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Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman says he will move management company out of Delaware

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman speaks into a microphone.
Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.

Adam Jeffery/CNBC via Getty Images

  • Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman says he is moving his management company out of Delaware.
  • It follows similar statements from companies like DropBox, Meta, and SpaceX.
  • Some corporations are turning against Delaware, historically considered a business-friendly state.

Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, says he will move his management company out of Delaware to reincorporate in Nevada.

His announcement, which came in a post on X on Saturday morning, was in response to news that DropBox was making a similar move. "We are reincorporating our management company in Nevada for the same reason. Top law firms are recommending Nevada and Texas over Delaware," Ackman said.

Pershing Square Capital Management did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Other high-profile public companies have also announced their exit from Delaware, former President Joe Biden's home state, over the last year as some corporations turn against the historically business-friendly state.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk spent much of 2024 encouraging companies incorporated in Delaware to leave after a judge repeatedly struck down his $55 billion Tesla compensation package, which a shareholder lawsuit argued was excessive. The decision prompted Musk to move SpaceX to Texas.

Much of the concern for these established public companies is a series of recent Delaware court rulings, including the one on Musk's pay package, that further empower shareholders to challenge executive decisions.

Meta, which maintains a corporate structure that gives CEO Mark Zuckerberg near total control, said it was also considering leaving Delaware to reincorporate in Texas or another state, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Billionaire CEOs like Ackman, Zuckerberg, and Musk hope that courts in other states, such as Texas or Nevada, will be less permissive of lawsuits from shareholders and boards of directors.

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Behind the Curtain: Trump's whirlwind streak of purges, punishment and payback

America has never witnessed so many people purged or punished by an incoming president so quickly. White House sources tell us this is just the beginning.

  • On Friday night, a Defense Department memo said four major news organizations β€” The New York Times, NBC News, NPR and Politico β€” will have to move out of their longtime workspace on Correspondents' Corridor in the Pentagon, an unprecedented move, under a new Annual Media Rotation Program for Pentagon Press Corps.
  • "Hope those hit pieces on Pete were worth it," a source close to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but not involved in the decision-making, told us.

Why it matters: President Trump long promised to oust and punish people his administration deemed political enemies or unfair critics. His administration is doing this faster, deeper and wider than many in Washington expected.

  • Democrats on the Hill are warning that Trump is sometimes acting outside the law β€” and without regard for government services Americans rely on, and for the American tradition that a president must be subject to checks, balances, scrutiny and criticism.

The big picture:Β The danger in moving so fast, so wide is losing vital, seasoned talent in hard-to-fill, essential governmental roles. It sets a precedent for future presidents to quickly remake the government in their image or ideological mold β€” and extend the power of the presidency.

  • Trump advisers see this much differently, of course. They argue the government is filled with anti-Trump activists and bureaucratic lifers who can be eliminated with little cost. The depth and breadth of actions in the first two weeks show the results.

Zoom out: In the first 12 days of Trump II, the president also revoked clearances and government security protection for several former officials.

Zoom in: This is unprecedented territory for Washington governance. Take the early strikes against the FBI and its role in investigating and prosecuting those involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

  • Not only did Trump take the unprecedented step of pardoning virtually all involved, including violent criminals. His team is hunting down those involved in the probe, ousting many. Some of these prosecutors and officials didn't choose the case but were assigned to do it, did their job, and moved on.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove identified more than a half-dozen FBI senior executives who were ordered to retire or be fired by Monday, AP reports.

  • Bove asked for the names and titles of FBI employees who worked on investigations into the Capitol riot β€” a list the bureau's acting director said could number in the thousands.
  • "Forcing out both agents and prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases would amount to a wide-scale assault on the Justice Department," the N.Y. Times notes (gift link).

Then consider the Friday night announcement about Pentagon workspace for top news organizations. Every administration has the option of who gets seats and who doesn't.

  • But the message to mainstream media was unmistakable and not masked. The Pentagon said invitations will go out to the New York Post, One America News Network and Breitbart (Trump-friendly outlets), plus Huffington Post (which doesn't have a Pentagon correspondent and didn't request a space).
  • NBC News said in a statement: "We're disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we've used for many decades. Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has."
  • NPR said in a statement to Axios: "This decision interferes with the ability of millions of Americans to directly hear from Pentagon leadership, and with NPR's public interest mission to serve Americans who turn to our network of local public media stations in all 50 states. NPR will continue to report with vigor and integrity on the transformation this Administration has promised to deliver. NPR urges the Pentagon to expand the offices available to press within the building so that all outlets covering the Pentagon receive equal access."

The bottom line: Moves like this are designed to send signals and make plain the consequences of tough coverage.

Editor's note: Updates with NPR statement.

