Amazon to cut workforce + Fake Twitter accounts cost brands billions
Amazon to cut workforce + Fake Twitter accounts cost brands billions
A quick fix of the latest financial happenings.
Good morning, investors!
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Without further ado…
Amazon Layoffs Expected to Impact 10,000 Workers
When economic outlooks become bleak and profits are in jeopardy, companies often look inwardly for a solution — and by that I mean they blow up underperforming divisions and take an ax to their employee headcount.
Amazon is the latest tech giant to do just that. On Monday, rumblings of a massive layoff began to surface, as insiders estimated 10,000 employees would be impacted. Then Dave Limp, the Senior Vice President of Devices & Services at Amazon, confirmed the layoff in a company blog post. Here’s a snippet:
“After a deep set of reviews, we recently decided to consolidate some teams and programs. One of the consequences of these decisions is that some roles will no longer be required. It pains me to have to deliver this news as we know we will lose talented Amazonians from the Devices & Services org as a result.”
Granted, Amazon has almost 1.5 million employees across the globe, so this impacts less than 1% of its workforce. But it’s still noteworthy.
Two Stocks Nosedive After ‘Verified’ Twitter Accounts Impersonate Corporate Brands
Twitter’s “verified” badge has been a highly coveted account feature for quite some time. While small in stature, this little check mark signaled status and legitimacy. To qualify, you had to be a person of influence — celebrities, athletes, politicians, journalists, business moguls, philanthropists, etc. Plus, you had to validate your identity via a government-issued ID, a website link, and an official email.
And then Musk took over.
Now, you can buy this symbol of legitimacy for the low, low price of $8 per month. Sure, this approach is more inclusive and fair to the general public, but it comes with consequences. That little check mark is imprinted in Twitter users’ brains — we unconsciously see it and assume the account is real.
Chaos ensued, especially for big, easy-to-target corporate brands.
Considering the U.S. accounts for 75% of Lockheed Martin’s net sales, this would effectively put the company out of business. Fortunately, Lockheed Martini (a clever name for a potent cocktail) doesn’t speak for the defense company, at least officially.
Unfortunately, that little “i” is easy to miss. Shares of LMT fell 5.5% in a day. Lockheed lost $7 billion of market cap — all thanks to a fake tweet.
A pair of Eli Lilly imposter accounts also announced dramatic price changes to insulin, one of the company’s biggest products.
Eli Lilly (the real business) lost $15.6 billion of market cap. Management wasn’t pleased, suspending all Twitter advertising campaigns.
Shares of LLY fell 4.5%. For comparison, the S&P 500 was up 0.9% on the day.
Three Eye-Opening Tweets
And finally, we close with three eye-opening tweets.
This is just funny.
This is concerning.
This is bold. (FYI — this is the president of El Salvador.)
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