Bloomberg Businessweek

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Bloomberg Businessweek August 20, 2018

ROUNDUP: COURTESY ROUNDUP. ALGAE: JULIE DERMANSKY. HALLQUIST: CHARLES KRUPA/AP PHOTO

 IN BRIEF

By Kyle Stock

○ In Genoa, Italy,

a bridge collapse

killed at least 39

people on Aug. 14.

○ A grand jury found

that more than

300 Pennsylvania priests

covered up abuse of

at least 1,000 children

over a 70-year period.

In a statement, Catholic

bishops called for prayers

for the victims.

○ The U.S.

Securities

and Exchange

Commission

subpoenaed Tesla

on Aug. 15.

○ Bitmain Technologies,

one of the world’s

biggest producers of

cryptocurrency-mining

hardware, is said to be

planning a

$3b

Hong Kong IPO. Prices for

Bitcoin have tumbled more

than 65 percent from their

peak of more than $18,

last December.

○ The Central

Bank of Argentina

boosted its key

interest rate to

45 percent as

fallout from the

Turkey crisis

spread through

emerging-market

economies.

○ Former utility CEO

Christine Hallquist

became the first

transgender

gubernatorial nominee for

a major U.S. party when she

took 48 percent of the vote

in Vermont’s Democratic

primary on Aug. 14.

○ Monsanto was

ordered to pay

$289 million in

a lawsuit over

its Roundup

and Ranger Pro

weed killers.

A California jury determined that the

company hadn’t done enough to warn

consumers that the main ingredient,

glyphosate, can cause cancer.

The Aug. 10 verdict may embolden

thousands more potential plaintifs.

Shares of Bayer, which closed its

$63 billion acquisition of Monsanto in

June, swooned as much as 14 percent

the next day of trading. The company

plans to appeal the decision.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo

Salvini used the occasion to attack

the budget constraints the European

Union has imposed, speculating

that they may be to blame for a fatal

lack of upkeep.

The demand for information came

after CEO Elon Musk’s Aug. 7 tweet

saying he was considering taking the

company private. Both the SEC and

Tesla declined to comment.

○ Tencent Holdings reported its first quarterly profit drop in at least a decade, citing delays from Chinese regulators.

○ Netflix CFO David Wells will step down after eight years that included the company’s expansion into original content.

○ New Zealand banned foreigners from buying existing homes in a bid to cool its real estate market.

○ Beer maker Constellation Brands put $3.8 billion into pot producer Canopy Growth, raising its stake to 38 percent.

○ “We are the first

to stand up against the

‘Deal of the Century,’

and we will continue to

fight it until it is dropped.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the Trump

administration’s peace proposal, which hasn’t yet been unveiled, in an Aug. 15

speech to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council.

○ Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in seven counties

from Tampa Bay to the Everglades as blooms of toxic algae continued to choke

waterways, depress tourism, and cause health problems among residents.