Ukraine Asserts It Does Not Take Blame For Poland Missile Attack, Crypto Exchange Gemini Suffers $485M In Outflows, FTX, Bahamas Regulator Lock Horns Over Control Of Bankruptcy Proceedings: Top Stories Thursday, Nov. 17

CNBC

Despite NATO Coming In Support Of Ukraine, Kyiv Asserts It Does Not Take Blame For Poland Missile Attack

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his top military commanders had assured him that "it was not our missile and not our missile strike" that landed in Poland, killing two people.
• "I have no doubt in [Tuesday's] report to me personally — from the Commander of the Air Force to Commander-in-Chief [Valery] Zaluzhny — that it was not our missile and not our missile strike," Zelenskyy said.

Reuters

Warren Buffett, Jack Ma-Backed Paytm Tumbles To Lowest Since May After SoftBank Sells One-Third Stake

• The stock of digital payments service provider Paytm — backed by billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) and Jack Ma's Alibaba Group Holding BABA — lost nearly 10% of its value on Thursday in the Indian market.
• The shares of Paytm's parent One 97 Communications fell to their lowest since May after Korean-Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group Corp SFTBY SFTBF sold a 4.5% stake through block deals for $200 million in the Indian e-payment platform.

Wall Street Journal

TuSimple Co-founder Mo Chen Takes Charge As Regulators Probed Related Party Transaction Concerning His Hydrogen Trucking Startup

• TuSimple Holdings Inc TSP co-founder Mo Chen has taken control of the self-driving trucking company as federal authorities investigated TuSimple's relationship with Chen's other startup, a Chinese hydrogen-trucking company.
• TuSimple's board fired CEO Xiaodi Hou in October after a board investigation concluded that TuSimple had shared confidential information with Hydron, Chen's startup.
• Chen and Hou, both significant shareholders of TuSimple, joined forces to fire the board.

FTX, Bahamas Regulator Fight Over Control Of Bankruptcy Proceedings

• Securities regulators in the Bahamas are reportedly seeking to control FTX (FTT/USD) bankruptcy proceedings, challenging the company's Chapter 11 filing in the U.S.
• On November 15, FTX's Bahamian subsidiary FTX Digital Markets Ltd., filed for Chapter 15 proceedings in New York to seek U.S. recognition of Bahamian liquidation proceedings.
• FTX management is determined to keep the case in U.S. bankruptcy courts, citing people familiar with the matter.

CBS Entertainment Head To Exit As Parent Company Cuts Costs

• The head of CBS's entertainment division, Kelly Kahl, is stepping down at the end of the year after 5.5 years in his current role and 26 years at the network.
• Thom Sherman, a programming executive at Paramount, which owns CBS, also said in a note to employees that he planned to step down from his position.
• Naveen Chopra, the chief financial officer of Paramount Global PARA, which owns CBS, forecasted cost-cutting on the company's third-quarter earnings call earlier this month, saying there would be "meaningful and sizable" reductions in the coming months.

Bloomberg

LinkedIn Chief Chased Overseas For Growth, Finds India Leading The Turf

• Microsoft Corp MSFT LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky braced for growth for the social-networking site in markets like India, which prepared for economic headwinds more broadly by pausing hiring.
• India has become LinkedIn's fastest-growing market as more companies and advertisers come online, with sales in the country rising at a 50% year-on-year clip.
• "What's going to happen in the next ten years in India is being written right now," he said.

Stellantis Plans Electric Version Of Fiat Minicar In the US

• Stellantis NV-owned car brand, Fiat, is planning to launch an electric version of its urban minicar, the 500e, in 2024 back to North America.
• The Fiat 500e was the third best-seller in the region through September, the report cited researcher Jato Dynamics.
• The Fiat 500e is currently manufactured in the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy.

Techcrunch

Meta Names Company Veteran With Proven Successes As India Chief After Losing Out On Key Officials To Rivals

• Meta Platforms Inc META appointed Sandhya Devanathan as the new head of its business in India following several high-profile departures in its critical overseas market.
• Devanathan joined the firm in 2016 and helped build the company's Singapore and Vietnam businesses.
• She will report to Dan Neary, Vice President at Meta Asia-Pacific.

Benzinga

Winklevoss Brothers-Owned Gemini Suffers $485M In Crypto Outflows As FTX Jitters Grow

• Winklevoss brothers-owned crypto exchange Gemini witnessed a surge in withdrawals early as crypto firms tackled the cascading effects of the collapsed exchange FTX (FTT/USD).
• On-chain data revealed by Nansen, $485 million have been withdrawn from Gemini, in the last 24 hours.
• In the past seven days, Gemini registered $682 million in net outflows — $1.55 billion in inflows minus $866 million in outflows from Nansen — suggesting that withdrawals were concentrated on Wednesday.

Activision And NetEase To Take Revenue Hit As They Fail To Renew 14-Year-Old Deal In China

• Activision Blizzard Inc's ATVI revenue will likely take a hit as it will suspend its popular American video games due to the expiration of the current licensing agreements with NetEase Inc NTES on January 23, 2023.
• The affected games included World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch, the StarCraft series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm.
• The Diablo Immortal game remains unaffected as it is under a separate agreement between the companies.

Tesla Rival Fisker's Debut Model Ocean SUV Goes Into Production Today: What Investors Should Know

• Thursday could prove to be a redemption of sorts for electric vehicle startup Fisker Inc FSR as its debut model, the Ocean SUV, goes into production.
• Fisker, founded by former BMW AG BMWYY and Aston Martin sports car design engineer Henrik Fisker, is based in Los Angeles, California.
• The company has a partnership with auto parts maker Magna International Inc MGA, with the latter manufacturing the Ocean SUV at its plant in Graz, Austria.

Pfizer, BioNTech Start Work On Next-Gen COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate For Broader Protection

• Pfizer Inc PFE and BioNTech SE BNTX have initiated a Phase 1 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
• The next-gen vaccine candidate aims to enhance SARS-CoV-2 T cell responses and potentially broaden protection against COVID-19.
• The candidate, dubbed BNT162b4, includes T cell antigen mRNA encoding for SARS-CoV-2 non-spike proteins and will be evaluated in combination with the companies' omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite Concerns, FDA Advisory Committee Votes In Favor Of Ardelyx's Kidney Disease Candidate

• The FDA's Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted in favor of Ardelyx Inc's ARDX Xphozah (tenapanor) for controlling serum phosphorus in adult patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis.
• The adcomm voted 9:4 in favor of Xphozah as monotherapy and 10:2 in favor of Xphozah in combination with phosphate binders.

Stellantis Acquires AI & Autonomous Driving Software Start-Up aiMotive

• Stellantis NV STLA has agreed to acquire aiMotive, a developer of advanced artificial intelligence and autonomous driving software. Financial details of the transactions were not disclosed.
• aiMotive is based in Budapest, Hungary, with offices in Germany, the U.S., and Japan, with over 200 employees worldwide.
• The acquisition will enhance Stellantis' artificial intelligence and autonomous driving core technology.

Amazon Confirms Downsizing Of ~10K Employees, Extends Severance Packages

• Amazon.com Inc AMZN confirmed shedding its corporate ranks to control costs.
• Amazon could cut about 10,000 jobs in its retail, devices, and human-resources divisions. The final number of job cuts could change.
• The cuts would affect roughly 3% of its corporate staff and are unlikely to affect hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers.