• President Trump's attack on TikTok has highlighted the extensive, but not-well-understood powers the president has to regulate or block foreign investment in the US.
• The president's order came as a result of a process initiated by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or CFIUS, a group of cabinet officials and presidential advisors empowered to review deals for national security concerns.
• The committee can force companies to modify deals or recommend that the president block them.
• CFIUS has broad authority, all of which can be seen in the TikTok deal — it can review deals involving any company that engages in interstate commerce in the US, no matter where they're actually based.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Trump's order that China's Bytedance unload its TikTok business in the US has put a spotlight on a government committee with remarkably broad powers to regulate corporate acquisitions — even when none of the businesses involved are American companies.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or CFIUS, the multi-agency group that recommended Trump's TikTok order, is a 45-year-old panel comprised of cabinet-level officials and presidential advisors authorized to vet foreign investment in the US for national security concerns. 

For years, CFIUS was primarily focused on deals with clear relevance to traditional national security, such as companies involved in weapons production or industries important to military readiness. 

But the committee has taken an increasingly broad view of national security over the years and recent changes to the laws underlying CFIUS have broadened its power further. And with the "tech cold war" between China and the US escalating, CFIUS is now flexing its muscles in ways that may seem surprising to many in Silicon Valley.

"I feel that a lot of businesses are not understanding this," said Doreen Edelman, a partner at Lowenstein Sandler and the chair of the law firm's global trade and policy group.

The TikTok situation provides a case in point.

Many past press reports have erroneously suggested that Musical.ly — the lip-synching app that would become TikTok after getting acquired by China's ByteDance in 2017— was an American company. Under that assumption, CFIUS's involvement, even years after the deal closed, might not seem overly surprising.

But in reality, Musical.ly was not a US company. Although it had a small office in California and was popular with US teens, but it was headquartered in Shanghai.  So Trump is ordering, following a CFIUS review, the undoing of a merger between 2 two Chinese internet companies.

What makes a business American?

The reason he can do that is because in the eyes of CFIUS, Musical.ly actually was a US company.

Under the laws undergirding CFIUS, any individual, group, or organization that is "engaged in interstate commerce in the US" is considered to be a US business. So an entity could have only a small office in the US or — at least in theory — could have no physical presence at all and still be considered a US company as long as it engaged in interstate transactions.

Not only did Musical.ly have a US office in Santa Monica, Calif,  it obviously was engaged in interstate commerce — its video sharing services had millions of US customers. Those factors were enough to place it under CFIUS's jurisdiction.

Once a deal falls within CFIUS's jurisdiction, the committee a lot of power. It can rubber stamp a transaction, demand that the parties make changes to address its concerns, or recommend that the president block the deal. And it can do so pretty much any time it wants, no matter how long after the fact.

In the case of Musical.ly, the committee didn't start investigating the acquisition until last fall, some two years after the parties announced it. CFIUS has full authority to retroactively review deals, particularly those it didn't scrutinize in the first place, such as the ByteDance-Musical.ly deal. 

When ByteDance announced the acquisition, the companies had no obligation under the rules in place at the time to notify CFIUS of the deal, which is the precursor to any formal review. The flip side of that freedom to ignore CFIUS was that the committee could at any time — months, years, potentially even more than a decade later — decide that the deal had a bearing on national security and undertake a review of it. There's no statute of limitations on CFIUS's retrospective review power. It can even go back and review or force modifications to deals to which it's previously given a green light, legal experts told Business Insider.

OK, but so how did a deal involving a video-sharing service popular with teens fall under the rubric of "national security?"

In years past, security issues that would be reviewed by CFIUS were fairly narrowly construed, dealing primarily with things like weapons production, military equipment or facilities. 

However, what constitutes "national security" has always been left open for each administration to define. Over the years, the definition has gradually widened to include infrastructure such as ports and, increasingly, deals that might threaten economic security, rather than military security.

More pertinently for the ByteDance-Musical.ly acquisition, Congress updated the laws underlying CFIUS in 2018 to spell out three types of deals that would now be considered to have obvious national security implications and would be subject to mandatory review by the committee. Those deals are ones in which foreign entities are investing in or acquiring one of three things — critical infrastructure; critical technologies, including cutting-edge software and hardware; or the personal data of 1 million or more US citizens. By acquiring Musical.ly, ByteDance got access to just that — the personal data of millions of Americans. 

And as a result, the deal is a national security concern.

Business Insider reporter Max Jungreis contributed to this story.

Got a tip about startups, venture investing or TikTok? Contact Troy Wolverton via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @troywolv, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

• Read more about the TikTok dispute:
• Trump's attack on TikTok is setting off alarm bells in Silicon Valley
• SCOTT GALLOWAY: Why TikTok is unlikely to be banned in the US, despite plenty of US apps being banned in China
• TikTok reportedly has 18 million users who are 14 or younger, renewing concerns for children's safety
• TikTok's US employees are scared they won't get paid if the app is banned, and now they're planning to sue the Trump administration

SEE ALSO: These 3 startups were recently accused of misstating their financial information, highlighting how little such companies may be required to disclose to their VC backers and other investors

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• This is a preview of the Telecoms and Virtual Reality research report from Business Insider Intelligence.
• Purchase this report.
• Business Insider Intelligence offers even more technology coverage with Connectivity & Tech Pro. Subscribe today to receive industry-changing connectivity news and analysis to your inbox.

While VR headset adoption has lagged behind expectations due to technical issues, the market is now on the cusp of a transformation thanks to the promise of 5G.

The new standard's technical capabilities, like low latency, lightning-fast speeds, and support for edge computing, will help VR overcome the barriers that have inhibited its adoption. As a result, explosive growth in the VR market is expected to coincide with the rollout of 5G networks. 

As the chief growth engine for the VR market, telecoms have an opportunity to monetize the immersive tech beyond simply providing the connectivity for it.

Since the VR market is still relatively nascent, early moving telecoms have an opportunity to step in and revolutionize the VR monetization paradigm before the technology is mainstream. Network operators have a particular advantage in becoming VR solution creators and enablers because they have early access to 5G networks. That gives them a head start on prototyping 5G-dependent VR hardware, content, and services. Telecoms that pursue this route have a significant opportunity: By 2026, the annual revenue for telecoms as solution creators for the immersive technology segment is expected to reach $24 billion, per Ericsson. 

In Telecoms and Virtual Reality, Business Insider Intelligence examines how telecoms can expand beyond connectivity to become solution creators in the VR ecosystem. The report explores how telecoms will play a pivotal role in advancing the VR market, identifies what's to be gained for telecoms that move up the VR value chain, and explores emerging VR monetization models. 

Here are some of the key takeaways of the report: 

• Since content will remain a chief barrier to VR uptake, telecoms should drive value beyond connectivity in the VR ecosystem by expanding to become solution creators. 
• Creating VR solutions can help operators stay ahead of the digital revolution as convergence reshapes the industry and become more attractive partners for enterprises. 
• As 5G spreads and the VR ecosystem takes off, new monetization models will become possible for telecoms as well — like the solutions enabler model.

In full, the report: 

• Examines how 5G connectivity will help VR reach its potential. 
• Explores how telecoms can move up the VR value chain. 
• Identifies consumer and enterprise VR use cases that present the largest opportunities in the near- to mid-term.

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• Oracle is in preliminary talks with TikTok parent ByteDance to buy the app's operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the Financial Times reported Monday.
• Oracle has been working with US investors, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, who own a stake in TikTok already, according to the Financial Times.
• Founder Larry Ellison is among Trump's few public backers in Silicon Valley and CEO Safra Catz served on his presidential transition team.
• Trump has tried to force a sale of the app to an American company through multiple executive orders, and so far Microsoft has been the leading contender.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Enterprise software giant Oracle has entered the race to acquire some of TikTok's operations from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, the Financial Times reported Monday.

Oracle has been involved in preliminary discussions with several current US-based TikTok investors, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, to purchase the app's US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand operations, according to the report.

Oracle and TikTok both declined to comment and ByteDance could not immediately be reached.

President Donald Trump has sought to force the sale of TikTok to an American company, citing national security concerns. Trump has claimed that the Chinese government could pressure ByteDance to use the app to spy on Americans or censor political content it finds offensive.

Trump has issued two executive orders in recent weeks, one that could ban US companies from doing business with TikTok and another that seeks to unwind ByteDance's 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly, the precursor to TikTok.

Microsoft has been the leading contender in acquisition talks so far, having held discussions to buy TikTok's operations in those same countries, but interest from Oracle would give TikTok an alternative and potentially some leverage in negotiating a deal.

TikTok, which has more than 2.3 billion downloads worldwide, has recently been valued between $30 billion and $50 billion. 

Oracle's executives also have close ties to Trump. Founder Larry Ellison is one of the few tech executives who have openly backed Trump, and hosted a fundraiser for the president at his home in Southern California in February. CEO Safra Catz also served on Trump's transition team.

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1. Oracle has reportedly entered the race to buy TikTok's US operations, competing with rival Microsoft for the viral app as Trump's deadline looms. The Financial Times reported Oracle has been working with US investors, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, who own a stake in TikTok already.
2. Epic Games has filed a temporary restraining order against Apple with the intention of getting "Fortnite" back on Apple's App Store. If granted by a judge, the restraining order would legally stop Apple from "removing, de-listing, refusing to list or otherwise making unavailable the app 'Fortnite,' including any update thereof."
3. A British school student threatened to sue the UK government over an algorithm that was used to determine final grades after national exams were cancelled due to the pandemic. The algorithm has been widely criticized for hurting bright students at disadvantaged schools, costing them life-changing places at top colleges.
4. Facebook 'actively promotes' Holocaust denial content to certain users, a new study has found. Facebook's search algorithm was found to "actively promote" Holocaust denial content to users who had previously interacted with similar content.  
5. Amazon is considering buying a minority stake in Rackspace in a deal that would strengthen the ties between the two firms, sources say. Rackspace helps companies migrate their data to Amazon Web Services, and the investment would strengthen the ties between the two companies.
6. An open letter from Google warning that new Australian regulation would damage YouTube and Google Search in the country contains "misinformation," according to the country's competition watchdog. The draft regulation would force Facebook and Google to pay news publishers for their content.
7. Europe's hot challenger banks Monzo, Starling Bank, and Revolut all posted ballooning losses for 2019, raising questions about their long-term viability. The additional challenge of COVID-19 may make the prospect of profitability even more remote, even after the trio have raised a collective $1.9 billion from investors.
8. Quibi CEO Meg Whitman will speak at the Democratic National Convention Monday night, the DNC announced. Whitman previously ran for governor of California as a Republican and she is one of several current and former Republicans who oppose Trump billed to speak at the DNC.
9. Russian billionaire and former Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is quietly backing a virtual reality startup trying to rival Facebook with a multiplayer world. The former Brooklyn Nets owner said he expected "explosive growth" in the virtual reality market over the next decade.
10. A college student made a fake blog post using an AI text generator and it was upvoted to the top of Hacker News by people who thought it was real. University of California, Berkeley student Liam Porr created several blog posts using OpenAI's GPT-3 text generator and several people subscribed to his account, believing he wrote the posts himself.

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• This is a preview of the Business Insider Intelligence Coronavirus and 5G Deployment Roadblocks premium research report. Purchase this report here.
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The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting billions of lives and nearly all industries — one area in which we expect a clear delay in established timelines is the rollout of next-generation 5G wireless networks around the world. 

The virus has preempted standards meetings, occupied the attention of network operators and regulators, and disrupted global technology supply chains, and it will delay global 5G rollouts by anywhere from six months to several years as network expansions are halted and new deployments are placed on hold.

These delays will have major ramifications for companies in the smartphone space, wireless carriers, networking equipment providers, and large enterprises of all stripes. For instance, Business Insider Intelligence forecasts that 5G smartphone shipments for 2020 will now total 146 million, down from prior estimates of 200 million, with the first three quarters of the year down drastically from pre-virus estimates.

In Coronavirus And 5G Deployment Roadblocks, Business Insider Intelligence looks at how the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent fallout will slow the rollout of global 5G networks. First, we consider how the coronavirus will delay the continued development of 5G standards and the regulatory process that governs network launches. Next, we examine how supply chain strains stemming from lockdowns and quarantines will limit the availability of hardware that allows networks to broadcast their signals. We then discuss how the economic downturn caused by the virus will likely impact network operators and their ability to deploy 5G networks and bring customers on board. Finally, we look at the impact the pandemic will have on carriers' finances.

