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☆ Mike Lynch, U.K. Tech Mogul, Is Acquitted of Fraud
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Mike Lynch, a British software mogul who was once one of his country’s most celebrated chief executives, was acquitted of fraud on Thursday in San Francisco federal court, clearing him of charges that he had led one of the biggest frauds in the technology industry. A jury found him not guilty of falsely inflating revenue at Autonomy, the company he founded and led, when he sold it to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. Mr. Lynch, 58, who faced decades in prison, had initially been charged with 16 counts of fraud and conspiracy, though one fraud charge was eventually dismissed. Thursday’s verdict, coming after a monthslong trial in California, is a milestone in Mr. Lynch’s decade-long odyssey to clear his name.

Persons: Mike Lynch, Lynch Organizations: Autonomy, Hewlett, Packard, Mr Locations: British, San Francisco federal, California

antitrust fight is comingNvidia has joined the $3 trillion valuation club as a blistering A.I. rally has turned it into the world’s second-most valuable company behind Microsoft. and Justice Department are set to proceed with antitrust investigations against the duo, and OpenAI, writes The Times’s David McCabe. is already looking into Microsoft, according to The Wall Street Journal, over how the company structured a deal with the start-up Inflection AI to avoid scrutiny. In March, Microsoft hired almost all of the start-up’s staff and agreed to pay around $650 million to license its technology.

Persons: David McCabe Organizations: Nvidia, Microsoft, Justice Department, Wall Street

Thursday is a big day for the European Central Bank. It is widely expected to lower interest rates by a quarter percentage point, its first cut since 2019 — and outpace the Fed in lowering borrowing costs. The big questions on our mind: Will Christine Lagarde, the central bank’s president, signal further cuts at its July and September meetings? The good news: Economists say the era of elevated rates around the world is coming to an end. But they add that sticky inflation will tie central bankers’ hands, limiting their ability to lower borrowing costs much.

Persons: Will Christine Lagarde, Holger Schmieding, DealBook Organizations: European Central Bank, Berenberg Bank Locations: Brussels

Betting on AckmanBill Ackman has gained new prominence in recent months for his outspoken presence on social media. But he has also made riches for his investors and himself — and now others are hoping he’ll continue to do so. His Pershing Square Capital Management has sold a 10 percent stake for just over $1 billion to an array of outside investors, giving the hedge fund a lofty valuation. The question is whether Ackman’s newfound fans on social media will follow him as he grows his empire, including through a new listed fund and, eventually, an I.P.O. That has bolstered Ackman’s paper worth to $8 billion, Bloomberg calculates, making him 333rd among the world’s wealthiest people.

Persons: Bill Ackman, —, he’ll, BTG, Marc Lasry, Doug Hirsch Organizations: Pershing, Capital Management, Arch Capital, Iconiq Investment Management, Bloomberg

☆ GameStop Stock Surges Again on Social Media Buzz
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was GameStop’s second major rally in as many months, seemingly prompted by social media buzz. Monday’s surge was driven by a screenshot uploaded to Reddit on Sunday by the account associated with Mr. Gill, after more than three years of inactivity. The market data provider Unusual Whales posted that there had been a spike in trading for those options. Adding fuel to the rally was a post to the X account associated with Mr. Gill that featured an image of a reverse card from Uno, the card game. Followers largely interpreted the picture — in line with the cryptic memes that punctuated Mr. Gill’s social media posts in 2021 — as a rallying cry to bolster GameStop’s stock price, which had fallen after a Roaring Kitty-inspired spike last month.

Persons: Keith Gill, Kitty, Gill, — Organizations: GameStop, Uno

MicroStrategy and its founder settle tax case for $40 millionThe attorney general for the District of Columbia has reached a $40 million settlement with the billionaire Bitcoin investor Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy, the software company he founded, over tax fraud, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch is first to report. Officials say the agreement is the biggest-ever income tax fraud recovery in the district. The lawsuit accused Saylor of evading more than $25 million in income taxes. The attorney general sued the tech executive and MicroStrategy in 2022, saying he enlisted the company’s help to file fraudulent tax forms from 2005 through 2020. The lawsuit said Saylor and the company claimed that he lived in Virginia or Florida, states with significantly lower income tax rates.

