Elon Musk has secured about $7.14B in new funding from a group of 19 investors to back his Twitter acquisition. The investors include Sequoia Capital, crypto exchange Binance.com, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Andreessen Horowitz, Qatar Holding, and Fidelity Investments. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who tweeted his rejection of Musk’s $54.20 a share buyout offer last month, has pledged to commit his ~35 million Twitter shares worth about $1.7B to retain an investment in the company. More: - Sequoia is contributing $800M, Binance has committed $500M, and Larry Ellison pledged $1B, making him one of the largest backers in the group.
- Andreessen Horowitz committed $400M, Qatar Holding contributed $375M, and Fidelity pledged $316M.
- The new commitments would reduce the amount of risk Musk has to take to close the $44B buyout offer.
- Musk said the new funds would cut down the $12.5B margin loan he secured for the deal to $6.5B.
- The deal will now be financed with $27.25B in equity and cash.
- Musk said he is in talks to bring on more current Twitter shareholders, including co-founder Jack Dorsey.
- Twitter shares were up over 3.5% by afternoon trading on Thursday.
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Oil giant Shell released its Q1 2022 earnings on Thursday, reporting its highest quarterly profit in over a decade. The company reported $9.1B in adjusted earnings for Q1, almost triple the $3.2B earned over the same period in 2021. Shell reported a $3.9B post-tax charge related to its Russia exit. The company had initially warned of a write-off between $4B and $5B, including the impact of terminating its joint ventures with Russia’s Gazprom. More: - The company has completed $4B in share buybacks from the $8.5B share buyback program planned for H1 2022.
- It plans to complete the remaining $4.5B by its next earnings call.
- Shell plans to increase its dividend by 4% to 25 cents a share.
- U.K. lawmakers have asked the government to impose a windfall tax on oil and gas to help households struggling with record-high energy costs.
- Shell shares rose ~3% in morning trading on Thursday.
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 Sen. Elizabeth Warren (left) and Sen. Tina Smith (right) | Getty Images Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) wrote a letter dated May 4, 2022, to Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson questioning Fidelity’s plan to allow investors put bitcoin in their 401K. The senators also asked how the firm plans to address the significant risks of fraud, theft, and loss often associated with crypto assets. More: - The Senator argued that cryptocurrencies might be too risky for retirement savers.
- They also raised concerns about Fidelity’s potential conflict of interest since the firm has mined Bitcoin and offers a crypto fund for wealthy investors.
- The senators also highlighted Bitcoin’s volatility within the last six months, from reaching a high of almost $69,000 in November to dropping to $33,000 in February.
- The women noted their concern that Fidelity is risking the retirement savings of millions of Americans.
Zoom out: - Last month, Fidelity announced it would allow investors to put a Bitcoin account in their 401K savings account, becoming the first major retirement-plan provider to offer it.
- About 23,000 companies use Fidelity to administer their retirement plans.
- Fidelity has about $2.7T in assets under administration.
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OPEC+ agreed to a slight increase in its oil production; the group plans to increase oil output by 432,000 barrels a day, starting in June. In a statement following its meeting on Thursday, the group, which includes Russia, said it considered the continuing effects of geopolitical factors and issues related to the ongoing pandemic in its decision. More: - Since Russia invaded Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions it received, its oil output has fallen from 11 million barrels a day in March to 10.1 million barrels a day in April.
- On Wednesday, the EU proposed plans to ban all Russian oil and gas imports by the end of the year.
- Brent oil futures traded over $113 a barrel on Thursday, up over 2%.
- The group’s next meeting is scheduled for June 2.
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Moderna released its Q1 2022 earnings on Wednesday, beating analysts’ expectations across the board. The pharmaceutical company reported total revenue of $6.1B, more than triple the $1.7B reported in Q1 2021. Net income came in at $3.66B, or $8.58 a share, up from $1.22B reported last year. More: - Moderna sold $5.9B of its COVID-19 vaccine, up from $1.7B reported in Q1 2021.
- The company said it has $21B in advance purchase agreements for its products for 2022, including its COVID vaccine.
- Last month the company announced it had asked the FDA to authorize its COVID vaccine for children under 6 years old, becoming the first manufacturer to seek the approval.
- Moderna shares were down ~9% in afternoon trading on Thursday.
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Yum Brands, the company behind KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, released its Q1 2022 earnings on Wednesday. The company reported total revenue of $1.55B, up 4% YoY. Operating profit was $509M, down 6% YoY. Net income came in at $399M or $1.38 a share. Yum said it would miss its long-term target for operating profits this year due to it suspending its Russia business. Russia accounted for 2% of Yum’s total sales in 2021. More: - Yum opened 628 net new locations in Q1, mostly KFC restaurants, up 6% YoY.
- Digital sales came in at ~$6B, up 15% YoY, and accounted for over 40% of total transactions.
- System sales and same-store sales growth per division:
- KFC reported system sales of $7.73B, up 6% YoY; same-store sales rose 3% YoY.
- Taco Bell reported system sales of $3.1B, up 8% YoY; same-store sales rose 5% YoY.
- Pizza Hut reported system sales of $3.16B, up 2% YoY; same-store sales remained flat.
- Yum bought back 3.4 million shares in Q1, totaling ~$407M.
- Yum shares were down ~2% in afternoon trading on Thursday.
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- Elon Musk is expected to serve as CEO of Twitter for a few months after he completes his $44B takeover of the company. Twitter’s current CEO Parag Agrawal has been in the position since November, following Jack Dorsey’s exit from the company.
- U.S. stocks suffered their worst day of the year on Thursday. The Dow lost over 1,300 points, down ~4%. The S&P 500 fell 4.3%, and the Nasdaq was down 5.9%.
- Aircraft manufacturer Boeing plans to move its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia. According to people familiar with the matter, details of the move haven’t been finalized, but an announcement is expected as soon as next week.
- Federal regulators have proposed significant changes to the Community Reinvestment Act, a law aimed at increasing lending to low-and moderate-income communities. The changes offer clearer guidelines and public benchmarks for evaluation.
- According to WHO, about 15 million have died from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, with India suffering the most causalities from the disease. About 4.7 million people in India died from the virus by the end of 2021.
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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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