The companies mentioned in this report are: Apple, Ericsson, Google, Huawei, LG, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Xiaomi, and ZTE.

Here are some key takeaways from the report: 

• 5G networks got off the ground in 2019 and tens of millions of consumers signed up, and 2020 was expected to be the year when the next generation of wireless really took off. But following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, these aspirations have all but gone out the window. 
• A delay in 5G network deployment and advancement will have major consequences for the broader connectivity ecosystem. For one, smartphone-makers that haven't yet dipped their toes into the 5G waters will limit the speed at which they bring 5G-enabled hardware to their devices. And large enterprises that are looking to adopt 5G devices for their facilities to use as well as to deploy private 5G networks will likely hold off on moving forward.
• There will be multiple sources of the delays to 5G network deployments. 
  • 5G standards — the specifications and protocols that international bodies set to define how wireless networks operate — will be delayed because the 3GPP, an international telecom standards organization, won't be able to meet. 
  • The companies that make the networking equipment that powers 5G radios and allows telecoms to broadcast signals are likely to face both supply chain disruptions and waning demand.
  • We also expect wireless network operators that handle the investment and deployment of 5G will face decreased revenue due to fast-changing economic conditions. 

  In full, the report:

  • Identifies key pandemic-related sources of delays to planned 5G deployments and the consequences of those delays for the broader connectivity ecosystem.
  • Explains how regulatory process interruptions will slow down network launches.
  • Assesses the impact of supply chain disruptions on 5G equipment availability.
  • Examines how changes to carriers' revenue and debt costs will affect 5G rollout plans.
  • Shows how some of the biggest wireless networking companies expect the pandemic to impact them and how they plan to adapt.

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• Three UK challenger banks posted their financial results for 2019 through July and August.
  
• Monzo, Starling Bank, and Revolut showed growth in revenues year-on-year but also mounting losses. 
• The trio have won customer loyalty and positive press for sleek app designs and colorful payment cards.
• But their financial results and the challenge of COVID-19 raise fresh questions about their long-term viability.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The shine may be rubbing off a key part of Europe's burgeoning fintech market, after three British challenger banks posted mixed full-year financial results for 2019.

Monzo, Revolut, and Starling Bank all saw revenue, customers, and deposits go up, in good news for the fast-growing disruptors.

But all also posted ballooning losses, with each of the three companies at least doubling their losses in 2019 compared with the previous year. 

The additional challenge of COVID-19 may make the prospect of profitability even more remote, even after the trio have raised a collective $1.9 billion from investors.

Despite forays into business banking, premium services, and stock trading of varying degrees, these banking challengers rely heavily on interchange, foreign exchange, and customer spending for revenue, all of which declined during the coronavirus lockdown in the UK as customers stopped travelling or went on furlough. 

"Covid has shone a light on the neo-banks' business model; however digital and disruptive you want to be there are clear advantages of a core profitable business through traditional banking means, it can't just be a one-sided deposit business," Tom Merry, head of financial services strategy at Accenture, told Business Insider in an interview.

"It remains to be seen if huge customer numbers can translate into revenues and profits at scale."

Revolut and Starling Bank have both made noises about moving towards profitability or breakeven over the next 12 months.

Revolut is valued at $5.5 billion and now has 13 million customers. CEO Nik Storonsky said the firm remained "focused" on profitability.

Starling Bank promised to break even by 2021.

Monzo has warned the pandemic was a threat to its business, and went through layoffs and a down-round of funding this year. But the startup also doubled its revenues and added millions of customers, and managed to raise further funding during the pandemic.

That privately-held and predominantly VC-backed startups even publish annual reports demonstrates remarkable transparency, argues investor Eileen Burbidge. Burbidge is a partner at Passion Capital, an early Monzo investor, and HM Treasury's special envoy for fintech. 

"There's a lot of information to digest and it's tempting to try and draw quickfire conclusions, but it's crucial to remember that it's still very early days for all of these challengers, the eldest of which was founded barely five years ago," Burbidge told Business Insider.

"What they've all achieved, along with others in the sector such as Atom, Tandem, Tide, N26, Nubank, Qonto and others, is absolutely remarkable."

It is true that the disruptors have disrupted the retail businesses of legacy banking operators, some of which a have been operating without threat for over a century. The average high-street bank can only dream of attracting the same customer love and enthusiasm as, for example, a Monzo.

The neo-banks don't have forever to win over customers as established banks catch up

But could the impact of neo-banks on incumbents actually be a negative going forward, as traditional banks wise up to improved digital offerings?

"Digital-only banking options are great for consumers and the industry more generally," Merry added. "The neo banks have done a lot to kick start better offerings from incumbents."

He added, however, that the window of opportunity for bank startups to win market share from behemoth rivals was closing.

"In the current climate, it is hard to see a turn to material profit for this group in the next 12-18 months," he said.

Merry added that while the incumbents could expect to be hit hard by the pandemic, with the UK lockdown resulting in branch closures, data suggests that there was something of a "flight to safety in terms of deposit flows to incumbents."

In other words, customers put their cash with brands they know and trust.

In the US, the figures are striking. A record $2 trillion in cash hit deposit accounts of banks since the coronavirus first struck the US in January, according to FDIC data.

In the UK, annual deposit growth estimates grew from a 3.7% compound annual growth rate to 5%, per Global Data.

Merry said the vast majority of increased household deposits have gone to incumbents. UK household deposits increased by a record £25.6 billion in May, per the Bank of England. 

The idea that the opportunity is drying up is anathema to Burbidge, however, who cited growing ARPU (annual revenue per user) data to indicate that challenger growth in this area will eventually outstrip legacy banks. 

"The fintech sector is just getting started on genuine value creation and positive consumer outcomes," she said, adding that the cost of service and cost base of the neo-banking model is an "order of magnitude less" than incumbents.

SEE ALSO: The coronavirus crunch will speed up the inevitable fintech market shakeout

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• Netflix has canceled its variety talk series "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" after two years.
• It follows other variety talk shows the streamer has canceled, like "The Break with Michelle Wolf" and "The Joel McHale Show."
• Netflix's reality TV boss, Brandon Riegg, told The New York Times last year that the genre was "a challenge for us as an on-demand service."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Netflix has canceled "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" after two years. It's the latest variety talk series on the streaming giant to get the ax.

Similar to HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," each episode tackled a different newsworthy topic. Episodes were released weekly, a deviation from Netflix's usual strategy of dropping entire seasons at once, but in line with its strategy for other variety talk shows.

Minhaj made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday: "What a run. @patriotact has come to an end. I got to work with the best writers, producers, researchers, and animators in the game. My 2 babies were born and grew up with the show. TY to @Netflix and everyone who watched."

Netflix has struggled with the variety talk genre. It had previously canceled shows like "Chelsea," "The Break with Michelle Wolf," and "The Joel McHale Show." Each lasted only one or two seasons. 

When it first debuted, "Patriot Act" seemed like it would be the variety series to go the distance for Netflix. When it premiered in 2018, consumer-insights company Crimson Hexagon found that "Patriot Act" was talked about more and better received in online conversations.

The show was a critical hit, as well, with the first season gaining a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic score.

"[It] doesn't run away from political comedy convention while also aiming for something just different enough to make it stand apart," Variety wrote about season one.

Two other Netflix variety talk shows, "The Fix" and "Norm Macdonald Has a Show," haven't been formally canceled, but have only aired one season each since debuting in 2018. David Letterman's "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction" has fared better, but is on an irregular release schedule.

In a statement to a New York Times piece last year with the headline "Netflix Has a Talk Show Problem," Netflix's reality TV boss, Brandon Riegg, admitted that variety talk shows were a challenge for the streamer.

"The timeliness of the genre is a challenge for us as an on-demand service," Riegg said. "We've worked with many talented artists to pioneer talk shows for streaming audiences, and although some shows ended, we hope everyone involved is proud of what they created."

SEE ALSO: Major movie-theater chains like AMC and Regal are reopening this week, but a new survey suggests only a small fraction of US consumers are ready to return

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• Netflix often sees little value in long-running TV shows, which has led to some critically acclaimed series getting the boot early in their runs.
• We looked at 22 Netflix originals beloved by critics that were canceled, from "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" to "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Netflix doesn't love long-running TV shows, and sometimes that means great shows get the ax early.

The streaming giant has canceled plenty of shows that upset fans but were panned by TV critics, such as "Everything Sucks!" and "Gypsy." But it's canceled ones that were critically acclaimed, too.

Netflix often doesn't see the value in shows that exceed 30 episodes (usually two to three seasons) because they become too expensive and too difficult for new viewers to jump into, Deadline reported last year. That means shows like "American Vandal," "One Day at a Time," and more have been given the boot earlier than fans, and critics, would have hoped.

On Tuesday, Netflix canceled the variety talk show "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj."

Other Netflix critical darlings to get the ax recently are "The Kominsky Method" and "Dead to Me" after their upcoming third seasons and "Ozark," which was renewed for a fourth and final season after season three was its best reviewed yet.  

We've rounded up 22 great TV shows that Netflix has canceled. We highlighted shows that received an average score over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes or whose final seasons were above 85%, and ranked them based on the average scores. We broke ties with audience scores and if those were the same, with the final season score.

We limited the list to shows that ended with four seasons or fewer on Netflix, which didn't include "BoJack Horseman" and other shows. In the case of a show like "Lucifer," which Netflix revived for a fourth season after Fox canceled it, and has renewed for seasons five and six, we included it because it received just three new seasons on Netflix. 

In the case of "Patriot Act," it aired six "volumes" but only lasted two years, so we counted it. It didn't have enough reviews for an average score on Rotten Tomatoes, so we ranked it based on just its season one critic score.

To fans' and critics' delight, though, a couple of these shows have been revived elsewhere.

"One Day at a Time," which Netflix canceled after three seasons, debuted its fourth season on the Pop network this year. "Tuca and Bertie" was revived for a second season by Adult Swim. 

Below are 22 canceled Netflix shows that critics loved: 

SEE ALSO: 103 of Netflix's notable original TV shows, ranked from worst to best

22. "Ozark" — canceled after 4 seasons

Average critic score: 81%

Audience score: 91%

Critic score for most recent season: 97% (season 3)

Netflix description: "A financial adviser drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss.

What critics said: "Season three is the best season of the series so far. The story line arc works pretty well, with seeds planted early on that bloom in the later episodes." — Boston Globe (season 3)

21. "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" — canceled after 4 seasons

Average critic score: 84% (includes winter special)

Audience score: 69%

Critic score for most recent season: 90% (season 3)

Netflix description: "Magic and mischief collide as half-human, half-witch Sabrina navigates between two worlds: mortal teen life and her family's legacy, the Church of Night."

What critics said: "The character growth of Part 3 is simply put, delicious. The emotional payoffs of each journey keep the show from slipping into WTF!?! territory and firmly ground CAOS as a show with something to say outside of quippy one-liners." — TV Guide (season 3)

20. "The OA" — canceled after 2 seasons

Average critic score: 84%

Audience score: 84%

Critic score for most recent season: 92% (season 2)

Netflix description: "Seven years after vanishing from her home, a young woman returns with mysterious new abilities and recruits five strangers for a secret mission."

What critics said: "The OA is kind of genius, while simultaneously being incredibly silly. And you know what? I love it! I love its goofy, loopy vibe." — Vox (season 2)

19. "Sense8" — canceled after 2 seasons

Average critic score: 86% (includes finale movie)

Audience score: 91%

Critic score for most recent season: 93% (season 2)

Netflix description: "From the creators of "The Matrix" and "Babylon 5" comes this tense series in which eight people can telepathically experience each other's lives."

What critics said: "This nakedly political show somehow manages to be free-spirited, rather than dull or polemical; its good intentions often border on goofy naiveté in a way that's charming rather than grating." — The Atlantic (season 2)

18. "Marvel's Luke Cage" — canceled after 2 seasons

Average critic score: 87%

Audience score: 71%

Critic score for most recent season: 85% (season 2)

Netflix description: "A hoodie-wearing, unbreakable ex-con fights to clear his name and save his neighborhood. He wasn't looking for a fight, but the people need a hero."

What critics said: "It takes a season for Luke to find some sense of certainty, for better or for worse. The next step of his journey may be the most fascinating." — Indiewire (Season 2)

17. "Lucifer" — canceled after 6 seasons (3 on Netflix)

Average critic score: 87%

Audience score: 85%

Critic score for most recent season: 100% (season 4)

Netflix description: "Bored with being the Lord of Hell, the devil relocates to Los Angeles, where he opens a nightclub and forms a connection with a homicide detective."