Taiwan bans government agencies from using DeepSeek, citing security concerns

A laptop keyboard and DeepSeek on App Store displayed on a phone

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

  • Taiwan has banned government agencies from using DeepSeek.
  • Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs said the technology "endangers national information security."
  • The arrival of the Chinese AI lab's R1 model sent shock waves through markets last week.

Taiwan has banned government agencies from using DeepSeek, citing security concerns.

Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs said in a statement on Friday that public sector workers and critical infrastructure facilities should not use the Chinese company's technology, as "its operation involves cross-border transmission and information leakage" and "endangers national information security."

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek made headlines in January after unveiling a new flagship AI model called R1, which it says matches the reasoning capabilities of US models such as OpenAI's o1 but for a fraction of the cost.

Its arrival sent shock waves through markets, with AI stocks tumbling last week.

But the company is already facing regulatory hurdles in some countries.

Italy's Data Protection Authority (called Garante) announced on Thursday that it had blocked access to the DeepSeek app to protect Italian users' data.

Garante said the decision came as it was unhappy with DeepSeek's response to a query about the app's use of personal data.

"Contrary to what was found by the Authority, the companies declared that they do not operate in Italy and that European legislation does not apply to them," Garante said in a statement, adding that it was launching an investigation.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission reportedly said earlier this week that it had also written to DeepSeek for more information about how it processes Irish users' data.

In the UK, Feryal Clark, the AI minister, issued a warning to British citizens thinking of using DeepSeek.

"Ultimately it is a personal choice for people, whether they decide to download it or not," Clark said in an interview with Bloomberg. "My advice will be to make sure if people are downloading it that they are alert to the potential risks and they know how their data will be used."

DeepSeek, which began as an AI side project for Chinese entrepreneur Liang Wenfeng, was founded in 2023.

Read the original article on Business Insider

I briefly spoke to a firefighter that I found attractive. I drew a stick figure of him and the internet found him for me.

Woman holding stick figure sketch
Amelia Samson drew a stick figure of a man she found attractive

Courtesy of Amelia Samson

  • Amelia Samson is a 31-year-old content creator in Seattle.
  • She briefly spoke with a good-looking firefighter during an emergency at her house.
  • She wanted to find him, so she drew a stick figure of him and posted it online.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Amelia Samson. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In October 2022, I hosted a little party at my house to celebrate the 100th episode of theΒ podcastΒ I co-hosted. EarlyΒ in the evening, 10 of my friends and I were on the roof having drinks.

My friend had brought a date that none of us knew. Although she seemed fine when she first showed up, someone asked her if she was OK minutes after she arrived. She was swaying and falling over. We were trying to figure out what was happening. All of a sudden, she flopped over and started vomiting, her eyes rolling back. Multiple people jumped to hold her up and turn her on her side so she didn't choke.

We called 911. Shortly after, firefighters turned up at the house. I guess emergency services were really busy that night, so firefighters were all they had to send. These men were stunning. To guests who were showing up during the mayhem, it actually looked like we had ordered strippers.

There was one firefighter that stood out

Last to come out of the truck was a firefighter who looked like he was 6ft3, built, and had the standard firefighter mustache and the kindest eyes. Everyone at the party was whispering to each other about how handsome he was.

He was the one who went up to check on the clearly unwell girl. He gently talked to her and asked her some questions. As the other firefighters prepared to leave, he asked me about our podcast. I saw his wedding finger and he didn't have a ring.

Once they left, everyone talked about what had happened and the attractive man who came to the rescue.

I drew a stick figure to find him

In the following days, my friends made jokes about the firefighter. Kicking myself for not talking to him more, I briefly flicked through fire department rosters. After a few minutes, I decided to let the internet do its thing: I drew a stick figure of him and posted a video of it on TikTok. Almost immediately, a friend of the guy's wife got in touch to say she knew exactly who it was but that he was married and a new dad.

I made a quick, funny video response of being sad about the revelation but then moved on.

A month later, I was tagged in a video that showed a mug with my drawing on it in front of the fire station. I thought it was the best thing ever. Apparently, one of the firefighters' wives had seen the drawing and put it on mugs to give to the fire department.

I was glad they could laugh about it β€” it was so lighthearted.

Just a few weeks later, I was tagged in another video, but I didn't see the tag until a few months later, in February 2023. The firefighter's niece had posted a video of everyone in his family posing with T-shirts they had all received for Christmas with the stick figure drawing on them, with his relation to them underneath the drawing. His dad's T-shirt read "son," and his niece's T-shirt said "uncle."

I got to experience the best of the internet

I just loved this outcome. I'm assuming that his wife had filmed the video because she wasn't in it, and the voice laughing behind the camera was a woman. How great that she could laugh about it and not be offended that other people think her husband is hot.

But every single time I see a fire truck, I try very hard not to make eye contact with the guys in the truck. I'd be mortified if one of them recognized me.

When I shared this on social media, most people told me they loved this story β€” it was so much fun. This was the very best of the internet. It connected people and made people laugh.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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