Forbes

2022-05-10 14:05:01 Saudi Arabia Reportedly Will Invest In Israel Through Jared Kushner’s Fund

Affinity Partners, a new private-equity fund started by Jared Kushner, plans to invest money from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in Israeli businesses, the Wall Street Journal reported, marking the first time the giant Saudi fund has invested in Israel, with which the Saudi government does not have a formal diplomatic relationship.

Affinity Partners has selected at least two Israeli startups to invest in. Affinity Partners has raised more than $3 billion, which includes a $2 billion commitment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

After Saudi officials agreed Affinity Partners could invest in Israel, Kushner, who played a leading role in the Middle East policy of his father-in-law Donald Trump’s presidential administration, met with dozens of companies ranging from agriculture to healthcare to software. Open / Comment

2022-05-09 21:05:01 Sen. James Landford asked Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about oil production. Watch in the video. Open / Comment

2022-05-09 17:05:01 TikTok’s New Platform That Helps Creative Agencies Reach Their Audience

On April 19th TikTok launched its new Creative Agency Partnerships (CAP) University program. The course aids in helping agencies become savvier with the social media platform.

The 5-week course will teach companies, and individuals, how to utilize TikTok so they can scale their marketing endeavors and understand the nuances of the platform.

“The goal of CAP University is to inspire next-level creative content on the world’s fastest-growing entertainment platform,” TikTok said in an announcement.

The goal is for agencies to better understand how to advertise on the platform and for TikTok to form stronger partnerships with its community. Open / Comment

2022-05-09 14:05:01 Jeff Bezos Just Gave Away Nearly $120 Million

According to an SEC filing, Bezos transferred 47,727 shares of Amazon stock to an unnamed nonprofit, worth a total of $118 million.

Bezos does most of his philanthropy through gifts of Amazon shares, which the receiving nonprofit is allowed to sell without paying capital gains taxes. Since the beginning of this year, Bezos has gifted 84,030 Amazon shares worth $233 million to unnamed nonprofits, according to SEC filings.

Bezos has made a smattering of $100 million donations in recent years as he’s stepped up his philanthropy. In 2021 alone, he gave $100 million to former president Barack Obama’s Foundation, as well as to World Central Kitchen’s chef José Andrés and nonprofit founder Van Jones to give to charities of their choice. And he made a $200 million pledge to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum last July. Open / Comment

2022-05-08 21:05:01 $100 Billion Crypto Crash Sends The Price Of Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Luna, Solana, Cardano And Avalanche Into Free Fall

Bitcoin, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have suddenly crashed, wiping around $100 billion from the combined crypto market in mere minutes (and following a serious bitcoin price warning).

The bitcoin price is down around 5%, with the ethereum price seeing a similar decline. Ethereum rivals solana, cardano, and avalanche are all down around 3% while Ripple's XRP and Terra's luna are leading the major crypto market lower.

The sudden crash comes amid a technology company-led stock market sell-off in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve's hawkish 50-basis point interest rate hike. Open / Comment

2022-05-08 17:05:01 Walgreens Will Pay $683 Million To Settle Florida Opioid Cases

Walgreens Boots Alliance will pay $683 million to settle with the state of Florida to resolve claims it contributed to the opioid epidemic.

In a statement, Walgreens said the agreement will “resolve all claims related to the distribution and dispensing of prescription opioid medications across the company’s pharmacies in the state.”

The $683 million settlement includes $620 million that Walgreens said will be paid “out to the State of Florida over 18 years, as well as a one-time payment of $63 million for attorneys’ fees.” Walgreens said the settlement includes “no admission of wrongdoing or liability by Walgreens.”

For its part, Walgreens said it has taken “a number of actions to prevent and respond to the opioid crisis, while continuing to serve patients” as one of Florida’s largest healthcare providers. Open / Comment

2022-05-08 14:05:01 Shell Reports Record $9 Billion Quarterly Profit As Oil And Gas Prices Surged

British energy giant Shell reported a record quarterly profit of $9 billion, aided by a surge in oil and gas prices.

In its earnings report for the first quarter of 2022, Shell reported a net income of $9.13 billion — nearly triple of the $3.2 billion reported in the same quarter last year — beating out its previous record from 2008.

The massive profit comes despite the company having to write down $3.9 billion for its decision to exit operations in Russia.

Shell’s bumper results followed rivals BP and TotalEnergies which also reported a sharp uptick in profits aided by volatile oil prices.

The markets reacted positively to Shell’s report with the company’s stock up nearly 3%. Open / Comment

2022-05-07 21:05:01 Intuit To Pay $141 Million To Settle Claims It Deceived Low-Income Users Of TurboTax

The New York Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation that was joined by other authorities after a 2019 ProPublica report alleged TurboTax used its “Free Edition” product to mislead millions of lower-income taxpayers to pay for services and direct customers away from services that were actually free.

Per the agreement, TurboTax will mail a check of $30 to almost 4.4 million filers who used the company’s Free Edition for tax years 2016 through 2018 for each year they were charged even though they were eligible for free filing.

Intuit must also suspend its “free, free, free” ad campaign that it used to lure customers

The agreement would put “millions of dollars back into” impacted customers’ pockets and “serve as a reminder to companies large and small” that deceptive marketing is illegal. Open / Comment

2022-05-07 17:05:02 Venture Capitalist John Doerr Gives $1.1 Billion To Stanford To Fund Climate Research

Billionaire Silicon Valley investor John Doerr is donating $1.1 billion to Stanford University, a record gift for the university that will be used to establish a sustainability school and further Doerr’s commitment to combating climate change.

Together with an additional $590 million from other donors including billionaire Yahoo! cofounders Jerry Yang and David Filo, the gift from Doerr – the chairman of powerhouse venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins – and his wife, Ann, will enable the university to open the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability this fall.

The donation surpasses the prior Stanford record of two $400 million gifts from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and the Hewlett Foundation, and is the second-largest ever to a university, behind only the $1.8 billion gift from former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg to Johns Hopkins University in 2018. Open / Comment

2022-05-07 14:05:02 TikTok Will Share Ad Revenue With Some Creators

TikTok said it will start sharing ad revenue with some popular creators, as the social media company announced a new program for advertisers to run ads alongside top videos on the app, similar to YouTube’s creator payment program.

The new program, TikTok Pulse, will allow advertisers to place their content alongside the top 4% of videos on the app, within 12 different “culturally relevant” categories like cooking, gaming or beauty.

Creators, public figures and media publishers with 100,000 followers or more will be eligible for the initial revenue sharing program, though TikTok did not say how funds will be split between the company and its users.

TikTok Pulse will launch in the U.S. in June, and expand to other markets in the fall, a company executive told The Verge. Open / Comment