JetBlue has made a last-minute $3.6 billion offer to buy Spirit Airlines, “throwing a wrench into Spirit’s plan to merge with Frontier Airlines and create a behemoth budget carrier.” The offer appears calculated to help JetBlue compete against the legacy carriers, though apart from an improved price, its strategic benefits are less clear for Spirit - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
Hulu founder and Amazon vet Jason Kilar, who’s currently helming WarnerMedia, announced yesterday that he’s leaving the company. The “widely expected” move comes “days before WarnerMedia is expected to complete a merger with Discovery Inc. and a new leadership team comes aboard.” Kilar has been on the job since April 2020 and oversaw the rollout of HBO Max and the “Project Popcorn” plan that released Warner Bros.’ 2021 films “simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max” - NYTimes and WSJ
On the heels of the U.S. blocking Russia from making debt payments using U.S. dollars held in domestic banks, the EU took steps on Tuesday to ban Russian coal imports in an effort to punish Russia for the recently revealed atrocities it carried out in Ukraine. EU officials also indicated that they are “working on soon banning Russian oil” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
A day after Elon Musk revealed his sizeable stake in Twitter, the social media company has added the controversial Tesla and SpaceX founder to its board of directors. The appointment limits the total amount of Twitter stock Musk can hold to 14.9% - NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch and TechCrunch
Here’s why the entire ordeal raises new “regulatory red flag[s]” at the SEC, including the timing of Musk’s Twitter stake disclosures and intentions for the company - WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
And lest Elon have all the fun, in space or in the headlines, Amazon has stepped up “plans for its proposed fleet of internet satellites that would complete with a service” operated by SpaceX. To accomplish that feat, Amazon’s Project Kuiper has “secured up to 83 planned launches that would ferry satellites to orbit over a five-year stretch” - WSJ
Federal prosecutors delivered closing arguments this week in their trial of former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng over his alleged role in the massive 1MDB Malaysian wealth fund scheme, telling the jury it had “enough evidence to convict [Ng] for his role in on the of the biggest bribery schemes even without the testimony of the government’s star witness,” Tim Leissner, who “emerged as a controversial figure” during trial - NYTimes
Fed Governor Lael Brainard confirmed that the Fed is set to raise interest rates steadily over the remainder of the year and will begin “balance sheet reduction as soon as next month” - Bloomberg
A recently filed Brooklyn-based federal court action accuses Wells Fargo of “discriminating against prospective Black mortgage borrowers, whose applications it is alleged to approve at lower rates and on worse terms than those of white borrowers” – Law360
In “what have you done for me lately” news, there’s buzz on the Street about whether Brian Moynihan—the Bank of America CEO whose low-key approach helped steer “the nation’s second-largest bank from the brink of collapse to record profits” during his 12-year tenure—is still the right person for the job - NYTimes
GM and Honda will work together to develop “affordable” electric vehicles, “deepening strategic ties as they work to bring costly plug-in technology to the mass market.” The sub-$30k offerings are unlikely to be ready before 2027 - WSJ and MarketWatch
Getting to know Bard College’s still-new and decidedly “nontraditional” architecture program, an unaccredited course of study “not formulated to lead students specifically toward professional licensure” but rather to “instill ‘spatial literacy’” - Bloomberg
Stay safe,
MDR
The Robins Kaplan Financial Daily Dose features top stories and latest news headlines in financial markets, banking, securities and technology topics.
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