|
Big
Tech News
Markets,
Cryptos and Culture
FinTech,
Big Tech, Big Biz
LinkedIn
b2b Business Lifts For Media Man Group and Associates
Alphabet/Google
Cracks TIME 100 Cover
TKO/WWE
In And Out Of The Ring Continues; Up and Down Cycle;
TKO's Nick Khan Offers Positive Vibes To US Admin
Re Ali Act Amendment
TKO's
LinkedIn Continues To Enjoy Strong News Media Buzz;
Google LinkedIn Numbers Up; Rinto Tinto (Mining) Strong
LinkedIn Media Vibes And Buzz
Media
Man LinkedIn and X Up; TKO News Flashbacks
Google/Alphabet
Earnings
May
1, 2026
(Sydney,
Australia To Wall Street, New York)
ASX
200 futures are pointing up 127 points/1.5% to 8795.
AUD
+1.2% to US72.00¢
Bitcoin
$77,105.63 +2.16%
Wall
St:
Dow +1.6%
S&P +1%
Nasdaq +0.9%
VIX
-1.92 to 16.89
Gold -0.04% to $US4616.09 an oz
Brent oil -3.4% to $US114.01 a barrel
Iron ore +0.7% to $US107.80 a ton
10-year yield: US 4.37% Australia 5.06%
Coffee
285.55 -5.15
Cocoa
3569.00 +159
Numbers
Double Check
May
1
Australian
Dollar: $0.7195 USD (up $0.0085 USD)
Iron Ore: $107.80 USD (up $0.75 USD)
Iron Ore: $105.53 USD (up 0.74 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $105.63 USD (down $2.86 USD)
Gold Price : $4,622.32 USD (up $78.35 USD)
Copper Price: $6.0245 USD (up $0.0980 USD)
Dow Jones: 49,652.14 (up 790.33 points)
Shares
TKO
Group Holdings Inc
$186.09
+2.38 +1.30%
Lead Up
$183.71
-0.87 -0.47%
Alphabet
Inc Class A
$384.80
+34.86 +9.96%
Lead Up
$349.94
+0.13 +0.037%
NVIDIA
Corp
$199.57
-9.68 -4.63%
Lead Up
$209.25
-3.82 -1.79%
Meta
Platforms Inc
$611.91
-57.21 -8.55%
News
Alphabet,
Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms Report Q1 2026
Earnings Beating Expectations
Alphabet
reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion and EPS
of $5.11, surpassing estimates, with Google Cloud
revenue up 63% to $20 billion.
Microsoft
reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $82.89 billion
and EPS of $4.27, beating expectations, driven by
39-40% Azure growth.
Amazon
reported Q1 2026 revenue of $181.5 billion and EPS
of $2.78 exceeding forecasts, with AWS up 28%, while
Meta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $56.3 billion and
EPS of $10.44 above estimates.
News
Biz
(Aust)
May
1
ASX
extends fall as oil tops $US126 a barrel
The
Australian sharemarket lost ground on Thursday, after
a spike in the crude oil price in response to growing
fears that the Iran war will escalate; the S&P/ASX
200 shed 0.2 per cent to close at 8,665.8 points.
South32 fell 5.4 per cent to $4.03, Evolution Mining
was down 5.3 per cent at 11.90 and Woolworths finished
7.8 per cent lower at $34.39. However, WiseTech Global
was up 3.4 per cent at $42.72 and ASX Limited added
5.1 per cent. (RMS)
News
Golf/Heath/Politics/Property
Mental
health 'at risk' if Defence golf courses sold
The
federal government announced in February that it would
sell 67 military sites in the wake of an independent
audit that found they had little strategic value,
with five defence-owned golf courses among the sites
under scrutiny. They include the Fairbairn Golf Club
in Canberra, with club president Brian Depree urging
the government not to sell it to property developers.
He says it helps to provide mental support for current
Defence members and veterans, and selling it and other
defence courses would be at odds with the Royal Commission
into Defence and Veteran Suicide's finding of systemic
failures in support services for defence members and
veterans, with the commission emphasising the need
to help military personnel transition to civilian
life. (RMS)
News
The
crypto takes a breather after growth
Market
Overview
The
crypto market capitalisation has changed little over
the past 24 hours, hovering around $2.57 trillion,
with assets moving in different directions. Markets
are likely to prefer a wait-and-see approach ahead
of decisions by the Bank of Canada, the Fed, the ECB
and the Bank of England over the next couple of days.