Persons: Michael Saylor, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch, Saylor Organizations: District of Columbia Locations: It’s, Virginia, Florida

Instead, Wall Street and Silicon Valley money is flowing into his re-election campaign following the ruling. “This verdict will have less than zero impact on my support,” Omeed Malik, the president of 1789 Capital and a co-host of a Trump fund-raiser last night at the Pierre hotel, told Bloomberg. “I haven’t heard anybody who gives a …,” he told CNBC of the conviction, using an expletive. Some big Silicon Valley names are doubling down. One who did is Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia Capital, who gave $300,000 to the Trump campaign after the ruling, even though he acknowledged the decision could cost him friends and hurt business.

Persons: Donald Trump, ” Omeed Malik, Andy Sabin, ”, Biden, Bill Ackman, Trump, David Sacks, Shaun Maguire Organizations: Republican, Pierre, Bloomberg, CNBC, Trump, Sequoia Capital Locations: Silicon, San Francisco

Trump and Musk’s growing courtshipFor much of President Biden’s time in the White House, his relations with Elon Musk have been tense. They may be about to plunge to a new low after Biden’s re-election campaign hit out at reports that Donald Trump could make Musk an adviser if the Republican were to win in November. The president’s campaign sees mileage in targeting Trump’s ties to moguls. Musk and Trump met in March at the billionaire investor’s Palm Beach, Fla., estate, where the advisory role discussions took place. Peltz and Musk have also briefed Trump on a plan to invest in a project to prevent the possibility of voter fraud.

Persons: Trump, Biden’s, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, ” James Singer, DealBook, he’s, Musk, David Sacks, Peter Thiel, Steven Mnuchin, Rupert Murdoch, Nelson Peltz, hasn’t, Don Lemon, “ Let’s, ”, Biden, Tesla Organizations: Elon, Republican, Wall Street, Trump, Los Locations: Los Angeles, Palm Beach, Fla

Another mega oil dealBullish predictions for $100 crude oil may not have come to fruition, but that hasn’t stopped the deal frenzy in the fossil fuel sector. The latest: The Houston-based company ConocoPhillips has agreed to acquire its smaller rival, Marathon Oil, in an all-stock deal that values the company at $22.5 billion, including debt. The news comes a day after Hess shareholders approved Chevron’s $53 billion takeover in a contentious vote. The oil majors have pulled off some of the biggest deals in the past year despite tough regulatory scrutiny from the Biden administration and volatility in the oil market. Still, the U.S. giants are sitting on record profits, giving them the firepower to acquire smaller drillers with operations in the oil-rich Permian Basin and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Persons: hasn’t, Hess, Biden Organizations: ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil Locations: Houston, U.S, Gulf of Mexico

Big Oil’s big climate showdownMonths of tensions between oil majors and activist investors could reach a boiling point at the annual meetings of Exxon Mobil and Chevron Wednesday, as the U.S. giants pump record levels of crude and sit on bumper profits. Activists’ efforts to pressure Big Oil to clean up its polluting ways are faltering. Last week, climate change protests rocked Shell’s annual meeting in London. Exxon could face an even fiercer battle this week — not only with the activist investors it is suing, but from powerful institutional investors as well. They include Norway’s huge sovereign wealth fund, and CalPERS, the California pension fund, both of which strongly oppose Exxon’s attempt to quiet some of its most vocal climate critics.

Persons: Vivienne Walt Organizations: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, DealBook, Exxon Locations: U.S, London, Dutch, Norway’s, California

☆ London Moves to Revive Its Reputation as a Financial Hub
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Eshe Nelson | Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shein, the online retail giant founded in China, had grand ambitions to go public in New York. The company is now focusing more on the London Stock Exchange for its initial public offering, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. That may not have been the company’s initial choice — but it would be a big win for Britain, which has been wary of its capital city losing its status as a global financial hub. A spokeswoman for Shein declined to comment; the British Treasury also declined to comment. like Shein’s could be seen as a prize that bolsters the local financial market and sets the stage for other companies to follow.

Persons: Jeremy Hunt, Shein Organizations: London Stock Exchange, Britain, British Treasury Locations: China, New York, Washington, Beijing, London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore

Tim Cook has delivered at least seven commencement addresses since becoming the chief executive of Apple. The superstar Taylor Swift, whose concerts have been credited with lifting local economies, addressed New York University’s graduation ceremony in 2022. Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Dimon — they’ve all given graduation speeches more than once. The appeal of being a commencement speaker, however, seems to be waning. Just three Fortune 50 chief executives appear to be commencement speakers this year, as colleges have faced campus protests over the war in Gaza, student arrests and wealthy alumni threatening to break ties with their alma maters over antisemitism.

