What we’re reading (10/12)
“OpenAI’s AI-Adjusted Earnings Numbers Have Echoes Of Groupon And WeWork” (Business Insider). “When Google was about five years old, the world saw its finances for the first time when it filed for an IPO. The company was wildly profitable, making over $100 million in net income in 2003. It never looked back. When Facebook was roughly seven years old, it shared financial data with prospective investors. I got a look at the document when I was a reporter at MarketWatch. It indicated that the company had already become remarkably profitable, too. Now, we've gotten the first peak at OpenAI's financials. It's almost 10 years old, and it's nothing like Google and Facebook.”
“Big Banks Steer Through ‘Treacherous’ Conditions” (New York Times). “In an early test of the effect the Federal Reserve’s big interest rate cut has had on the finance business, the verdict is: mixed. Profits were down at JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, two of the nation’s biggest banks, they reported on Friday, yet their results largely surpassed expectations. The results suggested the economy was in solid shape, in keeping with recent data on jobs and inflation, although bank executives warned of looming risks.”
“France Freaks Out Over Proposed Sale Of Paracetamol-Maker To American Fund” (Politico). “French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi said on Friday that it was in talks to sell a majority stake of its subsidiary that produces over-the-counter drugs to an American private equity firm CD&R for €15 billion. The proposed takeover is already proving highly controversial in France, with politicians from across political spectrum voicing fears it could threaten manufacturing jobs in France and fall afoul of Europe's push to secure its supply chains for critical medicines.”
“Boeing To Cut 10% of Workers, Delay New Plane” (Wall Street Journal). “Boeing will cut 10% of its global workforce, or roughly 17,000 jobs, and warned of deeper losses in its operations as a machinist strike compounds problems brewing at the jet maker for years. Along with the job cuts, the manufacturing giant said it would further delay the launch of a new airplane, the 777X, that is already years behind schedule. It will also discontinue the 767 cargo plane. They are the biggest moves so far by Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg, who took over the company in August, to revamp an American company that has struggled with production issues and been burning through its cash.”
“This Texas Mom Charges Over $1,000 For Her Elaborate Pumpkin Displays Each Year — See Her Stunning Designs!” (People). “This Texas mom turned her passion for pumpkins into a thousand-dollar business! Heather Torres, the founder of Porch Pumpkins, opened up about her flourishing porch-scaping business in which she designs and sets up elaborate pumpkin displays outside of people’s homes while appearing on The Koerner Office podcast with Chris Koerner. During the interview, released on Wednesday, Oct. 2, Torres explains how it all started when she saw her friends paying thousands of dollars to have Christmas decorations installed at their homes.”
