Forbes

2022-06-20 17:05:01 Settle Raises $280 Million In Debt to Power E-Commerce Brands

Settle, a fast-growing payments startup, announced today that it has secured up to a $280 million revolving credit facility from Citibank & Atalaya. This multiyear revolving credit facility will allow Settle to continue expanding support for emerging and high-growth ecommerce businesses.

With the recent years’ rapid changes in consumer habits and ever-changing supply chain ecosystem, this segment in particular has turned to novel fintech solutions like Settle’s cashflow management platform for support.

Settle is an all-in-one cashflow management solution tailored to the needs of growing ecommerce brands. By providing a suite of tools that allow for seamless bill pay and accounts payable management, Settle minimizes the burden of monitoring when and where company dollars are spent.

Settle also provides flexible financing options to help smooth out the months-long gaps between inventory purchases and product sales. Open / Comment

2022-06-20 14:05:01 How This 80-Year-Old Female Banking Pioneer Built A Fortune On Fintech SPACs

Betsy Cohen, a lawyer, financier and entrepreneur, has been smashing glass ceilings since Richard Nixon was president — and she’s not slowing down.

After starting her own law firm, Cohen founded a bank in 1974, ran it for a quarter century, then sold it for over $330 million. She then started another bank, The Bancorp, focused on providing white-label banking and payment services to non-bank companies like PayPal, which she ran until the end of 2014.

In recent years, Cohen has emerged as a prolific dealmaker in the wild world of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). She was early to the reverse merger craze, closing her first deal in March 2016. Since then, Cohen and partners, which include her son Daniel, have raised over $4.2 billion across 13 SPAC listings, with six mergers completed to date.

Cohen’s independent thinking has netted her a fortune that Forbes estimates at $230 million. Open / Comment

2022-06-19 21:05:00 Spotify Reducing Hiring Growth By 25%, CEO Says

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told employees the company will reduce hiring growth by 25%, according to several reports, joining a growing number of companies that are taking cost-cutting measures amid fears of a recession.

In an email to employees, Ek said the company would still hire new employees, but will “slow that pace and be a bit more prudent… over the next few quarters.”

Crypto-brokerage Coinbase said it planned to lay off roughly 18% of its staff to lower costs.

Reuters reported last week Elon Musk wanted to lay off about 10% of Tesla’s salaried staff and implement a hiring freeze for those positions. Open / Comment

2022-06-19 12:56:00 Telemundo Global Studios To Open Mexico City Production Unit

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises is expanding its production footprint. It will open its first ever owned and operated production unit in Mexico City. Under the umbrella of Miami-based Telemundo Global Studios, Telemundo Global Studios Mexico will increase the company’s on-the-ground production capabilities of scripted and unscripted content.

Its first project, currently in pre-production, is the eighth season of the hit Super Series El Senor de los Cielos, which will be shot on location in Mexico.

Telemundo has yet to reveal the location of its new Mexico City production facility. No word yet on whether the company will build it from scratch, acquire an existing studio or how much it will invest.

Mexico production arm will significantly expand Telemundo Global Studios production capabilities and provide a home for top creative talent to produce high quality content for Spanish-speaking audiences. Open / Comment

2022-06-19 11:56:21 Officially — the @writer community is on Telegram now!

This is your chance to improve your writing skills and learn the insights of the business of writing books.

— Advices from the best-selling authors;
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Subscribe and get started — @writer Open / Comment

2022-06-19 09:16:00 UAE Ranks No. 1 For Migrating Millionaires; U.S.“Fading Fast,” China Falls

The UAE will lead the world in attracting millionaires to its economy this year, according to a forecast by the Henley Global Citizens Report released in London.

The UAE, Australia, Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, the U.S, Portugal, Greece, Canada, and New Zealand ranked in the top 10 in attracting U.S. dollar millionaires, a group it also calls high net worth individuals, or HNWIs.

“America is notably less popular among migrating millionaires today than pre-Covid, perhaps owing in part to the threat of higher taxes. The country still attracts more HNWIs than it loses to emigration, with a net inflow of 1,500 projected for 2022, although this is a staggering 86% drop from 2019 levels, which saw a net inflow of 10,800 millionaires,” according to Henley, which tracks private wealth and investment migration trends worldwide.

Wealth emigration is beginning to hurt in China, with net outflows of 10,000 HNWIs expected in 2022. Open / Comment

2022-06-18 23:21:42 Revolution in the world of NFT:

Finally, some real art, not just pics!

Pro artists embraced the development of the mysterious CONCEPT project, which embodies genuine art, and creates the next level of NFT.

A piece of art to be worth millions: @ton_nft_concept_eng Open / Comment

2022-06-18 21:05:01 The bill to protect Supreme Court justices. Jim Jordan talks about it in the House of Representatives. Watch the video. Open / Comment

2022-06-18 17:05:01 Compass, Redfin Shed Workers Amid Bleak Housing Market

The real estate brokerages Compass and Redfin announced large layoffs as housing demand plummets, causing their shares to tumble.

Compass will fire about 450 employees, 10% of its workforce, while Redfin plans to lay off about 470 employees, or 8% of its workers, according to respective filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman wrote in a blog post, “we don’t have enough work for our agents and support staff,” noting “May demand [was] 17% below expectations.”

Shares of Redfin fell 4.6% to $8.15, an all-time low for the stock and a 91.6% drop from the stock’s record closing high of $96.59 reached last February.

Compass shares dipped 8.8% to $4.34 and are down 54.6% year-to-date and 78.5% from their peak. Open / Comment

2022-06-18 14:05:01 Warren Buffett Just Gave Another $4 Billion To Charity

Warren Buffett, the legendary investor known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” announced Tuesday that he has donated roughly $4 billion worth of his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway’s stock to charitable foundations for his 17th annual summer gift.

The recipients of the shares are the same five foundations he’s given to every year since 2006. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation received roughly $3.1 billion of Berkshire stock. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, founded by the Oracle’s late wife, received shares worth roughly $300 million, while three other charitable organizations set up by his three children received stock worth roughly $200 million each: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

Buffett's latest gift further solidifies his place as the likely biggest philanthropist of all time. Forbes estimated the Oracle had given away $46.1 billion to charity, outpacing runners-up Bill and Melinda Gates. Open / Comment