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Morning, Wall Streeters! My name's Aaron Weinman, a correspondent for Insider, and I'm incredibly humbled to have your attention for the first edition of 10 Things on Wall Street. I'll look to unpack all things banking, finance, dealmaking, and fintech every weekday.
Got a tip? I'd love to hear from you. Drop me a line [email protected] or find me on Twitter @aaronw11.
And on that note, here's what's new on The Street — starting with a cautionary tale about View, Inc., the SoftBank-backed glass manufacturer that's arguably flying much too close to the sun.
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1. View was once like catnip for investors, but now it's the poster child for Wall Street's SPAC largesse. Over the years, the glassmaker reeled in commitments from a host of investors like BlackRock's private-credit arm and even New Zealand's Superannuation Fund. Last year, it nabbed the services of Goldman Sachs when it merged with Cantor Fitzgerald's SPAC in March.
Despite raising almost $1.5 billion in capital over the years, and $815 million through its de-SPAC merger, View's share price is now hovering near penny-stock territory, and it's been scolded by Nasdaq: Get your house in order, or a delisting won't be out of the question.
From a bird's eye view (pun intended), you'd be forgiven for thinking that View's woes were sudden, but more than two-dozen people familiar with the company told Insider that View has grappled with serious cash burn and product failures for years.
As my colleague Hayley Cuccinello and I report, former employees described a toxic workplace, with some fearing being reprimanded or dismissed should they voice their concerns.
At the helm, with presumably the greatest view (yes, I'm here all day, folks) of all, is Rao Mulpuri. The Harvard Business School graduate has a knack for capitalizing View, but as investors and lenders pare back exposure to companies that hemorrhage cash, the charismatic CEO's greatest challenge lies ahead.
Read the full investigation here.
In other news:
2. Ken Griffin's latest batch of minions will dive into "Shark Tank" style sessions at this year's offsite adventure. Starting today, the Citadel interns are hitting up resorts in Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale for their 2022 kumbaya. Here's what else they're getting into.
3. Coatue got off easy compared to peers Tiger Global and Melvin Capital. The tech-enamored hedge fund stuck more cash under its mattress to ride out the latest bout of volatility, something founder Phillippe Laffont is known for during trying times.
4. Meet Rich Latour, BlackRock's global head of content, and its official fire extinguisher. The world's largest money manager wants to set the record straight, and to do that, Latour's dragging the archaic world of investing toward unchartered territory like TikTok.
5. Klarna's sweetening severance for employees it recently canned. The BNPL fintech slipped from tech darling to villain after cutting about 10% of its roughly 7,000-strong staff last month. Now, Klarna's bumping up its "kthxbye" paychecks to at least 14 weeks pay, from six.
6. Array's CEO dropped some very personal names to avoid being blacklisted by payments processors, according to a lawsuit. Martin Toha, chief exec of the so-called "fintech for fintechs," is accused of using his kids' mothers' names to bypass a blacklist.
7. Adam Neumann's back — this time trying to make "Goddess Nature Tokens" a thing. The ousted WeWork founder and his wife Rebekah Neumann are launching Flowcarbon, a startup aimed at using blockchain tech to let businesses trade carbon credits using crypto.
8. Citi's bracing for $50 million in losses following last month's fat-finger debacle. It's not as severe as the $900 million Revlon error, but similarly face-palm worthy. A Citi trader in London mistakenly added a zero to a trade, causing what's known as a flash crash across European markets.
9. Bank of America could pay about $645 million to FC Barcelona for part of the Spanish football giant's TV rights. It's another sign of US influence in European sports, but this deal's more indicative of Barca's ongoing cash crunch.
10. Wells Fargo is progressing on being more progressive, but Wall Street's way off Main Street. The bank increased its share of women, Black, and Latino execs, however, the higher up you go, the whiter it gets.
On today's docket:
- John Rainey's reign as Walmart's new CFO starts today. Rainey will take over from Brett Biggs. As CFO of one of Wall Street's most sought-after clients, Rainey can bank on a deeply-filled inbox this week.
- BofA Securities is hosting an electric vehicle charging summit.
Keep updated with the latest business news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief. Listen here.
Curated by Aaron Weinman in New York. Tips? Email [email protected] or tweet @aweinman11. Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.