News

If this deal goes through, it will merge the largest radio station owner in the United States with the largest satellite radio service provider, creating an audio giant. The combined company's annual sales will exceed $12 billion. Both iHeartMedia and Sirius XM face challenges in attracting new customers and competing with streaming services from companies such as Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. (Bloomberg)

Jinse Finance reported that on April 25, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell may be in the final weeks of his central banking career. Following the Department of Justice's decision on Friday, he now faces a choice: whether to continue serving at the institution. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro posted on social media announcing that she will transfer the criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve headquarters renovation to the central bank's internal inspector general, effectively making the Department of Justice temporarily withdraw from the investigation. Krishna Guha, Head of Global Policy and Central Bank Strategy at Evercore ISI, stated in a report: “Powell has remained tight-lipped. If this investigation had not occurred, we believed he would have left the Federal Reserve completely on May 15. But we think the Department of Justice’s move may have come too late—and the threat of the investigation being reopened is too uncertain—for Powell to leave on May 15.” Guha speculates that on the contrary, Powell may continue to stay on for some time, even if he does not fully serve out his term as a governor, which expires in January 2028.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg cited informed sources stating that Japan's SoftBank Group's mobile communications division plans to transform part of its factory in Osaka, Japan, into a large-scale battery production line to power its own artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The company aims to have production up and running within the next five years, with the battery project announced by CEO Junichi Miyakawa in May. The plan is to develop a factory with a total battery capacity of several gigawatt-hours (GWh), which will become one of Japan's largest battery factories. Initially, these batteries will support its own AI data centers before being offered to other Japanese companies. After considering various uses for the factory in Sakai City, including robot manufacturing, SoftBank executives decided to enter the energy sector.