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Shares in Disney are up more than 7 percent in premarket trading on Thursday, after the entertainment giant released blockbuster quarterly earnings and made a string of headline-grabbing announcements. (Taylor Swift! In short, the House of Mouse bolstered its case against the activist investor Nelson Peltz, who is seeking two board seats. The question is whether that will be enough to definitively fend off the financier. The company also broke with precedent by giving profit guidance, forecasting that its full-year per-share earnings would increase at least 20 percent compared with 2023.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Nelson Peltz, Disney Organizations: Disney

WeWork’s founder is trying to buy itAdam Neumann shot to fame by turning WeWork into a cultural and business phenomenon, before being ousted from the work space operator in dramatic fashion. But for the past several months, he has been trying to buy the now-bankrupt business — with the help of the hedge fund mogul Dan Loeb, DealBook is the first to report. Neumann’s new real estate company Flow Global is pushing WeWork to consider its takeover approach, according to a letter his lawyers sent to WeWork’s advisers on Monday. Flow which has already raised $350 million from the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, disclosed in the letter that Loeb’s Third Point would help finance a transaction. Flow has sought to buy WeWork or its assets, as well as provide bankruptcy financing to keep it afloat.

Persons: Adam Neumann, Dan Loeb, DealBook, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: Flow

Official figures show that growth is solid, jobs are plentiful and wages are climbing, and yet voters are mostly feeling down and giving President Biden little credit. Friday’s jobs data is adding to that split-screen view, with economists pointing out red flags in an otherwise sterling report. Employers added 353,000 jobs last month, almost double economists’ forecasts, and an additional 100,000 via revisions in previous months. Average hourly wages rose, too. For a start, wintry weather shrank the average workweek to 34.1 hours in January.

Persons: Biden, Bill Adams Organizations: Employers, Comerica Bank Locations: U.S

The big stakes of Musk’s outsize pay dealAn unusual pay package that Tesla devised in 2018 helped make Elon Musk the world’s wealthiest individual. The backstory: In 2018, Tesla set out 12 milestones tied to market capitalization, revenue and profit targets that Musk needed to reach to qualify for a stock package that is now worth over $50 billion. Experts thought it would be impossible to hit. Yet Musk — who told Andrew at the time that Tesla would hit a $1 trillion market cap within a decade — pulled it off. Shareholders sued, however, arguing that the plan was devised unfairly, with Musk essentially creating his own pay package with the help of allies on the Tesla board.

Persons: Tesla, Elon, —, Andrew Organizations: Shareholders Locations: Delaware

Tech giants are set to report quarterly earnings, starting on Tuesday with Alphabet and Microsoft. Wall Street is expecting good news, including more progress on artificial intelligence. The cuts aren’t as widespread as last year, when hundreds of thousands of jobs were eliminated. About 100 companies have cut 25,000 positions this year, according to Layoffs.fyi. By comparison, more than 1,000 companies eliminated about 260,000 last year.

Organizations: Tech, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Google

What next for Evergrande’s creditors? A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the liquidation of Evergrande, the heavily indebted Chinese property giant. The company’s dissolution raises questions about fairness for overseas creditors — which could have wider implications for foreign businesses operating in China. But as the economy slowed, property sales plummeted, and Chinese regulators began clamping down on excessive leverage and speculation. The judge presiding over Evergrande’s bankruptcy case has now called time after two years of talks.

Persons: Evergrande Organizations: Hong, Monday Locations: Hong Kong, Evergrande, China

deals in the cross hairsTech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google have sought an edge in the artificial intelligence race by investing in innovative start-ups like OpenAI and Anthropic. But that strategy is drawing more attention, as the F.T.C. joins international counterparts in scrutinizing those deals. It’s the latest effort by the agency to check the power of Big Tech, but raises questions about whether it also will impede the ability of start-ups to raise needed cash. The big question: Do these deals hinder competition?

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI’s Organizations: Tech, Microsoft, Google, Big Tech

Tesla plungesElon Musk and Tesla shareholders are at a crossroads. Shares are down roughly 8 percent on Thursday in premarket trading after Wednesday’s lackluster year-end results. He asked investors to look beyond 2024, predicting a “major growth wave” fueled by a low-cost Tesla model that will be built partly in Austin, Texas, and Mexico. The latest stock fall comes after Tesla reported that fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled to $7.9 billion — largely thanks to a one-time tax break. The company also declined to give detailed full-year guidance, but said it expected sales growth to be “notably slower.”

