Forbes

2022-04-16 14:05:01 Rite Aid To Close 145 ‘Unprofitable’ Stores

Rite Aid, which has struggled in recent years to compete with larger rivals Walgreens, CVS Health and Walmart pharmacies, on Thursday said it plans to “significantly reduce costs” through a “closure of a total of 145 unprofitable stores.” The number includes the 63 stores the company already announced in December it would close.

The disclosure was made as part of the company’s fiscal 2022 fourth quarter earnings report and fiscal 2023 outlook.

Rite Aid has been reporting mounting losses and Thursday was no different, disclosing a net loss from continuing operations of $389.1 million, or $7.18 loss per share for the period ending Feb. 26, 2022. Meanwhile, revenue from continuing operations totaled $6.07 billion, which was up 2.5% compared to the year-ago period.

Rite Aid has more than 2,400 retail pharmacy locations across 17 states. By comparison, CVS and Walgreens each have more than 9,000 stores. Open / Comment

2022-04-15 21:05:01 Distraction Or Hostile Takeover? Here’s What Analysts Say About Elon Musk’s Offer To Buy Twitter

Shares of Twitter were largely flat after Tesla’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, offered to buy the company and take it private for roughly $43 billion, a move that some analysts think is just the beginning of a hostile takeover, while others remain highly skeptical.

Twitter’s stock jumped as much as 3% before paring back gains, following Musk’s all-cash offer of $54.20 per share to acquire the rest of the company — days after he disclosed a 9% stake.

“Twitter has extraordinary potential… I will unlock it,” Musk wrote in a letter attached to the SEC filing.

Investment firm CFRA downgraded Twitter to a “hold” from a “buy” rating, saying the offer price should be “enticing to shareholders”.

Wedbush analyst, meanwhile, believes that the “soap opera” will end with Musk owning the company after an “aggressive hostile takeover”. Open / Comment

2022-04-15 17:05:01 The Richest Tech Billionaires 2022

According to Forbes’ estimates, 332 billionaires made their fortunes in the tech industry, down from 365 last year. It has the third-most billionaires in the world, behind finance and investments, with 393 billionaires, and manufacturing, with 337 billionaires. Collectively, tech billionaires are worth $2.1 trillion, down from $2.5 trillion last year —though their fortunes are still higher than any other sector in the world.

What hasn’t changed? Tech’s dominance on the top of the list. Six of the world’s richest people hail from tech: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Forbes changed its methodology for categorizing social media moguls, shifting people like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Snapchat cofounders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy to media and entertainment instead of tech to better reflect how those companies are functioning. Open / Comment

2022-04-15 14:05:02 Space Perspective Unveils Interior Of Capsule Designed To Rise To Edge Of Space

After opening for reservations last summer and becoming the first space tourism company to accept crypto as payment, Space Perspective has now unveiled the designs for their Spaceship Neptune passenger capsule, which will rise to the edge of space thanks to a huge balloon.

With an almost 360-degree panoramic view, Spaceship Neptune’s Space Lounge looks less like a spacecraft and more like a luxury Airbnb rental.

The entire space is designed for comfort with reclining seats, food and beverage capabilities, LED lighting to enhance the views of earth and blackness of space, and telescope and interactive screens to keep passengers up to date on flight progress.

Commercial flights to 100,000 feet (30km) are targeted to begin in late 2024, with 600 tickets sold to date. With the first year of seats completely reserved, Space Perspective is currently taking reservations for 2025 and beyond. Tickets are priced at $125,000 per person. Open / Comment

2022-04-14 21:05:00 Voyager Becomes Second Philippine Unicorn After Raising $210 Million From SIG-Led Funding Round

Voyager Innovations — owner of e-wallet PayMaya and digital bank Maya Bank — has become the Philippines’ second unicorn after raising $210 million from new investors led by SIG Venture Capital, the Asian venture capital arm of U.S. investment firm Susquehanna International Group.

With the backing of new and existing shareholders, Voyager aims to scale up Maya Bank’s operations after securing one of the six digital banking licenses from the Philippine Central Bank in September.

Voyager said it will use the fresh funding to launch Maya Bank’s savings and lending services.

