*By Carlo Versano*
Shares of Tesla jumped more than 15 percent in the pre-market Monday on news that CEO Elon Musk settled a lawsuit with the SEC over Musk's social media use.
Under the terms of the settlement, Musk will step down as chairman of Tesla ($TSLA) for at least three years but can remain in the chief executive role. He and the company must each pay $20 million in fines. Two independent board members will also be appointed.
Federal regulators sued Musk last week, arguing that his infamous Aug. 7 "funding secured" tweet amounted to securities fraud. The lawsuit was filed after Musk reportedly scuttled a last-minute deal with the agency under which he would resign as chairman and pay a fine but not admit to any wrongdoing. Talks restarted soon after, and by Saturday a new settlement was in place.
The settlement takes care of one major headache for investors, who will now look to the car maker's third-quarter production and delivery numbers, which may be reported as early as Monday. Musk [reportedly] (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/30/elon-musk-tells-tesla-to-ignore-distractions-hints-at-profitability.html) emailed employees over the weekend, telling them to "ignore all distractions" and that the company was approaching profitability.
John Freeman, VP of equity research at CFRA Research, joined Cheddar to break down factors weighing on video game publisher Activision Blizzard as it deals with the fallout from delayed releases and sexual harassment scandals. While not great for business, Freeman also questioned if the issues of the toxic corporate culture could have had an impact on title delays as well.
Steven Salz, Co-Founder & CEO of Rivalry, joins Cheddar News to break down how the metaverse plays into Internet culture, how augmenting human experiences impacts businesses, and how 5G technology plays into making it all possible.
Carlo and Baker discuss the election results across the country, including a Republican comeback in Virginia -- and possibly NJ -- plus the CDC gives the go-ahead for child vaccinations, Atlanta wins the World Series and more.
Vacasa is the largest full-service vacation rental property management company in the United States. Today, it announced the launch of a new homeowner app to help users monitor how the company is managing their vacation rental homes. It comes as consumer confidence in travel is on the rise ahead of the holiday season. Vacasa CEO Matt Roberts joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Gaming publisher Kepler Interactive secured $120 million in funding from the Chinese gaming firm NetEase. This investment comes as the global gaming market explodes with projections to cross the $200 billion mark as early as 2023. Lindsey Rostal, Co-Founder and Game Director of Timberline Studio, one of the founding studios at Kepler joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more.
