Obama Alum David Plouffe Joins Zuckerberg’s Philanthropic Group

David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager, will lead policy and advocacy for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization created by Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. Plouffe, who has been a full-time adviser for Uber Technologies Inc., will step away from his day-to-day duties, but he’ll remain a non-voting Uber board member, the ride-hailing company said.

Yahoo Plans to Shrink Board, Change Name After Verizon Deal

Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer is among six directors who plan to leave the board of the investment company that will be left after the closing of the proposed sale of Yahoo’s main internet properties to Verizon Communications Inc. The new company, a shareholder in Alibaba Group Holding Inc. and Yahoo! Japan, will change its name to Altaba Inc. and reduce its board to five members as it looks ahead to its next chapter with fewer ties to the iconic brand, according to a filing Monday. Yahoo agreed to sell its web properties to Verizon in a deal valued at about $4.8 billion, though questions have come up after Yahoo revealed two separate hacks of user data.

Yahoo Leftovers Will Be Called Altaba, Mayer Will Not Be On Board

Yahoo Inc. disclosed Monday afternoon that the entity that remains after its merger with Verizon Inc. will be called “Altaba,” and current Chief Executive Marissa Mayer will not be on the board. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission , Yahoo said that the new company — which consists of Yahoo’s remaining investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan, as well as cash and a few other assets — will only need five board members, and Mayer as well as Yahoo cofounder David Filo will not be among them.

PayPal Is Powering Growth by Focusing on the Small Things

In the last two quarterly earnings reports, after highlighting results for revenue and earnings per share, PayPal began discussing two financial metrics that drive everything management does to grow the value of the business for shareholders: PayPal’s strategy is clear and management is completely focused on driving growth in these two metrics. When we multiply the growth in customer accounts with the growth in transactions per account, we get a result that is almost equal to the growth in total transactions processed.

Investors Are Betting Big Against Fitbit Inc. — Are They Right?

But investors seem to think that the stock could continue falling — over 30% of its outstanding shares were still being shorted as of Dec. 27. Let’s take a closer look at Fitbit’s headwinds and tailwinds to see if those bearish bets are justified. The bears believe that since fitness trackers are cheap to manufacture, Fitbit’s core market will be commoditized and its brand will lose its premium appeal.

China Would Outlast U.S. in Trade War, Pine River Letter Says

China would outlast the U.S. in a trade war, which is a “distinct possibility” next year after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a commentator wrote in the $1 billion Pine River China Fund’s investor letter. China’s government would be better placed than the U.S. to marshal state resources to cushion the impact on exporters, wrote James Wang, a City University of Hong Kong professor who pens a monthly commentary for the fund.

Good News and Bad News for Fitbit, Inc.

Channel inventories could also potentially be a bit high, which would affect first-quarter results if retailers don’t need to restock all that much. Given an environment of pessimism, a little bit of good news could go a long way.

It’s On! 2017 Is The Year The Virtual Assistant Wars Get Real

Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana look to hardware partnerships and development deals to take on Apple’s Siri. The tech industry’s titans have been preparing for an all-out virtual assistant war in 2017-and it’ll be fought by Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant and maybe even Microsoft’s Cortana.

8 Must-Download Apps For Your New iPhone Or Android

If you just unwrapped a new smartphone or are thinking of using that envelope of holiday cash to run out and buy one and you’re eager to fill it up with new ways to distract yourself, then read on. Amid all the other year-end retrospectives, future predictions, and service-y listicles pumped out by every media outlet on the planet at this time of year, this story might be for you.

Uber Ships Self-Driving Cars to Arizona After California Ban

A few days of regulatory tussles were enough for Uber Technologies Inc. to pull its fleet of self-driving cars from the streets of San Francisco and send them instead to friendlier territory in Arizona. The California Department of Motor Vehicles banned Uber’s self-driving cars from San Francisco on Wednesday, just days after they first deployed.

The Worst CEOs of 2016

Every year, Santa and I get together at his place , break out the nog and hash out a list of the naughtiest chief executives. They still get their outsized pay packages, but the fat man can’t resist filling their Christmas stockings with enormous lumps of coal.

Tesla Gets a Jump on Google, Uber, Ford in Race to Autonomous

There was, in hindsight, a clear element of risk to Tesla Motors Inc.’s decision to install Autopilot hardware in every car coming off the production line since October 2014. It paid a price, with federal regulators probing the deadly crash of a Model S while in driver-assist mode and critics slamming Tesla for rolling the technology out too soon.

Uber Mideast Rival Valued at $1 Billion After Funding Round

Dubai-based ride-hailing app Careem Networks FZ raised $350 million from investors including Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc and Saudi Telecom Co., valuing it at about $1 billion. Government controlled STC, as the company is known, will invest $100 million for a 10 percent stake in Careem as part of a $500 million fundraising round, it said Sunday.

Uber Mideast Rival Valued at $1 Billion After Fundraising Round

Dubai-based ride-hailing app Careem Networks FZ raised $350 million from investors including Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc and Saudi Telecom Co., valuing it at about $1 billion. Government controlled STC, as the company is known, will invest $100 million for a 10 percent stake in Careem as part of a $500 million fundraising round, it said Sunday.

California AG Threatens Action Against Uber’s Self-Driving Cars

California Attorney General Kamala Harris has told Uber Technologies Inc. to pull its self-driving cars from San Francisco’s streets or it will seek a court order forcing it do so, saying the ride-hailing company needs a permit under autonomous vehicle regulations. If Uber doesn’t comply with the state’s rules, “as have 20 other companies,” the attorney general’s office will ask a judge to require the self-driving cars be taken off the roads, the attorney general’s office wrote in a letter Friday to Uber.