What critics said: "The more I think about it, the more I stand by my belief that the majority of season four is among the very best episodes the Lucifer has to offer." — AV Club (season 4)

16. "Atypical" — canceled after 4 seasons

Average critic score: 87%

Audience score: 95%

Critic score for most recent season: 100% (season 3)

Netflix description: "When a teen on the autism spectrum decides to get a girlfriend, his bid for more independence puts his whole family on a path of self-discovery."

What critics said: "Atypical is proving yet again why it remains the best half-hour on Netflix's slate." — Forbes (season 3)

15. "Santa Clarita Diet" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score: 89%

Audience score: 91%

Critic score for most recent season: 100% (season 3)

Netflix description: "They're ordinary husband and wife realtors until she undergoes a dramatic change that sends them down a road of death and destruction. In a good way."

What critics said: "While season three is the richest and most layered look at marriage and mortality yet, 'Santa Clarita Diet' remains gloriously easy watching." — Collider (Season 3)

14. "Easy" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score: 90%

Audience score: 85%

Critic score for most recent season: 100% (season 3)

Netflix description: "Features eight vignettes that follow the complicated, loosely connected lives of young Chicagoans in their 20s and 30s as they tackle love, sex, and self-improvement."

What critics said: "The final season fulfills the possibilities of the show's concept, informing it with humanist fury." — Slant Magazine (Season 3)

13. "Dead to Me" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score: 90%

Audience score: 90%

Critic score for most recent season: 95% (season 2)

Netflix description: "A hotheaded widow searching for the hit-and-run driver who mowed down her husband befriends an eccentric optimist who isn't quite what she seems."

What critics said: "Their manic lives and cascading calamities of their own creation provide a fantastic escape into a once-familiar world not long gone. Nobody wants their problems, but at least they're not boring." — Salon

12. "The Kominsky Method" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score: 90%

Audience score: 93%

Critic score for most recent season: 100% (season 2)

Netflix description: "Acting coach Sandy Kominsky and best friend Norman Newlander keep each other laughing as they navigate the ups and downs of getting older."

What critics said: "Douglas, a Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee, shines throughout ... Arkin, though, gets the richest material this season." — TV Insider (season 2)

11. "Glow" — canceled after 4 seasons

Average critic score: 92%

Audience score: 86%

Critic score for most recent season: 86% (season 3)

Netflix description: "In 1980s LA, a crew of misfits reinvent themselves as the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. A comedy by the team behind 'Orange Is the New Black.'"

What critics said: "Season 3 is a wrestling match between cause and effect, countering every bit of happiness with a proportionally steep cost." — The Atlantic (season 3)

10. "Marvel's Daredevil" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score: 92%

Audience score: 92%

Critic score for most recent season: 97% (season 3)

Netflix description: "Blinded as a young boy, Matt Murdock fights injustice by day as a lawyer and by night as the superhero Daredevil in Hell's Kitchen, New York City."

What critics said: "What's clear is that [showrunner Erik] Oleson and his staff course-correct after an overcrowded second season, returning the focus to the people who live in this story." — RogerEbert.com (Season 3)

9. "Dark" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score: 93%

Audience score: 95%

Critic score for most recent season: 91% (season 3)

Netflix description: "A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations."

What critics said: "'Dark' has maintained that highwire act for three of the most thrilling sci-fi TV seasons ever made. To see it make it across the chasm with its ambitions and technique intact is certainly something worth remembering." — Indiewire (season 3)

8. "Love" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score: 94%

Audience score: 86%

Critic score for most recent season: 100% (season 3)

Netflix description: "Rebellious Mickey and good-natured Gus navigate the thrills and agonies of modern relationships in this bold comedy cocreated by Judd Apatow."

What critics said: "Love manages to close on its own terms, on an unconventionally hopeful note. But it also provides something that most of us seek but don't often find from our television shows: a couple of genuine surprises we didn't see coming." — Vulture (Season 3)

7. "Dear White People" — canceled after 4 seasons

Average critic score: 95%

Audience score: 52%

Critic score for most recent season: 90% (season 3)

Netflix description: "Students of color navigate the daily slights and slippery politics of life at an Ivy League college that's not nearly as 'post-racial' as it thinks."

What critics said: "The college campus satire attempts to reconcile two complicated histories, and mostly succeeds." — New York Times (season 3)

6. "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" — canceled after 4 seasons

Average critic score: 96% (includes interactive movie)

Audience score: 83%

Critic score for most recent season: 94% (season 4)

Netflix description: "When a woman is rescued from a doomsday cult and lands in New York City, she must navigate a world she didn't think even existed anymore."

What critics said: "Ellie Kemper's bold gameness has powered the show for so long that it's almost easy to take it for granted; even while she's failed to truly grow all that much over the years, her enthusiasm and dedication to the role remains engaging." — Indiewire

5. "Tuca and Bertie" — canceled after 1 season

Average critic score: 98%

Audience score: 68%

Critic score for most recent season: 98% (season 1)

Netflix description: "Free-spirited toucan Tuca and self-doubting song thrush Bertie are best friends — and birds — who guide each other through life's ups and downs."

What critics said: "Tuca & Bertie handled a wide range of emotion in just one short season with the utmost humor and heart — and seeing it canceled before it even had a chance to grow is a blow to fans." — Polygon

4. "American Vandal" — canceled after 2 seasons

Average critic score: 98%

Audience score: 91%

Critic score for most recent season: 98% (season 2)

Netflix description: "A high school is rocked by an act of vandalism, but the top suspect pleads innocence and finds an ally in a filmmaker. A satirical true-crime mystery."

What critics said: "It's better than anyone could have expected, but a little less than they might have hoped." — Slate (Season 2)

3. "One Day at a Time" — canceled after 3 seasons

Average critic score (for first three seasons): 99%

Audience score (first three seasons): 92%

Critic score for most recent season (on Netflix): 100% (season 3)

Netflix description: "In a reimagining of the TV classic, a newly single Latina mother raises her teen daughter and tween son with the 'help' of her old-school mom."

What critics said: "The heartbeat of 'One Day at a Time' was its spirited insistence that beauty can thrive alongside pain. The series blended multicam-sitcom laughs with a fearless willingness to tackle heavy social issues." — The Atlantic (season 3)

2. "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" — canceled after 6 "volumes" in 2 years

Critic score: 100% (volume 1)

Audience score: 82%

Netflix description: "Every Sunday, Hasan Minhaj brings an incisive and nuanced perspective to global news, politics and culture in his unique comedy series."

What critics said: "What Patriot Act is doing very well in these early episodes is balancing the desire to tell cathartic jokes with the need to think, in a way that incorporates ideas about ethics and morality." — NPR (season 1)

1. "Mystery Science Theater 3000" — canceled after 2 seasons

Average critic score: 100%

Audience score: 91%

Critic score for most recent season: 100% (season 2)

Netflix description: "The cult hit returns! Captured by mad scientists, new host Jonah survives a blitz of cheesy B movies by riffing on them with his funny robot pals."

What critics said: "The movies are a good selection for the most part. They were able to pick six movies that have very little to do with each other. A very nice variety, all things considered." — Den of Geek (season 2)

• As restaurants reopen, guests and employees still want limited and distanced interactions.
• Restaurants have started using QR codes to link to menus for hygiene reasons. 
• Tableside, a new service from digital engagement company Thanx, replaces much of the human and surface contact guests experience while seated at a restaurant table.
• Guests scan a QR code to view the menu, order, and pay from their phones. Orders are sent directly to the kitchen and arranged by table number, so servers know where to deliver the meal.
• "What we've done here is bringing digital purchasing to the table service (and fast-casual) model in a very powerful way that we believe will become the new normal well beyond COVID," Thanx CEO Zach Goldstein said. 
• Sign up here to receive updates on all things Innovation Inc.

Technology became a lifeline for many restaurant businesses at the start of the pandemic, but cracks in the system emerged quickly. Third-party delivery companies commanded high commissions while capturing customer data. Channels that restaurant businesses thought of as incremental — like online ordering — became their sole opportunity as foot traffic dropped to almost zero. 

But now, with more restaurants across America reopening their doors to some level of dine-in service, restaurateurs are once again looking to technology as they recognize the need to keep customers and employees safe by eliminating crowded areas while still maximizing available space for service. 

Thanx, a digital customer engagement platform that works with 1,000s of restaurants, just launched a new solution: tableside digital ordering for restaurants. Guests scan a tableside QR code to view the menu, order, and pay from their phones. Orders are sent directly to the kitchen and arranged by table number, so servers know where to deliver the meal. 

Thanx is calling the new tech service Tableside, and it's a bit more sophisticated than simply deploying a QR code to pull up a menu, as some restaurants have done throughout the pandemic.  

"What we've done here is bringing digital purchasing to the table service (and fast-casual) model in a very powerful way that we believe will become the new normal well beyond COVID," Thanx CEO Zach Goldstein said. 

 "A QR code that pulls up the menu, that you still need to order from a server, and you still need to give a credit card and sign your receipt — that's not worth the hassle of getting out your phone and doing those things," he said. "QR codes look scary; they're actually not that scary. People are willing to engage with them if the value is good enough."

What Thanx has done is made the QR code essentially a shortcut into Tableside, which replaces much of the human and surface contact guests experience while seated at a restaurant table. 

Tableside is integrated with Thanx's existing loyalty and customer relationship management tools, giving restaurants the same insights into in-person guest behavior as they get from those who place digital orders for takeout or delivery. 

The nine-year-old company already supports ordering and customer relationship management, tying restaurant orders to customer data, and enabling restaurants to market more effectively to diners. This translates to loyalty, personalization, and, according to Goldstein, increased revenue.

Goldstein has long advocated for restaurants to own their own data rather than working with third-party providers like Grubhub. In a particularly vocal example, he likened Grubhub, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Postmates to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. 

Through Tableside, restaurants retain customer data. Guests who order via the system are automatically enrolled in loyalty programs, allowing the restaurant to market more effectively to different types of customers. And according to Thanx's data, personalized marketing messages are six times more effective than a so-called "spray and pray" strategy — and add up to over $10 in incremental revenue per guest. 

"We've seen COVID accelerate years of innovation and need," Goldstein said. "Tableside represents what we believe to be not only the culmination of that digital revolution but also necessary in this COVID world." 

The pandemic may have accelerated technological adoption, but for some this new way of ordering has always been part of the plan. Tocaya Organica is a Mexican fast-casual restaurant with several locations across southern California and Arizona. Justin Keenan, IT director at Tocaya Organica's parent company, said they've been planning to deploy at-the-table technology for a year. "For our guests, this dining experience isn't just safer, it's comfortable, convenient, and exactly how they want to engage with Tocaya," he said. 

But safety is still a huge factor, especially now. "From a safety standpoint, it really is a meaningful change," said Goldstein. "It eliminates multiple interactions with the server that includes both verbal communication and close proximity. It eliminates the touching of some other piece of hardware — namely the screen — that you would [use to] sign your check. It eliminates quite a few, whether they are risks or not, of perceived risk vectors, and brings you to a much more comfortable place, which is your own device." 

At Tocaya and other fast-casual restaurants, tableside digital ordering nixes lines at the cash registers and keeps guests spaced out and seated, or even outside the restaurant until a table becomes available. Goldstein believes it could work in any restaurant, though he admits that casual dining is a more immediate fit than quick service, which is doing the majority of its business in the drive-thru, or even fine dining. "I think many consumers would prefer less interaction in any environment where there's still concerns about the disease," he said. 

Consumers have been ready for this technology for a while, Goldstein added, citing Amazon and Uber's one-click business models. Restaurants were the tougher sell. 

"The restaurant industry has been historically more traditional, and service is a key element of the experience," he said. "How do you deliver service when there's that digital interaction instead of a person? In our opinion, it's still service. Service comes in the form of personalization and ease of use and removing the friction so that people can get what they want as quickly as they want. They aren't, 'Hi, how are you? How's your day?' but they are forms of service." 

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• Facebook-owned Oculus said it will soon require users to sign in with a Facebook account before they can use the company's VR devices.
• Starting in October, first-time users won't be able to use an Oculus headset unless they log in through Facebook.
• Existing users with Oculus accounts will have the option to merge them with their Facebook profiles or use their Oculus account until early 2023, at which point support will end.
• The move comes as lawmakers continue to probe Facebook over antitrust concerns and over whether or not the social media giant has benefited from monopolistic business practices.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Oculus is rolling out changes that will soon require users to sign in with a Facebook account before they can use the company's VR devices.

