Twitter’s merger agreement with Musk stipulates that Musk can tweet about the deal while it is pending ‘so long as such Tweets do not disparage the Company or any of its Representatives’
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Apr 28, 2022 • 6 hours ago • 3 minute read • 176 Comments
Elon Musk’s criticism of a content decisions made by Twitter’s legal team is raising questions about his compliance with a non-disparagement agreement and the tone that the social media platform’s incoming owner will set for its users.
Musk tweeted he disagreed with a decision Twitter made in 2020 to restrict the distribution of a New York Post article about U.S. President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. The billionaire, who has about 87 million Twitter followers, called the company’s decision to lock the Post’s account on the platform “incredibly inappropriate.” His comment was followed by a wave of abusive tweets directed against the company’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde.
Musk, who on Monday reached a deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion, was responding to a tweet by a podcast host Saagar Enjeti about Gadde, the executive who oversees Twitter’s policy and legal teams. Enjeti described Gadde as “the top censorship advocate at Twitter who famously gaslit the world on Joe Rogan’s podcast and censored the Hunter Biden laptop story.” Gadde then became the subject of a wave of personal attacks by Twitter users on the platform.
Twitter’s merger agreement with Musk stipulates that Musk can tweet about the deal while it is pending “so long as such Tweets do not disparage the Company or any of its Representatives.” There was no indication that Twitter, which inked the deal with Musk after deciding his offer was attractive, would seek to cancel the sale because of his recent criticism.
Representatives for Musk and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gadde could not be reached for comment.
Dick Costolo, a former chief executive of Twitter, criticized Musk for the move. “Bullying is not leadership.. What’s going on? You’re making an executive at the company you just bought the target of harassment and threats,” Costolo tweeted.
Musk then tweeted back at Costolo: “What are talking about? I’m just saying Twitter needs to be politically neutral.”
Musk also weighed in on a discussion about Twitter’s deputy general counsel, Jim Baker. In response to critical comments made in a tweet by right-wing conspiracy theorist Mike Chernovich alleging Baker “facilitated fraud,” Musk responded: “Sounds pretty bad.”
Baker did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Katie Harbath, a former public policy director at Meta Platform Inc’s Facebook who now leads consultancy Anchor Change, said Musk’s criticism of Twitter’s content moderation raises concerns that he could overrule recommendations from the team charged with setting policy and procedure.
A key question, Harbath said, is whether Musk is “going to replace people inside of Twitter with people who go along with his viewpoints.”
Others worried that Twitter’s efforts to deal with harassment, misogyny and misinformation might take a backward step under Musk.
“Musk’s pursuit of his normal daily activities on Twitter exacerbate the worst aspects of the site and undercut the good work that folks at Twitter have been doing,” said Adam Conner, vice president for technology policy at the Center for American Progress.
While Musk’s activity on Twitter is attracting new scrutiny because of his deal on Monday to acquire the company, the world’s richest person is no stranger to controversy and criticism on the platform.
Last October, Musk criticized Missy Cummings, a Duke University professor who was hired by the U.S. vehicle safety regulator as an advisor, in a tweet that was followed by personal attacks online on Cummings. A longtime critic of Tesla’s driver assistant software, Cummings subsequently deleted her Twitter account.
In 2018, Musk called a British diver “a pedo guy” after he downplayed Musk’s idea of using SpaceX’s mini-submarine to rescue a boys’ soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand.
“If he proves incapable of tamping down the polarization, Twitter will slowly start to become less relevant because certain types of conversations will no longer be able to take place on it,” said David A. Kirsch, an associate professor of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland.
— Additional reporting from Bloomberg and National Post
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
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The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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