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Chevron will lay off 15% to 20% of its global workforce by the end of 2026, the U.S. oil company said on Wednesday as it seeks to cut costs, simplify its business, and complete a major acquisition. The No. 2 U.S. oil producer has faced production challenges including cost overruns and delays in a large Kazakhstan oilfield project. Its $53-billion deal to acquire oil producer Hess and gain a foothold in Guyana’s lucrative oilfield is in limbo due to a court battle with larger rival Exxon Mobil, which has more aggressively expanded its own production. Chevron also faces industry-wide weakness in the refining business and the expectation that oil prices could be under pressure over the next two years as global production growth outpaces demand. Chevron has said it is targeting up to $3 billion in cost cuts through 2026 from leveraging technology, asset sales and changing how and where work is performed. At the end of 2023, Chevron employed 40,212 people across its operations. A layoff of 20% of total employees would be about 8,000 people. Those figures exclude another roughly 5,400 employees of Chevron service stations. Shares of Chevron declined 1.3% in afternoon trading. The company told employees during an internal town hall that they can begin opting for buyouts now through April or May, according to a source familiar with the matter. The oil industry has been consolidating in recent years, focusing on mergers and operational efficiency more than drilling new wells. Chevron will reorganize its business and announce a new leadership structure in the next two weeks, the source said. Chevron is taking action to simplify our organizational structure, execute faster and more effectively, and position the company for stronger long-term competitiveness,” said Mark Nelson, vice chairman of Chevron, in a statement. “We do not take these actions lightly and will support our employees through the transition.” The company’s oil and gas reserves have declined to their lowest point in at least a decade, raising concerns about its long-term prospects and highlighting the importance of closing the Hess acquisition. Chevron moved its headquarters from San Ramon, California to Houston last year and replaced several long-standing managers to renew its leadership. Last year, it also announced a new hub in India that will be its largest tech center outside the United States. Scheyder and Sheila Dang in Houston, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Shares of Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMCI) surged 12% Wednesday in early morning premarket trading after it forecast strong revenue gains for 2026 and updated investors on plans to remain on the Nasdaq exchange. SMCI was up over 3% in afternoon trading. On Tuesday, the AI server maker said it now “believes it will make” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) February 25 deadline to submit its delayed 10-K filings, thereby avoiding delisting from the Nasdaq. It also expects to file its 10-Q quarterly report ending in September by that date. Super Micro president and CEO Charles Liang projected revenue of $40 billion for fiscal 2026, lowering estimates to $23.5 to $25 billion in fiscal 2025, from prior guidance between $26 billion to $30 billion. Although Super Micro’s second-quarter results fell short of analyst estimates, investors are encouraged by the stock’s stronger-than-expected performance forecast for 2026. With our leading direct-liquid cooling (DLC) technology and over 30% of new data centers expected to adopt it in the next 12 months, Super Micro is well positioned to grow AI infrastructure designs wins based on Nvidia Blackwell and more, Liang said in an earnings release. We anticipate this technology transition sets a strong foundation for us now.” SMCI is at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq exchange due to its delinquent filings with the SEC. The stock has swung wildly up and down since accounting giant Ernst & Young resigned as its auditor last fall, disclosing it was unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by [SMCIs] management” after a report from Hindenburg Research alleged it had found glaring accounting red flags, sanctions and export control failures, and evidence of undisclosed related party transactions. The AI server maker conducted its own independent review and found no evidence of misconduct.
