WORLD STREET | BINANCE FOUNDER SENTENCED, ELON MUSK AXES SUPERCHARGER TEAM, STARBUCKS' CHALLENGE, VIKING HOLDINGS IPO, AND MORE

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months in prison for money laundering. Tesla slashes Supercharger team amid broader staff cuts. Starbucks laments Q2 earnings miss. Amazon surpasses Q1 expectations with ad and cloud growth. South Korea's exports surge, US demand drives growth. Viking Holdings prices IPO to raise $1.54 billion. All this and more on this edition of World Street.

Binance Boss Binned

Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, was sentenced on Tuesday to four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating the US laws against money laundering at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reported Reuters. Once considered the most powerful crypto industry figure, Zhao, known as "CZ," is the second major crypto boss to be sentenced to prison after FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried.

Zap Zap: Tesla Trims

Tesla Inc. has axed almost its entire Supercharger team, which has built a vast network of public charging stations that virtually every major automaker is in the process of tapping into in the US. The decision to cut the nearly 500-person group, including its senior director, Rebecca Tinucci, was made by Elon Musk last week, reported Bloomberg. It comes in addition to the more than 10 percent staff cut ordered in mid-April.

Latte Lament

Starbucks' Q2 earnings missed expectations across the board as the company posted lower-than-expected revenue, earnings, and same store sales growth (SSSG), as customers pulled back on the frequency of their visits and the size of their orders.

Company CEO Laxman Narasimhan called it "a highly challenged environment during the earnings call. Macro headwinds, "particularly around the pressures that consumers face, particularly with the occasional customer ... that's where the challenge is," he said.

Retail Riches

E-commerce behemoth Amazon outpaced expectations in Q1 with robust earnings and revenue, fueled by advertising and cloud computing growth. Operating income soared over 200% to $15.3 billion, far outpacing revenue growth, highlighting the impact of cost-cutting measures. The company expects a continued jump in profitability for the second quarter, albeit at a steadier pace.

Seoul Surplus

South Korea’s export growth accelerated in April, led by record demand from the US fed by strong economic momentum as China struggles to recover from a domestic slump. Shipments that reflect working-day differences increased 11.3 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the customs office.

Without the adjustment, headline exports rose 13.8 percent while overall imports increased 5.4 percent. The trade surplus came to $1.5 billion.

Hush Bucks

Justice Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial levied a $9,000 fine against the former US president for contempt of court. Additionally, the judge warned of potential imprisonment if Trump persisted in flouting a gag order.

In a written decree, Merchan expressed concern that the fine might not sufficiently deter the wealthy businessman-turned-politician and and lamented he did not have the authority to impose a higher penalty. Merchan had instituted the gag order to prevent Trump from disparaging witnesses and and others involved in the case.

Afloat & Ablaze

Viking Holdings Ltd. priced its initial public offering (IPO) close to the upper end of the range, aiming to raise $1.54 billion for the luxury cruise operator and two investors., reported Bloomberg. Viking and the investors sold 64.04 million shares for $24 apiece, according to the report. The company upsized its IPO on Monday and said it would target a valuation of more than $10 billion.

2024-05-01T02:49:44Z dg43tfdfdgfd