Posts by lucidcapitalism
Blackstone to buy ESG software provider Sphera in $1.4 bln deal
(Reuters) Blackstone Group Inc said it will buy Sphera, a environmental, social and governance (ESG) software, data and consulting services provider, from private equity firm Genstar Capital in a $1.4 billion deal.
Read MoreTwilio, Asana to list on Long-Term Stock Exchange as ESG push continues
(WSJ) Exchange hopes to be signal to investors of which companies have sustainable practices.
Read MoreHow Twitter hired tech’s biggest critics to build ethical AI
(Protocol) Machine learning engineer Ari Font was worried about the future of Twitter’s algorithms. It was mid-2020, and the leader of the team researching ethics and accountability for the company’s ML had just left Twitter. For Font, the future of the ethics research was unclear. Font was the manager of Twitter’s machine learning platforms teams…
Read MoreTop tech groups try to dilute ESG disclosure rules
(Financial Times) Microsoft and Alphabet have pushed back against calls to include disclosures on environmental, social and governance issues in key US regulatory filings, setting them on course for a tussle with major asset managers.
Read MoreBiden elevates tech antitrust crusader Lina Khan to FTC chair
(TechCrunch) The Senate confirmed Big Tech critic and prominent antitrust scholar Lina Khan as FTC Commissioner Tuesday. In a strong and surprising signal that the tech industry is overdue for some intense regulatory scrutiny, Biden elevated the newly-confirmed Khan to chair the agency the same day.
Read MoreDoes Tech Need a New Narrative?
(The New Yorker) In Silicon Valley, “disruption” is giving way to “building.” What will be built? In 2009, Marc Andreessen—a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and angel investor best known for cofounding Netscape, in 1994, at the age of twenty-two—announced that he would be starting a venture-capital firm. “I’m crossing over into the dark side,” he said,…
Read MoreThese are the areas where LGBTQ workers feel their employers fall short
(The Business Journals) Rainbow logos abound in June to honor Pride Month, but recently released data indicate LGBTQ+ employees are less satisfied at work than their colleagues.
Read MoreTech companies made big pledges to fight racism last year — here’s how they’re doing so far
(CNBC) Last June, social media feeds became flooded with corporate statements about how companies would promote racial equity within and beyond their workforce. The commitments came after the police murder of George Floyd sparked protests around the country.
Read MoreSEC Ousts Head of Top Audit Regulator Amid Warren Pressure
(Bloomberg) The SEC announced the removal of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman William Duhnke.
Read MoreOpinion: The ‘Mean Greens’ Are Forcing Exxon to Clean Up Its Act
(New York Times) Since the 1990s, the wisest oil-producing countries and companies have regularly reminded themselves of the oil patch adage that the Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stones; it ended because we invented bronze tools.
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