👋 Bye, Bard
Google just rebranded their chatbot...Bell lays off 9% of its workforce; Google settles another lawsuit; King Charles diagnosed with cancer; Disney’s $1.5B stake in Epic Games; and much more.
Good morning fellow enthusiasts 👋,
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IN THIS ISSUE
💰 Uber makes first ever FY profit
📺 Disney’s $1.5B stake in Epic Games
🇬🇧 King Charles diagnosed with cancer
On this day. On February 9, 1943, the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal ended with a US victory over Japanese forces.
IMPORTANT
☎️ Bell lays off 9% of its workforce
BCE Inc., Canada’s largest telecom company, is selling off 45 of its 103 regional radio stations and cutting nine percent of its workforce (4,800 employees), including journalists and other Bell Media employees.
Bell Media President Sean Cohan revealed plans to divest 45 radio stations to seven buyers, subject to CRTC approval. The layoffs are in regard to regulatory challenges and fewer advertising revenues, marking the second major layoff at Bell Media since last spring.
🤖 Goodbye Bard, hello Gemini
Google has just given its Bard chatbot a facelift and a new name: Gemini. But its not just a new name. They also released Gemini Advanced as a competitor to Microsoft and OpenAI, where you can sign up for $19.99 a month (in the US).
This subscription gives you access to the Ultra 1.0 AI model and two terabytes of cloud storage, along with productivity suites and Gmail. Google also plans to leverage its massive Android user base to promote Gemini as the preferred digital assistant on Android phones.
🇺🇸 US Senate unveils $118 billion in aid
Senators unveiled a bipartisan aid package totaling $118.2 billion for Ukraine, Israel, and the southern U.S. border. The bill gives $60.1 billion to Ukraine, $14.1 billion to Israel, and $20.2 billion to border security, along with additional funds for humanitarian aid and defense.
President Biden threw his support behind the plan, which includes provisions for emergency border closures. Senate Majority Leader Schumer has scheduled a vote for Wednesday. However, House Republicans are at odds with the proposal, advocating for a separate bill exclusively focused on purely aid for Israel.
FINANCE
Image courtesy of MOZCO Mateusz Szymanski / Getty Images
💰 Uber makes first ever FY profit
Uber has finally turned its first full year profit since going public in 2019, driving its share price to a record high of $71.90 on Wednesday. (Months after just recently joining the S&P 500.)
The company exceeded Wall Street's expectations with strong bookings in the final quarter, boosting both profit and revenue. Uber also highlighted the success of its membership platform, Uber One, with approximately 19 million members contributing to gross bookings.
🫰 Oh, Snap(chat)
Snapchat had a rough Wednesday this week when its shares took a 34% nosedive following disappointing earnings. Revenue fell short of expectations, and their future guidance was less than promising.
The company has been struggling in a challenging advertising market, mostly in comparison to advertising giants like Meta. This setback ranks among their top three worst market days since their IPO in 2017.
BUSINESS
Image courtesy of Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas
🤑 Google settles another lawsuit
Google just agreed to cough up $350 million to settle a lawsuit linked to a security breach on their old social media platform, Google+. Back in 2018, a data breach left users' personal info out in the open, and Google conveniently forgot to mention it.
This isn't Google's first rodeo either. They already shelled out $7.5 million to settle a previous lawsuit, but this time it's the Rhode Island government they're making nice with. Google’s tried, but their appeals were rejected.
📺 Disney’s $1.5B stake in Epic Games
Disney is jumping into the gaming industry with a $1.5 billion partnership with Epic Games, (the creators behind Fortnite), as well as purchasing a minority stake in the company. The goal is to create a gaming and entertainment universe jam-packed with all the Disney favourites from Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.
But that's not all. They've also reported a profit increase, a $3 billion buyback and are bumping up dividends by $0.5/share for their shareholders. See their full earnings release here.
POLITICS
Image courtesy of US Today
🇬🇧 King Charles diagnosed with cancer
King Charles III was just diagnosed with cancer while in treatment for an enlarged prostate. The type of cancer has not yet been made public. According to Buckingham Palace, he's started on regular treatments and is taking a step back from his royal duties for a bit.
If things get tough and the King can't fulfill his official duties, then the 'counsellors of state' will step in. This includes Queen Camilla, Prince William, the Princess Royal, and Prince Edward. (He'll still be having his weekly catch-ups with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, unless otherwise advised.)
🇷🇺 The Putin interview
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, is planning to release an upcoming interview featuring none other than Russian President Vladimir Putin. He secured the interview during a recent trip to Moscow, marking Putin's first conversation with a Western media journalist since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
(Note: The interview is scheduled to be released at 6 PM EST on Thursday this week. By the time this newsletter issue is sent out, it should have already been released on Tucker Carlson’s website, Twitter, etc.)
Thank you for reading! Consider following me on social for sneak peaks and extra content. (Optional, yet appreciated.)
— Jacob
📚 Book of the Week
Note: I don’t recommend books that I haven’t read or that I would never read. The books I recommend are books I have already read or that I will eventually read.
The Personal MBA — Josh Kaufman
Book Description:
Many people assume they need to attend business school to learn how to build a successful business or advance in their career. That's not true. The vast majority of modern business practice requires little more than common sense, simple arithmetic, and knowledge of a few very important ideas and principles.
The Personal MBA 10th Anniversary Edition provides a clear overview of the essentials of every major business topic: entrepreneurship, product development, marketing, sales, negotiation, accounting, finance, productivity, communication, psychology, leadership, systems design, analysis, and operations management...all in one comprehensive volume.
Inside you'll learn concepts such as:
The 5 Parts of Every Business: You can understand and improve any business, large or small, by focusing on five fundamental topics.
The 12 Forms of Value: Products and services are only two of the twelve ways you can create value for your customers.
4 Methods to Increase Revenue: There are only four ways for a business to bring in more money. Do you know what they are?
Business degrees are often a poor investment, but business skills are always useful, no matter how you acquire them.
The Personal MBA will help you do great work, make good decisions, and take full advantage of your skills, abilities, and available opportunities--no matter what you do (or would like to do) for a living.
As of Jan 31, 2024, (resulting from my Amazon.ca Associates account being terminated) I do not earn any affiliate commissons from the links below.