Elizabeth Holmes gets more than 11 years for Theranos scam
Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for duping investors in the failed startup that promised to revolutionize blood testing but instead made her a symbol of Silicon Valley ambition that veered into deceit.
Jury takes fraud case against Elizabeth Holmes's ex-partner
The fate of hard-nosed technology executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani is now in the hands of a jury that will weigh criminal charges alleging he joined disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, his former partner, in an elaborate fraud that jarred Silicon Valley.
Will money-back guarantee win over wealthy donors?
The advocacy group Global Citizen and the finance firm NPX are engineering a new campaign that targets Forbes 400 billionaires, Giving Pledge members, and the wealthy generally — a group increasingly criticized for what is seen as tight purse strings.
Tesla files for 3-for-1 stock split
Tesla just filed its annual proxy statement with the SEC and revealed it plans a three-for-one stock split, and that board member Larry Ellison does not plan to stand for re-election. "We believe the Stock Split would help reset the market price of our common stock so that our employees will have more flexibility in managing their equity." A stock split of this nature could mean that more smaller investors feel they can afford the stock, but those investors are minuscule compared to major institutions. In its 2022 proxy filing, the electric vehicle and renewable energy business, also revealed that board member Larry Ellison currently owns 1.5% of Tesla shares. The filing also says that Tesla CEO Elon Musk currently holds 6% of Tesla shares.
cnbc.comMusk lines up $7.1 billion in investor financing for Twitter bid
Placeholder while article actions loadOracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Sequoia Capital, Binance and others have collectively chipped in more than $7.1 billion in financing for Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover bid, according to a security filing. Now Musk’s margin loan — which allows him to borrow against the value of securities he already owns — has been cut from $12.5 billion to $6.25 billion, according to the filing. The deal will now be backed by $27.25 billion in cash and equity. Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, said it’s no surprise Musk would seek to spread some of the costs of the $44 billion deal. GiftOutline Gift Article
washingtonpost.comJury in Elizabeth Holmes trial hears replay of her boasts
Jurors in the fraud trial of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes returned to the courtroom Thursday to listen to a replay of audio recordings that captured her brash promises about a vaunted blood-testing technology the propelled her meteoric rise and scandalous downfall.
Court battle ends tree dispute in pricey San Francisco area
Tall trees are venerated across California, but one towering Monterey Pine at the center of a heated dispute in San Francisco’s wealthiest neighborhood has to go, according to an appeals court ruling this week. A state appeals court on Wednesday ordered a couple in the hilltop Pacific Heights neighborhood to remove the tree, which is at least 32 feet (10 meters) tall. A neighbor argued the tree was blocking her view of the San Francisco Bay and other city landmarks, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
news.yahoo.comFormer US defense secretary testifies in Holmes fraud trial
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis testified Wednesday in the trial of fallen tech star Elizabeth Holmes, saying the entrepreneur misled him into believing she was on the verge of rolling out a blood-testing breakthrough that he hoped would help save lives of troops in battle.
Remote workers from San Francisco flocked to Lake Tahoe during the pandemic. Now, thousands of people are being forced to evacuate as the Caldor fire bears down on the serene Northern California encla
The Caldor fire has burned through more than 191,000 acres in Northern California and is now headed toward Lake Tahoe.
news.yahoo.comIsrael urges Netanyahu return gifts; he denies keeping them
Israel's prime minister's office has urged former premier Benjamin Netanyahu to return dozens of expensive gifts he received while serving in the nation's top job. The request, confirmed Monday by the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, came as Netanyahu reportedly vacationed on a private island in Hawaii almost wholly owned by billionaire Larry Ellison. The Oracle founder is a friend of Netanyahu's and also a witness for the prosecution in the former leader's corruption trial.
news.yahoo.comOracle's planned wave of capital spending won't put it on par with cloud leaders like Amazon
IBM and Oracle don't disclose revenue from their public clouds, but they do disclose total capital expenditures. In the past four quarters, IBM and Oracle's combined capital expenditures total less than one-quarter Microsoft. "They're $100 billion behind," said Charles Fitzgerald, a former Microsoft general manager who has written about capital expenditures on his blog Platformonomics. Amazon, Google and Microsoft together had more than $90 billion in capital expenditures in 2020. Amazon had higher capital expenditures than any other company in the S&P 500 in the most recent fiscal year, according to FactSet data.
