Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes settles the fraud charges against her company. The former CIO of Equifax has been charged with insider trading. And tech giants including Microsoft, Google, and Apple remember physicist Stephen Hawking.
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From Facebook and Reddit: Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Theranos Inc., has settled the charges against her company by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). Founded in 2003, Theranos pitched its blood-testing technology to investors as a much-needed disruptor of the laboratory testing business, and raised more than $750 million USD in funding before a 2015 Wall Street Journal suggested its devices didn’t work properly. Under the settlement, Holmes has been forced to give up her majority control over Theranos, return millions of shares, pay a $500,000 USD fine, and cannot serve as an officer or director at a public company for 10 years.
Next, trending on Facebook: The former CIO of credit reporting agency Equifax has been charged with insider trading. According to U.S. prosecutors, Jun Ying sold his Equifax stock for nearly $1 million USD after being notified of the company’s massive data breach last August. That’s one month before Equifax officially revealed the breach, which compromised the personal information of more than 143 million consumers, including 8000 Canadians.
Finally, trending on Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter: If you logged into social media yesterday you likely saw dozens of tributes to legendary British physicist Stephen Hawking, who died Wednesday morning at the age of 76.
The best-selling scientist who battled motor neurone disease https://t.co/y1AsLKRuQp
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 14, 2018
Among the messengers from big tech: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who said he felt lucky to have known Hawking and called his work “an inspiring reminder of what human minds are capable of”…
I feel lucky to have known Stephen Hawking. His work is an inspiring reminder of what human minds are capable of.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) March 14, 2018
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who said “the world has lost a beautiful mind and a brilliant scientist”…
The world has lost a beautiful mind and a brilliant scientist. RIP Stephen Hawking
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) March 14, 2018
…And Apple CEO Tim Cook, who quoted Hawking himself: “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.”
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” -Stephen Hawking. We will always be inspired by his life and ideas. RIP.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 14, 2018
That’s what’s trending today. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.