Officially, markets are expecting a hawkish tone,
so a focus on the economy could spur active buying.
The
sentiment index plummeted to 26, falling below last
week’s lows, reflecting a return of fear to the
markets. The inability to hold above 50 since September
remains a key sign of bearish sentiment.
Over
the past two days, Bitcoin has lost approximately
$4K from peak to trough at $75.6K, but on Wednesday,
it turned higher, attempting to consolidate above
$77K. Thus, Bitcoin has broken out of its upward trend
but has not yet confirmed a reversal; therefore, we
can only note a slowdown in growth at the 50% mark
of the January-February decline.
News
Background
The
$80K level remains an important psychological barrier,
around which a large volume of options is concentrated,
GSR notes. QCP Capital considers $82K to be a key
resistance level.
Bernstein
regards Bitcoin’s February low of $60K as a “clear
bottom” and expects a “higher and structurally
longer bull cycle” going forward. The main driver
of optimism remains a steady inflow of capital from
institutional investors.
Bitcoin
is no longer merely an “interesting asset”
for companies seeking to remain competitive, Tim Draper,
founder of venture capital firm Draper Associates,
stated. According to him, firms must hold a portion
of their reserves (5–15%) in BTC to avoid being
financially irresponsible towards their shareholders.
Patrick
Witt, Executive Director of the US Presidential Council
on Digital Assets, announced an “important statement”
regarding the US strategic Bitcoin reserve, which
will be made in the coming weeks.
Bitmine,
the largest publicly traded corporate holder of Ethereum,
announced the acquisition of over 5 million ETH over
10 months, at an average cost of $2,369 per ETH. The
company’s reserves have reached nearly 5.08 million
ETH, representing 4.21% of the Ethereum supply.
News
Pop
Culture/WWE
Roman
Reigns Sweats Through Epic Promo Amid Arena Heat in
Laredo
A
power outage killed air conditioning at Sames Auto
Arena, turning Monday Night Raw into a sauna with
fans drenched and wrestlers glistening under pyro-lit
lights. Reigns cut a fiery main event promo on Fatu's
World Heavyweight Title shot at Backlash on May 9
in Tampa, listening to The Usos' warnings before greenlighting
the match—only for Fatu to ambush him with a
brutal Tongan Death Grip post-promo. Fans flooded
social media with memes of Reigns' sweat-drenched
look, declarations of stanning the champ, and hype
for the Bloodline clash, proving his unbreakable draw
even as some Cody Rhodes fans pushed back. (Media
Man Peg-On): So pumped for the main event of WWE Backlash.
We smell a Bloodline screw-job finish, but we shall
see.
News
WWE
NXT/Wrestling
NXT
Debuts EVIL, Lizzy Rain, and Will Kroos in Roster
Shake-Up
WWE
NXT's April 28 episode on The CW featured six debuts,
including former NJPW star EVIL's chilling arrival
targeting NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo, rocker Lizzy
Rain's dominant win over Nikkita Lyons with her Thunderstruck
finisher, and indie powerhouse Will Kroos joining
a beatdown on D'Angelo. John Cena hyped EVIL with
his classic promo quote, while fans praised the secrecy
around Kroos and Rain's heavy-metal entrance. Other
newcomers like Tristan Angels, Kam Hendrix, and Tate
Wilder added to the stacked night, setting up fresh
storylines for titles and rivalries. (Media Man Peg-On):
NXT needed some fresh faces and new blood to replace
some of the WWE main roster call-ups; Shawn Michaels
and Robert Stone one again deliver. It's almost a
new era kinda feeling and vibe with the shake-ups.
Fans pumped for the upcoming main roster debuts of
Blake Monroe and Ricky Saints.
News
April
30
AI
Elon
Musk Testifies Against OpenAI in Breach of Mission
Trial
Musk,
who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and invested $38 million,
accused Sam Altman and the company of abandoning its
open-source, safety-focused mission after partnering
with Microsoft for billions. He warned that advanced
AI could arrive next year, either boosting prosperity
or posing existential dangers, and urged instilling
human values early. OpenAI's lawyers countered that
Musk supported the for-profit move and sought control
himself, while the trial could force a nonprofit return
or massive damages. (Media Man Peg-On: Musk vs The
Rest)!
News
The
crypto market is falling, but Doge is on the rise
Market
Overview
The
crypto market cap has fallen by 1.09% over the past
24 hours to $2.53 trillion. This marks the third consecutive
day of a gradual market decline, which appears to
be a technical shake-out rather than a trend reversal.
