As Fox’s load became even lighter
Fox News’ $787.5 million payment to settle Dominion Voting Systems’ wide-ranging defamation lawsuits is still the talk of the town, including the size of that sum.
But further evidence suggests the staggering figure, which Dominion and its owner are still claiming as a victory, may not be as costly to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire as it might seem. Fox shares have barely changed since the deal was announced on Tuesday.
Fox may take a tax deduction from the settlement, Lever News reports. US tax law allows companies to write off at least a portion of settlement fees as part of the cost of doing business. (There are some exceptions, including cases involving allegations of harassment or sexual abuse with nondisclosure agreements; Fox News has paid settlements involving individuals in the past.)
It’s unclear how much Fox will save, though a spokesperson confirmed the tax deduction is in play. Lever News estimated the company could reap up to $213 million in tax savings.
This is likely to further enrage Fox’s critics, who already thought Mr. Murdoch and company fared better than expected. DealBook asked Wednesday whether much will change at Fox News after the deal, given that the network won’t have to apologize on air or endure potentially embarrassing public testimony from Mr. Murdoch or stars like Tucker Carlson.
In fact, according to media commentator Brian Stelter, Donald Trump — whose baseless claims of voter fraud related to Dominion’s lawsuit — is scheduled to appears on Fox News next week
Dominion owner still claims injury. Staple Street Capital, which bought a majority stake in the voting machine maker for just $38.3 million in 2018, wants to make a astonishing 1,500 percent return in that deal. But while Dominion may win new business now that Fox News has admitted to airing some false claims against it, Staple Street executives say the company still “has been damaged and damaged beyond repair” because of the situation.
That said, Dominion isn’t done with court battles: It’s suing others who have accused it of election wrongdoing, including news outlet Newsmax and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell.
How the settlement was made: Both of us The Washington Post i The Wall Street Journal spoke to Jerry Roscoe, the mediator who brokered the 11th hour deal that hadn’t seemed possible for months. Mr. Roscoe had, by his count, about 50 conversations with Fox and Dominion representatives, all while on vacation in Romania, including some while on a bus or boat.
“Everybody on the tour bus was wondering why this nasty guy was on the phone the whole time,” he told The Journal.
HERE IS WHAT IS GOING ON
Tesla’s stock price falls amid price cuts. Shares in the electric car maker are down more than 7 percent in premarket trading after it reported first-quarter profit fell 24 percent year-over-year. The culprit was a price-cutting campaign to defend market share from growing competitors, although Elon Musk noted that Tesla’s price margins remained among the highest in the industry.
Janet Yellen is expected to warn China about “unfair” economic policies. In a speech on Thursday, the Treasury secretary is set to call for a “constructive and fair” economic relationship with China. But while Ms Yellen aims to mend strained ties with Beijing, she is likely to say Washington is not seeking to stifle Chinese growth, she is likely to reiterate US security concerns.
The American economy remains practically stable. Data from the The Fed’s latest Beige Book of surveys, released on Wednesday, show that economic activity did not change much after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, while price inflation eased slightly. The latest batch of information suggests that the Fed will not deviate from its current course on interest rates.
Microsoft plans to remove Twitter from its advertising platform. The tech giant said Microsoft Advertising users wouldn’t be able to do that manage your Twitter accounts through the service starting next week, citing very high prices for using the social network’s API, the technical gateway to its content.
An abortion pill maker is suing the FDA to protect access to its drug. GenBioPro, which makes the generic version of mifepristone, is trying to block the agency from complying with future court orders to take the drug off the market. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court extended a stay on a lower court’s ruling to limit access to mifepristone until Friday while it considers the case.
The clock is ticking on a debt settlement
House Republicans expect to vote as early as next week on President Kevin McCarthy’s debt limit plan. Released Wednesday, the proposal would either raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or suspend it until March, potentially pushing the so-called X date, when the government would run out of money to pay its bills, to half of the presidential primaries. season
The market is closely watching the long-term bill of Mr. McCarthy. Wall Street professionals vividly remember 2011, when a months-long debt-ceiling battle between the Republican-controlled House and the Obama administration sent the stock market tumbling and borrowing costs soaring for fear that the country would not pay its debts.
