A California state court judge dealt Uber, Lyft, and the rest of gig-economy employers a blow on Friday, ruling that the recent Prop. 22-driven state law “that ensures many gig workers are considered independent contractors, while affording them some limited benefits, is unconstitutional and unenforceable.” A presumably lengthy appellate process means that law won’t actually change any time soon, but the decision “reopened the debate” about whether gig workers are full employees or independent contractors - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
Hedge fund giant Citadel has informed fellow fund Melvin Capital that it’s retrieving $500 million of the $2 billion it injected into Melvin in January after “that fund’s bet against GameStop went bad.” Citadel’s infusion “helped stabilize Melvin, which has generated double-digit-percentage returns since Feb. 1,” though it’s “still down 41 percent for this year through July” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
New research undermines claims by governors in half of the U.S. that cutting off expanded unemployment benefits would “bring a flood of workers back to the job market.” Instead, several recent studies “have concluded that the extra payments have played only a small role in this year’s labor shortages” - NYTimes
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is hoping the second time’s the charm in her bid to keep the jury from hearing evidence of the company’s failed lab tests ahead of the “highly anticipated criminal-fraud trial” that is set to kick off with jury selection at the end of the month - WSJ and Bloomberg
Pershing Square’s William Ackman announced plans to shareholders via a website posting to unwind his $4 billion SPAC and potentially ‘return its funds to shareholders in the face of a lawsuit questioning the vehicle’s legality” - WSJ and Law360
Speaking of SPACs, the shocking news last week that Major League Baseball won’t “renew its decades-old partnership with the collectibles business” Topps Co. led to the announcement last Friday that the company’s planned SPAC deal with Mudrick Capital that would’ve taken Topps public is no more – Law360
Word on the street is that Treasury Secretary Yellen is in Chair Powell’s court when it comes to a second term as Fed Chair, a revelation that “greatly increases his chance” of reappointment - Bloomberg
Fascinating weekend profile here from the Times on crypto true-believer and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, whose unconventional style (and faith in herself) have made her “the most influential investor at work in the markets today” - NYTimes
Nexstar Media Group—a “local television behemoth”—has acquired The Hill, “a Beltway political news website,” for $130 million, uniting “two companies that have sought, with mixed results, to present themselves as neutral arbiters in a partisan moment” - NYTimes and WSJ
Diving deep with a music critic coming to terms with her first auditory true love (as a 4-year-old): the much-hated and oft-parodied “We Didn’t Start the Fire” - NYTimes
Stay safe, and get vaxxed,
MDR
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