Dogecoin (+3.3%) is once again leading the gains,
along with Tron (+0.6%) and Aptos (+0.1%).
Among
the underperformers are Aave (-5.7%), Trumpcoin (-5.3%)
and The Graph (-5.3%).
Bitcoin
is leading the decline in cryptocurrencies, having
switched to a sell-on-rally mode over the last three
days. This is clearly visible in the intraday pattern
of recent days, where a gradual rise has given way
to a decline at roughly the same pace. If we view
the latest move as a technical correction, its potential
target appears to be the area around $74K, where the
61.8% Fibonacci retracement line lies. The March peak
levels also lie here, reinforcing the significance
of this level.
Dogecoin
stands out modestly from the crowd of altcoins, leading
the growth of top coins for the third day in a row
and marking the fifth week of an uptrend. The $0.087
area has become a pivot point, where the coin also
saw steady demand in 2024 and where there were strong
buy orders on the slippage in October 2025. At the
same time, current prices near $0.105 are more than
20% above that level, indicating the start of a bull
market, according to traditional financial metrics.
It is still too early to speculate on expectations
of multiple-fold growth, as was the case two years
ago, since this would require a radical shift of all
cryptocurrencies into a bull market. But who knows,
perhaps we are seeing the first signs of recovery
after the crypto winter?
News
Background
The
crypto market entered a neutral phase in the second
quarter: there is no clear trend, and economic and
political factors are having a key influence on market
dynamics, according to Coinbase. Events in the Middle
East and fluctuations in oil prices remain among the
main drivers.
Net
inflows of Bitcoin to trading platforms have risen
to 30-day highs, notes analyst Woominkyu. In his view,
whales are transferring assets to exchanges for subsequent
sale.
Spot
trading volumes for Bitcoin on leading exchanges have
fallen to their lowest levels since September–October
2023, notes analyst Darkfost. Alphractal also highlights
the cooling of investor interest. The number of Google
searches for cryptocurrencies has reached a three-year
low.
73%
of respondents believe Bitcoin's current price is
undervalued, according to a survey of 100 institutional
and private investors conducted by Coinbase and Glassnode.
They remain cautiously optimistic and expect most
digital assets to recover within the quarter.
The
Governor of the Czech National Bank has proposed adding
Bitcoin to the central bank’s reserves to help
control inflation. Despite its volatility, BTC could
generate long-term returns, so it makes sense to allocate
1% of the state reserves to it. (FxPro)
News
April
28
Pop
Culture/Pro Wrestling/WWE/NXT
EVIL
From Japan Makes NXT Debut; Faced Off With Tony D!
Blake
Monroe Buried in Dramatic NXT Graveyard Farewell;
The Glamour Heading To Main Roster
NXT's
Ricky Saints Heading To WWE SmackDown
News
Google,
Meta shift $11b offshore, pay just $140m in tax
Technology
firms Meta and Google have come under ongoing criticism
over the fact that they seem to pay very little tax
on the huge amount of revenue they generate in Australia.
The criticism comes in particular from companies that
must compete with them, including banks and media
companies, while the federal government is set to
force them to enter into commercial agreements with
Australian news publishers. The criticism regarding
the low amount of tax that Google and Meta is not
likely to go away, given the revelation that they
transferred almost $11 billion to offshore entities
in service fees and reseller payments over the past
year, but only paid just over $140 million in tax.
(RMS)
News
Elon
Musk's OpenAI Trial Jury Selected in Oakland
Jury
selection finished Monday in federal court in Oakland,
California, for Musk's civil suit against OpenAI,
Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman. Musk, who helped launch
the nonprofit in 2015 with $45 million and no equity,
claims its for-profit pivot—now valued at $852
billion—betrays the original mission of open
AGI for humanity's benefit. He's seeking to unwind
the structure and potential $134 billion in damages,
while OpenAI calls the case baseless jealousy; opening
statements start Tuesday with testimony from Altman
and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expected. The jury's
findings will guide Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in
a trial set to last two to four weeks. (Media Man
Peg-On): Musk vs Altman. Pick'em Title, Who you got?!
