DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Elizabeth Warren asks SEC to investigate Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the SEC to investigate Tesla and its board of directors to determine whether they violated securities laws after CEO Elon Musk took over Twitter last year. Warren wrote that that disorder has spilled over into Musk’s management of one of the most influential electric car companies in the United States. “Tesla is publicly owned, and Mr. Musk and the Board have responsibilities to shareholders and the public in their management of the company,” Warren wrote. “These close relationships may explain the board’s persistent inability or unwillingness to address the concerns posed by Mr. Musk’s actions,” Warren wrote. Last December, the Democratic senator wrote Tesla shareholders may be hurt by its CEO’s ownership of Twitter in a letter to company chair Robyn Denholm.

Persons: Elizabeth Warren, Tesla, Elon Musk, Elon, “, ” Warren, funneling Tesla, Warren, Gary Gensler, Linda Yaccarino, Musk, Cathie Wood, “ Mr, Tesla’s, –, It’s, Robyn Denholm, missive Organizations: New, New York CNN, Democratic, SEC, Twitter, Securities and Exchange, Oppenheimer, Co, Wall, Audi, GM, Tesla, CNN Locations: New York, Massachusetts, United States

☆ Review: In ‘Malvolio,’ Hope (and a Title Role) for a Damaged Heart
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Laura Collins-Hughes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Poor old Malvolio. Amid the comic romance of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” he is the imperious steward who gets cruelly pranked for sport, duped by a band of smart alecks who forge a love letter seemingly addressed to him. Then he is locked away in darkness, where his tormentors continue to mess with his mind. Twenty years after the end of “Twelfth Night,” Malvolio is long gone from the island of Illyria. A respected military general in a stubborn war, he is the leader of the Legion of the Cross-Gartered.

Persons: Shakespeare’s, he’s, Betty Shamieh, Allen Gilmore, Celeste Jennings, festers Organizations: of Harlem, Legion Locations: Illyria

☆ Trump complains that Fox News is using 'horrible' photos of him: 'The coloring, distortions, everything are just so bad'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trump is accusing Fox News of making him look bad — literally. He also said his staff his long complained to the network about the issue. Not politically — though Trump has long had complaints about that too — but literally. Trump went on to say that his staff has been complaining about the issue "for months, but to no avail." "Fox is just bad news, but I'm leading in the Polls by record numbers, so perhaps their bull….

Persons: Trump, —, Donald Trump, Fox, Ron DeSantis — Organizations: Fox News, Service, Florida Gov Locations: New Hampshire

☆ Special Report: US, Swedish prosecutors study graft complaint naming son of Turkey's Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( David Gauthier-Villars | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

The proposed plan was detailed in communications and business documents seen by Reuters, as well as by a person familiar with the matter. A screengrab shows information about the AL-100K dashboard breathalyzer on the website of Swedish company Dignita Systems. Reuters was unable to confirm independently whether President Erdogan and his son Bilal were aware of, or had involvement in Dignita's alleged kickback scheme. Ibn Haldun University was founded by Turgev, a charity organization President Erdogan helped create in the 1990s, when he was mayor of Istanbul. In 2016, Italian prosecutors conducted a money-laundering probe into Bilal Erdogan on suspicion he had brought cash into the country without declaring it.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Dignita, Bilal Erdogan, Anders Eriksson, Bilal, Dignita's, Scott Greytak, Ibn Haldun, Turgev, Erdogan's, Eriksson, Irfan Gunduz, Gunduz, Erdogan’s, " Eriksson, Bilal –, Bilal Erdogan –, – Dignita, Smart, Matthew Strausz, Anders, David Gauthier, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Reuters, Dignita Systems, Dignita's U.S, Turkish, U.S . Department of Justice, International U.S, DOJ, Smart, Apollo Global Management, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, Nordic, Swedish, Ibn Haldun University, Ibn, Dignita, Tugva, BMZ, Islamic, Smart Start, Thomson Locations: United States, Sweden, Swedish, U.S, Turkey, Washington, States, Texas, Ankara, Stockholm, Istanbul, Turkish, Tugva, Islamic State, Syria, Russia, American, Gunduz

