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☆ Musk informs co-investors he plans to close Twitter deal by Friday, person familiar says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Elon Musk has notified co-investors who committed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) that he plans to close his buyout of the social media firm by Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move is the clearest sign yet that Musk plans to comply with a Delaware court judge's deadline to complete the transaction by Friday. Musk pledged to close the deal on a video conference call on Monday with bankers who are helping fund the deal, according to the report. Musk has pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covers the $44 billion price tag and closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), have committed to provide $13 billion of debt financing to support the deal.

☆ Former Minneapolis Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Killing of George Floyd
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Joe Barrett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty Monday to state charges in the murder of George Floyd, which sparked a summer of racial unrest across the U.S. in 2020. J. Alexander Kueng, a rookie officer on the day of Mr. Floyd’s arrest and murder in May 2020, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, according to a spokesman for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is prosecuting the case. In exchange, the state agreed to drop the higher charge of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

☆ Meet 9 top media bankers transforming the M&A landscape and driving deals for Warner Bros. Discovery, Legendary, Amazon, and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

2022 kicked off with some huge transactions, from AT&T's WarnerMedia spin-off to private equity scooping up content players. Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, and Diamond Sports Group both recently tapped big banks to explore their options. Not surprisingly, WarnerMedia was at the heart of the richest transaction fee waterfall for big banks in 2022. Moelis and LionTree were just tapped to help figure out what's next for Sinclair's Regional Sports Networks, Diamond Sports Group, while Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, also hired Moelis to shop the production company, according to Variety. There's lots of dry powder still in private equity, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, co-founder and co-president at investment bank Moelis, told Insider.

REUTERS/Lindsey WassonWASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - When a Washington state beauty salon charged Simran Bal $1,900 for training after she quit, she was shocked. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterNearly 10% of American workers surveyed in 2020 were covered by a training repayment agreement, said the Cornell Survey Research Institute. The practice, which critics call Training Repayment Agreement Provisions, or TRAPs, is drawing scrutiny from U.S. regulators and lawmakers. While waiting to complete the training, Bal worked at the front desk, which paid less. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in comments that training repayment demands were "particularly egregious" in commercial trucking.

☆ Production Company Behind ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Raises Capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fresh off the success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” David Ellison , one of Hollywood’s wealthiest heirs, has raised a new round of capital to expand deeper into animation, videogames and sports-related programming. Skydance Media, the production company founded by Mr. Ellison, who is the son of billionaire Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison , has raised $400 million in new capital, valuing Skydance at more than $4 billion, the company said Thursday.

☆ 'Top Gun: Maverick' studio Skydance just scored a $400 million funding led by KKR. Meet 16 private equity players betting big on Hollywood now.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Elaine Low | Claire Atkinson | Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Private equity firms are investing more deeply in film and TV content companies, even amid a possible recession. Private equity accounted for 42% of deals over the last year vs. 24% in 2018, according to PwC. KKR just led a $400 million funding round for Skydance, giving the "Top Gun: Maverick" studio a $4 billion valuation. And earlier in July, Swedish firm EQT invested in UTA, which makes the private equity player the largest outside shareholder of the talent agency. And KKR is continuing to make big bets: It just led a $400 million funding round in "Top Gun: Maverick" studio Skydance that sent the production company's valuation north of $4 billion.

☆ One of the investors that agreed to back Elon Musk's Twitter bid says they want out of the deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

MVP partner says the VC firm committed to back Musk's Twitter acquisition earlier this year. Musk attorney says "vast majority of equity investors have been spoken to and are all in." With Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition looking like it's barreling towards a close, he will soon have to come up with $44 billion dollars — a lot of money even for the world's richest person. Alex Spiro, Musk's attorney, said "the vast majority of equity investors have been spoken to and are all in." Are you an investor in the Twitter deal, or an employee with insights to share?

☆ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's potential impact on corporate America "cannot be overstated"
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn into the Supreme Court in June and is now hearing cases. But political and social tides could be changing: Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black female Supreme Court justice in June, following Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement. While Biden makes moves in the political sphere, corporate America, too, is trudging forward. Jackson's work in the Supreme Court could inspire leaders in different sectors to further advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, sources said. Tina Opie, a Fortune 500 strategist and an associate professor of management at Babson College, is hopeful about the future of corporate America.

☆ Wealthy people who moved to Miami are rejecting Florida traditions and radically transforming their homes instead
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"They're willing to bring their New York aesthetic down into Miami, or their LA or Beverly Hills aesthetic down into Miami." Miami newcomers aren't afraid to break away from aesthetic normsEilyn, who said her design style is more personable and poised, was born and raised in Miami. The result is a modern beach home that includes elements of classic Miami design "mixed with the tranquility of Mykonos" that combines a simple color palette with pops of visual interest. "You can incorporate details that maybe you wouldn't see so much in Miami design," she said. It means they have a steady stream of work, with the possibility to be creative and stretch their imaginations as they shape the future of Miami design.

