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Dumb Money is the Funko Pop version of the GameStop story

History as written to soothe the bagholders.

Bob Iger and Bob Chapek’s CEO battle made Disney the pettiest place on Earth

Current Disney CEO Bob Iger didn’t make Bob Chapek’s short-lived takeover any easier, according to this revealing report from CNBC.

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If “Hulu for Sports” works, this guy could be the next Disney CEO.

There’s a lot in this Wall Street Journal profile of ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro. The switch to streaming; the Hulu for Sports plan; the battle over ever-more-expensive sports rights. But the undercurrent here is pretty clear: if ESPN can make all that work over the next couple of years, Pitaro might get Bob Iger’s office. (But that’s a really, really big if.)


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SpaceX can reportedly block employees from selling shares over “dishonesty.”

Leaked documents viewed by TechCrunch say SpaceX can prevent former or current employees from selling shares during a tender offer if they engaged in “an act of dishonesty against the company” or violated policies.

Since SpaceX is a private company, this could prevent employees from selling their shares until SpaceX goes public — which may not even happen. SpaceX also reserves the right to buy back vested shares six months after an employee leaves the company, TechCrunch reports.


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Apple settles class-action shareholder lawsuit for $490 million.

The iPhone maker was accused of defrauding shareholders when it cut its quarterly revenue forecast by up to $9 billion in 2019 due to US-China trade tensions. That announcement literally decimated its share price, just a couple of months after CEO Tim Cook declined to put China in the same category as other emerging markets where Apple faced sales pressure.

Reuters notes that the settlement, which covers any investors who bought shares in those two months, amounts to under two days of profit for Apple.


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A bloc of private equity and hedge-fund types are holding talks about how to minimize SEC fines over disappearing messages.

The firms include Citadel, KKR. and Blackstone. “Their goal is to minimize any fines and ensure that if they reach a settlement, no firm is singled out for a harsher penalty,” according to Bloomberg.

The SEC is investigating whether WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal use at these companies broke disclosure rules. Citadel in particular is still willing to fight the SEC on this.


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This e-commerce darling couldn’t cut it IRL.

Outdoor Voices, a popular athleisure brand once seen as the next Lululemon, is closing all of its stores on Sunday. The direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand was valued at $110 million in 2018, but has been on the decline following internal friction. It’s the end of an era for the e-comm startup once considered a model for founders — the company will go back to selling strictly online.


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A Cybertruck owner shopped around and found out.

Tesla’s owner agreement expressly forbids owners to “sell or otherwise attempt to sell” the truck within a year of buying it, or the company would take action, including refusing future sales.

Well, someone in the Cybertruck Owners Club forum says they tried listing theirs “on multiple sites to feel it out” anyway, and the company canceled their two (2!) other reservations.


Be careful selling your Cybertruck! Tesla found sale listings...

[Tesla Cybertruck Forum - News, Discussions, Community - Cybertruckownersclub.com]

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Andreessen Horowitz was behind Kickstarter’s doomed Web3 pivot.

According to Fortune, the crowdfunding platform got a $100 million investment from the VC firm’s crypto fund — and the 2021 deal was meant to get Kickstarter into the Web3 hype cycle.

If you recall, the pivot was a disaster: after public outrage, Kickstarter formed a community advisory council, and the company ultimately decided to shift its attention away from the blockchain.

Correction March 12th 10:56AM ET: The Web3 pivot wasn’t a formal stipulation of the deal, as initially stated.


The Twitter deal is all downside risk for Elon Musk

Elon Musk has everything to lose and only retweets to gain

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The Verge
Reddit seeks $6.5 billion valuation in IPO.

The company hopes to raise up to $748 million when it goes public by selling about 22 million shares at $31 to $34 per share, according to a public filing issued Monday after Bloomberg first reported the number.

Part of its plan will rest on its own users and moderators, for whom the company will set aside 1.76 million shares. Reddit’s valuation would be down from the $10 billion it hoped for when it first filed to go public in 2021.

Update March 11th, 6:41AM ET: Added official filing.


Marketers are about to infiltrate your favorite subreddits.

Ahead of its IPO, Reddit announced a set of tools for businesses that want to be more active on the platform — including the ability to see which subreddits are mentioning a brand. For businesses, Reddit says it’s a way to “establish and grow a meaningful organic presence on Reddit.” In other words: the brands are coming.


Reddit’s free business dashboard showing “Top communities mentioning Camp Glow” and trending topics.
Image: Reddit
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So there’s a Chinese policy directive to “delete America.”

The idea is to get American tech giants out of the country:

Document 79 was so sensitive that high-ranking officials and executives were only shown the order and weren’t allowed to make copies, people familiar with the matter said. It requires state-owned companies in finance, energy and other sectors to replace foreign software in their IT systems by 2027. 

Also, the Chinese government plans to splash out on science and tech — spending $51 billion this year, a 10 percent increase over last year.


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Xfinity internet plans get a free speed upgrade.

Comcast says it’s doubled the throughput for Connect plans, from 75Mbps to 150Mbps, while its prepaid plans go from 50Mbps to 200Mbps. Connect More and Fast will each get a 100Mbps boost, as well, bringing those up to 300Mbps and 500Mbps, respectively.

