Meta will reportedly lay off thousands this week

Meta Platforms is planning to begin layoffs that will affect thousands of workers this week, Wall Street Journal reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The job cuts could come as early as Wednesday, the newspaper said. Meta has already told employees to cancel non-essential travel from this week, according to the report.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg outlined in September his plans to reorganize teams and reduce headcount for the first time, following a sharp slowdown in growth at the parent of Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg said then that Meta will likely be smaller in 2023.

The layoffs come as Meta struggles with growing losses and as it invests heavily in developing its metaverse business.

“Meta may seek at least $3 billion to $4 billion in opex reductions through layoffs and fixed-cost cuts to bring its view closer to the lower end of its expense guidance of $96 billion to $101 billion,” Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Mandeep Singh wrote in a note Monday.

Ex-MoviePass execs charged with fraud

Two former MoviePass Inc. executives were charged with securities and wire fraud for allegedly scheming to defraud investors of the parent of the bankrupt company.

Theodore Farnsworth, 60, of Miami, and J. Mitchell Lowe, 70, of Miami Beach, are accused of making false representations relating to Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc., which bought MoviePass in 2017 and ran it until it collapsed into bankruptcy in 2020. Farnsworth is the former chief executive officer of Helios & Matheson, while Lowe was MoviePass’s CEO from 2016 to 2020.

Prosecutors allege the two men told investors that MoviePass’s plan to allow subscribers to see unlimited movies in theaters for $9.95 had been tested, was sustainable and would be profitable — while knowing it was simply a “temporary marketing gimmick” to gain new customers, artificially inflate the stock price and attract investors.

MoviePass became wildly popular when it introduced the subscription plan in August 2017. By June 2018, it had reached peak membership of 3 million, but its parent company was bankrupt by January 2020 when operating losses proved unsustainable.

The two men face as long as 20 years in prison for each charge if convicted.

Carvana stock crashes as used car prices fall

Carvana Co. is set to wipe out more than half of its market value in just two trading sessions as the stock plunged to an all-time low on deepening gloom about used-car sales.

Shares of the online dealer have sunk more than 53% in the two trading days since the company reported disappointing third-quarter results late Thursday, bringing its once-lofty market capitalization down to about $1.4 billion from $2.6 billion before the earnings miss. That’s a far cry from the $60 billion valuation the firm commanded last year.

Carvana, which allows its customers to buy a car from anywhere, saw its market value skyrocket last year when supply challenges in new-car production caused a surge in demand for used vehicles.

Tyson CFO found asleep in woman’s bed, arrested

The chief financial officer of Tyson Foods Inc. was arrested Sunday for public intoxication and criminal trespassing.

John R. Tyson, 32, was booked early Sunday, according to the Washington County, Arkansas, sheriff’s department. He was released later that day.

According to a report on KNWA Fox Channel 24, Tyson was found asleep Sunday morning in a woman’s bed in her home. She didn’t know who he was and called the police.

Tyson was elevated to CFO effective Oct. 2. He is the son of board Chairman John H. Tyson and is a fourth-generation member of the Tyson family.

Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.