cnbc.comOracle drops after CEO delivers low earnings guidance on call
Oracle CEO Safra Catz delivers a keynote address during the 2019 Oracle OpenWorld on September 17, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Oracle CEO Safra Catz kicked off day two of the 2019 Oracle OpenWorld with a keynote address. Here's how the company did:Earnings: $1.16 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.11 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. $1.16 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.11 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Revenue: $10.09 billion, vs. $10.07 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
cnbc.comOracle reports slow revenue growth as licensing and hardware businesses decline
Oracle's revenue grew nearly 2% year over year in the quarter, which ended Nov. 30, according to a statement. In the prior quarter revenue increased by almost 2%. He was referring to Oracle's cloud infrastructure, which competes with the likes of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Oracle's second-generation cloud-infrastructure revenue grew 139% in the quarter, Oracle CEO Safra Catz said on the call. The company's $752 million in services revenue, while slightly more than the $750 million consensus, was off by 7%.
cnbc.comSalesforce CEO Marc Benioff praises former boss Larry Ellison for TikTok deal: He's the 'master of relevance'
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff praised Oracle chief Larry Ellison's efforts to break into the social media space with a potential TikTok partnership. The enterprise software maker was approved for a deal in principle over the weekend to partner with the rapidly growing social media app, allowing it to avoid a U.S. shutdown. "I'm so impressed by seeing them and everyone else make these aggressive moves," Benioff said Wednesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell." Benioff and Ellison have a longtime relationship, as Benioff worked at under Ellison at Oracle for 13 years before starting Salesforce. The pair had a falling-out as Oracle began challenging Salesforce, but Benioff said the two are now "very close friends."
cnbc.comQ&A: What does a deal between TikTok and Oracle mean?
ByteDance Ltd., a Chinese company, launched TikTok in 2017, then bought Musical.ly, a video service popular with teens in the U.S. and Europe, and combined the two. TikTok says it does not store U.S. user data in China and that it would not give user data to the government. There are also concerns about TikTok censoring videos critical of China, which TikTok denies, or pushing propaganda. Oracle was among the pool of bidders, including Microsoft and Walmart, to buy TikTok’s American operations. If Oracle and TikTok can show they can safeguard user data in the U.S., CFIUS and the Trump administration might accept the arrangement.
Source: Oracle wins TikTok over Microsoft in Trump-urged bid
TikTok denies it is a national-security risk and is suing to stop the administration from the threatened ban. TikTok denies that it has shared user data with the Chinese government or that it would do so if asked. It competes with tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon that provide cloud services as well as business-software specialists like Salesforce. The president said on Aug. 18 that Oracle was “a great company” that “could handle” buying TikTok. He declined to state his preference between Oracle and Microsoft as buyers.
Zoom got big fast. Then videobombers made it rework security
That time is up, and Zoom is ready to take a bow. Zoom hailed some of the strides that it says it has made in a Wednesday blog post. Zoom has promised to make it virtually impossible for anyone outside a meeting to eavesdrop by scrambling conversations via end-to-end encryption. The day after its original announcement, faced with a backlash, Zoom agreed to extend the encryption to free plans as well. Steckelberg said the company doesnt have any immediate plans to sell ads, but didnt rule out that possibility.
3 big Trump donors are among business leaders influencing coronavirus response
President Donald Trump looks on during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on April 24, 2020, in Washington, DC. Three of the men Ellison, Schwarzman and Catsimatidis are big Trump donors. President Donald Trump has sought and received advice on tackling the coronavirus crisis in private conversations with several of his allies in the business world, according to people familiar with the matter. The person who described this response would not explain which banks or executives the White House referred to in its response. The New York Times reported Ellison discussed with Trump the idea of potentially using hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, as a coronavirus treatment.
