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☆ Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy to step down, company to lay off 15% of staff as it looks to refinance debt
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | In Gabrielle-Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

In a letter to staff, McCarthy said the company needed to implement layoffs because it wouldn't be able to generate sustainable free cash flow with its current cost structure. "Achieving positive [free cash flow] makes Peloton a more attractive borrower, which is important as the company turns its attention to the necessary task of successfully refinancing its debt," McCarthy said in the memo. McCarthy had also expected Peloton to reach positive free cash flow by June — a goal the company said it reached early during its third quarter. In a letter to shareholders, Peloton said it generated $8.6 million in free cash flow but it's unclear how sustainable that number is. The company didn't provide specific guidance on what investors can expect with free cash flow in the quarters ahead but said it does expect to "deliver modest positive free cash flow" in its current quarter.

Persons: Barry McCarthy, McCarthy, Karen Boone, Chris Bruzzo, Jay Hoag, It's, John Foley, hasn't, Goldman Sachs, Boone, Barry, Bruzzo, —, hadn't, Creditsafe, it's, Foley Organizations: Interactive, Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, Spotify, Netflix, JPMorgan, LSEG, outperformance, CNBC Locations: Sun Valley , Idaho, lockstep

☆ Peloton cuts jobs and is looking for a new CEO after its turnaround plan spins out
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy is leaving his role, and the company is cutting about 15% of its workforce as numerous attempts to regain its pandemic-era glory have failed. McCarthy, who was named CEO just two years ago, will become a strategic advisor through the end of the year, Peloton said in a press release. In his place, Peloton has started a “comprehensive search process” for his replacement and two executives will become interim co-CEOs in the meantime. Peloton also announced that it’s eliminating 400 jobs, which will help the company cut $200 million in costs. McCarthy, a former chief financial officer of Spotify and Netflix, tried to engineer a number of ideas to turn around Peloton.

Persons: Barry McCarthy, McCarthy, Lululemon Organizations: New, New York CNN, Spotify, Netflix, Consumer Product Safety, Sporting Goods Locations: New York

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicAs the presidential race moves into high gear, abortion is at the center of it. Republican-controlled states continue to impose new bans, including just this week in Florida. But in Washington, the Biden administration is challenging one of those bans in a case that is now before the Supreme Court, arguing that Idaho’s strict rules violate a federal law on emergency medical treatment. Pam Belluck, a health and science reporter at The Times, and Abbie VanSickle, who covers the Supreme Court, explain how the federal law, known as EMTALA, relates to abortion, and how the case could reverberate beyond Idaho.

Persons: Biden, Pam Belluck, Abbie VanSickle Organizations: Spotify, Republican, The Times Locations: Florida, Washington, Idaho

☆ Radio isn't dead. Yet. Thank, or blame, your car.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Just like TV, radio is a pre-internet medium. For people listening to free, ad-supported audio, radio remains dominant, according to Nielsen. But the younger you get, the less likely you are to listen to radio, even compared to other free options. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . At least not according to a new survey from Nielsen, which argues that lots of people still listen to radio.

Persons: —, Nielsen Organizations: Nielsen, Service, Business

☆ Spotify's stock is surging — and its CEO is cashing out
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has sold $176.3 million worth of stock this year. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementDaniel Ek, Spotify's cofounder and CEO, has sold $176.3 million worth of his stock in the streaming service this year as its shares continue to surge. On Wednesday, Ek sold roughly 400,000 shares, worth $118.8 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In a separate transaction in February, he sold 250,000 shares, worth $57.5 million, per filings.

Persons: Daniel Ek, Ek, —, Spotify's Organizations: Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Business

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicIn a special series leading up to Election Day, “The Daily” will explore what a second Trump presidency would look like, and what it could mean for American democracy. In the first part, we will look at Tump’s plan for a second term. On the campaign trail, Trump has outlined a vision that is far more radical, vindictive and unchecked than his first one. Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, political correspondents for The Times, and Charlie Savage, who covers national security, have found that behind Trump’s rhetoric is a highly coordinated plan to make his vision a reality.

Persons: Trump, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage Organizations: Spotify, The Times

☆ Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ makes gigantic debut at No. 1 with her career-best first-week sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Taylor Swift’s latest album “The Tortured Poets Department” is indeed the blockbuster that many expected it to become. I’m completely floored by the love you’ve shown this album,” Swift said in an Instagram post. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 albums chart among female recording artists. In 2015, Adele’s “25” sold a staggering 3.482 million album units. When the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart is released on Monday, Swift stands to break even more records.

