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The risks of doing dealsA British regulator’s decision to reject Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover bid for Activision Blizzard stunned many who had expected the deal to go through. That’s especially because moves this month by the agency, the Competition and Markets Authority, suggested that the transaction might pass muster. Though it narrowed the scope of its Activision deal inquiry to just one issue, cloud gaming, the C.M.A. The tribunal that will weigh Microsoft’s appeal will examine mainly whether the regulator followed proper procedure. That institutional advantage positions the agency as one of the world’s most influential antitrust enforcers, alongside those in the United States and the European Union.

Microsoft’s video-game bet suffers a huge blowBritain’s mergers regulator on Wednesday blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover bid for Activision Blizzard, ruling that buying the maker of “Call of Duty” would give the tech giant too much control of the thriving market for cloud-based video games. Shares in Activision tumbled 12 percent in premarket trading, while Microsoft’s stock was up almost 8 percent after a solid earnings report. The deal risks “undermining the innovation” happening in cloud gaming, the C.M.A. said, by giving control of popular game titles to Microsoft, which owns the Xbox platform. (Cloud gaming isn’t reliant on users owning expensive consoles.)

Dropping anchorsFox News’s firing of Tucker Carlson, the most popular prime-time host in cable news, sent shock waves through the media and political spheres yesterday. Few had thought that repercussions from Fox’s $788 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems would reach Mr. Carlson, who commanded a following of millions and has the ear of Donald Trump. But Fox and Rupert Murdoch, who are used to courting controversy and legal settlements as the costs of doing business, may be betting that getting rid of Mr. Carlson is the smarter financial move. Since gaining his prime-time show in 2017, Mr. Carlson became the brightest star in the Fox News orbit, with “Tucker Carlson Tonight” averaging over three million viewers every night. (Shares in Fox Corporation fell 3 percent yesterday — more than they did after the company settled with Dominion last week.)

The challenges of saving a troubled lenderFirst Republic will report quarterly earnings on Monday, its first since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sparked a regional banking crisis. And despite a $30 billion lifeline provided by some of the country’s largest banks, First Republic’s shares have fallen nearly 90 percent over the past six months. So why hasn’t there been a deal to raise more cash or sell assets — or itself? First Republic is not expected to announce a deal alongside its earnings. Assuming those have moderated, First Republic has time to solve its problem.

☆ Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos says he's still in the running with his bid for the Washington Commanders
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jessica Golden | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box on Monday, telling Andrew Ross Sorkin that he's "still in the hunt" when it comes to purchasing the Washington Commanders. Earlier this month, an ownership group led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris made a bid worth an estimated $6 billion. Both the league and Harris' ownership group declined to comment on Apostolopoulos' remarks. The Toronto businessman is a managing partner of the real estate firm Triple Group of Companies and he's the founder of the private equity firm Six Ventures. "It is a tremendous city, it is a tremendous team, there is lots of great things happening in that market and we are real estate guys, so we look from real estate standpoint as well."

Community competes with a bevy of different types of services vying for space in your text inbox, from Attentive to Twilio to Zendesk. “With Community, once they text the number, we now have a way to stay in touch directly. Using text messages to connect with customers, for all its promise, poses unique challenges. And customers may want to hear from fewer brands in their text inbox than they do in their email inbox. “As opposed to email, when you have to scroll to the bottom of the thing and hit the link that says unsubscribe, if you don’t like the text messages you’re getting, you only have to write one word: Stop,” Mr. Kutcher said.

The reason this news pioneer is closingBuzzFeed’s decision to shut its news division — an innovator in digital journalism that published both prizewinning investigations and listicles designed to get clicks — drew many bittersweet tributes online. But its closure is the latest reminder that digital media start-ups, which deep-pocketed investors once valued at astronomical sums, are facing headwinds. With even tech giants struggling to navigate hurdles like a declining advertising market, smaller companies are facing potentially existential crises. BuzzFeed and its peers have also suffered from the same drop-off in online ads that is forcing sharp job cuts at Alphabet, Meta and others. BuzzFeed used one to list on the Nasdaq in late 2021 — and ended up raising just $16 million, far short of the $250 million it could have collected.

☆ Twitter begins removing legacy blue checkmarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTwitter begins removing legacy blue checkmarksTwitter has begun removing legacy blue checkmarks for formerly verified users who declined to pay for a subscription. CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reports.

Fox can take a tax deduction from the settlement, Lever News reports. U.S. tax law allows companies to write off at least some portion of settlement fees as part of the cost of doing business. (There are some exceptions, including for cases involving accusations of sexual harassment or abuse with nondisclosure agreements; Fox News has paid out settlements involving those in the past.) It is unclear how much Fox will save, though a spokesman confirmed that tax deductibility is at play. Lever News estimated that the company could reap as much as $213 million in tax savings.

The tech company will begin its latest round of layoffs today, in its Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Reality Labs units, according to Vox, with up to 4,000 positions possibly set to go. Disney will cut thousands of jobs next week, as part of the C.E.O. Commentators and investors said the moves were a long-awaited recognition that Goldman should focus on its strengths. The online chatboard company told The Times that it would start making others pay to use its application programming interface, the method that allows outside entities to download its vast offering of user discussions. projects by tech giants — which must be trained on huge amounts of data — as a reason for the move.

Its stock fell nearly 4 percent lower in premarket. State Street, M&T Bank and Charles Schwab on Monday reported nearly $60 billion in deposit outflows last quarter. State Street’s shares fell more than 9 percent on Monday, its worst single-day performance in three years. Banks are under pressure to raise interest rates to stem the deposit exodus. About $12 billion in deposits left State Street last quarter as customers sought higher rates elsewhere, according to Gerard Cassidy, a banking analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

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☆ Bernard Arnault's fortune nears $210B as he widens gap with Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBernard Arnault's fortune nears $210B as he widens gap with Elon MuskCNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reports on the wealth gap amongst the world's richest.

