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☆ Tesla investors argue Musk can receive fair 'funding secured' trial in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Tom Hals | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Reporter With More Than Two Decades Of Experience In International News | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Videos of an audience booing Musk during a surprise appearance at a Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco in December were circulated online. Tesla moved its headquarters from the San Francisco area to Texas in 2021. Musk tweeted in August 2018 that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private, sparking 10 days of volatile trading in its stock shares, bonds and options. Defendants, which also include Tesla and its board at the time, will make their case that Musk was not misleading investors in a material way. Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission has estimated missing customer funds at more than $8 billion. The affiliates -- LedgerX, Embed, FTX Japan and FTX Europe -- are relatively independent from the broader FTX group, and each has its own segregated customer accounts and separate management teams, according to FTX court filings. In part to preserve the value of its businesses, FTX also sought Dorsey's approval to keep secret 9 million FTX customer names. Dorsey allowed the names to remain under wraps for only three months, not six months as FTX wanted. In addition to customer funds lost, the collapse of the company has also likely wiped out equity investors.

[1/3] The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew KellyJan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors are in the process of seizing shares of Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD.O) tied to Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been charged with fraud in the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, a U.S. attorney told a judge on Wednesday. He said the Robinhood shares were subject to litigation and it was an "open question" about who owns them. The Robinhood stock, worth about $465 million at Wednesday's late afternoon price of $8.30 per share, is also being claimed by BlockFi Inc, another bankrupt crypto firm. BlockFi is suing Emergent in a bid to seize the Robinhood stock, which was pledged by Alameda as collateral to guarantee repayment of a loan made by BlockFi.

[1/3] The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. The Department of Justice did not believe the 56 million shares of Robinhood, worth about $465 million, were property of a bankruptcy estate, U.S. attorney Seth Shapiro told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing the FTX bankruptcy. Bankrupt crypto firm BlockFi, FTX and liquidators in Antigua have all laid claim to the Robinhood stock, along with Bankman-Fried. He said the Robinhood shares were subject to litigation and it was an "open question" about who owns them. BlockFi is suing Emergent in a bid to seize the Robinhood stock, which was pledged by Alameda as collateral to guarantee repayment of a loan made by BlockFi.

WASHINGTON — Patrick Leahy was swept into the Senate nearly a half-century ago in the wake of the Watergate scandal and President Richard Nixon’s resignation and pardon. Ron Frehm / APSen. Leahy take photos on the inaugural stand during Barack Obama's presidential inauguration at the Capitol on Jan. 21, 2013. Let’s stay here and vote where we can be seen.”Sen. Leahy, D-Vt., walks to the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6, 2021. Ira Schwarz / APSupreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor is sworn in by committee chairman Sen. Leahy, D-Vt., during her confirmation hearing in 2009 in Washington. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in the Senate subway.

☆ Delaware Man Is Sentenced in Plot to Kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Ben Kesling | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Another of the men convicted in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced Wednesday to 235 months, or nearly 20 years in prison. Barry Croft, 47 years old, of Bear, Del., was described by federal prosecutors as the ideas man in the foiled 2020 plan to kidnap Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat. The scheme was stopped by the Federal Bureau of Investigation before the men could harm the governor. The group of plotters was saturated with informants, and defense attorneys claimed the men were encouraged and entrapped.

Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang both pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors as part of their plea agreements. Roos said Bankman-Fried carried out a "fraud of epic proportions" that led to the loss of billions of dollars of customer and investor funds. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX but said he does not believe he has criminal liability. A flurry of customer withdrawals in early November amid concerns about commingling of FTX funds with Alameda prompted FTX to declare bankruptcy on Nov. 11. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the capital Nassau on Dec. 12 and arrived in the United States on Wednesday after consenting to extradition.

☆ Sen. Chris Coons: I support the $1.7 trillion spending bill, but I do not like the process
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | 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 EmailSen. Chris Coons: I support the $1.7 trillion spending bill, but I do not like the processSen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to discuss the $1.7 omnibus bill that passed the Senate on Thursday, and the rushed process to approve the government's spending bill.

