What happened: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) defined its early 2010s programming with its “NXT” brand. This reality-style show eventually became a combination series and funnel for new talent to star in its events for TV and pay-per-view streaming. The company pinned its hopes in the mid-2010s on its WWE Streaming Network, which ended in 2021 when NBC’s Peacock service absorbed WWE’s programming. All of that culminated in a $219M year of net income for the company in 2020, followed by $218M in 2021. The next year would be defined by misconduct charges against Vince McMahon, who would ultimately step down as chairman and CEO, only to return to the chairman role in 2022. Why it matters: WWE, which was rumored for weeks to be seeking a sale for as much as $9B, instead secured a deal to merge with Endeavor Holdings, the parent company of UFC, to create a new company valued at $21.4B. Where to see the impact: WWE took expensive bets over the past decade, managing experiments that didn’t work out. Instead of the potential sale of the company in the wake of allegations against McMahon, the merger deal will allow him to keep the executive chairman seat while Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel will take the reins of the new company. We're testing new content formats in Inside.com newsletters. Do you want to see more coverage like this? Respond to this email and let us know.
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 Chicagoans will choose between former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas and former teacher Brandon Johnson in Tuesday's mayoral run-off. Vallas and Johnson finished in first and second place in the first round of the Chicago mayoral election in February, making incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot the first Chicago mayor to lose a re-election bid in 40 years. More: - Vallas and Johnson are both Democrats but offer contrasting styles and policy solutions to Chicago's problems.
- Vallas, who is backed by the Chicago police union, has run a law-and-order campaign premised on putting more police on the streets.
- Vallas, who previously ran the school systems in Chicago, Louisiana, and Philadelphia, has touted his experience running large public organizations.
- Johnson, who has the support of the Chicago teacher's union, has run a progressive campaign focused on offering holistic solutions for addressing systemic poverty, poor education, and youth unemployment.
- Johnson has said that Chicago should tax "ultrarich" individuals and businesses to fund mental health programs, affordable housing, and youth employment programs.
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 Insiders at the recently collapsed Signature Bank reportedly sold more than $100M in stock in recent years, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). A WSJ analysis found that sales by the bank’s chairman, its former chief executive officer, and his successor made up about half of insider stock sales during the last three years. More: - Signature Chairman Scott Shay sold $5.4M worth of stock in 2021 and $644,000 in 2023.
- He also bought ~$1.5M in Signature stock since 2020.
- In 2021, CEO Joseph DePaolo sold $13.9M in stock, and chief operating officer Eric Howell sold $14.9M in stock.
- Signature was one of only two companies in the S&P 500 that didn't file insider-trading transactions with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), instead choosing to file with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
- As a result, the Signature executives' transactions were not tracked on websites commonly used by investors to analyze stock sales or purchases made by the executives of public companies.
- The three executives served on the Signature board committee for risk management and were vocal advocates of the bank's pivot into the cryptocurrency industry.
- On March 14, Signature shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against Signature, DePaolo, Howell, and Signature chief financial officer Stephen Wyremski for alleged fraud.
Zoom Out: - Last month, Martin Gruenberg, chairman of the FDIC board of directors, told a Senate committee that his agency was investigating whether Signature's directors and officers were involved in mismanagement, which could lead to fines or professional bans.
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 GOOD NEWS: Starting this week, Germany is offering a €49 ($53.44) monthly travel ticket that provides access to local and regional public transit networks across Germany. The "Deutschland Ticket," which was introduced to reduce costs and incentivize people to take public transportation instead of driving cars, will go into effect on May 1. More: - The ticket doesn't cover long-distance bus travel or high-speed rail.
- Last summer, Germany experimented with a €9 ($9.85) monthly card that covered all local and regional buses and trains.
- Over 52 million tickets were sold during the three-month trial, and an additional 10 million people automatically received the discount through ongoing public transit subscriptions.
- Transport Minister Volker Wissing said the new ticket would free Germans from the "tariff jungle" of needing separate tickets for different transportation networks.
Zoom Out: - Several countries and cities in Europe have introduced free or low-cost public transit options in recent years to increase passenger numbers and lower emissions.
- Luxembourg introduced free public transit for residents and tourists in March 2020.
- Last October, Malta started offering free bus rides to the holders of a €15 ($16.38) smart card.
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 The Justice Department charged Charlie Javice, the founder of fintech platform Frank, with defrauding JPMorgan Chase of $175M. The indictment alleges that Javice "falsely and dramatically" inflated the number of customers Frank had in order to "fraudulently induce" JPMorgan to acquire her company. The Justice Department said that Javice stood to gain over $45M from the transaction. More: - Frank was a financial planning platform for college students and people aspiring to attend college.
- JPMorgan acquired Frank for $175M in September 2021
- In December 2022, JPMorgan sued Javice saying she misled the bank about the company's customer base and revenue.
- The bank says that Javice claimed that Frank had over 4 million users when it had less than 300,000.
- Javice, who denies the accusations, later countersued the bank, demanding $27.9M she says she is owed from the deal.
- JPMorgan shut down Frank in January.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed another lawsuit against Javice.
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 The University of Connecticut men's basketball team beat the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs 76-59 to win their fifth NCAA national championship in 24 years. U-Conn won their six NCAA tournament games by an average margin of 20 points, the fourth-largest average since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985. More: - U-Conn has won national championships under three different coaches since 1999.
- Jim Calhoun led the team to titles in 1999, 2004, and 2011, Kevin Ollie's team won a championship in 2014, and current coach Dan Hurley won his first title on Monday night.
- U-Conn center Adama Sanogo scored 17 points and snagged 10 rebounds in the title game after averaging 20.2 points and 9.8 rebounds in the previous five games.
- U-Conn is the fifth men's national championship team since 1985 to win all six tournament games by double digits.
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- Former President Donald Trump was formally arrested and fingerprinted at a courthouse in lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon. Trump pled not guilty to 34 charges related to alleged payments he made to two women who said they had affairs with him.
- Over the past four months, a state-sanctioned bison hunt in Yellowstone National Park killed 1,150 bison. Officials are concerned that the ~6,000-member bison herd may expose nearby cattle to an infectious disease many of the wild animals carry.
- A high school football player in Kentucky died from blunt-force trauma to the brain after his head hit the ground following a tackle made during a scrimmage last week.
- Disney plans to produce a live-action remake of its 2016 film "Moana."
- Sharpen your math, data, and CS skills with Brilliant. Quick, hands-on lessons make learning fun and easy. Over 10M+ people agree, so try it today.*
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 Spring night by Arnold Böcklin. Date unknown.
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Upcoming Events - April 06 - Inside Marketing Coffee Break w/ Jeremy Sporn (Royce Brook Media) (Register Here)
- April 07 - US Visa and Green Card Options for Immigrant Founders and Employees (Watch Here)
- April 13 - Inside Interview with Lacework - The Evolution of Cloud Security w/ Ulfar Erlingsson (Watch On Demand)
- April 14 - Inside Interview with Landing - The Ultimate Corporate Housing Resource with Torger Philosophos (Register Here)
- April 18 - Human Resources Summit'23 (Register Here)
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 |  | Dr. Daniel Smith is an Inside writer with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. Follow him on Twitter @DJS12321 or email him at Daniel@inside.com. |  | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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