Plus, the European Union says its fines on big tech are “not a tax.” And FTX settles with K5 Global. Belle Lin hosts.
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[00:00:31] Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Friday, January 31st. I'm Belle Lin for The Wall Street Journal. We are exclusively reporting that Meta is discussing moving its incorporation from Delaware, which is where most big U.S. companies are legally housed. That's according to people familiar with the matter. Meta has talked to Texas officials about the possible changes and has also considered reincorporating in other states, according to those sources.
[00:01:01] The paperwork change wouldn't relocate Meta's corporate headquarters. A Meta spokesman said there are no plans to move the company's corporate headquarters from California and declined to comment further. The European Union's top antitrust enforcer has responded to criticism from President Trump, who attacked the multi-billion euros in fines the bloc has imposed on American tech giants over the last decade.
[00:01:29] The top European commissioner in charge of competition said the funds are, quote, not a tax on American companies. The remarks from the EU come roughly a week after Trump said in an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the EU, quote, treats us very, very unfairly.
[00:01:49] The bloc has issued some 8.25 billion euros in fines to Alphabet's Google in the last 10 years and recently fined Meta 797.7 million euros for allegedly abusing its dominance in social networks. Meta is now challenging that fine in court.
[00:02:10] And defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX says it reached a settlement with K5 Global, ending its efforts to claw back cash from one of Sam Bankman-Fried's largest tech investments before FTX went bankrupt in late 2022. FTX sued K5 Global, a venture capital firm, in June 2023.
[00:02:35] It sought to recover $700 million of company funds that Bankman-Fried had invested into the venture firm. The lawsuit was part of a broader effort to unwind certain transactions the company made before going bankrupt. Now FTX intends to keep its stake in K5's funds. K5 has invested in startups including SpaceX, Andruil, and XAI.
[00:03:01] For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Monday's Tech News Briefing Podcast.