☆ Cramer lists reasons to book some profits in this lofty market. 'You only need to get rich once'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Unlike the ridiculous short squeezes that brought about GameStop 's (GME) meme-stock maina 2½ years ago, the current market is making some sense. That means by Wednesday's Club meeting, right ahead of the Fed rate announcement, we could have a backdrop suggesting that we deserve to broaden. Bottom line Until Wednesday's Club meeting you know my mindset. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Persons: Lisa, Guy, It's, mutt Nvidia, Jerome Powell's, there's, Banks, Nvidia's, Fosforo, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Jim Cramer Rob Kim Organizations: CNBC, Club, Nvidia, GameStop, Apple, Microsoft, Federal, Fed, Web Services, Palo Alto Networks, Broadcom, Marvell, Baltic, Wednesday's Club, Wine, Jim Cramer's Charitable Locations: Long, China

☆ Warren Buffett – he invests just like us!
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - “Do as I say, not as I do” sounds like the kind of pithy thing Warren Buffett might say to his adoring throngs. The conglomerate was an investor for a dozen years, until Buffett got spooked by Freddie Mac’s overly rosy earnings growth projections. The $1.3 billion stake it finished accumulating in 1994 was worth $25 billion last month. A $13 billion stake in IBM (IBM.N) came and went, as did $8 billion of JPMorgan (JPM.N) and almost $3 billion of biopharmaceutical company AbbVie (ABBV.N). Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and CEO, said that geopolitical tensions contributed to the decision to sell most of the $4.1 billion TSMC stake just a few months after buying it, the Nikkei reported on April 11.

Persons: Warren Buffett, can’t, There’s, Buffett, Freddie Mac, Freddie Mac’s, Coke, Benjamin Moore, TSMC, ”, Wells, ” Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Berkshire Hathaway, Home Loan Mortgage, U.S ., Berkshire, BNSF, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Buffett, ” Morningstar, Treasury, New York Stock Exchange, American Express, IBM, JPMorgan, Activision, Occidental Petroleum, Paramount Global, Oracle, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Nikkei, Thomson Locations: Berkshire, U.S, TSMC . Berkshire, Japan, Taiwan, Omaha, China

☆ Marc Andreessen Has a Plan to Use 'AI to Save the World'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marc Andreessen writes that AI can "make everything we care about better" in a new blog post. He believes AI companies should be able to build fast and aggressively without regulation. The current AI wave wouldn't be complete without a pithy missive from famed venture-capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andressen. To help avert those risks, Altman recommended to lawmakers that a new agency should be created to police AI projects, particularly ones that operate at higher levels of capabilities. He also says his firm is eager to fund AI startup founders.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Marc Andressen, Andreessen Horowitz, he's, Andreessen, Sam Altman, Altman, Andreeseen, Catalyst, Nat Friedman Organizations: OpenAI Locations: China, Coactive, London

☆ A.I. doomers are a ‘cult’ — here’s the real threat, according to Marc Andreessen
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Andreessen Horowitz partner Marc Andreessen Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesVenture capitalist Marc Andreessen is known for saying that "software is eating the world." When it comes to artificial intelligence, he claims people should stop worrying and build, build, build. Andreessen writes that there's a "wall of fear-mongering and doomerism" in the AI world right now. Andreessen writes that people in roles like AI safety expert, AI ethicist and AI risk researcher "are paid to be doomers, and their statements should be processed appropriately," he wrote. In Andreessen's own idealist future, "every child will have an AI tutor that is infinitely patient, infinitely compassionate, infinitely knowledgeable, infinitely helpful."

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen Justin Sullivan, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen, It's, it's, Bill Gates, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Ben Horowitz Organizations: Getty Images Venture, Nvidia, Microsoft, Center, AI Safety, Tech Locations: China

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a news conference at the Treasury Department in Washington on April 11. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)It’s still likely that the US could default on its obligations early next month – possibly as soon as June 1 – if Congress doesn’t act, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated Monday. President Joe Biden is expected to meet again on Tuesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other top congressional leaders. Still, the actual date could be a number of days or weeks later, depending on how much revenue the federal government collects and how much it has to pay out in coming weeks, Yellen said. Yellen once again urged Congress to act as soon as possible, noting that Treasury’s borrowing costs have increased substantially for securities maturing in early June.

☆ US may default on debt as soon as June 1, Yellen reaffirms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —It’s still likely that the US could default on its obligations early next month – possibly as soon as June 1 – if Congress doesn’t act, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated Monday. Still, the actual date could be a number of days or weeks later, depending on how much revenue the federal government collects and how much it has to pay out in coming weeks, Yellen said. Yellen’s missive comes two weeks after she first warned that the so-called X-date, when the US would default, could come as soon as June 1. Yellen once again urged Congress to act as soon as possible, noting that Treasury’s borrowing costs have increased substantially for securities maturing in early June. “We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States,” she wrote.