Persons: CNN — Taylor, Department ”, ” Swift, ”, Jay, Swift, “, Adele’s, Drake Organizations: CNN, Department, Billboard, Beatles, Drake’s, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music Locations: U.S

☆ Daniel Ek’s Next Act: Full-Body Scans for the People
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Bernhard Warner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The problem: Mr. Ek had neither a plan, nor the time or money to do much about it. He knew whom to contact: Hjalmar Nilsonne, a Swedish tech entrepreneur who Mr. Ek had met the year prior at the Brilliant Minds event, an annual gathering Mr. Ek started. At first, Mr. Nilsonne rebuffed Mr. Ek’s proposition. But Mr. Ek eventually won him over. Mr. Ek, a former computer coder, and Mr. Nilsonne, an engineer, zeroed in on building a better diagnostic tool.

Persons: Daniel Ek, ” Mr, Ek, DealBook, Hjalmar Nilsonne, Mr, Nilsonne, Watty Organizations: Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon Music, Apple Watch, Neko Health Locations: Swedish, Stockholm, London

Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicHow worried should we really be about the threat of political violence? On this week’s episode of “Matter of Opinion,” columnist Jamelle Bouie joins the hosts to set the record straight on whether we’re actually living through an unusually violent era, and they discuss whether the new movie, “Civil War,” could come true. Plus, Keanu Reeves in his most beautiful form yet. (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Persons: Jamelle Bouie, we’re, ”, Keanu Reeves Organizations: Spotify

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicWhen the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sex crimes four years ago, it was celebrated as a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement. Yesterday, New York’s highest court of appeals overturned that conviction. Jodi Kantor, one of the reporters who broke the story of the abuse allegations against Mr. Weinstein in 2017, explains what this ruling means for him and for #MeToo.

Persons: Harvey Weinstein, Jodi Kantor, Weinstein Organizations: Spotify, Hollywood, New

☆ Opinion | Salman Rushdie Is Not Who You Think He Is
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I feel as if I’ve always known who Salman Rushdie is. In August of 2022, more than 30 years after the fatwa, a fanatic with a knife attacked and tried to kill Rushdie. His latest book, “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” is about the attack and its aftermath. This is what I now understand after reading “Knife,” what I now understand after I went and read, for the first time, “The Satanic Verses”: I have never known who Salman Rushdie is. How many people out there do I wrongly think that I know?

Persons: “, Ezra Klein, I’ve, Salman Rushdie, ”, Ruhollah Khomeini, Rushdie, it’s, It’s Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Locations: Iran

☆ Google's 'fastest-growing' moonshot that spun out into an AI earbuds startup aims to ship its first product this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewA team inside X, Google's moonshot factory, was working on a revolutionary hearing device, Business Insider reported in 2021. A few months later, Wolverine's lead, Jason Rugolo, spun the project out of Alphabet and formed a startup named Iyo. Rugolo says the company plans to ship its first product by the end of this year. Rugolo told BI he hired Kraft for a stint at Google X to work on what would become Iyo. Iyo isn't the first X project to fly from Alphabet's nest, and it probably won't be the last.

Persons: —, Google's, Jason Rugolo, Rugolo, Iyo, Lockheed Martin, Sergey Brin, Noah Kraft, Kraft, we're, X Organizations: Service, Business, Lockheed, Horizons Ventures, US, ARPA, Research Projects Agency, Energy, Google, Doppler Labs, Spotify, TED, Wolverine, BI

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicColumbia University has become the epicenter of a growing showdown between student protesters, college administrators and Congress over the war in Gaza and the limits of free speech. Nicholas Fandos, who covers New York politics and government for The Times, walks us through the intense week at the university. And Isabella Ramírez, the editor in chief of Columbia’s undergraduate newspaper, explains what it has all looked like to a student on campus.

Persons: Nicholas Fandos, Isabella Ramírez Organizations: Spotify, Amazon Music Columbia University, The Times Locations: Gaza, New York

☆ I just don’t get Taylor Swift
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Aj Willingham | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

I just don’t get Taylor Swift. Again, I respect the Taylor Swift lovers. The Cut recently published a piece by a woman who ended a relationship with a friend who didn’t like Taylor Swift. However, the days of Taylor Swift as an ultimate cultural barometer may be waning. If you don’t love Taylor Swift, if you don’t hate her; if she is simply not something that affects your life whatsoever, it’s probably safe to come out now.

