Top Financial Media Stories Friday, September 16: Uber Internal Systems Hacked By A Teenager, Germany Takes Control of Oil Refineries Owned by Russia's Rosneft, Kanye West End Apparel Partnership with Gap And More..

New York Times

Uber Hacked! Teenage Hacker Advocating Driver's Rights Gains Access To Internal Slack, AWS

• A hacker breached Uber Technologies, Inc's (NASDAQ: UBER) computer systems on September 15, leading the company to take several of its internal communications and engineering systems offline as it investigated the hack.
• The person claiming responsibility for the hack sent images of the email, cloud storage, and code repositories to cybersecurity researchers and the NYT.
• "They pretty much have full access to Uber," said Sam Curry, a security engineer at Yuga Labs who corresponded with the hacker. "This is a total compromise, from what it looks like."

Reuters

Elon Musk Hurls Fraud Allegations At Twitter With Whistleblower's Claims Amid Legal Wrangle

• Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has thrown more serious allegations at Twitter Inc (NASDAQ: TWTR), potentially dragging a legal battle between the two parties over the billionaire entrepreneur's attempt to back out of a $44-billion deal for the social media firm.
• Musk amended his earlier counter lawsuit against Twitter with allegations made by the company's former head of security, who turned whistleblower and recently testified to Congress, as per a Thursday court filing.

General Electric Says Supply Chain Woes Still Persist

• General Electric Co (NYSE:GE) Chief Financial Officer Carolina Dybeck Happe said the company is still struggling with supply-chain issues.
• The continuing problem has led to delays in product deliveries, she added.
• The shortages of parts, labor, and raw materials and the macroeconomic uncertainty wiped off 5% of the company's Q2 revenue.

TikTok Parent Looks To Buy Back $3B Shares As Its IPO Failed To Materialize

• ByteDance Ltd aims to spend up to $3 billion to repurchase shares in a deal valued at $300 billion.
• ByteDance also extended its existing stock incentive plan for another ten years. The move will likely help some of its shareholders improve their liquidity positions.
• The TikTok parent had reportedly explored conducting an initial public offering in Hong Kong in August, while the company clarified it had no such plans.

Star Alliance Wants At Least Half Its Members To Embrace Biometrics By 2025

• Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance, wants half its twenty-six members to use biometrics technology by 2025.
• Star Alliance comprises 26 member airlines. A management company based in Frankfurt, Germany, and Singapore, coordinates Star Alliance projects and activities.
• The move is expected to ease the travel process as the demand grows for contactless travel and less airport congestion after COVID-19.

Bloomberg

Apple's Premium Customers Help Company Score Through Inflation, Slowdown, iPhone Preorder Data Reveals

• Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) counted on well-heeled shoppers to make the iPhone 14 a success as it hits the stores today amid roaring inflation and shaky technology spending.
• The iPhone 14 lineup reserves the best features for the high-end Pro models costing at least $1,000. The strategy clicked with consumers as per preorder data.
• The appetite for top-tier phones kept demand ticking for Apple as the industry scaled back plans.

Financial Times

New UK Government Prepares To Push Softbank Regarding Arm's UK Listing

• Prime Minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng prepared to launch a last-ditch charm offensive to persuade Japan's Softbank Group Corp (OTC:SFTBY) to list British tech company Arm in the U.K.
• Softbank previously indicated its desire to list Arm in the U.S.
• However, Softbank executives explored the possibility of a rare dual listing to own a base on both sides of the Atlantic.
• Still, the U.S. was their primary attraction due to its much higher valuations, while London has faced flak for its unattractiveness to fast-growing companies.

Microsoft - Activision Deal Draws Regulatory Attention

• Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ:MSFT) $75 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard, Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) faced intense scrutiny in Brussels and the U.K.
• There were growing concerns that the deal was anti-competitive and would exclude rivals from accessing the blockbuster game Call of Duty.
• Last week, Sony Group Corp (NYSE:SONY) accused Microsoft of misleading the games industry and regulators about its commitments to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles.
• Microsoft has assured to continue to make Call of Duty available on other companies' gaming consoles, like PlayStation.

