Eye Opener: Tens of thousands still without power following deadly winter storm in the Northeast
Tens of thousands of people are still without power in the bitter cold following a deadly winter storm that buried the Northeast. Also, the United Nations Security Council meets Monday as Ukrainians prepare to fight a possible Russian invasion. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener.
news.yahoo.comSpotify CEO backs Tesla rival after pledging to invest over $1 billion in European ‘moonshots’
LONDON — Daniel Ek, the founder and chief executive of Spotify, has invested in Swedish battery firm Northvolt, which is building a Gigafactory in Sweden's Lapland region. Current Northvolt shareholders Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, IMAS Foundation, Scania and Volkswagen have also participated in the funding round. The investment in the Tesla rival comes less than a week after Ek pledged to invest 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of his own wealth into "moonshot" bets in Europe. According to Forbes, Ek is worth $3.7 billion, indicating he's allocating roughly a third of his own wealth to fund European tech. "I want to do my part; we all know that one of the greatest challenges is access to capital," Ek said, adding he wanted to achieve a "new European dream."
cnbc.comSpotify CEO to invest over $1 billion of his own wealth for 'moonshot' bets in Europe
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Toru Yamanaka | AFP/Getty ImagesLONDON — Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced Thursday that he will commit 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of his own resources to invest in European start-ups. Among the sectors Ek is looking to invest in are health, education, machine learning and biotechnology. According to Forbes, Ek is worth $3.6 billion, indicating he's earmarking roughly a third of his own wealth for the investments. One of the most notable examples of European entrepreneurs heading to the U.S. is payments giant Stripe, whose Irish founders went to California to build their company. Europe is often seen as lagging the U.S. and China with respect to technology.
cnbc.comJoe Rogan's podcast moves exclusively to Spotify, stock soars
Shares of Spotify popped more than 10% on Tuesday before closing up 8.4% after comedian Joe Rogan announced his podcast is moving exclusively to the streaming platform. Rogan's show, The Joe Rogan Experience, launched more than a decade ago and has built a massive and loyal following. It's the same podcast where Tesla CEO Elon Musk infamously smoked marijuana in 2018, causing concern for investors. Spotify has spent the last year strengthening its podcast streaming library. The company said in early February it was acquiring the sports and entertainment news company The Ringer.
cnbc.comSpotify makes another podcast acquisition, buying Bill Simmons' The Ringer
Spotify is expanding its podcast catalog and media footprint with a new acquisition of the sports and entertainment news company The Ringer, the company announced Wednesday. Last February, Spotify announced its plans to acquire the privately held podcast producers Gimlet Media and Anchor. In March, Spotify announced its acquisition plans for podcast company Parcast. The Ringer, founded by sports writer Bill Simmons in 2016, has more than 30 podcasts in its network, including "The Bill Simmons Podcast," "The Rewatchables" and "The Ryen Russilio Podcast." Spotify said in a press release its hopes The Ringer deal will help it become "the world's leading audio platform."
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