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Juul said it reached a financing deal as it seeks to stave off bankruptcy .
The company also plans to lay off about a third of its global workforce, or 400 people, and reduce its operating budget by 30% to 40%.
Juul has been saddled by legal challenges in recent years, which has impeded sales.

Packages of Juul e-cigarettes are displayed for sale in the Brazil Outlet shop on June 22, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Juul Labs said Thursday it secured financing from early investors, as it made plans to lay off nearly a third of its staff in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.
“Today, Juul Labs has identified a path forward, enabled by an investment of capital from some of our earliest investors,” a Juul spokesperson told CNBC. “This investment will allow Juul Labs to maintain business operations, continue advancing its administrative appeal of the FDA’s marketing denial order and support product innovation and science generation.”

The company has not released any details or terms of the investment.
Juul said that in order for it to move forward and for operations to continue a “reorganization” of its global workforce will be necessary. The company plans to lay off about 400 people and cut its operating budget by 30% to 40%.
Juul has faced financial strains in recent years. In 2015, it introduced its popular e-cigarette, touting it as a safer alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. Since then, the company has been saddled by a variety of legal challenges. Juul settled several large cases brought by state authorities, largely related to its marketing practices, which many suits allege were deceptive and failed to warn about the risks of its products.
The deal came ahead of a new report from the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said e-cigarettes — for the ninth consecutive year — were the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students in 2022. Overall, nearly 3.1 million students used tobacco products this year, according to the agencies. More than 2.5 million used e-cigarettes.
The report said many factors contribute to youth tobacco product use, including flavors, marketing and misperceptions of harm.
The FDA ordered Juul to stop selling its vaping products this year and then placed a temporary hold on its order in July. The headwinds hurt the company’s bottom line, and analysts predicted it might file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a way out.

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Spotify remains the No. 1 streaming audio service with a sizable lead over Apple, Amazon and YouTube Music in reported paid subscribers.
It has branched out into audiobooks and podcasts and now has nearly 200 million paying customers.
Controversies have trailed Daniel Ek’s company at every turn, from Taylor Swift pulling her catalog in 2014 to Neil Young’s departure over Joe Rogan this year, but the biggest issue is still profitability.

Onur Dogman | LightRocket | Getty Images

In this weekly series, CNBC takes a look at companies that made the inaugural Disruptor 50 list, 10 years later.
Spotify, once a Swedish startup tasked with tackling music piracy issues, is now the most popular audio streaming subscription service in the world.

First launched in 2008, the platform began as a way to allow listeners to stream their favorite songs while still compensating artists for their work – a major issue caused by file-sharing services at the time, like Napster and LimeWire, which severely affected music sales as the services had no legal rights to the music.
Today, Spotify has more than 80 million tracks available to users to stream. In its most recent earnings report, the company touted its 456 million active users with 195 million paid subscribers across 183 markets. The platform disrupted the audio streaming field – being named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list in 2013, also making appearances on the list in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – and set the blueprint for audio streaming services to come.
Spotify’s success quickly caught the eye of major technology competitors, who have since released their own streaming music platforms such as Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music. But even with competition and uneven stock market performance, Spotify has stayed at the top of the charts, as the No. 1 audio streaming service and has kept pace on subscription prices.
Its $9.99 monthly premium plan has remained unchanged since it launched in the U.S. in 2011, and it is still as low as any competitor. Apple recently raised its monthly price by $1 to $10.99. (Amazon Prime members receive its unlimited Music for $1 less than its non-Prime price, at $8.99). The pricing tweaks continue between the players in the streaming music space. YouTube Music’s family plan is $14.99 a month; Amazon this week raised its family plan from $14.99 to $15.99, equal to Spotify.
Daniel Ek, Spotify co-founder and CEO hinted at higher prices in the U.S. next year in a conference call following Spotify’s most recent quarterly report, saying that increasing subscription prices “is one of the things we would like to do and it’s something we will [consider] with our label partners.”

“We’ve actually done more than 46 price increases in markets around the world,” Ek told CNBC in October. “And many of those markets have had way more inflation and way more economic issues than the U.S. is currently experiencing and despite all of that, our subs numbers held way better than expected. We think we have pricing power.”
The competition is making progress on subscribers, with Variety reporting this week that YouTube Music has grown from 50 million subscribers to 80 million in a year. Apple reported an early surge in Music-specific paid subscriber figures back in 2019, at 60 million, but has since focused on the numbers for its overall Services business — which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, cloud services and others — growing to reach 860 million paid subscriptions.
In 2015, Spotify started evolving beyond music to become the next big name in the audio space, launching its podcast platform in the United States. Now the platform has over 4.7 million podcast offerings and has implemented additional video elements to keep users more engaged.
“We’re constantly trying to move forward with better product offerings, with better programming, with better curation,” Ek told CNBC in 2015. “It’s really about moving faster than the rest, and I really feel we’re doing a pretty good job at it.”
The company most recently announced in September the acquisition of more than 300,000 audiobooks on its platform available for purchase, looking to directly compete with audiobook services like Audible from Amazon.
“We see the opportunity to continue to imagine and explore new verticals across our platform – within audio, but also beyond,” Ek said at the company’s Investor Day in June. “And for each vertical, we will develop a unique set of software, services and products and business models that’s going to be tailored for that specific ecosystem.”
Spotify went public in April 2018 in an unusual direct listing, one of the largest technology companies to do so at the time. The listing was unique since the company already had significant name recognition and had no need to raise capital. The IPO’s launch was considered a success, trading above its reference price on opening day and in a fairly narrow range.
“We set out to reimagine the music industry and to provide a better way for both artists and consumers to benefit from the digital transformation of the music industry,” the company said in its initial filing in February 2018. “Spotify was founded on the belief that music is universal and that streaming is a more robust and seamless access model that benefits both artists and music fans.”
This view has not always been shared by musicians, with many coming out against the royalties being paid in the early years of Spotify’s rise. Taylor Swift removed her catalog from Spotify in 2014 and went as far as to write an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal about the devaluation of music caused by technology. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke was a constant critic of streaming, once referring to Spotify as the “last desperate fart of a dying corpse.”
As the music industry has transitioned to a predominantly streaming one, those complaints have diminished but not the criticism of Spotify. Its shares plummeted by $2 billion in January when the platform faced scrutiny surrounding one of its most popular podcasts, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” spreading misinformation about Covid-19. Artists such as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, already a longtime critic of streaming platforms, pulled their music from Spotify in protest. The company pulled multiple episodes of Rogan’s podcast with offensive material but Ek refused to drop the personality.
Profitability continues to be the big business issue. Spotify reported wider-than-anticipated losses in Q3, and shares touched new lows.

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Throughout it all, Spotify has stayed No. 1 with a healthy lead over competitors. What is it that keeps Spotify users hooked on the platform? The company credits its personalization algorithms that make the service unique to every consumer. 
Its Daily Mix and Discover Weekly playlists are curated for each specific user with music they love as well as new tracks the platform thinks they may enjoy based on listening history. At the end of every year, the company also releases Spotify Wrapped for every user, creating playlists to highlight their top artists, songs, albums and genres of the year and encouraging them to share their results on social media.
In the next decade, Ek said the company will generate $100 billion in annual revenue — current annual revenue is at a run rate of roughly $12 billion. It wants to achieve a 40% gross margin — the most recent quarterly gross margin was 24.7%.
Ultimately, Ek is aiming for one billion users on a “far more dynamic and open platform.”
“A platform that will entertain, inspire and educate more than one billion users around the world,” Ek said at the company’s Investor Day. “And as the world’s creator platform, we will provide the infrastructure and resources that will enable 50 million artists and creators to grow and manage their own businesses, monetize their work, and effectively promote it.”

