This morning Kanye West announced he's buying Parler, the annoyingly named so-called "free speech" platform that ignores the proper French pronunciation of its moniker in service of a poor pun. The deal terms aren't out there yet, but the startup has so far raised $56 million and I bet it has a tidy little exit on its hands if this goes through.
A spurned billionaire purchasing a social networking company because of perceived encroachments on their free speech rights (where none actually exist) seems… somehow familiar. Oh, that's right: Elon Musk is doing basically the same thing, on a grander and more litigious scale.
Elon and Kanye have history, of course, and the Tesla founder was quick to welcome Ye back to Twitter when the latter was blocked from Instagram for antisemitic posts. Kanye quickly used Twitter to push more antisemitic trash, however, leading to him having his account locked and Musk then issuing a weak admonishment (if you can even call it that) for his pal's inexcusable behavior.
Leaving aside that Musk's response is a terrifying vision of what moderation on Twitter could become if the multi-CEO gets his wish and does complete the $44 billion transaction to acquire the platform, the interaction and Monday's Parler news say a lot about where we are socially and the state of the media tech industry. In particular, watching these two over-moneyed and over-indulged boys spend their way to "uncancelable" status illustrates a lucrative new exit path for startups looking to disrupt the status quo when it comes to letting people say things they shouldn't say.
It used to be that billionaires having a temper tantrum would result in the death of media outlets, but the new trend seems to be not attempting to quash the object of their ire, but instead spending boatloads of cash to warp a collective social viewpoint to fit their specific worldview. Whether that money is their own, or the collective wealth of their fawning retinue of deep-pocketed sycophants scarcely matters — there's a lot of economic opportunity to be had for down-on-their-luck networking tools with flexible moral outlooks.
This is only half tongue-in-cheek: There really have been a lot of startups and companies cropping up to address the social media companies being allowed to "control what we can and cannot see," as one extremely mistaken ex-attempted despot put it. In a sane market those would need to contend on the measures we typically use to judge startup success: User traction and engagement, revenue, etc. Now, it looks like they might be able to use a bruised ego to help their investors return the fund.
MARKET PULSE Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (SPCE) said late Thursday that Swami Iyer, president of aerospace systems, will leave the space-tourism company effective immediately. Iyer will serve as an adviser to Chief Executive Michael Colglazier until March 3 “to ensure a smooth transition,” the company said.
The company says there's surging demand from customers who use its hydrogen fuel cells. And executives know it's a matter of time before they will need to expand.
This economically sensitive fintech rose as hopes for a "soft landing" emerged in the second trading week of the year.
Electric vehicle (EV) stocks are soaring this week. EV maker Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) was up by 30%, charging network company ChargePoint Holdings (NYSE: CHPT) was 24.1% above last Friday's closing price, and solid-state battery maker QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) was rising by 32.1% for the week, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Many growth stocks were rising this week as investors anticipated — and received — tamer inflation data that spurred hopes that the Federal Reserve would slow, or pause, interest rate hikes.
Shares of Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) were taking a dive today after the maker of computer accessories like mice, keyboards and webcams posted disappointing results in its preliminary earnings report for the third quarter of fiscal 2023, ended Dec. 31, 2022. Logitech said preliminary revenue fell 22% to 23%, or 17% to 18% in constant currency, to $1.26 billion to $1.27 billion, which was well below the analyst consensus at $1.39 billion. On the bottom line, operating income under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) was down 33% to 35% to between $171 million and $176 million, while adjusted operating income was down by a similar amount to between $198 million and $203 million.
Nio stock has solid chances of a recovery in 2023 thanks to new launches and a focus on market share.
Ronald Reid was the last person you would expect to be a millionaire. He used safety pins to hold his old coats together and cut his own firewood well into his 90s. He drove a second-hand Toyota Yaris and resisted new purchases. To stay updated with top startup investments, sign up for Benzinga’s Startup Investing & Equity Crowdfunding Newsletter His only real indulgence may have been his daily English muffin and a cup of coffee at the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Vermont, where a friend rem
Suddenly, leaving behind $28 billion doesn't hit quite as hard.
Units of KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE: KNOP) are plummeting today, down by nearly 40% as of 10:30 a.m. ET. The sharp move lower came after the master limited partnership (MLP) focused on the shuttle tanker market made a significant distribution cut. KNOT Offshore Partners declared its fourth-quarter distribution payment.
Biden's not going to back down on this one.
In the year or so since the stock market hit its peak on Jan. 3, 2022, shares of electric vehicle (EV) company Canoo (NASDAQ: GOEV) have tumbled roughly 85%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The last year of trading has been brutal for EV stocks generally, with high inflation, rising interest rates, and fears that a recession is on the horizon prompting severe valuation contraction for most companies in the space. Rising interest rates have crushed the valuations of growth stocks over the past year.
In this video, I will be talking about Palantir (NYSE: PLTR), more specifically the recent announcements it made during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), some new partnerships, and why 2023 looks to be an exciting year for shareholders.
Warren Buffett would tell you the answer is "forever." TikTok is a serious challenger to YouTube's dominance in the video app market. OpenAI's ChatGPT AI tool could threaten Alphabet's most important business — Google Search.
Let's take a look at Yamana Gold . Notice the heavy trading volume, as prices took off on the upside? The On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line shows a steady rise the past year, even with the ups and downs of the stock.
Regardless, stock markets opened lower on Thursday, and cybersecurity stocks were among the bigger losers. CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ: CRWD) slumped 3.2% through 10 a.m. ET, Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) slipped 2.2%, and Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) dropped 2.6%. Following up on Wednesday's $1 Fortinet price target cut by Barclays (which cut the stock to $56 a share), this morning fellow investment bank Morgan Stanley announced it is lowering price targets on CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks as well.
Shares of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs were raised to an "overweight" (buy) recommendation by an influential sell-side firm Thursday. Trading volume does not (yet) fit the classic picture which would show us increasing volume from the "head." The candles show a bottom reversal pattern in late October but candles do not give us price targets.
Shares of Lumen (NYSE: LUMN) suffered a precipitous valuation decline in 2022. The telecommunications company's share price fell 58.4% across last year's trading, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Amid macroeconomic pressures including inflation and rising interest rates, Lumen's stock lost ground in conjunction with the broader market last year.
It’s not too early to start thinking about your 2022 income-tax return, if you can bear the thought. Taking an extension allows an extra six months, giving an Oct. 16 deadline to submit a tax return. The IRS is expecting more than 168 million individual tax returns this year, it said.
Despite continued interest in expanding the role of hydrogen on the energy landscape, investors have lost enthusiasm for Plug Power, a popular name in the hydrogen industry that has continuously failed to prove that it can achieve profitability. Despite the stock's decline in 2022, Plug Power reported several achievements. Through the first nine months of 2022, Plug Power has booked sales of $480.7 million, representing a 41% increase over that which it reported during the same period in 2021.
Overall, the December CPI report roughly met Street expectations, but there is still a lot of bearish commentary going around right now. Many financial prognosticators are forecasting another tough year for the stock market as the prospect of a recession looms large. However, that is certainly not the view of HSBC's Max Kettner. The strategist points out that the harbingers of doom are unlikely to be surprised by more negative developments with the markets already accounting for the fatalistic o
Kanye West and Elon Musk provide a new exit path: The billionaire tantrum – Yahoo Finance
