X Lender Diameter Says Platform More Profitable Than Market Saw
The cofounder of Diameter Capital Partners, one the first firms to snap up debt tied to Elon Musk's buyout of X, says that the social media company was more profitable than the market was accounting for.
'We've been outside-in, tracking ad data and other things from third-party sources to develop our own view of what revenue was likely at the business,' said Diameter's Jonathan Lewinsohn in an interview from the sidelines of the Bloomberg Invest conference in New York. 'We had a sense that the profitability might be better than what people think.'
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Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
California rocket launches: Here's a look at the upcoming schedule from Vandenberg
Two SpaceX rockets have soared over California so far in June, and more are on the way. Within the next week, at least two Falcon 9 rockets are scheduled to get off the ground from Southern California to deliver more Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, could also launch a rideshare mission later in June to deliver dozens of small satellites for paying customers. All rocket launches in California get off the ground from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Vandenberg and SpaceX don't typically officially confirm California launches until about a day ahead of time, and the Federal Aviation Administration's operations plan advisory is constantly updating. Still, multiple online websites that track launches suggest that at least another three are so far being targeted for the rest of June – likely with more to be added to the schedule throughout the month. It's also important to keep in mind that rocket launches can be – and often are – delayed due to any number of factors, including poor weather conditions or unexpected issues with spacecraft. Make sure to visit VC Star for the latest mission updates. Here's a look at the upcoming June 2025 launch schedule (so far) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California: SpaceX news: As Elon Musk trades threats with Trump, what could mean for launches in California? Mission: SpaceX will potentially launch a Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to deploy Starlink V2 mini satellites into low-Earth orbit. Launch window: 6:46 p.m. PT Thursday, June 12. Rocket launch location: Space Launch Complex 4E from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Vandenberg, California. Mission: SpaceX will potentially launch a Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to deploy Starlink V2 mini satellites into low-Earth orbit. Launch window: 5:51 p.m. PT Monday, June 16. Rocket launch location: Space Launch Complex 4E from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Vandenberg, California. Mission: SpaceX will potentially launch a dedicated rideshare flight to deliver dozens of small satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning they will match Earth's rotation around the sun, for paying customers. Launch window: A launch time has not been made public, but online calendars suggest the mission is being targeted for June 21. Rocket launch location: Space Launch Complex 4E from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Vandenberg, California Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Rocket launch schedule in California: SpaceX Vandenberg dates, times
Forbes
31 minutes ago
- Forbes
Musk And Trump's Master Class In What CEOs Should Not Do
When a CEO has a falling out with another leader, it's usually not a huge news story. But when that CEO is Elon Musk, it's another matter entirely. The CEO of companies including Tesla, SpaceX and xAI is known for his dramatic and mercurial management and personal style, and it's amplified by his social media platform X. And in this case, the other leader is President Donald Trump, who is also known for a dramatic and volatile personal style. Both men are widely considered difficult to work with, and the strength of the close bond they forged (with probably more than a little help from Musk's more than $250 million in campaign contributions during the election) was widely questioned. And last week, it all ended in spectacular fashion. From X, Musk began attacking Trump and the administration for the 'big, beautiful bill'—featuring tax cuts and adding trillions to the deficit—and Trump hit right back on Truth Social, threatening to cancel all of the contracts Musk has with the federal government and pledging to sell the Tesla he bought earlier in the year when Musk brought several models to show off at the White House. And, because both of their social media accounts are public, the world watched, jeered, laughed and memed. The personal attacks have died down and, Forbes' Jeremy Bogaisky points out, it's highly unlikely that all SpaceX contracts will be canceled, considering NASA relies on the company's rockets and satellites. But Trump and Musk have again put on a breathtaking display of what not to do in business. It should be apparent that business leaders should avoid getting into an emotional fight on social media, but neither Trump nor Musk is known for doing things by the book. The feud cratered stock for each man's publicly traded companies—Musk's Tesla and Trump Media and Technology Group—and erased billions from Musk's net worth. As the dust settles, it's unclear what the long-range impact of this flameout will be. Musk was successful in getting some Republicans in Congress and ordinary people to start questioning the spending bill. And though his net worth took a beating, he remains the world's richest person. However, Musk likely will be the loser in the fight, at least in the short term. Musk's role in the Trump Administration, serving as a special government employee who gleefully and mercilessly chainsawed his way through government departments, bureaucracy and career employees, tarring many functions that had existed for generations as 'fraud,' soured the public's perception of him—and Tesla. Musk's car company was already seen to be on the decline, thanks to a series of non-political decisions he made prior to getting involved with Trump, including a pullback on an affordable model, the overly expensive albatross