(Brands & Consumers)
Meta, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, has taken steps to comply with recently passed legislation in Canada that requires tech companies to negotiate payments to news organizations for hosting their content. In response to this new law, Meta has started removing news content from its platforms in Canada. Canadian users…
Manchester United and Adidas have sealed a groundbreaking deal, extending their apparel-sponsorship contract for an astonishing £900 million ($1.2 billion) over the next ten years. The partnership between the British football team and the German sportswear company, one of the biggest in the Premier League, began in 2015 after Manchester United switched from Nike. In…
Yellow Corp., a longstanding trucking company with a 99-year history, has made a sudden decision to halt all operations, resulting in the layoff of its entire workforce, totalling 30,000 employees. The company has been embroiled in a tense dispute with the Teamsters union, which represents around 22,000 drivers and dock workers employed by Yellow Corp….
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection officials made an observation on Monday morning regarding the removal of the new “X” sign on top of the building previously known as Twitter’s headquarters. The department’s spokesman, Patrick Hannan, reported that the sign was being dismantled. This development comes in response to the company being served a…
President Bola Tinubu has taken decisive action in the fight against corruption by appointing a Special Investigator to look into the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Related Entities. In a letter addressed to Jim Osayande Obazee, the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Tinubu named him…
Kanye West’s Twitter account, now known as Ye, has been reinstated on the social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter). However, the musician will not be able to monetize his account, and ads will not appear next to his posts, as stated by the company to the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. The account…
Heartland Tri-State Bank, based in Elkhart, Kansas, has failed, leading to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) stepping in to protect customer deposits. As part of this process, the FDIC has entered a purchase and assumption agreement with Dream First Bank of Syracuse, Kansas, and will assume all the deposits of Heartland Tri-State Bank. Following…
Rafaela Vasquez, the Uber test driver who was behind the wheel of a self-driving car when it struck and killed a pedestrian in 2018, has pleaded guilty to endangerment. The accident occurred in Tempe, Arizona, and marked the first known fatality involving a fully autonomous vehicle. According to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation, Vasquez…
The future of homebuilding is taking shape in Texas as the world’s largest community of 3D-printed homes is under construction. The groundbreaking neighbourhood, located in Georgetown, Texas, just unveiled its first completed house. This single-story structure is just the beginning, as it is part of an ambitious project that aims to create 100 3D-printed homes,…
President Bola Tinubu has expressed the Federal Government’s readiness to collaborate with global tech giant Google Incorporated in its endeavour to generate one million digital jobs in Nigeria. The president made this assurance during a visit from Google Global Vice President, Richard Gingras, at the State House on Friday. Acknowledging Nigeria’s pool of creative and…
Adidas is making a significant move to clear out the remaining inventory of its once-lucrative collaboration with Ye, the former Kanye West. The sportswear giant has faced pressure from investors to handle the merchandise after terminating its partnership with Ye in 2022 due to his offensive and antisemitic remarks. In May, Adidas announced its plan…
This week, WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Meta, made a significant announcement, revealing a new feature that allows users to record and send video clips directly within the app. The instant video messages can be up to 60 seconds long and will benefit from the app’s robust end-to-end encryption service. In a blog post…
Global airlines are celebrating significant profits this year, buoyed by a surge in demand for leisure travel and events that have provided a substantial lift. Among the major players, International Airlines Group (IAG), which includes Aer Lingus and British Airways, proudly announced a record profit of approximately $1.4 billion for the first half of the…
Billionaire investor Leon Black is facing a new lawsuit accusing him of rape by a woman identified as Jane Doe. The lawsuit alleges that the assault occurred at Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse when Jane Doe was just 16 years old. The lawsuit paints a harrowing picture of the incident, with the woman’s lawyers stating that…
Ford Motor Company reported its second-quarter earnings, revealing that while its electric vehicle (EV) business is experiencing increasing losses, the company managed to exceed Wall Street expectations due to profits from its traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Despite facing losses in its EV segment, Ford’s overall performance beat analysts’ forecasts, with the company earning…
On Wednesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, released its financial results for the second quarter ending in June, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations. The company reported a revenue of $32 billion, an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. Additionally, Meta’s profits for the quarter reached $7.79 billion, marking a 16% increase from…
Gap, the American retail giant, has announced the appointment of Richard Dickson as its new CEO, nearly a year after the departure of its previous leader. Currently serving as Mattel’s president and chief operating officer, Dickson will take on the role at Gap, bringing with him a wealth of experience from his 20-year tenure at…
The dominance of Big Tech companies in the stock market has raised concerns about potential monopolistic behaviour, with just seven stocks – Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA) and Meta Platforms (META) comprising nearly $11 trillion in market value and contributing significantly to the S&P 500’s returns in the…
Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami has sent fans into a frenzy, with his home jersey, also known as “The Heart Beat Kit,” becoming an instant hit. The demand for Messi’s jersey has been so overwhelming that it has reportedly boosted Inter Miami’s jersey sales by an incredible 25 times since its release. The Authentic…
Fisayo Fosudo’s guest on this episode of “The Leaderboard” is Nigerian chef and culinary content creator Ify Mogekwu of Ify’s Kitchen. Enjoy the video below.
