Plus, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns.
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 Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes (left), Theranos president and COO Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani (right) | Image: YICHUAN CAO/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES, STEPHEN LAM/REUTERS Former Theranos President and COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was found guilty on all 12 fraud charges related to his time at the blood-testing startup. The verdict comes six months after a federal jury found Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes guilty on four of the 11 charges of fraud against her. Balwani was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. More: - Balwani oversaw Theranos’ lab, where the blood testing occurred.
- He was accused of dismissing and sometimes firing employees who raised concerns about the performance of Theranos technology.
- Balwani was accused of being responsible for the financial models given to investors that exaggerated revenue.
- Balwani also managed Theranos’ partnership with Walgreens, where the pharmacy retailer installed Theranos blood testing equipment at 40 locations.
- Balwani joined Theranos in 2009 as vice chairman of its board and became its President and COO from 2010 until 2016.
- Balwani faces up to 20 years in prison for each count for which he is found guilty.
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The EU has approved new digital regulations targeting big tech, focusing on anticompetitive behavior and illegal content. The Digital Markets Act is expected to enter into force in the coming months and apply to all regulated companies as early as Jan. 2023. The laws come with non-compliance fines of up to 20% of a company’s global annual revenue. More: - The Digital Markets Act adds new obligations on how big tech firms operate relating to online messaging, digital advertising, and the app ecosystem.
- It could force Apple to allow EU customers to download apps directly from developers instead of only through the App Store.
- The Act also requires large social media platforms like Facebook to take steps to tackle illegal content and other material regulators view as harmful.
- It also requires platforms to give users an avenue to register their complaints about content moderation.
- The Act also bans companies like Amazon from using third-party seller data to inform its own products.
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 Image: Flutterwave Nigerian fintech startup Flutterwave is accused of fraud and money laundering by Kenya’s financial regulators. Kenya’s Asset Recovery Agency accuses the payments company of using its bank accounts as conduits for money laundering under the guise of providing merchant services. The agency froze 62 accounts with a total of $52.5M linked to Flutterwave and six other companies. The agency also accused Flutterwave of operating in Kenya without a valid license from the Central Bank of Kenya. More: - In a statement responding to the allegations, Flutterwave said the claims were false, and it has the records to verify this.
- The company said its anti-money laundering practices and operations are regularly audited by one of the Big Four accounting firms.
- Flutterwave was founded by Olugbenga “GB” Agboola in 2016 and is considered the highest valued African startup.
- The San Francisco-headquartered, Lagos-based company raised a $250M Series D at a $3B valuation in February.
- To date, Flutterwave has raised $475M; investors include B Capital Group, Y Combinator, Greycroft, and Tiger Global Management.
- Earlier this year, Flutterwave and its leadership team were accused of defrauding its early employees and sexual misconduct.
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 Rajeev Misra | Image: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images SoftBank senior executive Rajeev Misra is stepping back from one of his roles at the Japanese conglomerate to launch a new $6B fund backed by Abu Dhabi. Misra served as SoftBank’s CEO of Global Advisors overseeing the firm’s Vision Fund 2 and CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisors, which manages Vision Fund. Softbank has been under pressure following the downturn in technology stocks this year. More: - Vision Fund reported a record 3.5T yen ($25.7B) loss for its fiscal year ended March 31.
- Misra will step down from his role as CEO of SoftBank Global Advisors but will remain CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisors, which manages Vision Fund.
- Misra will also remain executive vice president of SoftBank Group, the parent company.
- SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son plans to take a more direct leadership role with Vision Fund 2, supported by the existing executive team.
- The new $6B fund is backed by Abu Dhabi’s state investment funds Mubadala, ADQ, and Royal Group.
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 The Hengchi 5 | Image: Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande launched its first car from its EV unit as it pivots to producing vehicles to generate revenue. Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group debuted an electric SUV called Hengchi 5, priced at Rmb179,000 ($26,700), and began taking orders for the vehicle. Last year, Evergrande chair Hui Ka Yan announced the real estate company would shift its focus to manufacturing EVs. More: - Evergrande Group has more than $300B of liabilities, including $20B in offshore dollar-denominated bonds.
- Last December, the company defaulted on its bond payments.
- Evergrande is aiming to release a debt restructuring plan by the end of this month.
- The company plans to deliver its first EVs in October.
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Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co is in advanced talks to buy biotech firm Seagen for more than $40B. The companies are discussing a price of over $200 a share for Seagen, a ~12% premium on Seagen’s closing price on Thursday. Merck aims to sign the deal on or before the release of its quarterly earnings scheduled for July 28. More: - Acquiring Seagen would expand Merck’s line of cancer medications, which includes immunotherapy Keytruda.
- Last year, Merck earned $17.2B in sales from Keytruda. The drug is expected to lose its patent protection by the end of the decade.
- The Seagen deal is expected to draw antitrust reviews from both the Justice Department and the FTC.
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- WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to Russian drug charges, admitting she was carrying hashish oil in her luggage but saying she didn’t mean to break Russia’s drug laws. Russian persecutors accuse Griner of carrying two vape cartridges containing a total of 0.702 grams of hashish oil when she was stopped at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in February.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday following the mass resignation of members of his government. Johnson said a timetable for the leadership election would be announced next week.
- Twitter said it removes over 1 million spam accounts daily from its platform. On a conference call on Thursday, the company said under 5% of its users who are served ads are spam accounts.
- According to a June 8 filing with the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations, Donald Trump left the board of his social media company weeks before it was issued federal subpoenas.
- Jobless claims for the week ended July 2 totaled 235,000, adding 4,000 from the previous period. Another report showed companies announced 32,517 layoffs in June, up 57% from the previous month.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or through email at vanessa@inside.com |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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