*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.
Charged up by strong sales of its electric cars and SUVs, Tesla has reported its seventh-straight profitable quarter.
Jill and Carlo talk about optimism on the pandemic and economy, a big demographic shift that will have implications for the midterms, Apple rolling out its new privacy tool, and the Oscars ratings.
The charitable arm of San Francisco-based technology giant Cisco Systems has pledged to invest $100 million over the next decade to help reverse the impact of climate change.
Apple plans to invest more than $1 billion in North Carolina to build the company’s first East Coast campus.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
A growing coalition of private companies, nonprofits, and the federal government are pushing for a more unified approach towards COVID vaccination credentialing.
SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk’s rapidly expanding company.
Maryland-based cannabis grower Culta talks sustainability as the world celebrates Earth Day. Cheddar's Chloe Aiello reports.
NASA's little Mars helicopter has aced its second test flight.
Affirm, a pioneer of the buy now, pay later model, has acquired Returnly, which specializes in making online returns more seamless.