The company says it’s not raising prices for these increases.

Disclosure: Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.


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Rooster Teeth is shutting down after an over two-decade-long run.

In a memo to employees obtained by Variety, Rooster Teeth general manager Jordan Levin wrote that the company is closing “due to challenges facing digital media resulting from fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and monetization.”

Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns Rooster Teeth, is in talks to sell the rights to some of the production company’s series, including RWBY, Red vs. Blue, and Gen:Lock, Variety reports. And while WBD is also reportedly looking to sell the Roost podcast network, it will remain operational.


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Seven banks who have Elon Musk-related debt are trying to negotiate with Musk.

They are discussing options that may make the debt less risky to hold. After the events of 2022, when Musk bought Twitter, it was difficult for these banks to offload the debt; they’ve agreed — for now anyway — to coordinate a sale together when X is “on firmer financial footing.”


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Whole Foods is planning to launch convenience stores for city-dwellers.

The Amazon-owned upscale grocer is launching Whole Foods Market Daily Shop stores.

The Seattle Times reports that, like at the larger stores, customers can pay using a palm print and associate it with their payment method through Amazon One, the biometric payments system Amazon debuted in 2020 that can be used to buy things or even verify you’re old enough to buy beer.


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Reddit will reportedly seek an up to $6.5 billion valuation when it goes public.

That’s according to The Wall Street Journal, which says Reddit could shoot for a price range between $31 to $34 per share when launching its IPO. The $6.5 billion number is significantly lower than the more than $10 billion Reddit was valued at in 2021 following a round of funding.


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Elon Musk has punked Matt Levine again.

“oh it’s a rare friday money stuff, i wonder who could have brought that about,” Levine wrote on Twitter.

And yes, that means an update on my Levine story is forthcoming.


Aston Martin’s first electric car has been pushed back another year.

Aston Martin boss Lawrence Stroll is probably focused on F1 at the moment, but he just revealed another delay in its plan to build an EV with help from Lucid Motors.

While its first plug-in hybrid EV is on track to enter production in 2024, the report says, “the Company’s first battery electric vehicle (BEV) is now targeted for launch in 2026.” Automotive News Europe reports Stroll said that there’s “much more driven demand” for it to offer a plug-in hybrid right now.


An outline of two car bodies over a drwing of an electric car platform with wheels and battery cells, demonstrating what Aston MArtin is building.
Aston Martin BEV platform
Image: Aston Martin
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Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount have reportedly hit pause on merger talks.

Warner Bros. Discovery has stopped pursuing an acquisition of Paramount, sources tell CNBC. However, other potential buyers are reportedly still exploring a deal to acquire Paramount, including the production company Skydance Media and media mogul Byron Allen.

Although Comcast isn’t interested in buying Paramount Global, CNBC reports that the company is still looking into a partnership with the brand, which could involve bundling or merging streaming services.


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Google is giving advertisers more control over where their ads go.

Last year, a report from Adalytics found that Google had been placing search ads on questionable websites (something Google refutes). But now, it seems like Google is responding to these concerns.

In a statement to The Verge, Google spokesperson Farrell Sklerov says the company “decided to unify our brand suitability preferences so that account level placement exclusions will apply to the Search partner network, in addition to YouTube and Display” ads. That means advertisers should get the ability to exclude certain websites from search ad campaigns.


Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini on how anime took over the world

The head of the fast-growing streaming service discusses the Funimation merger and shutdown and where he sees growth in anime.

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Twitter
Here’s five bucks for your trouble.

Following its hours-long nationwide disruption on Thursday, AT&T has announced it is reaching out to “potentially impacted customers” and is slapping a whole $5 credit on their accounts, which it says is the “average cost of a full day of service.”

Hooray?


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David S. Goyer is stepping down as Foundation’s showrunner.

Goyer will reportedly continue script-writing for the expansive Apple TV Plus sci-fi show that he helped create, while the head honcho reins to executive producer Bill Bost.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Goyer was butting heads with Skydance over the budget for the show, which Goyer has said before he has an ambitious eight-season plan for.


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Temu dominates app download charts even as US lawmakers reportedly float import ban.

China hawks in Congress are concerned that shopping giant Temu has not done enough to ensure it’s not working with suppliers using forced labor. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) is among those pushing to list Temu as a violator of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which could effectively ban its imports, The Information reports.

Meanwhile, the Chinese e-commerce app sits among the top free apps on iOS and Android.


Reddit’s biggest risk factor is Google

As Reddit gets ready for its IPO, has it grown too dependent on Google for traffic and money?

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The Verge
Sam Altman owns a big chunk of Reddit.

A fun fact from Reddit’s IPO filing: Sam Altman owns more shares than CEO Steve Huffman! Reddit’s three largest shareholders in order are: Advance Publications (which owns Condé Nast), Tencent, and Altman.

The OpenAI CEO owns 8.7 percent of the stock versus Huffman’s 3.3 percent. He has more than double Huffman’s voting power, too.

While he isn’t a co-founder, Altman has been deeply involved in Reddit since basically the beginning. He quietly stepped off the board in 2022 as OpenAI was rising to prominence and Reddit was gearing up to go public. Now, he owns a big chunk of a company that really wants AI companies to pay for its data. Interesting times!