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Massachusetts voters approved a 4% tax on annual income above $1 million, on top of the state’s current 5% flat income tax.
Effective in 2023, the new levy aims to fund public education, roads, bridges and public transportation.
However, financial experts say the wealthy are already working to reduce their future tax burden.

Gary John Norman

If you make more than $1 million a year in Massachusetts, you may soon be subject to a “millionaire tax” approved by voters this week through a ballot initiative.
The new law creates a 4% tax on annual income above $1 million, on top of the state’s current 5% flat income tax, aiming to fund public education, roads, bridges and public transportation.

It’s expected the levy will affect roughly 0.6% of Massachusetts households, according to an analysis from the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University. 
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“Democrats have been working for a long time to add some tax brackets and progressivity to this system,” said Richard Auxier, senior policy associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, pointing to the current 5% flat income tax in Massachusetts regardless of earnings.
However, California voters rejected a similar tax, aiming to pay for zero-emissions vehicle programs and wildfire response and prevention. The measure would have added a 1.75% levy on annual income of more than $2 million, in addition to the state’s top income tax rate of 13.3%.
“It’s very state-specific,” Auxier said, explaining how the tax ballot initiatives may hinge on funding priorities, current state tax structure and other factors.

Tax planners to be ‘very busy’ with Bay State clients

While the measure was just approved earlier this week, many wealthy residents were already discussing the impact with advisors.  
“This has certainly been on the minds of folks,” said Jim Guarino, a certified financial planner, CPA and managing director at Baker Newman Noyes in Woburn, Massachusetts. He said client discussions began once the initiative was announced.

The informed will now work more with their advisors and look for ways to minimize or avoid the surtax.

Jim Guarino
Managing director at Baker Newman Noyes

The new tax is estimated to bring in roughly $1.3 billion in revenue during fiscal 2023, according to the Tufts analysis. But Guarino expects lower numbers due to tax planning, and in some cases, “leakage” from some higher earners moving out of state.
“The informed will now work more with their advisors and look for ways to minimize or avoid the surtax,” he said. 
For example, someone may consider stretching income over a period of years, rather than “one big hit” that bumps them over the million-dollar threshold in 2023, Guarino said.

In other cases, they may try to receive some of next year’s earnings in 2022, before the law goes into effect, he said. “If you can defer taxable income, that’s usually a good thing,” Guarino noted. “But in this instance, accelerating income may give you an immediate 4% [tax savings] at the state level.
“I think we’re going to be busy over the next six or seven weeks with our Massachusetts clients,” he added.

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Keurig Dr Pepper announced Thursday that CEO Ozan Dokmecioglu agreed to resign after violating the company’s code of conduct.
The beverage giant said the violations were not related to the company’s strategy, operations or financial reporting.
Keurig Dr Pepper’s board reappointed Bob Gamgort, chairman and former CEO, as chief executive.

The Keurig Dr Pepper logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.
Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Keurig Dr Pepper announced Thursday that CEO Ozan Dokmecioglu agreed to resign after violating the company’s code of conduct, less than four months into the job.
The beverage giant said the violations were not related to the company’s strategy, operations or financial reporting.

Keurig Dr Pepper’s board reappointed Bob Gamgort, chairman and former CEO, as chief executive.
Shares of the company rose 2% in morning trading on the news. Keurig Dr Pepper’s stock has risen 3% this year, increasing its market value to $54.4 billion.
Gamgort ceded the role to Dokmecioglu on July 29 as part of a previously announced succession plan. When the change was announced in April, the company said it looked at internal and external candidates for the role.
Prior to becoming CEO, Dokmecioglu served as chief financial officer for the company, helping Keurig Green Mountain go private in 2016 and with its merger with Dr Pepper Snapple in 2018.
Dokmecioglu, 50, served on Krispy Kreme’s board of directors but resigned in September. The doughnut chain said in a regulatory filing that the transition was not caused by a disagreement with the company or the board and thanked Dokmecioglu for his service and contributions.
A second director, Patricia Capel, resigned at the same time. Capel is a director at JAB Holding, the investment arm of the Reimann family. JAB owned Krispy Kreme before it went public in 2021 and still owns roughly 45% of the company’s stock, according to Factset. Likewise, JAB owned a controlling stake in Keurig Green Mountain before the merger. Its subsidiary Maple Holdings still holds a 33% stake in Keurig Dr Pepper.

