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17 Aug, 2023

SpaceX profitable: first quarter 2023

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Documents reveal that SpaceX turned a small profit during the first quarter of 2023. After two annual losses, the company generated $55 million in profit on $1.5 billion in revenue. (First-quarter results are preliminary, though, while annual results are final.) SpaceX is also valued at roughly $150 billion at an employee stock sale, putting its valuation near those of Intel and Disney.

14 Jul, 2023

Musk: Twitter’s ad revenue down ~50%

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Musk says Twitter has a “negative cash flow” and its advertising revenue has declined by about 50% amid a “heavy debt load” as competition between Twitter and Threads intensifies. This comes just as Twitter began paying content creators for posting advertisements. Some users are reporting payouts of over $100,000, and Musk himself says Twitter will pay creators $5 million through its first block of payments. It is unclear, though, which kinds of posts or which users are eligible for advertising payments, and some users have criticized the platform’s payout program.

We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load. Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.

30 May, 2023

Fidelity: Twitter worth 33% of Musk’s purchase price

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According to Fidelity, which helped finance Musk’s purchase of Twitter, its valuation of its equity stake in the company puts the total value of Twitter at $15 billion, around 33% of what Musk originally paid for it. Fidelity downgraded its holdings in the company by 56% a month after the acquisition, by 63% in February 2023, and now by 66%. Musk’s investment in Twitter is now worth $8.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which uses Fidelity’s valuation to calculate the value of his holding. Musk spent more than $25 billion to acquire an estimated 79% stake in the company in 2022.

20 Apr, 2023

Tesla stock drops nearly 10% over continued price cuts

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Tesla stock (TSLA) drops nearly 10%, nearly $50 billion in market capitalisation, after Musk says the electric vehicle manufacturer will keep cutting prices in a bid to drive up demand in a weak economy. Focusing on sales growth rather than immediate profit, Musk said:

We’ve taken a view that pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet is the right choice here versus a lower volume and a higher margin.

With this drop, Tesla’s market capitalization ending below Meta Platforms’ for the first time since 2021.

1 Feb, 2023

Tesla lost $140m on Bitcoin in 2022

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According to SEC filings, Tesla lost $140m on its Bitcoin investments in 2022, losing $204m overall, although it gained back $64m through trading. The company holds $184m in Bitcoin, having offloaded most of its initial £1.5 billion purchase a few weeks after it was purchased in early 2021.

9 Dec, 2020

Holyrood committee report published

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Holyrood’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee publishes a report calling for “root and branch” reform of the system for procuring ferries and concluding that the established procedures are “no longer fit for purpose”. Former bosses at Ferguson shipyard, ministers, state-owned CMAL and Transport Scotland are all criticised. Committee convener Edward Mountain:

All parties involved must share in the responsibility for the catastrophic failure to deliver this contract on time or on budget. A lack of due diligence, poor project management and a failure by all parties to take the necessary action to resolve problems as they emerged means that the cost of the contract has increased from £97m to almost £200m while the island communities who are relying on theses ferries to be delivered continue to suffer.

Goverment spokesperson:

We remain fully supportive of the efforts of CalMac, CMAL and Transport Scotland in delivering ferry services on the Clyde and Hebrides Network and to the Northern Isles, but we also recognise the challenges in doing so and the need for continuous improvement to optimise delivery. We have already committed to commission a study of the legal structures and governance arrangements which exist between the “tripartite group” of Transport Scotland, CMAL and CalMac and will publish a ferries stakeholder engagement strategy.

CMAL:

We have a successful track record of delivering ferry projects on time and budget and we are committed to continuous improvement of our processes, so steps are already being taken to further develop the planning process for new ferries.

24 Sep, 2018

McGregor’s promotion company posts six-figure loss

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McGregor Sports and Entertainment Ltd’s new accounts – approved today by the company’s directors – show the company had accumulated losses of €354,708 at the end of December 2017, compared to accumulated profits of €116,215 the year before – a negative swing of €470,923. McGregor is listed as the sole shareholder in McGregor Sports and Entertainment Ltd, but the accumulated losses are not expected to affect him much as his reported net worth is around €85m.

The company sells the MacTalk app on iTunes for $0.99 and runs the website themaclife.com, McGregor’s dedicated media brand that focuses on news surrounding McGregor, mixed martial arts, and health and fitness. It generates money through ads and helps promote McGregor’s fights and his products. McGregor also has millions of followers on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, making him worth tens of millions to his sponsors. He is currently sponsored by fast-food giant Burger King, headphone company Beats by Dre, and energy drink producer Monster Energy, among others. McGregor is listed as the sole shareholder in McGregor Sports and Entertainment Ltd.