☆ Elon Musk announces Tesla Semi production after Twitter deal returns
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday that production of its Semi truck has begun, and deliveries to one customer, Pepsi, will occur in December. Tesla first announced the Semi in November 2017 and production was said to begin in 2019. Musk, the world’s richest man, has sold about $15 billion in Tesla stock this year, but it’s still not clear if Musk has sufficient liquid funds to close the Twitter deal. Musk, who has received commitments for debt and equity financing, may need to sell additional shares of Tesla to finance the purchase. Tesla shares fell roughly 5% in trading Friday morning.

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Elon Musk on Thursday closed the $44 billion deal announced in April to take Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) private and took ownership of the influential social media platform by firing top executives immediately. read more Earlier this month, Musk brought the deal back on the table after previously trying to walk away from it. Musk pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covered the $44 billion price tag and the closing costs. That had left Musk in need for an additional $22.4 billion of funds to cover the equity financing portion of the deal. Musk would have needed to raise an additional $2 billion to $3 billion to complete the financing for the deal.

☆ The fate of Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter now comes down to the money
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

What everyone is now waiting on: Musk needs to actually have the money to hand over. Much of the sticking point between Musk and Twitter (TWTR) now appears to be over uncertainty around the status of those financing arrangements. Many legal experts think Musk really is planning to close the deal this time, the most certain anyone has sounded since he first said the deal was “on hold” in May and moved to terminate the agreement in July. Musk is likely trying to help Morgan Stanley market the debt to other investors before telling them to hand him the money to close the deal, according to Lipton. According to the merger agreement, Musk could in theory walk away from the deal with a $1 billion breakup payment to Twitter if his debt financing were to fall through.

☆ Elon Musk's ex-wife is reportedly the mysterious phone contact 'TJ' who texted him about fighting 'woke-ism' at Twitter, and called the banning of a conservative satire site 'crazy'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"Can you buy Twitter and then delete it, please!? xx" Riley allegedly texted Musk on March 24. It wasn't until April 14 that the billionaire offered to purchase the social media company. In the texts, "TJ" called social media the "scourge of modern life" and dubbed Twitter "worst of all." "Maybe buy it and change it to properly support free speech xx," Musk texted back.

Persons: Elon Musk, TJ, Elon Musk's, Talulah Jane Riley, —, Talulah Riley texted, Riley, Musk, Larry Ellison, Marc Benioff, Joe Rogan, Raiyah Bint Al, Hussein, Jordan, Rachel Levine, Mary Bennet Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Twitter Locations: America, British

☆ The idea of Jeff Bezos 'scared' me away from trying to buy the Phoenix Suns, says Shaquille O'Neal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The idea of bidding against the second-richest person in the world is understandably intimidating, even if you're legendary former NBA big man Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal, a 7-foot-1 Hall of Famer, says Bezos' massive net worth "scared" him away from his plans to make a bid for ownership of the NBA's Phoenix Suns. "Nobody on this planet can compete with Big Man JB," O'Neal told TMZ Sports on Saturday, referring to Bezos, adding: "Because you know what? Bezos is one of multiple billionaires reportedly considering a bid for the Suns, according to ESPN. The Suns franchise is currently worth $1.8 billion, and could reportedly sell for at least $2.5 billion, according to a recent Forbes report.

☆ Tesla Adds Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia to Board of Directors
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Denny Jacob | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Joe Gebbia has had friendly exchanges on Twitter with Tesla’s CEO in recent months. Tesla on Wednesday said it added Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia to its board, effective this past Sunday. The electric-vehicle maker’s board size had shrunk to seven seats from eight after Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison didn’t stand for re-election.

☆ Tesla adds billionaire Airbnb co-founder Gebbia to board
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb speaks during the second day of the first Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil KrzaczynskiSept 28 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said on Wednesday that Airbnb Inc (ABNB.O) co-founder Joseph Gebbia has joined the electric vehicle maker's board, reversing a move to trim the number of directors at the world's most valuable carmaker. Ellison, a self-described close friend of Musk, was appointed by Tesla in December 2018 to comply with the agreement. Gebbia, a U.S. billionaire designer and Internet entrepreneur, joins Tesla after saying in July he would take on an advisory role at Airbnb, stepping away from his full-time role. Some experts doubted whether the billionaire would add diversity to the Tesla board.

☆ Meet 9 top media bankers transforming the M&A landscape as streaming video reshapes entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

2022 kicked off with some huge transactions, from AT&T's WarnerMedia spin-off to private equity scooping up content players. Company valuations are set to fall back to earth in 2023, and private equity and strategics are lying in wait. Not surprisingly, WarnerMedia was at the heart of the richest transaction fee waterfall for big banks in 2022. Joshua Grode's Legendary Entertainment, backed by Dalian Wanda and now Apollo Group, which took a stake in the studio in January. There's lots of dry powder still in private equity, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, co-founder and co-president at investment bank Moelis, told Insider.

