*By Kavitha Shastry*
Shares of Snap rose after hours on news Amazon's Tim Stone will replace Drew Vollero as its chief financial officer.
Vollero, who has been with the company since 2015, will stay on as an adviser until mid-August. His departure is just the latest in a string of executive resignations at the company, which has struggled to find its footing since going public last March.
In its latest earnings report last week, Snap posted its lowest user growth rate on record, as a redesign to its app failed to generate the traction among its core consumer. The company posted a loss of 17 cents a share and revenues more than five percent below analyst estimates. The stock plunged to a record low after the report and closed Monday down 37 percent from its $17 IPO price.
Stone will take over as CFO on May 16 after 20 years with Amazon. He'd served as VP of finance at the e-commerce giant, having worked on last year's acquisition of Whole Foods and previously focusing on the company's expansion into physical stores.
Snap gave no reason for Vollero's leaving, nor any information on what he's doing next.
In a statement filed Monday, CEO Evan Spiegel said, “I am deeply grateful for Drew and his many contributions to the growth of Snap."
"He has done an amazing job as Snap’s first CFO, building a strong team and helping to guide us through our transition to becoming a public company.”
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC. That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend — on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived. In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to the company’s own platforms, which come with their own price tags.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