13 Sep, 2017

A breakdown of McGregor-Mayweather ticket sales

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A breakdown of ticket sales for the McGregor Mayweather fight is released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The hottest ticket was priced at $5,000, but these seats, located at the top of the lower level seats at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, were deeply discounted, sinking to $1,500, close to fight night. Overall, the event was well short of the $72.2 million live gate record set by Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2015. Yet it still generated a massive box office payout, with $55,414,865.79 in revenue on 13,231 tickets for an average of $4,188.26 per ticket. The event’s pay-per-view buy rate, on the other hand, is expected to break the all-time record of 4.6 million set by Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.

Breakdown of ticket sales:

  • $10,000: 2,942 available – 2,254 sold – 29 complimentary
  • $7,500: 1,814 available – 1,145 sold – 18 complimentary
  • $5,000: 4,737 available – 3,183 sold – 22 complimentary
  • $3,500: 3,233 available – 1,601 sold – 68 complimentary
  • $2,500: 2,735 available – 2,716 sold – 0 complimentary
  • $1,500: 1,809 available – 1,781 sold – 0 complimentary
  • $500: 428 available – 414 sold – 0 complimentary

Total tickets sold and complimentary: 13,231    Total live gate: $55,414,865.79

9 Jul, 2017

White: Tickets for promo tour selling out fast

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White confirms that 30,000 tickets have been sold for the the McGregor-Mayweather press events at the Los Angeles and Brooklyn stops alone.

Staples Center is sold out, and by sold out, I mean we did tickets and there’s no more seats left. Barclays [Center] sold out. We had to get a bigger venue in Toronto, and we’re doing Wembley in England. It’s going to be crazy.

17 Jun, 2017

McGregor to earn $100 million for fighting Mayweather

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White says he expects McGregor to make $100 million from fighting Mayweather. Mayweather has previously said he expects to ear $300 million from the fight.

 I made 300 [million dollars] in one night [vs. Manny Pacquiao]. Throughout my career I made 800 [million dollars] and it’s possible I can make another 300 [million dollars].

29 Mar, 2017

Johnston Press reports £300m pre-tax loss

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The company reports a £300.3m pre-tax loss for 2016, compared to a £2.2m pre-tax profit the year before. Total advertising revenue is down 17.7% year on year to £122.6m, driven by a 9.5% fall in print ad revenue. The fall in print advertising income was not offset by digital ad revenue, which remains flat at £18.6m. Sales volumes for i was up 5% year on year, while circulation revenue was up 20% year-on-year. Highfield:

Despite an industry wide backdrop of significant downward pressure on revenues, the actions we have taken to pilot the business through this rapidly-changing market and create the conditions from which to create growth are starting to bear fruit: circulation figures of key titles are improving, the i has bucked the trend of declining national newspaper sales and our progressive editorial and sales models are starting to transform our regional businesses. While we can expect to see continued pressure on traditional print revenue streams, we have seen digital return to growth in Q1 2017, with better margin products, and will see growth from our investment in the i from both the newspaper and website. Further, we will start to see the benefits of our restructured sales teams and product roll out.

13 Feb, 2017

McGregor’s UFC 205 headline brought $57 million to New York

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A UFC-commissioned study says UFC 205 brought in $57 million of benefits to New York city. In addition to ticket receipts totaling $17.7 million and big spending from domestic and international visitors, the McGregor-headlined card contributed a total of $37.4 million in economic output for NY, surpassing the promotion’s initial $32 million projection. Salaries and wages tied to the event added $18.3 million more, and the UFC also paid out $1.6 million in state taxes. 300 jobs were created. Governor Cuomo:

Mixed martial arts competitions have already proven to be major economic drivers across New York, and the jobs and revenue generated by this event illustrates the enormous impact of this growing industry in our state.

7 Sep, 2016

UFC 202 broke PPV records

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Sources say that the DirecTV numbers for UFC 202 were the highest in the promotion’s history. Current estimates have the show doing 1.65 million buys on pay-per-view, putting it slightly ahead of UFC 196, the first McGregor vs. Diaz fight, which was estimated at 1.6 million. Both would be ahead of the prior record set at UFC 100 for the second Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir fight UFC’s own pay-per-view orders through the Internet were believed to have also broken the record set at UFC 196. On the night, the show sold 12,657 tickets, and including late discounting, and there were 14,060 in the building. The live gate announced the night of the show was $7,629,010.

