Elon Musk Secures Historic Pay Package
Elon Musk has once again made headlines, securing a $56 billion pay package from Tesla shareholders, making him the highest-paid CEO in history. This monumental approval took place at Teslaâs gigafactory in Texas, where shareholders celebrated the decision with applause.
Despite this victory, Musk's reward hinges on avoiding disapproval from a Delaware judge. As Musk continues to juggle multiple ventures and faces new lawsuits, he remains unfazed by corporate responsibility initiatives, focusing instead on leading his companies with unyielding ambition.
Fisker Faces Bankruptcy Again
Henrik Fisker, known for his car designs, has driven another company into bankruptcy. Fisker Inc. filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware after its Ocean SUV encountered numerous issues, including software glitches and recalls.
The company, which aimed to revolutionize the electric vehicle market with the help of manufacturing giant Magna, now faces a $500 million debt. This marks the second time Fisker has led a company to bankruptcy, raising questions about his future in the auto industry.
AI and Fundraising Highlights
The tech world remains captivated by AI developments and funding news. Apple joined the AI icon trend with a new visual for "Intelligence," resembling a lopsided infinity symbol. Meanwhile, Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, launched Safe Superintelligence Inc. to ensure AI advancements do not lead to dystopian outcomes.
In fundraising news, Edward Tian and Alex Cui of GPTZero turned their AI detection startup into a lucrative venture, securing $10 million from VCs. However, Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, is now seeking $100 million to $125 million at a significantly reduced valuation of $2.5 billion. On a brighter note, Tender Food, a plant-based meat company, raised $11 million to continue developing its innovative faux meat products.
Miscellaneous Startup Stories
This week also saw notable developments across various startups. Loop, an insurance startup aiming to eliminate biased pricing models, faced a major setback as co-founder John Henry announced layoffs after failing to secure funding for 20 months.
Adobe faced scrutiny from the DOJ for making it difficult to cancel subscriptions, while YouTube intensified its battle against ad blockers with server-side ad injections.
Additionally, personalized vitamin subscription company Care/of announced the end of all subscriptions by June 17, despite previous investments totalling $46 million. Finally, EU lawmakers faced criticism from Signal's president, Meredith Whittaker, for proposing legislation that could compromise web security by scanning private messages for CSAM.