Business

World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon inked a two-year employment contract.
McMahon’s agreement, which dates back to his January return to the company, comes as WWE is actively looking for buyers.
WWE CEO Nick Khan has said McMahon would be open to leaving WWE for good in the event of a sale.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Chairman Vince McMahon is introduced during the WWE Monday Night Raw show at the Thomas & Mack Center August 24, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller | Getty Images

Vince McMahon has pinned down a two-year employment contract at World Wrestling Entertainment.
The WWE chairman’s agreement dates back to Jan. 9, when he returned to the company, according to a securities filing. His deal comes as WWE has been actively in talks with suitors.

As part of his latest contract, which comes with an annual base salary of $1.2 million, which includes an incentive bonus target of 175% of that salary. If a deal were to be closed, McMahon would receive a $2.4 million lump sum payout, plus his incentive bonus would be doubled and paid upfront.
CEO Nick Khan told CNBC this week it’s been a robust sale process so far with many attracted bidders. Earlier in the week, CNBC’s David Faber, citing people familiar with the matter, reported it’s been a “hot and heavy” process.
McMahon returned to WWE’s board in January help with the sale negotiations. He had stepped away from his CEO role last June under a cloud of accusations of sexual misconduct from former female WWE employees. Later, he announced his retirement.
At the time, his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, had taken over as co-CEO of WWE, a family business for the McMahons. She stepped down in January following Vince McMahon’s return.

Last month, Khan told CNBC that McMahon would be open to stepping down from his position “if it’s the right deal.” The potential future involvement of McMahon, who is WWE’s controlling shareholder, has become an early sticking point in preliminary talks with some buyers, CNBC previously reported.

“Vince made it clear to me and to the marketplace that he does not need to be included in any offer or any deal moving forward, and he has held to his word on that as many of us predicted he would,” Khan said on CNBC earlier this week.
Khan added that since McMahon has been back in the last three months, he’s been “quite supplemental to myself, to creative, to have the expert of the business here when we want to reach out to him and have conversations.”
In addition, his contract gives McMahon the rights to his “life story” and related intellectual property, according to the filing.
McMahon acquired the business from his father in 1982 and had run it up until 2022. He’s even stepped into the ring on numerous occasions. His contract agreement gives him the rights to retell his life story with WWE, with the guarantee that he wouldn’t face any lawsuits or retribution from the business in the future.
WWE shares are up about 34% so far this year, easily outpacing the broader market, amid the intensifying sale talk. More

Carl Icahn blasted Illumina for nearly doubling its CEO’s pay last year despite a dramatic drop in the biotech company’s market value since closing the controversial Grail deal.
Illumina CEO Francis DeSouza was awarded nearly $26.8 million in total pay last year, nearly double the $14.3 million he received in 2021.
The San Diego-based company’s market cap has shrunk to roughly $35 billion from about $75 billion in August 2021, the month it closed its acquisition of cancer test developer Grail. 

Carl Icahn speaking at Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016.
David A. Grogan | CNBC

Carl Icahn blasted Illumina for nearly doubling its CEO’s pay last year despite a dramatic drop in the biotech company’s market value since closing a controversial deal. 
“I’d find it comical, if it wasn’t so reprehensible that ILMN’s share price is down 63% due to CEO Francis deSouza making such an absurd and questionable purchase,” Icahn said in a statement to CNBC.

“And what is really funny is the idea that it is hard to find good CEOs in this area,” the activist investor added. “I guess it would be hard to find someone who could lose $50 billion of shareholder value in a matter of months yet still get paid 87% more for a grand total of $26.8 million in 2022.”
Illumina did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DeSouza stepped in as CEO in 2016 after serving as the DNA sequencing company’s president for almost three years. He was awarded nearly $26.8 million in total pay last year, nearly double the $14.3 million he received in 2021, according to a preliminary proxy statement Illumina filed Thursday. 
Part of deSouza’s pay bump is a special grant of stock options worth $12.5 million, which Illumina called a “meaningful retention incentive in a highly competitive talent environment.” 
DeSouza’s pay increase follows a rocky 18 months for San Diego-based Illumina. The company’s market value has fallen to roughly $35 billion from about $75 billion in August 2021, the month it closed its acquisition of cancer test developer Grail. 

Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images

The $7.1 billion Grail deal is the focus of a proxy fight between Icahn and Illumina, who have been trading jabs for nearly a month. 
Icahn, who owns a 1.4% stake in Illumina, is seeking seats on the company’s board. He is also trying to push Illumina to unwind the Grail acquisition, which he has called “disastrous” and “a new low in corporate governance.” 
He has repeatedly slammed Illumina’s board and management team, saying earlier this week that the company should bring back former CEO Jay Flatley to “fix the situation.” 
Illumina on Thursday urged shareholders to reject Icahn’s three nominees to its board of directors and continued to defend its management team’s decision to acquire Grail. 
The company also claimed Icahn had more favorable things to say about its current CEO before launching the proxy fight. 
Icahn told Illumina last month that he intended to make board nominations despite believing deSouza “had done a good job” managing the company, Illumina said. 
The activist investor also said he was “supportive” of deSouza’s actions as CEO during another meeting earlier this month, but noted he would not repeat those comments publicly, according to Illumina. 
Part of Icahn’s opposition to the Grail acquisition stems from Illumina’s decision to close the deal without approval from antitrust regulators. The company prevailed over the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s opposition to the deal in September, but is still fighting for approval from European regulators. 
The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, last year blocked Illumina’s acquisition of Grail over concerns it would stifle innovation and hurt consumer choice. The commission also unveiled details of a planned order that would force Illumina to unwind the deal.
Illumina said earlier this month that Grail has “tremendous long-term value creation potential.” 
Grail says it offers the only commercially available early screening test that can detect more than 50 types of cancers through a single blood draw. The test generated $55 million in revenue in 2022 and is slated to rake in up to $110 million this year, according to Illumina. More

The DOJ filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern on Thursday, alleging Clean Water Act violations in the railway company’s Ohio derailment last month.
The state of Ohio has also sued the company over environmental impacts of the derailment.
Senators recently introduced a new railway safety bill in light of Norfolk Southern’s derailment.

Drone footage shows the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., February 6, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a handout video released by the NTSB.
NTSB Gov | via Reuters

The Justice Department said Friday it filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, aiming to hold the railway company accountable for alleged Clean Water Act violations that allegedly occurred due to an Ohio train derailment in early February.
In February, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed near the Pennsylvania border in East Palestine, Ohio, causing a fire, collisions and local evacuations.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, seeks “injunctive relief, cost recovery, and civil penalties” for the alleged violations.
“With this complaint, the Justice Department and the EPA are acting to pursue justice for the residents of East Palestine and ensure that Norfolk Southern carries the financial burden for the harm it has caused and continues to inflict on the community,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a release Friday.
In an emailed statement to CNBC, a Norfolk Southern representative said the company’s focus “right now is to make progress every day cleaning up the site, assisting residents whose lives were impacted by the derailment, and investing in the future of East Palestine and the surrounding areas.”
“We are working with urgency, at the direction of the U.S. EPA, and making daily progress,” the spokesperson continued. “That remains our focus and we’ll keep working until we make it right.”
Since the derailment, Norfolk Southern has been in hot water with state and federal officials concerning the environmental implications of the derailment.

The state of Ohio has also sued Norfolk Southern in a bid to ensure the company pays for environmental damage and cleanup efforts, which Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has said the company would continue to support. Shaw and several government officials have said it’s safe to live in the area, but residents have complained of illnesses.
In a statement regarding Thursday’s lawsuit, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said “no community should have to go through what East Palestine residents have faced.”
He added that the lawsuit marks the agency’s “commitment to ensure Norfolk Southern cleans up the mess they made and pays for the damage they have inflicted as we work to ensure this community can feel safe at home again.”
On Thursday, three senators introduced a new rail safety bill in a bid address long-standing concerns that became more acute in light of the Norfolk Southern derailment.

