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☆ Apple will require a subscription to watch 'Friday Night Baseball' this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Broadcasts of Major League Baseball games on Apple TV+ this season will require a subscription to the service, Apple announced on Wednesday. In 2022, Apple started broadcasting one or two MLB games every Friday night with a rotating cast of teams. Now, users will need an Apple TV+ subscription, which costs $7 per month in the U.S. While some games will air for free, a subscription with access to all games costs $14.99 per month, with a discount if the person also subscribes to Apple TV+. Apple said the first "Friday Night Baseball" doubleheader broadcast will take place on April 7, featuring the Texas Rangers at the Chicago Cubs followed by the San Diego Padres at the Atlanta Braves.

California banking regulators on March 10 closed Silicon Valley Bank in the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Kurt Gwynne, an attorney for the FDIC as receiver for Silicon Valley Bank, disputed at Tuesday's hearing that regulators had done anything improper. Destroyed SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) logo is seen in this illustration taken March 13, 2023. Glenn said he was prepared to allow SVB Financial to use up to $100 million for investment activity. Silicon Valley Bank was SVB Financial's largest asset, accounting for more than $15.5 billion of SVB Financial's $19.7 billion in total assets.

Companies FTX Trading Limited FollowMarch 20 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX on Sunday sued the liquidators overseeing the wind-down of its Bahamian affiliate FTX Digital Markets, accusing them of wrongly claiming ownership of the exchange's assets. FTX called FTX DM a "fraudulent enterprise", initially set up only to be a "local service company", which did not own the FTX.com exchange or any of the cryptocurrency seized. FTX has been at odds with Bahamian officials ever since filing for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas began liquidation proceedings against FTX DM a day before the U.S. bankruptcy filing of FTX Trading and more than 100 affiliates, and the two sides have sparred over ownership of FTX assets and access to company data. FTX reported this month that Bankman-Fried took $2.2 billion in funds from the company during a period when the crypto exchange lost $8 billion of customer money.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank's parent company cut off from bank's records
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SVB Financial has no employees of its own, and the new bank's employees "cut off access" to a substantial portion of SVB Financial's "books, records, files, electronic systems and key employees," according to Kosturos. The FDIC receivership removed SVB Financial's primary source of liquidity and most of its business infrastructure, as well as triggering defaults on SVB Financial's debt, forcing the company into bankruptcy, according to court documents. SVB Financial's court filings listed $19 billion in assets, $2.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and $3.4 billion in liabilities. About $15.5 billion of SVB Financial's asset value was attributed to the SVB banking business that was seized by regulators. Those investment funds include direct venture funds that invest in companies, funds-of-funds that invest in other venture capital funds, and debt funds that provide lending and other financing solutions to startups.

March 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy judge declined to delay the $1.3 billion sale of crypto lender Voyager Digital to Binance.US, saying Voyager customers should not be forced to wait out a challenge by the Department of Justice that is unlikely to succeed. The government can "can step in at any time" if it believes illegal transactions are happening, but has not presented any evidence that Voyager's crypto transactions are illegal, Wiles said. They argued that the protections could rubber stamp crypto transactions that might be illegal under U.S. securities laws. Binance.US has agreed to pay $20 million in cash to Voyager, and take on crypto assets deposited by Voyager customers. Reporting by Dietrich Knauth in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ There'll be a 'severe earnings recession' in U.S. banking: Strategist
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | 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 Email'Severe earnings recession' in U.S. banking as long as there's an inverted yield curve: StrategistPaul Dietrich of B. Riley Wealth Management says that will keep the banking sector down for "quite a long time."

☆ Google wasted its pandemic opportunity. Now, it's scrambling to catch up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This Amazon worker similarly enjoys office life. The company is currently also lagging in the AI space (thanks to the buzzy AI chatbot ChatGPT). Now, the company is going all in on AI instead. Check out his experiences with the AI tools here. It remains the only Big Tech company to avoid widespread layoffs.

☆ US government appeals approval of Voyager sale to Binance.US
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Trustee, the Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog, filed a notice of appeal late Thursday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan. Voyager, Binance.US and the DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the appeal. Wiles disagreed, saying that Voyager and its employees should not be penalized for carrying out a court-approved sale to Binance.US. In approving the plan, Wiles had also overruled an objection from the SEC, saying that it attempted to cast doubt on the legality of the sale without presenting any evidence that Voyager or Binance.US had violated securities laws. Binance.US has agreed to pay $20 million in cash to Voyager, and to take on crypto assets deposited by Voyager customers.

