Business

Billionaire Mets Owner Proposes $8B Casino In Queens

The New York Post reports: Steve Cohen has finally laid his cards on the table. The billionaire Mets owner finally unveiled his long-awaited Queens casino plan Tuesday — revealing a sprawling $8 billion gaming center, hotel, and music venue near Citi Field that he has dubbed “Metropolitan Park” after the team’s full corporate name. The proposed entertainment playground, which will …

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Real Estate Company WeWork Files For Bankruptcy

The New York Times reports: WeWork, the real estate company that offered start-ups and individuals sleek quarters to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Monday after years of struggling to find its footing. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, as part of what it described as a “comprehensive …

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Disney Cites DeSantis’s Prison “Joke” In New Filing

Inside The Magic reports: A bizarre, alleged “joke” that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made about building a prison near Walt Disney World has ended up being part of Disney’s federal lawsuit against him. In April, DeSantis said, “Come to think of it, now people are like, what should we do with this land? People have said maybe create a state …

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Elon Musk Introduces AI Chatbot Named “Grok”

Axios reports: Elon Musk Saturday introduced a new chatbot called “Grok” out of his xAI startup, claiming that AI should be “useful to people of all backgrounds and political views.” xAI spent four months training Grok, which it categorizes as a “frontier large language model” — which would make it subject to new AI testing requirements both from the White …

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Musk Seeks To Block SEC Subpoena In Twitter Probe

Ars Technica reports: Elon Musk’s attempt to avoid testifying in a Twitter stock-purchase investigation continued yesterday with Musk asking a court to block a subpoena issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk’s filing in US District Court for the Northern District of California claimed the SEC is “harassing” him, exceeding its authority to investigate, and making “overly burdensome” demands …

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X Begins Selling Defunct Usernames For Up To $50K

Forbes reports: X appears to have begun ramping up efforts to sell disused user handles, kicking off a program previously signaled by billionaire owner Elon Musk. A team within the company, known as the @Handle Team, has begun work on a handle marketplace for the purchase of account names left unused by the people who originally registered them. In at …

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Court Tosses EPA Ban On “Brain Damage” Pesticide

The Hill reports: A federal appeals court on Thursday is tossing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ban on a pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children. The decision from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to send the rule back to the agency does not preclude the agency from reinstating the ban in the future. Chlorpyrifos has …

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Crypto Mogul Found Guilty In $8 Billion Fraud Scheme

Reuters reports: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire’s fall from grace. A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced after a monthlong trial in …

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Starbucks Again Fails To Feature Jesus On Holiday Cups

Via press release from Starbucks: It’s OK, you can look now! The holidays arrive in U.S. Starbucks stores on Nov. 2, and we’re here to tell you all about this year’s bright and beautiful collection of holiday cups. The cup collection is clad in holiday red and Starbucks greens and a mood-boosting magenta, each one accented with sparkles for a …

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Musk: I Bought X To Stop San Francisco’s “Mind Virus”

“I mean, this is going to sound somewhat melodramatic, but I was worried that it was having a corrosive effect on civilization. That it was just having a bad impact and, I mean, part of it is that it’s where it was located, which is, you know, downtown San Francisco, and while I think San Francisco is a beautiful city …

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Elon Musk: X Will Add “Fully-Fledged” Dating Feature

The New York Daily News reports: Elon Musk plans to add a dating element to the struggling social media platform he purchased as Twitter one year ago, then rebranded into X in July. The billionaire told employees during a Thursday video call celebrating the anniversary that he plans to add the “fully fledged” coupling component in 2024, according to Insider, …

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X Formally Valued At Less Than Half What Musk Paid

The Verge reports: Everyone knew that Twitter wasn’t worth $44 billion when Elon Musk bought it a year ago. Now, we know what Musk himself thinks the company is worth today: $19 billion. On Monday, employees at X were awarded equity in the company at a valuation of $19 billion, or $45 per share, according to internal documents seen by …

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Walgreens And CVS Pharmacy Staff Begin Walkout

Reuters reports: Some employees at CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance’s U.S. pharmacies launched a three-day walkout starting Monday to get the companies to improve working conditions and recruit more people, among other issues. The walkout, which the organizers have dubbed “Pharmageddon”, is the third strike by pharmacists in a little over one month. Shane Jerominski, one of the …

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Musk: Next Year X Users “Won’t Need A Bank Account”

The Verge reports: Elon Musk wants X to be the center of your financial world, handling anything in your life that deals with money. He expects those features to launch by the end of 2024, he told X employees during an all-hands call on Thursday, saying that people will be surprised with “just how powerful it is.” “When I say …

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Auto Workers Union And Ford Reach Deal To End Strike

CNBC reports: The United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor have reached a tentative agreement that will end a nearly six-week strike at the automaker, the union announced Wednesday night. The tentative agreement, which was first reported earlier by CNBC, includes 25% pay increases over the terms of the agreement and will cumulatively raise the top wage to more than …

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DOJ Expands Probe Into Tesla’s Business Practices

The New York Times reports: The Department of Justice has expanded its inquiry into Tesla’s business practices to include how far its vehicles can travel on a full charge and “personal benefits” to high-ranking executives or large shareholders, the company said without elaborating. The disclosure follows recent news reports that the carmaker appears to have misled customers about how far …

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Big Oil Deal: Chevron To Buy Hess For $53 Billion

Reuters reports: Chevron Corp said on Monday it will buy smaller rival Hess Corp in a $53-billion all-stock deal, as the oil major looks to increase its footprint in oil-rich Guyana. The deal puts two of the top oil giants, Chevron and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), head-to-head in two of the world’s fastest growing oil basins – shale and Guyana. Guyana …

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CVS Pulls Decongestants As FDA Says They Don’t Work

The Insider reports: CVS this week said it is pulling many popular decongestants from its shelves after advisors to the Food and Drug Administration said the active ingredient simply does not work. In September, an advisory panel to the FDA ruled that phenylephrine, when taken orally, is no better than a placebo despite being on the market for more than …

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NY Sues Crypto CEOs For Alleged $1.1 Billion Scam

Via press release from New York AG Letitia James: New York Attorney General Letitia James today filed a sweeping lawsuit against cryptocurrency companies Gemini Trust Company (Gemini), Genesis Global Capital, LLC and its affiliates (Genesis), and Digital Currency Group, Inc. (DCG) for defrauding more than 230,000 investors, including at least 29,000 New Yorkers, of more than $1 billion. An investigation …

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Rite Aid To Close 154 Stores In Bankruptcy Process

The New York Times reports: On Sunday, Rite Aid, once the largest U.S. pharmacy chain, filed for bankruptcy court protection from its creditors and vowed to remake the company as a “modern neighborhood pharmacy.” Now, in one of its first steps, it says it is closing 154 stores in more than 10 states. The branches set to be shuttered were …

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