In a company blog post published Tuesday, Oculus announced a series of updates to how people will be able to use the company's devices moving forward:

• Starting in October, first-time Oculus users won't be able to use the firm's devices unless they sign in with a Facebook account
• Existing users with Oculus accounts will have the option to merge with their Facebook accounts
• If existing users with Oculus accounts don't want to merge with a Facebook account, they have two years to use it.

In early 2023, the firm will "end support for Oculus accounts." Users could still use their Oculus devices, but at decreased functionality since "some games and apps may no longer work." The company says it's rolling out the updates to make it easier for people to connect and play with friends in VR.

Facebook did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion in 2014. As The Verge notes, the social media giant has been making strides to merge its myriad platforms, and its updates requiring Oculus users to log in through Facebook is one of the latest examples of that.

The move also comes as Facebook remains entangled in a congressional antitrust probe that is investigating the firm and other tech giants over anticompetitive business practices. Apple, Google, and Amazon are also involved in the probe, but Facebook is in the spotlight specifically for its acquisitions of would-be competitors, like WhatsApp and Instagram.

SEE ALSO: Facebook is reportedly working on a new flagship virtual-reality headset to replace the Oculus Quest

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• After some big successes in the 2020 IPO class, investors are looking ahead to a big-name slate of more unicorns and decacorns coming to the public market. 
• Palantir and Asana could go public, perhaps via direct listings, by the end of September.
• Other big names eyeing IPOs include Airbnb and Snowflake. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a dip in initial public offerings in the spring, the market is back in full swing.

Tech companies that sat out market volatility and pandemic-induced business uncertainty in the first half of the year are making plans to exit in coming months, now that the market has calmed down and investors have signaled their desire to put big money to work in newly-public companies. 

March, April, and May saw only 13 total IPO pricings, per research from Renaissance Capital. Then June and July ramped up, with 58 pricings total, including tech names like ZoomInfo and SoftBank-backed Lemonade. 

Ted Smith, the co-founder of tech-focused investment bank Union Square Advisors, said he's identified 50 tech companies in the IPO pipeline. But even with the uptick, the bar for IPOs could still be high for many tech names. 

Read more:Equity is the new debt, with Corporate America selling record amounts of stock to stockpile cash. Here's what prompted the sudden shift.

"We absolutely could exceed last year's total numbers of IPOs. Performance so far for the 2020 class has been very positive, which reinforces investors' desire to participate," he said. "It's important not to lose sight of the fact that even with an open IPO market, which I believe we have, the vast majority of exits of venture-backed companies in tech are still going to come from M&A, not an IPO. It's still fairly rarified air with respect to who should become a standalone company." 

There were 159 IPOs in 2019 in the US last year, according to Renaissance Capital, of which 41 were tech companies. 

Going into 2020, bankers said they'd planned to front-load IPOs to avoid November's tumult, but many of those offerings paused when markets turned volatile in March.   

Here are eight companies poised for a public-markets exit, though how they do so – traditional IPO, direct listing, or special purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC) – is often still up in the air.

The companies could decide to stay private and raise additional capital, as many have done in recent months. They could also sell, like when Uber agreed to buy Postmates more than a year after the food delivery company confidentially filed to go public. 

See more:Big investors have been slashing valuations on stakes in private companies like Palantir and Sweetgreen. But bankers say there could be a quick fix.

SEE ALSO: A 179-year-old data shop just raised $1.7 billion in an IPO. Dun & Bradstreet's president walked us through its quick return to public markets and why the company's in high demand.

Affirm

As buy now, pay later companies see growing interest from merchants and consumers, one of the biggest players in the space is eyeing an exit this year. 

Affirm, founded in 2012 by PayPal cofounder Max Levchin, partners with merchants big and small — from international brands like Adidas to niche retailers like Brooklinen and Peloton.

The company is working with Goldman Sachs on a potential 2020 listing or a sale, including to a SPAC, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. An IPO could value the company at as much as $10 billion.

A spokeswoman for Goldman declined to comment on Affirm and other IPOs. 

Affirm has raised $800 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Spark Capital. In its last funding round in April 2019, the company was valued at $2.9 billion, but its valuation has since risen to more than $5 billion – even up to $10 billion, the WSJ reported. 

In late April, Levchin told Business Insider that he was eyeing expansion opportunities while other tech CEOs were battening down the hatches.

Read more:Shopify and Affirm are partnering up on buy now, pay later in a deal bringing together 2 of the hottest e-commerce players. Here's why it's a big win for both sides.

Affirm's peer Afterpay has seen its stock double in the last six months, and it became Australia's largest listed tech company by market value as customers shifted quickly to online shopping. 

A spokeswoman for Affirm declined to comment. 

Airbnb

The homesharing company has played the "will they, won't they" IPO game for more than a year, and some employees' stock grants expire at the end of 2020. 

See more:How 3 guys turned renting air mattresses in their apartment into a $31 billion company, Airbnb

Airbnb, whose public-markets entrance is guided by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, was one of many late-stage companies to explore a new form of direct listing that would allow companies to raise capital. The Securities and Exchange Commission shot down the New York Stock Exchange's push for such a rule change in December, though the agency said it could be open to other iterations of the new direct listing. 

CEO Brian Chesky said last month that the company has been approached by SPACs, too. 

"We're looking at everything, so I probably shouldn't speculate too much on it," he said in an interview at a Reuters Newsmaker event. 

In April, the company raised $2 billion in two rounds of debt from investors including Sixth Street Partners and Silver Lake. Reuters reported that warrants the investors received as part of the debt deal can be exercised at an $18 billion valuation, lower than Airbnb's early-March $26 billion valuation. 

As Business Insider reported, Principal Global Investors slashed the valuation it put on its stake in Airbnb by 20% from the end of March to the end of June — after it had already cut the startup's worth by 30% in March alone. 

The company's revenue dropped 67% in the second quarter, to $335 million, Bloomberg reported in mid-August. Bookings picked up in the end of the second quarter, as customers looked to book lodging for close-to-home getaways, rather than international travel. 

Bloomberg also reported that Airbnb would go public by year-end.  

A spokesman for Airbnb declined to comment. 

Read more: 40 insiders reveal the meteoric rise of Silver Lake's Egon Durban, the tech-focused PE firm's No. 1 dealmaker who strong-armed his way to the top and is about to get $18 billion more to invest

Asana

Productivity software startup Asana hired banks last year and raised debt earlier this summer ahead of a likely listing in September. 

Last week, The Information reported that Asana projected in July that its revenue would jump to $236 million this year, up from $142 million last year, and in 2021, revenue will grow 51%, to $355 million. 

The San Francisco-based company hired Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, the Financial Times reported in December. 

And when it raised $200 million in convertible debt, Bloomberg reported in June, cofounder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz was the main lender. 

In February, Asana said it confidentially filed paperwork to go public via a direct listing. 

Founded in 2008, Asana's investors include Generation Investment Management, Benchmark Capital, and Founders Fund. 

The company said it was deepening its relationship with Microsoft, helping it appeal to a broader customer base, Business Insider previously reported.

A spokeswoman for Asana declined to comment. 

See more:Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz explains how his $1.5 billion startup Asana hit a $100 million milestone

DoorDash

The delivery company filed confidential paperwork to go public in late February, with Goldman Sachs as its lead underwriter. Then its plans and business were upended by the pandemic. 

In early March, CEO and co-founder Tony Xu told Business Insider that he was in no hurry to go public.

"Just because you confidentially file ... it doesn't mean that you're going to go public tomorrow, and it also doesn't mean that you have to go public," Xu said in a meeting at DoorDash's nearly empty San Francisco headquarters. "A lot of this work was done a long time ago." 

In mid-June, the company said it raised $400 million in new equity funding at a $16 billion valuation. JPMorgan is also advising DoorDash on its IPO plans, said a source familiar with the path to public markets. 

The competitive landscape for delivery companies has changed dramatically in recent months, as the pandemic intensifies demand for DoorDash and its peers. That's led to some M&A, including the July deal for Uber Eats to buy Postmates and a June deal for European company Just Eat Takeaway to buy Grubhub for $7.5 billion.  

DoorDash has recently expanded from food delivery to partnerships with big companies like Walgreens and a convenience store concept called DashMart starting in eight cities that delivers convenience, grocery, and restaurant items.  

A spokeswoman for DoorDash declined to comment. 

See more:Tony Xu, the founder and CEO of $13 billion DoorDash, said the hardest funding round to raise was the first. Here's what he learned from the experience.

GitLab

Back in 2015, GitLab set a very specific goal: it would go public in November 2020.

CEO Sid Sijbrandij said, even before the pandemic, that the developer startup could go earlier or later than the specific date of November 18. In January, the company said it hit more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue.  

True to its ethos as a radically transparent company, GitLab laid out the steps it needs to take before it goes public in its handbook. In July, the company removed its previous IPO date target to "maintain flexibility." 

Sijbrandij said the company would pursue a direct listing, but it wouldn't rule out a traditional IPO. 

In September 2019, GitLab said it raised $268 million at a $2.75 billion valuation. Its investors include Y Combinator, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Light Street Capital and Tiger Management, and Two Sigma Investments.

It's unclear who's advising GitLab on the IPO process, and a spokeswoman declined to comment on the company's plans. 

See more:GitLab is eyeing a direct listing in November 2020, but its CEO explains why the $2.75 billion company could still go the traditional IPO route

Instacart

Like DoorDash, Instacart's business has exploded during the pandemic. 

To keep up with the growth, in June, the grocery delivery company, which was founded in 2012, raised $225 million and then another $100 million in July at a $13.8 billion valuation. 

"Overnight, Instacart became an essential service for millions of families across North America," CEO Apoorva Mehta said in a June statement. 

No IPO timeline is publicly set, but Mehta told CNN back in January 2019 that he was thinking about it. 

"An IPO is definitely on the horizon for us," Mehta said. "As we think about building a long-term company, we think being a public company allows us to do that in the best possible way."

A spokeswoman for Instacart declined to comment. 

Palantir

Palantir Technologies plans to go public using a direct listing in late September, Bloomberg reported last week.

Palantir, the secretive data analytics firm founded by Peter Thiel, has spent nearly two decades running on venture capital, and eventually, on revenue. The company announced last month that it had confidentially filed draft paperwork to go public, but so far none of its financial information has been made public.

A public filing from early July shows the company is in the process of raising $961 million in private capital. So far it has raised $550 million, mostly from the Japanese holding company Sompo Holdings. 

Looking at the direct listing processes for Spotify and Slack – the only companies to go public that way – offer some clues to the path Palantir may take, Business Insider reported on Saturday. 

Both Spotify and Slack direct listings relied on the same three financial advisors: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Allen & Company. And both companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It's unclear which banks Palantir will work with or where it will list. 

A Palantir spokeswoman declined to comment on the company's plans. 

See more: Secretive Palantir Technologies is preparing to go public. But behind the cloak-and-dagger image, insiders and investors say, it's struggled to build a steady revenue model.

Snowflake

Cloud database company Snowflake, advised by Goldman Sachs, filed confidentially with the SEC, the Financial Times reported in June. 

Snowflake is aiming for a valuation of between $15 billion and $20 billion. The FT also reported the company was planning a summer IPO but could wait until September or October.

When the company raised $479 million in February at a $12.4 billion valuation, CEO Frank Slootman said Snowflake was nearing $1 billion in annual revenue and was close to generating positive cash flows.  

Read more: Snowflake is targeting Wall Street with a new data exchange that's already signed up FactSet and Coatue

In total, Snowflake has raised $1.4 billion from investors including Sequoia and ICONIQ Capital.

"It's going to be the blockbuster enterprise listing for 2020," Constellation Research analyst Ray Wang told Business Insider in June. "Investors are looking for winners on cloud and analytics."

Snowflake is building out a data exchange where providers can connect with the consumers of their data in a marketplace hosted and managed by the startup, Business Insider reported in March. Early adopters include the hedge fund Coatue, the data giant FactSet, and the $53 billion asset manager Causeway Capital Management. 

A representative for Snowflake declined to comment on IPO plans. 