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw waits to testify on the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment before a U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., March 9, 2023.
Mary F. Calvert | Reuters

Last week, Shaw told senators his company supports portions of an adjacent bill, the Railway Safety Act, which includes provisions calling for two-person crews on all freight trains. That was one sticking point, as Shaw said the company was “not aware of any data that links crew size with safety.”
Otherwise, Shaw said in prepared remarks that he agrees in “principle” with portions of the legislation, such as “establishing performance standards, maintenance standards, and alert thresholds for safety sensors.”
The new bill, dubbed the Railway Accountability Act, would direct the Federal Railroad Administration to study wheel-related failures and derailments and other mechanical defects.
It would also enact new brake safety measures and ensure railways equip workers with sufficient reporting and safety equipment.
A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report pointed to an overheated wheel bearing on the Norfolk Southern train that derailed, without offering a precise cause for the derailment.
–CNBC’s Noah Sheidlower contributed to this article. More

The Treasury Department proposed new rules around the sources of battery minerals and components for EVs.
The requirements for critical minerals and battery components each provide a tax credit of $3,750.
The new rules are scheduled to kick in next month.

Ben Hasty | MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

The Treasury Department on Friday proposed new rules for determining which EVs will be eligible for tax credits under the new “critical mineral” and battery component requirements included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.
While the Treasury Department hasn’t yet said which vehicles are eligible for the credits – that’ll happen April 18 – we now know how the department plans to figure out which EVs do and don’t make the cut.

related investing news

The new rules proposed by the Treasury Department on Friday explain how to determine which EVs meet the requirements for critical minerals and battery components, each of which provides a tax credit of $3,750. An EV that qualifies under both – and that meets the other requirements – will be eligible for the full $7,500 credit.
Note that it’s up to the automakers to do the math and tell the Internal Revenue Service which of their vehicles qualify.  
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden last August, provides federal tax credits of up to $7,500 for buyers of EVs that meet a new list of requirements:

Vehicle price caps. Cars priced above $55,000, and trucks, vans and SUVs priced over $80,000, aren’t eligible for the tax credit.
Made in North America. Only EVs that “undergo final assembly” in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico are eligible for the credit.
Buyer income limits. If you’re a single individual with modified adjusted gross income of $150,000 or more, or a head of household with more than $225,000 of income, or a married couple filing jointly with income over $300,000, you aren’t eligible for the credit.
Critical minerals. To be eligible for the credit in 2023, at least 40% of the critical minerals – including lithium, nickel, manganese, graphite and cobalt — in the vehicle’s batteries must have been extracted, processed or recycled in the U.S. or in a country with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement. That percentage will increase to 50% in 2024, 60% in 2025, 70% in 2026, and 80% after 2026.
Battery components. To be eligible for the credit in 2023, at least 50% of the value of the components in an EV’s battery must be manufactured or assembled in North America. That percentage will increase to 60% in 2024 and 2025, 70% in 2026, 80% in 2027, and 90% in 2028.

All of these rules were originally expected to go into effect at the beginning of 2023. But in December, the Treasury Department said that it needed until March to figure out how to implement the last two rules, and that they wouldn’t go into effect until that was done. (In the meantime, the IRS has used the other rules to determine which vehicles qualify for the tax credits.)
The critical minerals rule
For critical minerals, the Treasury Department proposed a three-step process for determining eligibility:

Figure out where the critical minerals in the batteries came from.
Identify which minerals qualify as critical minerals under the IRA.
Calculate the percentage of minerals in the EV’s battery that qualify as critical minerals.  

In addition, an EV that contains any critical minerals sourced from a “foreign entity of concern” won’t qualify after 2025. (What’s that mean? The Treasury Department said that it’ll clarify in the future.)
The Treasury Department’s proposed rules say that the set of countries with eligible free trade agreements will change over time, but for now the countries that qualify include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore and Japan.
The battery components rule
The Treasury Department proposed a four-step process for battery components:

Identify which battery components were manufactured or assembled in North America.
Figure out the incremental value of each component.
Determine the total value of all the battery components.
Do the math to figure out what percentage of the battery’s components by value qualify.

In addition, starting in 2024, an EV that contains any battery components from a foreign entity of concern won’t qualify for the credit.
When will we know which EVs qualify?
The Treasury Department said that EVs that go into service on or after April 18 will be subject to the critical minerals and battery components requirements. Starting on that date, it’ll publish a list of eligible vehicles – as determined by the automakers – at FuelEconomy.gov.
But it’s likely to be a short list, at least for a while, as right now a lot of battery minerals and components come from China. More

One of the nation’s top catering and hospitality companies is adjusting its menus and ingredients to bring down food costs.
Among the areas seeing the harshest pricing pressure: ballpark hot dogs and plastic packaging.
Sodexo Live CEO Belinda Oakley said the company is expanding the number of value menu items it offers.

Sodexo Live, a food and hospitality company, says food inflation is also hitting the ballpark
Courtesy: Seattle Mariners

Those peanuts and Cracker Jacks may soon cost you more at the ballpark, thanks in part to food inflation, the CEO of a top hospitality company told CNBC.
“It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, everybody is noticing prices going up, and scarcity being an issue in certain product lines,” said Belinda Oakley, Sodexo Live CEO. “Of course, we were no exception to that.”

Sodexo Live operates food, beverage and hospitality services at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park as well as 200-plus sports, cultural and entertainment properties throughout the U.S. Oakley said the company’s scale, and the fact that it has about $20 billion in purchasing power, is helping to mitigate some of the inflationary pressure.
Still, higher costs have forced Sodexo Live to get creative with its menus and food selection.
Sodexo Live is changing some ingredients, mixing up its suppliers, and sourcing more items locally to help reduce costs and avoid passing along 100% of the price increases to the consumer, Oakley said.
“It will still be a phenomenal experience for the fan, but might be more cost-engineered to make sure that we’re not outpricing them from the market,” she said.
At T-Mobile Park, the company is expanding the number of value menu items it offers, priced between $2 and $4, to a dozen items, up from seven last year.

One big item that could see sticker shock: ballpark franks, which also happen to be a top-selling concessionary item for Sodexo Live. Oakley cited higher supply chain costs, including packaging and labor, for driving up meat prices.

Sodexo Live says they are trying to be more creative with their offerings to prevent customers from having to pay more.
Courtesy: Seattle Mariners

Location matters, though, according to Oakley, and prices vary depending on your geography. The distance between a ballpark and a vendor can make a big difference, as can market pricing. For example, if you look at pricing last year for the average price of a hot dog — it was most expensive on the West Coast, with the San Francisco Giants charging $7.50.
“You’re going to see a higher cost impact in California than you’re gonna see in Indiana,” Oakley said.
Another area that is experiencing harsh pricing pressure, Oakley said, is plastics and disposables: materials in preparing food that’s transportable.
“The Russia-Ukraine war has had a huge impact,” she said. For example, the price of resin, a key ingredient in making disposables, has been hit particularly hard.
But when it comes to pricing, the company is keeping the long game in mind.
“We need consumers to continue to want to have these experiences outside of their day to day and to use their discretionary spend to actually go and enjoy hospitality,” she said. More

Russian authorities detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Russia is one of the worst countries in the world for press freedom, according to watchdogs.

An undated ID photo of journalist Evan Gershkovich. – A US reporter for The Wall Street Journal newspaper has been detained in Russia for espionage, Russian news agencies reported Thursday, citing the FSB security services.
– | Afp | Getty Images

Russian authorities plan to detain an American journalist who works for The Wall Street Journal for two months.
The reporter, Evan Gershkovich, was detained on suspicion of espionage, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service. Shortly after, a Moscow court ordered Gershkovich’s detention to last until May 29, according to the Journal, which cited local reports.

Gershkovich’s detention escalates already high tensions between the United States and Russia. The U.S. government is spending billions to support Ukraine’s defense against invading Russian forces.
Officials from the White House and the State Department spoke with the Journal Wednesday night regarding Gershkovich’s detention, according to a statement from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The Biden administration has also been in contact with Gershkovich’s family, and the State Department has been in direct contact with the Russian government, Jean-Pierre said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement his agency has been seeking “consular access” to Gershkovich.
“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices,” Blinken said.
The FSB alleged Gershkovich “was collecting information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Russia.” Gershkovich pleaded not guilty to espionage charges, according to Russian state news agency Tass. If convicted, Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison.

Daniil Berman, the lawyer of arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, speaks to journalists near the Lefortovsky court, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 30, 2023. Russia’s top security agency says an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal has been arrested on espionage charges. 
Alexander Zemlianichenko | AP

The Wall Street Journal adamantly denied the charges, adding that it sought “the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter.”
“We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family,” the Journal said.
Since January 2022, Gershkovich has worked for the Journal in Moscow. Before that, he reported in the country for AFP and The Moscow Times, according to his LinkedIn account. Prior to that he was a news assistant for The New York Times. 
Gershkovich’s most recent article, published Tuesday with a co-byline, was headlined “Russia’s Economy Is Starting to Come Undone.”
Russia is one of the worst countries in the world for press freedom, according to a 2022 index from Reporters Without Borders, a nonprofit advocacy group. It has gotten worse since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, according to the organization.
The country’s government has a long history of harassing journalists, including detaining foreigners on spying charges that appear more politically motivated.
Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin has overseen a significant crackdown on free speech and political dissent.
Both Blinken and Jean-Pierre stressed the continued importance of heeding the U.S. government’s warning with regards to U.S. citizens residing in or traveling to Russia.
“U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately, as the State Department continues to advise,” Jean-Pierre said. More

Virgin Orbit is ceasing operations “for the foreseeable future” after failing to secure a funding lifeline, CEO Dan Hart told employees during an all-hands meeting Thursday.
The company will lay off all but 100 employees, according to audio of the 5 p.m. ET meeting obtained by CNBC.
Shareholders unloaded the stock in extended trading Thursday.

The company’s 747 jet “Cosmic Girl” releases a LauncherOne rocket in mid-air for the first time during a drop test in July 2019.
Greg Robinson / Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit is ceasing operations “for the foreseeable future” after failing to secure a funding lifeline, CEO Dan Hart told employees during an all-hands meeting Thursday afternoon. The company will lay off nearly all of its workforce.
“Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to secure the funding to provide a clear path for this company,” Hart said, according to audio of the 5 p.m. ET meeting obtained by CNBC.

“We have no choice but to implement immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes,” Hart said, audibly choking up on the call. He added this would be “probably the hardest all-hands that we’ve ever done in my life.”
The company will eliminate all but 100 positions, amounting to about 90% of the workforce, Hart said, noting the layoffs will affect every team and department. In a securities filing, the company said the layoffs constituted 675 positions, or approximately 85%.
“This company, this team — all of you — mean a hell of a lot to me. And I have not, and will not, stop supporting you, whether you’re here on the journey or if you’re elsewhere,” Hart said.
Virgin Orbit will “provide a severance package for every departing” employee, Hart said, with a cash payment, extension of benefits, and support in finding a new position — with a “direct pipeline” set up with sister company Virgin Galactic for hiring.

Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC’s Investing in Space newsletter.

Hart has been giving the company’s employees brief daily updates since Monday, when Virgin Orbit delayed a scheduled all-hands meeting at the last minute. Late-stage deal talks had fallen through with a pair of investors over the weekend, but Hart told staff on Monday that “very dynamic” investment discussions were continuing.

Those investor discussions continued this week, with Hart earlier saying leadership would share any updates “as quickly and transparently as we can,” noting that leaking emails “is against company policy,” according to copies of Hart’s emails from Tuesday and Wednesday obtained by CNBC.
The company this week has been steadily bringing back more of its employees from the operational pause and furlough it began on March 15. It initially resumed some work with a “small team” a week later. Amid the broader pause, Virgin Orbit has been working to finish its investigation into the mid-flight failure of its previous launch, as well as finish preparations on its next rocket.
Shareholders unloaded the stock in extended trading Thursday, with shares selling off more than 40% after the announcement. Virgin Orbit stock closed at 34 cents a share at the end of the regular session, having fallen 82% since the beginning of the year.
A Virgin Orbit representative did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Sir Richard Branson poses in front of Virgin Orbit’s rocket manufacturing.
Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit developed a system that uses a modified 747 jet to send satellites into space by dropping a rocket from under the aircraft’s wing mid-flight. But the company’s last mission suffered a mid-flight failure, with an issue during the launch causing the rocket to not reach orbit and crash into the ocean.
The company was among a select few U.S. rocket companies to successfully reach orbit with a privately developed launch vehicle. It has launched six missions since 2020, with four successes and two failures.
It has been looking for new funds for several months, with majority owner Sir Richard Branson unwilling to fund the company further.
Virgin Orbit was spun out of Branson’s Virgin Galactic in 2017 and counts the billionaire as its largest stakeholder, with 75% ownership. Mubadala, the Emirati sovereign wealth fund, holds the second-largest stake at 18%.
The company previously hired bankruptcy firms to draw up contingency plans in the event it was unable to find a buyer or investor. Branson has first priority over Virgin Orbit’s assets, as the company raised $60 million in debt from the investment arm of Virgin Group.
On the same day that Hart told employees that Virgin Orbit was pausing operations, its board of directors approved a “golden parachute” severance plan for top executives, in case they are terminated “following a change in control” of the company. More

Nikola said it will raise $100 million via a secondary stock offering to the public.
If the public stock offering raises less than $100 million, a private investor has agreed to buy enough stock to make up the difference.
The company had about $233 million on hand at year-end.

U.S. Nikola’s logo is pictured at an event held to present CNH’s new full-electric and Hydrogen fuel-cell battery trucks in partnership with U.S. Nikola event in Turin, Italy, December 3, 2019.
Massimo Pinca | Reuters

Electric heavy-truck maker Nikola said on Thursday that it plans to raise $100 million via a secondary stock offering to the public and — possibly — a private sale of stock to an unnamed investor, if needed.
The company’s shares were down about 5% in after-hours trading following the news.

Nikola’s plan to raise capital comes in two parts. First, the company said, it will offer up to $100 million worth of stock to the public via a traditional secondary offering, with Citigroup underwriting. Citigroup will have the option to purchase an additional $15 million worth of shares.
Secondly, Nikola said it has entered into a forward stock purchase agreement with an unnamed investor. If the public offering raises less than $100 million, that investor has agreed to buy the remainder at the public offering price.
Either way, Nikola will raise $100 million before fees, money that it plans to use for working capital and other general purposes.
Nikola is slowly ramping up production of its electric semitrucks after building just 258 battery-electric trucks in 2022. The company said last month that it expects to build between 250 and 350 of the battery-electric semis in 2023, along with 125 to 150 of its upcoming fuel-cell-powered trucks, set to launch this fall. The fuel-cell trucks will have longer range than the battery-electric versions.
Nikola had $233.4 million in cash and equivalents available as of Dec. 31, down from $315.7 million at the end of September. The company lost $222.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. More