Why Elon Musk Rebranded Twitter as X

twitter popped up

Bye-bye Blue Bird: Twitter began rebranding itself overnight to X, replacing its long-standing logo with a stylized symbol projected over its San Francisco headquarters.

The move underscored Elon Musk’s ambition to make the social network an important part of his long-standing goal of creating an “app for everything.” But reinventing a business that has struggled since he paid $44 billion last year is another risky bet.

“Lights. Camera. X!” Linda Yaccarino wrote, the company’s CEO, as the social network begins to roll out a new brand.Had disappeared stylized birdformerly known as Larry T. Bird by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, has become one of the most famous Internet logos, as the company described it: most famous property.

The platform’s overview page has yet to be updated, but Yaccarino repeatedly mentioned X in a series of tweets outlining the company’s ambitions. We expect X to penetrate more fully within the company. Musk explained in an internal message to his employees over the weekend: The last thing he sent from Twitter wasAnd he told the user that the post should be: called “x” instead of tweeting.

Musk is clearly behind this transformation. Long fascinated by the identity of X. His second startup was X.com, which later became PayPal. (Shared by author Walter Isaacson engaging snippets Musk incorporated the “X” into the names of SpaceX and Tesla’s first car models and most recently named a new AI startup xAI.

not everyone was on the moveBut some ad executives said what matters more is whether users stay on the platform. Yaccarino explains to marketers According to the Financial Times, the company’s latest changes were announced on Sunday, including an enhanced integration with xAI. (This revamp may raise questions about how much power she wields at the company after Musk. imposed visibility restrictions For users who did not please advertisers. )

It’s more than a branding practice. The shift to subscription reliance hasn’t made up for it, as Twitter has struggled under Musk. 50% decrease in advertising revenuenegative cash flow, and new threats from meta threads—he increasingly emphasizes the company’s importance in what he calls X.

The billionaire has long dreamed of creating a super app that, like China’s WeChat, acts as a platform for everything users can do online. But it’s unclear how many runways Musk will need to fly the reborn X, as third-party data show user numbers are declining.

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“Babenheimer” set a post-pandemic box office record. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” grossed $235.5 million combined in the United States and Canada, marking the biggest opening weekend since 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” That’s good news for the film industry, which has been plagued by writers’ and actors’ strikes and a downturn due to big-ticket blockbusters, but it suggests that Hollywood’s reliance on franchises is becoming increasingly unrewarding.

Wildfires in Greece have forced people to evacuate. official ordered thousands Rhodes and Corfu have been left off tourist hotspots this weekend after fires burned down the islands. Southern Europe, like much of the northern hemisphere, has been scorched by temperatures rising above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Morgan Stanley appreciates “bidenomics.” The bank’s chief U.S. economist, Ellen Zentner, said that President Biden’s economic policies, including drastic investments in infrastructure, Surge in manufacturing, construction and employment It contributed to the better-than-expected growth in GDP. That’s new good news for Mr. Biden, who has touted his financial performance to bolster his re-election campaign.

Adidas is reportedly anticipating strong demand for its Yeezy shoes. The German shoe manufacturer is about $563 million worth of online orders Earlier this spring, the company stopped selling Kanye West-designed sneakers, according to the Financial Times. Adidas ended its partnership with the rapper last year after the rapper made anti-Semitic remarks, but has been looking for alternatives after scrapping Yeezy inventory would result in a $550 million write-down.

A crucial week for central banks

Investors are bracing for a week of consequential interest rate decisions that could set the stage for the world’s largest economy’s second-half recovery.

Wall Street is increasingly in favor of a “soft landing” for the U.S. economy, betting that higher interest rates will continue to keep inflation low without triggering a recession. John GrayBlackstone’s president believes the worst is over and M.&A. Economic activity will pick up again as inflation moderates.

Investors are also bullish, with the S&P 500 gaining about 19% this year on expectations that central banks will become less hawkish.

That vision will be put to the test on Wednesday, the Fed’s decision day. After pausing rate hikes last month, the central bank is expected to raise borrowing costs by 0.25 percentage points, the 11th hike since March 2022.

Futures markets this morning priced in just a one-third chance of a rate hike in September at the next Fed meeting.Economists also increasingly see Fed tightening cycle This week is coming to an end.

The European Central Bank will meet on Thursday. Economists also expect the ECB to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Beyond that, the outlook is less clear. Inflation is starting to fall in the Eurozone. Whether this will be enough to convince bank president Christine Lagarde and her colleagues to pause (or cancel) activities after this week is uncertain.

