After taking a 10% stake in JetBlue, activist Carl Icahn scored a win for two board seats – Uptrends

After taking a 10% stake in JetBlue, activist Carl Icahn scored a win for two board seats – Uptrends

The corporate raider Carl Icahn might be on a new streak as of today, his 88th birthday. JetBlue Airways announced on Friday that it had struck a deal to grant seats on the company’s board of directors to two representatives from Icahn’s companies. The lightning-fast JetBlue settlement came just days after utility company American Electric … Read more

Where is Harvey Weinstein now? Appeals court reconsiders New York conviction – Uptrends

Where is Harvey Weinstein now? Appeals court reconsiders New York conviction – Uptrends

Nearly four years after Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sent to prison, New York’s highest court appeared torn at oral arguments Wednesday about potentially overturning the landmark #MeToo-era verdict. Weinstein’s lawyers urged the state’s Court of Appeals to dismiss the disgraced movie mogul’s 2020 conviction, arguing that the trial judge, James Burke, trampled his right to … Read more

Anthropic trained its AI to rip off copyrighted lyrics, music publishers allege in escalating court battle – Uptrends

Anthropic trained its AI to rip off copyrighted lyrics, music publishers allege in escalating court battle – Uptrends

  MBW Explains is a series of analytical features in which we explore the context behind major music industry talking points – and suggest what might happen next. Only MBW+ subscribers have unlimited access to these articles. MBW Explains is supported by JKBX, a technology platform that offers consumers access to music royalties as an asset … Read more

NYC developer mulls tennis courts instead of skyscraper – Uptrends

NYC developer mulls tennis courts instead of skyscraper – Uptrends

Vornado Realty Trust is considering tennis courts for the US Open as a temporary replacement for a skyscraper near Madison Square Garden, as the real estate developer copes with what its chief executive called an “office apocalypse.” The area where the 61-floor office tower in Manhattan was planned could also become the site of basketball courts, … Read more

Why did Jeff Bezos move to Florida? Tax experts see a billionaire migration – Uptrends

Why did Jeff Bezos move to Florida? Tax experts see a billionaire migration – Uptrends

The phenomenon of the “snowbird” is well known: someone with the means to move between two properties, New York City and Miami being the classic example, just in time to miss the cold weather as Gotham gets gross and stormy. But Jeff Bezos and other ultrawealthy millionaires and billionaires are creating a new breed of … Read more

Ford CEO mulls batteries cooperation to take on Chinese EVs – Uptrends

Ford CEO mulls batteries cooperation to take on Chinese EVs – Uptrends

Ford CEO Jim Farley is worried about competition from China’s electric vehicle makers. Chief among the threats is BYD—backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway—which can produce vehicles at significantly lower costs than industry norms, partly because it owns the entire supply chain for its batteries, which account for roughly 40% of a new EV’s price. … Read more

Duetti raises $90 million in new funding to acquire indie artists’ catalogs – Uptrends

Duetti raises  million in new funding to acquire indie artists’ catalogs – Uptrends

  Music financing platform Duetti has built itself on the idea that music rights acquisitions aren’t just for A-list artists with a large back catalog – they can be made to work for relatively new indie artists as well. In the roughly 18 months since it was founded by Lior Tibon, former COO of Tidal … Read more

Alexander Smirnov, FBI informant who accused Joe and Hunter Biden of corruption in Ukraine, charged with lying to authorities – Uptrends

Alexander Smirnov, FBI informant who accused Joe and Hunter Biden of corruption in Ukraine, charged with lying to authorities – Uptrends

An FBI informant has been charged with lying to authorities about a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company, a claim that is central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress. Alexander Smirnov falsely reported in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter … Read more

White House on Russian nukes in space: ‘troubling’ but can’t cause ‘physical destruction’ – Uptrends

White House on Russian nukes in space: ‘troubling’ but can’t cause ‘physical destruction’ – Uptrends

The White House publicly confirmed on Thursday that Russia has obtained a “troubling” emerging anti-satellite weapon but said it cannot directly cause “physical destruction” on Earth. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said U.S. intelligence officials have information that Russia has obtained the capability but that such a weapon is not currently operational. U.S. officials are analyzing the … Read more