed border with China. An Indian army convoy on a highway leading to Ladakh, in Kashmir's Ganderbal district in June 2020. REUTERS/Danish Ismail"The US and India probably anticipated that conducting the exercise near the Chinese border would draw Beijing's ire. Indian soldiers during Yudh Abhyas in Alaska in October 2021.

☆ Amazon is gutting its voice-assistant Alexa. Once founder Jeff Bezos's pet project it's now the primary target of historic layoffs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Amazon's Alexa and the devices team at large is now the prime target of the biggest layoffs in the company's history, according to press reports and an internal email seen by Insider. Instead, Amazon wanted shoppers to buy more things through Echo devices by placing orders through the voice-assistant. Reports of Alexa mistakenly sending voice recordings to the wrong person or Amazon employees secretly listening to private conversations stoked fear of privacy concerns. But even so, its financial contribution often fell short of expectations, more than half a dozen employees told Insider. Employees told Insider the product is Bezos's latest pet project.

☆ Microsoft wants to create more competition among game publishers, CEO Satya Nadella says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella says the American tech giant wants to create more competition among game publishers, as it faces an anticompetition probe over its $69 billion offer to buy Activision Blizzard . Activision Blizzard, the American game publisher behind popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Warcraft, and Candy Crush, could boost Microsoft's mobile gaming presence where it is largely absent. Microsoft has largely been in the console and PC video game businesses, offering access to hundreds of games via their video game subscription services Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. What can Microsoft uniquely do for gamers and game publishers? When asked about the next step if the Activision Blizzard deal doesn't happen, Nadella said: "We have been in gaming for decades.

☆ Even Nicki Minaj couldn't save Amazon's bet big on a live radio service. The business is badly missing a year-end goal and recently cut half its workers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Katherine Long | Tom Dotan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon launched the Amp live radio app earlier this year with A-list stars like Nicki Minaj. Earlier this fall, executives inside Amazon's live radio service, Amp, were dreaming about bringing on Taylor Swift as the next big name on the platform. The live radio app launched in March, touting a partnership with Minaj, who hosted a live call-in and music shows with her fans. An Amazon spokesperson said those figures were inaccurate but declined to specify how many monthly active users Amp has. "We've continued to see success since launching the product and are optimizing for product growth as we release more features."

☆ Tata Motors' JLR says CEO Bollore to resign
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Tata Motors (TAMO.NS)-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said on Wednesday Chief Executive Officer Thierry Bollore would resign due to personal reasons after more than two years in the role. Adrian Mardell will take over as CEO on an interim basis, JLR said. A 32-year JLR veteran, Mardell is currently a member of the company's executive board. JLR said earlier this month its second-quarter loss before tax narrowed to 173 million pounds ($206.06 million), while revenue rose 36% from a year earlier. The division's performance is key to India's Tata Motors as it contributes nearly 60% to the group's revenue from operations.

☆ Read the pitch deck startup TVision used to raise $16 million to measure how many people are watching TV together
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

TVision has raised $16 million in funding, led by TV adtech firm iSpot. Digital advertising firm TVision has long pitched advertisers on a measurement system that uses eye-tracking to gauge whether people are actually watching TV ads. It just got a new round of funding to expand its capabilities to tell how many people are watching TV together. TVision has raised $16 million in funding, led by iSpot, a TVision client that also offers advertisers new ways to measure TV ads. TVision has a panel of about 5,000 homes that covers 14,000 people who have opted in to have their TV watching tracked in their house.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, First Solar, Carvana & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Loop reiterates Apple as buy Loop said it sees macro headwinds building for Apple. Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said investors should buy the dip in shares of Tesla. Morgan Stanley names CBOE a top pick Morgan Stanley said the global markets company has a compelling entry point. Barclays reiterates Amazon as overweight Barclays said it sees a favorable risk/reward for Amazon shares right now. " AMZN shares remain out of favor heading into peak holiday season owing to its sub-seasonal revenue guide and AWS deceleration."

CompaniesCompanies Law firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Llp Follow(Reuters) - Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher said Monday that Gustav Eyler, who was a top U.S. Department of Justice consumer protection official, has joined the firm as a Washington, D.C.-based partner. Eyler, who practiced as a litigation associate at Los Angeles-founded Gibson Dunn earlier in his career, served for five years as director of the consumer protection branch of the Justice Department's civil division, where he oversaw more than 250 prosecutors and staff, the firm said. Gibson Dunn has made other recent hires to its Washington office, including two last week. At Gibson Dunn, Eyler said he plans to help clients facing government investigations, enforcement actions and related consumer class actions involving the life sciences, healthcare and consumer products sectors, and work with clients on data privacy matters. Read more:Law firm Steptoe hires U.S. Justice Dept senior antitrust lawyerJustice official to lead Jenner's congressional investigations teamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU antitrust regulators to probe Microsoft's $69 billion Activision bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Activision games "Call of Duty" are pictured in a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 18, 2022. EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday opened a full-scale investigation into Microsoft's $69 billion bid for "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard, warning the deal may hurt competition. The U.S. software company, which announced the deal in January, is betting Activision's stable of games will help it compete better with leaders Tencent and Sony, with the latter being a critic of the deal. "The Commission's preliminary investigation shows that the transaction may significantly reduce competition on the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games, including multigame subscription services and/or cloud game streaming services, and for PC operating systems," the European Commission said in a statement. "In particular, the Commission is concerned that, by acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft may foreclose access to Activision Blizzard's console and PC video games, especially to high-profile and highly successful games (so-called 'AAA' games) such as 'Call of Duty'," it said.