Cybertruck, and a new focus on self-driving taxis. Tesla deliveries and sales have been down, and Forbes' Alan Ohnsman writes that there are many areas where Trump could use federal regulations to attack Musk, including a review that could lead to his robotaxi launch being blocked, or investigations into the carmaker's technology. And many Tesla shareholders, including several union pension funds, are growing increasingly tired of Musk being in the CEO's chair at all. Many are pushing Tesla's board to replace Musk, Ohnsman writes. Nine state treasurers and comptrollers sent Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm a letter last month expressing concern about the risks to their economies if Tesla falters. Whatever happens next with Musk will determine many things for the long and short term. When society is tumultuous, people often look back to nostalgic memories—and for many around the world, Crayola has an outsized role in their childhood. I spoke with CEO Pete Ruggiero, who has worked at the creativity company for nearly a quarter century, about how they use nostalgia and creativity innovation to drive brand growth. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter. getty It's not just you; everyone is having a difficult time right now. In Q2, the Conference Board's Measure of CEO Confidence fell by 26 points, bottoming out at 34, the largest quarter-over-quarter decline since the quarterly survey began in 1976. Any score under 50, the Conference Board writes, means there were more negative than positive responses. CEOs haven't been this pessimistic since Q4 2022, when high inflation and supply chain difficulties were in full swing. CEOs' responses were pessimistic about many business factors. A total of 82% said today's economic conditions are worse than six months ago. Nearly seven in 10 said conditions in their industries are now worse than they were six months ago. And 64% expect economic conditions to get worse in the next six months. About 83% anticipate a recession in the next 12 to 18 months. The biggest concerns for CEOs in all industries are geopolitical instability, trade and tariffs, and legal and regulatory uncertainty. With all of the issues, however, most CEOs aren't anticipating a deviation from hiring plans. Just under half plan to maintain the size of their workforce, and compared with Q1, only 1% more expect a net reduction. A now hiring sign on the window of a closed Big Lots store in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. For the most part, there were no wild swings in the stock market last week. But that doesn't mean things were uneventful. Employment figures were released, showing weak private sector job growth, according to a report from ADP. The U.S. added just 37,000 private sector jobs—far short of consensus forecasts of 110,000 new positions. Small business employment was down 13,000 and manufacturing jobs were down 3,000. Chris Larkin, head of trading and investing at E-Trade, told Forbes that some tariff-related slowdowns in the market were to be expected. Trump, meanwhile, used the report to demand that the Federal Reserve 'LOWER THE RATE' for baseline interest at its meeting next week. (According to CME FedWatch, 99.9% of analysts think interest rates will not be changed.) The Labor Department's employment report was more optimistic, indicating that the U.S. added 139,000 nonfarm jobs from April to May, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. Meanwhile, the newly increased 50% tariffs on most imported steel and aluminum went into effect last Wednesday. Trump had said this increase was necessary to counter 'trade practices that undermine national security,' though it was condemned by global players including the EU and Canada. At the 2025 Forbes Iconoclast Summit last week, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin shared his frustration with Trump's 'anti-growth' tariff agenda, which he said has 'taken their toll already on our economy.' Griffin wasn't the only one to share that sentiment last week. A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that Trump's tariffs are likely to significantly slow down the global economy, and the U.S. will be one of the nations that is hardest hit. The Clinton Clean Energy Center in Clinton, Illinois. All technology—enterprise or not—appears to be moving toward more sophisticated AI functions. And while AI can do many things, it requires a lot of electricity. Last week, Meta made a deal to get the power it needs, signing a 20-year agreement to purchase all of the power generated at a Constellation Energy nuclear plant in Clinton, Illinois. The agreement starts in June 2027—after an existing state agreement runs out—and will expand the plant's output. Meta has prioritized finding sources of nuclear power, both with new plants and existing ones, to support its technology going forward. The company announced an RFP for nuclear energy developers in December, and says it has shortlisted potential new nuclear power resources. This is the second deal a tech company has made with Constellation to redevelop its nuclear plants for AI. In September, Microsoft announced a 20-year deal with the power provider for one of its reactors at its Three Mile Island facility in Pennsylvania (not impacted by the 1979 meltdown). Constellation has said it expects to restart the reactor by 2028. Amazon and Google have both been investing in small nuclear reactors, and Google announced an investment in three advanced nuclear energy projects by Elementl Power. These deals, coupled with four executive orders from Trump aimed at bolstering nuclear power, seem to herald a new nuclear power age in the U.S., writes Forbes senior contributor David Blackmon. In the meantime, tax incentives for renewable energy sources, including solar panels and wind turbines, are in line to be cut in Trump's latest budget. Still, Forbes senior contributor Ken Silverstein writes, renewable energy is touted by many as the fastest and least expensive way to get more power into the grid—and could also play a huge role in generating the electricity needed for the AI-driven future. Crayola CEO Pete Ruggiero. Pete Ruggiero started working at Crayola in 1997 under its previous name, Binney & Smith. In his time at the company, he's worked in operations, sourcing, supply chain and ran its European business. 