News
News
Lead Up
WWE/Pop
Culture
Paul
Heyman Praises Lil Yachty Amid WWE Celebrity Backlash
On
SmackDown, Yachty celebrated new U.S. Champion Trick
Williams' WrestleMania 42 victory over Sami Zayn,
but Zayn ambushed them unmasked as a Gingerbread Man
with a Helluva Kick. Paul Heyman endorsed Yachty as
a respectful crossover star who honors WWE's history
and fans, countering backlash from viewers upset over
recent talent cuts like Aleister Black and Karrion
Kross. While some fans call it unwanted filler, others
praise the fun energy as WWE balances celebrities
with homegrown stories ahead of Backlash. (Media Man
Peg-On): We're going with Heyman on this. Yachty is
great and over with the audience for the most part.
News
UFC/MMA
(Australia)
UFC
Fight Night in Perth Features Main Event Between Jack
Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates
UFC
Fight Night is set for Perth, Western Australia, headlined
by a welterweight bout between top-ranked fighters
Jack Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates. The event,
promoted as UFC Perth, airs live on Paramount Plus.
(Media Man Peg-On): On paper this Fight Night down
under should be stronger/better than some of their
previous fight nights are far as match quality.
News
Pop
Culture/Lucha Libre
AAA
Announces New General Manager Reveal on May 23
On
the April 25 episode of AAA on Fox, President Marisela
Peña announced that Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
will get a new General Manager, with the live reveal
set for May 23 in Mexico City. This follows her son
Dorian Roldán's recent plea for the role, which
she decided to open to other candidates after careful
thought. Fans are speculating on names like Zelina
Vega, Rey Mysterio, or even The Undertaker, amid AAA's
growth since WWE's majority stake acquisition last
April and its new Fox broadcasts blending lucha action
with WWE polish. (Media Man Peg-On): Ariba. Triple
A has massive influence from The Undertaker, and it's
paying off as far as entertainment value for fans
and in other creative and business ways from what
we see and hear. Can see see Danhausen in Triple H
also? Lucha Hausen!
News
Lead Up
April
23
(Wall
St, New York) : April 24 (Sydney, Australia)
UFC
- MMA Building Stars Again
New
York Kind Of Feeling
US
Stocks - Black Friday - Black-ish Thursday into Friday
Post
WrestleMania; Road To WWE Backlash 2026
WWE
Management And Wrestlers Bullish; Wrestling and Boxing
Sports
Biz Event Tickets And Merch Drive
Danhausen
Lifts WWE Merch Hausen
Traditional
Big Tech Sector Takes Big Hit April 23
Media
Man Group Weekly Series
News
Lead Up
ASX
200 futures down 4 points: 0.1% to 8828
AUD
-0.4% to US71.30¢
Bitcoin
$78,168.22 +0.52%
Dogecoin
$0.09776 +2.24%
Ripple
aka XRP $1.4374 +1.48%
News
News
Flashback
November
2025
Polymarket
Partnership Could Be a Game Changer for TKO Group
Holdings (TKO)
Nov
17
(In
Case You Missed It)
Polymarket/UFC/TKO
Polymarket
recently announced a multi-year partnership making
it the Official and Exclusive Prediction Market Partner
for UFC and Zuffa Boxing, introducing real-time fan
prediction metrics directly into UFC broadcasts and
social media experiences.
This
collaboration marks the first time major sports organizations
have integrated prediction market technology into
the live fan experience, creating new ways for audiences
to interact and for TKO's sports brands to differentiate
themselves.
We'll
explore how this innovative fan engagement initiative
could strengthen TKO Group Holdings' investment narrative
by deepening audience connection and content value.
What
Is TKO Group Holdings' Investment Narrative?
To
see the value in TKO Group Holdings as a shareholder,
you really have to believe in its ability to keep
building out top sports entertainment brands like
UFC and WWE into global, multi-platform franchises.
A lot of the story is about continuing to grow earnings
and revenue faster than the overall market, attract
loyal audiences, and evolve with changes in media
rights, streaming, and digital fan engagement. Recent
announcements, such as the multi-year partnership
with Polymarket, reflect TKO’s push to unlock
new monetization avenues and deepen fan involvement.
However,
it’s unlikely this news will materially change
the core short-term catalysts, which are still dominated
by performance in key international deals, broadcast
partnerships, and the rollout of new events. The biggest
risks remain legal challenges, compression of media
rights value, and questions about board experience.
The new fan engagement efforts add differentiation,
but don’t directly reduce these core risks for
now. On the flip side, investors should pay close
attention to ongoing legal proceedings against TKO
and UFC.
TKO
Group Holdings' shares have been on the rise but are
still potentially undervalued by 15%.
