I got a call Thursday morning from Kathleen Smith, who runs Renaissance Capital, an investment firm that specializes in investing in IPOs and also runs the Renaissance Capital IPO ETF (ticker: IPO), a basket of the largest 60 or so most recent offerings. She had just finished reading the S-1 filing of a proposed IPO […]
Read moreImagine being a tech company with so little profit that you could buy a grocery store and cut prices all while improving your margin. Yes, that’s Amazon. In announcing the upcoming close of its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods on Thursday, Amazon also said that starting next week, it will offer lower prices on […]
Read moreRobots are going to replace human workers and when they do, the companies that employ them should be taxed. So says billionaire Bill Gates. And now, San Francisco lawmaker Jane Kim thinks so too. In February, in an interview with Quartz, the Microsoft co-founder broached the idea of a “robot tax.” “Right now, the human […]
Read moreWhole Foods customers are one step closer to being able to ask Alexa to order their groceries. Whole Foods shareholders voted Wednesday to approve Amazon’s acquisition bid, and Amazon announced Thursday it would close the deal Monday. But what if you didn’t have to tell Alexa what you wanted? What if instead, she told you? […]
Read moreApple will invest at least $1.3 billion in the first phase of an Iowa data center project, CEO Tim Cook said on Thursday, in speech in that state that emphasized Apple’s push to “build a future for everyone.” Apple, like fellow technology companies Facebook, Microsoft and Google, will build a data center near Waukee, Iowa, […]
Read moreAs Amazon takes its first steps into the health sector, many established players say they have little to fear. As Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina stressed on a recent earnings call with investors, Amazon has “opportunities around the world and in other categories, which are much, much simpler than health care, which is a very regulated […]
Read moreCommercial office space start-up WeWork announced it has $4.4 billion from SoftBank and its related Softbank Vision Fund, which includes other investors. The deal includes $1.4 billion earmarked to help WeWork expand throughout China, Japan and Southeast Asia, as well as $3 billion in growth funding into WeWork’s parent company. CNBC had previously reported that […]
Read moreAmazon announced on Thursday that its acquisition of Whole Foods will close on Monday. As the two companies work to integrate their business, all customers will immediately see “lower prices on a selection of best-selling staples across [Whole Foods] stores.” And Amazon promises “more to come,” as the internet giant begins to integrate Prime into […]
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The disruptive force of technology is killing off older companies earlier and at a much faster rate than decades before, causing big impacts for employees, investors and other stakeholders, according to a new report that hit Wall Street Thursday. “The average age of a company listed on the S&P 500 has fallen from almost 60 […]
Read moreMorgan Stanley said quantum computing will have dramatic implications across several industries during the next decade. Quantum computers use atomic particles and the laws of physics to perform calculations. They are faster than current computers and will enable much higher computing power, according to Morgan Stanley. “With more companies moving quantum computers from the lab […]
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