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The consumer expects us to be in the toy aisle, the craft aisle, at checkout and other places, and we're underrepresented there. You want Crayola to be a brand that's ubiquitous whenever anybody is thinking of creating. How do you expand from what everybody thinks about—a go-to for children's art projects—while using the branding that you have and not alienating the people who have depended on you? It always comes back to the consumer and this majestic brand. You just have to look at some of the work we've been doing. Our Campaign For Creativity was our effort to understand more deeply why creativity is so important to our consumers: Why is it that nine out of 10 parents believe creativity is important for their children, and why is it that 96% of parents use color to help their children understand creativity? We used some of our artwork from the Dream Makers program, and went back to some of the artists who had created that 30 years ago to understand what creativity has meant in their lives. We get a deeper understanding of the consumer. Creativity Week is a program that we've done for the past four years. It started out as a test and we've been able to expand it this year to 44% of all school-aged children in the U.S. This was actors and artists and authors, an Olympian and astronauts all participating in bringing creativity to children. We were in 122 countries doing these programs. The nostalgia and excitement around our brand is very interesting. There's more to us than back-to-school business. We're selling year-round. When I came to this company, we started building inventory in January. We would ship everything out the door, and I'm not sure what we did with ourselves from September until December. The business model now is global and year-round. As soon as the Easter period ended, we're prepping for and shipping back-to-school. As soon as back-to-school is over, we'll be prepping for and shipping Halloween, and then the holiday season. Then we'll go back to school and Valentine's Day. We're actually going a step further to experiential retail with the Crayola Experience. We have a Crayola Experience model—Orlando, Florida, and Easton, Pennsylvania, are the lynchpins—800,000 people come through those two Crayola Experiences a year. The dwell time is three and a half hours. We've expanded that model overseas. We've already announced China and we're announcing other markets shortly. When you think about a brand that moms and teachers and dads trust and kids love and adore, and we have a parent company—Hallmark, [with a] media business, the Hallmark Channel. There's this great opportunity for us to be in more and to enter the studios business. You've seen the company for a long time and from many different viewpoints. How is it different from the CEO's office? I've worked directly for four CEOs, and I've seen five CEOs come through. Each CEO that I've had the chance to work for or with had great ideas and brought great things to this company. One of the first things I did when I became CEO was to pull out their strategic planning exercises, many of which I participated in as a member of the leadership team, and figure out those ideas that are working and those that were really good but whatever reason stalled out. That's the exciting part for me: To be able to step into the chair having seen all of the good work that previous CEOs have done, and take it to the next level. What I'm most excited about bringing to the table is a focus on a very simple strategy of next-level mindset building Crayola for the next quarter century, focused on culture, growth and diversification. The culture here is around collaboration, celebration. We try to celebrate when we win. A culture of: It's healthy to celebrate your problems. It's unhealthy to kick them under the carpet. And a culture of perpetual optimism, that if you say it out loud, it has a pretty good chance of coming to be. The last piece here is we're trying to get excellence in everything we do. As Vince Lombardi said, we're chasing perfection so that we can achieve excellence. That's a very lofty target, but we're going to be very good in things that we do. What advice would you give to other CEOs? Transparency and authenticity are the most important characteristics. Your employees have to trust you. They have to believe in what you're doing. And the only way to gain that trust is through transparency and authenticity. When things aren't good, you take accountability for it. When things are great, you're celebrating it and you're giving credit for the successes. Send us C-suite transition news at forbescsuite@ The first half of 2025 has been a workout for even the most well-prepared CEO, and it looks like things will not be calming down any time soon. To finish the year strong—in terms of both leadership and mental health—take these steps to take care of yourself and be honest with employees and investors. No matter how careful and well-intentioned you are, executives and companies can make mistakes and a public apology may be necessary. Here are some tips to make that apology in a way that is sincere and causes the least amount of brand damage. The House of Representatives passed a bill by voice vote last week that could have a big impact on small business contracts with the federal government. What would it do? A. Limit the size of contracts to $1 million per year B. Require that all contracts be written in plain language C. Require contractors to complete a short answer about how their services will further the Trump Administration's goals D. Remove all diversity requirements See if you got it right here.
Washington Post
41 minutes ago
- Washington Post
GOP bill could worsen inflation and lead to financial crisis, economists warn
The boost to the national debt from President Donald Trump's sweeping tax bill could add fresh fuel to inflation just as his tariff policies are already pushing prices up, a range of mainstream economists are warning. Those concerns echo worries among lawmakers — and fierce criticism from erstwhile Trump adviser Elon Musk — that the measure would cause too much new government borrowing.
