OPEC+ announced a surprise 1.16 million barrels a day oil production cut over the weekend, which will take effect in May and run through the end of the year. Saudi Arabia led the reduction, committing to cut production by 500,000 barrels a day. Global oil prices jumped following news of the production cut. More: - International benchmark Brent crude rose 6.15% to $84.80 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 6.25% to $80.40 a barrel.
- Russia, a member of OPEC+, also announced on Sunday that it would cut its oil production by 500,000 barrels a day until the end of the year.
- Other countries reducing oil output include Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Algeria, Kazakhstan, and the UAE, which plans to cut its production by 144,000 barrels a day.
- Analysts predict the production cuts could reverse the recent decline in inflation, which would complicate interest rate decisions of central banks.
- In March, oil prices dropped to their lowest since December 2021, with Brent crude trading at around $74.36 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude at around $67.61.
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McDonald’s closed its U.S. corporate offices this week as the company prepares to lay off hundreds of workers. Earlier this year, the company announced it would cut jobs as part of a broad corporate restructuring. The company will deliver its staffing decisions virtually. More: - Last week the company told its employees they should work from home from Monday to Wednesday this week and cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and other outside parties.
- McDonald’s employs more than 150,000 workers globally, including its corporate roles and at its company-owned restaurants.
- The company has not disclosed how many employees will be impacted by the layoffs or how much the company aims to save from the cuts.
- McDonald’s shares closed at $282.14 on Monday, up ~1% for the day.
- The company is up 6.7% YTD.
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Automakers reported their first quarter U.S. sales numbers over the weekend. EV maker Tesla released its Q1 2023 production and deliveries on Sunday, reporting 422,875 total deliveries, up 36% YoY and 4% from Q4 2022, and 440,808 in total production. Earlier this year, Tesla cut the prices of its U.S.-listed vehicles by almost 20%. More: - General Motors sold 603,208 vehicles in Q1, up ~18% YoY.
- The U.S. automaker said it sold more than 20,000 EVs in a quarter for the first time in Q1.
- Toyota sold 469,558 vehicles in Q1, down ~9% YoY.
- EVs and hybrids accounted for about 25% of the Japanese automaker’s Q1 sales.
- Honda sold 284,507 vehicles in Q1, up ~7% YoY.
- Honda said it sold a record number of its hybrid-electric CR-V and Accord models.
- Stellantis sold 368,237 vehicles in Q1, down 9% YoY.
- Ford is expected to release its sales figures on Tuesday.
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World Wrestling Entertainment has agreed to merge with UFC, which is owned by Endeavor Group, to form a new parent company. Endeavor will hold a 51% controlling interest in the publicly traded combined entity, while WWE will own the remaining 49%. More: - The agreement gives UFC an enterprise value of $12.1B and WWE an enterprise value of $9.3B.
- WWE has a market cap of about $6.5B, and Endeavor has a market cap of about $10.7B.
- Following news of the planned merger, shares in both companies fell more than 4%.
- WWE fell ~4.6%, and Endeavor fell ~6%.
- Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel is expected to head both Endeavor and the new company.
- The deal is expected to close in H2 2023.
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The FTC has rejected Illumina’s $7B acquisition of cancer-test developer Grail, saying the deal would harm competition if allowed to proceed. The commission’s vote was unanimous, including from its lone Republican member. More: - Illumina is the dominant producer of the gene-sequencing machines that the tests use to look for signs of cancer in blood samples.
- The FTC ordered Illumina to undo the merger, reversing a previous ruling of an administrative law judge.
- The commission said the merger of Grail and Illumina would hurt development of tests that can detect cancers early while increasing prices.
- Illumina plans to appeal the FTC’s decision in federal court and expects it to be delayed pending the appeal.
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TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance has launched another social platform called Lemon8. The app, often described as a mix between Pinterest and Instagram, entered the U.S. App Store’s Top Charts on Monday. Lemon8 was launched globally in March 2020. More: - Lemon8 has been downloaded 16 million times globally, with Japan accounting for 38% of its total installs.
- According to app intelligence provider Apptopia, Lemon8 has about 4.25 million monthly active users.
- Last month, Insider reported that ByteDance quietly launched Lemon8 in the U.S. and U.K. and has been paying creators to promote it.
- As TikTok faces a potential ban in the U.S. and other western markets, ByteDance has been working to expand its offerings.
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- Twitter has updated its label for accounts with the verified blue check mark. As the company delayed plans to remove legacy verification checkmarks from April 1 to April 15, profiles with blue check marks now read, “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account.” The change prompted a number of celebrities to publicly declare that they didn’t pay for Twitter.
- Russian authorities have arrested a woman in St. Peterburg on suspicion of planning the bomb explosion in a café that killed prominent pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
- NASA announced the four astronauts who will fly on the agency’s upcoming Artemis II mission around the moon. The spaceflight, currently scheduled for late 2024, will carry three Americans and one Canadian: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
- Data storage company Western Digital confirmed that hackers withdrew data from its systems during a network security incident last week.
- Louisiana State University won the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday, beating Iowa 102-85. This is the university’s first-ever women’s basketball national title. The game drew record TV ratings for women’s college basketball.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie 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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