*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.
Square is making a supportive gesture to business customers going through financial pain due to the effects of social distancing in the time of COVID-19.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, March 18, 2020.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
The Small Business Grants Program, revealed in a blog post on Tuesday morning, was created to keep workers working, help with rent costs, connect with more customers, cover operational costs. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Lisa Callahan, the vice president of programs, told Cheddar about the Orion spacecraft set to aid the NASA Artemis project achieve its goals of returning to the moon and using it as a jumping-off point for a manned Mars mission.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, March 16, 2020.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $5,364, about 40 percent up from a low of $3,858 late Thursday night – the lowest since May 2019.
Matt Desch, Iridium Communications' CEO, spoke to Cheddar from the Satellite 2020 conference in DC, a day before the event was cut short when the city declared a state of emergency.
The automakers and parts suppliers had already been reeling from the spread of coronavirus in China, the largest single market for cars and trucks, accounting for about 30 percent of global auto sales.
Quibi, short for "quick bites," is slated to launch on April 6. To compel people to believe in his vision, Jeffrey Katzenberg and his team have been shelling out cash to get star power to come on board. According to people with knowledge of the deals, projects are getting payouts of $8 million to $15 million each.
