Musk completes takeover of Twitter
Musk completes his $44 billion takeover of Twitter.
the bird is freed
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Later:
let the good times roll
🎶 let the good times roll 🎶
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
‘Elon Musk kidnapped’ deepfake
In an attempt to gain Musk’s attention, reAlpha Tech Corp, a real estate tech startup, releases a deepfake hostage video of Musk tied to a chair.
Hey, remember us? Yep, we are the ones that posted that INSANE video of Elon Musk taking a bubble bath… & we are back for more. This time, we took matters into our own hands & may or may not have kidnapped ol’ Elon’s twin. In case you forgot, we are reAlpha, a startup tech-company democratizing investment in the short term rental market and we are on a mission to enable anyone to invest in the $1.2 Trillion short-term rental real estate industry. The whole purpose of this video is to have you help us get Elon Musk to join our Board.
Musk has not responded.
Musk says Twitter deal will close on Friday
In a video call with bankers who are providing $13 billion in debt financing to his purchase of Twitter, Musk says that he will close the deal on Friday, 28 October. Musk has pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covers the $44 billion price tag plus closing costs. Equity investors, including Sequoia Capital, Binance, Qatar Investment Authority and others have received paperwork for the financing commitment from Musk’s lawyers.
Musk has to comply with a Delaware court judge’s deadline to complete the transaction by the 28th. Twitter declined to comment.
Burnt Hair sells out
Musk says the entire stock of Burnt Hair has been sold out, raising $3 million in sales, from 30,000 bottles at $100 each. Delivery is expected in early 2023.
Only 1,300 left of this unique, limited edition, collector’s item.
And … sold out!
And … sold out!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2022
Musk: 20,000 bottles of Burnt Hair fragrance sold
Following tweets that announced 5000 and 10,000 bottles of Burnt Hair have been sold, Musk tweets that 20,000 bottles of the fragrance have been sold. At $100 per bottle, the perfume has raised $2 million in sales. Musk announced the perfume in September as a ‘slow burn’ joke, and launched it, through The Boring Company, on October 12.
20,000!
20,000!!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2022
Musk tried for Twitter discount
In the weeks before Musk’s bid to own Twitter was back on the table, his representatives asked for a discount of 30%, a proposal that would have valued the company at roughly $31 billion. Twitter rejected the proposal.
In the past week, a discount of 1% was discussed, a valuation of $39.6 billion, but the talks did not move forward. Twitter’s market cap as of Wednesday was $39.2 billion.
Musk said completing the acquisition was dependent on his ability to secure financing from the banks that had agreed to back his April bid, which offered $54.20 per share. If the banks do not follow through, Musk will have to pay a $1 billion breakup fee. He has also asked Twitter to halt its litigation against him.
Musk to buy Twitter at original price, share trading halted
Trading in Twitter shares is halted as the stock spiked following reports that Musk is planning to buy the company for his original offer price of $54.20 per share. The shares had been up by 13% at $47.95 before trading was paused following the news. Twitter and Musk were due to be in court later this month as the company attempted to hold Musk to his original $44bn offer, made in April.
Musk had wanted to back out of the deal over the number of bot accounts on the platform, which he said was above Twitter’s estimate of 5% of users. The takeover deal has already received approval from Twitter shareholders.
GM sales grow 74% YOY in Sept, Tesla sales grow 63%, Honda declines
In its September estimates, TrueCar says that General Motors has grown its sales most in the past year, increasing 74.2%.. GM also had the largest number of sales, at 200,000 units. Tesla is in second place with sales growth of 63% compared to the same time last year. Honda is the fastest shrinking automaker in US sales, down -15.3%.
The Boring Company offers extra $15M for San Antonio Loop
The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority says Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has offered an additional $15 million to finance the San Antonio Loop, increasing its initial offer of $27 million to $45 million to support the first phase of the project. Alamo RMA:
That’s a lot of money that’s not coming from taxpayers to improve community transportation. I don’t see anybody else coming and giving us $50 million that’s not funding by taxpayers in some way, shape or form..
The 7.6 mile tunnel is expected to generate a net revenue of $25 million per year from 112,000 commuters daily, with fares between $10 to $13 per passenger.