See more: Here's why $12.4 billion cloud startup Snowflake's reported IPO plans could make it 'the blockbuster enterprise listing for 2020'

• Portable monitors are terrific solutions for expanding your screen real estate on the go, and they're excellent for multitasking, improving creative workflow and even just watching Netflix as you get through your daily work tasks.
• The Asus ZenScreen MB16AC takes the top spot as the best portable monitor overall for its thin and lightweight design, USB-C connectivity, feature set and affordable price tag.
• Read more: The best computer monitors of 2020

Portable monitors have become somewhat of a necessity in the modern age. With more and more people working remotely, ditching cold offices in favor of the warmer atmosphere in coffee shops and their own living rooms, professionals and creatives have become reliant on the portability of laptops. 

Since laptops tend to have smaller screen real estate — even the 17-inch ones — a need for an equally portable solution to expand one's display is growing. That's where portable monitors come in handy, which expand your screen space without the inconvenience, heft and bulkiness of full-sized monitors. 

To professionals, creatives, and even gamers, these displays don't just mean additional space to work on. That capability to spread out on a bigger desktop space also means a more seamless creative workflow, efficient multitasking and a bit of time saved. Next to those, the fact that these compact displays are portable almost seems like a nice perk.

For more in-depth information on what to look for in a portable monitor, click right here.

Here are the best portable monitors you can buy:

• Best portable monitor overall: Asus ZenScreen MB16AC
• Best budget portable monitor:Auzai Portable Monitor
• Best portable monitor for 4K HDR: Eviciv 4K Portable Monitor
• Best portable monitor for gaming:Asus ROG Strix XG17AHPE 
• Best touchscreen portable monitor:Asus Zenscreen MB16AMT 

Updated on 8/18/2020 by Michelle Rae Uy. Added all new product picks as well as introduced new categories entirely.

The best portable monitor overall

Versatility in connectivity and viewing orientation, a super slim profile and a great feature set for an affordable price rounds out the Asus ZenScreen MB16AC quite nicely.

Asus touts the Asus ZenScreen MB16AC as a super slim and light portable monitor, which it is. It's almost half the thinness and weight of the new MacBook Pro 13-inch at 8mm and 0.78kg, making it a glorious companion when you're traveling or working on-the-go. But, it's also so much more than that.

This portable monitor claims to be the world's first portable monitor with a hybrid-signal solution, meaning that not only does it have native USB-C support, but it also offers USB-A connectivity support via the DisplayLink driver. So, whether you're entirely dependent on USB-C or you find yourself needing to use a USB-A connection every now and then, this offers that versatility you need.

More on versatility, its vibrant 15.6-inch IPS screen with a 1080p (1,920 x 1,080-pixel) resolution also allows automatic screen orientation with the DisplayWidget software so you can switch from landscape mode for productivity to portrait mode for presentations, document reading and just reading for pleasure. 

It's got a helpful feature set as well, especially for the price. Besides the automatic screen orientation, it also has its own foldable smart case to protect the screen from scratches and dust, a smart pen hole so you won't lose another stylus pen, and the Asus blue light filter so it's easy on the eyes especially when you're watching movies. And, it comes with its own ZenScreen pen.

Pros: Support for USB-C and USB-A connections, vibrant color reproduction, super slim body, nice feature set

Cons: Brightness at only 220 cd/㎡, non-touchscreen panel

The best budget portable monitor

At less than $200, the Auzai Portable Monitor offers a helpful set of features and impressive picture quality for the budget-minded.

A decent selection of ports – Mini HDMI and two USB-C ports, one of which is for power – allows the Auzai Portable Monitor to stand out from the rest. It's a pretty nice feature, considering that the display is less than most of the portable monitors you'll find out there.

Speaking of the price, this will set you back less than $200 without compromising on quality and features, making it well-deserving of its best budget portable monitor title. Among its features are PS3, PS4 and Xbox compatibility, its own built-in speakers, and a settings menu so you can adjust brightness, contrast and even audio based on your personal preferences. It may only have a 60Hz refresh rate, but that's certainly enough for casual gaming.

This 15.6-inch 1080p IPS portable monitor is incredibly light and thin as well, beating the Asus ZenScreen MB16AC at 3.56mm thick and 0.62kg. Now, the sound quality isn't the best, understandably due to its thinness, but the picture quality is excellent with deep contrast, vibrant colors and decent brightness at 250 cd/m².

It's certainly a great portable viewing solution for gaming and entertainment. And, thanks to the case and screen protector that come with it, you know it's safe and sound in your bag while you're on the go.

Pros: Wide port selection, cheap price, built-in speakers, gaming console compatibility, super thin and light

Cons: Not a lot of bells and whistles, stand solution isn't great, speakers are subpar

The best portable monitor for 4K HDR

You're getting a lot of bang for your buck with the Eviciv 4K Portable Monitor, especially considering that it isn't that expensive for a 4K portable monitor.

While 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) is all the rage in computer monitors these days, portable 4K monitors are hardly a dime a dozen. That certainly makes sense – these monitors are small enough that having 1080p resolution is actually much better, especially for productivity. 

However, if 4K is necessary for your workflow, whether it's because you need more screen real estate or you need an even better and crisper picture quality, then the Eviciv 4K Portable Monitor is certainly the most cost-effective solution for you.

This 15.6-inch UHD portable monitor is definitely an excellent value, especially considering what it has to offer. As far as picture quality, for example, it's got 300cd/m² brightness, 16.7 million display colors and 100% sRGB colour gamut, giving photographers and video editors vibrant images with accurate colors on top of the extra screen space.

The monitor also has a 178-degree viewing angle, which is when you're working on a project with colleagues on one laptop, HDR support and AMD FreeSync for gamers, portrait and landscape modes for presentations, built-in speakers for entertainment, and a nice selection of ports – one HDMI and 2 USB-C ports that offer both power and signal support. 

And, if those aren't enough, it's also got this nifty magnetic stand cover. Not bad for a portable monitor that's less than $350? We'd say it's a bargain.

Pros: Really affordable for everything it offers, excellent 4K picture quality, 178-degree viewing angle, great feature set, nice port selection

Cons: There are cheaper alternatives if you don't need 4K resolution

The best portable monitor for gaming

For esports and fast-paced gaming, you cannot go wrong with the Asus ROG Strix XG17AHPE, as long as you can put up with its massive size.

Hands down, the Asus ROG Strix XG17AHPE is the most advanced portable monitor you'll find, especially if you're all about fast-paced gaming and esports. With its 240Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, you'll find this to deliver the smoothest picture quality you'll ever find in a portable display. That's on top of its adaptive-sync technology, which delivers tear-free gaming for a more immersive experience, and 17.3-inch IPS panel for even more screen real estate.

Even better, this screen's built-in battery that offers up to three hours when gaming at 240Hz, wide 178-degree viewing angles (because if you're playing esports, you have to have an audience), 100% sRGB color gamut for a rich and vibrant display quality, quick charging capabilities, built-in stereo speakers, and a decent selection of ports that include USB-C, micro HDMI and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Bizarrely enough, it's even cheaper than the MSI Optix MAG161V, though not by much. And of course, it comes with Asus' ROG Smart Cover for protection. 

Just know that this is a 17-inch display weighing 1.06kg, which makes it a bit too big and too heavy for light travel. But hey, if you're a competitive gamer looking to travel or game at a cafe, it's definitely a shoo-in. Just make sure you've got a big enough space in your backpack for it.

Pros: Incredibly fast refresh rate, not too expensive, up to three hours of battery life, nice port selection

Cons: Big, heavier than most portable monitors

The best touchscreen portable monitor

Windows and Android users will love the immersive touchscreen experience on the Asus Zenscreen MB16AMT.

That touchscreen capability is getting more and more common on laptop displays these days, even on those that aren't hybrid. So it was only a matter of time for the feature to reach the realm of portable monitors as well. There aren't a lot out there yet, but there are some, the best one being the Asus Zenscreen MB16AMT with gesture-based, multi-touch controls that are simply fantastic.

Smooth to use, accurate and responsive, especially on Windows and Android, this 15.6-inch IPS touchscreen portable monitor is simply the one to get especially if you're planning on using it for design. 

The monitor also has a 7,800mAh battery that delivers up to four hours, and it's fairly lightweight as well, at 0.91kg. You can simply immerse yourself in your creative process without having to worry about bulk or pesky cables when you're weaving your designs. We would have liked it to be a little brighter, but at 250 cd/㎡, it's certainly bright enough. Plus, the vibrant picture quality and superb contrast should make up for that.

Other notable features worth mentioning here are its hybrid signal solution, so you can use both USB-C and USB Type A connections, a smart cover and smart pen hole, a wide 178° viewing angle – useful for when you're consulting a colleague or another artist, and that automatic screen orientation via the Asus DisplayWidget software.

Pros: Touchscreen capability is impeccable, decent battery life, nice feature set, fairly lightweight, great picture quality

Cons: Single port, a bit pricey, touchscreen support for macOS limited

How to choose a portable monitor

As portable monitors come in a variety of sizes, uses, price tags, and even connectivity types, there's something out there for everyone, from photographers and video editors to gamers and cinephiles. Just know that there are a few key factors to consider.

• Size: Just like laptops, portable monitors are typically available in 13.3-, 15.6-, and 17.3- inch sizes. Consider what it is you'll be using it for before you decide. Larger displays offer a better viewing experience so they're best for games and movie watching. However, they also tend to be heavier and are bigger. If portability and traveling light are your main concerns, then a smaller screen might be a better choice.
• Resolution: The resolution of a portable monitor determines how sharp and detailed the image will look. Portable monitors are available in 4K, Full HD 1080p, and lower – though 1080p is the standard these days. Higher resolutions are beneficial, especially if you favor picture performance and want more space to work on. 
• Connectivity: These days, a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 connection is the cream of the crop. It's more powerful, has faster transfer speeds, and is becoming the standard on many laptops. However, some portable displays also include common video connections like HDMI, allowing you to easily connect them to game consoles and media players. Others still have USB ports, some of which can also be used to power the monitor directly from a connected device.
• Refresh rate and response time: If you're buying a portable monitor for gaming, you should be mindful of the display's refresh rate and response time. Refresh rates higher than 60Hz can provide a smoother experience when gaming at higher frame rates. These days, you can find a portable gaming monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate, which is pretty impressive as it outpaces frame rates in most games on most computers.

• Apple is expected to release four new iPhones this year, including two models expected to be called the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
• While some features will be consistent across all models — like 5G support and OLED displays — others are expected to be exclusive to the Pro phones.
• Such features may include a triple-lens camera and refreshed design that resembles the iPad Pro.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's not unusual for Apple to release more than one version of its latest iPhone. But this year's rumored iPhone 12 is expected to come in a whopping four different variants, compared to previous years when Apple would launch two or three versions of its newest smartphone.

Two of those models are expected to be successors to the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. If the reports and rumors so far are to be believed, Apple's next "Pro" iPhone will have a triple-lens camera like last year's models, a Lidar scanner like the new iPad Pro, and a refreshed design among other changes. 

Apple typically debut its new smartphones in the fall, although the company said it expects to receive supply of its next-generation iPhones a few weeks later than usual this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's a look at what we know about the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max so far based on the latest rumors and reports. 

SEE ALSO: Major tech companies are letting their employees work from home. But Apple thinks different.

They will come with slightly larger screens compared to the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro.

Apple is said to be bumping up the screen sizes of its pro-grade iPhones in 2020, according to Kuo as 9to5Mac has reported.

One model will reportedly come in a 6.1-inch size, while a larger version is said to come with a 6.7-inch screen. Bloomberg similarly reported that the most expensive new iPhone will come with a screen that's slightly larger than that of the current 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max. 

The iPhone 12 Pro will reportedly come with a Lidar sensor like the iPad Pro.

One of the standout features of the iPhone 12 Pro compared to the standard model is expected to be its Lidar sensor, according to Bloomberg. That sensor, which is already present on the 2020 iPad Pro, is geared toward improving performance in augmented reality apps. It measures the distance between objects by measuring how long it takes for light to reach a subject and reflect back. 

It'll also reportedly have a triple-camera setup.

Apple will continue to outfit its high-end smartphones with a triple-lens camera, according to reports from Bloomberg and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

That would indicate that Apple is taking a similar strategy in 2020 as it did with last year's iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, which come with a triple lens camera that includes wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle, and telephoto lenses. 

The cheaper models are expected to come with only two cameras, much like the iPhone 11. 

It may have a screen like the iPad Pro's, with a higher refresh rate and smoother scrolling.

Apple may borrow another characteristic from the iPad Pro: ProMotion, the feature that lets the iPad Pro's refresh rate increase up to 120Hz for smoother, faster scrolling.

