Alibaba Adds $123 Billion in Value in Stunning Comeback Rally
Standard Chartered will hand back $1.5 billion more to shareholders as it reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates, boosted by a strong performance in its trading and wealth business. The London-headquartered bank announced a fresh buyback which would bring total shareholder distributions to $4.9 billion since 2023. The bank is in the midst of a corporate cost-saving program. CEO Bill Winters saw his total pay package jump 46% to £10.7 million ($13.6 million).
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25 minutes ago
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Steve Jobs' first Silicon Valley boss turned down an offer to buy a third of Apple for $50,000—today, his share would be worth nearly $1 trillion
Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell turned down his former employee, the late Steve Jobs, when he was offered to buy a third of Apple for $50,000 in the 1970s. With the iPhone titan now standing at $3.1 trillion, the video gaming pioneer missed out on making $1 trillion from his relatively small investment. But he isn't troubling himself with regret, reasoning he might not be as happy—and Apple may not have been as successful—if he accepted the deal. Many people may be kicking themselves for not buying Bitcoin or investing in Nvidia stock sooner—but few will have missed out on a bigger deal than Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell, the first Silicon Valley boss of the late Steve Jobs. A young Jobs offered the gaming mogul an eye-popping deal: buy a third of Apple for just $50,000. What might come as a shock to many is that Bushnell turned it down. Apple has since grown into a $3.1 billion sensation with over a billion iPhones sitting in people's back pockets, and over 100 million Mac users worldwide—and if Bushnell had taken the deal, his cut would have made him $1 trillion today. But Bushnell isn't crying over the missed opportunity Bushnell first witnessed Jobs' potential as a businessman in the 1970s, when the college dropout joined Atari as a technician and games designer before moving into entrepreneurship. Jobs was an essential engineer 'solving problems in the field' at Atari, Bushnell recalled, but his leadership mentality also meant some tension at the office. The Atari cofounder strategically employed Jobs during nightshifts, knowing that Wozniak would also join and help out on projects like the brick-breaking game 'Breakout.' But Jobs would also barge into his office to tell Bushnell that the other employees weren't good at soldering, offering to instruct them. Bushnell recognized that Jobs was a genius—albiet, a complicated one. 'He was a difficult person,' Bushnell told ABC News in 2015. 'He was very smart. Often he was the smartest person in the room, and he would tell everybody that. It's generally not a good social dynamic.' But years later, the tech pioneer isn't quietly simmering over his choice to reject the offer. 'I could have owned a third of Apple computer for $50,000, and I turned it down,' Bushnell said in the interview. 'I've got a wonderful family, I've got a great wife, my life is wonderful. I'm not sure that if I had been uber, uber, uber rich that I'd have had all of that.' In fact, Bushnell even thinks Apple may not have been so successful if he had taken the deal. And his potential payout may not have soared to that trillion-dollar height. 'I'm still an Apple fan and you know I think that hindsight is 20/20,' he told Tech Radar in 2013, when asked about his decision to say no. 'I can go through a thread very easily which, by me turning Steve down led to me introducing him to Don Valentine, and he introduced him to Mike Markkula who is as responsible for Apple's success as Steve Woz[niak] and Jobs.' He's not the first tech boss to have missed out on billions Bushnell isn't the only one who missed out on critical business opportunities that would launch them into billionaire status—there are even others who blew it on big deals with Apple. Ronald Wayne, the lesser-known third Apple cofounder, was also working at the electronics company Atari when he stepped up as Jobs' friend to help convince Wozniak of formalizing Apple's launch. Wayne even typed up the contract, penning that he would receive a 10% share in the tech company, while Jobs and Wozniak would each be awarded a 45% stake. However, less than two weeks after drafting up the document, Wayne sold his stake for just $800, also reaping $1,500 to forgo any claim to the company. Looking back, it's a massive misstep as his 10% share could now be worth between $75 billion and $300 billion today. His wasted opportunity isn't as stark as Bushnell's—and the decision mainly came from a desire to have financial stability in his life. 'Jobs and Woz didn't have two nickels to rub together,' Wayne told Business Insider in 2017. 'I, on the other hand, had a house, and a car, and a bank account—which meant that I was on the hook if that thing blew up.' YouTube's cofounders, Chad Hurley, Steven Chen and Jawed Karim could also be sitting in a sizable nest egg today if they didn't sell their company so early. The YouTube creators sold their popular video platform to Google for $1.65 billion in fall 2006—each receiving millions of dollars worth of stock. Hurley got company shares worth around $345 million, according to The New York Times, while Chen accepted about $326 million worth. Karim, who left the business early to go back to school, got $64 million of shares. They were ecstatic about the deal in the beginning, but the buyer's remorse would potentially creep up less than 20 years later. Today, YouTube is valued at $550 billion—333 times higher than its market cap from nearly two decades prior, adjusted to inflation. If Hurley and Chen accepted the same stock deal today that they did in 2006, each could have more than $100 billion in their bank accounts. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Apple CEO Tim Cook Says the Technology They're Developing Will Be ‘One of the Most Profound Technologies of Our Lifetime'
