One in 4 Fortune 500 companies experienced a service disruption due to Friday's global IT outages and likely lost a combined $5.4 billion, according to a new report from cyber insurer Parametrix.
Why it matters: The report provides some of the first estimates on how damaging the recent CrowdStrikes outages were to the global economy.
The NBA has signed new 11-year media rights deals with Disney, Comcast and Amazon that are worth a combined $77 billion.
Why it matters: The new contracts are a hefty increase over the NBA's current TV deal and represent the biggest change to the league's TV presence in decades.
Forget cars. Tesla's future, based on CEO Elon Musk's latest explanation, will be built on robotics.
Why it matters: This new focus — however deviant and realistic — may be a necessity as the company's core business of EVs faces pricklier market and political conditions.
A group of bipartisan lawmakers on Wednesday sent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter asking the firm to delay shutting down CrowdTangle for six months.
Why it matters: The lawmakers argue Meta has a responsibility to be transparent about the content being shared on its platform ahead of the 2024 election.
In a quiet industrial park in Charlotte, a small company is building drones and robots to revolutionize the American blue-collar workforce. And soon, those robots will be artificially intelligent.
Why it matters: Lucid Bots aims to become a leader in embedding AI into physical devices for a real purpose — creating robots that can take on dangerous work and freeing humans to pursue other meaningful tasks.
The world's bond investors are continuing to finance the green transition at record rates: Issuance of green bonds — bonds whose proceeds are invested solely in sustainable projects — hit new highs in the first half of 2024.
Why it matters: For the world to meet its Paris Agreement goals, the UN estimates it needs to invest more than $3 trillion per year. Much if not most of that will have to come from the private sector, specifically from bond investors.
The federal minimum wage has basically become an outdated relic: It last went up to $7.25 on July 24, 2009 — 15 years ago.
Why it matters: Though very few people actually earn $7.25 an hour or less, thefederal standard has ripple effects for all hourly workers — helping to keep pay low for millions.
The real-life drama surrounding the 2024 presidential election — and some fictional similarities — are driving a massive viewership spike for HBO's "Veep."
🥤 Coca-Cola: The beverage giant raised its 2024 sales forecast and reported a 15% increase in organic revenue. Nine points of the growth were attributable to price hikes, though two-thirds of the latter was due to runaway inflation in Argentina.
🤧 Kimberly-Clark: The maker of Kleenex tissue paper and Cottonelle toilet paper said consumer tissue sales fell 4% in the second quarter, compared with a year earlier. The company raised its 2024 forecast, but its stock was still down 4% this afternoon.
The throwbacks keep coming: A new "Pimp My Ride"-inspired show is rolling onto Netflix streaming this week.
Behind the scenes: This iteration, titled "Resurrected Rides," is hosted by comedian Chris Redd ("Saturday Night Live") and "Pimp My Ride" co-creator Rick Hurvitz will be the executive producer.
Yes, but: The Netflix showrunners learned from the choices that led to the backlash about alleged fakery its predecessor received, which is why Redd signed on to host.
What they're saying: "We [helped] real people and they were able to keep their cars," Redd told Axios.
"A lot of the folks that we helped were really involved in their communities … those are the things that made me love the show."
Zoom in: Like the MTV series, "Resurrected Rides" features contestants who were picked (via video submission) to have their old cars repaired both mechanically and cosmetically by a team of experts.
Redd saidhe also wanted toadd comedic elements like pranks and roasting, reminiscent of another MTV hit from the 2000s, "Punk'd."
My thought bubble: I like how the show leans into the expertise of the crew members in each episode, so it feels like we're learning a lot about the mechanics in addition to the people they're helping.
What's next: "Resurrected Rides" premieres Wednesday on Netflix.
The big question right now is whether the economy's gentle slowdown could morph into a painful downturn. But the signals that typically offer clues look more unreliable than ever.
Why it matters: Recession indicators don't work like they used to. Many of them have been tripped, yet no big downturn has materialized. The quirks of the pandemic business cycle — driven by a rolling series of disruptions to supply and demand — are the likely culprit.
Igloo, Inc. announced it has closed an $11 million fundraising round led by Founders Fund, with participation by Fenbushi Capital, 1kx and others.
Why it matters: Igloo stewards the brand behind Pudgy Penguins, arguably the NFT brand that has had the best 2024 so far, including getting physical products into Walmart and Target stores.
Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek expects his company's profit margin growth to continue for the foreseeable future, he told Axios in an interview Tuesday.
Why it matters: Wall Street was skeptical of Spotify's strategy, but investors are beginning to reward the Swedish tech giant for its discipline.
Delta Air Lines is under federal investigation over how it's been handling delays and cancellations amid technical issues with its crew scheduling software.
Why it matters: Delta's continuing problems, as its competitors have rebounded from a widespread software outage, are a black eye for the company, which has strived to build a reputation as a premium airline.
Italian eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica knows that the not-so-secret secret to making money in the fashion industry is to have direct relationships with customers. That's why it's beefing up with tech — and is buying a high-profile streetwear brand.
Driving the news: EssilorLuxottica said last week it would spend $1.5 billion to buy Supreme; it seems likely to accept a $5 billion investment from Meta; and is buying a controlling interest in Heidelberg Engineering, a company specializing in eye-test technology.
Spotify on Tuesday reported its most profitable quarter ever, a signal to investors that its efficiency efforts are working and its business is growing, despite a slowdown in the ad market.
Why it matters: It marks the second consecutive quarter of record profit growth for the company, following several quarters of heavy losses last year.
Too Good To Go, an app that allows consumers to snag cheap eats and helps businesses reduce food waste, is expanding into Whole Foods stores nationwide.
Why it matters: Food waste in the U.S. accounts for 30% to 40% of the country's food supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Driving the news: The Texas-based grocer announced that more than 450 of its stores, including those in Houston, are now offering "surprise bags" of surplus food on the Too Good To Go app.
The partnership is expected to save millions of meals annually and bolster sustainability efforts, the companies said in a news release.
Too Good To Go, an app that allows consumers to snag cheap eats and helps businesses reduce food waste, is expanding into Whole Foods stores nationwide.
Why it matters: Food waste in the U.S. accounts for 30% to 40% of the country's food supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Driving the news: The Austin-based grocer announced that more than 450 Whole Foods stores, including those in Austin, are now offering "surprise bags" of surplus food for purchase via the Too Good To Go app.
Users reserve a bag that will include whatever wasn't purchased that day and schedule a time to pick it up.
Cadillac's latest vision for the future is a gorgeous, buttercream-colored convertible that taps into one of the hottest hobbies on the planet: bird-watching.
Why it matters: While only a design exercise at this point, Cadillac's Sollei concept reimagines the bespoke American luxury drop-top, with a personalized driving experience connecting drivers with the natural world around them.
The big picture: Nina Jankowicz alleged she resigned as executive director of the Biden administration's since-disbanded Disinformation Governance Board "as a result of Fox's false statements and the ensuing harassment."