☆ Celsius Network remains open to other bids after NovaWulf offer
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network on Wednesday revealed that it was speaking to another potential buyer and will seek additional bids, despite having an offer in hand from asset manager NovaWulf Digital Management. Glenn agreed to give Celsius an extra three weeks to file a Chapter 11 plan. With NovaWulf's offer in hand, Celsius should be able to exit from bankruptcy by June, less than a year after it filed for Chapter 11, Koenig said. If Celsius chooses an alternate bidder, Koenig said, it intends to offer NovaWulf up to $20 million in breakup fees. "If there is a higher offer, it will be because of the floor set by NovaWulf," Koenig said.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles approved Voyager's restructuring plan, which is built around the Binance.US acquisition, at a hearing in New York. Binance has agreed to pay $20 million in cash to Voyager, and to take on crypto assets deposited by Voyager customers. The customers' crypto assets, valued at $1.3 billion in February, account for the bulk of the deal's valuation, according to Voyager. Wiles approval of Voyager's plan allows it to begin transferring customer accounts to Binance, but Voyager could still walk away from the deal. Palo Alto-based Binance.US has said it is "fully independent" of its international parent company Binance, which is owned by Chinese-born and Singapore-based Changpeng Zhao.

The SEC, which has objected to the sale, is currently investigating whether Voyager's crypto lending business involved the sale of unregistered securities. When pressed by Wiles as to whether the SEC believed that the Voyager sale violated U.S. securities laws, SEC attorney William Uptegrove did not have a definite answer. The Binance transaction includes a $20 million cash payment and an agreement to transfer Voyager's customers to Binance.US's crypto exchange. The crypto assets deposited by Voyager customers account for the bulk of the deal's valuation, according court documents. CFIUS did not formally object to the Binance sale, but it warned that its ongoing review of national security concerns could end up blocking the deal.

☆ Here are the top ways the world's ultra-rich spent their money last year, including pouring $455 billion into commercial real estate
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The world's rich invested $455 billion in commercial properties in 2022, according to Knight Frank's wealth report. Whether in a private capacity or through a family office, the world's wealthy invested $455 billion in commercial properties, according to Knight Frank's wealth report released on Wednesday. Private capital also surpassed investments from institutions, which poured $440 billion in commercial property, down 28% from the year before. Investments in luxury collectibles increased by 16% last year, according to the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index. Despite the increased investment, the world's ultra-rich ultimately lost $13.8 trillion, or 13.6%, of their wealth in 2022.

The Sandy Hook families said that they need specialized assistance to review Jones' assets, income, and ability to pay those verdicts. Jones filed preliminary financial statements earlier in February, but listed several trusts that held unknown assets. Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in December, saying he could afford to pay less than 1% of the judgments handed down in two Sandy Hook defamation trials. Lopez will decide in March if Jones has to face a third Sandy Hook defamation trial. The Sandy Hook families have expressed concern that Jones is using bankruptcy to limit payments on the defamation judgments while attempting to collect income outside of the bankruptcy court's oversight.

☆ Revlon reaches lender settlement, sends bankruptcy plan to vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jones said Revlon could now send its restructuring proposal to creditors for a vote, a key milestone in the company's bankruptcy case. Tuesday's deal does not change the terms of earlier settlements that Revlon reached with its senior lenders and junior creditors. The senior lenders will receive most of the company's equity, valued at $2.75 billion to $3.25 billion. Revlon is majority-owned by Ron Perelman's MacAndrew & Forbes, which held 85% of the company's shares at the time of its bankruptcy filing. The company's stock saw a surge in interest from retail investors last year, trading above $8 per share early in the company's bankruptcy.

☆ Celsius Network chooses NovaWulf bid for bankruptcy exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Crypto lender Celsius Network will seek to exit bankruptcy under the guidance of asset manager NovaWulf Digital Management, which will take over the operations of a new company that will be owned by Celsius customers, the company said at a court hearing in Manhattan on Wednesday. Celsius selected NovaWulf's bid out of more than 130 proposals received during its bankruptcy case, saying that NovaWulf was the only finalist that intended to maintain long-term control over Celsius' harder-to-liquidate assets, like its loan portfolio and bitcoin mining business. Those assets would be owned by Celsius creditors and managed by NovaWulf under a profit-sharing agreement if Celsius' proposal is approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, who is overseeing Celsius' Chapter 11 process. NovaWulf has agreed to pay up to $55 million to the reorganized company, which will be owned by Celsius creditors and will continue Celsius' bitcoin mining and loan businesses. Several creditor groups had opposed Celsius' request for more time to file a bankruptcy plan, but Celsius said that the court-appointed committee representing its customers approved the NovaWulf deal.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowFeb 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday denied calls for a new, independent investigation into the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, saying that the proposed investigation would be redundant to other investigations being carried out by FTX's new management and law enforcement. FTX and the committeee representing its junior creditors opposed that demand, saying that the proposed examiner would merely duplicate work already being done by FTX, its creditors, and law enforcement agencies. The proposed examination would also drain millions of dollars from FTX's limited funds, the company argued. FTX, once among the world's top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and investors facing billions of dollars in losses. Several former top executives, including Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, have pleaded guilty to fraud.