In Apple's fiscal Q3 2025 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook doubled down on the company's commitment to artificial intelligence (AI), framing it as both a transformative technology and a natural extension of Apple's product philosophy. Cook's remarks position AI not as a standalone product line, but as a deeply integrated layer across Apple's ecosystem — powered by its own silicon and fortified by its privacy-first principles. 'We see AI as one of the most profound technologies of our lifetime,' Cook said. 'We are embedding it across our devices and platforms and across the company. We are also significantly growing our investments.' More News from Barchart UnitedHealth Stock Soars as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Discloses $1.57B Stake Palantir CEO Alex Karp Sees More Gains Ahead With America-Focused Growth Strategy, Calls U.S. The 'Leader of the Free World' Lucid Motors Is Caught in a Tariff Trap. Is LCID Stock More Likely to Hit $1 or $7 in 2025? Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else. AI as a Core Growth Driver The remarks come as Apple (AAPL) continues to face a rapidly evolving competitive landscape in AI, with rivals like Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL) (GOOG), and OpenAI pushing cloud-based generative AI tools to the forefront. Apple's strategy, however, appears to hinge on on-device intelligence — leveraging its custom Apple silicon chips to run advanced AI models directly on iPhones, iPads, and Macs without relying solely on the cloud. Cook emphasized that Apple's approach is about making advanced technology accessible, echoing a familiar refrain in the company's history from the Macintosh to the iPhone. He specified, 'Apple has always been about taking the most advanced technologies and making them easy to use and accessible for everyone. And that's at the heart of our AI strategy.' Apple Intelligence: Early Rollout and Upcoming Features Apple's branded AI initiative, Apple Intelligence, has already delivered more than 20 features, including visual intelligence, photo cleanup, and advanced writing tools. Cook noted the company is also making 'good progress' on a more personalized Siri — a feature he says is slated for release in 2026. The underlying technology runs primarily on-device, thanks to the efficiency and performance of Apple silicon. For more demanding AI tasks, Apple's private cloud compute — also powered by its own chips — handles the processing, allowing for greater capabilities while still preserving user privacy. Privacy as a Differentiator Cook was clear in positioning privacy as a central pillar of Apple's AI value proposition. The private cloud compute architecture, designed to minimize the amount of user data leaving the device, is a counterpoint to competitors that require extensive cloud data processing. The CEO argued that this hybrid approach — balancing on-device AI with selective, secure server-based computing — offers 'the best way for users to experience the full potential of generative AI' without sacrificing security or personal data integrity. Investment and Market Implications While Apple did not disclose specific dollar figures for its AI investments during the call, Cook's comment that the company is 'significantly growing' its AI spend suggests an accelerated development roadmap. Analysts see Apple's AI integration as a potential catalyst for device upgrade cycles, particularly as consumers begin to associate premium smartphones and computers with advanced personal AI capabilities. This push could also help Apple defend its high-margin hardware business against a backdrop of slowing global smartphone growth. If successful, AI-powered features could extend the lifecycle of Apple devices in the market and strengthen the ecosystem lock-in that has been key to Apple's long-term profitability. Looking Ahead Apple's next major software releases in 2026 will be a critical test of whether its AI strategy resonates with consumers and developers alike. The integration of AI into Siri, along with more contextually aware and personalized device interactions, could reshape how users engage with their devices on a daily basis. In the near term, investors will be watching to see if these AI advancements translate into tangible revenue growth — either through device sales, services expansion, or entirely new monetization channels. On the date of publication, Caleb Naysmith did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Pinterest, Inc. (PINS) Is One Of The 'Most Undervalued Companies,' Says Jim Cramer
We recently published . Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS), a social media platform focused primarily on visual arts, idea generation, and eCommerce, is one of Cramer's top social media stocks. The CNBC TV host believes that the firm has a unique business model that places it in a key position for AI scraping. Not only does he believe that Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) allows users to learn from each other, but he also believes the firm is undervalued: 'And then. . .I think Pinterest and Reddit are the two most undervalued companies, of the new companies, because they are being scraped and the scrapers are going to have to pay the piper. Pinterest, Reddit, they're gonna pay the piper.' Cramer previously discussed Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)'s business and undervaluation in detail. Here is what he said: 'I'm always looking for companies like Square now Block, that could take off even if it doesn't get added to the S&P. And there are a couple of notes about Pinterest. I think that Bill Ready has done a remarkable job as CEO. Pinterest is going to be a part of what's scraped by these, the five big ones. And we should highlight the five big ones, they do matter. And I just think Pinterest is a place where people go to learn, and people go to have crafts. It's an underrated site. It's 25 billion. It could be 50 billion. Copyright: alexeyboldin / 123RF Stock Photo '[On Morgan Stanley saying there growth acceleration is not being priced] Look, I think this is a remarkable site. Because, if you want to take trip, if you want to learn to paint, if you want to learn to cook, if you want to cook something really special, it's where you go. It's a very useful site. And it seems to me to be a, a very much of a site that you're not going to see the stuff that we just talked about.' While we acknowledge the potential of PINS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