That's according to the YouTube channel Everything Apple Pro, which reports that the iPhone 12 Pro would be getting the feature. 

The high refresh rate would put Apple's high-end iPhones on par with competing Android phones like Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra, which has a screen with a higher refresh rate.  

In fact, the iPhone 12 Pro is expected to have a lot in common with the iPad Pro.

The iPad Pro seems to be paving the way for Apple's next high-end iPhone, if the rumors and reports are to be believed. In addition to getting the iPad Pro's Lidar sensor and ProMotion feature, it may also get a refreshed design with flat, stainless steel edges similar to that of the iPad Pro, Bloomberg says.

It's unclear if all models will get this redesign or just the Pro models, but the report says the new look will be coming to "at least" the Pro models. 

They will probably be around the same price as last year's iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The introduction of 5G doesn't necessarily mean we should expect a price increase in the next iPhone. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said he expects Apple to keep the pricing for its iPhone 12 Pro models the same as that of last year's iPhones. That's particularly noteworthy considering early 5G phone models, especially premium devices, are usually more expensive than non-5G variants.

"Price points will be aggressive as Apple goes after their broader customer base," Ives said in a previous interview with Business Insider. "Especially in a recession, in a COVID-19 backdrop, they need to make sure they're hitting all price categories."

That's in addition to everything we're expecting to see across Apple's entire iPhone 12 lineup, such as:

• Apple's newest mobile processor, which is likely to be called the A14 Bionic if the company upholds its current naming convention
• Support for 5G connectivity
• No EarPods or power adapter included in the box, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (per MacRumors)
• OLED screens, which offer deeper blacks and richer contrast (Apple's cheaper iPhones like the iPhone 11 currently have LCD screens)

• In April, Stream co-founders Lan Paje, Paul Klein, and Jun Ho Hong spent a sleepless weekend hacking away at their startup idea, a Patreon alternative. 
• The founders applied to Y Combinator and were accepted but turned it down and instead fundraised from angel investors and boutique, early-stage VC firms.
• Here's how the startup raised $2.1 million in one month from rising stars in the VC/startup world.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As COVID-19 upended life in the US, Stream CEO Lan Paje thought it might be a good idea to build a Patreon alternative for content creators stuck at home during lockdown.

In April, he invited his two friends Paul Klein and Jun Ho Hong, to spend a sleepless weekend "hacking" away at his new idea, Klein told Business Insider.

By the end of the weekend, the trio had gotten their initial prototype off the ground and were hosting their startup's first event. 

"The first event on Stream was actually us reading bedtime stories to our friends," Klein said, acknowledging his surprise that they got the project up and running so quickly.

Similar to platforms like Patreon and Jemi, Stream helps creators manage livestreams and recorded classes. The startup already has thousands of creators from across the US offering live and recorded classes, including the California Symphony, yoga instructors, basketball coaches, and professional knitters, Klein said.

Right now, users pay $10-$20 to participate in virtual classes of 10-15 people, although Stream plans to add a membership fee down the road. 

Their prototype landed the trio a spot in the Y Combinator startup accelerator summer 2020 class, but they turned that offer down. 

Instead, the founders "took advantage of the remote work culture," Klein said, and started meeting with as many investors as possible, raising $2.1 million in what's known these days as "a pre-seed" round, doing the fundraising entirely over Zoom last May.

"There's so much venture money right now for early-stage startups," Klein explained, referring to angel investors and boutique early-stage venture firms. 

Klein says the secret to such fast success was using On Deck, a platform and fellowship program that connects entrepreneurs with VCs from a wide number of firms, including Founders Fund, Sequoia, and Greylock Partners. 

On Deck is where the Stream team met VC Erik Torenberg, whose early-stage firm Village Global became one of the startup's first institutional investors. In an email to Business Insider, Torenberg said his firm decided to invest in Stream because the startup "is taking advantage of a monumental shift from live events to virtual and the broader trend of more and more people becoming independent creators." 

Torenberg said Stream stood out to him because it's tackling a "massive, growing market" while still placing a great deal of emphasis on building a robust "product & engineering team." 

The founding trio, who have worked at startups backed by firms like Founders Fund, Bessemer, and Andreessen Horowitz, also convinced their former bosses to chip in to the pre-seed round, including rising stars in the startup world like Omni COO Ryan Delk and DoNotPay CEO Joshua Browder. These investments reflect the larger trend of CEOs investing in their former employees. 

Stream hasn't focused on marketing, so it's growth has been entirely organic, Paje said, and he attributes the early signs of success to an intense focus on its target customers.

"All of us talk to our customers every day," Paje said, adding that the startup sees itself as "partnering with our creators." The startup's first full-time hire was a customer success manager. 

Klein added that, because of the recent startup layoffs, cancelled summer internships, and the shift to remote work, the time for recruiting top software engineering talent has never been better. The co-founder said the team's three remote summer interns have been instrumental in the startup's early success. 

With the influx of cash, the startup is hiring for roles in product design, software engineering, and growth marketing.

While they plan to build a distributed team, the founders said they are also taking advantage of cheap short-term rental prices and have been living together in Airbnb rentals for a month at a time in cities across the US, most recently in Portland.

• Now read:
• This YC-backed power couple launched a Patreon alternative for creators that's helped a horror movie actor boost his earnings by 30% during lockdown

SEE ALSO: A former Apple TV designer built a livestreaming startup to challenge Twitch, and he's betting the key to winning will be live rap battles

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Epidemiologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths

• Tim Sweeney is the CEO and founder of Epic Games, the company that brought the world "Fortnite."
• Despite having a net worth just shy of $10 billion, according to Bloomberg, Sweeney enjoys the simpler things in life like Diet Coke and fried chicken from Bojangles'.
• Read on to learn about the life and rise of Sweeney as he changes the way the world thinks about video games. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

In many ways, on paper, Tim Sweeney is an average guy. He likes hiking, tinkering with technology, the occasional Diet Coke, and fried chicken from Bojangles'. 

In reality, he's anything but average: Sweeney is the CEO of Epic Games, the company behind "Fortnite" — the wildly popular battle royale video game that's earned billions since launching in 2017. Epic Games is also responsible for Unreal Engine, the software suite used to create some of the world's biggest games.

Sweeney has a net worth of nearly $10 billion, according to Bloomberg, millions of which he has donated to forest conservation efforts. 

When it comes to tech execs, Sweeney remains rather low-key. He's single, doesn't have any kids, and he's never been enticed by the flashy trappings of Silicon Valley: Epic Games is based out of Cary, North Carolina, just down the road from Raleigh. Sweeney's first-ever job at Epic is still his current job, though the responsibilities and scale have changed considerably since founding the company in 1991. 

His latest responsibility: Taking on the likes of Apple and Google in a massive legal battle that could have major ramifications beyond "Fortnite." Here's everything we know about Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games.

SEE ALSO: Apple and Google just got sued by the maker of the hugely popular video game 'Fortnite' over their app store policies. Here's what you need to know about the major antitrust battle it reignited.

Tim Sweeney, 50, was born in 1970 and raised in Potomac, Maryland, with two older brothers. His father was a cartographer for the US government and his mother took care of Sweeney and his brothers.

Source:Wall Street Journal

When Sweeney was a preteen, he visited his eldest brother in San Diego, California, at a startup he was working at, which had an IBM computer. His brother taught him how to program on it, and Sweeney spent the rest of the rather impressionable trip "just programming the computer, figuring things out."

Sources: Gamasutra, Kotaku

After turning 11, Sweeney spent hours on the Apple II Plus computer his brother gave him and used it to program video games. Sweeney told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that he spent more time "programming than I think I was sleeping or in school or doing any other one thing in the world."

Sources: CNBC, The Wall Street Journal

Sweeney would play Nintendo's "Super Mario Bros." when he was a child as a way to "discover what games were doing and how they were doing it," according to an interview with video game website Kotaku in 2011. Aside from gaming, the inquisitive future CEO would disassemble lawnmowers​, radios, and TVs to see how each functioned. He was also a big fan of arcades.

Source:Kotaku

Sweeney attended the ​University of Maryland as a mechanical engineering major. During his second year of college, he decided to go all-in with gaming by creating his first full-fledged​ video game, "ZZT." He also founded his company, Potomac Computer Systems, which would later become Epic Games, to develop "ZZT."

Source: Gamasutra, CNBC

Despite being a gifted young coder, Sweeney didn't initially know how to program graphics, like "actual characters and objects," into "ZZT." Instead, he used symbols and smiley faces that would attack monsters and "run through levels." The hardware also functioned as an editor, so users could create their own games with it. He released the game in 1991.

Source:Engadget

Sweeney dropped out of college just one credit shy of graduating, and moved back in with his parents in Potomac, when he was 20. He used the $4,000 in his savings and began working on what would later become Epic Games in his parents' garage. For quite some time, customers who were interested in buying a copy of "ZZT" sent checks to Sweeney's parents' house, and waited for a disk copy of the game to come in the mail.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, CNBC

Sweeney sold "several thousand" copies of "ZZT" while living with his parents. He rebranded his company as Epic MegaGames, a name Sweeney said was "kind of a scam to make it look like we were a big company." With new orders coming in daily, Sweeney was able to move out of his parents' house in 1999 and quit his side gig mowing lawns. Epic eventually dropped the "Mega" from its name.

Source: Gamasutra

Sweeney then moved Epic to Cary, North Carolina, where it remains to this day. At the start, Sweeney's primary role was still programming — until the release of "Unreal," the company's inaugural first-person shooter video game.

Source: CNBC

"Unreal," which was released in 1998, was a PC-based game that allowed users the ability to play together on separate computers. The 3D graphics technology behind the game was called the Unreal Engine, and it became a foundational element of Epic's future business.

Sources: Business Insider, Kotaku

In 2006, Epic's "Gears of War" was released. It was built for Microsoft's Xbox 360 using the Unreal Engine. The New York Times described the game as "a more deliberate, thoughtful sort of shooter [with] plenty of action and gore." The publication also called "Gears of War" one of the "best looking" games.

Sources: CNBC, The New York Times, The New York Times

Following the launch and commercial success of "Gears of War," Sweeney indulged. According to an interview he gave to the Journal in 2019, he had a "Ferrari and Lamborghini in the parking lot of my apartment ... People who hadn't met me thought I must be a drug dealer." He has since gotten rid of the flashy sports cars.

Source:The Wall Street Journal

The "Gears of War" franchise, with over half a dozen games, has sold over 22 million units and made over $1 billion in revenue. (Microsoft bought the "Gears of War" franchise in 2014 for an "undisclosed amount.")

Source: CNBC, Gamepedia, Engadget

Epic Games is also responsible for games like "Shadow Complex" and the "Infinity Blade" series, both role-playing fighting games set in past and futuristic time periods. In 2013, Chinese tech company Tencent invested $330 million into Epic Games for a 40% stake.

Sources: Business Insider, CNBC

In 2015, Epic Games announced that the Unreal Engine would be made free, making it easier for any aspiring game developer to start their next project. The technology behind the Unreal Engine is regarded as "one of the most widely used engines in existence." By making the Unreal Engine free to use, Epic Games gets a cut when game developers and publishers sell games made with it — a significant part of the way the company generates revenue.

Source: Business Insider

Epic revealed a new game it was working on in 2011, "Fortnite." It was introduced as a survival-style game with a smaller scope than the blockbuster "Gears of War" series. It was another six years before the game launched: Epic didn't start offering early access to "Fortnite" until mid 2017.

Source: Polygon, IGN

Everything changed for Sweeney and Epic Games in September 2017 with the release of "Fortnite Battle Royale" — a free-to-play battle royale model of the game where users "collect resources, make tools and weapons, and try to stay alive as long as possible." The game found worldwide success just a few months after its release, amassing over 200 million players across seven different game platforms.

Source: NBC, Business Insider

Sweeney, however, does not like to take credit for the success of "Fortnite" — he credits it largely to the game developers on his team. The Journal reported, "the entrepreneur is adamant about one thing: He did not create 'Fortnite' — his employees did. He didn't design or program the game" — but he did create the company that did.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Even though "Fortnite" is free-to-play, Epic Games receives revenue from it "entirely from in-game purchases, even though the virtual goods give players no competitive advantage." Character costumes, called "skins," seasonal "battle passes," and accessories can anywhere from a few dollars to nearly $20 each. With over 350 million registered "Fortnite" players, the company has made well over $4 billion since launch in September 2017.