Follow for live updates on the Trump CNN town hall meeting. Those objections intensified on Tuesday after Mr. Trump was found liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of the writer E. Jean Carroll. And foes of Mr. Trump will cringe at seeing him on air at all. He is backed by David Zaslav, the Warner chief executive, who has batted away objections to Wednesday’s Trump town hall. There is the awkward fact that Mr. Trump still has a pending $475 million defamation lawsuit against the network.

☆ Carl Icahn calls Illumina Q1 results ‘very disappointing,’ slams cost-cutting plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Carl Icahn on Friday called Illumina's first-quarter results "very disappointing" and slammed the DNA sequencing company's new plans to cut costs. "Illumina CEO Francis deSouza seems to believe that he can fool all of the people all of the time," Icahn wrote. Illumina's stock is down more than 9% since the company reported earnings. In that missive, Icahn also took shots at cost-cutting plans Illumina unveiled to improve its shrinking margins. Illumina reported a negative operating margin of 5.7% for the quarter, down from 15% during the same period a year ago.

☆ Hollywood agency WME's newest film agent is a twentysomething talent Midas whose must-read comedy newsletter spotted rising stars and launched careers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

High-powered Hollywood talent agency WME has scooped up a new film agent from outside the company. Daniel Cramer, a former producer at Sony Pictures, was named by Insider as a 2022 rising star of the entertainment business. He became known as a talent spotter with his Cramer Comedy Newsletter, a curated email for industry insiders. As a producer and newsletter writer, Cramer has been an under-the-radar power broker in Hollywood for several years. Do you work in the entertainment industry?

☆ Biden pushes for Republican proposal in U.S. debt-ceiling standoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Biden urged the top congressional Republican to spell out his proposals before lawmakers leave Washington for a two-week recess set to start on Thursday. McCarthy told CNBC earlier that he was prepared to lay out $4 trillion in spending cuts for Biden, if he would agree to meet. Republicans have not yet produced a budget plan of their own and could be weeks or months away from doing so. McCarthy's proposals, though lacking detail, paralleled the demands of hard-right House Republicans far more closely than ideas put forward by moderate Republicans. Republicans have sought to blame Biden, but only Congress has the authority to raise the debt ceiling.

☆ Larry Fink finds way to dodge ESG crosshairs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Seismic events elsewhere are making it easier for BlackRock (BLK.N) to inch away from the environmental, social and governance crosshairs. The $8 trillion asset manager’s chair Larry Fink used his annual investor letter to theorise that inflation might stay around 4%, predict stricter bank capital requirements, and namecheck his favourite 80’s band, Talk Talk. BlackRock still backs these objectives, but Fink’s 2023 letter doesn’t even mention ESG. The good news for Fink is that U.S. banking collapses and spiralling inflation mean his detractors’ attention is, at least for now, elsewhere. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ SVB rivals pounce, pitching startups on moving their money away from the struggling bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Ben Bergman | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

With Silicon Valley Bank in crisis, rivals pounced, publicly encouraging tech clients to move their money. SVB lends money to startups and keeps their cash deposits, so they can pay staff and other expenses. If startups are worried the bank can't give them all their money back from their bank accounts, then they might pull their accounts. The banker described their phone ringing off the hook Thursday with panicked startup founders and CEOs desperate to move their money away from SVB. "We also left our own money in SVB," Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures tweeted Thursday.

☆ Adani contrarian is a win for Hindenburg, too
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

GQG Partners is snapping up shares in four of the Indian tycoon’s nine core companies, including the flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), along with Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS). The mogul was trying to do just that last month with a $2.5 billion Adani Enterprise share sale before it was scuppered by Hindenburg’s sortie. Barring something truly exceptional, the scars of Hindenburg’s successful attack on Adani will linger for a while. GQG bought shares in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises from entities owned by the Adani family. Adani has dismissed the allegations outlined in U.S. fund Hindenburg Research’s Jan. 24 report.

☆ Warren Buffett blasted earnings manipulation as 'disgusting' in his annual letter. Here's what he meant, and how GE legend Jack Welch ties into it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Warren Buffett blasted earnings manipulation as "disgusting" and "one of the shames of capitalism." Former GE CEO Jack Welch specialized in using legal but creative accounting to beat forecasts. Look no further than Jack Welch, the late CEO of General Electric, for insights into the legal but controversial practice. He made it his mission to beat Wall Street's forecasts, and deliver slow, steady growth that would secure a higher valuation for GE stock. Welch's obsession with GE hitting its numbers each quarter spurred him to ruthlessly cut costs and fire workers as needed.

