Kushner and Kloss buy Life magazine
Life, an iconic chronicler of the 20th century with a focus on photography, takes many forms: a weekly magazine, a website, and occasional special issues.
Currently, between Barry Diller's IAC and venture capitalist Josh Kushner, whose Thrive Capital is one of the largest investors in OpenAI, and his wife, entrepreneur and model Karlie Kloss. Thanks to the deal, regular print publication will resume.
Kushner and Cross purchased the publishing rights to Life from Dotdash Meredith. Print and digital publisher. The deal is being made through Bedford Media, a media startup that Cross heads as CEO (the price was not disclosed).
Life was once the center of American culture. It features the work of famous photographers like Robert Capa and text from leading authors. (Ernest Hemingway's “The Old Man and the Sea” first appeared on that page.)
But after the 1970s, its popularity plummeted and the magazine was reduced to mainly light reading and celebrity news. In 2008, it became an online archive with occasional newsstand editions.
Back story: According to DealBook, Mr. Kushner approached Mr. Diller about reviving Life about eight months ago. His pitch was that the magazine could be revived in print and online, as well as in new versions, including events and collaborations with brands and major studios.
“Life's legacy lies in its ability to blend culture, current events, and everyday life to highlight the triumphs, challenges, and unique perspectives that define us,” Kushner said in a statement.
Dotdash Meredith will continue to be involved. The company owns the rights to Her Life's extensive photo and content archive and will continue to publish special print editions on single topics.
This is the latest high-profile effort to revive a legacy publication It's a tough time for the media industry. Both established publishers such as Condé Nast and emerging publishers such as Box and Vice are struggling amid the advertising recession.
But Kushner and Kloss, publishers of Life magazine, are betting that a more focused approach will succeed. “We see Life as an uplifting and unifying voice in a chaotic media environment,” Cross said.
The two have already purchased other famous titles. When Bedford was founded last year, it acquired style magazine iD from Vice. And in 2020, Cross assembled a consortium of investors to buy luxury fashion magazine W.
What's next: Bedford University has begun hiring senior editorial staff for Life magazine and plans to resume regular publication early next year.
what's happening here
Disney has ended its legal battle with Ron DeSantis over the Florida Special Tax District. The entertainment giant and the state's governor have agreed to collaborate on new growth plans for the 25,000-acre region surrounding Walt Disney World. It was a stunning conclusion to a fierce battle in which DeSantis and his allies seized the district and Disney fought back in a quiet effort to solidify his own development plans.
Amazon will invest an additional $2.75 billion in Anthropic. The funding brings the tech giant's total stake in Anthropic, the buzzy artificial intelligence startup, to $4 billion. It's the latest sign of tech giants' eagerness to pour money into promising AI technologies. Meanwhile, Salesforce reportedly paid more than $20 million to license an image of Albert Einstein to further its AI efforts.
The first quarter saw a buzz of deal-making. About $690.2 billion worth of mergers were announced in the first three months, up 30% from the same period a year ago, according to LSEG. But that growth was largely driven by mega-deals like Capital One's $35 billion bid for Discover Financial Services, with the number of announced deals down 31 percent year over year. .
How long will Mr. Bankman Fried work?
Sam Bankman Freed is scheduled to be sentenced today, with prosecutors seeking decades in prison for the FTX founder and defense attorneys arguing for just a few years.
The 32-year-old's fate will depend on how Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York assesses how much damage he has caused to investors and customers, and how many of them will get their money back. ing.
Prosecutors are asking Bankman-Fried to serve up to 50 years in prison. The former cryptocurrency industry poster boy was accused of stealing billions of dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle and his own investments, and was found guilty in November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Ta.
In a court filing this month, prosecutors made this call: He called the scam “historic” and pointed to the magnitude of the losses and tens of thousands of potential victims, including inexperienced retail investors.
Bankman Fried's lawyers are asking for leniency. They called for a sentence of no more than six-and-a-half years, accusing the government of imposing a “medieval” punishment on a “very bright” young man who has much to offer society.
They also pointed to FTX's lawyers' assertion that customers would eventually be repaid. It said the net loss to customers, lenders and investors was “zero.”
FTX's current leader vehemently condemned these claims. John Ray told Judge Kaplan this month that recovering the money was not guaranteed and would require a team effort. He added that it is “categorically, callously and demonstrably false” to say no harm was caused.