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Bookings were down from the same point in 2019, new Adobe data shows.
A jump in fares this year hasn’t deterred many consumers from booking flights.
Domestic bookings in 2022 are up 5% from three years ago.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Nov. 9, 2022
Leslie Josephs | CNBC

Consumers have booked fewer flights for Thanksgiving week than they did three years ago, before the Covid pandemic, according to Adobe data released Thursday.
Domestic bookings are down 7% from the same point in 2019, but high fares have translated to a 3% increase in revenue.

Air travel demand has been resilient this year, despite high inflation and a particularly sharp rise in fares, helping airlines more than make up for a surge in fuel and other costs.
Inflation in October rose less than expected, but airfare was up nearly 43% from last year.
“The slower bookings growth indicates that some consumers may be waiting to see if prices come down materially, while others may pursue alternate forms of travel, such as by car or train,” Adobe said in its report, which looked at online bookings of six of the 10 largest U.S. carriers.
Consumers have spent $76 billion on flights online this year, up 17% from 2019, Adobe said. Bookings rose 5%, showing a chunk of the increase was due to higher fares.

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KFC apologized for sending a mobile app alert telling German customers to “treat yourself” on Kristallnacht.
On Wednesday, the Yum Brands chain sent a notification that reportedly said “It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!”
The fried-chicken chain said that it uses a bot linked to national observances to create notifications for its mobile app.

A menu of a drive-in counter of a branch of the fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). After severe setbacks in the Corona pandemic, Germany’s fast food industry wants to expand its drive-in car counters to keep customers in line.
Rolf Vennenbernd | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

KFC apologized this week for sending a mobile app alert telling German customers to “treat yourself” on Kristallnacht.
Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass, refers to the pogroms against Jewish people in Germany and Austria carried out by Nazis in November 1938. Some consider it the beginning of the Holocaust.

On Wednesday, the Yum Brands chain sent a notification that reportedly said “It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!”
KFC said the notification contained “an obviously unplanned, insensitive and unacceptable message.”
“We understand and respect the gravity and history of this day, and remain committed to equity, inclusion and belonging for all,” KFC said in a statement.
The fried-chicken chain said that it uses a bot linked to national observances to create notifications for its mobile app. KFC said that the chain’s internal review process wasn’t followed properly, resulting in the alert going out to customers. It added that it has suspended app communications to make sure the mistake doesn’t happen again.
Recent anti-semitic comments from rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and NBA player Kyrie Irving have added to concerns about rising hate aimed at Jewish communities. In response to Ye’s comments, Adidas severed ties with the rapper, and Gap pulled Yeezy items from its stores. Nike co-founder Phil Knight told CNBC that the company’s relationship with Irving is likely finished.

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Readers looking for thrills rarely turn to official reports written by groups of worthies. At first glance, one from a body soporifically named the UN High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities might be expected to cure insomnia. The team of experts, led by Catherine McKenna, a former Canadian minister, has spent the past seven months poring over the proliferating climate commitments of banks and big businesses, as well as cities and regions. Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

“ONE CARGO of LNG heats 1m people in Europe for a month,” beams an employee of Cheniere, America’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, pointing to a specialised vessel docked at its huge export terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas. The firm has poured $17bn into the facility and in October held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark an additional $8bn expansion. More lng sets sail from Cheniere’s even bigger plant in Louisiana.Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More