cnbc.comOusted vaccine doctor felt pressure to rush possible Covid-19 treatment after Trump spoke to Oracle boss Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison, co-founder and executive chairman of Oracle Corp., speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2018. A top federal doctor who was ousted from his post this week felt pressured to rush out expanded access to a potential treatment for coronavirus patients after President Donald Trump discussed the drug with Larry Ellison, chairman of tech giant Oracle, NBC News reported Thursday. The Post reported that Oracle planned to donate to the government a related website to assist in that effort. In a statement Wednesday, Bright said he was ousted after resisting widespread adoption of hydroxychloroquine, which Trump has promoted as a treatment for Covid-19. Science, in service to the health and safety of the American people, must always trump politics," said Bright.
cnbc.comThe ultra-rich are investing in companies trying to reverse aging. Is it going to work?
Many people, especially the ultra-wealthy in Silicon Valley, are investing money into companies trying to answer exactly those questions. In 2013, Google formed aging research company Calico. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to aging research, The New Yorker reported. There are a slew of other companies tackling aging, including BioAge, BioViva, The Longevity Fund, AgeX and the Methuselah Foundation. "And in this case, the market for age-related disease and aging is a trillion dollar market."
cnbc.comTrump vows to 'clean up' LA at Olympic meeting briefing
Trump said if Los Angeles doesn't “clean it up fast,” he will intervene. “This is a big deal,” said Trump, who signed an agreement pledging the federal government’s support of the Los Angeles committee. He was expected to raise $14 million at two California campaign fundraisers, according to a Republican official familiar with the planning of the events. He is scheduled to travel to Las Vegas late Tuesday evening, where he is expected to stay at his private hotel just off the Las Vegas Strip. He will hold another rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before flying back to Las Vegas.
Thousands of Oracle employees protest Larry Ellison's Trump campaign fundraiser
Larry Ellison, co-founder and executive chairman of Oracle Corp., speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2018. More than 2,300 Oracle employees have signed a petition against a fundraiser for President Trump's 2020 re-election campaign that's reportedly scheduled to be held on Wednesday at a Southern California property owned by founder and chairman Larry Ellison. In the past few years, employees at Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Salesforce have spoken out against corporate practices they've disagreed with. Former CIA chief Leon Panetta has held a seat on Oracle's board since 2015, and in 2016 Oracle CEO Safra Catz joined President Trump's transition team. Oracle sought a major contract to provide cloud computing resources to the Pentagon, and in 2018 Catz had dinner with Trump.
cnbc.com5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday
Dow to open higher after coronavirus concerns knocked stocks from record highsTraders work at the New York Stock Exchange, February 4, 2020. Bryan R Smith | ReutersU.S. stock futures were modestly higher Friday. Tesla prices new stock offering at a discountTesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during the Tesla China-made Model 3 Delivery Ceremony in Shanghai. STR | AFP | Getty ImagesTesla said Friday it priced its secondary common stock offering, which was announced Thursday morning, at $767 per share. China reveals six infected health workers diedChina's National Health Commission said overnight that 1,716 health workers in the country had been infected with the coronavirus and six have died.
cnbc.comLarry Ellison is helping Elon Musk spur demand for new Tesla stock with 'token purchase,' says researcher
Ellison disclosed his ownership of 3 million shares of Tesla when he joined the company's board in December 2018. Ellison has spoken highly about Tesla in the past, saying he believes the stock "has a lot of upside." Musk bought $20 million worth of shares around $242 in a 2015 offering and $25 million worth of shares around $262 in a 2017 offering, according to Silverman. Silverman credited the higher stock price as a factor in both Ellison and Musk's relatively small purchases. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct amount Elon Musk invested in past public stock offerings of Tesla.
cnbc.comTrump to attend campaign fundraising event at Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison's Rancho Mirage estate, report says
President Donald Trump is expected to attend a campaign fundraising event at Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison's California estate next week, the Desert Sun reported Wednesday. The event is set to take place at Ellison's Rancho Mirage estate on Feb. 19, which is less than two weeks before the Super Tuesday primary election, which includes California's primary. According to an invitation posted on the newspaper's website, the event will include a golf outing at Ellison's Porcupine Creek home. Supporters will have to pay $100,000 for the golf outing and to have their photo taken with the president. Supporters can pay $250,000 for a photo, golf outing, plus participation in a round table with the president.
