U.S. markets close in 1 hour 20 minutes

  • S&P 500

    4,207.37
    +3.26 (+0.08%)
     

  • Dow 30

    34,618.74
    +89.29 (+0.26%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    13,759.06
    +10.32 (+0.08%)
     

  • Russell 2000

    2,291.02
    +22.05 (+0.97%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    67.84
    +1.52 (+2.29%)
     

  • Gold

    1,904.90
    -0.40 (-0.02%)
     

  • Silver

    28.08
    +0.07 (+0.25%)
     

  • EUR/USD

    1.2237
    +0.0006 (+0.05%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    1.6110
    +0.0300 (+1.90%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.4155
    -0.0056 (-0.39%)
     

  • USD/JPY

    109.3900
    -0.1800 (-0.16%)
     

  • BTC-USD

    36,355.16
    -421.46 (-1.15%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    953.72
    -11.08 (-1.15%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    7,080.46
    +57.85 (+0.82%)
     

  • Nikkei 225

    28,814.34
    -45.74 (-0.16%)
     

Former head of Alphabet's Loon joins Starship Technologies as new CEO

Aria Alamalhodaei
·1 min read

Autonomous robotics company Starship Technologies has a new CEO. The company on Tuesday said Alastair Westgarth, the former CEO of Alphabet’s Loon, would be leading the company as it looks to expand its robotics delivery service.

Westgarth previously headed Loon, Alphabet’s experiment to deliver broadband via high-altitude balloons, from 2017. The project shut down for good at the beginning of this year. The company said in a farewell blog post that “the road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped.” Prior to working at Loon, Westgarth headed the wireless antennae company Quintel Solutions, was a vice president at telecommunications company Nortel and director of engineering at Bell Mobility.

Starship Technologies CEO Lex Bayer on focus and opportunity in autonomous delivery

He will be joining Starship Technologies at a time of rapid expansion. At the beginning of 2020, Starship only had a couple hundred autonomous bots operating in a few neighborhoods and college campuses. Last month the company said the number of deliveries since the start of the pandemic quadrupled, hitting a milestone 1.5 million commercial deliveries globally.

“Autonomous delivery is changing logistics as we know it, impacting billions of people around the world,” Westgarth said in a statement Tuesday. “The team at Starship has been developing and perfecting the technology and its operations for years, since creating the robot delivery category in 2014 […] I’m excited about this opportunity and looking forward to helping the company scale both on campuses and in neighborhoods, giving millions more people access to this market-leading, convenient, safe and environmentally friendly delivery service.”

Starship's previous CEO Lex Bayer quietly departed in December 2020, after nearly three years at the helm. Its co-founder Ahti Heinla, who acted as interim CEO, will now become Starship's CTO.

Alphabet shuts down Loon internet balloon company

Recommended Stories

  • Honest stock bounces back above IPO price after bullish call by J.P. Morgan

    Shares of Honest Co. Inc. bounced back above its initial public offering price in afternoon trading Tuesday, after J.P. Morgan analyst Andrea Teixeira made a bullish call on the health and wellness company founded by Jessica Alba, saying it represented a "highly attractive and unique" growth opportunity. Teixeira initiated Honest at overweight and with a stock price target of $18, which is 9.1% above current prices. The stock was up 4.6% at $16.50, putting it on track for just the sixth close ab

  • Police investigate ‘playing with pistol’ claim as Tory peer’s daughter-in-law held in Belize after death of officer

    Jasmine Hartin held since Friday over death of policeman

  • SpaceX's first ocean spaceport is being built and will host launches next year

    SpaceX is already underway on building its first floating spaceport platform, and the plan is for it to start hosting launches as early as next year. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared those details on the progress of its build for Deimos, one of two converted oil rigs that SpaceX purchased earlier this year in order to transform them into floating launch and landing sites for its forthcoming Starship reusable rocket. SpaceX's purchase of the two rigs at the beginning of this year was for the creation of Deimos and Phobos, two floating spaceports named after the moons of Mars.

