CNN BUSINESS | WTF is a SPAC?

CNN BUSINESS – What do Jay-Z, A-Rod, Ciara, Serena Williams, Shaq, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, former house speaker Paul Ryan, and Richard Branson all have in common? One word, well, acronym: SPACs.  —watch— 

CNN BUSINESS – VAULT | In 1999 Jeff Bezos told CNN he was surprised about Amazon’s success

CNN – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos expressed his shock at the company’s success in a 1999 interview with CNN. At the time, Amazon was still using paper for window blinds and an old hospital as it headquarters.  —watch— 

CNN BUSINESS | Three-time Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser dies at 87

(CNN) – Bobby Unser, winner of the 1968, 1975 and 1981 Indianapolis 500s, passed away Sunday at the age of 87 at his New Mexico home.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced his death in a news release Monday.

Unser is one of 10 drivers to win the prestigious Indy 500 at least three times and was the first driver to win the race in three different decades, a feat later matched by Rick Mears.  –read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Warren Buffett names his successor

New York (CNN Business) – Warren Buffett said Monday that Greg Abel, the head of Berkshire Hathaway’s non-insurance business, will be his successor — although Buffett gave no indication that he will give up the top job at the conglomerate anytime soon.

Abel has long been considered one of the two men likely to follow Buffett, along with Ajit Jain, who heads Berkshire’s insurance business. Both are vice chairmen of the company, along with 97-year old Charlie Munger. Speaking to CNBC Monday morning, the 90-year old Buffett said that Abel is the next in line to follow him, followed by Jain.  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | This robot’s ‘self-portrait’ NFT just sold for nearly $700,000

Sophia the robot is getting into the NFT game. Her “interpretation” of an artist’s depiction of her face sold as an NFT (non-fungible token) for over $688,000.  —watch— 

CNN | A Black electrician found a noose hanging in his workspace in New York’s Long Island, attorney says

(CNN) – Police in the New York suburb of Long Island are investigating a report of a noose found hanging in a storeroom at a local business, a Suffolk County police spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Monday.

Kyrin Taylor, a 23-year-old electrician who had been working as an apprentice since December at Cooper Power & Lighting Corp., came to work on April 20 to find a noose hanging in his workspace in Farmingdale, his lawyer told CNN on Monday.

“Seeing this took my breath away and I really did not know what to do or what to think,” said Taylor, who is Black, in a statement.  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | NBA Top Shot customers can’t get their money out. Experts are confounded

New York (CNN Business) – NBA Top Shot is the hottest NFT marketplace on the planet. It’s also got a big problem: Customers are complaining about exceptionally long wait times to get paid from sales of digital tokens that can often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

NBA Top Shot is the online marketplace where investors can spend hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars on unique, digitized moments from pro basketball. Its astonishing growth was fueled by being in the right place at the right time: having licensed the NBA brand amid a sudden mainstream interest in NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.  —read more; watch— 

CNN BUSINESS | GameStop cashes in on Reddit surge with big stock sale

New York (CNN Business) – GameStop shares have gone ballistic this year, surging more than 800% thanks to love from Reddit fans betting on a turnaround for the video game retailer. Now, GameStop has cashed in with a sale of more than $550 million in stock.

Shares of GameStop (GME) soared about 7% Tuesday on the news of the stock sale. GameStop announced earlier this month that it planned to sell as much as 3.5 million shares. The company said Tuesday that it will use the proceeds from the offering to continue investing in its transformation into a more online-focused retailer, and to strengthen its balance sheet.  —read more; watch—