 Image: Elon Musk Twitter's account Late Sunday, Elon Musk presumably responded to Twitter’s lawsuit threat with a meme on Twitter. The meme features images of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO laughing with various captions touching on supposed sayings related to his aim to acquire the social media company. On Friday, it was disclosed that Musk was seeking to terminate his signed agreement to buy Twitter for $44B. More: - In April, Musk offered to take the social media platform private at $54.20 a share, which Twitter’s board accepted.
- In May, Musk said the transaction was on hold pending the receipt of information on how Twitter calculates spam/bot accounts on the platform.
- On Friday, Musk said he is terminating the deal to buy Twitter, accusing the social media platform of not complying with its contractual obligations.
- Twitter has hired M&A specialist law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, & Katz as it prepares to file a lawsuit against Musk with the Delaware Court of Chancery.
- In a letter responding to Musk on Monday, Twitter’s lawyers said Musk’s attempt to terminate the $44B acquisition agreement is invalid and wrongful.
- Twitter’s stock fell over 11% on Monday, closing at $32.65 a share.
| |
Russia has turned off Nord Stream 1, its main gas pipeline, to Germany for scheduled maintenance. The pipeline is supposed to re-open on July 21, but German officials worry that might not happen, heightening fears of increased gas shortages in Europe’s largest economy. More: - Last month, Russian state-backed gas company Gazprom cut gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany by 60%.
- Gazprom pointed to ongoing Western sanctions preventing the company from getting access to vital turbines.
- Germany had launched a three-stage emergency gas plan in March, moving to stage two in June following the reduction in gas supplies.
- Since Russia cut capacity on Nord Stream 1, the European gas price benchmark TTF has more than doubled, trading at €170 ($170) per megawatt-hour.
- The EU receives about 40% of its total gas needs from Russia.
In somewhat related news: - For the first time in 20 years, the exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. Dollar is about the same.
- The Euro was trading around $1.007 on Monday. It is down about 15% since the start of the year.
| |
 A message from GONG This #1 ranked revenue intelligence software transforms how sales teams do business. In the current economic climate, it’s more critical than ever for go-to-market teams to understand how headwinds are potentially impacting deals, renewals, and revenue goals. Understand your business with the Gong Reality Platform. Gong delivers personalized guidance on everything sales leaders need from what to coach on, to which deals need attention. - Deliver revenue predictability with Gong Forecast, the industry’s first reality-based forecast solution. Gong Forecast provides a complete picture of deal health and pipeline risk based on the actual customer interactions.
- Identify, track and alert sales and revenue leaders when economic triggers are mentioned in customer conversations with Gong’s Economic Pulse™. This functionality enables leaders to understand how trends impact deals over time, spot potential risk, and allow for quick action.
De-risk your sales pipeline with Gong and see how you can boost win rates and ACV +30%. Book a demo
| |
 Image: PGA Tour The Justice Department is investigating the PGA Tour for possible antitrust violations following its actions toward players involved with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament. Last month, LIV Golf made its debut; Saudi Arabia's sovereign-wealth fund backs the new golf tournament. The PGA Tour has suspended players who have chosen to participate in LIV's tournament, a move LIV says is anticompetitive. More: - This is the second federal probe into the PGA Tour's operations.
- In 1994, the FTC investigated the association over two of its rules – one banning golfers from playing in non-PGA events without the commissioner's permission and the other related to players' appearance on televised golf programs.
- By 1995, the FTC had abandoned the investigation.
- According to current PGA bylaws, players are required to request a release to be able to participate in tournaments that conflict with the PGA Tour events.
- Players are eligible for up to three releases a season, barring events in North America.
- Players who requested releases to play in the first LIV event in London last month were denied, which led to the suspension of those who still participated.
- Last week, suspended players who participated in the LIV tournament won a stay on their suspension ruling.
| |
BNPL startup Klarna had its valuation cut to $6.7B from $46B in its latest funding round. The Sweden-based fintech company raised $800M in fresh funding from investors including UAE’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Sequoia Capital. More: - Last year, Klarna was valued at $46B after raising $639M in a funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank.
