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☆ Elon Musk deletes post questioning the Trump assassination attempt
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Elon Musk deleted a post Monday morning that questioned why former President Donald Trump has faced two apparent assassination attempts in recent months while President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have not encountered any. “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔,” Musk wrote in the now-deleted X post. However, Musk subsequently responded to a similar post, replying with a thinking face emoji to a photo that noted the four presidents who preceded Trump faced no assassination attempts when Trump has apparently encountered two. CNN requested comment from the Secret Service, which is tasked with investigating perceived threats against the president and vice president – sometimes even if they are made in jest. Musk endorsed Trump for president after an assassination attempt in July, and he hosted Trump last month in an interview on X.It’s part of a rightward shift for Musk that has gained steam in recent years.

Persons: CNN — Elon, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Musk, Biden, Kamala 🤔, ”, ake, hite Organizations: CNN, ust Locations: usk, ut, …

☆ Advertisers plan to withdraw from X in record numbers
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-05 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

A global survey by market research firm Kantar found that a net 26% of marketers plan to decrease their spending on X in 2025, the biggest recorded pullback from any major global ad platform. Only 4% of marketers overall think X ads provide “brand safety” — certainty that their ads won’t appear alongside extreme content — compared with 39% for Google ads, Kantar said in a report Thursday. The findings suggest that Musk’s charm offensive at the world’s largest annual advertising festival, Cannes Lions, in June hasn’t succeeded. According to the report, YouTube remains the ad platform marketers most prefer, while, for consumers, Amazon and TikTok share the top spot. Brazil blocked X over the weekend following an order by the Supreme Court because Musk refused to appoint a new legal representative in the country.

Persons: Elon, Kantar, ” Gonca, hasn’t, Mark Read, ”, “, Musk, Xhave, Paramount —, X, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Musk’s “ Organizations: London CNN, Google, Cannes Lions, WPP, Unilever, Mars, CVS, ”, IBM, Disney, Paramount, YouTube Locations: Brazil

☆ Brazil’s president says world doesn’t have to put up with Elon Musk’s ‘far right’ ideology just because he’s rich
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-04 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says the world isn’t obliged to put up with billionaire Elon Musk’s “far-right anything goes” agenda because of his immense wealth. “The Brazilian justice system may have given an important signal that the world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s extreme right-wing anything goes just because he is rich,” the president said. Lula da Silva’s comments are the latest salvo in a long-running feud with Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation in the country. Over the weekend, Brazilians, including the president, bid farewell to X, with some posting links to their profiles on other social media platforms. Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” has repeatedly claimed the court’s actions amount to censorship, and his argument has been echoed by Brazil’s political right.

Persons: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Elon Musk’s “, Lula da Silva, Lula da Silva’s, Musk, Jair Bolsonaro’s, ”, Brazil’s Organizations: CNN, CNN Brasil, Musk, Twitter Locations: Brazilian, Brazil

☆ Even high-income Americans are shopping at discount retailers as economic outlook sours
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The reason for that is mostly the American consumer, with spending accounting for about 70% of gross domestic product. On Thursday, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that his customers are slowing down the rate of their purchases. Consumer payments, as measured through credit cards, checks and ATM withdrawals, have grown by 3.5% since last year, he said. I’m being careful, slowing things down,’” Moynihan said, referring to both consumers and businesses, at a financial conference in New York. This survey shows that consumers feel just the opposite — optimistic about their own financial standing but not about the macroeconomic environment.

Persons: Brian Moynihan, ’ ” Moynihan, Bell, Peter Torrente, I’m, Elon Musk’s, Allison Morrow, “, — “, Glass Lewis, Tesla, Musk, Gary Millerchip, Richard Galanti, Read Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Bank of America, KPMG, Federal Reserve, Elon, Services, Twitter, SpaceX, Costco Locations: New York, Europe, Texas, Delaware

☆ Advisory firms urge Tesla shareholders to reject Elon Musk’s ‘excessive’ pay package
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Two influential advisory firms have urged shareholders to vote against Elon Musk’s contentious $51 billion pay package and raised concerns about the CEO’s numerous side projects. On Friday, Institutional Shareholder Services called the package “excessive” and noted that shareholder concerns “have not been sufficiently mitigated” since the package was first approved in 2018. The move to Texas, where Musk also operates SpaceX, was proposed shortly after a Delaware Chancery Court judge sided with Tesla shareholders who challenged the legality of the 2018 pay package. Those shareholders also argued that the directors on Tesla’s board were not truly independent and were too close to Musk to protect shareholders’ interests. The board is putting the same 2018 package up for a revote at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting on June 13.