Benzinga

Is Tesla The New Apple? Fund Manager Says Elon Musk's Company Will Be 'Much, Much Bigger'

• The reason for hedge fund Worm Capital's concentration in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is due to its conviction in the electric vehicle maker's dominance relatively early in the cycle, founder and chief investment officer Arne Alsin reportedly said during an investor Q&A session hosted by the fund.
• What Happened: Owning Tesla in 2022 is like owning Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) in 2007, even 2003, or even earlier, Alsin said, according to the transcripts of the Q&A session shared by Tesla influencer Merritt Sawyer.
• "And this company is going to be much, much bigger than Apple, in my opinion," he said. He also suggested having more faith in the fund's Tesla position generating significant returns going forward.

Apple Could Bring iPhone 14 Satellite SOS Feature Beyond US, Canada Sooner Than Expected

• Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) recently introduced emergency SOS feature, set to launch first in the United States and Canada, and could expand to other parts of the world sooner than anticipated.
• The feature, set to debut in November, will come to additional nations in 2022, Apple told MacPrime, a Swiss tech blog.
• The exact regions where the feature will be available were not revealed.

YouTube Rival Rumble To Go Public On Monday After Successful SPAC Vote: What You Need To Know

• Video sharing platform Rumble is set to debut on Wall Street on Monday after special purpose acquisition company CF Acquisition Corp VI's (NASDAQ: CFVI) shareholders voted in favor of its proposed business combination with the company on Thursday.
• The combined company will operate as Rumble Inc and be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "RUM." Trading in the combined company's stock will begin on Monday, contingent on the transaction's closing on Friday.

Tencent Lets Go Entire Staff At Fanbyte After Failing To Secure Gaming License, Stock Falls

• Gaming company Tencent Holding Ltd (OTC: TCEHY) laid off nearly all of the editorial staff at Fanbyte, an online gaming publication.
• The layoffs included the site's editor-in-chief, head of media, features editor, social editor, news editor, graphic designer, podcast producer, and several writers.
• Fanbyte employees were laid off slowly, one by one, over several hours.

Ethereum Tumbles After 'Merge,' Bitcoin, Dogecoin Drop: Trader Sees 2nd-Biggest Crypto Sliding To $800 If This Happens

• Major coins fell sharply on Thursday evening as the global cryptocurrency market cap lost 4% to $960.8 billion at 8:15 a.m. EDT.
• Ethereum tanked after completing its transition to a proof-of-stake network in an event dubbed "The Merge." Other major coins were also in the red.
• "Ethereum is down significantly, and volatility should remain elevated into the weekend," said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya in a note seen by Benzinga.

Kanye West Confirms Termination Of Yeezy's Partnership With Gap: 'A King Can't Live In Someone Else's Castle'

• Rapper and designer Kanye West, who goes by "Ye," has terminated his Yeezy brand partnership with Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS) two years after the deal was announced.
• "Everyone knows, that you know, I'm the leader, I'm the king, right, so a king can't live in someone else's castle. A king has to make his own castle," West said Thursday on CNBC's "Closing Bell."

Germany Takes Russia's Rosneft's Subsidiary Under State Control

• The German government says it is taking control of Russian oil giant Rosneft's (OTC: RNFTF) subsidiary in Germany, citing the need to ensure continued operations at three oil refineries and secure energy supplies which have been disrupted after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
• Rosneft's German subsidiaries, which account for about 12% of oil refining capacity in the country, were placed under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency, the economy ministry said in a statement.

Air Canada Joins the List of United Airlines, Mesa Air In Placing Order For Battery Powered Aircrafts

• Air Canada (OTC: ACDVF) said it would buy electric planes for the first time by acquiring 30 battery-powered regional aircraft from Sweden-based Heart Aerospace.
• The release did not disclose a value for the deal.
• The revolutionary regional aircraft, expected to enter service in 2028, will generate zero emissions flying on battery power and yield significant operational savings and benefits.