Vince McMahon to Sell More Than $700 Million Worth of Stock in TKO, the Combo of WWE and UFC

A group of former WWE shareholders has filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the events leading up to the merger of WWE and Endeavor’s UFC into TKO Group this year resulted in a “sham sales process” designed to keep Vince McMahon in power and minimizing other bidders.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Binance Holdings, operator of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, pleaded guilty to U.S. criminal charges that it violated the Bank Secrecy Act and other laws and will pay $4.3 billion to resolve the investigation, the Justice Department said Tuesday. In addition, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao entered a guilty plea of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program in violation of the BSA, according to the DOJ.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland’s Venice Special Jury Prize-winning refugee drama, has been acquired by Kino Lorber in the U.S. (“Scrapper”) and Modern Films in the U.K. (“Drive My Car”).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The White House condemned Elon Musk as promoting “antisemitic and racist hate” after the tech mogul endorsed a conspiracy theory that Jewish people “promote hatred against whites.” On Wednesday, Musk — CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X — agreed with an X user who promoted the conspiracy theory that Jewish communities “have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.” In the now-removed post, the X user said they were “deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations” who are facing “hordes of minorities that support flooding their country.” In response to that, Musk commented, “You have said the actual truth.” In a statement released Friday, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said, “It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust… We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans. We all have a responsibility to bring people together against hate, and an obligation to speak out against anyone who attacks the dignity of their fellow Americans and compromises the safety of our communities.” Reps for X and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Is it real — or is it YouTube‘s robot singer copying a pop star’s vocal stylings? YouTube announced new AI music experiments it has been developing with Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence lab. The most interesting (and possibly most disorienting) of YouTube’s AI tests is Dream Track in YouTube Shorts.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Get ready for Gawker 3.0: The twice-shuttered blog site has a new owner, who plans to bring the gossipy pop-culture brand back to life — but not in exactly the same way. Meng Ru Kuok, CEO and founder of Singapore-based Caldecott Music Group, acquired the assets of Gawker from Bustle Digital Group. In an email to Variety, Kuok confirmed that he has closed the deal buying the Gawker trademarks and domain name but not its article archives.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Reps heading a special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives are questioning Apple CEO Tim Cook about whether the tech giant’s decision to cancel Jon Stewart‘s Apple TV+ talk show was because the host may have been planning an upcoming episode about China.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok has long touted the app as a place to discover new music — and its ability to propel songs into viral hits. Now TikTok is hoping to derive incremental revenue from music fans who use the app. The company’s new Add to Music App feature lets users save songs from TikTok to third-party music streaming services.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter, one of the biggest female streamers and gaming creators in the world, has signed with WME for representation. She most recently was repped by UTA. Valkyrae is known for streaming games “Among Us,” “Fortnite” and “Valorant,” among others.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The actors strike is over, and news has emerged that a biopic of Elon Musk, directed by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, is in the works. The movie from A24 is to be based on Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Musk.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Director Rob Reiner and journalist Soledad O’Brien have dug into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — and they claim they have found evidence about who was really behind the killing. Reiner and O’Brien are the co-hosts of “Who Killed JFK?”, a 10-part podcast series featuring interviews with authors, witnesses, CIA officials and forensic experts as part of their investigation into JFK’s assassination 60 years ago, on Nov.

Vince McMahon, the longtime former CEO of WWE, is selling nearly one-third of his stake in TKO Group Holdings.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In the two years since Netflix launched its first games, the company has assembled a collection of 80-plus titles — but only a handful of those have been based on the streamer’s TV shows or movies, like a “Stranger Things” puzzle game and a “Queen’s Gambit” chess app. Now Netflix is bringing out four new exclusive games, each based on popular originals on the service, betting that the titles will play big among fans of those entertainment franchises.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor SiriusXM rolled out a new logo, a brand-new app — with a cheaper monthly streaming plan — and a slate of new channels and shows, all aimed at helping the company grow beyond its satellite-radio roots. The new SiriusXM streaming app will be available to subscribers across North America starting Dec. 14 in Apple’s App Store, Google Play and on Amazon Fire devices with additional platforms and features to come in early 2024.

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel expressed hope that “the strike ends in the next couple days,” referring to the SAG-AFTRA impasse still paralyzing Hollywood.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify has launched its audiobook perk for Premium subscribers in the U.S., offering access to more than 200,000 audiobooks — available for no extra charge, but limited to only about two titles per month. The rollout comes after the audio streamer launched the audiobooks catalog for paying members in Australia and the U.K.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor In the quarter that included the marriage of UFC and WWE under the TKO Group umbrella, Endeavor saw its Q3 revenue rise despite headwinds from Hollywood strikes and other market conditions, but operating expenses climbed even more. Endeavor’s conference call with analysts today is expected to give Wall Streeters a chance to grill company executives, including CEO Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, president and chief operating officer, on the news earlier this month that Endeavor is considering “strategic alternatives” for some of its businesses.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor CAA has signed Haley Kalil, a scientist turned Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue model, comedic content creator and actor. The Minnesota native attended St. Cloud State University where she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in medical biology and psychology and a minor in chemistry.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor “Friends” was the No. 1 most popular show on U.S. streaming services in the past week, according to new data — coming after news of series star Matthew Perry‘s death.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeff Bezos is relocating to Miami, moving away from Seattle — which has been his home since he founded Amazon in 1994 out of his garage. Bezos announced the decision to move to Miami in an Instagram post Thursday. He explained that his parents (who “have always been my biggest supporters”) recently moved back to Miami, where the family had previously lived and where Bezos attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School (class of 1982).