The FAA grounded all U.S. commercial flights on Wednesday morning around 7:20 a.m. ET after suffering an overnight outage to a critical pilot-alert system called Notice to Air Missions. The system provides safety information to flight crews. The federal agency resumed flights at 9:07 a.m. ET, and it is still investigating the cause of the initial outrage. More: - According to FlightAware, roughly 1,200 flights to, from, or within the U.S. were canceled due to the outrage.
- More than 7,800 flights were delayed.
- International flights to the U.S. were allowed to continue to their destinations; however, some were placed in holding patterns as airports became congested.
- About 21,464 flights, accounting for about 2.9 million available seats, were scheduled to depart airports in the U.S. on Wednesday.
- The Senate's transportation committee said it would look into what caused the outages and ways to prevent them in the future.
| |
Disney has named Nike's executive chairman, Mark Parker, as its new board chairman, succeeding Susan Arnold. Parker will resume the role following Disney's annual shareholders' meeting in March. Parker is a seven-year member of Disney's board. More: - Arnold will step down from the board at the end of her term as she has reached the board's 15-year limit.
- With Arnold's exit, Disney's board will be reduced to 11 members.
- Disney also objected to Trian Fund Management's Nelson Peltz joining its board.
- Disney shared Peltz's intentions and asked shareholders to vote for all board nominees rather than nominee Nelson Peltz.
- Two months ago, Trian took an ~$800M stake in Disney, seeking to make operational improvements to the company.
- According to sources, Trian did not support the reappointment of former CEO Bob Iger following Bob Chapek's departure.
- Peltz plans to launch a proxy battle on Thursday.
| |
 A message from MASTERWORKS A Banksy got everyday investors 32% returns? Mhm, sure. So what's the catch? We know it may sound too good to be true. But, it's not only possible – it's happening – and thousands of investors are smiling all the way to the bank. Thanks to the fine art investing platform, Masterworks. These results aren’t cherry picking. This is the whole bushel. Masterworks has built a track record of 8 exits, the last 3 realizing +13.9%, +17.8%, and +21.5% net returns each – even while financial markets plummeted. But art? Really? Ok skeptics, here are the numbers. Contemporary art prices: - Outpaced the S&P 500 by 131% over the last 26 years.
- Have the lowest correlation to equities of any asset class
- Remained stable through the dot-com bubble and ‘08 crisis
Got your attention, yet? Inside readers can skip the waitlist with this exclusive link. Skip The Waitlist See important Regulation A disclosures.
| |
Tesla plans to spend $770M to expand its Austin, Texas, factory. According to recent filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Tesla plans to spend about $770M building new facilities in the area, including a battery cell testing and manufacturing facility, among other things. More: - Tesla opened its Austin factory in April 2022.
- The company makes some of its Model Y vehicles at the location and plans to produce its Cybertruck there as well.
- Tesla also has factories in Fremont, California; Berlin, Germany; and Shanghai, China.
- CEO Elon Musk has previously referred to the Berlin and Austin facilities as gigantic money furnaces.
- Last week, Tesla reported it delivered 1.31 million vehicles in 2022, up 40% YoY, and produced 1.37 million, up 47% YoY.
- Last year, Tesla accounted for 65% of all EV sales in the U.S.
| |
Defunct crypto exchange FTX has recovered more than $5B in various assets, including cash, liquid cryptocurrency, and liquid investment securities. The amount does not include the $425M in crypto held by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas. More: - FTX’s attorney said the firm is still missing some funds that are owed to customers, but the amount is still unclear.
- In December, FTX’s new leadership said it could only find just over $1B.
- FTX estimates it owes its creditors between $1B and $10B.
- The actual amount FTX owes is still unclear.
- FTX’s attorney Adam Landis said the company’s founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, asked for a backdoor for sister firm Alameda Research to borrow from FTX customers without their permission.
- Bankman-Fried created a line of credit worth $65B from the FTX to Alameda.
| |
Crypto exchange Binance plans to increase its workforce by 15% to 30% in 2023. CEO Changpeng Zhao made the announcement on Wednesday at the Crypto Finance Conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The move contrasts with other crypto firms, which have announced several job cuts in recent months. More: - According to Zhao, Binance grew its workforce from 3,000 to nearly 8,000 in 2022.
- Zhao said Binance is not super-efficient at the moment, and the company needs to get well-organized before the next crypto bull run.
- Last year the crypto sector suffered multiple high-profile collapses and bankruptcies, which sent a ripple effect across the industry.
- About $1.4T was wiped from the crypto market in 2022.
| |
Amazon plans to open up its "Buy with Prime" feature to all U.S. merchants by the end of the month. The feature allows online retailers outside its network to use its payment and delivery services. Amazon launched "Buy with Prime" in April as an invite-only option; it will be available to U.S.-based merchants by Jan. 31. More: - Amazon said the feature increased shopper conversion rate by an average of 25%.
- Amazon Prime members will be able to buy products from these merchants by clicking the "Buy with Prime" button on their storefront.
- Amazon's "Buy with Prime" competes with Shopify's Pay feature, which allows online merchants to sell products directly to consumers.
- In September, Shopify sent a notice to its merchants warning them that Amazon's "Buy with Prime" violates its terms of service.
| |
Quick Hits - Delight your family, guests, or team like never before with Vestaboard, the award-winning messaging display. Learn more.*
- Meta Platforms said it would no longer use user activity on Facebook and Instagram to tailor ads for teens. The company also removed the gender option for advertisers to target teens on both platforms.
- LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault has promoted his eldest daughter Delphine Arnault to lead fashion brand Dior. Current Dior CEO Pietro Beccari has been promoted to lead the company’s flagship brand, Louis Vuitton.
- ABL Space’s RS1 rocket suffered an issue shortly after taking off for its first mission on Tuesday. The rocket’s launch pad was also damaged.
- Bed, Bath, & Beyond shares closed at $3.49 on Wednesday, up nearly 70% for the day.
- Low email open rates? Test out these 4 workflow strategies to get higher open rates — up to 300% more.*
*This is sponsored content.
| |
Upcoming Events - January 10 - Inside Startups Coffee Break (Register Here)
- January 12 - AMA with Gun.io - Building and managing software development teams w/ Deividi Silva (Watch On Demand)
- January 13 - AMA with LinearB - Improving workflow for developers w/ Ori Keren (Watch On Demand)
- January 17 - Inside Marketing Coffee Break (Register Here)
- January 18 - Inside Interview with Lacework - 4 Common Attack Paths in Cloud Security (Register Here)
| |
 |  | 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. | |
Discover how to invest in the recession-resistant art market with 10-30% historical returns with Masterworks.
| |