Sources: Business Insider, Business Insider, Engadget, The New York Times

With the blockbuster success of "Fortnite," Sweeney skyrocketed onto Bloomberg's Billionaires Index with a net worth of $9.4 billion. This puts him above other billionaires like Marc Benioff and Gabe Newell, but well below tech giants Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.

Source: Business Insider

"Fortnite" has not only made Sweeney a richer man, but many "Fortnite" players as well. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins reportedly made $1 million a month playing the game and streaming it on Twitch. And every summer, Epic Games hosts a "Fortnite World Cup" where players can win a piece of a $30 million prize.

Sources: CNBC, USA Today

Read more:This 28-year-old makes $500,000 every month playing 'Fortnite' — here's how he does it

Sweeney is a very casual guy. His workplace attire consists of t-shirts and cargo pants. When people go to an interview at Epic Games, they are advised not to wear a jacket and tie.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Despite having a sports car infatuation at the beginning of his career, Sweeney has since spent his millions on conservation efforts in North Carolina. He bought 193 acres in Alamance County for​ preservation and donated $15 million to protect 7,000 acres of forests in western North Carolina.

Source:Triad Business Journal

Since the launch of "Fortnite" in 2017, Sweeney has turned his attention to two major new ventures: Launching a digital gaming store in the Epic Games Store, and a battle with Apple and Google over "Fortnite" royalties.

In mid-August, Epic issued an update on Apple and Android smartphones to "Fortnite" that allowed players to bypass the companies' digital payment systems. Instead of Apple and Google, payments went directly to the "Fortnite" studio, Epic Games. In response, both companies removed "Fortnite" from their respective app stores.

After "Fortnite" was removed from Apple and Google's digital storefronts, Epic filed suits against both companies. An advertisement was also rolled out, which directly parodied Apple's famous "1984" advertisement:

Youtube Embed:
//www.youtube.com/embed/euiSHuaw6Q4
Width: 800px
Height: 450px

Sweeney has railed against Apple and Google's digital storefronts as "monopolies" for years, and "Fortnite" is the leverage he's using to turn his criticism into potentially impactful action. What will happen in court is anyone's guess, but we know one thing for sure: Apple isn't budging.

"The App Store is designed to be a safe and trusted place for users and a great business opportunity for all developers," Apple said in a statement on August 17. "Epic has been one of the most successful developers on the App Store, growing into a multibillion dollar business that reaches millions of iOS customers around the world. We very much want to keep the company as part of the Apple Developer Program and their apps on the Store. The problem Epic has created for itself is one that can easily be remedied if they submit an update of their app that reverts it to comply with the guidelines they agreed to and which apply to all developers. We won't make an exception for Epic because we don't think it's right to put their business interests ahead of the guidelines that protect our customers."

• You can sync your Google Calendar to the Outlook desktop app for Mac by adding your Google account and PC by importing your calendar. 
• You can also sync your Google Calendar to your Outlook.com account. 
• If you have a paid G Suite account, you can use the G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook tool. 
• Outlook can automatically sync with a Google Calendar when you use Outlook on mobile devices for iOS and Android operating systems.
• Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

If you use Outlook and Google calendars to manage your life, syncing them is critical to avoiding conflicts and ensuring you don't miss planned events or calls. 

How you add a Google Calendar to your Outlook account depends on what platform you're using. You can import your calendar, add your entire Google account to your Microsoft desktop app, or add a calendar while logged into your Outlook account. 

If you want to sync your Google Calendar to Outlook, here are three ways to do it.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Microsoft Office (From $149.99 at Best Buy)

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)

How to sync your Google Calendar on Outlook.com 

1. Open Google Calendar.

2. In the left-hand column, hover over the calendar you want to add to Outlook.

3. Click the three dots beside the calendar.

4. Select "Settings and sharing."

5. On the Settings page, scroll to the "Integrate calendar" section

6. Copy the "Secret address in iCal format" link.

7. Log in to Outlook.com and click the calendar icon in the left sidebar. 

8. Click "Add calendar." 

9. Choose "Subscribe from the web" in the left-hand column. 

10. Paste the "Secret address in iCal format" link.

11. Title the calendar and then click "Import." 

How to sync your Google Calendar on Outlook for Windows

1. Go to https://calendar.google.com. 

2. Click on the gear icon in the upper-right. 

3. Select "Settings" from the drop-down menu that appears. 

4. Choose "Import & Export" in the left sidebar. 

5. Select "Export" to download a zipped .ics file of your Calendar content. 

6. Launch Microsoft Outlook. 

7. Click "File" in the upper menu bar. 

8. Select Open & Export from the left sidebar. 

9. Click the "Import/Export" option.

10. In the pop-up window that appears, click "Import an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar file (.vcs)" before selecting "Next."

11. In the file window, locate and select the zipped folder you downloaded for Google Calendar before clicking "Open." 

12. Choose "Import" in the window that appears to bring your Google Calendar items into your Microsoft Calendar. You can also choose to create a new calendar in Outlook. 

How to sync your Google Calendar on Outlook for Mac

1. Launch Microsoft Outlook. 

2. Click on "Outlook" in the top toolbar.

3. Select "Preferences" from the drop-down menu. 

4. Choose "Accounts." 

5. Click on the "+" icon at the bottom of the left sidebar.

6. Select "New Account." 

7. In the login window that appears, enter the Gmail account associated with the Google Calendar you want to sync then press "Continue."  

8. Choose "Continue" to authorize your Gmail account to be synced to the Microsoft Cloud. 

9. A new browser window will open with a list of your Google Accounts. Select the email account you want to sync to Outlook. 

1o. On the next page, click "Allow" to authorize Microsoft Apps & Services to have access to your Google Calendar. 

11. Select "Open Microsoft Account" in the pop-up window that appears. 

12. Click "Done" after your account has been added. 

13. Click the Calendar icon at the bottom of Outlook's left sidebar to see your Google Calendar events in your Microsoft Calendar. 

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

• How to add your Gmail account to your Microsoft Outlook email interface on a Mac or PC

• How to share your Outlook calendar with others to coordinate events, meetings, and more

• How to cancel a meeting in Microsoft Outlook on a PC or Mac computer, and alert all attendees

• How to reschedule a meeting in Microsoft Outlook and automatically notify all attendees

• How to unshare a calendar in Microsoft Outlook on your PC or Mac computer

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• Cannabis tech startup Dutchie closed a $35 million Series B funding round.
• The Bend, Oregon based e-commerce startup's investors include Thrive Capital, Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and more.
• Dutchie CEO Ross Lipson shared the pitch deck he used to close the $35 million round with Business Insider. 
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Venture investors are seeing green in cannabis tech. 

Cannabis ecommerce startup Dutchie closed a $35 million funding round, the company said on Tuesday. The round included mainstream funds, like Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital and Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures, as well as Casa Verde Capital, a cannabis-focused fund, and Howard Schultz, the billionaire Starbucks founder.

The Bend, Oregon-based company uses software to connect cannabis consumers — who can order from the comfort of their own homes — to local dispensaries in their area.

CEO Ross Lipson, one half of the pair of brothers that runs the startup, previously founded a food delivery startup he sold to Just Eat in 2012. Lipson said that while Dutchie has some similarities to his previous ecommerce business, working in cannabis is a totally different ballgame.

Read more: We got an exclusive look at the presentation that wellness startup B Great is using to raise $2.5 million to chase down the $2 billion CBD market

"The food space has been around for a long time," Lipson told Business Insider. "There are many players that have defined it and we're just kind of adding on. We actually have this unique opportunity being in cannabis with such a brand new industry, and it's evolving so fast that we get to define it."

Mainstream VCs are warming up to the cannabis industry

Thrive Capital, for its part, is one of the few mainstream venture funds that has invested in the cannabis tech space, having invested in LeafLink last year.

"I think VCs are warming up to the cannabis space," Lipson said. "Especially on the tech side. But it's moving slow."

Most mainstream funds are barred from investing in cannabis because their investors — or limited partners — have specific clauses in their contracts that prevent VCs from investing in industries like cannabis, or gambling.

Read more: The cannabis-tech startup Fyllo used this pitch deck to land $26 million. Here's an inside look at how it's using AI to shape the future of cannabis retail.

But as cannabis becomes more mainstream — spurred by the "essential business" designation many dispensaries received at the height of the lockdowns associated with the pandemic — Lipson says that venture funds are cautiously opening their doors to the sector as cannabis use becomes more widespread.

"The needle is moving in the right direction," Lipson said. 

Here's an exclusive look at Dutchie's Series B pitch deck:

Dutchie is an ecommerce startup that uses software to help people order from local dispensaries while they're at home. Cannabis dispensaries can use Dutchie's software to order products from their suppliers, optimizing their spending on what consumers are likely to purchase.

Its initial slide explains that approach to online ordering in the cannabis industry. Dutchie's deck notes that 10% of all legal cannabis is bought through its software.

Dutchie's online presence is a notable part of a growing market. The cannabis industry is growing rapidly and could hit $42.7 billion in sales in the next four years.

Lipson said investors frequently asked about Dutchie's market share, and how that compares to the competition. Today, 33% of all online cannabis purchases in North America happen through Dutchie.

Of the 5,220 dispensaries in North America, Dutchie works with 1,300.

Dutchie is processing $2.3 billion in annualized gross merchandise value, a measure of sales, Lipson said.

Attracting new dispensaries to its platform is critical to the startup's growth.

Lipson said investors wanted to know if the platform could get repeat customers, who may spend a little more time – and more money — through the platform each time they order.

Dutchie's executive team consists of Ross and his older brother. He says they argue like brothers do but somehow, they make it work.

In terms of Dutchie's priorities for the fresh capital, Lipson said scaling up their software and hiring are priorities.

He said he expects to double the startup's size in the next 12 months, from a little over 100 employees to around 200. Building out an engineering team with technical experience inside and outside of cannabis is priority number one, Lipson says. And as the company grows, it'll need more people to work in client-facing roles to respond to requests and manage relationships.

While they're looking for candidates who have experience in tech, Lipson says he wants hires that are "really hungry and motivated" to help shape the burgeoning cannabis sector.

"We need to continuously move as fast and as aggressive as possible being that this is a nascent industry," Lipson said. "It's moving quick, and in order for us to stay at the forefront of it and continue to pump out bleeding-edge technology we need to continuously accelerate."

• Oracle is said to be exploring its own bid for TikTok which the Trump administration wants to ban due to its ties to China, according to the Financial Times.
• Experts say Oracle's reported interest in buying TikTok could be a ploy to drive up the price for the popular video app, which rival Microsoft is looking to acquire.
• Buying a popular consumer brand doesn't make sense for an enterprise powerhouse like Oracle, analysts say. "Why would an enterprise software company without a consumer play want TikTok?" Valoir analyst Rebecca Wettemann told Business Insider.
• However, some experts say gaining access to TikTok's massive consumer data could benefit Oracle's cloud-based tools geared to sales, marketing and customer service.
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Oracle is known for making bold M&A moves, but the tech giant's reported interest in TikTok has left some analysts dumbfounded.

The Silicon Valley giant is said to be exploring a potential bid for TikTok, in an apparent challenge to Microsoft which is looking to acquire the popular video app following President Trump's threat to ban the company, according to the Financial Times.

Oracle declined to comment.

But news that Oracle, a tech behemoth known for selling enterprise hardware and software to big corporations, would want to buy a popular consumer platform was a head scratcher for some veteran tech analysts. 

"My first thought is one likely shared by many: why?" Michel Dortch, founder and principal analyst with DortchOnIT.com, a technology marketing firm, told Business Insider. 

That's precisely how analyst Steve Allen of S2C Partners reacted, telling Business Insider: "TikTok doesn't make any sense at all. What would Oracle do with TikTok?"

Valoir analyst Rebecca Wettemann echoed that point, saying, "Why would an enterprise software company without a consumer play want TikTok?"

One possibility is that it's just an Oracle headfake, a ploy meant to make it tougher for archrival Microsoft to buy TikTok.

"Totally a Larry fake," Robert Siegel, a Silicon venture capital investor and management lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, told Business Insider, referring to Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

An Oracle bid would certainly "drive up the price for Microsoft," he said, adding. ""All is fair in love and war. And if he does win the bidding war he can always sell it to someone else and he helps out the administration."

Ellison is known to be a staunch supporter of Trump, who wants to ban TikTok because of its ties to China.

But some analysts do see TikTok giving Oracle a boost in an area that the tech giant has been focused intensely: the cloud and big data.