☆ Alameda's ex-CEO tells judge she hid billions in loans to FTX execs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Alameda Research FollowNEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives received billions of dollars in secret loans from the crypto mogul's Alameda Research, the hedge fund's former chief told a judge in her guilty plea for her role in the exchange's collapse. "We prepared certain quarterly balance sheets that concealed the extent of Alameda’s borrowing and the billions of dollars in loans that Alameda had made to FTX executives and to related parties," Ellison told U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan federal court, according to the transcript. Bankman-Fried has been accused of orchestrating an "epic" fraud that led to the loss of billions of dollars of customer and investor funds. He has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX but said he does not believe he has criminal liability and he has not entered a plea. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York Writing by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Del.

☆ Virginia on track to send first Black woman to Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

State Sen. Jennifer McClellan is on track to become the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress after she won the Democratic primary Thursday to fill the seat of Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin, who died last month from cancer. Lamont Bagby, the chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, in the primary. Morrissey resigned from his state House seat in 2014, but he then ran for that same seat as an independent and won in 2015 — while serving time in jail. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia also threw his support behind her. McClellan had also won the support of other Black leaders in the district, including Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.

Share this -Link copied'It's too much for me': Zelenskyy begins speech by thanking U.S. Zelenskyy began his remarks before a joint meeting of Congress at 7:40 p.m. "I think we share the exact same vision, that of a free, independent and prosperous Ukraine," Biden said. The Ukrainian president added that the soldier told him that "many (of) his brothers, this system saved." President Joe Biden holds a medal presented to him by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Share this -Link copiedPhoto: Zelenskyy shakes hands with Biden as he arrives President Joe Biden welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House.

President Zelenskyy is an inspiring leader. He's expected to visit the White House before addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol. A group of soldiers who helped defend Bakhmut gave him a Ukrainian flag and asked him to get it to Congress — and the Ukrainian president promised to give it to Biden himself. We will pass it on from the boys to the Congress, to the president of the United States. We are grateful for their support, but it is not enough.” Share this -Link copied

☆ New bill will force Twitter, TikTok and other social media platforms to increase transparency by sharing internal data
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill on Wednesday aimed at increasing transparency for Twitter , Facebook and other social media companies as lawmakers debate whether to ban TikTok. The Platform Accountability and Transparency Act is intended to make the companies' internal data more accessible to the public by requiring the submission of necessary data to independent researchers. Under the proposal, social media companies would be compelled to provide internal, privacy-protected data to researchers who've been approved by the National Science Foundation, an independent agency. The bill protects researchers from legal liabilities associated with automatic data collection if certain privacy safeguards are followed. Earlier this month, lawmakers floated a bill to ban the popular social media platform TikTok in the U.S. after years of speculation about the Chinese government's influence on ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok.

Known in the legal world as the “death penalty” of child welfare, it can happen in a matter of months. One in 100 U.S. children — disproportionately Black and Native American — experience termination through the child welfare system before they turn 18, the study found. Still, longer timelines can also reflect a stronger focus on family reunification and a willingness to devote greater resources to meet that goal, child welfare experts say. And some child welfare advocates have criticized the law’s focus on narrow initiatives like parenting classes, which they say fail to address poverty and the other root causes of neglect that prompt most child welfare cases. Snodgrass said she never imagined when her child welfare case started that she could lose her rights to her children.

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

☆ Biden Advisers Craft Re-Election Plans as President Weighs Final Decision
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Ken Thomas | Catherine Lucey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—President Biden’s advisers are moving forward with planning for the president’s likely 2024 re-election campaign, with discussions focused less on whether Mr. Biden will seek a second term and more on how a campaign would operate alongside the White House next year. Mr. Biden’s team has begun to hold preliminary discussions about the structure of the campaign and who could fill key roles, though there is no timeline for hiring, as well as where headquarters would be located. Possibilities include Philadelphia, where the 2020 campaign was based before the Covid-19 pandemic, and the president’s hometown of Wilmington, Del., people close to the discussions said.

☆ Biden touts new law giving veterans suffering from burn-pit exposure more help: ‘The benefits are real’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“And the benefits are real, they’re real benefits like exposure screening. Since Biden signed the law, more than 185,000 veterans have applied for benefits, the White House said. More than 730,000 veterans have also received screenings for toxic exposure, with nearly 39% reporting concern of exposure. The law gives veterans exposed to burn pits access to more medical care and disability payments. Biden said he has directed the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat the 23 presumptive conditions in the law immediately.

