Bloomberg
Michael Jordan, Mark Cuban and Ted Leonsis are investing millions into Swiss sports data firm Sportradar AG. Raising obvious ethical concerns, the NBA owners were “drawn in large part by the ‘inevitable’ legalization of sports betting in the U.S.,” Bloomberg Business reports. “The full investment round … totals $44 million and is being led by Revolution Growth, a private equity firm founded by Leonsis.”
Reuters
IBM plans to buy the Weather Company's digital assets for a figure that reportedly exceeds $2 billion. For IBM, the plan is to boost its Watson cloud and Internet of Things platforms, Reuters writes. “The deal highlights IBM's focus on high-growth areas, such as cloud computing and analytics, as it dumps low-margin businesses, such as cash registers, low-end servers and semiconductors.”
The Verge
Threatening the future of net neutrality in Europe, the EU has rejected amendments that would have thoroughly established and protected the concept. “Advocates for net neutrality say the laws contain a number of loopholes which could lead to the creation of a tiered internet service,” The Verge reports.
Re/code
Kara Swisher says Marissa Mayer’s effort to revitalize Yahoo is looking increasingly doubtful. That’s because the Web dinosaur is losing talent faster than anyone can count. “Many inside the company are becoming worried about strategy and execution of key initiatives aimed at turning around its core business,” Swisher writes in Re/code.
The New York Times
Taking cyber warfare to a new level, U.S. military officials are concerned that Russia plans to cut undersea cables that carry nearly all global Web communications in times of conflict. “The issue goes beyond old worries during the Cold War that the Russians would tap into the cables,” The New York Times reports. Now, “The ultimate Russian hack on the United States could involve severing the fiber-optic cables.”
TechCrunch
Again beating analyst estimates, Amazon reported $25.4 billion in net sales and earnings of 17 cents per share during the third quarter. “Analysts were expecting a loss of 13 cents per share on sales of $24.91 billion,” TechCrunch reports. “The company is expecting revenue of between $33.5 billion and $36.75 billion, compared to the $35.1 billion analysts were expecting.”
Arstechnica
Pandora is paying major record labels $90 million for streaming of pre-1972 songs, which are not covered under federal copyright but are covered by state-level copyrights in certain areas. “It's the second big payment that will go to the Recording Industry Association of America,” ars technica reports. “The settlement covers Pandora's past plays of pre-1972 music.”
The Wall Street Journal
High valuations are actually working against a growing number of tech startups, The Wall Street Journal reports. “So far this year, only 14% of IPOs in the U.S. were done by tech companies, the smallest percentage since at least the mid-1990s,” it notes, citing data from Dealogic.
QZ.com
Jack Dorsey is donating a significant chunk of his Square shares to a new foundation he created to serve struggling communities. Dorsey created the Start Small Foundation to invest in “artists, musicians, and local businesses, with a special focus on underserved communities around the world,” according to the payment processing company’s IPO filing. Notes Quartz: “His donated shares will be available for sale in the IPO, with the proceeds to benefit the foundation.”
TechCrunch
Restaurant discovery portal Zomato cutting about 300 staffers, or just under 10% of its current workforce, TechCrunch reports. The plan, as TC notes, is to “cut costs in weaker parts of its business and shift more focus into revenue-generating areas like reservations.” Zomato is based out of India, but is active in 22 countries.