Analyst Ray Wang of Constellation Research, in a tweet, cited the several reasons buying TikTok would make sense for Oracle, including gaining access to "big workloads for the cloud." Oracle would also be able to tap TikTok's huge consumer data trove for the tech giant's cloud tools geared to sales, marketing, and customer.

Valoir's Wettemann also cited that business — known as Oracle CX Cloud — as a possible reason for buying TikTok, saying "content is a big part of it" and "TikTok would give it a platform for video content as part of its CX portfolio."

Dortch said TikTok makes sense for Oracle if one views the platform "not as a fun app but as an advertising and marketing tool." In that case, he added, "Oracle's interest begins to make a bit more sense."

Wettemann said TikTok could also help change Oracle's image, "branding it as more of a human, empathetic, warm and fuzzy company."

"While I don't think we'll see Larry and Safra doing 'the switch' anytime soon, having a platform like TikTok could help make Oracle look more human,'" she said. 

There is already an @officiallarryellison TikTok account, but Oracle declined to comment if it belongs to the Oracle founder.

Still, Wettemann also speculated that trying to look hip is probably not a "primary motivation" for an Oracle bid "given the potential price tag of TikTok."

Got a tip about Oracle, TikTok or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at bpimentel@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @benpimentelor send him a secure message through Signal at (510) 731-8429. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

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• Elon Musk has made more money than any other billionaire throughout the course of the coronavirus pandemic, more than tripling his net worth in the past five months.
• He is now the fourth-richest person in America.
• Musk and Canadian recording artist Grimes welcomed a baby boy named X Æ A-12 in May.
• A notorious workaholic, Musk doesn't spend his money on lavish vacations or expensive hobbies; he even said he planned to spend his 48th birthday improving Tesla's logistics.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The coronavirus pandemic has been an economic disaster for most Americans, but not for Elon Musk.

The Telsa CEO has made more than $48 billion between March 18 and August 13, an increase of more than 197%, according to a new analysis by left-leaning think tank the Institute for Policy Studies released Monday. That's significantly more than any other billionaire made during the same time period.

Remarkably, Musk made his billions without ever taking a paycheck from Tesla. The CEO refuses his $56,000 minimum salary every year. In January 2018, Tesla announced it would pay Musk nothing for the next 10 years — no salary, bonuses, or stock — until the company reaches a $100 billion market cap. If and when that happens, Musk could potentially overtake Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world.

Keep reading to find out what we know about how Musk amassed his fortune and how he spends it.

SEE ALSO: A look at the demanding schedule of Elon Musk, who plans his day in 5-minute slots, constantly multitasks, and avoids phone calls

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Decades before becoming a father of six and amassing an $84.8 billion fortune, Musk taught himself to code as a child growing up in South Africa. By the time he was 12, he sold the source code for his first video game for $500.

Source: MONEY

Just before his 18th birthday, Musk moved to Canada and worked a series of hard labor jobs, including shoveling grain, cutting logs, and eventually cleaning out the boiler room in a lumber mill for $18 an hour — an impressive wage in 1989.

Sources: MONEY, Esquire - Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Musk got a pay cut to $14 an hour when he started a summer internship alongside his brother, Kimbal, at the Bank of Nova Scotia after cold-calling — and impressing — a top executive there.

Sources: MONEY, Esquire - Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

After he arrived for his freshman year at Queens University in 1990, Musk quickly picked up a side hustle selling computer parts and full PCs to other students. "I could build something to suit their needs like a tricked-out gaming machine or a simple word processor that cost less than what they could get in a store," Musk said.

Sources: MONEY, Esquire - Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Within two years, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania on a partial scholarship.

Sources: MONEY, Esquire - Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

To cover the rest of his tuition, Musk and a buddy would turn their house into a speakeasy on the weekends, charging $5 at the door. "I was paying my own way through college and could make an entire month's rent in one night," Musk said.

Sources: MONEY, Esquire - Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Musk graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics and an economics degree from the Wharton School and moved to Stanford to pursue his PhD.

Source: MONEY

He left the program within days to found an internet startup with his brother. They started Zip2, a city guide software for newspapers, with $28,000 in seed money from their father.

Source: MONEY

Four years later, in 1999, they sold Zip2 for $307 million, earning Musk $22 million. He invested more than half of his earnings to cofound X.com, an online banking service.

Source: MONEY

The company quickly merged with its rival and became PayPal, with Musk as the majority shareholder. In 2002, eBay bought PayPal and Musk walked away with $180 million.

Source: MONEY

Musk turned his attention to his new space exploration company, SpaceX, after leaving PayPal. A few years later he cofounded electric-car maker, Tesla, and then SolarCity, a solar power systems provider. The success of these companies eventually launched him into the billion-dollar club — but not before he went broke.

Source: VentureBeat

In late 2008, Musk divorced his first wife and it took a toll on his finances. A year later, Musk said he "ran out of cash" and had been living off loans from friends while trying to keep his companies afloat.

Sources: VentureBeat, Forbes, TechCrunch

But when Tesla debuted on the stock market in 2010, Musk's fortune sky rocketed. By 2012, he appeared on Forbes' richest list for the first time with a net worth of $2 billion.

Source: Forbes

Over seven years later, Musk has amassed an $84.8 billion fortune — and he's not shy when it comes to spending it.

Source: Bloomberg

The CEO bought more than $100 million worth of residential property in California. He has since offloaded much of his real estate after vowing to sell it all and "own no house" on May 4.

Source: The Real Deal, Variety, Business Insider

Musk went on a buying spree in Los Angeles' ritzy Bel-Air neighborhood starting in late 2012, when he purchased a 1.67-acre estate for $17 million. The mansion has a two-story library, a home theater, a gym, and 1,000-bottle wine cellar.

He also listed the neighboring ranch-style home he owns, which once belonged to Gene Wilder, at the same time.

Source: Variety, CNBC, Business Insider

As the leader of one of the preeminent auto-makers, it's no surprise Musk has an affinity for cars. Back in 2013, he paid $920,000 at an auction for the Lotus Esprit submarine car used in a James Bond movie.

Source: MONEY, CNBC

In addition to driving Teslas, Musk owns two gas-powered cars: a Ford Model T and a Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Roadster.

Source: MONEY, CNBC

Despite having funds to spare, Musk isn't a fan of lavish vacations — or any vacations for that matter. In 2015, he said he'd only taken two weeks off since founding SpaceX about 12 years earlier.

Sources: Inc., Quartz

Musk has five children with his ex-wife Talulah Riley. In a 2014 tweet, Musk said he takes the kids on an annual camping trip. "I'm a pretty good dad," he said. "I have the kids for slightly more than half the week and spend a fair bit of time with them. I also take them with me when I go out of town."

Sources: Twitter, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Musk and Canadian singer Grimes, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, welcomed a baby boy on May 4. They named the child X Æ A-12 Musk.

Source: Business Insider

But by August 2018, Musk told The New York Times that he had taken to working 120 hours a week. "There were times when I didn't leave the factory for three or four days — days when I didn't go outside," he told The Times. "This has really come at the expense of seeing my kids. And seeing friends."

Source: The New York Times

Musk said on an earnings call in 2017 that he doesn't have a desk at the Tesla factory: "I always move my desk to wherever — I don't really have a desk actually — I move myself to wherever the biggest problem is in Tesla. I really believe that one should lead from the front lines, and that's why I'm here."

Sources: Business Insider, Fortune

Musk admitted to spending "many late nights" at Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory re-writing software during a production sprint for the Model 3.

Source: Fortune

For a story published in August 2018, Business Insider reporters spoke with 42 Tesla employees, who said Musk is a visionary, but also unpredictably demanding.

Source: Business Insider

Musk said in June 2019 that he even planned to spend his 48th birthday on June 28 at work, improving the company's "global logistics."

Source: Business Insider

Musk told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he is, in fact, "somewhat impulsive" and doesn't "really want to try to adhere to some CEO template."

Source: Business Insider

Not only does Musk spend a ton of time at Tesla, he also spends a lot of his money on the company. In the first six months of 2018, he bought more than $35 million worth of shares in Tesla.

Source: CNN

Musk also invests a lot of time, energy, and resources into SpaceX.

Source: Business Insider

SpaceX has raised more than $2.2 billion to develop, build, and launch Starlink, an effort to cover Earth in ultra-fast broadband internet and build the prototype of Starship, a gargantuan reusable space vehicle designed to bring people to Mars, reported Business Insider's Dave Mosher. The company was valued at $33.3 billion in June 2019.

Source: Business Insider, CNBC

Musk also helms The Boring Company, which he founded in 2016 to develop and construct an underground tunnel in Los Angeles in an effort to mitigate traffic. In December 2018, Musk debuted the first prototype.

Source: Business Insider

According to The New York Times, The Boring Company raised over $112 million in 2018 — and more than 90% of it came from Musk.

Source: The New York Times

In 2012, Musk signed The Giving Pledge, vowing to donate the majority of his wealth during his lifetime. Though he's already in the business of improving our environment and the future during his day job, Musk has made sizable donations to causes he cares about, including a $10 million gift to the Future of Life Institute to regulate artificial intelligence.

Sources: Twitter, Business Insider

Musk found himself in legal trouble with the SEC in 2018 after he tweeted that he had obtained the funding to take Tesla private, which moved the company's stock price. Musk reached a settlement with the SEC in April 2019.

Source: Business Insider

Musk moved Tesla share price again on May 1, sending it down 13% after tweeting "Tesla stock price is too high imo."

Source: Markets Insider

At the end of the day, the multibillionaire says he enjoys inexpensive hobbies like listening to music, playing video games, and reading books. "Hang out with kids, see friends, normal stuff," he said. "Sometimes go crazy on Twitter. But usually it's work more."

Source: Quartz

Musk's Twitter habits once again got him into legal trouble after Musk called the British cave diver who helped rescue a Thai soccer team a "pedo guy"; the diver sued Musk for defamation. A jury ruled in Musk's favor in December 2019.

Source: Business Insider

Musk has had plenty of headline-making outbursts both on- and offline. When a metal ball shattered the "armored glass" of Tesla's Cybertruck during a demonstration in November, Musk said "oh my f---ing god."

Source: Business Insider

The billionaire has more than tripled his net worth in 2020 so far, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Business Insider

• Wing, Alphabet's drone company, has appointed a new head of operations: David Kunst.
• Meanwhile, Faisal Masud, who previously served as chief operating officer and moved into an advisory role last year, has departed the company, Business Insider has learned.
• Kunst will oversee "a further expansion of our global operations and the use cases we can support," a Wing spokesperson said.
• Like some other Alphabet companies, Wing has found new purpose in the pandemic.
• Are you an Alphabet insider with more to share? Contact this reporter using encrypted email (hslangley@protonmail.com) or encrypted messaging apps Signal/Telegram (628-228-1836).
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Alphabet's delivery-drone division, Wing, has appointed a new head of operations, David Kunst, while Faisal Masud, who previously served as chief operating officer, has departed the company.

Kunst, who joined in July, was previously a general manager at Lyft overseeing operations in Northern California.

"Dave has a good mix of ops and product experience, and he'll be overseeing a further expansion of our global operations and the use cases we can support," a Wing spokesperson said.

Masud stepped down as Wing's chief operating officer a year ago and moved into an advisory role before leaving the company in July, he told Business Insider. 

Masud is an e-commerce veteran who previously worked at Staples as its chief technology officer, and Amazon before that.

When he joined Wing as chief operating officer in 2018, there was speculation that the drone division, which at the time still lived inside Alphabet's X incubator, might be preparing graduate into an independent Alphabet company.

Just five months later, that's what happened.

In the two years since, Wing has launched the first commercial drone operation in the US, based out of Virginia, with a second operation in Queensland, Australia. It also recently announced a partnership with the UK's Department of Transport to work on an unmanned traffic management (UTM) framework.

Wing, which is based in Palo Alto, California, was one of the last projects to graduate into an Alphabet business. To be spun off into freestanding companies, these "bets" need to prove they have a path to being commercially viable.

Wing hasn't taken outside investment yet, but like Verily, it has found new purpose during the pandemic. In April, the company told Business Insider it had seen an uptick in demand to deliver groceries and other items to customers in areas it's been able to operate in.

Hiring also appears to be continuing at a healthy clip. It's posted 28 new job ads to LinkedIn in the past three weeks, including roles for an aviation-regulation lead and a head of strategic partnerships.

SEE ALSO: Google plans to test 6Ghz, next-generation WiFi in dozens of US cities

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