Worldcoin (WLD), a revolutionary cryptocurrency project founded by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, officially launched on Tuesday, introducing a unique concept that aims to transform the digital identification process. At the heart of the project is the World ID, a digital identity verification system that ensures the ID owner is a genuine human. The launch…
TikTok, the popular video streaming platform, is venturing into uncharted territory by allowing users to post text-only content for the first time. In a direct challenge to Elon Musk’s embattled X (formerly known as Twitter), TikTok announced the new post format, aiming to expand options for creators to express their ideas and creativity. The company…
In a surprising move, tech mogul Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, has embarked on a radical rebranding campaign, introducing a striking change to the social media platform’s logo. In an early Sunday announcement, Musk declared his intention to replace Twitter’s iconic bird logo with the letter “X.” The transformation began swiftly, as Musk tweeted on…
American Airlines (AAL) has decided to raise its pilot contract offer by more than a billion dollars to align it with the tentative agreement that United Airlines reached with its pilots last week. The total offer now amounts to approximately $9 billion in incremental compensation and benefits, as announced by CEO Robert Isom in a…
In a surprising turn of events on Sunday, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk took to his official Twitter account to announce some major changes coming to the popular social media platform, Twitter. Musk declared that Twitter would be bidding farewell to its iconic bird logo, replacing it with an “X,” and furthermore, all the birds would…
Child labour protection laws are facing a rollback in several states across the United States, with more states now allowing teenagers to serve alcohol at bars and restaurants. According to a report released by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, at least nine states have introduced bills since 2021 to lower the minimum…
OpenAI’s Head of Trust and Safety, Dave Willner, has announced his plans to step down from his position, as he revealed in a LinkedIn post. Willner has been leading the artificial intelligence firm’s trust and safety team since February 2022, but he will now transition into an advisory role to prioritize spending more time with…
In a surprising move, award-winning rap star Drake and Hollywood actor Michael B Jordan have recently invested in the Brooklyn Aces, a team that competes in the new Major League Pickleball (MLP) competition. The addition of these high-profile investors has created a buzz around the rapidly growing sport, which is gaining popularity among sports enthusiasts….
Kevin Mitnick, a name synonymous with hacking and cybersecurity, has sadly passed away at the age of 59 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. His family announced his death in a published obituary over the weekend. Before his passing on July 16, Mitnick had become a legendary figure in the world of hacking, inspiring…
As Hollywood faces challenges amid ongoing industry strikes, streaming giant Netflix had reason to celebrate on Wednesday with the release of its earnings report. The company’s long-anticipated plans to clamp down on password sharing yielded positive results, boosting subscriber growth and impressing investors. However, Wall Street expressed some disappointment despite the promising figures. Here are…
Theophilus Akhimie, a U.S.-based Nigerian brand and marketing expert, and an avid enthusiast of the entertainment industry, is eagerly looking forward to the forthcoming 2023 edition of the prestigious Headies Awards. The event promises to be an electrifying celebration of Afrobeats’ growing explosion and the remarkable achievements of Nigerian musical artists worldwide. Among the numerous…
Tesla, the electric vehicle (EV) giant, has reported a significant increase in profits, surpassing analysts’ expectations despite implementing price cuts that affected its revenue per vehicle sold. In the second quarter, Tesla reported adjusted earnings of $3.1 billion, or 91 cents a share, representing a 20% increase compared to the same period last year. Analysts…
Following its launch two weeks ago, Meta’s Twitter competitor Threads saw an impressive surge in user signups, surpassing 100 million in under a week. However, recent data indicates that the initial excitement may be dwindling as user engagement has slowed down. According to a report by web traffic analysis firm Similarweb, Threads’ daily active users…
Microsoft and Activision have jointly announced an extension of their merger deadline by three months, signaling their commitment to completing the $69 billion acquisition despite ongoing negotiations with the UK government. The new deadline for finalizing the deal is set for October 18, with the previous deadline being July 18. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair…
Spain’s antitrust regulator, known as CNMC, has levied substantial fines on tech giants Amazon and Apple, totalling €194.1 million ($218 million), for colluding to limit competition on the Amazon platform in Spain. The fines were imposed due to anti-competitive clauses present in two contracts signed by the companies on October 31, 2018, which granted Amazon…
Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, has introduced a significant update to the app, aiming to maintain its momentum since its launch two weeks ago. The latest features include a translation button and a dedicated tab in users’ activity feed, showing who has followed them. Cameron Roth, a software engineer working on Threads, announced the updates, assuring…
On Tuesday, AT&T’s stock fell to its lowest level since 1993, continuing its downward trend after a report revealed that several of the country’s largest network providers, including Verizon and AT&T, left thousands of lead-covered cables in various locations across the United States. The Wall Street Journal published a report on July 9, highlighting that…
On Tuesday, a California jury decided that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) must pay $18.8 million to Emory Hernandez Valadez, a 24-year-old man who claimed to have developed cancer from exposure to the company’s baby powder. The ruling comes as a significant setback for J&J, as it attempts to resolve numerous similar cases over its talc-based…
Egyptian cashless payments app, Flash, has successfully raised $6 million in a funding round led by Addition, with participation from Flourish Ventures and several strategic angel investors. The fresh capital injection will be utilized to bolster the company’s product development efforts and expand its customer base in Egypt. Additionally, Flash has secured approval from the…
In one of the largest shareholder settlements of its kind, Tesla directors have agreed to return $735 million to the company to resolve claims of grossly overpaying themselves. According to a court filing in a Delaware court on Monday, the settlement stems from a 2020 lawsuit brought by a retirement fund holding Tesla (TSLA) stock,…
A first-edition 2007 Apple iPhone has fetched an astounding $190,372.80 at auction, surpassing initial estimates and earning the title of “Holy Grail” by auctioneer LCG Auctions. The 4GB model, considered an extraordinary collectible, was initially expected to sell for around $50,000 to $100,000. However, a bidding war ensued during the online auction, attracting 28 bids…
Petrol prices in some Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling stations in Abuja surged from N537/litre to N617/litre on Tuesday, leaving independent oil marketers to confirm the increase and indicating a potential rise in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). The NNPCL remains a major importer of petrol in Nigeria, and any…
Peacock, the popular streaming service owned by NBCUniversal, has announced its first-ever price hike, affecting both its premium and premium plus subscription tiers. New users will now have to pay $5.99 per month for the premium subscription, up from the previous price of $4.99. The premium plus tier, which offers mostly ad-free streaming, will cost…
Evergrande Group, the heavily indebted Chinese property developer, has finally released its long-delayed financial results, marking a crucial step in its debt restructuring, which is poised to become one of the largest in Chinese corporate history. According to a filing on Monday with the stock exchange, the company reported losses amounting to 476 billion yuan…
The anticipation to witness Lionel Messi’s highly awaited US debut comes with a hefty price tag. Tickets for his expected first match on Friday with Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup are being sold for as much as $110,000, according to a search on ticket reselling website Vivid Seats. This marks one of the highest…
AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteerism and national service, announced on Friday that it had recovered a record-breaking $84 million in overlooked deductions, credits, and tax breaks for low-income Americans during the 2023 tax season. Through its collaboration with local non-profit organizations, AmeriCorps assisted more than 113,000 taxpayers in over 130 cities, according to a…
Federal Appeals Court Clears the Way for Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision BlizzardIn a significant setback for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal appeals court has decided not to block Microsoft (MSFT) from finalizing its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This ruling marks the second major defeat for the FTC this week in a…
Tesla has finally completed the construction of its first Cybertruck, according to a tweet posted by the electric car company on Saturday. The long-awaited Cybertruck was built at Tesla’s Gigafactory near Austin, Texas, as depicted in the image shared in the tweet, showing workers wearing hard hats surrounding the sleek vehicle. The prototype for the…
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter, has revealed via Twitter that the platform is still facing financial challenges due to a 50% drop in advertising revenue and a “heavy debt load,” resulting in negative cash flow. In response to a follower’s business advice, Musk tweeted, “Need to reach positive cash flow before we have…
Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is facing a lawsuit filed by three graphic designers who accuse the company of “egregious” copyright infringement and racketeering. The lawsuit was filed in a California federal court on Tuesday, claiming that Shein produced and sold exact copies of the designers’ work. The plaintiffs argue that Shein relies on “secretive algorithms”…