It would be the third defamation trial against Jones and his company Free Speech Systems, after two previous ones found Jones and FSS liable for a combined $1.5 billion in damages. A Texas court previously found them liable and the proposed trial would determine how much Jones owes the parents. He estimated a two-week trial would cost $600,000, reducing the amount of money available to pay Pozner, De La Rosa and other Sandy Hook parents with legal claims against him. Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in December after those two trials concluded, saying he could afford to pay less than 1% of the Sandy Hook defamation judgments. Sandy Hook parents raised concerns at Tuesday's hearing about Jones's recent recording of a podcast similar to his Alex Jones Show in a new studio space and under a brand not affiliated with FSS.

☆ 3 suspicious objects have been downed across North America this week. Officials have no idea where 2 of the UAP came from and the pilots who shot them down can't agree on what they even look like.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

US fighter aircraft shot down an object threatening airspace over Alaska yesterday. On Saturday, another unknown object, described as "cylindrical," was shot down over Canada. Here is what we know about the object shot down on Friday. The object shot down on Saturday was spotted in the Northern Canadian territory of Yukon. It is unclear if the object shot down off the Alaskan coast was of similar size or shape.

☆ Burt Bacharach, legendary composer of pop songs, dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Bacharach was both an innovator and throwback, and his career seemed to run parallel to the rock era. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, a prize-winning Broadway composer for "Promises, Promises" and a three-time Oscar winner. Fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn liked to joke that the smiling, wavy-haired Bacharach was the first composer he ever knew who didn't look like a dentist. Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists (Marty Robbins), rhythm and blues performers (Chuck Jackson), soul (Franklin, Luther Vandross) and synth-pop (Naked Eyes). He's everybody's composer ... Burt Bacharach!"

☆ U.S. composer Burt Bacharach dies at age 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Bacharach and David had 30 Top-40 hits in the '60s alone. I'd hear his melodies and I'd hear lyrics. I'd hear rhymes, I'd hear thoughts and I'd hear it almost immediately." Bacharach and David scored the Neil Simon Broadway musical "Promises, Promises," which won them two Tonys and a Grammy. While star performers made his songs hits, Bacharach said he also enjoyed performing himself and making a personal connection with smaller audiences.

[1/4] Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, departs from his court hearing at a federal court in New York City's Manhattan, U.S. January 3, 2023. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado/Feb 8 (Reuters) - Failed crypto firm FTX received court approval on Wednesday to issue subpoenas to its founder Sam Bankman-Fried and members of his family as part of the company's investigation into "misappropriated and stolen" funds. FTX said in court papers filed Wednesday that most of the subpoena targets had begun cooperating with its investigation. FTX said that it is still in discussions with Ellison and that Sam Bankman-Fried "remains non-responsive." Mind the Gap has previously said that Sam Bankman-Fried did not make any direct contributions to the organization but did donate to some of its recommended programs.

The U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog has urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing FTX's Chapter 11, to appoint an independent examiner to investigate allegations of "fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, and mismanagement" that are "too important to be left to an internal investigation." FTX says an examiner would merely duplicate work already being done by FTX, its creditors, and law enforcement agencies. FTX's founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his Alameda Research hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. FTX's official creditors committee has sided with FTX, saying the proposed investigation is redundant. State securities regulators in Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin supported the Justice Department's bid, saying a neutral report would benefit creditors and customers.

☆ U.S. military members suing 3M seek dismissal of subsidiary's bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Current and former U.S. military members suing 3M over allegedly defective military earplugs have asked a U.S. judge to dismiss 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies' bankruptcy, accusing the company of using bankruptcy to shield itself from litigation, which has grown into the largest mass tort in U.S. history. 3M Co (MMM.N) faces more than 230,000 lawsuits accusing it of selling defective earplugs that caused hearing loss for U.S. military members. The company has sought to settle those lawsuits through Aearo's bankruptcy. Now the servicemembers suing want Graham to go a step further and end Aearo's bankruptcy entirely. The committee representing the servicemembers in bankruptcy court said in Thursday's filing that the LTL decision "knocks the props out from under these cases and requires their dismissal."

☆ Boeing delivers last 747, saying goodbye to 'Queen of the Skies'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Valerie Insinna | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"It's the airplane that redefined the industry and redefined air travel," said Guy Norris, co-author of "Boeing 747: Design and Development Since 1969." British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, who was inspired to start an airline with a single Boeing 747 after getting stuck on a delayed flight, earlier on Tuesday called it a "wonderful beast" as he bid farewell. When Boeing confirmed in July 2020 that it would end 747 production, it was already only producing at a rate of half an aircraft a month. Smith said all 747 program workers were transferred to other jobs or voluntarily retired. Boeing will remain tied to the 747 through the aftermarket business and the Air Force One replacement program, which Boeing won in 2018.

New Jersey-based Celsius filed for U.S. bankruptcy in July last year, after freezing customer withdrawals from its platform. She was tasked with investigating accusations by Celsius customers that the company operated as a Ponzi scheme and also with reporting on its handling of cryptocurrency deposits. Celsius gathered crypto deposits from retail customers and invested them in the equivalent of the wholesale crypto market. It raised some of the initial capital to fund its business by creating and selling its own crypto token, called "CEL". "The business model Celsius advertised and sold to its customers was not the business that Celsius actually operated," the report said.

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