Finance

Charlie Javice, founder of a startup purchased by JPMorgan Chase in 2021, was convicted in federal court Friday of defrauding the bank by vastly overstating the company’s customer list.
The jury decision comes after weeks of testimony in New York over who was to blame for the flameout of a once-promising startup. Frank, founded by Javice in 2016, aimed to help users apply for college financial aid.
JPMorgan has accused Javice, 32, of duping the bank into paying $175 million for a company that had more than 4 million customers, when in reality it had fewer than 300,000.

Charlie Javice, who is charged with defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co into buying her now-shuttered college financial aid startup Frank for $175 million in 2021, arrives at United States Court in Manhattan in New York City, June 6, 2023.
Mike Segar | Reuters

Charlie Javice, founder of a startup purchased by JPMorgan Chase in 2021, was convicted in federal court Friday of defrauding the bank by vastly overstating the company’s customer list.
The jury decision comes after weeks of testimony in New York over who was to blame for the flameout of a once-promising startup. Frank, founded by Javice in 2016, aimed to help users apply for college financial aid.

JPMorgan has accused Javice, 32, of duping the bank into paying $175 million for a company that had more than 4 million customers, when in reality it had fewer than 300,000.
The largest U.S. bank by assets sued Javice in late 2022 after attempting to send marketing emails to some of the thousands of “customers” it thought Frank had. In its suit, JPMorgan released emails in which Javice hired a data scientist to generate a fake roster of customers.
Then, in April 2023, the Justice Department charged Javice with four crimes including wire and bank fraud, counts which carry multi-decade maximum sentences. Javice was arrested at Newark Airport on April 3 of that year and had been out on bail.
Javice had pleaded not guilty and said she was innocent throughout the trial; her lawyers blamed JPMorgan for rushing to close the Frank acquisition because it feared that other suitors would emerge.
Sentencing will happen in August, CNBC’s Leslie Picker reported.
A spokesman for New York-based JPMorgan declined to comment on Friday, while the office of a lawyer representing Javice didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. More

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with foreign executives on Friday in Beijing and emphasized that the country was a safe and stable place for companies. 
Business leaders Xi met included Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters and Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwartzman.
“To invest in China is to invest in tomorrow,” Xi said in Mandarin translated by CNBC. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with global executives on Friday, March 28, 2025.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with global executives and made a case for investing in the country, as Beijing focuses on reaching out to businesses amid escalating trade tensions with the U.S.
He said multinational companies had a big responsibility to “uphold global order” and that they needed to work hand in hand with China.

Xi emphasized that China was a safe and stable place for foreign companies. “To invest in China is to invest in tomorrow,” he said in Mandarin translated by CNBC. 
Echoing recent policy plans, Xi said that China would ensure fair opportunities for foreign businesses to participate in government procurement bids.
More than 40 people, mostly foreign executives and business officials, attended the roundtable meeting with Xi, including Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters and Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwartzman.
U.S. President Donald Trump has raised tariffs by 20% on China since January over its alleged role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis, and threatened a swath of new duties on major trading partners starting early April. Trump this week said he might reduce China tariffs to help close a deal that forces Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations.
The U.S. this week also added dozens of Chinese tech companies to its export blacklist, the first such restrictions under the Trump administration.

China has increased its trade with Southeast Asian countries and the European Union, but the U.S. remains Beijing’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis.
Xi said U.S.-China trade tensions should be resolved through negotiations. “We need to work for the stability of global supply chains,” he added, noting there was no way out under decoupling.
Politburo standing committee member Cai Qi, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and Vice Premier He Lifeng also attended the meeting along with the heads of China’s economic planning agency, finance ministry and commerce ministry.
Seven foreign executives spoke at the event before Xi gave closing remarks, according to an agenda seen by CNBC.
Xi gave individualized comments on the speaker’s remarks based on past history with the person or the company, according to Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations.
Orlins pointed out that the companies present at the meeting already had interests in China.
Beijing has sought to offset trade pressures, rather than retaliate forcefully. It courted the executives of major U.S. businesses at a state-backed annual conference that ran from Sunday to Monday. Apple CEO Tim Cook was among those who attended the conference, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk was conspicuous by his absence. Neither were at Friday’s meeting with Xi.
Also on Sunday, U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing — the first time a U.S. politician has visited China since Trump began his latest term in January.
“This was the first step to an important next step, which will be a meeting between President Xi and President Trump,” Daines told the Wall Street Journal. “When that occurs and where it occurs is to be determined.”
The White House did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Li urged cooperation and said no one could gain from a trade war, according to state media.
Top executives of major firms including FedEx, Pfizer, Cargill, Qualcomm and Boeing as well as U.S.-China Business Council President Sean Stein were also present at Daines’ meeting with Li, according to a foreign media pool report. More

In the latest step towards building a revenue-generating robotaxi business, Chinese startup Pony.ai said it has obtained the first permit to charge fares for fully driverless taxis in core parts of a business district of Shenzhen.
The permit allows Pony.ai to charge fares for rides — without any human staff inside — from the Shenzhen international airport and Shenzhen Bay Port to key parts of the district of Nanshan, home to tech giants Tencent and DJI.
While Pony.ai did not disclose how many robotaxis it could operate in the region, the company said the driverless cars could run daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.

A Pony.ai robotaxi drives on a public road in a suburb in southern Beijing on July 11, 2024.
China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images

BEIJING — In the latest step toward building a revenue-generating robotaxi business, Chinese start-up Pony.ai said it has obtained China’s first permit to charge fares for fully driverless taxis in core parts of a business district of Shenzhen.
The city is a coastal tech hub in southern China, sometimes dubbed the country’s Silicon Valley.

The license allows Pony.ai to charge fares for rides — without any human staff inside — in key parts of the district of Nanshan, home to tech giants Tencent and DJI. The permit does not cover trips across the entire space, limiting it to areas such as the financial sub-district.
Pony.ai has already operated robotaxis in parts of a neighboring Shenzhen district and can run taxis with human staff inside on routes that connect to the Shenzhen international airport and Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint on the border with Hong Kong.
While Pony.ai did not disclose how many robotaxis it could operate in the Shenzhen region, the company said the driverless cars could run daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.
Residents can book the robotaxi rides through Pony.ai’s app or a mini-program inside the WeChat messaging app, according to a press release.

Pony.ai also operates robotaxis in parts of the major Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, for a total of more than 250 cars across the country as of late November.

In late 2021, local authorities in Beijing started allowing Baidu’s Apollo Go and Pony.ai to charge fares for robotaxis in a southern suburb of the city.
In mid-March, Pony.ai also said it was the first company to launch a paid robotaxi route from the suburb to Beijing South Railway Station. Users must reserve the ride a day in advance, and a human staff worker must sit in the driver’s seat, according to current regulations.
Pony.ai this week reported “a significant increase” in passenger fares in the fourth quarter from a year ago, without disclosing exact figures. But the company said its overall revenue from robotaxi services fell by nearly 61.9% year-on-year to $2.6 million in the fourth quarter due to reduced service fees for autonomous vehicle engineering solutions. It also noted its revenue from robotruck services rose by 72.7% year-on-year to $12.9 million due to the expansion of its robotruck fleet. More

Traders work at the post where GameStop is traded on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on June 12, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

GameStop shares are set to give back much of Wednesday’s rally after the video game retailer announced plans to raise debt to buy bitcoin.
The meme stock tumbled more than 7% in premarket trading Thursday, following an almost 12% rally the previous session. The reversal came after the video game chain announced plans to raise $1.3 billion through the sale of convertible senior notes due in 2030 to buy bitcoin.

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On Tuesday, the GameStop board unanimously approved a plan to buy cryptocurrencies using corporate cash or future debt and equity proceeds, echoing a move made famous by MicroStrategy.
Under the latest sale, a round of convertible debt will require issuing 46 million additional shares of GameStop, bringing the company’s cash to $6.1 billion, up from about $4.8 billion, according to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.
“We suspect that GameStop’s share price will drift lower prior to the issuance of the convert, particularly given that a convert investor will receive a zero coupon and will be required to have faith that the GameStop meme phenomenon will persist for another five years,” Pachter, who has an underperform rating on GameStop, said in a note to clients.
The analyst is doubtful that GameStop’s foray into bitcoin following MicroStrategy’s playbook will be as successful because of the stock’s already-high valuation.
GameStop is currently valued at $12.7 billion, more than twice the cash balance after the convertible is issued. By contrast, MicroStrategy trades at less than two times the value of its bitcoin holdings.

“With GameStop already trading at more than 2x its cash holdings it is unlikely that its conversion of cash into Bitcoin will drive an even greater premium,” Pachter said.
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