☆ Warren Buffett’s greatest hits lose their verve
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - After writing bangers for decades, it makes sense to keep playing them over and over. Warren Buffett mostly trotted out his greatest hits over the weekend in his latest annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) shareholders. It’s a testament to Buffett’s proven ability to ride out economic storms, even though the $670 billion company’s size makes it ever harder to outperform the market. Buffett’s missive accompanying the financial results was among his shortest, at fewer than 3,500 words, in nearly 60 years of writing them. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ A newly reported classified US government missive on the lab leak theory shows we still don't know where COVID-19 came from
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A memo suggested that the Energy Department has 'low confidence' the coronavirus came from a lab leak, per WSJ. Intelligence officials remain split on whether the virus occurred naturally or came from a lab. However, agencies have found that both theories about a natural occurrence and a lab leak remain possibilities, per the New York Times. Sullivan said there are a "variety of views in the intelligence community," but that several agencies have said they "just don't have enough information to be sure." But, right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question," Sullivan said.

☆ A company-wide Zoom meeting versus individual calls: Insiders reveal how multi-billion-dollar startups Clari and Workato slashed jobs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( April Joyner | Stephanie Palazzolo | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Unicorns Clari and Workato are among the latest startups to cut jobs. Workato laid off 10 percent of its workforce, and Clari had its second round of cuts in a year. Clari's layoffs caught the startup's staffers off guard, according to one employee Insider spoke to. Though the layoffs were unexpected, the former Workato employee said, they appreciated the way the company delivered the news. The former Clari employee Insider spoke with said that the spate of layoffs had prompted them to reconsider their dedication to the tech industry.

Musk is likely to "double down" on his communication tactics after the verdict, said Minor Myers, a professor of corporate law at the University of Connecticut. Musk ultimately abandoned his effort to take Tesla private, but told jurors early in the three-week trial that he had believed what he wrote in tweets. "I expect Elon is going to write anything he wants,"Musk himself thanked the jury on Twitter -- which he bought in October for $44 billion. The tweets led to Musk and Tesla paying $40 million to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges under a consent agreement that Musk has fought unsuccessfully to lift. Still, many analysts said Musk, who has tweeted more than 22,000 times and has about 128 million Twitter followers, has no reason to slow down now.

☆ Breakingviews: Short-seller attack raises Gautam Adani stakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Jan 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Hindenburg Research is going after big game, with devastating timing. Now he is taking aim at the world’s third richest man, Gautam Adani, and his $230 billion infrastructure-focused empire. It follows a tussle last year with Fitch Group after its research outfit, CreditSights, called Adani “deeply overleveraged”. Most of the companies in the Adani group – nine of which are listed – are too closely held, massively overvalued, and largely ignored by Wall Street institutions and big Indian mutual funds. Adani Enterprises stock, for example, fell only 1.5% on Wednesday, though Adani Transmission fell 9%.

☆ Short-seller attack raises Gautam Adani stakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Now he is taking aim at the world’s third richest man, Gautam Adani, and his $230 billion infrastructure-focused empire. It follows a tussle last year with Fitch Group after its research outfit, CreditSights, called Adani “deeply overleveraged”. Most of the companies in the Adani group – nine of which are listed – are too closely held, massively overvalued, and largely ignored by Wall Street institutions and big Indian mutual funds. Adani Enterprises stock, for example, fell only 1.5% on Wednesday, though Adani Transmission fell 9%. Adani Enterprises, controlled by India’s richest man, Gautam Adani, is due on Jan. 25 to announce the anchor investors in a 200 billion rupee ($2.4 billion) follow-on issue, the largest in India by a private company.

☆ In leaked memo one day after Dow Jones layoffs, News Corp CEO urges 'full compliance' with back-to-office schedule for Wall Street Journal, New York Post staffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

News Corp CEO Robert Thomson sends staff memo about the importance of in-person collaboration. The news comes a day after layoffs at News Corp unit Dow Jones that affected less than 2% of staff. The CEO flagged that he'd be asking business leads to consult with managers to "ensure full compliance with in-office work schedules," which "will evolve in the coming weeks," he wrote. The Wall Street Journal's in-office staffing situation in New York is currently being monitored by the company, according to two sources. The spontaneity and serendipity of a dynamic office environment are crucial in creating and in iterating, so in-office attendance is vital to our future success.

Search resuls for: "missive"

25 mentions found