Chairman and board member step down
Chairman Alistair Mackenzie and board member John Hudson both step down from their roles at Ferguson marine for personal reasons. Mackenzie:
I have decided for personal reasons that now is the right time to stand down. I have been proud to serve on the board of Ferguson Marine, supporting the business during a highly challenging period as it recovered from administration and through a transformation programme. Working with the wider board and senior management team, significant progress has been made to improve governance, processes and systems and to strengthen the workforce.
I would like to thank John Hudson as he departs, as well as the wider board and shipyard workforce, for their commitment and support during the last 18 months. With the arrival of a new chief executive, and three new board members in the coming months, I am sure the shipyard will continue to strengthen.
Shipyard to recruit 120 extra workers
Ferguson Marine announces it is hiring 120 extra staff, mostly pipe fitters and steel workers. The extra workers will mean the shipyard can be in production seven days a week during spring and summer and will bring total number of staff to more than 500. The new workers will be working on MV Glen Sannox and hull 802 for at least six months. Turnaround Director Hair:
Last year was challenging, with disruption created by the pandemic, but we’re confident we can increase momentum in 2021. We are confident, despite many challenges, 2021 will be a pivotal year in securing the long-term future of the shipyard. We must do everything possible to deliver the dual fuel ferry programme, improve productivity, secure contracts for future vessels, and protect local jobs.
Holyrood committee report published
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.
#ShesMy campaign launch
On International Day of the Girl, Yaccarino launches the #ShesMy campaign,
honoring the women of all ages who have supported, inspired, and championed us over the years. Because the amazing women in our lives are not one-dimensional, and deserve recognition for the many roles they play.
The campaign asks participants to share a picture of an ‘impactful woman in your life’ on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat or LinkedIn, using the hashtag #ShesMy, with a description of their meaning to the sharer, and to nominate others to recognize special women in their lives.
The Majority
The Devlins launch The Majority, a website that aims to unite the silent majority who are dismayed and frustrated about the rise of Nationalism in Scotland, and give them the tools to fight back.
Scottish government buys yard
The Ferguson shipyard is bought by the Scottish government. Ministers will now operate the yard under a management agreement with administrators Deloitte. The Scottish government wil buy the facility if no private buyer is found within four weeks. McColl, who could not persuade ministers to pay more than the £97m contract price for the disputed ferries, will no longer own the yard. The agreement means work on the CalMac ferries, and other contracts, can continue while efforts to find a commercial buyer get under way. Finance Secretary Mackay:
We have always been clear that we want to complete the vessels, secure jobs and give the yard a future. Public control will provide much-needed continuity of employment now and ensure the completion of the ferry contracts at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer. It is absolutely essential that the outstanding contracts to build these two ferries are completed. [Putting the company into administration’ was not an outcome I was willing to consider.
NewsBlocks launches Blockchain-based trusted news platform
The Social News Company Ltd. launches NewsBlocks, a blockchain platform for building next-generation news applications, such as trusted news feeds, fact-checking systems and fake news detectors. NewsBlocks starts from the insight that the traditional news article — a form of news designed to be printed on paper and thrown away each day — is not well suited to the digital age of mobile, instant data. The project’s primary goal is to convert all the world’s news articles into data, and store it permanently on a tamper-proof, censorship-resistant blockchain, where it can be searched, sorted, filtered and organised by anyone in new ways to create trusted news applications. Because each piece of data also has a price, NewsBlocks also creates the first global marketplace for news data.
Mark Devlin, CEO:
Once news is data, it can — for the first time — be verified, stored and priced so that anyone can use it to create the next-generation of news products and services.
McGregor’s promotion company posts six-figure loss
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.
A breakdown of McGregor-Mayweather ticket sales
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
Frampton confirms McGuigan split
Frampton confirms his long-standing partnership with manager McGuigan’s Cyclone Promotions has come to an end. Frampton had been managed by McGuigan since turning professional.
[I am] confident now is the right time to move forward and take my career into my own hands…I would like to thank Barry, the McGuigan family and Cyclone Promotions for our time together. I still believe that I’m the best featherweight in the world and I promise my fans that I am continuing with my efforts to get my homecoming fight rescheduled in the very near future.
White: Tickets for promo tour selling out fast
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.