Ten
retail investors in the Simply Wall St Community produced
fair value estimates for TKO ranging from US$63.92
to a very large US$37,618.47. While community views
can be widely split, ongoing legal challenges remain
a topic several market participants keep circling
back to as a concern for TKO’s future performance.
Explore these diverse perspectives and see how the
risks and opportunities stack up.
Historical
Data and Intel
TKO
Group: News
News
Flashback
Insider
Buying and Selling at TKO Group
In
related news, Director Nick Khan sold 45,168 shares
of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday,
July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price
of $170.82, for a total value of $7,715,597.76. Following
the completion of the sale, the director owned 156,494
shares in the company, valued at $26,732,305.08. This
represents a 22.40% decrease in their position. The
transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities
& Exchange Commission. Over the last 90 days,
insiders sold 73,725 shares of company stock valued
at $12,767,807. Corporate insiders own 61.30% of the
company's stock.
Wall
Street Analyst Weigh In
TKO
has been the subject of a number of recent analyst
reports. Baird R W raised TKO Group to a "strong-buy"
rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th.
Zacks Research upgraded TKO Group from a "strong
sell" rating to a "hold" rating in
a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Bank of
America upped their target price on TKO Group from
$200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy"
rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Robert
W. Baird began coverage on TKO Group in a report on
Friday, September 5th. They set an "outperform"
rating and a $225.00 target price for the company.
Finally, Roth Capital raised their target price on
TKO Group from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company
a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday,
August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with
a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating
and four have given a Hold rating to the company's
stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock
has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy"
and a consensus price target of $192.21.
TKO
Group Stock Up 0.0%
Shares
of NYSE:TKO traded up $0.09 during midday trading
on Friday, hitting $202.33. 897,072 shares of the
stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume
of 683,611. TKO Group Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week
low of $114.01 and a 52-week high of $204.10. The
business's fifty day simple moving average is $178.94
and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.22.
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a
quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. The
company has a market capitalization of $40.12 billion,
a PE ratio of 83.61 and a beta of 0.79.
TKO
Group (NYSE:TKO) last issued its quarterly earnings
results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported
$1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing
the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.06). TKO Group
had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of
2.82%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during
the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23
billion. During the same period in the prior year,
the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The
company's revenue for the quarter was up 53.7% compared
to the same quarter last year. As a group, research
analysts predict that TKO Group Holdings, Inc. will
post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal
year.
TKO
Group Increases Dividend
The
business also recently declared a quarterly dividend,
which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders
of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a
$0.76 dividend. This is an increase from TKO Group's
previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend
date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This
represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis
and a dividend yield of 1.5%. TKO Group's dividend
payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.81%.
TKO
Group Profile
TKO
Group Holdings, Inc operates as a sports and entertainment
company. The company produces and licenses live events,
television programs, and long-form and short-form
content, reality series, and other filmed entertainment
on digital and linear channels and via pay-per-view.
It is involved in the merchandising of video games,
apparel, equipment, trading cards, memorabilia, digital
goods, and toys, as well as sale of travel packages
and tickets.
News
Flashback
TKO
Group Holdings, Inc. is an American sports and sports
entertainment company. Established on September 12,
2023, the public company was formed by a merger between
Endeavor subsidiary Zuffa—the parent company
of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting
Championship —and the professional wrestling
promotion World Wrestling Entertainment. TKO is led
by CEO Ari Emanuel and president Mark Shapiro, both
of Endeavor; Dana White and Nick Khan retained their
roles as CEOs of UFC and WWE respectively upon the
merger, while WWE co-founder Vince McMahon served
as executive chairman until resigning from the company
in January 2024 amid a sex trafficking scandal. The
merger marked the first time that WWE has not been
solely and primarily majority-controlled by the McMahon
family, which founded the company and owned it for
over 70 years. As of 2024, the UFC and WWE were the
two most valuable combat sports organizations in the
world according to Forbes. UFC was listed as the most
valued mixed martial arts company with a revenue of
$1.406 billion and WWE being the most valued professional
wrestling promotion with a revenue of $1.398 billion
in 2023. (Wikipedia)
TKO
owns iconic properties including UFC, the world’s
premier mixed martial arts organization; WWE, the
global leader in sports entertainment; and PBR, the
world’s premier bull riding organization. Together,
these properties reach 210 countries and territories
and organize more than 500 live events year-round,
attracting more than three million fans.