- Klarna was founded in 2005, pioneering a new take on installment payments called “Buy Now, Pay Later.”
- The company has raised $4.5B to date.
- Last year, Klarna considered pursuing an IPO but decided to wait due to volatility in the stock market.
- The firm is also facing fierce competition from mainstream lenders entering the BNPL space and big tech firms like Apple.
- At its WWDC conference last month, Apple announced it would launch its own BNPL product, Apple Pay Later, in the U.S. later this year.
| |
| A message from ARGYLE Nearly half (49%) of 1099 workers reported being rejected for financial products they could afford. Why? More people are self-employed today than they have been in 20 years, with the trend expected to continue. What’s more, independent workers are pulling income from multiple, often diverse, gigs, largely due to rapid technological advancements and lightning bolt global events. Yet, our legacy financial infrastructures cater to traditional W2 workers with single, full-time jobs. The industry inadvertently marginalizes self-employed, 1099 workers, who struggle to access financial products like credit cards and loans. Our whitepaper breaks down what the lending space needs to know: - The loss at hand, and the loss to come, from overlooking the 1099 worker
- The needs and wants of the modern gig worker
- Opportunities and solutions presented by data democratization
- How financial services can brace for the growing gig economy with the help of employment data
Download the whitepaper
| |
 Image: AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli French pharmaceutical company HRA Pharma has submitted an application to the U.S. FDA to approve its birth control drug Opill for over-the-counter use. Opill is a progestin-only daily birth control drug; it was approved by the FDA in 1973 for prescription use. The move comes following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, subsequently making abortions illegal in many U.S. states. More: - HPA Pharma has been working to get Opill approved as an over-the-counter drug in the U.S. since 2015.
- The FDA is expected to make a decision on the application in about 10 months.
- If approved, Opill could be available over the counter as early as 2023.
- In the U.S., about 65% of women aged 15 to 49 use contraception, with birth control pills being the most common method used.
| |
EV startup Rivian Automotive plans to lay off hundreds of workers, or about 5% of its total workforce. According to sources, these are non-manufacturing roles and mostly in areas the company says it grew too quickly. Rivian has more than 14,000 workers and has operations in California, Illinois, and Michigan, as well as in Canada and the U.K. More: - Rivian doubled its headcount in the last year as it pushed to increase its EV production.
- The company went public in November in one of the biggest IPOs ever but has fallen over 70% since then.
- Rivian shares closed at $29.93, down ~6% for the day.
- Rivian investors include Amazon and Ford Motor.
- The company has a contract with Amazon to build 100,000 electric delivery vans by the end of the decade.
- Last week, Rivian announced it is on track to produce 25,000 vehicles in 2022.
- The company delivered 4,467 electric trucks and SUVs to customers in Q2.
| |
Quick Hits - Elon Musk gave a shout-out to Boxabl, calling it a “cool product.” Invest in Boxabl today with over 15,000+ investors!*
- For the first time in 20 years, the exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. Dollar is about the same. The Euro was trading around $1.007 on Monday. It is down about 15% since the start of the year.
- Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone was charged with fraud by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over alleged failure to declare £400M ($476M) of overseas assets to the government.
- Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle has asked Spirit to further delay its shareholders’ vote postponed to July 15 to allow the airline more time to secure support for its proposed merger with Spirit.
- Gap CEO Sonia Syngal is stepping down effective immediately as the retailer struggles with falling sales and high costs. Company chairman Bob Martin will take over as interim CEO until a replacement is found. Syngal served as CEO for two and a half years.
- Amazon’s two-day sales event, Prime Day, is happening July 12 through 13. The eCommerce giant is banking on the sales event to boost slowing sales growth. Amazon is expecting to generate more than $12.5B in sales globally over the two days.
- Use at-home lab testing to find the hormonal cause of low sex drive, slow metabolism, fatigue, brain fog and stress. Apply code INSIDE for 20% off this week only.*
*This is a sponsored post
| |
| |
 |  | 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. | |
De-risk your sales pipeline with Gong. | |
| |
