The Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma LP, have reached a $6B cash deal with nine U.S. state attorneys general to settle lawsuits accusing them of fueling the opioid epidemic. Purdue Pharma is the maker of OxyContin, the drug at the center of 500,000 opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. Last December, a New York federal judge rejected an initial $4.5B settlement that would have shielded the Sackler family from civil opioid lawsuits. More: - Members of the Sackler family have denied any wrongdoing.
- In a statement, the family said they regret that OxyContin “unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis.”
- Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in 2019 following a wave of lawsuits and paying out over $10B between 2008 and 2017.
- The $6B settlement is part of a larger restructuring plan to get the company out of bankruptcy.
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 Rivian founder and CEO Robert "RJ" Scaringe with the Rivian R1S SUV | Image: Richard Truesdell Amazon-backed EV startup Rivian has backtracked on its planned price increases on preordered vehicles. The company initially announced on Tuesday that it would increase the prices on vehicles ordered before March 1 by 20%. Rivian raised the base price of its electric R1T pickup truck from $67,500 to $79,500, and the price of its electric R1S SUV increased from $70,000 to $84,500. The price hike caused some customers to cancel their orders and share their frustration on social media, accusing the company of betraying its early supporters. More: - In a letter released on Thursday, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe apologized for breaking customers' trust and said the company will honor original preorder prices.
- He offered customers who had canceled their orders due to the price increase the option to reinstate their order at the original price.
- Scaringe noted the price increase was due to the rise in costs for the materials and components that go into the vehicles.
- Scaringe noted the average cost of a new vehicle in the U.S. has risen more than 30% since 2018 when the EV startup initially started taking preorders for its vehicles.
- Rivian shares fell 13% on Wednesday on news of the price hike. It closed at $50.91 a share on Thursday, down 5% for the day.
- Rivian went public in November but has since lost over 50% of its market value. Amazon owns a 20% stake in the company.
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 A message from SEEDINVEST Equity crowdfunding 101: A crash course for founders Maybe you’ve heard the term before, but what is equity crowdfunding and how do you know if it’s right for your company? A way to raise a round online, equity crowdfunding allows early and growth-stage companies to raise large sums of capital in small increments spread across many individual investors. How large a sum of capital are we talking about here? In 2020, the average community raise on SeedInvest was $3.3 million, and so far we’ve helped more than 250 companies launch successful raises spanning everything from six-figure seed rounds and top-ups to eight-figure Series B rounds. Who is this community I keep hearing so much about? The SeedInvest community is made up of more than 600,000 investors ready to throw their support behind the next game-changing innovation that ignites their curiosity. If you’d like to get the complete picture, check out our comprehensive guide to equity crowdfunding for founders. Get the Guide
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The London Stock Exchange suspended trading of 27 additional Russian companies on Thursday. The exchange cited the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, market conditions, and maintaining orderly markets as the reasons behind the suspension. Among the companies suspended were Russian bank Sberbank, gas company Gazprom, energy company Lukoil, and gold mining company, Polyus. More: - Trading of Russian stocks and bonds on global markets has dropped significantly following a mirage of financial sanctions imposed on the country.
- Russia’s central bank has also suspended stock and derivatives trading in the country and has implemented measures to temporarily prevent foreign investors from selling their Russian assets.
- U.S. sanction demands allow international investors up to three months to exit their Russian positions.
- The Russian ruble has fallen to 110 rubles to a dollar. It has fallen over 20% since the start of the conflict.
In related news: - The EU is exploring new measures to prevent crypto assets from being used to circumvent sanctions imposed on Russia.
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 Alisher Usmanov's yacht, the Dilbar, which has been reportedly seized by Germany The U.S. announced new sanctions against Russian oligarchs and their families. The Biden administration and the Department of Justice have set up a "KleptoCapture" task force to implement the sanctions. The targeted individuals are Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, Nikolai Tokarev, the CEO of energy company Transneft, and financier Alisher Usmanov. The White House also announced that the state department would implement visa restrictions on 19 Russian oligarchs and 47 members of their families. More: - President Biden said the sanctions are meant to maximize the impact on Russian President Putin and Russia and minimize the impact on the U.S. and its allies.
- The U.S. Treasury also plans to impose sanctions on seven Russian entities that are believed to be responsible for the spread of Russian misinformation.
- The White House claims Germany has seized a yacht worth between $600M and $735M owned by Alisher Usmanov.
In related news: - Citigroup disclosed it has $9.8B in total exposure to Russia and risks losing about $4B due to the sanctions imposed on the country.
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Cloud data company Snowflake released its Q4 and full-year FY 2022 earnings on Wednesday, missing expectations on revenue growth. The company reported Q4 total revenue of $383.8M, a 101% increase YoY, and product revenue of $359.6M, a 102% increase YoY. Snowflake reported a 110% total revenue growth in Q3. The company narrowed its losses to $132M, or 43 cents a share, from $199M, or 70 cents a share, reported a year ago. Full-year total revenue was $1.22B, of which product revenue was $1.14B, a 106% increase YoY. More: - Snowflake’s headcount rose 60% to 4,000, and it had 5.944 customers by the end of its fiscal Q4, which ended Jan. 31.
- The company announced plans to acquire Streamlit, an open-source framework, for $800M.
- The company is expecting FY 2023 Q1 product revenue growth of 79% to 81%, $383M to $388M, and for the full year FY 2023, it expects product revenue growth of 65% to 67%, $1.88B to $1.9B.
- Snowflake shares fell over 20% in after-market trading on Wednesday. It closed at $224.02 on Thursday, down ~16% for the day.
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 Victoria’s Secret released its Q4 and full-year 2021 earnings on Wednesday, slightly beating analysts’ expectations. The women’s wear brand reported Q4 revenue of $2.18B, a 4% increase YoY. Net income came in at $246M, or $2.70 share, a 14% drop from a year ago. Full-year net sales of $6.79B, a 25% increase YoY. Full-year net income was $646.4M, or $7.18 a share, up from a loss of $72.3M reported a year ago. More: - The company expects Q1 FY 2022 sales to fall between $1.43B and $1.5, a 4% to 8% decrease from the prior year, pointing to inflation, supply chain interruptions, and global unrest.
- The company is expecting Q1 EPS between 70 cents and 95 cents.
- The company expects to close between 10 and 30 brick-and-mortar stores in 2022.
- The company announced a $250M share repurchase program in December.
- Victoria’s Secret closed at $55.29 on Thursday, up ~2% for the day.
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- The Biden Administration has asked Congress to approve $32.5B in emergency funding to support Ukraine and fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a tweet, invited the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union to hold a vote at its California factory. Musk noted the real challenge in the Bay Area was negative unemployment.
- Russian Athletes will compete as neutral individuals at the Paralympic Winter Games starting on Friday in Beijing.
- On Thursday, Russian state-controlled news network RT announced that it would be broadcasting on Rumble, a YouTube-like online video platform, after U.S. tech companies like Google and Meta Platforms restricted access to the network.
- Tennis star Serena Williams’s VC firm, Serena Ventures, has raised a $111M fund for early-stage companies led by founders from under-represented communities.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or through email at vanessa@inside.com |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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