- Charles Schwab Corp. discloses imminent, sweeping ‘TD Ameritrade’ layoffs, indirectly revealing it in new SEC filing that reports it will expense severance mostly in 2023 to gain ‘incremental’ $500 million synergy in 2024 and beyond RIABiz
- Charles Schwab plans to cut jobs, close offices as downturn hits Wall Street New York Post
- Charles Schwab cutting jobs, sees cost savings of $500 million CNBC Television
- Charles Schwab to Save $500 Million Annually With Job Cuts, Office Closures Bloomberg
- Charles Schwab Corp. discloses imminent, sweeping ‘TD Ameritrade’ layoffs, indirectly revealed in new SEC filing that reports it will expense severance mostly in 2023 to gain ‘incremental’ $500 million synergy in 2024 and beyond RIABiz
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Corp
NVIDIA Collaborates With SoftBank Corp. to Power SoftBank’s Next-Gen Data Centers Using Grace Hopper Superchip for Generative AI and 5G/6G – NVIDIA Blog
- NVIDIA Collaborates With SoftBank Corp. to Power SoftBank’s Next-Gen Data Centers Using Grace Hopper Superchip for Generative AI and 5G/6G NVIDIA Blog
- Nvidia, SoftBank team up for generative AI and 5G/6G applications Seeking Alpha
- Nvidia Omniverse enlists top electronics makers to digitalize factories VentureBeat
- World’s Leading Electronics Manufacturers Adopt NVIDIA Generative AI and Omniverse to Digitalize State-of-the-Art Factories NVIDIA Blog
- World’s Leading Electronics Manufacturers Adopt NVIDIA Generative AI and Omniverse to Digitalize State-of-the-Art Factories Yahoo Finance
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Rupert Murdoch calls off proposed Fox-News Corp merger
Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp and co-chairman of 21st Century Fox, arrives at the Sun Valley Resort of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 10, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch has withdrawn the proposal to re-combine Fox Corp and News Corp.
Fox said Tuesday its board received a letter from Murdoch, its chairman, and his son and Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch that “determined that a combination is not optimal for the shareholders” of either of the companies at the time.
related investing news
The potential merger had faced opposition from shareholders in recent months, who didn’t believe a merger would showw the true value of News Corp. if it merged with Fox.
In a note to News Corp. employees, Robert Thomson said Tuesday that while the deal was called off it would have no impact on employees, according to a memo reviewed by CNBC.
In October, the companies said they had formed a special committee to consider the deal.
A combination of the two companies would have unified leadership in Murdoch’s empire and cut costs at a time when the audience is shrinking for both print and TV media. News Corp. owns Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones. Fox, with what was left over from the $71.3 billion Twenty-First Century Fox sale to Disney in 2019, owns right wing networks Fox News and Fox Business, which is a CNBC competitor.
Murdoch had split up the companies in 2013. The Murdoch family trust controls about 40% or the voting rights of both companies.
–CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this article.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
Rupert Murdoch considering merging Fox and News Corp once again | Rupert Murdoch
The two parts of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire are discussing a merger nearly a decade after they split.
The merger would combine Murdoch’s Fox News and TMZ assets with News Corp’s newspaper and online news operations, including the Times and the Sun in the UK, the Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US, and the Australian.
In a press release, News Corp confirmed that following instructions from Murdoch and the Murdoch Family Trust, the companies have formed a special committee “composed of independent and disinterested members of the board” to begin exploring a potential combination.
The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the News Corp chief executive, Robert Thomson, had informed staff about the potential merger.
“At News Corp, we are constantly pursuing ways to enhance our performance and expand our businesses, and the upheaval in media presents both challenges and opportunities,” he wrote in a memo. “However, I would like to stress that the Special Committee has not made any determination at this time, and there can be no certainty that any transaction will result from its evaluation.”
After years of expansion globally, Murdoch split his empire in 2013, placing the print business in a newly created public entity, News Corp, and the TV and entertainment under 21st Century Fox.
Murdoch said at the time that his vast media holdings had become “increasingly complex” and that a new structure would simplify operations. The split also shielded Fox’s entertainment assets from any potential financial fallout from a phone hacking scandal involving the media conglomerate’s now-defunct News of the World publication in the United Kingdom.
The thinking at the time was that separating the companies ultimately would generate value for shareholders, according to one person familiar with the decision-making. That vision was realized as Fox sold the bulk of its film and television assets to Walt Disney for $71bn in 2019.
The sale left Fox focused on live events such as news and sports, rather than “disruptable” scripted entertainment content on the streaming platforms, Wall Street analysts observed at the time.
The major streaming services, however, have begun breaching the protective moat. Apple and Amazon, two technology giants with deep financial resources, have begun bidding for sports, securing rights to stream Major League Baseball, soccer and football games.
