WeWork shares tumble 99%
WeWork (WE:NYSE) has raised concerns about its capacity to continue operations due to weaker-than-anticipated demand and increased member churn.
The co-working space provider, once valued at $47 billion, now confronts losses and a diminishing cash position as a result of significant changes in the way people work.
WeWork, once considered among the most valuable startup in the world suffered losses in the second quarter due to an oversupply of commercial real estate, increased competition for flexible space, and uncertain economic conditions. The company has experienced greater attrition and weaker demand than anticipated, with memberships at its locations decreasing from a year ago.
WeWork also disclosed a board reshuffle following the resignation of three directors who disagreed with the company’s governance and strategy, replacing them with bankruptcy experts.
Since its initial public offering in 2021, the shared-office company’s stock has declined by more than 99.9% as of Wednesday.
Judge approves AMC stock conversion plan
Judge Morgan Zurn of the Delaware Chancery Court has authorised the conversion of AMC (APE:NYSE) Preferred Equity units into common shares. The settlement, which was approved on Friday, includes additional shares for individual investors, despite the opposition of thousands of them.
Judge Zurn’s decision concludes a lengthy and acrimonious legal battle over AMC’s preferred equity units, or APEs, which pitted the company’s top executives against a portion of its retail investor base and prompted a shareholder lawsuit. Following Bloomberg’s announcement, AMC stock fell by 25%.
PayPal launches stablecoin
PayPal (PYPL:NASDAQ) is the first major U.S. financial institution to launch its own dollar-backed stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD).
In the coming weeks, customers who purchase PayPal USD will be able to send it to external crypto wallets, make peer-to-peer payments, make purchases, and convert any of PayPal’s supported cryptocurrencies.
Stablecoins are typically backed by a tangible asset, such as gold or fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar, which enables them to maintain a relatively stable price.
This is not PayPal’s first cryptocurrency venture. In the past year, the company has enabled consumers to transfer, send, and receive a variety of prominent digital tokens, including bitcoin and ether.
Disney hikes its streaming prices.
Disney (DIS:NYSE) has announced a big round of price hikes that will make the ad-free versions of its most popular services, Disney+ and Hulu, more than 20% more expensive.
The new monthly price for a Disney+ contract without ads would go from $6.99 to $13.99 when it starts in 2019. The price of a Hulu account without ads has gone up from $14.99 a month to $17.99 a month. The new prices will go into effect in October, as Disney tries to switch to a model that puts streaming first.
The company’s streaming business lost a lot less money in the most recent quarter than it did in previous quarters, but Disney+ lost domestic users for the second quarter in a row.
The company also said it would stop people from sharing passwords, just like Netflix has been doing recently.
Bankman-Fried headed to jail as judge revokes bail
Sam Bankman-Fried has been sent to jail after a federal magistrate determined that the founder of FTX likely attempted to tamper with witnesses on two occasions.
Extracts from the private diaries of Caroline Ellison, the former chief of the cryptocurrency exchange’s affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research, revealed that she had a romantic relationship with the FTX founder.
Prosecutors have identified Bankman-Fried as the source of the New York Times articles that they believe were intended to intimidate Ellison.
Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond and had been under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, Calif., since December last year. He is awaiting trial on fraud charges arising from the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX.