SpaceX engineer quits Fannie Mae board

Christopher Stanley, the cybersecurity engineer who has worked for two of Elon Musk’s companies and the billionaire’s effort to reshape the federal government, resigned from the Fannie Mae board of directors a day after he was appointed to the post, according to a regulatory filing.

Stanley, who has ties to Musk’s SpaceX, X and the Department of Government Efficiency, was among a group of new appointments to Fannie’s board of directors announced Monday. Details about the reason for his quick departure weren’t immediately clear.

Other new additions to the board included Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte and the agency’s general counsel Clinton Jones. Several prior members of the board were also removed, according to a filing.

Neither Fannie nor the finance agency or Stanley responded to a request for comment.

CEO resigns from Amtrak as cuts loom

Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gardner announced that he is leaving his job Wednesday as the Trump administration threatens to pull back on funding mass transit and transportation projects across the nation.

“I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” Gardner, head of the nation’s passenger railroad company, said in a statement.

His successor has not yet been publicly announced.

Gardner’s departure comes as President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent shock waves through transit agencies with threats to pull federal funding from major projects if they don’t comply with new regulations and mandates.

Amtrak is a for-profit company with several ties to the federal government.

Ben & Jerry’s: CEO axed over activism

Ben & Jerry’s says its CEO was unlawfully removed by its parent company, Unilever, in retaliation for the ice cream maker’s social and political activism.

In a federal court filing late Tuesday, Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever informed its board on March 3 that it was removing and replacing Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever. Ben & Jerry’s said that violated its merger agreement with Unilever, which states that any decisions regarding a CEO’s removal must come after a consultation with an advisory committee from Ben & Jerry’s board.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment with London-based Unilever on Wednesday.

$499 Pixel 9a rivals Apple’s iPhone 16e

Google launched a redesigned version of its budget Pixel phone, upgrading the chip and battery life weeks after Apple Inc.’s lower-end iPhone 16e went on sale.

The new Pixel 9a, announced Wednesday, costs $499, in line with the price of last year’s Pixel 8a. That compares with the $599 starting price of the iPhone 16e, which went on sale in February.

In addition to upgraded internals, the Pixel 9a brings a new design with flat edges instead of curved, matching the general look of the higher-end Pixel 9 introduced last year.

It also has a flat back, removing the camera bump from prior models. The back of the phone has two cameras: a 48-megapixel main sensor and a 13-megapixel option for ultrawide photos.

Compiled from Bloomberg and Associated Press reports.