Persons: Tesla, Elon Organizations: Tesla Locations: North America, Europe, China, Austin , Texas, Mexico

Trump marches onAs widely expected, Donald Trump handily won the New Hampshire Republican primary, defeating Nikki Haley by double digits. That has left anti-Trump donors and the broader business community glimpsing an increasingly likely future: The former president will become the Republican nominee, and stands a good shot of winning in November. Haley said she would fight on, arguing last night that “this race is far from over.” But the former South Carolina governor will head to her home state — she’s skipping the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 8 — badly trailing Trump in polls there, with many of her Palmetto State colleagues having endorsed her opponent. A growing number of Republicans are now suggesting that she should drop out: Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a senior G.O.P. lawmaker, said that his party needed “to unite around a single candidate.”

Persons: Trump, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Haley, John Cornyn of, ” Organizations: New Hampshire Republican, Trump, Republican, South, Palmetto State Locations: South Carolina, Nevada, John Cornyn of Texas

(Both men already hold sizable amounts of Alibaba stock.) Alibaba itself bought back $9.5 billion worth of stock last year, reducing its share count by over 3 percent. The stock purchases will probably bring attention back to Ma, a former English teacher who helped start Alibaba as an e-commerce platform. Ma, who hasn’t held a management role at Alibaba or Ant in years but remains a lifetime partner in the Alibaba Partnership, now largely focuses on Bill Gates-style philanthropy. And she’s expected to take swipes at Trump’s economic record as president.

Persons: Tsai, Ma, Alibaba, Ant, hasn’t, Bill Gates, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Eric Rosengren, Robert Kaplan, Kaplan, Rosengren, Archer, Daniels, Vikram Luthar, Scott Stuber, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion, Stuber, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s, Bela Bajaria, Biden’s, Janet Yellen, Lael Brainard, they’re, Biden, ” Ray Fair Organizations: Pool Management, Alibaba, Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, Nets, Boston Fed, Dallas Fed, Republican, Biden, Yale, Times Locations: U.S, Hong Kong, China, Ma, Beijing, ’, Paris, New Hampshire, Dixville

(Other former hopefuls, including Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott, have also endorsed Trump.) The Republican faithful are coalescing around Trump in a way that raises questions about the next move by the wealthy donors who have sought to stop him. Among his strategic errors was betting that “anti-woke” fights, including his battle against Disney, would resonate with voters. Haley has embraced her status as the last anti-Trump candidate standing: “May the best woman win,” she said on Sunday. But polls put her some 15 percentage points behind Trump in New Hampshire, as voters head to the polls tomorrow.

Persons: Haley, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, DeSantis, ”, “ Organizations: Trump, Republican, Disney, Politico Locations: Trump, Florida, New Hampshire

The Davos consensus on the presidential electionPublicly, the global business leaders who gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, haven’t wanted to predict the winner of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. In an interview with Andrew on CNBC, he didn’t predict that Trump would win, but suggested that dismissing the former president and his supporters would be a mistake. “He wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues, and that’s why they’re voting for him,” he said. “Trump is already the president at Davos — which is a good thing because the Davos consensus is usually wrong,” Alex Soros, the son of George Soros, said on a panel. A little history: The Davos consensus was that Hillary Clinton would beat Trump in 2016.

Persons: haven’t, Donald Trump, DealBook, Trump, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Andrew, “, ” Dimon, ”, MAGA, bode, “ Trump, ” Alex Soros, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Sting, Biden, It’s, Reddit, Macy’s, Tony Spring, Warren Buffett, Morningstar Organizations: Economic, JPMorgan, CNBC, Trump, NATO, Biden, Trump’s Republican, Davos, Apple Watch, Reuters, Investors Locations: Davos, Switzerland, U.S, China, American, Indonesia, E.S.G

But one topic dominating a lot of discussion among U.S. business leaders and policymakers has been largely missing from the official agenda: rising antisemitism after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. Only one panel to discuss the topic is on the agenda out of the forum’s hundreds of presentations. The panelists at the session this afternoon include Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris; Michal Herzog, the wife of Israel’s president; and Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League. (Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, spoke this morning.) “I’m disappointed that there isn’t more of a conversation about antisemitism here,” Leon Kalvaria, the chairman of Citigroup’s Institutional Clients Group and a longtime Davos attendee, told DealBook.