If Celsius deposits are determined to belong to customers, users are far more likely to get their assets returned. Crypto companies typically offer a variety of accounts and they will likely be treated differently in bankruptcy. BlockFi, which is at the beginning of its own bankruptcy case, also offers both interest-bearing and custody accounts. 'WORSE THAN BANKS'Courts will also have to look beyond the user agreements and examine how crypto companies actually handled the deposits, according to bankruptcy specialists. “This is going to have enormous influence on crypto companies and crypto customer behavior."

You can blame the persistently high prices seen throughout the economy right now. But for many families, prices "are not coming down but just stabilizing at a higher level," he said. Although prices for beef and produce are coming down a bit, the cost of chicken remains high. Rising wages for cashiers and the cost of dealing with theft are two additional factors causing prices to shift upward at Walmart stores. "If that is not corrected, over time prices will be higher and stores will close," McMillon said.

☆ Tesla Board’s View That Elon Musk Is Irreplaceable Emerged in Pay Trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Rebecca Elliott | Meghan Bobrowsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A weeklong trial in Delaware focused on Elon Musk’s compensation package and the deal that led to it. WILMINGTON, Del.—The scale of concern among Tesla Inc. board members about how to keep Elon Musk‘s attention trained on the electric-vehicle maker loomed large during a weeklong trial over the chief executive’s pay package. A desire to motivate Mr. Musk to focus on Tesla triggered a monthslong pay negotiation that culminated in the shareholders’ approval of a 2018 CEO equity grant valued at roughly $48 billion at recent stock prices.

[1/2] Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter, arrives for a trial about his Tesla pay package at the Delaware Court of Chancery in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 16, 2022. "The amount of pain, no words can express," Musk testified on Wednesday. The package allows Musk to buy 1% of Tesla's stock at a deep discount each time escalating performance and financial targets are met. "It wasn't a knock-down, drag-out affair," Todd Maron testified about the pay talks in 2017 when he was general counsel. You could almost make an argument they didn't pay him enough because he ran off after Twitter."

☆ Elon Musk’s Tesla Compensation Trial Turns to Financial Experts in Closing Days
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Rebecca Elliott | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A five-day trial over Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package at Tesla is entering its closing days. WILMINGTON, Del.—The trial over Elon Musk‘s multibillion-dollar pay package at Tesla Inc. enters its closing days with outside financial experts poised to take the stand. Richard Tornetta, a Tesla shareholder, is seeking to nullify Mr. Musk’s 2018 pay package, alleging that the CEO controlled the board’s consideration of his grant and that the board failed to disclose crucial information to shareholders, who signed off on it.

☆ Elon Musk Was an Unlikely Flight Risk at Tesla When Pay Package Came Together, His Brother Said
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Rebecca Elliott | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The question of whether Mr. Musk was likely to walk away from Tesla when the board signed off on his pay package has been a theme through the week’s testimony. WILMINGTON, Del.—Elon Musk was unlikely to walk away from his role as chief executive of Tesla Inc. in 2018, around the time shareholders signed off on a new, multibillion-dollar pay package for him, the CEO’s brother said. Kimbal Musk ‘s comments came in 2021 deposition testimony that was played Thursday in a trial over Elon Musk’s latest pay deal at Tesla. The question of whether Mr. Musk was a flight risk when the board signed off on the grant has been a theme throughout the week’s testimony.

- Ray said he had secured $740 million in cryptocurrency, a "fraction" of what he hopes to recover during the bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried and his co-founders failed to identify wallets that might contain FTX assets, he added. - Record keeping was so lax that Ray said he was unable to compile a complete list of FTX employees. - The second silo is Alameda Research LLC, which Ray described as a crypto hedge fund owned by Bankman-Fried and Wang with assets of $13.46 billion. - The other silos were Ventures, which manages private investments and had around $2 billion in assets, and Dotcom, which owned non-U.S. exchanges with $2.25 billion in assets.

☆ Elon Musk to Take Stand in Trial Over His Tesla Compensation Package
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Rebecca Elliott | Meghan Bobrowsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WILMINGTON, Del.—Elon Musk is slated to take the stand Wednesday in a shareholder lawsuit over his multibillion-dollar compensation package at Tesla Inc. The trial that kicked off Monday in Delaware’s business-law court has focused on whether Mr. Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, had undue influence over a 2018 pay package that is worth around $52 billion at recent share prices.

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