Business

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday asked a state court to order Eastman Kodak and its CEO James Continenza to provide evidence and testimony in advance of a planned insider-trading lawsuit against them. The company and Continenza both violated New York securities law when he bought 46,737 shares of the company’s stock on June 23, James’ office alleged in court filings. The company warned investors last month that James had threatened to sue over the matter.  Continenza’s stock purchases came about a month before Kodak and the Trump administration announced a deal that gave the ailing camera company a shot at a $765 million loan under the Defense Production Act to support the production of drug ingredients critical to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement sent shares of the company soaring from just over $2 per share to a peak of $60, which raised eyebrows about Continenza’s stock purchase at an average price of $2.22 per share a month earlier. Ultimately, the feds halted the deal as regulators looked into suspicious trading activity. James on Tuesday asked a court to order Continenza and Kodak General Counsel Roger Byrd to publicly testify and provide documents related to Continenza’s

Would you like fries with your Tesla-burger? Elon Musk-owned Tesla has filed new trademarks to use its branding under a potential restaurant. The electric carmaker filed for three trademarks last week that would allow the company to use its brand in the restaurant business. One mark Tesla filed for May 27 is for the word “Tesla” itself. Another is for its “T” logo, and the third is for its own stylizing of the word “Tesla.” The marks are all filed under the category of “Restaurant services, pop-up restaurant services, self-service restaurant services, take-out restaurant services,” according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. It’s not the first time the company has stoked speculation about whether it will move into the restaurant space, especially as it seeks to outfit its larger so-called supercharger stations with amenities like lounges and coffee shops. In 2018, Musk said on Twitter that Tesla planned to open an “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in Los Angeles.” Gonna put an old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2018

Last December, when a week-old hedge fund named Engine No. 1 challenged Exxon Mobil to change its ways, laughter echoed through Wall Street circles, from the fund’s name that recalled a famous children’s book to its tiny, then-$40 million stake in what was once the world’s largest publicly traded company. Just six months later, the fund delivered a massive blow that rippled throughout the oil-and-gas industry. Engine No. 1′s campaign forced Exxon to accept new board members who could bring about a reckoning over its business strategy and confront the risk of global climate change that many investors say Exxon has long been reluctant to address. Companies with a market value of $250 billion like Exxon rarely face, much less lose, shareholder battles. But stakeholders familiar with Exxon’s thinking said Wednesday’s defeat was years in the making due to ongoing weak returns. Institutional investors had grown frustrated with the company’s approach to the energy transition, trailing global rivals who promised big spending on power generation, solar and wind. In addition, Exxon failed to recognize how the investment community had become more attuned to climate change issues, which helped Engine No. 1 sway big pension funds in California and New York to its

Airbnb said Thursday it would extend a ban on parties in homes listed on its platform through at least the end of summer in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus infections. This comes as increasing vaccination rates and easing travel restrictions in parts of the world are expected to boost travel demand in the summer months. In August of last year, the short-term home rental company placed a global ban on parties at its properties, which it said proved to be popular with its host community. “We will not tolerate behavior that disrupts neighborhoods or violates the trust of our Host community,” said Airbnb in a statement. San Francisco-based Airbnb said the event-friendly search filter will remain inaccessible during this period and it expects to provide an update on the policy at the end of summer. Also, guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb cannot book one night reservations for an entire home in the United States during July 4th weekend.