Persons: “, — “, Glass Lewis, Tesla, Musk Organizations: New, New York CNN, Elon, Services, Twitter, SpaceX Locations: New York, Texas, Delaware

☆ Federal labor board has been much more pro-worker under Biden. Employers want courts to end that
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The companies are asking federal courts, often with conservative, pro-business judges, to stop the agency from standing behind the more activist unions now making their lives more difficult. “The NLRB has long used the federal courts … to obtain injunctions … before the merits of an unfair labor practice case are fully evaluated,” said a statement from Starbucks. The employer doesn’t have to pay any interest, penalty or fine, to the fired workers, their union or the agency. While this is the first such case to reach the Supreme Court, other cases are emerging in which some high profile employers are challenging the agency’s right to exist. The Supreme Court’s decision is expected by the end of June.

Persons: Biden, …, ”, “, Jennifer Abruzzo, Cathy Creighton, Clinton, Elon Musk’s, Joe’s, Cornell’s Creighton, she’s, “ They’re, “ I’m Organizations: New, New York CNN, Starbucks, National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, Memphis, Cornell University’s, Industrial and Labor Relations, SpaceX, nonunion Locations: New York, Memphis, Buffalo , New York

☆ Award in Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s name given to Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch is a ‘desecration’ of her memory, son says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Jack Forrest | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Ginsburg award “celebrates leaders who have demonstrated extraordinary accomplishments in their chosen fields,” according to the foundation. The award “has previously recognized women of distinction” but was expanded this year to include men and women. In addition to Musk and Murdoch, lifestyle icon Martha Stewart, actor Sylvester Stallone and financier Michael Milken are also 2024 recipients of the award. The Opperman Foundation did not respond to an inquiry Friday from CNN. CNN also reached out Sunday night for comment on Jim Ginsburg’s interview.

Persons: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, ”, ” Jim Ginsburg, Paula Reid, Ginsburg, “, Murdoch, Martha Stewart, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Milken, Barbra Streisand, Jim Ginsburg, Reid, Jim Ginsburg’s, Stewart, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “, CNN’s Tierney Sneed Organizations: CNN, SpaceX, Opperman Foundation, Opperman, Foundation, ”

☆ Opinion | Why on Earth Are Jewish Leaders Praising Elon Musk?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

(In response, Musk threatened a “thermonuclear” lawsuit, but as of this writing does not appear to have filed one.) Abhorrence of the Jewish state slips easily into abhorrence of Jews. On the right, though, there’s a mirror image of this slippage, with some defenders of the Jewish state willing to make excuses for antisemites so long as they champion Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has regularly embraced nationalist leaders who deploy antisemitic tropes, Donald Trump chief among them. It’s hard to figure out who is behaving more cynically, Musk or the Jewish leaders who are koshering him.

Persons: Charles Weber, ‘ Hitler, ’ ” Weber, Elon Musk, ”, George Soros, Magneto —, Soros’s, Musk, Pepe, Kanye, Ye, Israel, I’ve, Los Angeles —, John Hagee, Adolf Hitler, Karl Marx, “, Hagee, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Jonathan Greenblatt, Amichai Organizations: Twitter, West, Anti, Defamation League, Media, America, ADL Locations: America, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, France, Montreal, Los Angeles, Washington, ”, Pittsburgh

☆ With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. interview, Musk again uses Twitter to promote candidates aligned with his views
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

On Monday, Musk is set to share an audio chatroom with Robert Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist and Democratic candidate for president. Instagram’s parent, Meta, has also banned accounts belonging to Kennedy’s anti-vaccine advocacy group. But by putting Kennedy center stage on Twitter, Musk appears poised to promote these views further to his millions of followers. Ron DeSantis, who announced his White House bid with Musk during a Twitter Spaces event last month plagued by technical glitches. That could be the very thing that drives away more moderate candidates from accepting Musk’s “invitation” to appear alongside him.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Robert Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, Anthony Fauci, Instagram, “, Joe Biden, Williamson, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Musk’s Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Democratic, ”, Florida Republican Gov Locations: Nazi Germany, Washington, coronavirus

☆ Tesla’s governance autopilot heads for disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It’s a vulnerable time for such pronouncements when the market Tesla (TSLA.O) effectively created threatens to overtake it. The stock price has tumbled some 60% since November 2021 compared to a 12% decline in the S&P 500 index (.SPX). A more deferential approach to Musk might have made sense during Tesla’s meteoric rise, when its mere existence bucked convention. The Department of Justice has initiated a probe into Tesla’s self-proclaimed “self-driving” capabilities, which have been involved in fatal crashes. Heeding advice from ISS and Glass Lewis would at least be a place to start, because leaving governance on autopilot also can have dangerous consequences.