Fox recently renewed a long-term deal with the NFL to continue broadcasting Sunday afternoon games, but relinquished Thursday Night Football to Amazon.
Reuniting Fox and News Corp would give the combined companies greater scale to compete, and complement their assets, the person familiar with the proposal said. The combined companies would have about $24bn in revenue.
Murdoch, 91, currently has near-controlling stakes in both the companies. His son Lachlan Murdoch is chairman and CEO of Fox Corp. Companies that adopt such arrangements typically make subsequent mergers subject to approval by a majority of shareholders not affiliated with their controlling shareholder, though it’s not clear whether this will be the case in this instance.
As of market-close on Friday, News Corp had a market cap of $9.31bn and Fox Corp was $16.84bn. News Corp shares surged 5% and Fox rose about 1% in after-market trade.
Reuters contributed to this story
Rupert Murdoch Explores Reuniting His Media Empire by Recombining Fox and News Corp
Rupert Murdoch
has proposed a recombination of
Fox Corp.
FOX -0.75%
and
News Corp,
NWSA -2.13%
the two wings of his media empire, nearly a decade after they split, according to people familiar with the situation.
Special board committees have recently been established by both companies to study a possible deal and evaluate potential financial terms, the people said. The discussions are at an early stage, they added.
Reuniting the companies would bring Mr. Murdoch’s highest-profile properties back under one roof. Fox Corp. owns Fox News and the Fox broadcast network, along with local TV stations and the Tubi streaming service. News Corp is the parent company of Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, as well as other assets including HarperCollins Publishers and news organizations in the U.K. and Australia.
Mr. Murdoch is executive chairman of News Corp and chairman of Fox Corp. His son
Lachlan Murdoch
is co-chairman of News Corp and executive chairman and chief executive of Fox.
The Murdoch family trust has a roughly 39% voting stake in News Corp and about a 42% voting stake in Fox Corp., according to securities filings from the companies. The trust’s ownership of the combined company would be expected to stay roughly around those levels, some of the people said.
The merger would likely be structured as a stock deal, some of the people said. The exchange ratio, reflecting the relative value of each company, would be negotiated by the board committees, they said. Fox had a market value of about $17 billion as of the close of trading Friday, while News Corp’s was about $9 billion.
It is possible a combination of the companies won’t occur. Other strategic alternatives also could be considered, some of the people said.
The elder Mr. Murdoch, 91 years old, built an empire over several decades, turning an Australian newspaper company into a global business spanning publishing, entertainment and TV news, as he acquired or created iconic brands.
In 2013, he split up his holdings. The publishing assets went into a new publicly traded company, which took on the company’s legacy name, News Corp. The other business, including TV and film assets, was named 21st Century Fox and eventually became Fox Corp.
Write to Cara Lombardo at cara.lombardo@wsj.com, Dana Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. Recalls A Ready-To-Eat Bacon Topping Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination
WASHINGTON, May 20, 2022 – Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp., a Sioux Center, Iowa establishment, is recalling approximately 185,610 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) bacon topping products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
FSIS expects there to be additional products containing the bacon and urges consumers to check back frequently to view updated lists and labels.
The RTE item was produced on various dates between Feb. 21, 2022 to Feb. 23, 2022 and March 3, 2022 to March 5, 2022. The following product is subject to recall [view labels]:
- 5-lb. packages containing “Golden Crisp PATRICK CUDAHY PRECOOKED BACON TOPPING” SKU 43200 12002 with lot codes 2054, 2062 and 2063.
- 5-lb. packages containing “Smithfield PRECOOKED BACON TOPPING” SKU 43200 12003 with lot codes 2063 and 2064.
- 5-lb. packages containing “Golden Crisp PATRICK CUDAHY FULLY COOKED BACON TOPPING APPLEWOOD SMOKED” SKU 43200 12296 with lot codes 2053 and 2062.
- 5-lb. packages containing “Smithfield FULLY COOKED BACON TOPPING” SKU 43200 12663 with lot code 2064.
- 5-lb. packages containing “MEMBER’S MARK FULLY COOKED BACON CRUMBLES” SKU 78742240923 with “BEST IF USED BY” date of “2022-11-18.”
The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 27384” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to distributors and retail locations nationwide. Some of the bacon product may have been used to produce other products.
The problem was discovered after the firm received a customer complaint reporting they found metal in the RTE bacon topping product.
There have been no confirmed reports of injuries or adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.
FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators or found at distributor and retail locations. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. Additionally, distributors and retailers are urged not to sell these products. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.
Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Smithfield Consumer Affairs hotline at 1-844-342-2596. Members of the media with questions about the recall can contact Jim Monroe, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp., at 757-365-3559 or jmonroe@smithfield.com.
Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or live chat Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.
Suspected Chinese hackers hit News Corp with ‘persistent cyberattack’
Dozens of journalists at the News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal were targeted in the hack, which appeared to focus on reporters and editors covering China-related issues, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Cybersecurity firm Mandiant (MNDT), which News Corp (NWS) hired to investigate the breach, believes the hackers are “likely involved in espionage activities to collect intelligence to benefit China’s interests,” said David Wong, vice president of consulting at Mandiant.
The intrusion, which appeared to date to at least February 2020, compromised email accounts and Google Drive documents used by certain Wall Street Journal journalists, one of the people familiar with the investigation said. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the timeline of the hack.
Journalists are frequent targets of various state-backed hackers in search of intelligence on governments and corporations. For this reason, many journalists do not mention sensitive information over email.
Wall Street Journal management held a series of briefings on Thursday with the journalists affected by the hack, the two sources familiar with the investigation said. Journal staff are going through forensic data to determine what information was taken from individual journalists, one of those people said.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said he was unfamiliar with the incident. “China firmly opposes and combats cyber attacks and cyber theft in all forms,” Liu claimed.
FBI Director Christopher Wray this week accused China of having a “massive, sophisticated hacking program that is bigger than those of every other major nation combined.”
News Corp spokesperson James Kennedy declined to comment on how many journalists were affected or other undisclosed details of the investigation.
Kennedy instead shared an email that News Corp’s security team sent to employees on Friday that said the hack affected “a limited number of business email accounts and documents” from News Corp headquarters, as well as News Corp properties such as Dow Jones and The New York Post.
“Our highest concern is the protection of our employees, including our journalists, and their sources,” the email says, adding that investigators think the hack has been contained.
The incident did not appear to affect systems holding customer and financial data, News Corp said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Runa Sandvik, former senior director for information security at The New York Times, said the goal in defending organizations, including news networks, against advanced hackers should be limiting the systems the hackers access and the amount of time they have access to them.
“Over the years, media organizations have definitely put more focus on security within their company, including for newsrooms specifically,” Sandvik, who is a cybersecurity consultant for Radio Free Europe and other media outlets, told CNN. “I think there absolutely is room for improvement.”
News Corp said it would share information about the hack with other news organizations so they can protect themselves.
Journalists have had to contend with hacking threats for years.
Nearly a decade ago, suspected Chinese hackers infiltrated computer systems at The New York Times as journalists at the paper were concluding an investigation into the wealth of relatives of then-Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, The Times reported then.
CNN’s Alex Marquardt contributed reporting.
Cyberattack on News Corp, Believed Linked to China, Targeted Emails of Journalists, Others
News Corp
was the target of a hack that accessed emails and documents of some employees, including journalists, an incursion the company’s cybersecurity consultant said was likely meant to gather intelligence to benefit China’s interests.
The attack, discovered on Jan. 20, affected a number of publications and business units including The Wall Street Journal and its parent Dow Jones; the New York Post; the company’s U.K. news operation; and News Corp headquarters, according to an email the company sent to staff Friday.
News Corp said it notified law enforcement and hired cybersecurity firm Mandiant Inc. to support an investigation.
“Mandiant assesses that those behind this activity have a China nexus, and we believe they are likely involved in espionage activities to collect intelligence to benefit China’s interests,” said David Wong, vice president of incident response at Mandiant.
News Corp disclosed the hack in a securities filing Friday, saying its preliminary analysis indicates that data was taken.
Representatives for the Chinese Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
News Corp said in the memo to staff it believes the threat activity is contained. The company has been offering guidance to affected employees.
“We are committed to protecting our journalists and sources. We will not be deterred from our purpose—to provide uniquely trusted journalism and analysis. We will continue to publish the important stories of our time,” said Almar Latour, chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
The company’s investigation indicates that systems housing financial and customer data, including subscriber information, weren’t affected, according to the securities filing and a person familiar with the matter.
Law-enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts say that journalists are often high-priority targets for hackers seeking to gain intelligence on behalf of foreign governments, because they speak to sources who might have valuable or sensitive information. Powerful surveillance tools have been used against journalists and human-rights activists.
U.S. authorities have accused China-based hackers for years of targeting a range of American businesses and government institutions. FBI Director Christopher Wray said this week that Beijing is running a “massive, sophisticated hacking program that is bigger than those of every other major nation combined.” The FBI has more than 2,000 active investigations related to allegations of Chinese-government-directed theft of U.S. information or technology, Mr. Wray said.
China has repeatedly denied allegations that it has carried out cyberattacks.