cnbc.comOracle hires a new chief marketing officer from Amazon Web Services
Oracle has hired Ariel Kelman to be its new chief marketing officer, two people familiar with the matter said. Kelman is joining from Amazon Web Services, where he had been vice president of worldwide marketing for six years. He joined AWS from Salesforce, where he had held marketing roles, as head of worldwide marketing in 2011, and in 2014 he became AWS' vice president for worldwide marketing in 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before joining Salesforce Kelman spent two years at MicroStrategy and co-founded a start-up, Ventaso. Matt Garman, who had been vice president of compute services, is taking on new responsibilities spanning sales and marketing in a chief operating officer-like role.
cnbc.comStocks making the biggest moves premarket: Oracle, Adobe, Broadcom, Costco, Tapestry & more
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:Oracle (ORCL) Oracle beat estimates by 2 cents a share, with quarterly profit of 90 cents per share. The business software giant's revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates and its current-quarter earnings outlook falls largely below Wall Street forecasts. Adobe (ADBE) Adobe reported quarterly profit of $2.29 per share, 3 cents a share above estimates. Costco (COST) Costco came in a penny a share ahead of estimates, with quarterly profit of $1.73 per share. Broadcom (AVGO) Broadcom beat estimates by 4 cents a share, reporting quarterly profit of $5.39 per share.
cnbc.comOracle stock drops as revenue falls short
Oracle Chairman and Chief Technolgoy Officer Larry Ellison delivers a keynote address during the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco on October 22, 2018. Oracle shares moved 3% lower in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported fiscal second-quarter revenue that fell short of analysts' estimates. Excluding certain items, 90 cents per share, vs. 88 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. For the full 2020 fiscal year Catz reiterated that Oracle would grow revenue faster than the prior fiscal year in constant currency, with double-digit earnings growth. The analysts have a neutral rating on Oracle stock, saying that they're waiting for signs of improvement in the company's core database business.
cnbc.comOracle shows buybacks can go too far
Oracle chief technology officer Larry Ellison speaks at a company event in Redwood Shores, Calif., on Aug. 7, 2018. Fitch Ratings cut its Oracle rating to A from A+ last year. Buybacks that were already ongoing before the tax cuts kept surging, drawing down Oracle's cash from more than $70 billion just after the law passed. Goldman analyst Heather Bellini, who declined an interview request through spokeswoman Megan Riley, has Oracle on the firm's Conviction Buy list. Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, sees only 1.6% revenue growth in Oracle's 2020 fiscal year, with all earnings-per-share growth coming from buybacks.
cnbc.comNetanyahu trial witnesses may include Vegas magnate Sheldon Adelson and Oracles Larry Ellison
Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison are among 333 potential witnesses in the corruption trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the countrys attorney general announced Monday. The filing provided an eye-opening look at the huge list of potential witnesses, rife with internationally prominent names. Israels longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu is the first Israeli head of government to be charged while in office. Despite his long political dominance, Netanyahu is now a caretaker prime minister. She is on trial for libel, having been accused by Menny Naftali, a former caretaker of the prime ministers residence.
latimes.comMark Hurd, Oracle CEO, has died
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle and former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, two of Silicon Valley's most storied companies, has died. "Mark was my close and irreplaceable friend, and trusted colleague," Ellison said in a memo to Oracle employees that was posted on Mark Hurd's personal website. Hurd's Oracle career started in 2010, one month after he resigned as Hewlett-Packard's CEO over sexual harassment allegations. HP didn't make it easy for Hurd to make the jump: It sued Oracle in an attempt to stop Hurd from joining. He became HP's CEO in 2005, replacing ousted CEO Carly Fiorina.
Oracle CEO Mark Hurd taking medical leave of absence
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - Oracle has announced that one of its top executives will take a leave of absence for health related reasons. Mark Hurd said in a company statement on Wednesday that the leave was granted at his request. He serves alongside Safra Catz, who is also CEO. "Oracle has an extremely capable CEO in Safra Catz and an extraordinarily deep team of executives, many with long tenure at Oracle. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.