Persons: Taylor Swift, it’s, Taylor, Swift, Kat McKenna, there’s, “ Cardigan, Stanley, Said, Travis Kelce Organizations: CNN, Department, The Spectator, BBC, Spotify, Paste Magazine, Kansas City Chiefs

☆ Matty Healy says he hasn't 'really listened' to Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department,' the most streamed album in the world right now
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

But Matty Healy says he hasn't "really listened to that much of it." AdvertisementTaylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" may have broken multiple streaming records, but Matty Healy says he hasn't "really listened" to the album yet. I haven't really listened to that much of it, but I'm sure it's good," Healy said of the album. Healy's response may surprise some, considering how fans have speculated that he is the subject of several songs on Swift's album. On Wednesday, streaming giant Spotify said that Swift's album had become the platform's "most streamed album in a single week," surpassing a billion streams since its release on Friday.

Persons: Taylor Swift's, Matty Healy, Healy, —, Taylor, Swift, Joe Alwyn, Travis Kelce, would've, Swift didn't Organizations: Poets Department, Service, Department, Kansas City Chiefs, GQ, Spotify, BI

People are surprised to learn that Mari Murdock, 36, is a professional game master, a role in which she organizes and narrates tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons is an open-ended tabletop game in which the narrative is shaped by the players' choices, whether that's through combat, puzzles or negotiation. But as Murdock played tabletop games through the 2010s, she grew more confident in the skills it takes to run a good game. The timing was fortuitous, as tabletop gaming became more popular during the pandemic. For Murdock, gaming allows you to immerse yourself in "a pretend situation where you are imagining that you are someone else.

Persons: Mari Murdock, Graham Merwin, Murdock, — it's, Scott, Murdock's, Mari, she'd, Dax Levine, —, Levine, Max, we've, it's Organizations: CNBC, Westminster University, Brigham Young University, Hawaii, BYU, Dragons, Guinness World Records, &, PayPal, Hulu, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Max Insurance, Relief Society Locations: Utah, Salt Lake City, Michigan, Hawaii, Japan, Scott, Provo , Utah

He also hiked his price target to $92 from $59, suggesting shares rallying 48.3% from where they closed on Tuesday. Analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich raised her price target to $370 from $315, suggesting 22% upside from Tuesday's close. — Hakyung Kim 6:04 a.m.: Citi raises price target on Amazon Amazon is becoming a more profitable organization, according to Citi. The price target increase comes on the heels of Amazon's new grocery delivery subscription launch. He cited increased operating income projections amid strong top-line trends for his price target increase.

Persons: Tesla, Rob Sanderson, Sanderson, Forrest Li, Hakyung Kim, Jessica Reif Ehrlich, — Hakyung Kim, Ronald Josey, Josey, GenAI, Kim, Goldman Sachs, Mark Delaney, Delaney, Goldman, Joseph Spak, Spak, TSLA, Wells Fargo's Colin Langan, Langan, James Lee, Lee, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Mizuho, Bank of America, Spotify Bank of America, Spotify, Citi, Amazon Web Services, Revenue, UBS, Summer

☆ Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has realized laying off 1,500 people at one go may have created a 'significant challenge' for Spotify's day-to-day operations
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Daniel Ek said Spotify underestimated the impact of laying off 1,500 people in December. "It took us some time to find our footing," Ek told investors in an earnings call. AdvertisementLaying off 1,500 people in December ended up creating a "significant challenge" for Spotify, the company's CEO Daniel Ek said on Tuesday. "Although there's no question that it was the right strategic decision, it did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipated," Ek told investors in an earnings call. The layoffs, Ek said in December, were necessary as the company needed to become "relentlessly resourceful."

Persons: Daniel Ek, Ek, —, Taylor, Swift, Mark Zuckerberg, Neal Freyman, Toby Howell, Zuckerberg Organizations: Service, Spotify, Poets Department, Brew Daily, BI

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicLawmakers approved a giant new tranche of support for Ukraine late last night after a tortured passage through the U.S. Congress, where it was nearly derailed by right-wing resistance in the House. Marc Santora, a Times reporter in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, explains what effect the money could have, given Ukraine’s increasing desperation on the battlefield.

Persons: Marc Santora Organizations: Spotify, Amazon Music Lawmakers, Ukraine, U.S . Congress Locations: Kyiv

☆ Can markets make a comeback? That depends on tech earnings
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Nasdaq tumbled 2.1% on Friday as tech stocks plunged, marking its worst day since January 31. “US earnings updates this week will be key to see if they can keep topping expectations and buoying risk appetite in a higher-for-longer interest rate environment.”Tesla, Facebook-parent Meta, IBM, Microsoft and Alphabet all report first quarter earnings later this week. “Big Tech earnings may determine whether the stock market avoids its first four-week losing streak in two years,” wrote Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley on Monday. About 15% of S&P 500 companies have reported first quarter earnings, and nearly three-quarters of those companies have posted a positive earnings-per-share surprise. But investors are nervously waiting for the Magnificent Seven, those massive Tech stocks that carry an outsized portion of market weight, to report.

