*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.
Sony is leveling up its subscription service, PlayStation Plus this week, a combination of its earlier options into a tiered plan offering options to play streaming and mostly older titles instead of day-and-date new games like those offered by rival Microsoft on its Gamepass service. Colette Bennett, a senior reporter at TheStreet and the host of the podcast "Colette & Matt Have Entered the Chat," joined Cheddar News to talk about the backlash from gamers. I would say maybe like it's like a six. I'm happy to see older, stony games and have access to them, but I really would have preferred to be able to stream brand-new games. "Gamers are pretty upset that Sony is kind of repackaging the stuff that's been around more or less for years and trying to make it look new," she said. "You know, the Netflix subscription-like model is so appealing."
The most popular and most valuable cryptocurrency is also the least eco-friendly - data shows that Bitcoin mining generates the same amount of carbon emissions as the entire country of Thailand. According to nonprofit Fair Planet, 96 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions come from Bitcoin mining every year. Now, a consortium of climate activist groups is calling on the Bitcoin industry to cut its energy use by making changes to its software code. Michael Brune, former executive director of the Sierra Club, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
A cannabis software startup is offering a first-of-its-kind perk for its employees - reimbursements for legal cannabis purchases. Jointly Better bills itself as an experience-based cannabis wellness tracker and product platform. In an attempt to attract top talent, the company will reimburse up to $150 a month for its workers' lawful cannabis purchases. David Kooi, co-founder and CEO of Jointly, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Catching you up on what you need to know on Mar 31, 2022, with updates on Biden's push for more COVID funding, a wave of storms hammering the South, Etsy sellers going on strike, and more.
