CEO of Rohinhood is expected to testify this month, Amazon has a new CEO, and short term rental offices…will they survive the pandemic?
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Wednesday, February 3 and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
Robinhood CEO expected to testify before U.S. House committee on February 18. from technology
The CEO of Robinhood is expected to testify before a U.S. House committee on February 18, according to Politico. Lawmakers are investigating the role of the online stock brokerage and the trading of GameStop and other companies. Shares of GameStop and struggling companies rocked the stock market thanks to Redditors who targeted Wall Street hedge funds betting against the companies by shorting the stocks. Robinhood has been known as the convenient easy-to-use platform for individual stock traders. Tensions arose last Thursday when Robinhood stopped its customers from buying certain stocks – including GameStop’s. Unsurprisingly, GameStop’s shares plunged again. The Robinhood app is at a 1-star rating again and Google isn’t stepping in this time to delete the negative reviews.
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is not going to be the corporate commander for much longer. The tech giant says Andy Jassy is set to replace Bezos as CEO later this year. Meanwhile, Bezos will move to the executive chair role in Q3 this year. The shift will allow Bezos to step aside more from the day to day operations of the $1.7 trillion giant. In a statement, Bezos said, “As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.” Bezos has been the CEO of Amazon since 1994 and helped the online bookstore grow to an e-commerce giant. Andy Jassy is currently the CEO of Amazon Web Services which is Amazon’s rapidly-growing cloud business. [The Verge]
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Open concept short term rental offices where your coworkers are steps away from you…will these survive the pandemic? This week, Knotel which manages and rents short-term office space, and a competitor to WeWork- filed for bankruptcy in the US. These plunges are happening as a steep drop in office demand continues to hurt short term rental businesses. Businesses are trying to tough it out but Bloomberg is reporting that customers are cancelling contracts, skipping payments and asking for reduced rents as transitions to working from home increase. The Globe and Mail reports that even in Canada, 39 of International Workplace Group’s Canadian office affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020. That includes Regus locations in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, according to the filing with the Ontario Superior Court. [LinkedIn]
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Baneet Braich, thanks for listening!