Reed Hastings has officially stepped down from his role as Netflix's co-CEO. Greg Peters, the former COO, will replace him. More: - Hastings will continue at Netflix as the company's executive chairman.
- Netflix had struggled for several quarters, seeing a drop in subscribers before adding 7 million new subscribers in Q4 2022. This figure surpassed market expectations by over 4 million.
- The company currently has 230 million subscribers and brought in $29.7B in revenue during 2021.
- The streaming giant has faced more competition from other streaming services, something that has affected its stock price.
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The FTC has stated that Martin Shkreli, also known as "Pharma Bro," has violated his lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry. Shkreli has founded a Web3 drug-discovery platform. More: - The FTC claims that Shkreli's company, named Druglike, represents a direct breach of a court decision to ban him from any direct or indirect activity in the pharmaceutical industry.
- In addition to the lifetime ban, Shkreli was ordered by a federal judge to pay $64M. So far, he has not paid back anything to the victims of his price-pumping scheme.
- Shkreli is known as the former CEO of Vyera, a pharmaceutical company that bought Daraprim. The latter was a drug used to treat toxoplasmosis, a rare parasitic disease.
- He raised the price of Daraprim to $750, a 4,000% increase from its previous price of $17.50.
- The price hike caused national controversy and, later on, an investigation that led to a seven-year prison sentence.
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Thoma Bravo has acquired cybersecurity company Magnet Forensics for $1B. The latter is based in Waterloo, Canada. More: - Magnet Forensics provides companies with tools that help them find evidence, analyze it, and create reports based on the found data.
- According to the company, its software solution is used by over 4,000 clients who work in both the private and public sectors.
- In 2022, Magnet Forensics reported that its annual recurring revenue increased 50% YoY, reaching $80.9M.
- The company has worked with clients such as Microsoft, Amazon, Grayshift, Carahsoft, etc.
- Chicago-based Thoma Bravo now has over $110B in assets under management.
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The U.K. government is set to invest $372M in British Steel, Britain's second-biggest steel producer, to save it from bankruptcy. The government reportedly aims to replace the company's methods with eco-friendly ones. More: - The government will pay the $372M in several installments throughout the next few years.
- If the company were to go bankrupt, it could cost the government over $1B in decommissioning costs.
- British Steel was acquired by Chinese company Jingye three years ago, but the latter has been unable to fix the company's financial woes.
- The British government has made several conditions if the funding deal is to be completed, one of which is that there be no layoffs.
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Sony Ventures Corporation has closed a $204M investment fund. The funding will be deployed through the Sony Innovation Fund 3. More: - Sony Ventures Corporation was created in 2021 as a managing company for Sony Innovation Fund 3.
- The fund's LP list includes companies such as SMBC Group, Mizuho Group, Daiwa Securities Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, The Bank of Yokohama, The Shiga Bank, Lt, Koei Tecmo Group, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Mitsubishi Estate.
- The fund is deployed to fund high-growth tech startups across all stages.
- Its portfolio companies have had several successful exits. Some of them are:
- Senseye
- Sun Asterisk
- Susmed,
- Airmap,
- Mob Crush
- Wealth Navi, etc.
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Oil giant Shell USA is set to acquire electric vehicle charging company Volta for $169M. The latter is based in San Francisco. More: - Volta Charging is known for displaying advertising screens in its charging stations and then using that revenue to subsidize the charging costs.
- Volta has over 3,000 locations in 31 U.S. states and plans to double this number in the upcoming years.
- Its revenue in 2021 surpassed $15M, while the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the same year.
- With this acquisition, Shell now has 90,000 EV charging stations worldwide that carry its brand. The company aims to take this number to 500,000 by 2025.
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- New court filings show that Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted founder of Theranos, attempted to flee the U.S. before being sentenced to 11 years in prison.
- North Carolina-based pharmaceutical company Pathalys Pharma has raised $150M in a funding round led by Abingworth.
- Walmart has launched Walmart Business, a new product that aims to help small and medium-sized businesses find the product that they purchase the most.
- Italy-based Intesa Sanpaolo is selling over $20B worth of assets after the European Central Bank warned the company that it could face a crisis if it doesn't improve its balance sheet.
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 |  | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. |   | | 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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