David Cahn has agreed to join Sequoia Capital as a partner on its growth team, Axios has learned. He previously was a general partner and COO of venture capital with Coatue Management.
Why it matters: This reflects how top VC firms are seeking to bolster their AI and data expertise, which Cahn focused on at Coatue.
The Federal Reserve slowed down its campaign of interest rate increases Wednesday, raising its target interest rate a quarter percentage point after months of more aggressive steps and signaled that more increases are ahead.
Why it matters: The Fed raised interest rates at a breakneck pace last year as inflation soared. Now they have further slowed the pace of hikes, but Fed chair Jerome Powell emphasized that the central bank's job is not done and warned that the economy is only in the early stages of easing inflation.
Beyoncé is gearing up to run the world again this year.
Driving the news: The singer announced Wednesday her "Renaissance" tour will visit countries around the world including the United States from May to September.
When he takes questions from reporters this afternoon, the Fed chair will presumably talk at length about the outlook for inflation, employment, and Fed policy.
But a different set of issues loom over the central bank that we suspect Powell would rather not talk about — potentially tough decisions that involve a debt ceiling standoff.
The FTC on Wednesday filed a court order against GoodRx for failing to notify users that it shared their personal, identifiable health data with Facebook and Google and said it would permanently ban the company from sharing such information for ads, should the court order be federally approved.
Why it matters: The court order is the firstFTC action under the Health Breach Notification Rule, which requires companies to notify users when their health data is infringed upon, and includes several safeguards aimed at protecting consumer data.
Job openings rose in December, while layoffs edged up only slightly, the Labor Department said on Wednesday — the latest sign employers are eager for workers.
By the numbers: There were 11 million vacancies in the final month of 2022, up from 10.4 million in November. Meanwhile, there were 1.5 million layoffs — slightly higher from the 1.4 million the prior month, though still historically low.
BDG Media is suspending Gawker and will lay off 8% of full-time staff, according to an internal memo from CEO Bryan Goldberg that was obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The news comes as BDG continues to search for a buyer or potential liquidity partner.
The Biden administration's plan to jump-start a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles (EVs) is on track to shatter expectations.
The big picture: Democrats offered carmakers new tax credits as an incentive to scale up domestic battery manufacturing — and they're racing to take advantage.
It's not too often that a deceased entrepreneurconfirms M&A speculation, but that's kind of what happened yesterday with sandwich chain Subway.
Driving the news: The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation, formed in 1999 by the late Subway co-founder Peter Buck and his wife, announced that Buck's will included instructions to give his 50% stake in the company to the foundation.
LeafLink, a New York-based wholesale cannabis platform, raised $100 million in Series D funding co-led by CPMG, L2 Ventures and Nosara Capital.
Why it matters: The deal's structure reflects growing challenges in the cannabis market, in part due to raw material price increases. It's a convertible note capped at a $500 million valuation, down from an $800 million valuation in 2021.
Venture capital-backed startups adjusted their budgets over the past year, with advertising expenses getting the short end of the spend stick, new data from Brex suggests.
Why it matters: The tighter fundraising market, uncertain customer demand, and the need to stretch runway has made startups take a hard look at their budgets over the past year.
SoftBank's Vision Fund jumped into the special purpose acquisition company boom during the pandemic, but it's had mixed success with the investment vehicle.
Driving the news: On Friday, SoftBank liquidated its first (and thus, oldest) SPAC after failing to merge with a target before its Jan. 12 deadline.
The battle royal between a well-known U.S. short seller and a well-connected Indian billionaire hits the Indian markets at a delicate time.
Driving the news: Fraud allegations launched by U.S. short seller Nate Anderson's Hindenburg Research have cratered the share prices of the various entities that make up the sprawling coal, cement, ports and infrastructure conglomerate run by Gautam Adani, who Bloomberg calls Asia's richest man.
Europe dodged recession at the end of last year, eking out a surprising bit of growth in the final three months of the year despite the energy shock delivered by Russia's war in Ukraine.
Driving the news: The 20-country currency bloc grew by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, compared to the same quarter in 2021. Not too bad.
The avian flu-related surge in egg prices is ebbing — but the protein is still pricey.
State of play: Weekly egg price information from the United States Department of Agriculture shows the average price of a dozen eggs is down more than 40% from its December peak of about $5.30. A dozen eggs now cost just over $3.
When President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act into law — providing workers with unpaid time off to care for a child, ailing parent, or their own medical issue — advocates believed it wouldn't be long before the U.S. passed paid leave laws as well.
Why it matters: This week, the Biden White House is set to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the FMLA — but the U.S. is only incrementally closer to a nationwide paid leave policy.
Authorities in Western Australia announced Wednesday they've found a tiny radioactive capsule that went missing along a vast stretch of highway in the Outback earlier this month.
Why it matters: Authorities said it was possible the capsule containing a small amount of radioactive Caesium-137 would never be found after it vanished while being transported by truck from Rio Tinto's Gudai-Darri mine in the remote Pilbara region of W.A. to a storage facility about 870 miles away in the state capital Perth.