21 Aug, 2016

$3 million purse

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission confirms McGregor’s purse for UFC 202 is $3 million, the richest disclosed purse in MMA history. McGregor became the first UFC athlete to ever receive a disclosed purse of $1 million, for UFC 196. Brock Lesnar surpassed that record at UFC 200 with a disclosed purse of $2.5 million.

7 Aug, 2016

Writes off half the value of newspaper properties

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Johnson Press announces it is taking a£183.6 million impairment charge (£216.9 million gross, net of £40.3 million in deferred tax), lowering by nearly half the value of the company. The action sends the company’s stock down over 18 percent. The Company also announces revenue drop of 9.7 percent in the second quarter, with ad revenue falling 15 percent. Net debt grew to £209.4 million due to the acquisition of the i in April for £22.0 million. Highfield:

The market continues to be challenging and uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Brexit negotiations has caused further softness in some segments of the advertising market, in June and July. Nevertheless, we are focused on our strategy of increasing overall audiences, maximising opportunities for the i, maintaining tight cost control and rebalancing our portfolio. In that respect, we are nearing completion of the disposal of our Isle of Man newspaper group for £4.25 million and are well advanced in negotiations for further divestments.

18 May, 2016

Full-year results ‘meet City hopes’

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Johnston Press reports that group revenues were down 13.7 per cent during the 17 weeks to 30 April, reflecting a 14.4 per cent fall in the first quarter and an “improved rate of decline of 11.5 per cent in April”. The group said i daily print sales peaked at 297,849 for the month, a rise of 7 per cent over the peaks seen in March 2016, its website, inews.co.uk, reached 638,000 unique users. Advertising revenues for the period were down 16.9 per cent, while digital revenues were down 5.7 per cent in the first quarter but up 4.5 per cent for April. CEO Highfield:

Following the completion of the i acquisition, we continue to explore the disposal of certain assets, with a view to deleveraging the balance sheet and further reducing financing costs.

22 Mar, 2016

Profits rise by more than a fifth but further cuts loom

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Johnston Press reports total revenue for 2015 was down by 6.8% from £260m in 2014 to £242.3m last year. However, profits increased by 22.6% to £31.5m by reducing costs to £191.7m from £205.3m in 2014. CEO Highfield says the group hopes to sell some brands and some of its key assets. However, he said he “could not rule out” closing some titles. Debt is down by £14.8m to £179.4m from £194.2m in 2014, with interest payments reduced by almost £10m to £19.1m. The number of people reached through Johnston’s digital titles was up by 40.7% to 22.6 million, with digital advertising revenue rising by 12.4% to £30.6m.

We are a plc and our primary objective is to keep the business moving forward … we have to make profits. We are all on the same side here, which is try to get the business back to growth and get the long-standing debt off our shoulders. The tough trading conditions have already been highlighted by DMGT and Trinity Mirror. We are being prudent in not anticipating it getting better and we are going to make sure we are cutting our cloth appropriately.

Highfield also says Johnston has filled all but two of 50 roles for i for when it takes control of the title on 10 April, filling the roles from The Independent within two weeks.

27 Oct, 2015

Highest earning dead celebrity

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Forbes says Jackson has earned more than $1 billion pre-tax since his death, which is more than enough to pay off his personal debts. in 2105 the estate made $115 million, in part from the Vegas Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson One, the Mijac Music catalogue, recorded music sales and half of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which includes the rights to 250 Beatles songs.

14 Oct, 2015

Files for IPO

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An SEC filing (document) reveals the company is officially seeking an initial public offering, as well as financial information: In the first half of 2015 Square took losses of $77.5 million on revenue of $560.5 million. In 2014, the company reported gross payment volume of $23.78 billion. The filing reveals retail the biggest source of transactions for the company constituting 21 percent of its gross payments volume. Other sectors include services, food, beauty, contractor, and transit. The filing also says Dorsey’s role as the CEO of Twitter and Square is a risk factor:

Jack Dorsey, our co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer, also serves as Chief Executive Officer of Twitter. This may at times adversely affect his ability to devote time, attention, and effort to Square.

Stock drops 10% on earnings drop

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Walmart has its worst stock decline in more than 27 years after predicting a drop in annual profit. Earnings will decrease 6 percent to 12 percent in fiscal 2017, which ends in January of that year. Analysts had estimated a gain of 4 percent on average. Efforts to raise the minimum wage to a goal of $10/hr combined with an expanded training program, added about $1 billion in costs this year and $1.5 billion next year. Shares fell 10 percent to $60.03 in New York, the biggest drop since January 1988.