The 2023 version of this fight is playing out against the backdrop of a smoldering banking crisis, growing fears of recession and sky-high inflation. “A fight over the debt ceiling this year would likely add to the effects of the economic slowdown and even advance the timing of the recession,” he said. Lauren Goodwindirector of portfolio strategy at New York Life Investments.
What’s on the bill? It would keep discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels, add conditions to assistance programs like food stamps, and restore funding for high-profile Democratic-backed initiatives like enhanced enforcement funding from the IRS and student loan forgiveness. Unsurprisingly, the bill is considered dead on arrival in a Democratic-controlled Senate.
The Democrats are counting on the mess of the Republicans. “House Republicans are in disarray and don’t have a unified agenda,” Rep. Brendan F. Boyle, D-Pennsylvania and ranking member of the House Budget Committee, told DealBook. But with McCarthy’s bill now in play, as well as a compromise framework introduced Wednesday by the bipartisan Caucus of problem solvers — and the debt limit deadline is fast approaching, Democrats may find themselves under pressure to compromise.
How far away is date X? If no agreement is reached, it would be reached From the first half of June, Goldman Sachs researchers calculated this week after reviewing “weak tax collections so far in April.” (The X-date target, which just a week ago was supposed to be in August, may change again as more tax collection data comes in.) The tighter timeframe could persuade Republicans reluctant to seek an interim measure to gain more time. . But even there, Goldman researchers are skeptical. “Voting to raise the debt limit twice is harder than voting once,” researchers Alec Phillips and Tim Krupa wrote in a note.
Based on the distance between the parties now, voting once will be difficult enough.
“At no point did he say to me, ‘I have to prepare my children for my succession.'”
— Sydney Toledothe former head of Christian Dior, referring to Bernard Arnault amid questions about which of the French billionaire’s sons will take over as head of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.
Fashion goes out of style with EU regulators
Between glittering runway shows and dressing stars for the red carpet, Gucci is a company well used to the dazzle of the spotlight. This week, however, that attention may have felt less comfortable after its Italian offices were raided by European Union antitrust officials.
The unannounced inspection was the latest in a series of regulatory actionswrites Elizabeth Paton of The Times for DealBook, as antitrust officials step up scrutiny of the fashion industry for potential anti-competitive practices.
In March, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, launched investigations into several beauty and fragrance companies linked to the supply of fragrance ingredients.
Last year, some fashion houses came under fire over sustainability goals developed by the industry, including changes to sales periods and discount strategies that regulators later deemed as potential violations of the competition law
Pierre Cardin and the German clothing manufacturer Ahlers they have faced scrutiny on licensing and distribution agreements that may have breached the rules on cross-border sales.
The increased attention came after a period of “relative calm”, Greenberg Traurig, a law firm, said in a note. The company added that the raids underlined the European Commission’s increased focus on law enforcement in the fashion sector following the coronavirus pandemic and urged companies to review business practices to “ensure- know that they do not infringe EU anti-trust and anti-competition regulations.”
Kering, Gucci’s parent company, said it was “cooperating” with regulators on Wednesday. The Commission he said in a statement a day earlier that it was investigating the activities of several fashion companies based in several Member States and that it had also sent requests for information to other undisclosed brands.
“The Commission is concerned that the companies in question may have breached EU antitrust rules prohibiting cartels and restrictive business practices, including certain horizontal and vertical restraints,” it said.
Penalties for companies could include fines of up to 10 percent of their global turnover.
READING SPEED
Offers
Politics
Julie Su, President Biden’s pick for Labor secretary who has held the position since March as acting, he faces an uphill battle at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday. (CNN)
The European Parliament this morning comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation passed regulates trade and anti-money laundering measures, making the EU the first major market to do so. (CoinDesk)
Microsoft and Apple are among the tech companies lobbying to reduce the scope of a Senate bill that could ban TikTok in the US (Bloomberg)
The best of the rest
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