1. Lyft IPO: From Sharing to Shares
Owning a piece of the gig economy became a reality for millions on Friday when Lyft began trading on the public markets, signaling the start of a stream of stock offerings expected from high-profile technology companies this year. Lyft’s shares rose 8.7 percent in its first day of trading after opening at $87.24, far above the public offering price of $72. By the end of the day, the ride-hailing firm’s market value stood at $26.4 billion, making it one of the most valuable American companies to go public in the last decade. At that level, it was more than 23 times the valuation of the parent company of Hertz, the rental car provider, and bigger than the parent of United Airlines. Early this morning, the stock is coming back to earth, as it dropped 6 points to $72 a drop of roughly 8%.
(Source: New York Times)
2. FB Hit With Discrimination Lawsuit
The federal government is suing Facebook over allegations of housing discrimination in the social network’s advertising platform. “Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live,” HUD secretary Ben Carson said in a statement. “Using a computer to limit a person’s housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone’s face.” Facebook says the lawsuit is out of line and premature as they’ve been working with the HUD to address housing discrimination on its ad platform. This isn’t the first time HUD has called out Facebook’s targeted housing ads. Last August, the filed a complaint against Facebook alleging discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.” HUD general counsel Paul Compton stated, “Even as we confront new technologies, discrimination in housing-related advertising is against the law.” Stay tuned for how Facebook will address these claims.
3. Musk Releases Dreadful Rap Song
Elon Musk has built rockets, made electric cars, drilled tunnels and now, apparently, released a rap song. On Saturday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted a bizarre song on SoundCloud. Released through what he dubbed Emo G Records, the tune is titled “RIP Harambe.” It’s been reported that the song was written to memorialize the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla who was killed in 2016. This speculation is based on the obvious title and references of the gorilla throughout the lyrics. In one part of the song, the rapper says, “RIP Harambe, smoking on some strong hay, in the gorilla zoo and we thinking about you.”
(Source: USA Today, Rolling Stone)
