Insider Finance - Business - Clock’s ticking for Elon Musk

Nicholas Carlson October 25, 2022

Hello! You know what I’m excited about today? Bonds. Just like the stock market, bonds have been having a bad year. But that could be turning around as a recession looms. And as I read this morning on Insider, one chief investment officer overseeing $9 billion says it's possible to lock in a 6% return right now in a “win-win” situation — read how.

But now, let’s get started.

The latest

• Rishi Sunak is officially the UK prime minister. He was born to immigrant parents, went to fancy schools, and married into almost $1 billion. Here’s what we know.  

• Inside the Trump Org criminal trial: Jury selection started with a warning — brace for a long trial; some gasped when they found out the trial involved Trump Org; and a prospective juror was excused and said there was “no way in hell” she could be impartial.

• Adidas is cutting ties with Kanye West over “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” antisemitic comments and actions. Read the full story. 
  

The big story

Patrick Pleul/Getty Images; Vicky Leta/Insider

Elon Musk has only four days to close his deal with Twitter — or face a trial. 

Earlier this month, the judge overseeing the court case gave the Tesla CEO and Twitter until 5 p.m. ET on Friday, October 28 to agree to a new deal — or Twitter will resume efforts to force Musk to buy the company for $44 billion in a November trial.

Experts say a deal is likely to be reached beforehand. "He knows that he has no way out of it and would like to avoid public humiliation," one law professor told Insider. But even if the two parties don’t come to an agreement, they could continue to negotiate as litigation resumes and a trial date is scheduled.

And if the trial were to proceed? Musk would face a lengthy deposition — and could see even more of his private texts released to the public. 

Should all this end with Musk atop the Twitter throne, insiders expect chaos to ensue at the company. Massive cuts are expected, which Twitter staffers say would be “insane.” 

The clock is ticking for Elon Musk. 

Top reads

Tyler Le/Insider 

• The ridiculous rise of the chief purpose officer. It feels like burnout among workers has never been worse — and one problem-solving idea has taken hold at many businesses: a new C-suite executive whose entire job is to connect a company and its employees to a purpose at work. This new role is predicted to be the biggest C-suite addition in 2023. More on this half-baked attempt to fix the burnout crisis.

• NFL Films is building its own version of the Marvel universe. The NFL's content arm is looking to supercharge its production output in 2023, with plans for movies, dozens of TV projects, and partnerships with athletes from Tom Brady to Ronda Rousey. Read the full story. 

• Oracle is avoiding job candidates in US tech hubs. Per employees, the database giant is shunning job seekers in areas where salary expectations are higher, like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York. Instead, Insider was told some hiring managers are backfilling roles with hires from areas like Eastern Europe. Why Oracle is “OK passing on the top candidates.”

• Grenada is “little Switzerland” for rich Russians trying to enter the US. A visa company appears to be helping wealthy Russians “skirt the rules” and gain access to the US. United Passport advertises the possibility of getting US visas by first obtaining citizenship in a treaty country, such as Grenada — where the company says citizenships can be bought for $150,000. 

• This TikToker accidentally bought a $4,000 piece by Salvador Dalí at an auction. You might be asking yourself: How did that happen? As Colorado-based Danielle Allen shared in a now-viral post, she bid on it out of FOMO, expecting to be quickly outbid. But then she won.

Today’s sound bite

"We always want the quick fix: ‘I’m gonna take my medicine every day and things will be fine.’ What we found is: it doesn’t work like that for everyone."

Insider correspondent Hilary Brueck on how SSRIs do, and don’t, work.

Watch this

Junior's, a New York cheesecake institution, has faced pandemic closures, skyrocketing ingredient prices, and a cream cheese shortage. Here’s how Junior's is keeping tradition alive amid shrinking margins.

Today's team

Nicholas Carlson (@nichcarlson), Hallam Bullock (@hallam_bullock), Lisa Ryan (@lisarya), and Shona Ghosh (@shonaghosh).

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