Elon Musk Dumps Another $3.6B Tesla Stock, Facebook's Jobs' Feature To Disappear Next Year, Foxconn Relaxes Covid Restrictions In China Factory: Today's Top Stories

Benzinga

Elon Musk Dumps Another $3.6 Billion Of Tesla Stock

• Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk sold nearly $3.6 billion shares in the electric vehicle maker.
• The billionaire sold 22 million shares of Tesla, according to the filing. The latest sale means that Musk has sold almost $40 billion worth of the automaker's stock over the past year.
• Tesla is looking forward to drilling for new water sources to supply an expansion of its electric vehicle plant near Berlin.

Facebook Parent's 'Jobs' Feature To Disappear In February: Did It Lose Steam Due To LinkedIn's Popularity?

• Meta Platforms Inc.'s META Facebook launched the Jobs Feature in 2017, but in just five years, the social media giant has reportedly decided to bid farewell to it. 
• Social media commentator Matt Navarra tweeted a report by Adweek saying Facebook's Jobs Feature will be shut down on February 23. 
• The report cited a few users who have begun seeing notifications that Jobs on Facebook will cease to exist from next year. 

Ericsson Sells Of Russian Customer Support Business; Agrees To Regulatory Extension Of Monitoring For FCPA Violations

• Ericsson's ERIC Russian subsidiary agreed to divest its local customer support business in Russia to a Russian company owned by former operational managers of its Russian subsidiary.
• The transaction includes transferring 40 Ericsson employees and certain assets and contracts related to the business.

Mercedes Benz Inks Low Carbon Aluminum Supply Agreement With Hydro

• Mercedes Benz Group ADR MBGYY has partnered with Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company Norsk Hydro ASA NHYDY on a joint technology roadmap from 2023 to 2030.
• The parties aim to develop aluminum solutions approved for automotive applications with a CO2 footprint below 3.0 kgCO2/kgAl.

West Africa-Based Studies Show JNJ, Merck's Ebola Vaccines Provide Lasting Antibodies

• Ebola vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson JNJ and Merck & Co Inc MRK produced virus-fighting antibodies and appeared to be safe in children and adults, two studies conducted in West Africa show.
• Both companies' vaccines produced antibodies 14 days after the first of two shots and were detectable at varying levels in both children and adults for one year.

Reuters

Lockheed Martin, Boeing Among US Defense Companies In Potential Talks For Military Gear For Vietnam

• In a bid to reduce its dependence on Russian arms, some Vietnam government officials and U.S. defense firms are reportedly discussing the supply of military gear.
• The talks are preliminary and may not lead to any deals.
• The companies offered a range of military gear and had "promising" discussions about non-lethal equipment, including helicopters for internal security, drones, radars, and other systems.

Five Banks, Including JPMorgan, Citi Invest In Risk Management Provider

• JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM, Citigroup Inc C, BNP Paribas BNPQF BNPQY, Barclays Plc BCS and Lloyds Banking Group PLC LYG have backed an overall $24 million fundraising for Acin, risk control specialist.
• The investment will help Acin accelerate its strategic product development.
• "We have been working with Acin for the past three years, during which they have supported our established operational risk management and assessment practices," said Julian Liau, Chief Controls Manager at JPMorgan.

Microsoft Cloud Introduces EU Data Boundary For Users In A Step-By-Step Manner

• Microsoft Corp MSFT launched a phased rollout of its EU Data Boundary solution to public sector and commercial customers in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) on January 1.
• Microsoft's Chief Privacy Officer Julie Brill said the first phase would be customer data. And then, Microsoft moved into the subsequent phases. It will move logging data, service data, and other kinds of data into the boundary.
• The second phase will be completed at the end of 2023, and phase three will be completed in 2024.

Grab Becomes the Latest Ride Hailing And Food Delivery Company Engulfed Macro Headwinds, Embraces Frugality

• Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab Holdings Limited GRAB, introduced cost-cutting measures to beat the macro headwinds.
• Grab's measures included a freeze on most hirings, salary freezes for senior managers, and cuts in travel and expense budgets.
• CEO Anthony Tan said, "More so than ever, all Grabbers need to adopt a frugal and prudent mindset as we prepare for 2023."

Wall Street Journal

Microsoft Bets On This EV Battery Startup As Backbone Of Energy Transition

• Group14 Technologies, a global manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon battery technology, raised $214 million in additional financing from a consortium including Microsoft Corp's MSFT Climate Innovation Fund, Lightrock Climate Impact Fund, Moore Strategic Ventures, Oman Investment Authority, and Molicel. 
• The latest financing brings Group14's Series C round to $614 million.
• The battery startup, valued at over $3 billion, won a $100 million grant from the U.S. Energy Department through the 2021 infrastructure bill.

Bloomberg

Elon Musk's Twitter Ordered By Judge To Inform Sacked Workers About Severance Lawsuit

• Twitter must tell terminated employees that there's an active lawsuit against the Elon Musk-led company regarding severance pay and benefits, a judge reportedly ruled.
• U.S. District Judge James Donato said, "Twitter is directed to provide notice of the pendency of this case before asking an employee to release his or her legal claims,"

Siemens Healthineers, GE Healthcare Studying Potential Deals With Medtronic's Spun-Off Units

• Siemens Healthineers AG SMMNY SEMHF and General Electric Company's GE healthcare arm are reportedly weighing the potential acquisition of Medtronic Plc's MDT two businesses being spun-off.
• Medtronic announced in October its intention to spin off the Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions units within the next year to 18 months. 
• The businesses could be valued at more than $7 billion.

Crucial Apple iPhone Supplier Relaxes Covid Restrictions In China Factory

• Key Apple Inc AAPL iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd HNHPF, operating as Foxconn Technology Group, relaxed most anti-Covid restrictions at its factory in Zhengzhou, China.
• Foxconn ended its "point-to-point" system, relaxing employees' daily movements between their dormitories and the campus.

Ford, CATL Plan New US Battery Plant

• Ford Motor Company F and China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) are planning to build a battery production plant in Michigan.
• Michigan and Virginia have emerged as potential spots for the multibillion-dollar facility.
• The new facility will likely supply lithium iron phosphate batteries for Ford's electric models.

Techcrunch

Lucid Eyes Share Of China's Fragmented EV Market

• Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group, Inc LCID braced to enter China as it started hiring in the largest EV market.
• Lucid recruited a dozen positions in Shanghai.
• The roles range from product management, marketing, sales, public policy, design, and supply chain management, to software development.  

Photo: Fernandi Putra and Vitaliy Karimov on Shutterstock and Courtesy Photo on Wikimedia Commons