  • Euro zone inflation jumps past ECB target in May

    FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Euro zone inflation surged past the European Central Bank's elusive target in May, heightening a communications challenge for policymakers who will happily live with higher prices for now but may face a backlash from irate consumers. Inflation in the 19 countries sharing the euro accelerated to 2% in May from 1.6% in April, driven by higher energy costs to its fastest rate since late 2018 and above the ECB's aim of "below but close to 2%", data from Eurostat showed on Tuesday.

  • Australian banks, led by CBA, set to return record $15 billion cash to investors

    SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's big banks are likely to return a record $15 billion or more of cash to investors over the next two years, with investors betting Commonwealth Bank will move first and helping drive shares of the top lender to all-time highs. Commonwealth Bank and its smaller rivals Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp have made a remarkable comeback, from being shamed in a public inquiry and shunned by investors three years ago to being sought-after investments now. The banks have come out of the COVID-19 crisis relatively unscathed as Australia has kept the pandemic under control and its A$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy has hummed along.

  • U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs J&J appeal over $2 billion baby powder judgment

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear Johnson & Johnson's bid to overturn a $2.12 billion damages award to women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in the company's baby powder and other talc products. The justices turned away a J&J appeal and left in place a Missouri state court ruling in litigation brought by 22 women whose claims were heard together in one trial. The Missouri Court of Appeals, an intermediate state appellate court, last year ruled against J&J's bid to throw out the compensatory and punitive damages awarded to the plaintiffs but reduced the total to $2.12 billion from the $4.69 billion originally decided by a jury.

  • AMC leads 'meme stocks' higher after $230 million capital raise

    AMC said it would issue 8.5 million shares to Mudrick Capital Management LP, the chain's latest share sale this year as it cashes in on a 1,150% jump in its stock in 2021. Mudrick has sold its AMC stake at a profit, believing the company's shares are overvalued, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mudrick's divestiture, which was earlier reported by Bloomberg News.

  • Pembina to Buy Canada Pipeline Rival Inter for $6.9 Billion

    (Bloomberg) -- Pembina Pipeline Corp. agreed to acquire Inter Pipeline Ltd. for about C$8.3 billion ($6.9 billion) in an all-stock deal that will create one of the largest energy companies in Canada.The proposal from Pembina trumps a hostile takeover offer for Inter made by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP earlier this year. Inter spurned that approach and began a review of its options, which included a sale.The Pembina-Inter combination is the largest Canadian energy transaction in four ye

  • Bitcoin price crash isn't over: JP Morgan

    J.P. Morgan warns of more pain ahead for bitcoin prices. Here's why.

  • Stock market correction is likely in 12 to 36 months: CFA Institute

    It's clear sailing for the stock market the CFA Institute says in a new survey. Clear sailing for now.

  • Exxon Exits Oil Exploration Prospect in Ghana After Seismic Work

    (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. is pulling out of a deep-water oil prospect in Ghana just two years after the west African nation ratified an exploration and production agreement with the U.S. oil titan.The company relinquished the entirety of its stake in the Deepwater Cape Three Points block and resigned as its operator after fulfilling its contractual obligations during the initial exploration period, according to a letter to Ghana’s government seen by Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public.Exxon controlled 80% of the block, with state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corp. holding 15% and Ghana Oil Co., the remaining 5%. The two partners will now have to search for a new operator for the block, the people said.The work done so far included processing about 2,200 square kilometers (850 square miles) of seismic data, but Exxon didn’t drill any exploration wells, the people said.Exxon couldn’t immediately comment during the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. Representatives for Ghana National and Ghana Oil couldn’t immediately be reached.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • U.S. construction spending rises moderately in April

    U.S. construction spending increased less than expected in April as gains in private homebuilding were blunted by losses in outlays on nonresidential structures and public projects. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that construction spending rose 0.2% after surging 1.0% in March. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast construction spending gaining 0.5%.

