SpaceX, Charter Communications Explore Mobile Partnership to Expand Starlink Wireless Service 
Samsung Electronics Stock Surges on Report of Massive $59 Billion Share Buyback Plan 
Tesla and NatPower Partner on $5 Billion Battery Storage Expansion in Europe 
OpenAI May Delay IPO to 2027 Amid $1 Trillion Valuation Goal 
White House Seeks $87.6 Billion Emergency Funding for Iran War, Farmers, and Ebola Response 
South Korea’s KOSPI Plunges as Apple Price Hikes and OpenAI IPO Delay Shake AI Chip Stocks 
Amazon Prime Day 2026 Sales Top $26.4 Billion as Shoppers Chase Discounts Amid Inflation 
Trump Requests $11 Billion More in Farm Aid as Rising Costs Pressure U.S. Farmers 
Gold Prices Rise Above $4,000 as Inflation Data and Weaker Dollar Boost Demand 
Asian Stocks Sink as Apple Price Hikes Spark AI Valuation Fears, South Korea and Japan Lead Selloff 
Bank Regulation Rollbacks in the U.S. and UK Could Increase Financial Risks, Study Warns 
Trip.com Shares Tumble After Q1 Profit Drops and Weak Revenue Growth Outlook 
US Dollar Slips After PCE Inflation Data as Fed Rate Hike Expectations Stay Elevated 
Firmus Partners With Nvidia to Deliver 170,000 AI GPUs in $30 Billion Cloud Infrastructure Deal 
Bain Capital Nears Deal for Majority Stake in Volkswagen Marine Engine Unit Everllence 
Kioxia Targets U.S. Listing as AI Chip Boom Accelerates 
Nike CFO Shake-Up Fuels Concerns Over Turnaround Strategy 
Walt Disney chief executive officer Bob Chapek rejected the calls of investors to spin off its sports cable channel, ESPN. The call has been spearheaded by billionaire and activist investor, Daniel Loeb.
Chapek said that Disney has been flooded with interest from other media over its sports network. He explained that if everybody is expressing interest in acquiring ESPN, then it only means the channel has a lot of potential.
"If everyone wants to come in and buy it or spin it with us, I think that says something about its potential," the Disney chief told the Financial Times. "I think its potential is within the Disney company. We have a plan for it that will restore ESPN to its growth trajectory.
In any case, Loeb and his Third Point hedge fund firm revealed it has acquired a new stake in Disney. With this, he said they have plans to shake up the company. The scheme includes spinning off ESPN to buy back shares and add more board members.
Then again, with Chapek’s rejection of the ESPN spin-off suggestion, CNBC reported that Loeb backs off and will stop asking Disney to sell it. The investor indicated that he would retreat and reverses a position he had been pushing less than a month ago. Loeb also posted a tweet that revealed his new position regarding the matter.
“We have a better understanding of @espn's potential as a standalone business and another vertical for $DIS to reach a global audience to generate ad and subscriber revenues,” he tweeted the past weekend. “We look forward to seeing Mr. Pitaro (Disney’s chairman) execute on the growth and innovation plans generating considerable synergies of The Walt Disney Company.”
We have a better understanding of @espn's potential as a standalone business and another vertical for $DIS to reach a global audience to generate ad and subscriber revenues. We look forward to seeing Mr. Pitaro execute on the growth contd. https://t.co/Gobvf8KS2w
— Daniel S. Loeb (@DanielSLoeb1) September 11, 2022
The changes in the activist investor’s stance come after he bought a new stake in Disney worth $1 billion in the second quarter. This is equivalent to 0.4% of the company. Disney’s shares increased around 6.5% over the last month. Meanwhile, a company official reiterated that ESPN is still one of the integral parts of the Walt Disney Company.