Persons: Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris, Michal Herzog, Jonathan Greenblatt, Isaac Herzog, “ I’m, ” Leon Kalvaria, DealBook, ” Organizations: Economic, Defamation League, Group Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Ukraine, U.S, Israel

Zelensky and Trump loom over DavosTwo people are having an outsize impact at the World Economic Forum, and one of them isn’t even there. One is Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, who put on a full-court press of business and global leaders at the forum in Davos, Switzerland. Zelensky isn’t the only leader at Davos worried about Trump. The Ukrainian leader has sought to shore up global business support. And the annual wine tasting hosted by Anthony Scaramucci, the financier and former Trump official, well, ran out of wine.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Andrew, Trump, Putin, “, ” Zelensky, Republican Party ”, DealBook, thumped, JPMorgan Chase, Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone, Ray Dalio, David Rubenstein, Carlyle, Michael Dell, John Kerry, Biden’s, Anthony Scaramucci, Christine Lagarde, Christopher Waller, Nelson Peltz’s, James Gorman, Morgan Stanley, Mary Barra, General Motors —, Bob Iger, Disney’s, Murray Auchincloss, Bernard Looney, Auchincloss, Yi Fuxian Organizations: Trump, Economic, Ukraine, Republican Party, Republican, JPMorgan, Congress Center, Dell, European Central Bank, Fed, Disney, General, BP, University of Wisconsin – Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Europe, Ukraine, American, Iowa, Bridgewater, China, Beijing, Russia, Britain, U.S, Asia, University of Wisconsin – Madison

The meetings behind the meetingThousands of global leaders have once again descended on snowy Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. The theme of this year’s event: “rebuilding trust.”But there are the public meetings, and then there are the real ones behind closed doors that the attendees are talking about most. These include discussions touching on U.S.-China tensions, the war in Gaza, artificial intelligence and the future of Ukraine. If the answer is zero, you’ve won. Top U.S. officials are set to appear on the main stage, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser.

Persons: you’ve, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan Organizations: Center, U.S Locations: Davos, Switzerland, China, Gaza, Ukraine

Now the company plans to go big on the business of investing in airports, bridges, oil pipelines and more. Alongside announcing its quarterly earnings, the firm said on Friday that it would acquire Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion in cash and stock. The deal is BlackRock’s biggest takeover since 2009, when it bought Barclays Global Investors for $13.5 billion and became the world’s biggest provider of index funds. It’s a major bet by BlackRock on infrastructure, in which financial firms invest in, or take over and run, assets like tunnels, highways, and oil and gas networks. “Policymakers are only just beginning to implement once-in-a-generation financial incentives for new infrastructure technologies and projects,” Larry Fink, BlackRock’s chairman and C.E.O., said in a statement.

Persons: ” Larry Fink Organizations: Global Infrastructure Partners, Barclays Global Investors, BlackRock Locations: BlackRock, It’s

Some of that loss may be because of disappointing news about the Cybertruck’s pricing and availability. But some may also reflect renewed concern about Elon Musk’s latest comments, made at the DealBook Summit this week, and whether his self-inflicted damage at X is distracting from his other businesses. Advertisers aren’t impressed by Musk’s recent tirade. On Wednesday, he asserted that brands were trying to “blackmail” him by suspending their advertising after he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X. “There is no advertising value that would offset the reputational risk of going back on the platform,” Lou Paskalis, the founder and C.E.O.

Persons: Tesla’s, Elon Musk’s, aren’t, Musk’s, ”, Lou Paskalis Organizations: Tesla, AJL, Times

Yes, I was surprised at what Elon Musk said at the DealBook Summit on Wednesday — you can see that in the moment from our conversation when he left me temporarily speechless. But I would encourage everyone to watch the entire interview, as we covered so much more than that. Coming into Wednesday’s DealBook Summit, few could predict what Elon Musk — whose SpaceX, Tesla and X are among the most consequential and talked-about companies in the world — would say. Yes, there was the moment when, using profane language, Musk denounced companies that had suspended advertising on X following his endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory. (He did try to clear the air, saying he hadn’t meant to support bigots.

Persons: Andrew, Elon Musk, Musk, “ Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla

The lineup for DealBook Summit 2023On Wednesday, DealBook will be live and in person at our annual summit in New York. The DealBook team and reporters from The Times will be reporting live from the conference. Even if you are not with us, you can follow along here beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Here are the speakers:Vice President Kamala HarrisElon Musk , the chairman and C.E.O. Is this a technology that will unleash a new wave of productivity, or is it a force that could do irreparable harm?

Persons: DealBook, Andrew, Kamala Harris Elon Musk, Tesla, X Tsai Ing, Taiwan Lina Khan, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase Bob Iger, Kevin McCarthy, California Jensen Huang, Nvidia David Zaslav, Jay Monahan Organizations: DealBook, The, SpaceX, Federal Trade, JPMorgan, Disney, Republican, Nvidia, Warner Bros, White House Locations: New York, Taiwan, California, Israel, China, U.S, Beijing, Washington

Shein aims to win over Wall Street and WashingtonIn filing confidentially for an initial public offering, Shein, the ultrafast-fashion retailer, is showing ambition on two fronts. The company and its underwriters are betting that investors will be more receptive to I.P.O.s, even though high-profile market debuts this fall largely fizzled out. Shein is also testing whether it can endure what’s likely to be an increase in political heat on the China-founded e-commerce giant. The company has also set up operations in Ireland and Indiana and hired an array of lobbyists in the U.S. “No one should be fooled by Shein’s efforts to cover its tracks,” Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, wrote in a letter to other lawmakers.

