*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.
Apple is planning to slash production for its newer iPhone models by 10 percent this quarter, according to a report in the Nikkei. However, CEO Tim Cook continues to say that the iPhone XR is the best-selling phone in company history. Trade talks between China and the U.S. wrapped up Wednesday after an unscheduled third day of negotiations. Both sides expressed optimism over the progress made during these talks. Plus, Hope King sits down with Bridget Karlin, chief technology officer for IBM Global Technology Services, to talk about the future of blockchain and much more.
Computing behemoth IBM is using blockchain technology to ensure the food we eat is safe and properly sourced. "We're basically leveraging the blockchain technology to track each item of food as it travels through its trajectory and its transportation from the field all the way to the retailer," Bridget Karlin, chief technology officer for IBM Global Technology Services, told Cheddar's Hope King at CES.
Affirm is making good on its commitment to become a full-service bank. The lending startup led by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin is introducing fee-free savings accounts through a bank partner, initially with a 2 percent annual percentage yield and no minimum balance, Cheddar has learned.
Nothing says CES like a robot dog powered by powerful sensors ー and that's exactly what Sony brought this year. Sony's robot dog Aibo came back from the dead last year, and now, the robo-pup is getting some cool new upgrades, Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo told Cheddar's Hope King on Tuesday.
What do Alinea, Eleven Madison Park, and The French Laundry have in common? Aside from their Michelin stars, the restaurants all offer reservations through the booking platform Tock. Acclaimed restaurateur and [Tock](http://exploretock.com} founder and CEO Nick Kokonas hopes his software platform can wrestle the reservations monopoly from the almost 20-year grip of OpenTable and launch bookings into the 21st century.
Cloudera and Hortonworks, longtime cloud and data rivals, have decided it's better to take on Amazon Web Services together than apart. Cloudera CMO Mick Hollison told Cheddar how the merged company, with 2,000 customers, fits in the cloud wars.
Car-sharing and ride-hailing companies have changed the way we get around ー and now they're about to change the way we buy car insurance. In an interview with Cheddar at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Nev., Allstate CEO Tom Wilson said that simply insuring your car will become a thing of the past, since many consumers are increasingly ditching the buy-and-drive model.
AT&T's ad division Xandr is beginning to flex its muscle as a potential advertising powerhouse by allowing brands to use customer data to advertise on WarnerMedia's Turner.
Apple has topped the charts once again ー but this time it's on buy-back site DeClutttr's list of 2018's most unwanted items. The iPhone 7 may have been the company's most traded-in item last year, but according to Anthony Catterson, DeClutttr's president and CEO, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Plaid, the company that connects consumer bank accounts to fintech apps like Venmo, Coinbase or Robinhood, is acquiring competitor Quovo, according to a Tuesday morning blog post by the Plaid founders.
