Plus, FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried agrees to testify before House committee.
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The CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, is stepping down from the role. The current president and COO of Penguin Random House U.S., Nihar Malaviya, will succeed Dohle. Malaviya will serve on an interim basis starting Jan. 1. More: - Dohle’s resignation comes weeks after a federal judge blocked Penguin Random House from acquiring rival book publisher Simon & Schuster for about $2.18B.
- The Justice Department had argued that a merger between the two publishing giants would unlawfully limit competition and harm consumers.
- Dohle will also be stepping down from the board of German parent company Bertelsmann SE.
- In a statement, Chairman of the Bertelsmann supervisory board Christoph Mohn said Dohle more than doubled Penguin Random House revenues and quintupled its profit during his time as CEO.
- Dohle served as CEO for 15 years.
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TotalEnergies plans to write down its 19.4% stake in Russian gas firm PAO Novatek valued at $3.7B. The move would bring the French oil and gas company’s total Russia-related impairment charges to over $14B as it aims to scale back its business in Russia since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. More: - TotalEnergies is also removing its two representatives from Novatek’s board.
- Under a shareholder agreement, Novatek’s existing shareholders have a right of first refusal if TotalEnergies sells its stake.
- However, due to Western sanctions, one of Novatek’s largest shareholders, Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko would not be able to purchase the shares.
- Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom also has a 10% stake in Novatek.
- TotalEnergies also has stakes in two Russian liquefied-natural gas projects: Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG.
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Actor Brad Pitt has sold a 60% stake in his production company, Plan B Entertainment, to French media conglomerate Mediawan. Plan B Entertainment is behind Oscar-winning movies “The Departed,” “12 Years a Slave,” and “Moonlight.” According to sources, the deal values the production company at more than $300M. More: - Pitt founded Plan B in 2001 with ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, while they were still married, and former manager Brad Grey.
- Following his divorce from Aniston, Pitt became the sole owner of the production company.
- Plan B has produced several movies and TV series this year, including the Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde” and “She Said,” which details The New York Times’ investigation of sexual assault in Hollywood.
- Mediawan is a content studio that produces movies and TV series in Europe and the U.S.
- The company was co-founded by Chairman Pierre Antoine-Capton and owns more than 60 production labels.
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Apple has agreed to remove its concealment clause from employee contracts. The move comes after activist investor Nia Capital and the Minderoo Foundation led a petition urging Apple’s board to investigate claims that the iPhone maker has restricted employees from speaking out on sensitive issues related to workplace harassment and discrimination. More: - An independent counsel found cases where Apple may have restricted employees from speaking out on sensitive issues related to discrimination and abuse.
- Apple said provisions that might have prevented employees from speaking about unlawful conduct were found in limited instances.
- The tech giant said it is committed to a safe, inclusive, and respectful work environment, and its employees have the right to speak freely about their workplace conditions.
- Apple is removing the concealment clause for U.S. and international full-time and contract workers.
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Workers at an EV battery factory owned by Ultium Cells have voted to unionize. Ultium Cells is a joint venture between General Motors and South Korean group LG Chem in Ohio. Over 700 workers voted in an election asking for the United Auto Workers (UAW) to represent them. More: - The election was a first for workers making EVs and EV parts; about 16 workers voted against union representation.
- The vote was seen as a test of whether the UAW could garner support from workers in the EV industry.
- Ultium said it would respect the decision of its Ohio workforce and looked forward to a positive working relationship with the UAW.
- According to the Energy Department, there are roughly 2 million jobs related to producing or repairing combustion engine vehicles compared with 106,000 jobs associated with EVs.
- However, combustion engine jobs grew 8% from 2020 to 2021, compared with the 26% growth in EV jobs.
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Canada’s TC Energy shut down its Keystone pipeline in the U.S. after more than 14,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into a creek in Kansas. The spill is one of the largest in the U.S. in nearly 10 years and the third major leak of several thousand barrels from the pipeline since it began operations in 2010. More: - TC Energy detected the leak and shut down the pipeline on Wednesday.
- The cause of the leak is still unknown.
- The Keystone pipeline brings more than 622,000 barrels of Canadian crude oil daily to various parts of the U.S.
- A spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kellen Ashford, said he could not estimate how long cleaning up the spill would take.
- TC Energy has not provided details on when it expects to restart the pipeline.
- A previous crude oil spill shut the pipeline for two weeks.
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- A U.S. bankruptcy judge has ordered bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network to return $44M worth of crypto to customers. The fund would go to customers who never utilized the firm’s interest-bearing lending service.
- Arizona Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema said she would no longer register as a Democrat but as an independent, leaving the Democratic party. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said he had agreed to a request from Sinema to keep her committee assignments and the Democratic Senate majority would be little affected.
- According to sources, Juul Labs agreed to pay $1.7B to settle more than 5,000 lawsuits related to the allegations that the e-cigarette company marketed its products to children and teenagers.
- FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday at a hearing about the crypto exchange’s collapse leaving behind millions of creditors.
- More than 1,000 New York Times employees went on a one-day strike on Thursday after pay and benefits negotiations between the media company and its newsroom union stalled.
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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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