AP Photo
MasterCard, Visa, eBay, and others have withdrawn from Facebook's cryptocurrency project.
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday.
- SoftBank could reportedly take control of WeWork at a valuation below $10 billion as the embattled office rental company seeks bailout options. WeWork could run out of money as soon as the end of November; the company's new co-CEOs are slashing thousands of jobs, selling off businesses, and closing non-core activities like WeGrow.
- Facebook's cryptocurrency project suffered a massive blow after MasterCard, Visa, eBay, and others withdrew. Facebook's deteriorating relationships with Libra partners, combined with intense scrutiny from lawmakers, leaves the future of the initiative uncertain.
- Elizabeth Warren expressed her ire over Facebook running fake ads for Trump - by running a fake ad. Her campaign posted a fake advertisement on the social media platform claiming that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg endorsed Trump's re-election.
- Google funds climate change deniers while touting environmentally friendly policies. According to a Guardian report, Google has been funding organizations that deny climate change and actively lobby against climate legislation.
- Bill Gates, who said he had no relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, reportedly met with the disgraced financier multiple times, including a 2011 meeting with billionaire Eva Dubin and her teenage daughter. According to a New York Times report, Gates and Epstein met multiple times beginning in 2011.
- The future of WeWork's $850 million Lord & Taylor building, which it bought in 2017, is in jeopardy now the firm is on the brink of running out of cash and is slashing jobs. The building was an ambitious bet for WeWork's brash and charismatic founder Adam Neumann, and plan had been to turn it into WeWork's HQ.
- San Francisco is creating a new office of Emerging Technology. The new office will issue permits before any new tech device is used on its streets, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
- Popular Canadian messaging app Kik said that it is "here to stay" just weeks after its CEO announced that it would be closing down. Earlier this month, CEO Ted Livingston said on Twitter that his company may have found a buyer for Kik.
- Samsung has launched its Galaxy Fold concierge service in the US. The Galaxy Fold Premier Service will allow Galaxy Fold users get support and find answers to questions about their device 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Benchmark's role ousting the CEOs of WeWork and Uber could be the end of the 'founder friendly' reputation that made it one of Silicon Valley's hottest VC firms. The firm's reputation with startups could determine its future ability to land the hottest deals.
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