DirecTV agrees to buy Dish for $1 [CNN]
The companies have struggled to retain subscribers in the streaming era…. Private equity firm TPG, meanwhile, will acquire AT&T’s remaining 70% stake in DirecTV….
The deal still hinges on Dish bondholders agreeing on net debt lower than $1.56 billion, which a DirecTV spokesperson said the company will look to secure in the coming weeks…. Dish currently has a $2 billion debt maturity coming up on November 23.
Elon Musk’s X Is Now Worth Around A Fifth Of The $44 Billion He Paid For It, Fidelity Says [Forbes]
Fidelity’s stake in X is now worth about $4.19 million, an estimate that values X at $9.4 billion…. Musk is reportedly requiring employees at X to write one-page reports detailing their contributions to the company before accessing stock options. He previously told employees that stock could be cashed out regularly, similar to his employees at SpaceX….
REA Abandons Rightmove Pursuit After Latest Rejection [WSJ]
Rightmove… earlier Monday rejected a sweetened $8.29 billion offer by the property-listing giant controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp…. Activist investors including Starboard Value have agitated for News Corp to shed its digital real-estate assets. Instead, with the proposed deal, News Corp had been pushing to get deeper into the business at a time central banks are starting to cut interest rates, potentially giving property markets a shot in the arm by lowering borrowing costs.
Paul A. Bilzerian ran cannabis company while owing government more than $180 million, feds allege [L.A. Times]
Prosecutors say Bilzerian, described as a corporate takeover specialist, avoided paying the judgment even as he ran Ignite, a cannabis and lifestyle brand company purportedly helmed by his social media influencer son, Dan Bilzerian.
The elder Bilzerian allegedly funneled millions of dollars of his assets through shell companies to fund Ignite, whose investors he allegedly cheated, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Harvard’s Not-So-Smart Money: Two Decades of Poor Returns and Rich Pay [Bloomberg]
Over the past 20 years, the 8.8% annualized return for Harvard’s endowment ranked seventh of the eight Ivy League universities and, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, lagged 60% of university funds with more than $5 billion under management. Harvard’s 10-year return trailed 80%.
Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers complained to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper that if the endowment had merely grown as much as its average peer over the past two decades, the university would have about $20 billion more. That sum is almost the size of the University of Pennsylvania’s entire endowment.
Hedge fund manager giant inks hush-hush lease at revamped NYC office building [N.Y. Post]
Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund manager, has inked a deal to open its first Manhattan office. The Westport-based firm closed on a hush-hush, 60,000 square-foot lease at 295 Fifth Ave. late last week…. The former Textile Building takes up the entire east blockfront between West 30th and West 31st streets. Owners Tribeca Investment Group, PGIM Real Estate and Meadow Partners spent $350 million to redevelop the century-old, 700,000 square-foot property for modern office use. Upgrades include a new, two-story penthouse, a ground-floor courtyard, terraces and hospitality amenities.