  • Turkish Economy Likely Outperformed Most Peers But at a Cost

    (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Turkey’s economy has continued to grow at a strong pace so far this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean its citizens are getting richer.The $717 billion economy likely outperformed all Group of 20 nations except for China in the first quarter after nearly stalling a year ago when the pandemic struck. It’s been bolstered by robust consumption on the back of last year’s government-led credit push, an expansion that came at the expense of price and currency stability.Data on Monday is likely to show gross domestic product rose 6.3% from a year earlier and 1.3% from the fourth quarter, according to the medians of forecasts in Bloomberg surveys. Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan said Thursday that “data point to 6% growth in the first quarter.”There is an “exchange rate illusion” in Turkey’s economic growth data, according to Enver Erkan, chief economist at Istanbul-based Tera Yatirim, who’s ranked by Bloomberg as the most accurate forecaster on Turkish GDP data.Noting that the GDP per capita in U.S. dollar terms dropped nearly 40% since 2013 to around $7,700 last year, Erkan said Turkey’s recent economic model isn’t sustainable as the growth is mainly driven by consumption supported by government spending and loan campaigns.“This comes at the expense of lira and price stability,” he said.The government pushed banks to ramp up lending to help businesses and consumers ride out last year’s Covid-19 emergency. The credit boom was coupled with a front-loaded easing cycle that helped prime the economy. That growth push weakened the currency by 20% last year and kept headline inflation in double digits. The size of the economy dropped to $717 billion last year from $760.8 billion a year earlier.The currency further lost 10% against the dollar in the first quarter, especially after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank’s former hawkish governor Naci Agbal in March. The decision to fire Agbal, who had sought to restore the central bank’s credibility, set off a swift reversal of investor enthusiasm, sending Turkish markets into a nosedive.The data expose the challenge facing new central bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu as he looks to restore price stability without cooling the economy ahead of the general elections in 2023.Kavcioglu has pledged policy continuity after his appointment and kept benchmark interest rate unchanged at 19% for a second meeting this month, saying the pace of price gains had peaked in April. Consumer inflation quickened for a seventh month to 17.14% in April.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Malaysian Assets Fall After Government Imposes Full Lockdown

    (Bloomberg) -- Malaysian stocks dropped and the ringgit weakened after the government imposed a two-week nationwide lockdown to curb a relentless surge in Covid-19 infections.The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index fell as much as 1.6% on Monday, before paring losses to 0.7% at the close in Kuala Lumpur. The ringgit slid as much as 0.4% to 4.1480 per dollar, while 10-year bond yields rose three basis points to 3.25%. The government said on Friday that most businesses will be shut from June 1 except for essential economic and service sectors.“The government is finally biting the bullet,” said Alexander Chia, an analyst at RHB Investment Bank Bhd. “Clearly, there are downside risks to FY21 earnings growth, even if it is essentially a postponement of growth to FY22.”Malaysia’s return to a hard lockdown comes in the wake of record daily infections that saw cases top 9,000 on Saturday. A resurgence in virus outbreaks in Asia has spurred some countries including Vietnam and Singapore to tighten restrictions. A similar lockdown in Malaysia last year cost the country an estimated 63 billion ringgit ($15 billion).Vietnam tightened social distancing measures in Ho Chi Minh City for 15 days from May 31, while Singapore this month reissued some lockdown-like conditions that it put in place a year ago.Recovery DimsMalaysia’s lockdown will “drag on the country’s recovery, with a good chance that 2Q GDP growth will contract on a sequential basis,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “We will likely see the ringgit continuing to underperform in the region, but its weakness is being put in check by a soft U.S. dollar.”READ: ‘Covid Zero’ Havens Find Reopening Harder Than Taming VirusPrime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is due to announce an aid package at 9 p.m. local time Monday, according to his Facebook post.Still, Monday’s market drop pales in comparison with last year when the KLCI plunged as much as 5% a day after a nationwide lockdown was announced then.Expectations of a “mild” reaction is due to the availability of vaccines and a government plan to ramp up daily vaccination rates in the second half of 2021, Ivy Ng Lee Fang, an analyst at CGS-CIMB Securities, said in a report. Strong export sales, robust market liquidity, and low interest rates have also helped limit the market drop, she said.GDP OutlookMalaysia’s gross domestic product shrank 0.5% in the first quarter from a year earlier, the central bank said earlier in May, adding that it expects growth to remain within the 6% to 7.5% forecast range for the full year.Banks including Public Bank Bhd. and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. dropped, while Maxis Bhd. and Supermax Corp. were among the biggest decliners in the benchmark gauge, falling more than 2%. Top Glove Corp. was the top gainer in the key stock gauge, up 1.8%.The Malaysian stock benchmark is down 6% from a December high as investor concerns about the impact of stricter curbs on movement weigh on riskier assets.The “recovery plays in the cyclical sectors will require a longer term investment perspective with a focus on achieving a favorable entry price,” said Chia of RHB Investment. “The trading angle will remain an enduring theme in the coming quarters that continues to focus on small-mid caps with resilient growth attributes.”(Updates with PM’s broadcast in seventh paragraph)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • DCG’s Barry Silbert: ‘Dogecoin Is Overvalued’

