What we’re reading (11/18)
“DOJ Will Push Google To Sell Chrome To Break Search Monopoly” (Bloomberg Law). “Top Justice Department antitrust officials have decided to ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc.’s Google to sell off its Chrome browser in what would be a historic crackdown on one of the world’s biggest tech companies. The department will ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, according to people familiar with the plans.”
“Discount Airline Spirit Files For Bankruptcy” (Wall Street Journal). “Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy, overcome by stronger competition for budget fares and the carrier’s own hefty debt obligations. Spirit filed a chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to restructure its debts to bondholders and survive more intense competition from larger airlines for value-minded fliers. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Spirit was preparing to file for bankruptcy.”
“How ‘Miracle’ Weight-Loss Drugs Will Change The World” (Nature). “Welcome to the healthier, happier world of 2030. Heart attacks and strokes are down 20%. A drop in food consumption has left more money in people’s wallets. Lighter passengers are saving airlines 100 million litres of fuel each year. And billions of people are enjoying a better quality of life, with improvements to their mental and physical health. These are just some of the ways in which analysts forecast that the new wave of incredibly effective weight-loss drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists, might transform societies and save countries trillions of dollars in the long run. The best known is semaglutide, marketed as Ozempic for diabetes, and as Wegovy for weight loss. ‘Short of some crazy unfortunate side effect, this is going to change the world,’ says Chin Hur, a gastroenterologist at Columbia University in New York City.”
“US Judge Told Archegos Founder Can't Afford What Defense Says Is ‘Unjustified’ $10 Billion Restitution” (New York Law Journal). “Prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to sentence Archegos Capital Management founder Sung Kook "Bill" Hwang to 21 years behind bars and forfeit $10 billion. But his lawyers say he's only worth $55 million now.”
“‘Crocodile Of Wall Street’ Gets Prison Time For Role In Huge Bitcoin Theft” (Washington Post). “To the internet, she’s a rapper named Razzlekhan who styled herself as the ‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ and claimed to have more pizzazz than Genghis Khan. But to prosecutors, she’s one half of the “bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde” duo behind a crypto heist involving buried gold coins, Ukrainian and Russian money mules, and the single-largest asset seizure in Justice Department history.”
