Microsoft Can't Pin Down Pinterest | A $1 Billion Flying Taxi Bet | CMO Next 2021

Plus: Billionaires Making ‘Boatloads Of Money’ From Once-Cheap Medical Gloves

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Microsoft reportedly made Pinterest an offer the social media platform was able to refuse. We also look at United Airlines’ $1 billion order for electric air taxis, and a shake up at Rihanna’s business empire.

In The News Today

Republican senators condemned the violence recorded in newly released footage of the Capitol riot, but are unlikely to change their minds over the impeachment for former President Donald Trump.

An infectious coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. is likely to become the dominant form of the virus worldwide, likely requiring monitoring for the next decade. 

Top Take-Aways

Pinterest reportedly snubbed a $51 billion offer from Microsoft. The deal, which would have been Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date, confirms the tech giant’s interest in amassing a portfolio of active online communities.

Electric air taxi developer Archer Aviation won a $1 billion order for up to 200 its yet-to-fly aircraft from United Airlines, just as it prepares to go public via a $500 million SPAC deal with Atlas Crest Investment Corp—and it’s not the only aviation startup with these kinds of ambitions.

Google will pay U.K. publishers to feature articles on one of its platforms, but this model hasn’t satisfied everyone. A similar but wider-reaching proposal by the Australian government has angered the tech giant, who’s threatened to pull its search engine services Down Under.

Rihanna’s Fenty fashion line, a joint venture with LVMH, is closing down, but the singer and business mogul raised $115 million for her lingerie line in a round led by private equity firm L Catterton, in which the French luxury giant has a stake.

If there’s ever been a year where innovation, risk, leadership, empathy and evolution in marketing were needed, 2020 was it. Nearly half of Forbes’ third annual CMO Next honorees were promoted to CMO or an equivalent role in their companies over the course of last year.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce appointed a woman to helm the organization for the first time in its 109-year history. Suzanne Clark, who has served as the U.S. Chamber’s president since 2019, will retain her title along with that of CEO.

The #FreeBritney movement has regained visibility following the release of Hulu and New York Times’ documentary Framing Britney Spears, which focuses on the pop star’s life and conservatorship deal central to her fans’ concerns. A new hearing discussing who controls her estate, which Forbes estimates to be worth about $60 million, is being held today.

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In Case You Missed It

Consumer products startup Thrasio has raised another $750 million that it plans to use for its continued purchase of third-party sellers on Amazon. The funding round brings the total amount the company has raised to $1.75 billion, most of it within the past year.

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