☆ Larry Fink doesn't see a big recession this year, but expects inflation to stay higher for longer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock , believes the U.S. could skirt a major economic downturn this year, but inflation is going to be around for a while. "No I don't see a big recession," Fink said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Friday. "I'm not sure we're going to have a recession in 2023, we may have it in early 24." The head of the world's largest asset manager said the chance of a recession is dependent on the Federal Reserve's battle against inflation. "It all depends on what is the pathway of inflation of the short run and pathway to the Fed," Fink said.

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says he doesn't focus on the company's stock price
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he doesn't pay much attention to the company's stock price, even after the shares lost half their value in 2022 amid fears of a recession and a bad year for tech stocks across the board. "I don't spend a lot of my time focused on the stock price," Jassy said Thursday in an interview with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on "Squawk Box." Jassy said he prefers to look at the stock's performance over the long term, rather than focusing on a snapshot in time. In 2021, when Jassy took over from founder Jeff Bezos, he was awarded a pay package worth roughly $212 million, of which a significant portion was comprised of Amazon stock. Amazon said in a proxy filing Thursday it did not grant Jassy any new stock in 2022.

☆ Generative A.I. can disrupt the news media landscape, says Penske Media's Jay Penske
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailGenerative A.I. can disrupt the news media landscape, says Penske Media's Jay PenskeCNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin joins 'The Exchange' from Kiawah Island with George Pyne of Bruin Capital, and Jay Penske of Penske Media, to discuss sports team valuations, ChatGPT's influence on the media industry, and commoditizing intellectual property.

☆ Uber-owned 'Careem' spinning off its super app business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUber-owned 'Careem' spinning off its super app businessCNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reports on news from an Uber-owned app in the Middle East.

☆ OpenAI says its GPT-4 model can beat 90% of humans on the SAT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOpenAI says its GPT-4 model can beat 90% of humans on the SATCNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reports on the latest news in the artificial intelligence space.

☆ Bloomberg reports First Republic Bank is weighing options, including a sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBloomberg reports First Republic Bank is weighing options, including a saleCNBC's Brian Sullivan and Andrew Ross Sorkin weigh in on news that First Republic Bank is looking at its options, including a sale, according to Bloomberg.

☆ CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin says covering the SVB meltdown is like ‘walking a tight rope’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Andrew Ross Sorkin woke up early Monday morning, long before the crack of dawn, after managing to sneak in a handful of hours of sleep. The New York Times columnist had been up late into the night working on his DealBook newsletter. And now he needed to rise for a special edition of “Squawk Box,” the CNBC program he has co-hosted since 2011. It is a story Sorkin described covering as “a balancing act, a little bit like walking a tight rope.” On one hand, he said, journalists must avoid sparking panic and causing a catastrophic run on the banks. “If you scream ‘fire,’ everyone runs out of the theater,” Sorkin said.

☆ Lloyd's of London CEO on RTO: 'We need to get Monday back'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailLloyd's of London CEO on RTO: 'We need to get Monday back'CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reports on comments from the CEO of Lloyd's of London.

☆ Goldman CEO says asset management is the new growth engine, will learn from bungled consumer effort
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said Tuesday that asset management and wealth management would be the growth engine for the bank after his efforts in consumer finance went awry. "The real story of opportunity for growth for us in the coming years is around asset management and wealth management," Solomon told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. Solomon added that Goldman was already the fifth biggest active asset manager in the world. "There's real opportunity across the firm for us to continue to make the firm more durable," Solomon said. He also acknowledged that the company didn't "execute well" on parts of his consumer push, but added that management would reflect and learn from the episode.

☆ Ozy CEO Carlos Watson arrested and charged with fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOzy CEO Carlos Watson arrested and charged with fraudCNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reports on the latest media executive to be arrested.

☆ Gen Z women expect to make $6,200 less than men after graduating—salary transparency could help
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Their latest Gen Z salary transparency report found that, after surveying 1,853 Gen Z jobseekers, women expect a $6,200 lower average salary compared to men. "I was surprised that women are still asking for less money and have lower salary expectations," Workman tells CNBC Make It. Though women have historically been paid less than men, the gap has narrowed significantly since 1960. What's more, for every dollar paid to white dads, Black, Native American, and Latina moms earn 52 cents, 49 cents, and 47 cents, respectively. Several states, cities, and counties across the country have already passed legislation making salary transparency a requirement, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington and New York City.

☆ The question CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asks himself ‘100 times a day’ to be more successful
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Andrew Ross Sorkin wears many hats — though he's perhaps most recognizable for his role as co-anchor on CNBC'S "Squawk Box," Sorkin is also an editor, columnist, producer, author and entrepreneur. The 46-year-old journalist and New York native got his start as an intern at Inside Edition before interning at The New York Times in 1995 — all while still in high school. Sorkin went on to graduate from Cornell University, contributing stories to the Times throughout his college career. And in 2001, he started DealBook, an online daily financial report published by the Times that he still edits over 20 years later. These roles all differ substantially, but there are three key attributes that help Sorkin excel in them: persistence, listening and understanding.

☆ NBCUniversal prepares bid to win back NBA streaming rights, sources tell CNBC
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNBCUniversal prepares bid to win back NBA streaming rights, sources tell CNBCAndrew Ross Sorkin joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss Comcast NBCUniversal planning to make an aggressive offer to regain broadcasting rights for NBA programming, streaming competitors in sports broadcasting, and the estimated costs behind the bid.

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