Business

The Washington Post reports: Complete with what appear to be flames that shoot from the rocket, the statue was commissioned by the cryptocurrency company Elon GOAT Token. The company was delivering it to Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin on Saturday, during what it dubbed “Goatsgiving.” Costing a total of $600,000, according to Elon GOAT Token, the Musk sculpture is a nod …

Axios reports: A record $9.12 billion was spent online for Black Friday, with electronics driving much of the growth compared to last year, according to new Adobe Analytics data. These record-breaking sales happened amid rising concerns about inflation and the cost of living. Purchases on electronics led the way, soaring by 221% compared to an average day in October. Smart …

CNBC reports: Say goodbye to the airline call center −at least at Frontier Airlines. The budget carrier last weekend completed its transition to online, mobile and text support, which enables it to ensure that customers get “the information they need as expeditiously and efficiently as possible,” spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz told CNBC in an e-mailed statement. Passengers who call …

Business Insider reports: Elon Musk has a simple plan if Apple decides to boot Twitter from the App Store. The billionaire will create his own smartphone. Musk wrote in a Friday tweet he would “make an alternative phone” to compete with Apple’s iPhone if the tech giant ends up blocking Twitter from its powerful App Store. Musk’s stance on content …

NPR reports: Half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers appear to no longer be advertising on the website. A report from Media Matters for America states that these 50 advertisers have spent almost $2 billion on Twitter ads since 2020 and more than $750 million just in 2022. Seven additional advertisers have slowed their advertising to almost nothing, according to the …

Reuters reports: Twitter Inc is planning to roll out its verified service next Friday with different colored checks for individuals, companies and governments, after a botched initial launch led to a surge in users impersonating celebrities and brands on the platform. Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday allotted colors for the categories – gold for companies, grey for governments and …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse are suing Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase, saying the banks facilitated Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking operation and ignored red flags about their wealthy client. The two lawsuits seek class-action status and unspecified financial damages. They were both brought by lawyers that have represented many of the late financier’s …

The Hill reports: Elon Musk on Thursday said “a general amnesty” for suspended Twitter users will begin next week after he posted a poll over whether the platform should take action to restore affected accounts. “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?” Musk asked in …

The Insider reports: Elon Musk fired several dozen Twitter employees overnight on Wednesday, most of whom were engineers, two people familiar with the company’s actions told Insider. The firings came as a surprise inside Twitter, the people said. Musk said in an all-hands meeting earlier this week that there would be no more layoffs at the company. The employees fired …

The New York Times reports: Before Elon Musk bought Twitter last month, the company’s executives had racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel invoices that the social media service planned to pay. But once Mr. Musk took over the company, he refused to reimburse travel vendors for those bills, current and former Twitter employees said. Mr. Musk’s staff …

The Independent reports: Elon Musk has appeared to mock anti-racism initiatives by Twitter’s own staff, as well a Black Lives Matter more broadly. Mr Musk appeared to laugh at T-shirts that had been made by Twitter’s internal business group for Black employees. He then criticised Black Lives Matter protestors. He said that the shirts stemmed from the protests in Ferguson, …

The Washington Post reports: Dozens of top Twitter advertisers, including 14 of the top 50, have stopped advertising in the few weeks since Musk’s chaotic acquisition of the social media company, according to The Post’s analysis of data from Pathmatics, which offers brand analysis on digital marketing trends. Ads for blue-chip brands including Jeep and Mars candy, whose corporate parents …

Yahoo Finance reports: There are more headaches for Tesla as the automaker revealed it is recalling 321,000 vehicles due to a safety issue. In a filing posted over the weekend on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, the automaker said some Tesla Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs had an issue that caused the tail lamps to “intermittently …

The Verge reports: Elon Musk told Twitter employees on Monday that the company won’t relaunch its paid verification subscription, Twitter Blue, until “we’re confident about significant impersonations not happening,” according to a recording of his remarks obtained by The Verge. Musk said last week that his $8 per month Blue subscription would be made available again on November 29th. But …

Axios reports: The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a dispute between Jack Daniel’s and a dog toy company that sells chewable “Bad Spaniels” whiskey bottles. The case carries implications for trademark law — and a number of companies, like Levi Strauss and the makers of Campbell Soup, have filed amicus briefs on the topic. Jack Daniel’s asked the Supreme …

Reuters reports: The Golden State Warriors were sued on Monday by an FTX customer who accused the reigning National Basketball Association champions of fraudulently promoting the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. Elliott Lam, a Canadian citizen and Hong Kong resident, filed his proposed class-action lawsuit in San Francisco federal court on behalf of “thousands, if not millions” of people outside the United …

TechCrunch reports: Facebook is notifying users that it will remove four information fields from profiles starting next month. These fields include religious views, political views, addresses and the “Interested in” field, which indicates a user’s sexual orientation. The change will go into effect on December 1. A spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch in an email that the reason behind …

The New York Daily News reports: Elon Musk is taunting former President Donald Trump with a crude, sexually charged Jesus meme to suggest he’s struggling to keep away from Twitter. The world’s richest man shared the religious meme with his 118 million users on Sunday in response to Trump saying he had “no reason” to return to Twitter after new …

Semafor reports: Trump has been working on a merger deal between the platform, which is privately owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, and Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that would take Trump’s business public, making it accountable to investors. Since Trump is a core part of Truth Social’s value, rejoining Twitter could create some …

CNBC reports: Bob Iger is back. Disney, in a shocking late Sunday announcement, said it had re-appointed Iger as chief executive, effective immediately, after Iger’s handpicked successor as CEO, Bob Chapek, came under fire for his management of the entertainment giant. Iger is a widely respected and liked figure at Disney. He oversaw its deals to acquire Pixar, Lucasfilm and …