Persons: Marco Rubio Organizations: Wall, Washington, underwriters, Republican Locations: China, Washington, Singapore, Nanjing, Ireland, Indiana, U.S, Florida

on trialThe Supreme Court will hear a landmark case this week that could determine the future of the S.E.C.’s in-house enforcement arm and have serious consequences for how other regulators operate. Jarkesy was found guilty in an administrative proceeding overseen by an administrative law judge. But he won a later challenge to that process in federal court, saying that the Seventh Amendment guaranteed the right to a jury trial. Most justices have shown an inclination to limit agency power and this is just one of several cases challenging the power of federal regulators. The Supreme Court is also mulling the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and whether to overrule a principle that requires judges to defer to agencies’ interpretations of administrative rules.

Persons: Napoleon, ”, George Jarkesy, Jarkesy Organizations: Disney, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Overnight, OpenAI announced that it had an “agreement in principle” to reinstall Sam Altman as C.E.O., while the board members who pushed him out are departing. The news was greeted rapturously by the ChatGPT creator’s employees, most of whom had threatened to quit and join Altman at Microsoft. Altman and those focused more on commercializing the technology came out ahead of those worried about its apocalyptic potential. Gone are Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner and Ilya Sutskever, three of the four directors who ousted Altman. That board will help select a bigger permanent one, according to The Verge, which may include representation for Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Ilya Sutskever, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Adam D’Angelo, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s, ” Organizations: Microsoft, Treasury Locations: Silicon

Microsoft had no official say with the board when Altman, the company’s key contact, was fired. That is partly as a hedge for the fact it has no control over the start-up’s board. It involves the holy grail of OpenAI’s work: achieving artificial general intelligence, or A.G.I. Scott Syphax, a corporate governance expert, told DealBook that the deal could raise red flags with regulators if it threatens the nonprofit’s tax-exempt status. Another area Syphax is watching: the valuation that Microsoft placed on OpenAI after its investment and whether it acquired the I.P.

Persons: Altman, Nadella, Kara Swisher, Brockman, ”, Microsoft’s, Scott Syphax, DealBook, Bill Gurley, Satya Organizations: Microsoft, Times Locations: “, Grubhub

of OpenAI, the leader in commercializing generative A.I. By Monday, he had not only been fired by his board — he had also joined Microsoft, the start-up’s biggest backer. A recap:OpenAI’s board fired Altman for not being “consistently candid.” Greg Brockman, another co-founder, was stripped of his chairman title and quit. Talks to bring Altman back broke down, with OpenAI’s board eventually naming Emmett Shear, the former C.E.O. (Some OpenAI employees workers wrote on X that “OpenAI is nothing without its people,” posts that Altman liked.)

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI —, —, Emmett Shear, Mira Murati, Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Elon Musk, Geoffrey Hinton Organizations: Microsoft, up’s, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI, ChatGPT

Social media’s antisemitism problemThe rise in antisemitism since the outbreak of war in the Middle East has ignited a clash between Wall Street donors and universities, and divided some workplaces. Now, the pressure is building on social media platforms, particularly Elon Musk’s X and TikTok, with advertisers, celebrities and influencers pulling spending and confronting executives about the proliferation of hate speech. He posted to X his support for white nationalist conspiracy theories that Jewish communities were spreading hatred. Yaccarino was brought in to win back advertisers after Musk bought Twitter last year and culled many content moderators. More than a dozen Jewish celebrities and creators, including the actors Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing and Amy Schumer, confronted TikTok executives this week.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, Adolf Hitler, Musk, X’s, Linda Yaccarino, Yaccarino, “ Linda, ” Martin Sorrell, DealBook, TikTok, Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing, Amy Schumer, “ Hitler, Anne Frank ”, Cohen, ”, Osama bin, bin Laden, —, Alex Haurek, George Santos, Biden, Xi Jinping, Doug McMillon, Walmart’s, “, ” Brian Cornell, ’ Organizations: IBM, Media, America, Nazi Party, Apple, Oracle, Defamation League, Twitter, S4 Capital, House, Big, General Motors, Hyundai, Republican, Justice Department, Business, APEC, West Texas Intermediate, Consumers, Depot, Walmart Locations: TikTok, New York, Hong Kong, China, San Francisco, Beijing, Washington, U.S

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