Billionaire Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has donated $15 million to help fund guaranteed income projects across the U.S., Mayors for a Guaranteed Income announced on Tuesday.
Why it matters via Axios' Jennifer A. Kingson: Dorsey's move — coupled with the news that Miami residents are waiting in line for hours for $250 grocery vouchers — highlights the dire financial needs among urban dwellers that have sent mayors across the country lobbying Congress for more federal aid during the coronavirus pandemic.
Restaurant meal delivery company DoorDash on Tuesday evening raised $ 3.4 billion in its initial public offering, and will begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol DASH. CNBC earlier reported the news.
By the numbers: DoorDash priced at $102 per share, versus its upwardly revised range of $90-$95 per share, giving it a fully diluted valuation of around $39 billion. Its last private market valuation was $16 billion, secured over the summer.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday said he's moved from California to Texas, snubbing Silicon Valley on the way out and joining major startup exodus from California since the start of the pandemic and the expansion of remote work this year, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The big picture: Musk in May threatened to move Tesla's business out of California after a stay-at-home order required him to shut down his sole U.S. car factory. Tesla already said earlier this year that it would build a new automobile plant in Texas, which is now in development.
Microsoft has a new tool called "Productivity Score" that lets managers track how often their workforces are using Word and Excel, how many emails they're sending on Outlook, and how many video meetings they're attending on Teams or Skype.
The big picture: After fielding backlash over privacy concerns, Microsoft no longer allows companies to collect individual employee data with the tool. Firms can just look at aggregate numbers to track how they're using different products.
Even after the pandemic is behind us, millions of jobs — most of them in the travel and service industries — will be gone forever, and workers are figuring out their next moves.
The big picture: Pivoting from one career to a whole new one is a difficult feat, but many have pulled it off. That could be a good sign for America's resilience amid the pandemic's economic destruction.
Uber has agreed to sell Elevate, its "flying taxi" division, to Joby Aviation, the company said on Tuesday, confirming Axios' recent reporting. It's also investing $75 million into Joby as part of the deal.
Why it matters: Despite making a lot of noise about its ambitions for futuristic transportation, Uber has now sold off both its autonomous driving unit and its aircraft unit.
Over half of the media jobs lost this year were in digital, print and broadcast newsrooms, according to new data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The ad market only ended up falling about 4.2% in the U.S. this year, thanks to digital media.
Why it matters: Analysts were initially expecting double-digit growth declines, but stronger-than-expected spend in social media and digital video helped to stabilize the ad sector as a whole.
PubMatic, a programmatic advertising company, is looking to raise around $115 million when it files to go public this week, sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: Despite the ad market slump, the pandemic has been great for ad tech, because it's helped to accelerate the demand for new ad formats in mediums like streaming and gaming.
Congressional aides tell Axios that the stimulus proposal put forth by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, which already has President Trump's seal of approval, would provide $15 billion in grants to independent performance venues and movie theaters.
Yes, but: The relief would only be available to companies with fewer than 500 full-time employees, about 60% of the movie theaters in the U.S.
Josh Richards is joining Remus Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm, as a Venture Partner, Axios has learned.
The backdrop: Richards, 18, has more than 22 million followers on TikTok and is an angel investor and chief strategy officer at Triller. Remus invests in startups that cater to Gen-Z, like boutique fitness app ClassPass.
Private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners just hit the revolving door lottery, for better or for worse.
Driving the news: President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as defense secretary, less than five months after he joined Pine Island as a partner. It also comes after fellow Pine Island partner became Biden's secretary of state pick.
Some Spider Studios, one of the largest digital media publishers for parents, will bring in $35 million in revenue this year, including $5 million in profit, a source familiar with its finances tells Axios.
Why it matters: Digiday had previously reported that the company, which is home to big internet parenting brands like Scary Mommy, The Dad and Fatherly, was expecting to hit $50 million in revenue this year prior to the pandemic. That's now become its goal for 2021, along with $10 million in profit.
STAT News is planning a big expansion next year, thanks in part to explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The big picture:The health, medicine and science outlet brought in over $10 million in revenue this year — up about 66% from last year, executives tell Axios. It plans to increase staff by roughly 40% next year to help launch new data products, events and custom reports.
U.S. consumer borrowing rose by less than forecast in October while credit card debt outstanding hit a three-year low and revolving credit declined for the seventh time in eight months.
Details: Total credit increased $7.2 billion from September, but revolving credit fell by $65.6 billion, reflecting a decline in credit card balances, the Fed reported Monday.
Activism and social movements dominated activity on social media this year, according to numerous data sets provided by big platforms and researchers.
Why it matters: Social media launched over a decade ago as a means of connecting people to friends and helping users express themselves. Now, it's one of the main vehicles used to push political change and raise awareness about social issues.
The Bank for International Settlements issued another warning about the detachment of U.S. equity prices from the real economy in its latest quarterly review.
Why it matters: The so-called central bank of central banks continues to warn that the gravity-defying stock market is also defying reason.
Renewing the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is one of the few things Democrats and Republicans agree on and is on the short list of must-have programs for any coronavirus relief package passed by Congress before year-end. The only problem: PPP has been a major disappointment for small businesses.
What happened: While 5.2 million businesses received funding through the program, it left out many smaller mom and pop shops — disproportionately women-, minority- and immigrant-led firms. Millions ended up closing their doors.
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