In 2013, Chinese hackers trying to monitor news coverage of China hacked into the Journal’s network, apparently aiming to spy on reporters covering China and other issues, the Journal reported. The New York Times had experienced a similar attack. At the time, a Chinese embassy spokesman condemned allegations of Chinese cyberspying and said Beijing prohibits cyberattacks.
In February 2020, China revoked the press credentials of three Journal reporters based in Beijing. China’s Foreign Ministry said the move was punishment for an opinion piece published by the Journal. The three journalists work for the Journal’s news operation, which operates with a strict separation from the opinion staff.
The following month, the Trump administration announced a personnel cap in the U.S. on four state-run Chinese media outlets. Later that March, China expelled from the country American journalists from multiple news organizations, including the Journal.
In November 2021, each country agreed to ease visa restrictions for the other’s reporters. The Journal was among a handful of U.S. outlets set to receive new press credentials for some staff.
Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com and Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Digital World Acquisition Corp. shares jump 24% after report of $1 billion fundraising target
Shares in Digital World Acquisition Corp.
DWAC,
+7.15%,
a special-purpose acquisition company that has agreed to merge with a media property being developed by former President Donald Trump, increased more than 24% in after-hours trading Wednesday, after a report that the entity is seeking to raise up to $1 billion. Reuters reported just as markets closed Wednesday that two “people familiar with the matter” say the entity is looking to raise up to $1 billion from hedge funds and others in a private investment tied to the SPAC, known as a PIPE. DWAC shares jumped just before the close Wednesday for a 7.2% daily gain to $44.35, then increased 24.2% in the extended session. DWAC representatives are trying to sell PIPE shares for $30 apiece, which would push the company to a $3 billion valuation, according to the report, which says one source attended a recent “roadshow” seeking to drum up funding for the PIPE. Reuters reported that many Wall Street firms did not attend the roadshows, which were instead largely populated by representatives from hedge funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals, and that attendees were shown a demonstration of a service called TRUTH Social that resembled Twitter Inc.
TWTR,
-2.55%
A tangentially-related stock, Phunware Inc.
PHUN,
+11.68%,
saw shares jump 40% in after-hours trading.
Piers Morgan to join FOX News Media, News Corp in global deal that includes TV show, columns, book
Media top headlines September 16
In media news today, Jon Stewart says he was ‘surprised’ at the meltdown over his belief in coronavirus lab-leak theory, ‘The View’ co-hosts clash over whether or not General Milley’s calls to China were ‘treason,’ and liberals turn on CNN’s Kasie Hunt after new hire criticized Democrats
Veteran broadcaster Piers Morgan will join News Corp and FOX News Media in a global deal that includes content across a variety of platforms, including FOX Nation and the New York Post.
“Piers is the broadcaster every channel wants but is too afraid to hire,” News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch said.
Piers Morgan will join News Corp and FOX News Media in a global deal that includes content across a variety of platforms. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
“Piers is a brilliant presenter, a talented journalist and says what people are thinking and feeling,” Murdoch added. “He has many passionate fans around the world and we look forward to expanding his audience in the UK, at FOX Nation, Sky News Australia, The Sun and the New York Post.”
Morgan will launch a new television program in early 2022 that will air on weeknights in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. He will also publish two weekly columns for the New York Post and The Sun and pen a follow-up to his bestselling book, “Wake Up,” for HarperCollins.
CNN, MSNBC SEE RECENT RATINGS LOWS AS FOX NEWS DEFEATS COMPETITION FOR 30TH STRAIGHT WEEK
Morgan’s new show will air on talkTV in the UK, FOX Nation for U.S. audiences, and on Sky News Australia. It will be produced and filmed at News UK’s studios in London Bridge. Morgan will also present a series of true crime documentaries.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott is eager for Morgan to join the FOX Nation roster.
“Piers is an exceptional talent,” Scott said. “We look forward to him making an impact and exploring opportunities with him on all of our platforms, especially FOX Nation, where our subscribers will love his new show tackling the subjects everyone is talking about.”
Morgan is “thrilled” to return to News Corp. where he began his media career more than 30 years ago.
FOX NEWS OUTDRAWS CNN, MSNBC COMBINED DURING AUGUST
“Rupert Murdoch has been a constant and fearless champion of free speech and we are going to be building something new and very exciting together,” Morgan said in a statement.
“I want my global show to be a fearless forum for lively debate and agenda-setting interviews, and a place that celebrates the right of everyone to have an opinion, and for those opinions to be vigorously examined and challenged,” Morgan continued. “I’m also delighted to become a columnist for The Sun and the New York Post, two brilliantly successful and popular newspaper brands. I’m going home and we’re going to have some fun.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Winnie Dunbar Nelson, who worked with Piers Morgan at CNN and “Good Morning Britain,” will serve as executive producer of his forthcoming program.