☆ Tesla adds Airbnb co-founder Gebbia to board
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb speaks during the second day of the first Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil KrzaczynskiSept 28 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said on Wednesday that Airbnb Inc (ABNB.O) co-founder Joseph Gebbia has joined the electric vehicle maker's board, months after stepping back from his full-time role at the vacation rental company. In July, Gebbia said he would take on an advisory role at Airbnb, stepping away from his full-time role after 14 years at the company. The Airbnb co-founder had in 2018 called Musk's attempt to take Tesla private a "baller move". In a blog post accompanying the filing, Tesla said Gebbia has begun work on his next startup without elaborating further.

☆ An Elon Musk superfan made the Forbes 400 list after snapping up Tesla stock during the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An Elon Musk superfan joined the Forbes 400 list for the first time this year. Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyAn Elon Musk superfan just joined the Forbes 400 list after going all in on Tesla stock. What makes KoGuan's wealth so unusual is how he amassed it: by snapping up Tesla stock during the early days of the pandemic. In late 2020, KoGuan reportedly paid about $46 million for a Singapore penthouse owned by vacuum-cleaner tycoon James Dyson. At the start of 2020, Tesla's stock was trading at about $30 a share.

☆ Tesla adds Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia to board
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb and chairman of Airbnb.org, during South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, U.S., on Sunday, March 13, 2022. Tesla has added Airbnb co-founder, designer, and billionaire Joe Gebbia as an independent member to its board of directors according to a regulatory filing out Wednesday. Adding Gebbia to the Tesla board may help Tesla avoid further conflict with the SEC, which has initiated multiple probes to determine that Musk and Tesla remain in compliance with their agreement. However, Gebbia remains on the Airbnb board and serves as chairman of Airbnb.org, the company's affiliated nonprofit that provides housing to people displaced in times of crisis, including those impacted by natural disasters and global conflicts. Gebbia has not been assigned to any Tesla board committees yet.

☆ Elon Musk was texting Larry Ellison 'into the early morning hours' just before announcing his Twitter purchase was on hold, a new court filing says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk texted with Larry Ellison before saying his Twitter deal was on hold, per a court filing. Twitter is arguing Musk's legal team is withholding text messages it subpoenaed related to the deal. Twitter subpoenaed Ellison in August, but the text messages have yet to be publicly filed. In 2018, Ellison was named to Tesla's board of directions and said he was "very close friends with Elon Musk." Twitter's legal team appears to be building a case around some of Musk's texts.

☆ Oracle’s Ellison’s Compensation Topped $130 Million Last Fiscal Year
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Theo Francis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Oracle top executives are again among the highest-paid at big U.S. companies, thanks to a decision last year to give them more time to earn stock options. Oracle Corp.’s Chairman Larry Ellison and Chief Executive Safra Catz were each paid total compensation of more than $138 million in the company’s fiscal year ended May 31, the company said in its annual proxy statement Friday.

☆ Twitter hunts for documents showing possible connection between Elon Musk and former executive turned whistleblower Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Zatko accused Twitter of lax security and other missteps during his time as a top executive. He also sided with Elon Musk in claiming "bots" are improperly quantified on the platform. Twitter now wants to know if Zatko has had prior dealings with Musk or those on his side of the deal. He also openly sided with Musk and his claims that Twitter hosts more "bots" or fake accounts that it publicly discloses. A section of Zatko's disclosure is titled "Lying about Bots to Elon Musk" and accuses Twitter of misrepresenting how it counts and combats spam accounts, saying "Elon Musk is correct."

Thomas Lane, a former Minneapolis police officer who pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison. Lane held down Floyd's legs as he cried out that he couldn't breathe, while another former officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 ½ minutes on May 25, 2020. As part of Lane's plea deal, a charge of aiding and abetting second-degree murder was dismissed, a spokesman for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted the case, previously said. Cahill said Lane’s state sentence will be concurrent with his federal sentence and that he will serve his time in a federal institution. Two other former officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, are scheduled to stand trial next month on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAn image of Elon Musk is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationWILMINGTON, Del, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) will question Elon Musk under oath in Delaware next week as part of the litigation in the billionaire's bid to walk away from his $44 billion deal for the social media company. A Tuesday filing in Delaware's Court of Chancery said Musk's deposition is scheduled for Sept. 26-27 and may stretch into Sept. 28 if necessary. Twitter wants a judge to order Musk, who is chief executive of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and the world's richest person, to buy the company as agreed for $54.20 per share. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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