*By Michael Teich*
Ethical issues could be the Achilles heel for Juul, the $15 billion company behind the vaping devices infiltrating college and high school campuses.
"The valuation is justified on the math," said Dan Primack, Business Editor at Axios. The real question, though, is, "Does it want to stop kids from getting these?"
The sleek and colorful design of the company's e-cigarettes, paired with appealing flavors such as mango and cool mint, has helped Juul emerge as a leader in the market with a 68 percent share, according to Wells Fargo. The company projects $940 million in revenue this year, but Primack said he's told that "they are blowing through those numbers." Those numbers helped Juul raise a fresh $1.2 billion in new funding last week.
But strong sales growth may not be enough to entice more traditional Silicon Valley investors to overlook the moral complexities of Juul's business, Primack said.
While the device was created as an alternative to cigarettes, he pointed out the product is falling into the hands of first-time smokers and serves as a "gateway smoke."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-ethical-issues-that-may-plague-juuls-future)
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
