US-China Trade Talks Begin in South Korea Ahead of Trump-Xi Beijing Summit 
Alphabet Raises Record $3.6 Billion in Yen Bonds to Support AI Expansion 
Japan Considers Extra Budget Aid Amid Rising Fuel and Utility Costs 
ASX Names Former Euronext Executive Anthony Attia as New CEO 
Wall Street Futures Rise Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit as Tech Stocks Lead Market Rally 
OpenAI Finds No Evidence of User Data Breach in TanStack npm Supply-Chain Attack 
Oil Prices Hold Above $100 as Trump-Xi Meeting and Iran Conflict Keep Markets on Edge 
EQT Launches $3.76 Billion Take-Private Deal for Kakaku.com as Shares Surge 
Trump and Xi Temple of Heaven Visit Highlights Trade and Diplomacy Goals 
Anthropic Eyes $300M Stainless Acquisition Amid Enterprise AI Expansion 
Asian Stocks Steady as Iran War Concerns Persist Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit 
Telefónica Q1 2026 Earnings Beat Expectations as Debt Declines and Cash Flow Improves 
Arteris Stock Surges After Strong Q1 Earnings Beat and Higher 2026 Outlook 
Applied Materials Forecasts Strong Q3 Revenue as AI Chip Demand Accelerates 
Asian Currencies Hold Steady as Strong U.S. Inflation Data Boosts Dollar 
Alibaba Stock Surges After Strong Q4 Earnings Boosted by AI and Cloud Growth 
OECD Sees Bank of Japan Raising Interest Rates to 2% by 2027 
Walt Disney chief executive officer Bob Chapek rejected the calls of investors to spin off its sports cable channel, ESPN. The call has been spearheaded by billionaire and activist investor, Daniel Loeb.
Chapek said that Disney has been flooded with interest from other media over its sports network. He explained that if everybody is expressing interest in acquiring ESPN, then it only means the channel has a lot of potential.
"If everyone wants to come in and buy it or spin it with us, I think that says something about its potential," the Disney chief told the Financial Times. "I think its potential is within the Disney company. We have a plan for it that will restore ESPN to its growth trajectory.
In any case, Loeb and his Third Point hedge fund firm revealed it has acquired a new stake in Disney. With this, he said they have plans to shake up the company. The scheme includes spinning off ESPN to buy back shares and add more board members.
Then again, with Chapek’s rejection of the ESPN spin-off suggestion, CNBC reported that Loeb backs off and will stop asking Disney to sell it. The investor indicated that he would retreat and reverses a position he had been pushing less than a month ago. Loeb also posted a tweet that revealed his new position regarding the matter.
“We have a better understanding of @espn's potential as a standalone business and another vertical for $DIS to reach a global audience to generate ad and subscriber revenues,” he tweeted the past weekend. “We look forward to seeing Mr. Pitaro (Disney’s chairman) execute on the growth and innovation plans generating considerable synergies of The Walt Disney Company.”
We have a better understanding of @espn's potential as a standalone business and another vertical for $DIS to reach a global audience to generate ad and subscriber revenues. We look forward to seeing Mr. Pitaro execute on the growth contd. https://t.co/Gobvf8KS2w
— Daniel S. Loeb (@DanielSLoeb1) September 11, 2022
The changes in the activist investor’s stance come after he bought a new stake in Disney worth $1 billion in the second quarter. This is equivalent to 0.4% of the company. Disney’s shares increased around 6.5% over the last month. Meanwhile, a company official reiterated that ESPN is still one of the integral parts of the Walt Disney Company.
