Business

As Wall Street Journal reporter Meghan Bobrowsky highlights, the valuations used for Elon Musk’s all-stock combo platter of X companies were negotiated in an... interesting way.

The Alexa Fund, which has invested in companies like Ring and Ecobee, is broadening its scope to include more AI-powered technology. In addition to investing in the AI startup NinjaTech, the company has also announced investments in Hedra, an AI video generation platform; Ario, an AI assistant for parents; and HeyBoss, an AI website design tool.

The company — which owns Square, CashApp, and Tidal — is reportedly laying off over 930 employees and closing its open roles. It’s the company’s second recent layoff, after cutting similar numbers in early 2024. Dorsey explained the cuts in an email sent to staff and shared by TechCrunch:

One of Tesla’s usually favorable Wall Street analysts, Dan Ives from Wedbush, published a note pleading with CEO Elon Musk to spend less time at DOGE. “Tesla and Musk are facing a defining chapter in their future and how Musk handles this next few months will be pivotal to the long term growth trajectory of Tesla in our view,” Ives wrote. Another thing Ives says Musk needs to do is prepare lower-cost vehicles for 2025.

DoorDash is partnering with Klarna so users can pay for groceries and takeout in installments. “Buy now, pay later” services like Klarna can be a convenient way to split up big purchases, but can also be debt traps. It’s the type of service the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was looking into — before Elon Musk and the Trump administration began gutting the agency.

Elon Musk has publicly railed against Delaware’s corporate law as its judges ruled against his wishes, moving the incorporation of Tesla and other companies out of state. Now, CNBC says a January WSJ report that Meta was considering moving its incorporation spurred immediate action from the governor on a new bill, SB 21, that might make its laws friendlier to folks like Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.

That’s how much Google’s parent company will pay if its $32 billion acquisition of the cloud security startup falls apart, sources tell the Financial Times. The deal reportedly wouldn’t have proceeded without such a high termination fee, which the FT calls “among the largest of all time.”

Last summer’s reports that Google was negotiating to acquire Wiz never came to fruition, but now the Wall Street Journal and The Information report that talks have started again. At the reported price of about $30 billion this time, it would be Google’s largest purchase ever -- if it happens and if it’s allowed by the regulators of the new administration.

We’ve heard comments from Big Tech and retailers on the impact of tariffs even if they’re delayed, and now here are a few other reactions:

After filing for Chapter 11 in the US in November, Northvolt — which worked with Volkswagen, Volvo, Audi, Porsche, and BMW — has now filed for bankruptcy in Sweden. The company was founded by two ex-Tesla executives and was one of Europe’s leading efforts to rival US and Asian battery manufacturers before racking up billions in debt.

At least, that’s what this SEC filing says. He’s one of several insiders who’ve been selling lately, I notice; the chair of Tesla’s board, Elon Musk’s brother, and Tesla’s CFO all dumped tens of millions in shares last month, too. Tesla shares closed today at $222.15, down 41 percent this calendar year. They’re still up about 25 percent from this time last year. It remains unclear whether the continuing Tesla protests have rendered the brand toxic.

The New York Times reports Trump signed an EO Thursday evening to “establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile” consisting of crypto assets owned by the Treasury forfeited in criminal or civil cases.

The 25 percent tariffs Donald Trump announced for Canada and Mexico just a couple of days ago have been quickly pared back. First there was a 30-day exemption for automakers and now, as Bloomberg and the New York Times report, goods from either country covered by the USMCA trade agreement are also exempt, at least until April 2nd.

The company recently met with investment bankers “to discuss preparations for an initial public offering as soon as this year,” sources tell The New York Times. Discord was last valued at $15 billion in 2021, but it has since launched several notable upgrades, including more features for Nitro subscribers, along with better integrations on PS5 and Xbox.