☆ Shareholder lawsuit over Musk’s controversial ‘funding secured’ tweet heads to jury
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —A California jury on Friday began deliberations in a trial over whether Elon Musk is liable for losses experienced by Tesla shareholders following his controversial “funding secured” tweet from 2018. Musk had spoken to executives of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund about the funding he would need to take Tesla private. Tesla (TSLA) shares initially climbed 11% on the day of Musk’s original “funding secured” tweet, but they never reached that promised $420 level, reaching a high that day of $387.46. Elon Musk waiting for Court to begin in a California courtroom during the Tesla shareholder lawsuit trial on February 3. The lead plaintiff in the shareholder lawsuit, Glen Littleton, testified last month that he lost more than 75% of his investments following Musk’s “funding secured” tweet.

☆ Elon Musk is back on the stand in trial over controversial ‘funding secured’ tweet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla CEO Elon Musk returned to the witness stand for a third day in a California court room Tuesday, as he testified in a class-action lawsuit over his controversial “funding secured” tweet from 2018. Musk’s “funding secured” tweet previously prompted a civil suit by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that protects investors. The lead plaintiff, Glen Littleton, testified last week that he lost more than 75% of his investments following Musk’s “funding secured” tweet. Musk has argued during the trial that his tweets do not cause Tesla’s stock price to move higher or lower. He pointed to a time in May of 2020 when he tweeted that “Tesla stock price is too high.” The stock price dropped the day of his tweet but recovered and closed the year higher than it had opened.

☆ Elon Musk returns to the stand in class-action lawsuit over controversial tweet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the stand again on Monday morning in a California courtroom to testify for a second day in the lawsuit over his controversial “funding secured” tweet from 2018. Musk had spoken to executives of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund about the funding he would need to take Tesla private. However, it was anything but “secured.” Musk shared his recollection of the incident in his testimony Monday. He pointed to an incident in May of 2020 when he tweeted that “Tesla stock price is too high.” The stock price dropped the day of his tweet but recovered and closed the year higher than it had opened. Musk testified Friday that no one at Tesla reviewed his tweets in 2018 before he published them.

☆ Elon Musk has upended Twitter’s business. Here’s how he could fix it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The Tesla CEO has previously said he “hates advertising” and, as Twitter’s owner, professed a desire to make the company more reliant on subscription revenue than advertising dollars. Twitter has always struggled to turn its outsized influence in media, politics, and culture into a highly successful advertising business. Twitter’s advertising business has long been smaller than that of rivals like Facebook, in part because it didn’t offer the same level of user targeting. To successfully overhaul Twitter into a thriving subscription business would be to buck the trend of many other media properties that have struggled with the model. Twitter’s ad woesWhether he likes advertising or not, the business made up 90% of Twitter’s revenue prior to Musk’s takeover and replacing it won’t be an immediate shift.

☆ Former SpaceX employees file labor-law complaint
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Eight former SpaceX employees filed labor-law complaints, alleging that Elon Musk’s space company unlawfully fired workers after they wrote company management a letter begging them to publicly condemn Musk’s “harmful” behavior on social media. The company, which Musk founded in 2002, is one of the most influential and powerful commercial space companies in the world. SpaceX has nearly 10,000 total employees, according to an NLRB complaint. The same day the letter was sent, Holland-Thielen and four others were fired, according to the NLRB complaint. “It’s shocking that SpaceX appears to believe that its mission of getting humans to Mars justifies turning a blind eye to workers’ basic civil rights,” Burgess said.

Elon Musk seems determined to remake Twitter in his own image — with some help from the men in his trusted inner circle. They are joined in Musk’s orbit by Alex Spiro, a trial attorney with a roster of celebrity clients who reportedly led the first round of Twitter layoffs. Bloomberg reported Wednesday night that Twitter is preparing to eliminate about 3,700 jobs, or roughly half its workforce. Musk's personnel decisions suggest a possible road map for the future of Twitter, one in which policies and internal rules are drawn at least in part from the views of Musk’s consiglieres. Sacks, Calacanis, Spiro and Birchall did not immediately respond to questions about the company’s future and the nature of their roles there.

☆ Elon Musk is under federal investigation over his Twitter deal, Twitter claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN Business —Federal authorities are investigating Elon Musk in connection with his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, the social media platform said in a court filing Thursday. Twitter’s filing merely said authorities are looking into Musk’s “conduct” linked to the deal. Twitter sued Musk to complete the acquisition, accusing the billionaire of using bots as a pretext to exit a deal that he developed buyer’s remorse over following a market decline. “Twitter’s executives are under federal investigation,” Spiro said in a statement to CNN. “Twitter did not ask Zatko to torch his own documents, much less demand that he do so,” Twitter’s filing read.

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