Persons: Monday’s, “, ”, They’re, Tesla, Chris Larkin, Morgan Stanley, aren’t, we’re, Dave Sekera, ” Taylor Swift’s, Apple Taylor Swift, Liam Reilly, Department ”, Post Malone, Laura He Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN —, Nasdaq, BlackRock, Federal Reserve, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, “ Big Tech, Tech, Companies, Nvidia, Apple, Big Tech, Bank of America, Morningstar, Department, Spotify, Poets Department, Amazon Music, Apple Music, EV, Tesla Locations: New York, Wells, China, Germany, United States, Tesla’s, Europe

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe prosecution and the defense both opened their cases on Monday in the first criminal trial of Donald Trump. Jonah Bromwich, who watched from inside the courtroom, walks us through the arguments.

Persons: Donald Trump, Jonah Bromwich Organizations: Spotify

The Hulu Student Deal costs $1.99 per month and lasts as long as you remain a verified college student. Benefits of Hulu Student DealThe Hulu Student Deal comes with all of the benefits of a regular ad-supported Hulu plan. All you have to do is click "Get This Deal" on the Hulu Student Deal webpage. All you need to do is log in and go to the Hulu Student Deal page, where you'll click "Get This Deal." Hulu + Live TV $76.99 Hulu + Live TV includes over 90 channels, along with Hulu's on-demand library and access to Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.

Persons: you'll, Verifications, edu, I'm, Hulu's Organizations: Business, Hulu, Deal, Hulu Student, Spotify, Hulu Basic's, Disney, ESPN, Disney Plus Locations: SheerID

☆ TikTok influencers fear their careers will be destroyed and their work 'deleted forever' as a US ban looms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lindsay Dodgson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese-owned ByteDance will be forced to sell TikTok to a US company or face a nationwide ban. AdvertisementThose who want the app banned argue that TikTok may be forced into giving over user data to the Chinese government. A ban would be "devastating" for her, she said, because years of her work would be "deleted forever." AdvertisementA TikTok spokesperson told BI in March that the legislation has a "predetermined outcome," which is a total ban of TikTok in the US. Editor's note, April 23, 2024: This article has been updated to reflect the House of Representatives vote, which passed a bill to ban TikTok in the US.

Persons: —, TikTok, Leo LonDini, LonDini, Brett Jansen Organizations: Service, Google, Epic Games, Universal Group, Warner Music Group, Spotify, Tesla Locations: China

☆ TikTok's time in the US could soon be on the clock, and that's not the app's only problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The big storyTick-tock on TikTokChelsea Jia Feng/BITikTok's time in the US could soon be on the clock. When it's all said and done, a TikTok ban could be in place before the week's end. Business Insider's Peter Kafka explains why the TikTok ban, while more imminent than ever, still has a long way to go . A TikTok ban would benefit one familiar face in social media, though, writes BI's Katie Notopoulos . YouTube Shorts, too, stand to grab more attention after a TikTok ban.

Persons: —, Caitlin Clark's, Chelsea Jia Feng, ByteDance, Joe Biden, it's, Business Insider's Peter Kafka, Michael Beckerman, TikTok, hawking, BI's Lindsay Dodgson, outperforming, Katie Notopoulos, Merrill Lynch, Tyler Le, Andy Sieg's, Merrill, Lindsay Hans, Eric Schimpf, It's, Steve Cohen's, Grzegorz Wajda, Hokyoung Kim, Nordstrom, Tesla, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, Nike, Bloomberg Intelligence, YouTube, Big Tech, New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, Chelsea, Getty, Walmart, BI, Costco, Amazon, Motors, Spotify Locations: Americas, TikTok, Merrill, China, American, New York, London

☆ Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ poised to top her sales records next week
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Taylor Swift is already breaking hearts and records since she released “The Tortured Poets Department,” but to what extent she’s done the latter will be known in more detail when full sales figures for the album are released next week. “The Tortured Poets Department” (“TTPD”) sold 1.5 million copies in the US in its first three days. The milestones for “Tortured Poets” may have only just begun:Billboard 200 albums chartAmong female recording artists, Swift has the most No. If “Tortured Poets” claims the top spot in its first week, it will be her 14th album to do so. With 31 “TTPD” songs at play, she could potentially overtake Drake’s top 20 record in the weeks to come.

Persons: CNN — Taylor Swift, ” won’t, we’ve, Taylor, ”, Swift, Jay, she’s, ” Keith Caulfield, Taylor Swift, Drake Organizations: CNN, Poets Department, Billboard, New York Times, Department, Beatles, Drake’s, Apple, Spotify, Amazon

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