☆ Microsoft's $69 bln Activision bid faces EU antitrust probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The preliminary investigation suggests that Microsoft may have the ability, as well as a potential economic incentive, to engage in foreclosure strategies vis-à-vis Microsoft's rival distributors of console video games," it added. Microsoft said it would work with the EU antitrust watchdog to address valid marketplace concerns. The EU competition enforcer said it would decide by March 23, 2023 whether to clear or block the deal. Reuters reported on Oct. 31 that Microsoft would face an extensive EU probe after declining to offer remedies during the preliminary EU review of the deal. Britain's antitrust watchdog is also investigating the acquisition, with similar concerns to its EU peer.

☆ DOJ plans to monitor elections in these 46 cities and counties to ensure voters aren't harassed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Justice Department plans to monitor polls in two dozen states across the country to ensure no one intimidates voters or otherwise meddles with Tuesday's midterm elections. The department's Civil Rights Division selected 64 jurisdictions in 24 states, including Alaska, Florida, Georgia and Nevada, for oversight in both the general election and early voting. The division routinely monitors elections in the field, starting in 1965 when Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. DOJ monitored polls in 18 states and 44 cities and counties in 2020, by comparison. Attorneys' Offices and the Office of Personnel Management will assist the DOJ Civil Rights Division in monitoring efforts and maintaining contact with state and local election officials.

☆ Amazon bet big on a live radio service with Nicki Minaj and Halsey. The business is wildly undershooting a year-end goal and just laid off half its workers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Katherine Long | Tom Dotan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

☆ Wealthy families are migrating to the U.S. South and UBS is following them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Lananh Nguyen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The new structure for the world's largest wealth manager signals a big push into the southern United States alongside competitors such as Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, which has boosted its presence in Florida. "We’ve seen our clients do well in the last decade in terms of their investment outcomes," said Jason Chandler, head of UBS wealth management in the United States. High net worth families are taking advantage of greater flexibility to live and work in different locations, he said. Ultra-high net worth families are moving from northern to southern states and are settling in multiple locations, and some financial advisers have followed suit by splitting their time across multiple offices, UBS said. The bank's top markets for wealth management include Atlanta, Colorado, Florida and Texas, alongside traditional hubs in the Northeast like New York and Boston.

☆ Twitter staff have been told to work 84-hour weeks and managers slept at the office over the weekend as they scramble to meet Elon Musk's tight deadlines, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter managers have told some staff work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, CNBC reported. Some managers told The New York Times they slept at Twitter's office on Friday and Saturday nights. Twitter managers have told some staff to work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week — equivalent to 84 hours a week — to meet Musk's deadlines, CNBC reported, citing internal communications. Insider previously reported that Musk's team assigned some of Twitter's engineers coding projects to work on over the weekend, known as sprints. Some Twitter managers told the publication that they felt like they were being assessed.

☆ Facebook's identity crisis is costing Zuckerberg billions, and he's ok with it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta expects "significantly" higher losses for the Reality Labs unit handling the development of the metaverse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that investors who are patient will "end up being rewarded." Meta's share price slumped nearly 20% to $104.30 in after-hours trade, following its earnings announcement. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. But it's a "pretty wide portfolio" with other initiatives, such as a social metaverse platform, Zuckerberg added.

☆ Meta says it's laying off staff and easing off hiring to reduce costs – but will keep pumping billions into Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta is cutting hiring and laying off staff to trim costs, CFO David Wehner said Wednesday. But Meta will continue pumping billions into its metaverse business, execs said Wednesday. Meta expects its headcount to remain roughly flat between now and the end of 2023, Wehner said. "We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year," Wehner said. Meta has been under pressure from Wall Street to reduce spending, especially on its metaverse projects.

☆ IMF and Egypt reach $3 bln, 46-month deal, IMF representative says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

CAIRO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Egypt have reached a $3 billion funding deal that will run over 46 months, the IMF's representative in Egypt, Ivana Holler, said on Thursday in remarks aired on state TV. The state television's translator had said the agreement would last six months but an IMF statement published shortly after outlined it would last 46. Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad, Enas Alashray Nadine Awadalla; Writing by Lina Najem; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ YouTube, a major Google growth engine, grinds to a halt as advertisers pull back. It's not going to get better in the key holiday quarter.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Tom Dotan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

YouTube ad revenue fell 2% from last year, the first time the platform showed a decline in revenue. For years, YouTube has been Google's ad revenue growth engine. The video unit posted its first ever year-over-year decline in ad revenue, as advertisers pulled back due to the uncertain economy. The results raised questions about YouTube's long-term revenue growth potential. Google executives tried to minimize the significance of YouTube's decline by saying the company suffered from comparisons to its breakout growth last year.

☆ Novartis earnings slip 4% on strong dollar, Gilenya competition
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Quarterly operating income at Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.S) slipped as competition weighed on prescriptions of multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya, but the earnings outlook at generic-drugs unit Sandoz perked up again. For Novartis, which reports results in dollars, a strong U.S. currency was also a drag on the value of sales generated outside the United States. Third-quarter group core operating income declined 4% to $4.28 billion, slightly below the average analyst consensus of $4.30 billion. Driven by sales of cheaper versions of biotechnology drugs that lost patent protection, the division's core operating income is now expected to grow by a "low single digit" percentage. Quarterly Gilenya sales fell a currency-adjusted 24% to $507 million, below a consensus of $555 million.

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