Lawyers who successfully argued Musk pay package was illegal seek $5.6 billion in Tesla stock
DOVER, Del. (AP) — The lawyers who successfully argued that a massive pay package for Tesla CEO Elon Musk was illegal and should be voided are asking the presiding judge to award company stock worth $5.6 billion as legal fees. The attorneys represented Tesla shareholders in the case decided in January and made the request in court papers filed Friday. The amount would be the largest such award, if approved. Lawyers in cases stemming from the collapse of Enron got a record $688 million in legal fees in 2008. The lawyers say the sum is justified because they wouldn’t have been paid had they lost and the benefit to Tesla “was massive.”
Chicago ‘mansion’ tax to fund homeless services stuck in legal limbo while on the ballot
CHICAGO (AP) — An unusual legal challenge may upend the future of a Chicago ballot measure that would hike a real estate tax on high-end properties sales to pay for services for homeless people. Early voting has already started for the March 19 Illinois primary as the case makes its way through the courts. The referendum asks voters in the nation’s third-largest city to support an increase on the real estate transfer tax on properties over $1 million. If it survives a legal challenge, the change is expected to generate about $100 million a year to help pay for housing and mental health care, among other things.
What to watch for as China’s major political meeting of the year gets underway
BEIJING (AP) — One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China’s legislature gets underway this week: the economy. The annual meeting of the National People’s Congress is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to reenergize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. Proposals to raise the retirement age are also expected to be a hot topic, and China watchers will parse the annual defense budget and the possible introduction of a new foreign minister. But it’s the economy that is on most people’s minds.
They are TV’s ghosts — networks that somehow survive with little reason to watch them anymore
NEW YORK (AP) — Cable television is filled with ghosts. They’re networks that somehow survive as shadows of themselves, with schedules clogged with reruns and devoid of any real innovation. Fueled by the onset of streaming, this has come on quickly: once-thriving networks like USA, MTV, Disney and BET have lost more than half of their viewers in only a decade. As they fade, so are the communities they helped to create. Streaming has revolutionized how people watch TV, and industry leaders have raced toward what they regard as the future. But for the cable networks left behind the question has to be: did it really have to be this way?
Elon Musk sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, claiming betrayal of its goal to benefit humanity
Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over what he says is a betrayal of the ChatGPT maker’s founding aims of benefiting humanity rather than pursuing profits. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court. Billionaire Musk says that when he bankrolled OpenAI’s creation, he secured an agreement with Altman and Greg Brockman, the president, to keep the AI company as a nonprofit that would develop technology for the benefit of the public. However, by embracing a close relationship with Microsoft, OpenAI and its top executives have set that pact “aflame” and are “perverting” the company’s mission, Musk alleges in the lawsuit.
World Trade Organization ends meeting in UAE after failing to reach major agreements
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Negotiators taking part in a World Trade Organization meeting in the United Arab Emirates have ended their summit after failing to reach agreements on several major initiatives. It’s the latest sign of turmoil within the global body. The WTO delayed its closing ceremony in Abu Dhabi by over a day to early Saturday as the 166-nation bloc struggled to reach consensus on fishing, agriculture and other issues. The only agreement of note came on extending a pause on taxes on digital media such as movies and video games. On that issue, the WTO decided to extend the pause until their next biennial meeting.
Peace, music and memories: As the 1960s fade, historians scramble to capture Woodstock’s voices
BETHEL, N.Y. (AP) — An estimated 450,000 people attended the Woodstock festival in August 1969. It was a haphazard event that now evokes memories about a society’s state of mind nearing the end of a tumultuous decade. Most of that crowd was composed of teenagers or young adults now in the twilight of their lives. That ticking clock is why the Museum at Bethel Woods, based at the site of the 1969 festival, is immersed in a five-year project traveling around the United States. They are recording the oral histories of people who were there to preserve the Woodstock memories before they fade away.
One year after buying a failed bank, New York Community Bancorp is struggling
A New York bank is under severe pressure close to one year after absorbing a large chunk of another bank 30 miles away that had failed. Shares of New York Community Bancorp plunged Friday after longtime CEO Thomas Cangemi, who has spent much of this year reassuring investors about the bank’s viability, stepped down abruptly and the bank postponed a mandatory annual financial disclosure to U.S. regulators due to “material weakness” tied to loans. Commercial banks like New York Community Bancorp have been hammered by falling values in the commercial real estate market after the pandemic upended work in offices for millions. New York Community stands out as it also became much bigger after acquiring failed Signature Bank.
Stock market today: Another winning week for Wall Street ends with more records
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed its latest winning week with more gains, pushing U.S. stocks to new heights. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 90 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%. More leaps for Dell and other companies on excitement around artificial-intelligence technology helped drive the market. Dell soared more than 30%. New York Community Bancorp tumbled after warning investors that it found weaknesses in how it reviews loans. Treasury yields eased following weaker-than-expected reports on U.S. manufacturing and consumer sentiment. That bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates in June.
Boeing confirms it’s in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, its key supplier on the troubled 737 Max
DALLAS (AP) — Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages for Boeing 737 Max jetliners. The company confirmed media reports Friday about the discussions. Boeing used to own Spirit, and the company says bringing the manufacturer back into the Boeing fold would improve plane quality and safety. Boeing spun off Spirit AeroSystems nearly 20 years ago as it moved to an outsourcing model. That model has come under question because of quality issues at Spirit, which is based in Wichita, Kansas. Spirit made the door panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines jetliner in January.
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