Persons: Tim Cook, Taylor Swift, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Dimon —, They’re, ”, David Murray Organizations: Apple, Fortune, Professional Speechwriters Association Locations: New, Gaza

: That college sports association just agreed to a $2.8 billion class-action settlement that, if approved by a judge in California, would pay student athletes after a century of deeming them amateurs. and its member institutions allowing athletes to make money from sports programs that have made millions for their schools. Starting in the fall of 2025, schools could have about $20 million a year to pay their student athletes. payments, giving student athletes a big stream of revenue. And in March, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team voted to unionize, adding potentially more pressure on universities to pay athletes.

Persons: It’s Organizations: Dartmouth men’s Locations: California, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast ,

The Haley rationale for backing TrumpAfter months of speculation, Nikki Haley said — in her first appearance since dropping out of the Republican presidential primary — that she would vote for Donald Trump, the man against whom she waged a sometimes scathing campaign. But it may provide cover to prominent donors like Ken Griffin who in recent weeks has suggested that he might come in from the cold and donate to Trump. Deep-pocketed Republicans flocked to Haley during the primary. “I think she is just what we need right now,” Langone said on Fox News. “What Trump put this country through the last three months of his presidency was disgraceful.”But donors are rethinking their aversion to Trump, who handily beat Haley and other rivals and is now leading President Biden in some polls.

Persons: Haley, Nikki Haley, —, Donald Trump, Ken Griffin, Griffin, Paul Singer, Henry Kravis, Barry Sternlicht, Cliff Asness, Stanley Druckenmiller, Ken Langone, Reid Hoffman, wasn’t Trump, Nikki, ” Sternlicht, ” Langone, Trump, Biden, White, Israel Organizations: Trump, Republican, PAC, Elliott Management, KKR, Starwood Capital, AQR Capital Management, Democratic, LinkedIn, Times, Fox News Locations: Gaza

All eyes on NvidiaDespite concerns about stubbornly high inflation, elevated interest rates and ballooning U.S. debt, the S&P 500 is trading at a record on Wednesday, having soared 27 percent over the past year. Among the factors driving the rally, few are bigger than the boom in stocks tied to artificial intelligence — and the biggest of all of those is Nvidia. Investors have high hopes for Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday. Expect a torrent of trading when the chip maker reports results for its fiscal first quarter after market close. A year ago, Nvidia’s stock jumped more than 24 percent after it posted knockout earnings.

Organizations: Nvidia, Investors

OpenAI’s Scarlett Johansson problemWhen OpenAI unveiled the latest version of ChatGPT last week, a chatbot that can listen to spoken questions and respond verbally, many users had one question: Is that Scarlett Johansson? It’s another sign of eroding trust in OpenAI, which has taken fire from creative industries and former employees. In her statement, Johansson shed more light on the matter:Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. Altman tried again two days before the ChatGPT product announcement, she added, but released the service before they could connect. Johansson — no stranger to waging war against big companies — suggested that she was ready to take legal action.

Persons: OpenAI’s Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson, ”, OpenAI —, ” Johansson, Sam Altman, Mira Murati, Johansson, Altman, Johansson —, — Locations: OpenAI

OpenAI’s fear factorThe tech world’s collective eyebrows rose last week when Ilya Sutskever, the OpenAI co-founder who briefly led a rebellion against Sam Altman, resigned as chief scientist. “Safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products,” Jan Leike, who resigned from OpenAI last week, wrote on the social network X. Along with Sutskever, Leike oversaw the company’s so-called superalignment team, which was tasked with making sure products didn’t become a threat to humanity. Sutskever said in his departing note that he was confident OpenAI would build artificial general intelligence — A.I. Leike spoke for many safety-first OpenAI employees, according to Vox.

Persons: Ilya Sutskever, Sam Altman, hadn’t, ” Jan Leike, Sutskever, Leike, —, Vox, Daniel Kokotajlo, Altman Organizations: OpenAI, C.E.O

No matter who wins the White House and control of Congress this autumn, one aspect of trade policy is likely to endure: Washington’s tough-on-China protectionist stance. But several trade experts predict that the America-first model of slapping tariffs on adversaries — as President Biden did this week — will backfire. Critics of tariffs and export restrictions say they not only will potentially exacerbate inflation and drag down economic growth, but are also likely to fail for a simpler reason: Chinese companies may see their businesses slowed down by the restrictions, but have found ways to beat them. As Alex Durante, an economist at the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank that works with policymakers in the United States and Europe, bluntly put it: “They don’t work.”Huawei has shown that companies can find workarounds. Last year, the Chinese telecom giant unveiled the Mate 60, a smartphone powered by a high-end semiconductor.