The Bank of Japan will decide on Friday. data released last week The headline inflation rate surpassed that of the United States for the first time in several years. But economists expect the central bank to hold back, largely because wage growth in Japan has been relatively subdued. Global investors, including Warren Buffett, have flocked to relatively cheap Japanese stocks this year, lured by Japan’s economic outlook.

• More news of the week: Big Tech will join a parade of 165 S&P 500 companies scheduled to announce quarterly earnings. Investors will look to Microsoft and Alphabet’s earnings releases (both Tuesday) and Meta’s (Wednesday) for clues as to whether the explosion of interest in artificial intelligence is impacting their own business prospects.

Altice USA rethinks bet on Cheddar News

Cable company Altice USA is considering a potential sale less than five years after it acquired news network Cheddar News, once billed as “CNBC for millennials,” Dealbook’s Lauren Hirsch and The Times’ Ben Mullin reported first.

Altice USA has hired Goldman Sachs to help explore strategic alternatives to Cheddar News, according to three people familiar with the matter. They warned that Altis is still weighing its options and may forego a sale. Representatives for Altice USA and Goldman declined to comment.

The sale marks the exit from Altice USA’s big bet on the streaming news company. Artis is run by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi. paid $200 million The deal was seen as a way to bolster the company’s news division, which also includes the News 12 channel. Cheddar was promoting the future of financial news, featuring interviews with his CEO, newsmakers and journalists from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Cheddar is not your traditional cable business. The network’s founder, former BuzzFeed president John Steinberg, has signed a deal to distribute across a wide range of platforms.Among them are Gas Station TV (yes, it’s pumping) and he’s MTV’s college campus network (Cheddar bought 2018).

However, some of these contracts are not as profitable as cable distribution contracts. Rather than having TV providers like Comcast pay him per viewer for Cheddar, the channel relies primarily on advertising revenue. That’s a tough business model for media companies competing with tech giants like Meta and TikTok for digital ad market share. (In fact, cheddar has recently dismissed employee. )

Altice USA shares have fallen about 70% over the past year. The company, which provides broadband services in 22 states, reported. Decrease in profit and revenue First quarter. News and advertising revenue alone was down 14%. Altice is due to report its second-quarter results next week.

Has China peaked?

China forecast looming economic decline that is pile up as a post-corona recovery slows down. growth is slowing, Youth unemployment is high And the key real estate sector is in the doldrums.economic slowdown spurred discussion Among Washington think tanks and political commentators, have we reached ‘China’s peak’ and what does that mean for the world?

The idea that China’s dominance is losing momentum Introduced by Michael Beckley is Director of the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Institute. 2018 article Contributor to Foreign Affairs magazine. Beckley believes his framework has taken off recently, as China’s economic overtaking of the United States now seems inevitable.

Countries at the top of power tend to be more aggressivehe says. In an upcoming paper published in the journal International Security shared with DealBook, Beckley argues that the current economic slowdown could trigger further expansionism in China. Hard-line stance toward Taiwan intensifies), based on the historical actions of other countries such as the United States in the late 19th century. Still, as the example of the United States shows, Beckley says, “A power that has reached its peak is not destined for decline.”

“Caution” in assumptions due to lack of reliable datasaid Rep. Raja Krishnamooti of Illinois, the Democratic leader on the House Committee on Competition with China. While China’s economic engine is running out of steam, Mr. Beckley’s theory is misguided because it focuses on an “artificial” period of stagnation in another economy rather than how to boost U.S. growth, he said.

It is too early to call it the beginning of the end of China’s growth. said Ian Bremmer, president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. He argues that China’s growth will outpace that of the United States, and that the “Peak China” theory is “ideologically confused.” This is being driven by those with a “zero-sum” worldview who fail to recognize that China’s success can be a victory for the United States, and that Beijing’s global influence will likely continue to grow along with its own economy. And American companies that rely on the Chinese market, such as Tesla and the NBA, don’t want to decline. “So many people are very excited about making money in China,” Bremmer said.

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• “The ‘lean’ DeSantis camp faces a reboot and liquidation.” (New York Times)

• world coinThe cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI head Sam Altman began operations on Monday despite a pushback from regulators. (FT)

• Pharmaceutical companies are fighting a move by the Biden administration to allow Medicare to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs. (New York Times)

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