TKO
also services and partners with major sports rights
holders through IMG, an industry-leading global sports
marketing agency; and On Location, a global leader
in premium experiential hospitality. (Credit: TKO
Group)
News
Best
Quotes Of The Day
"An
investment in ones self is always the best bet"
Greg Tingle, Media Man Group
Media
Man
Big
Tech groups disclose $10bn in charges from job culls
and cost cutting Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft
reveal hefty price tag as they rein in spending
Big
Tech groups disclose $10bn in charges from job culls
and cost cutting
Amazon,
Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft reveal hefty price tag
as they rein in spending
Amazon,
Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft will collectively incur
more than $10bn in charges related to mass redundancies,
real estate and other cost-saving measures, as the
Big Tech companies reveal the hefty price they incur
to rein in spending.
The
US companies that have been implementing the largest
job cuts in the tech sector disclosed the high costs
related to their restructuring efforts in earnings
statements released this week.
The
four groups had previously announced 50,000 job cuts
to convince Wall Street they were heading into a “year
of efficiency”, as Meta chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg described it. This trend comes after more
than a decade of heavy spending in a focus on aggressive
top-line growth.
Despite
the companies’ high upfront costs such as severance
payments, investors appear encouraged by the steps
taken.
Since
formally announcing their cuts, the companies have
together added more than $800bn to their market capitalisations.
Meta, the earliest mover among the Big Tech groups,
has seen its value almost double since detailing its
job cuts in November.
While
savings could have been made by implementing more
gradual cost reductions, tech companies were being
rewarded by the markets for “ripping the band
aid off”, said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
“Big
Tech has been spending money like 80s rock stars for
the last four to five years,” he said. “It
feels like there’s adults in the room now.”
The
process to become leaner in the wake of macroeconomic
pressure contrasts starkly with the pandemic-era hiring
boom, with headcounts increasing rapidly at tech companies
that were responding to a rise in demand in digital
products and services.
Apple
remains the only large tech company that has not announced
any job cuts or a cost-cutting programme, despite
on Thursday reporting its first decline in quarterly
revenues in three and a half years.
According
to Layoffs.fyi, a tracker logging instances of tech
redundancies, almost 250,000 employees have been let
go across the sector since the start of last year.
Some
of the most recent, from this past week, include software
group Okta, which laid off 300 employees, data analysis
company Splunk, with 325, and image-sharing social
network Pinterest, which said 150 roles would go.
The
deepest cuts have come from the biggest names. In
November, Meta announced it would let go 11,000 of
its employees, as well as dump office space and data
centres.
On
Wednesday, the Facebook parent detailed charges of
$4.6bn related to restructuring. Severance costs ran
to $975mn, according to a company filing, though that
cost was offset by “decreases in payroll, bonus
and other benefits expenses”. A further $1bn
in charges related to reducing office footprint is
expected in 2023.
Amazon
chief executive Andy Jassy told employees in January
the company would eliminate 18,000 roles.
Speaking
to investors on Thursday, Amazon’s chief financial
officer Brian Olsavsky said $640mn had been spent
on severance in the fourth quarter of 2022, as well
as an additional $720mn on abandoning real estate,
primarily due to pulling back on opening new physical
grocery stores. The company did not share further
details on charges it might incur in the current quarter
and beyond.
Google
parent Alphabet, which is laying off 12,000 people,
said it expected to incur severance costs ranging
from $1.9bn to $2.3bn, with most of the impact in
the current quarter. At the high end of that guidance,
the cost of severance will work out at approximately
$191,000 per employee. Alphabet faces a further $500mn
in costs relating to office space reduction in the
current quarter, it said.
Despite
the cuts, Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat
told investors on Thursday the company would continue
“hiring in priority areas, with a particular
focus on top engineering and technical talent, as
well as on the global footprint of our talent”.
Microsoft’s
planned savings — which include 10,000 job cuts
— has resulted in it incurring a $1.2bn charge
in the final three months of 2022, $800mn of which
was from severance pay.
Salesforce,
which will not report earnings until March, is expected
to be another company facing significant restructuring
costs, having announced a 10 per cent reduction in
its workforce last month. That move came as activist
investor Elliott Management took a multibillion-dollar
stake in the company, saying it intended to work “constructively
with Salesforce to realise the value befitting a company
of its stature”.
Likewise,
Alphabet has drawn attention from activist Sir Christopher
Hohn, of TCI Fund Management, who wrote to chief executive
Sundar Pichai, saying he needed to make further headcount
cuts and trim “excessive employee compensation”.
Mass
Tech Layoffs Continue In 2023
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