    The Dogecoin price may be finishing May off its highs for the month, but it has still been a rock star asset after advancing more than 6,000% year-to-date.

  • Europe's bourse share trading claims inaccurate, says industry body

    The bulk of share trading in the European Union takes place on exchanges with relatively little inside banks, an industry body said on Tuesday in a bid to stop what it called bourses seeking to "perpetuate their dominance". The EU is reviewing its stock and bond trading rules, known as MiFID II, triggering a battle between exchanges and their top customers, the banks and large asset managers, over competition. The EU's securities watchdog ESMA has estimated that nearly half of trading is off an exchange, prompting bourses to call for this part of the market to face tougher curbs so that more trading goes onto 'lit' venues like the main exchanges.

  • Mudrick Sells Entire AMC Stake, Calling Shares Overvalued

    (Bloomberg) -- Mudrick Capital sold all its stock in AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. as of Tuesday, the same day the movie theater chain disclosed that the investment firm had bought $230.5 million of fresh shares to bolster its finances, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.Mudrick no longer holds any AMC shares and sold at a profit, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. The firm disposed of its stake after concluding that AMC’s stock is overval

  • Exclusive-G7 to back minimum global corporate tax and support economy - draft

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Finance ministers from the group of seven rich nations (G7) will vow this week to support their economies as they emerge from the pandemic and reach an "ambitious" deal on a minimum global corporate tax in July, a draft communique showed. G7 officials, set to meet in London on June 4-5, will also say that once the recovery is well established, they will need to "ensure long-term sustainability of public finances", which is understood to be code for a gradual withdrawal of stimulus. The G7 comprises the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada.

  • Nio Gains As May Sales Almost Double, Citi Upgrades

    By Dhirendra Tripathi

  • Zimbabwe Threatens to Seize Platinum Concession From Eurasian Resource Affiliate

    (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe’s mines minister has informed Todal Mining Ltd., a venture controlled by Eurasian Resources Group, that its platinum mining concessions could be seized because no progress has been made in developing them.The Bokai and Kinonde concessions may be taken over under the “use-it/lose-it principle” which allows the state to repossess idle mining claims, Minister Winston Chitando said in a letter to Todal dated May 28 and seen by Bloomberg. The mines ministry confirmed the veracity of the document.“I note with concern that over the last few years there have been several changes to the work program to make this project progress to production stage,” Chitando said in the letter.Zimbabwe, which has the world’s third-biggest platinum group metal reserves, has struggled to develop its mining potential with investors from Russia, Cyprus, Nigeria and Kazakhstan yet to bring projects into production.The Todal assets were taken from Anglo American Platinum Ltd., which does operate a mine in Zimbabwe, more than a decade ago and handed to Central African Mining & Exploration Co. That company was bought by Eurasian Natural Resources Co., which later became Eurasian Resources Group. Central African Mining lent the Zimbabwean government $100 million at the time.‘Chance to Respond’“This is due process in the spirit of administrative justice,” Polite Kambamura, Zimbabwe’s deputy mines minister, said by phone. “We will give the asset holder a chance to respond through the mining affairs board. If there are any developments that they have made on it which we are not aware of they will make those submissions and a final decision will be made after all due process has been done.”ENRC, China Move Toward Platinum Output at Zimbabwe Deposits ERG didn’t immediately respond to questions sent by email and text message.In 2013, the government said production on the mine was due to start that year. In 2008, Camec said a mine producing 150,000 ounces of platinum annually could be built for $200 million.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.