TikTok is making the most of the clock. A new bill introduced in U.S. Congress is seeking to ban the popular social media app but offers up similar solutions to the problem that vexed lawmakers and two presidents for four years. Congress could vote to implement a law that is messy. But that just means it’ll take time, all while TikTok grows more powerful. The House of Representatives is set to vote Wednesday on legislation that gives the parent of TikTok, China’s ByteDance, an ultimatum: sell the short-form video app or risk banishment from digital stores. While it cites ByteDance and TikTok

  Sometimes a mud-covered object is a gem. Often, though, it’s just quartz. That’s the issue facing Cisco Systems after it announced on Thursday a $28 billion acquisition of big data and cybersecurity outfit Splunk. The all-cash deal banks on Cisco drumming up growth – and the $215 billion networking giant assumes the risk for executing it. The company run by Chuck Robbins is looking to diversify away from its original business: selling hardware like routers and switches that connect computers and communication networks. Splunk in theory has enough to offer. Its software helps people monitor and search large pools of data.

Yelp has garnered another bad review – though this one may have some golden advice. Half a decade after another rabble-rousing shareholder launched a campaign at the $2 billion local review website, activist TCS Capital now wants Yelp to find a buyer or merger partner. Top of the list is Barry Diller’s home-improvement shop Angi, itself a recent creation of consolidation. While potential cost savings amid a tough market argue for a combination, a proposed $70 a share deal price might be a stretch too far. TCS President Eric Semler wrote a letter to Yelp Chair Diane Irvine on Tuesday chock-full of disappointment and

Alibaba’s biggest overhaul in over two decades might prove contagious. China’s e-commerce group is splitting into six units, some of which may then be listed or sold. That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators and politicians keen to control strategic businesses. Other tech giants like Tencent may follow. The restructuring will give each of Alibaba’s six businesses, which include its core commerce division, as well as cloud computing, games and logistics units, their own chief executive and board of directors. More importantly, each division will have the option to “pursue independent fundraising and IPOs”, according to boss Daniel Zhang,

Salesforce has succumbed to the swarm. The software developer revealed financial progress in its quarterly results, indicated it would throttle pricey deals and installed new board members, including a representative from ValueAct Capital. Unless pushy Elliott Management presents some superstar board nominees, it would be overkill to ask for more. Co-Founder and Chief Executive Marc Benioff said on Wednesday that improving profitability is the company’s top priority. As evidence of the commitment, Salesforce said in January that it would lay off 10% of its workers. Its adjusted operating margin is already improving, up to 22.5% for the financial year finished Jan.

Elon Musk can finally say “funding secured” without getting into trouble. The Tesla boss angered U.S. securities regulators in 2018 by falsely claiming he was taking the electric carmaker private. On Thursday, his bid for Twitter became less virtual with the disclosure that he’s lined up financing. It’s also become more risky, though. The entrepreneur is mulling a tender offer for the social network at $54.20 a share, valuing its equity at about $44 billion. Add in Twitter’s $5 billion of debt and about $1 billion of fees, and the total is about $50 billion, excluding cash on the company’s balance

Twitter hasn’t wasted time. After Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk disclosed a 9% stake in the roughly $41 billion social media company on Monday, the firm appointed him to its board of directors. That’s defensible, as Musk has a solid record in running technology companies, and with over 80 million followers, it’s an insurance policy he won’t start his own platform. But Twitter’s value is up $10 billion since his stake was disclosed. His presence doesn’t validate such a big jump. Musk and Twitter already have a longstanding relationship: He’s the eighth most popular user on the service, as measured by followers,

Google needs no help to detect its biggest threat in the cloud. Lagging in market share, the Alphabet unit said on Tuesday it will bolster its cloud services by spending $5.4 billion to acquire cybersecurity firm Mandiant. It’s a sensible move that also keeps a market leader out of Microsoft’s hands. But catching up with this rival will take more work. Mandiant, once the crown jewel of larger security firm FireEye, made its name responding to high-profile cyberattacks like the infamous 2020 SolarWinds breach. FireEye, then valued at around $5 billion, acquired Mandiant for around $1 billion in 2014. In 2021, the latter

If Microsoft has kicked off the game of who could buy Activision Blizzard, Netflix could be a surprise winner. The software giant’s $69 billion bid for the maker of “Call of Duty” is likely to run into trouble in Washington, which opens up the fray to rival bidders – particularly those who covet video game assets, and don’t face Microsoft’s high risk of regulatory challenges. Microsoft agreed on Tuesday to pay Activision $95 per share in cash. That would be the Windows creator’s biggest deal ever. Yet investors are already telegraphing trouble ahead. Activision’s stock was trading at about a 15% discount

Occasionally the initial public offering market throws up a bargain. Octave Klaba would say that’s the case with OVHcloud, the IT infrastructure company he’s floating in Paris for up to 3.7 billion euros. Yet the shares are only a steal if a push for European technological sovereignty turbocharges its top line. Like Amazon.com and Microsoft, Klaba’s company sells computing power and storage space to businesses and governments through its 33 data centres. Its IPO price range, unveiled on Tuesday, seems relatively cheap. At the top end, OVHCloud’s enterprise value will be 4.1 billion euros, or 5 times next year’s expected

Before Robinhood Markets came along, the retail investor complex controlled by firms like Fidelity, Wellington, Charles Schwab and E*Trade was sitting pretty. But the online trading platform run by Vlad Tenev has upended that, and like any good disruptor, made its fair share of enemies along the way. That’s come in the form of mountains of lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, and distracting Washington gadflies that promise to reshape Robinhood. The backlash may be enough to leave the disruptor vulnerable to some disruption of its own.The company co-founded by Tenev filled a need in the centuries-old trading business. Until Robinhood burst onto

Here’s some comfort for Robinhood Marketsfounder Vlad Tenev: What happens to a company’s shares the day of an initial public offering says little about what happens later. The share price of Tenev’s digital brokerage fell around 8% on Thursday from its $38 launch price a day earlier, already set at the bottom of the range. Nonetheless, first impressions matter more to Robinhood than to the typical market noob. Many companies start out poorly and then come good. Facebook barely got higher than its IPO price on day one in 2012, yet an investor who put in $1 then would have