Plus, Biden administration stops taking applications for student loan forgiveness.
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FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, days after founder Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted that the company and customer assets were fine. In a statement, FTX said Bankman-Fried has stepped down as CEO but will continue to assist with the proceedings. John J. Ray III succeeds Bankman-Fried as FTX CEO. More: - Ray oversaw the liquidation of Enron following the energy company’s bankruptcy filing in late 2001.
- Ray also oversaw the bankruptcy cases of Nortel Networks, Fruit of the Loom, and Overseas Shipholding Group.
- FTX’s bankruptcy filing listed 134 of its firms, including FTX.com, Alameda Research, and U.S.-based FTX US.
- Earlier in the week, as FTX International was battling a liquidity crisis, Bankman-Fried said FTX US would not be impacted.
- On Friday afternoon, FTX US halted all withdrawals.
- FTX and its affiliate companies said they had more than 100,000 creditors and estimated their assets between $10B and $50B.
In related news: - The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team announced on Friday that it is suspending its partnership with FTX following news of the company’s bankruptcy filing.
- Mercedes-AMG Petronas is one of many sports teams and celebrities that signed sponsorship agreements with FTX.
- Celebrities who signed deals with the crypto exchange include Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, Trevor Lawrence, Kevin O’Leary, and Shaquille O’Neal.
- Sports teams involved with the exchange include the Miami Heat and the MLB.
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SoftBank released its fiscal Q2 2022 earnings on Friday, reporting a net profit of 3.03T yen (~$21.86B) for the July to September quarter. In the previous quarter, the Japanese conglomerate posted a net loss of 3.16T yen (~$22.8B). More: - Investment losses for its Vision Fund came in at 1.38T yen (~$9.75B).
- Last quarter SoftBank said it would reduce its stake in China's Alibaba from 24% to ~15%.
- SoftBank posted an estimated gain of 4.6T yen ($33.2B) in Q2.
- SoftBank took a $5.8B markdown on its holdings of more than 300 startups.
- During Friday's post-earnings briefing, SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son said the company had around $100M invested in FTX.
- SoftBank is expected to write down the investment to $0 following FTX's bankruptcy filing.
- Son announced he would not be speaking at the firm's post-earnings briefing for the foreseeable future.
- Son noted that he did not have any health issues.
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Elon Musk shared plans to add payments to Twitter during a meeting with the company’s employees on Thursday. Musk said the goal is to enable people on Twitter to be able to send money anywhere in the world instantly and in real-time. More: - Musk also discussed offering high-yield money market accounts, debit cards, checks, and loans.
- Musk added that Twitter users would have one balance on the platform that would simply go positive or negative.
- Twitter will pay more interest for positive accounts and charge less interest for negative accounts.
- Musk said users could get debit cards and traditional checks tied to their balance.
- Musk alluded to Twitter becoming a sort of bank, “the people’s financial institution,” and could also offer loans.
- According to sources, Twitter is working on getting a money transmitter license in Washington.
In related news: - Twitter suspended its $8 Twitter Blue program, which granted the verification badge to users.
- The suspension comes after several users who received the verification badge began impersonating lawmakers, athletes, and brands.
- Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly saw its shares fall more than 2% on Friday after a verified but parody Twitter account bearing the company’s name and likeness tweeted, “insulin is free now.”
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Amazon is undergoing a cost-cutting review and cutting back on unprofitable units at the company. According to sources, Amazon's leadership is evaluating its Alexa business as part of its cost-cutting review. More: - Amazon launched its Alexa business in 2014; the unit has more than 10,000 employees.
- Amazon's devices business, which includes Alexa, had an operating loss of more than $5B a year in the last few years.
- The e-commerce giant asked employees in some of its unprofitable units to look for jobs in other parts of the company.
- Amazon has either closed or suspended work on some of these teams.
- An Amazon spokesman said the company regularly conducts reviews of its investment outlook and financial performance.
- In a statement, the spokesman added that Amazon is considering the current macro-environment and opportunities to optimize costs as part of this year's review.
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TikTok has reduced its advertising revenue target this year to $10B from $12B. According to sources, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew announced this during an online employee meeting. More: - The updated full-year revenue guidance still represents a 150% YoY revenue growth.
- TikTok generates most of its revenue from advertising.
- In 2021, TikTok earned $4B in revenue from advertising.
- According to sources, TikTok’s leadership told employees to increase the number of app users to more than one billion daily active users by the end of this year and reduce the costs of acquiring and retaining said users.
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Electric vehicle makers Rivian, Nio, and Polestar reported their Q3 earnings this week with varying results. U.S.-based Rivian Automotive posted revenue of $536M and an adjusted net loss of $1.44B, or $1.57 a share, compared to an adjusted net loss of $776M reported same period last year. More: - Rivian reiterated its 25,000-vehicle production target for 2022.
- Chinese EV maker Nio reported revenue of $1.83B, up 32% YoY.
- Nio posted a net loss of $577.9M, 30 cents a share.
- Nio delivered 31,607 vehicles in Q3.
- Swedish EV maker Polestar reported revenue of $435.5M, up from $213M reported last year.
- Polestar posted a net profit of $299.4M, or 14 cents a share.
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- Hurricane Nicole left more than 600,000 homes and businesses with power in Florida after the storm made landfall on Thursday. Utility firms have restored power to about 90% of those who lost it. Hurricane Nicole is expected to cost ~$1.6B.
- The Biden administration has paused its acceptance of applications for the federal student loan forgiveness program after a federal judge in Texas, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, ruled the relief program unconstitutional.
- China has reduced the amount of time travelers and close contacts of virus cases must spend in quarantine. The country also cut back on its COVID-19 testing. According to a National Health Commission statement on Friday, travelers coming to China now only have to spend five days in a hotel or government facility, followed by three days confined at home.
- WeWork is closing 40 of its underperforming locations in the U.S. The company reported weaker-than-expected earnings on Thursday. The company’s stock is down more than 70% YTD.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a writer for Inside.com; she writes the daily Inside Business newsletter. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, traveling, and exploring. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | 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 and 1972 Fords. | |
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