1. Musk Departs from Tesla?!
On August 7th, Elon Musk tweeted: “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.” This caused an uproar and general confusion around the stock. As a result, stock prices saw odd fluctuations. Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Musk and Tesla for his actions which were in direct violation of the law. This scrutiny could cause Elon Musk to depart the company. To relax this weekend, we are thinking Marijuana Muskie might hit the peace pipe while reading Erik Qualman’s book What Happens in Vegas Stays on YouTube.
(Source: Mashable, TechCrunch)
2. Saving Sears for $1B
Sears CEO, Eddie Lampert, has a new plan for cutting the company’s debt. Who’s financing it? His own hedge fund, ESL Investments Inc., which also happens to be the largest stakeholder in Sears itself. This past year Sears has seen its share price tank 87%. The retailer has also seen losses of over $11B the past 6 years. ESL Investments Inc. proposes that Sears sell about 200 stores in order to fund the refinancing plan. We have come a long way from the famous Sears Catalog and its 370 varieties of mail-order homes. Seriously, this was a thing and there are over 70K in the U.S. Check it out here.
(Source: Bloomberg)
3. Dunkin’ No More!
What might be considered one of America’s favorite donut and coffee shops is up for a big change. Dunkin’ Donuts has swapped its name for something much simpler (and what we pretty much already called it): Dunkin’. Everyone wins here—the company is on a “first-name basis” with their clients now. Shareholders seem pretty happy about it too, with the stock price rising since the name change. We don’t feel guilty going there even if we inhale a 470 calorie Jelly Stick.
Image SourceIt’s comparable to the rebranding that companies such as KFC and NPR did in the past. With their speedy drive-thru lines, cheap pricing and recent rebranding, Dunkin’ is running.
(Source: Forbes)
