WeWork’s ex-chief sues SoftBank, a popular children’s computer game gets hacked, and IBM’s Think conference goes virtual this week.
WeWork cofounder and former chief executive Adam Neumann has filed a suit against Japanese conglomerate SoftBank for abandoning a $3 billion tender offer to the startup’s shareholders. The money is part of a $9.6 billion rescue package that was agreed upon in October that gave SoftBank control over the office-sharing company. It was withdrawn in April when it said pre-conditions had not been met. SoftBank’s chief legal officer describes the claims as “meritless” and that it has no obligation to complete the offer.
Moving on, a hacker who bribed a worker for the online video game Roblox managed to gain access to the personal information of a smaller number of users, giving them the ability to change passwords and email addresses, and allocate in-game currency. According to Motherboard, the hacker, who spoke with the publication under the condition of anonymity, said they hacked the game to “prove a point” to the company.
And lastly, IBM’s annual mega event Think is running this week. Of course, due to the coronavirus, the event is being hosted virtually, and early reports suggested roughly 75,000 registered participants have tuned into the online festivities. In addition to announcements surrounding IBM’s many products and solutions, such as its famous Watson AI companion that’s pretty much integrated into every one of its offerings, there was a lot of focus on the company’s leadership as well. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, who replaced Ginni Rommeti at the top of the corporate ladder a few months ago, was joined by former Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst who is now the president at IBM, and the two confirmed the focus on open source technology and the expansion of its software portfolio in response to the coronavirus pandemic that’s forced thousands of people to connect to work remotely.
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