Compensation for victims does not guarantee a reduction in sentence.. “It's a crime to defraud people,” former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti told Dealbook. “And the scale of the fraud here was enormous.” He expects a sentence of 20 to 30 years in prison.
Mark Kornfeld of the law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney agreed that Bankman Freed's role in helping victims recover their money may not have been significant. “He's not making them perfect,” he told the Financial Times.
Cheatsheet for tomorrow's inflation report
The S&P 500 index enters the final business day of the quarter and is nearing its fifth consecutive month of gains. This is driven by expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin lowering interest rates as early as June.
But new inflation data could still derail that momentum. The Department of Commerce is scheduled to release the personal consumption expenditure index, which is closely watched in Washington, tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Economists expect further notable numbers. The question is, how hot is it? Particularly strong economic data could prompt the Fed to delay lowering borrowing costs, impacting the number of interest rate cuts this year.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
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Total PCE for February is expected to increase 2.5% year over year, a slight increase from January's report.
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Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 2.8%, about the same as last month.
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Analysts will be watching for signs that inflation in services such as airfare, health care and rent is starting to ease. Consumer spending in these areas has remained high in recent months.
Fed hawks are taking a cautious view in the face of this report. Fed Director Christopher Waller said in a speech yesterday that the central bank should hold off on cutting interest rates until “inflation numbers improve for at least a few months.” (Speech title: “There's no need to rush yet”)
Investors sold Treasury securities in response to Waller's comments. However, this morning's futures market still showed three rate cuts scheduled for the year, more or less in line with the Fed's latest forecast.
“Unless the leadership carries out a successful deleveraging exercise, China will enter a Japanese-style lost decade with Marxist characteristics.”
— Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates. In a lengthy post on LinkedIn, the hedge fund billionaire agrees with Chinese President Xi Jinping about a century of impending extraordinary change and offers suggestions to help the Chinese government address its economic problems. did.
AI lobby wants to talk about China
As policymakers consider how to regulate the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry, Silicon Valley is stepping up its lobbying efforts to shape the debate.
What is its latest tactic? Take advantage of growing concerns about China.
The Biden administration is doubling down on Chinese technology threats. That's evidenced by recent moves such as signaled support for legislation that could potentially ban TikTok in the United States.
Although China produces more top researchers, the United States has a significant lead in investment and breakthroughs.
Silicon Valley is trying to capitalize on that mood. On May 1, technology leaders including Palantir's Alex Karp, Sequoia Capital's Roelof Botha and Khosla Ventures' Vinod Khosla joined dozens of others, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). He is scheduled to attend a conference in Washington with other members of Congress.
Jacob Helberg, a consultant to Palantir and a member of the Congressional Committee on Chinese Threats to National Security, is hosting the event.
For tech companies, Washington's focus on China could be good for business. “Another aspect of China's slowdown is minimizing friction and regulation on U.S. companies,” Amba Kaku, a former senior AI adviser at the FTC, told the Times.
The event comes as the industry steps up its lobbying efforts. More than 350 organizations reported lobbying the federal government on AI issues in the first nine months of 2023, spending a total of $569 million on that effort, according to OpenSecrets..
However, the Facebook co-founder reportedly claims otherwise. Pack said Democratic megadonor Dustin Moskovitz met with President Biden last month and shared his arguments about the safety of AI.
“Reducing the risk of AI-induced extinction should be a global priority,” Moskowitz and colleagues warn. His nonprofit organization, Open Philanthropy, advocates for regulations such as software export controls and licensing requirements for certain of his AI models.
speed reading
Information of sale
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British hedge fund magnate Chris Horn topped Institutional Investor magazine's latest list of the richest people last year with $2.9 billion, followed by Millennium's Izzy Englander and Citadel's Ken Griffin. (Ⅱ)
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F1 owner Liberty Media is reportedly in talks to buy the parent company of motorcycle racing competition MotoGP for more than 4 billion euros (approximately $4.3 billion). (FT)
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Philadelphia 76ers owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have founded Unrivaled Sports, which invests in youth-focused sports, with backing from The Chernin Group. (Invincible Sports)
policy
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A member of the Qatari royal family invested about $50 million in Newsmax during the Trump administration. Staff at conservative newspapers were reportedly told to tone down their coverage of the country before and after the deal. (wapo)
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Joe Lieberman, a longtime Democratic senator, vice presidential candidate, and most recently helped lead the independent political group No Labels, died yesterday. He was 82 years old. (New York Times)
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