Sustainable Finance Newsletter - Musk investor Gerber is 'kind of done with X'

Unity Software

20/11/2024 17:19

By Ross Kerber
       Nov 20 (Reuters) - For all the big-name investors in
Elon Musk's social media platform X, few have responded to
concerns that the service formerly known as Twitter has become
an echo chamber for disinformation and conspiracy theories, as a
Spanish newspaper said last week as it stopped posting.
    
An exception is the California-based investor Ross Gerber, who 
recently spoke to me for an interview you can read below.   

Meanwhile Trump's ongoing appointments to his administration
have big business implications, as you will find below in the
"company news" section. Plus I linked to a story about the tough
stage that U.N.-backed climate talks have reached and to the
announcement of new investments by California's top pension
fund. 
    
You can follow me on LinkedIn. Or you can email me at  
         
Musk investor Gerber is 'kind of done with X'
Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election victory seems set to
have a wide impact on the businesses of Elon Musk, including his
social media platform X.
    
Some Wall Street banks hope the billionaire's close ties with
the president-elect will boost X's prospects and help them
offload $13 billion of debt that backed Musk's 2022 purchase of
what was then Twitter.
 
Other investors sound disillusioned, including Ross Gerber of
Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management of Santa Monica,
California, a backer of Musk's ventures who told me "I'm kind of
done with X". 
    
You can read my column on the topic this week by clicking here.
    
Company News - Trump administration edition 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to purge the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration shortly before President-elect Donald Trump
nominated him for health secretary. Kennedy's views on vaccines
and other topics will most likely draw opposition from many
public health advocates and a pharmaceutical industry that pays
much of the regulator's bills.
 
Trump also has picked Brendan Carr as chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission. Carr is currently the top Republican
on the FCC, the agency that regulates telecommunications. He has
called for it to loosen rules that limit the number of radio and
TV stations a company can own in a single market, and has
advocated for the FCC's hard line on Chinese telecom companies.
    
And, on Tuesday Trump said he will nominate Wall Street CEO
Howard Lutnick to lead his trade and tariff strategy as head of
the Commerce Department. Lutnick, whose domain stretches from
brokerages to real estate, has become one of Donald Trump's
biggest promoters from the business world.
     
On my radar  
Vanguard will give clients a say on the proxy votes of some $250
billion of its assets next year, doubling the scale of its
effort to bring corporate democracy to the masses. Other fund
firms have similar efforts to pass along their voting, which
could diminish political heat they face.
 
The chief negotiator at the U.N-backed climate summit in Baku
warned colleagues that the "hardest part" was about to start in
talks over how much money should be provided to developing
countries to help them adapt to weather disasters and transition
to cleaner energy. 
    
The California Public Employees' Retirement System said it has
committed more than $53 billion to climate-focused investments,
in line with plans it rolled out last year.

 (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))