Persons: —, Biden, Alex Durante, ” Organizations: White, Tax Foundation, ” Huawei Locations: China, America, United States, Europe, Washington

Regulatory warsThe Supreme Court lifted the existential threat hanging over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, rejecting a challenge to the agency’s funding. The decision could have huge consequences for a raft of conservative-led lawsuits involving administrative authority — but business groups and Republicans are vowing to fight on. A recap: Payday lenders had sued the C.F.P.B. over a rule that would limit the number of times they could withdraw money from a customer’s account for repayment. The companies and conservative groups argued that the practice wasn’t harmful, and said the way the regulator is funded — via annual allocations from the Fed’s profits rather than from Congress — was unconstitutional.

Persons: Congress — Organizations: Consumer Financial Protection, Congress

Inflation euphoria goes globalStocks in Asia and parts of Europe rose on Thursday as investors bet that new data showing inflation easing would finally persuade central bankers to lower interest rates from multidecade highs. Another test comes on Thursday when Walmart, a bellwether for U.S. consumer sentiment, reports quarterly results. The market moves follow Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index report, which came in better than expected. Inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2 percent target, but traders were encouraged by the results. The futures market now sees two Fed rate cuts this year, the first most likely coming in September.

Organizations: Walmart Locations: Asia, Europe

Behind a big shake-upA day after OpenAI announced major updates to its ChatGPT chatbot, the company said its chief scientist and co-founder was leaving. There were signs that Ilya Sutskever would quit, six months after he helped lead the rebellion that briefly ousted Sam Altman as OpenAI’s C.E.O. But it also raises questions about the future of a leading developer of generative A.I. “OpenAI would not exist without him and certainly was shaped by him,” Altman told The Times about Sutskever. But Sutskever’s presence at OpenAI may have become untenable.

Persons: OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s, “ OpenAI, ” Altman, Altman, Elon Musk, Sutskever Organizations: Times

The restrictions build on Trump-era measures, and many are likely to appeal to voters in battleground states ahead of the election. But it’s less clear if they are enough to rebuild America’s industrial base in a global race with China to lead in the new economy. The new duties will apply to about $18 billion of annual Chinese imports, the Biden administration said. Biden is at pains to say that he’s being smarter than Trump on China. Trump imposed sweeping trade barriers and has vowed to impose more if he’s re-elected.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, he’s Organizations: China, Trump Locations: China, American, U.S

Wall Street is increasingly divided over whether the Fed will cut interest rates by Election Day. New inflation data out this week will go a long way toward settling that question, as polls show that President Biden is struggling to convince voters that he’s done a good job on the economy. A first-quarter uptick in inflation has forced the Fed to keep borrowing costs at a 23-year high. Economists see a slight improvement, forecasting that April’s Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday will show that inflation moderated slightly last month. (Economists will also be watching Tuesday’s Producer Price Index and retail sales data on Wednesday.)

Persons: Biden, he’s, Sarah House, ” Organizations: Fed Locations: Wells Fargo

At the Milken Institute’s Global Conference this week, a little-known risky financial tool became the subject of a hot debate among Wall Street titans. Many private equity firms have quietly begun mortgaging their investment funds, piling leverage upon leverage. In other words, they’re taking out loans against the businesses they’ve already taken out loans to buy. At a time when dealmakers are desperate to raise new cash after the boom of the pandemic era, this mechanism — known as a net asset value loan — is allowing them to do it overnight. firms are using the tool as they set out to raise their next funds, especially those confronting a hurdle during a slow period for dealmaking: They have yet to return cash to the limited partners they tapped for their last round.

Organizations: Milken Institute’s Global Conference, Wall Street titans

The “stretched” consumerBetter than expected quarterly earnings have helped propel the S&P 500 to within a whisker of a record high on Friday. But Wall Street and Washington are closely monitoring another worrying economic indicator: the struggling consumer. The split-screen view of the economy is becoming clearer as earnings season draws to a close. Mass-market brands, like the fast-food companies McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks, have reported that a lot of customers are pulling back on spending as high inflation bites. This is “an economy of the haves and have-nots,” Michael Reid, an economist for RBC Capital Markets, told DealBook.

Persons: Biden, ” Michael Reid, DealBook Organizations: KFC, Starbucks, RBC Capital Markets Locations: Washington

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