PayMaya had more than 47 million registered users as of March 31, 2022, more than two-thirds of the adult population in the Philippines. Its rival Mynt, whose e-wallet GCash claims to have more than 48 million users in the country, is the only other unicorn among Philippine startups. Open / Comment

2022-04-14 17:05:00 Shopify’s Stock Split Announcement Boosts Shares As Billionaire CEO Looks To Gain More Control

Shopify announced that its board of directors has approved a proposed 10:1 stock split, which could go into effect on June 28 if approved by shareholders at an upcoming meeting on June 7.

The planned share split will make “share ownership more accessible to all investors,” according to a statement from Shopify, which also proposed updates to its governance structure that would strengthen the foundation for “long-term stewardship” by billionaire cofounder and CEO Tobi Lutke.

Shopify is seeking shareholder approval for a new class of stock — the “founder share” — which would be issued to Lutke, increasing his voting power.

The e-commerce firm, which helps companies set up and run online stores, was considered a pandemic-era darling, with its stock surging roughly 180% in 2020 and another 20% in 2021 as the company benefited from businesses moving online during lockdowns. Open / Comment

2022-04-14 14:05:01 Experts Believe Inflation May Have ‘Peaked,’ But Prices Will Remain Elevated This Year

Though consumer prices spiked 8.5% in the 12 months ending in March, core inflation — which excludes volatile food and energy prices — rose 0.3%, slightly lower than expected and leading some Wall Street experts to predict that inflation may have finally peaked.

“It’s possible that inflation could be topping out,” as there were definitely some “green shoots” in the data, says Lindsey Bell, Ally's chief markets & money strategist.

“Consumer inflation likely peaked in March as the Russian invasion caused a sharp spike in food and energy costs,” says Nationwide senior economist Ben Ayers.

However, some believe that even with a small decline in the core reading last month, inflation could still surge higher — with food and shelter prices, in particular, expected to keep rising: “Make no mistake, these readings are still very high relative to recent history,” warns Bespoke Investment Group. Open / Comment

2022-04-13 21:04:00 Giant 205-Carat ‘Red Cross Diamond’ To Be Sold, With Some Of Proceeds Going To Namesake Aid Group

One of the world’s largest diamonds is going up for auction next month, with a portion of proceeds from the sale set to go to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the world’s largest humanitarian organization, which it has been associated with for more than 100 years.

The “Red Cross Diamond” is a 205-carat canary yellow, cushion-shaped diamond that has a distinctive pavilion design that forms a Maltese cross.

The rough stone is believed to have been mined by De Beers in South Africa in 1901, and to have originally weighed about 375 carats, according to Christie’s, the auction house that is selling the diamond for the third time in about 100 years.

The diamond received its name when it was first auctioned in 1918 by Christie’s to benefit the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John – which uses the Maltese cross as a symbol. Open / Comment

2022-04-13 17:04:00 India’s Gautam Adani Is Now Richest Asian Billionaire Ever As Fortune Jumps Past $100 Billion

After a meteoric rise in his net worth over the past two years, Indian infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani has become the world’s newest centi-billionaire, joining an elite group of just eight other business moguls – including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates–to boast fortunes of more than $100 billion. He is the richest Asian billionaire ever.

The 59-year-old Adani, who is the only Indian currently in the elite club, is the founder and chairman of Adani Group, a port and energy conglomerate with six publicly listed companies in India. His fortune climbed past the 12-figure mark after it was announced Friday that Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. invested $2 billion in three of his green energy-focused businesses: Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises. Open / Comment

2022-04-13 14:04:00 Forbes Expands Into Metaverse With Launch Of Virtual Billionaires NFT Collection On FTX

Forbes unveiled a preview of its virtual Billionaires NFT collection, a first of its kind NFT project for the media industry. The collection includes a set of fictional investors with an enormous theoretical portfolio and virtual net worth based on live New York Stock Exchange pricing. Each NFT Billionaire will have compelling hobbies and an eccentric Forbes accessory that will be ranked daily on the forthcoming Forbes Virtual NFT Billionaires List.

Forbes has partnered with FTX to launch an ERC-721 token on April 13. The sale includes an initial drop of 100 Virtual NFT Billionaires and, when the Forbes collection sells out, interested parties can still take part in the action by looking for Forbes Virtual NFT Billionaires for sale on any ERC-721 Marketplace.

Forbes Virtual NFT Billionaires will have their own profile page on Forbes featuring a custom illustrated headshot by Goodog and ItsACat. Open / Comment