Elon Musk under investigation over Twitter takeover deal

This was announced by Twitter in a court document that has now been published. Also: Apple is introducing savings accounts for Apple Card holders and Volkswagen is investing in autonomous driving in China.

Good morning! While you slept, work continued elsewhere in the digital scene.

The top topics:

Elon Musk is because of his Twitter-Takeover deals targeted by US investigative authorities. A court filing released by the social media company revealed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is currently reviewing the Tesla CEO’s takeover bid. According to the filing, since July, Twitter has been trying to obtain materials related to the tech billionaire’s efforts to buy the company. The filing relates to a letter from the SEC to Musk. In it, the agency is requesting information related to a tweet by Musk published in May that the “deal cannot go ahead” until the company provides him with more information about spam and fraud accounts.

Twitter sued Musk in July to force him to close the deal. Both parties were scheduled to appear in court in Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 17, but Musk reversed course again last week and said he would buy Twitter at the agreed price of $54.20 per share. Musk now has until October 28 to complete the acquisition. [Mehr bei CNBC, The Guardian und Reuters]

On the founding scene: Of the Solarboom is there. Should solar founders exit now or wait? And is now the right time for new founders to enter the business? Our colleague Steffen Bosse spoke to M&A expert Kai Hesselmann about this. [Mehr bei Gründerszene+]

And here are the other headlines of the night:

Apple is expanding its financial services offering: The company will soon allow iPhone users to transfer credit card rewards from the Apple Card and additional funds from segregated bank accounts to an interest-bearing savings account. The account is managed by the lender behind the Apple Card, Goldman Sachs, managed. However, Apple has yet to announce an annual return. By getting into interest-bearing accounts, Apple is benefiting from rising interest rates. [Mehr bei CNBC und Techcrunch]

Volkswagen wants to enter the Chinese market with a joint venture in the development of its own technologies for autonomous driving. The focus here is on the co-design of software and microchips. The VW Group wants about 2.4 billion euros in the cooperation of the software division Love With Horizon Robotics put. The Wolfsburg-based company retains a 60 percent majority in the company. The project is scheduled to be implemented in the first half of 2023. [Mehr bei Bloomberg und Techcrunch]

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, jumped in profits in the third quarter. The Taiwanese group is benefiting from the high demand from data centers and e-car manufacturers. However, the Apple and Qualcomm supplier also announced that it would cut its investment budget by at least ten percent to around $36 billion. Net income soared 80 percent to €9.1 billion in the July-September period, beating analyst estimates. Sales climbed 36 percent. [Mehr bei Handelsblatt und Wall Street Journal]

Netflix starts its discounted subscription with advertising in early November. The tariff includes five minutes of advertising per hour. The subscription in Germany is 4.99 euros per month and is therefore more than half cheaper than the previous entry-level price. The ad-supported tariff will be launched in twelve countries, including France, Great Britain and the USA. So far there is no advertising on Netflix, the previous basic tariff costs 7.99 euros per month, the standard tariff 12.99 euros and the premium subscription 17.99 euros. [Mehr bei Handelsblatt, The Information, Techcrunch und Wall Street Journal]

Skydance, the Hollywood studio led by David Ellison, has raised $400 million in a strategic investment round led by KKR & Co. The studio, founded in 2010, has a valuation of over four billion dollars. The money will be used to further expand work in sports, interactive entertainment and animation, the company said. Skydance has produced a number of successful projects, including Top Gun: Maverick, which generated more than $1 billion in ticket sales that year. [Mehr bei Bloomberg]

Our reading tip on Gründerszene: She dropped out of school, worked as a model and is already founding her second startup. We visited the founder of Good BankGermany’s first vertical farming restaurant. [Mehr bei Gründerszene]

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Happy Friday!

Your Gründerszene editors