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E-Commerce
The New York Stock Exchange announced on Wednesday it will launch an exchange in Texas, increasing competition among listing venues in the state. Several high-profile firms, including Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX, have relocated their headquarters to Texas, attracted by the state’s perceived favorable legal and regulatory environment. The Texas Stock Exchange, a new venture backed by financial giants including BlackRock, Citadel Securities and Charles Schwab, is targeting a 2026 launch after submitting paperwork late last month to operate as a national securities exchange. The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq have dominated the lucrative U.S. listings market in a virtual duopoly since the 2000s. The TXSE would represent the first challenge to that dominance if it wins regulatory approval to begin trading and seeking new listings. NYSE Chicago will reincorporate in Texas and rebrand as NYSE Texas, providing companies with a new venue to list their securities, said the NYSE, which is part of the Intercontinental Exchange. “As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over $3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere,” NYSE Group President Lynn Martin said. A TXSE spokesperson did not comment directly on the NYSE plan. “We have known all along that Texas is the best place to do business,” the spokesperson said in a statement following the news. “The Texas Stock Exchange is harnessing this momentum to build a national securities exchange in our home state.” Nasdaq recently stepped up its presence in Texas, announcing a new regional focus for its listings business and naming Rachel Racz to head the segment focusing on Texas, Latin America and the southern United States. The NYSE’s initiative shows that a regional focus may not be enough of a competitive distinction that will allow the Texas Stock Exchange to challenge the two incumbents, said Owen Lau, a senior analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. “There may be something in Texas Exchange that is yet to be revealed, so it is still too early to gauge how it plays out. But so far, it doesn’t appear to dramatically change the listing/exchange landscape.” Both TXSE and NYSE Texas will be fully electronic equities exchanges headquartered in Dallas. Niket Nishant, Manya Saini, and Suzanne McGee, Reuters Laura Matthews contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
What if the Playboy Mansion was filled with OnlyFans content creators? Thats the pitch for the Bop House, a TikTok page that has gained nearly three million followers since its launch in December. Founded by Sophie Rain, 20, and Aishah Sofey, 22, the house is home to eight creators aged 19 to 24, who collectively boast over 33 million followers. Their TikTok presence leans into viral, algorithm-friendly content like flying private to the Super Bowl and reviewing popular cookie brand Crumbl. But their real revenue stream comes from OnlyFans. The Bop House claims to have generated $10 million in revenue in its first month. Its just like a little girl group that were all doing and we just want to uplift each other and help each other grow on TikTok, Rain told the Daily Mail. The house has its own website, with a profile of each girl directing to their various social media platforms. The name itself is a reference to Gen Z slang which stands for baddie on point, a term used to describe a person who uses their body to make money. The group has sparked controversy over the blurred line between their PG-rated TikTok presence and their adult content careers. Many members, including Rain, are 21 and under (one even wears braces). Although Rain is an OnlyFans creator, she says shes also a devout Christian and wears a promise ring. The issue is the content looks very very very young, TikTok user Amber Horsburgh posted in a video. The deliberate marketing of youthful personas for adult content is creating a demand for barely-legal performers. With their mostly PG Instagram and TikTok videos, the Bop House has built a following on social media to funnel viewers toward their OnlyFans content. Given the platforms young user base, about 25% of TikTok’s global users are between the ages of 10 and 19, this raises clear concerns. Whether that responsibility falls on the Bop House is less clear. @amberhorsburgh_ I did a marketing degree once and learned about supply and demand. The demand for this makes me feel all sorts of things. Meanwhile the Bop House has 2.5M followers in 60 days…. #bophouse #sophierain #bop Credits Footage: TikTok: @sophieraiin TikTok: @aishah TikTok: @bophouse original sound – Amber | Cultural Commentary – Amber | Cultural Commentary Either way the Bop House has no plans to slow down. In a recent interview, Rain added, We can afford a new mansion every single month with the money the Bop House is making us.
Category:
E-Commerce
Tulsi Gabbard, a former U.S. representative with little intelligence experience, was confirmed as the top U.S. spy on Wednesday, as Republicans lined up behind a nominee once seen as among President Donald Trump‘s most controversial picks. The Senate voted 52 to 48, mostly along party lines, to confirm Gabbard to the position overseeing the 18-agency intelligence community and acting as Trump’s top adviser on intelligence issues. The only Republican to vote against Gabbard was Senator Mitch McConnell, the party’s former leader in the chamber. No Democrats or independents voted in favor of the nominee. The vote was another victory for Trump as he pushes to secure quick Senate approval for all of his nominees for administration positions. The Senate’s Republican majority leader, John Thune, held a procedural vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also faced fierce opposition to his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, immediately after the Gabbard confirmation vote. Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat, had faced bipartisan questions about past statements seen as supporting U.S. adversaries, and lack of experience that would have prepared her to manage a $100 billion budget. Gabbard neither worked at a spy agency nor served on an intelligence committee during her four House of Representatives terms. She will now oversee an agency created by Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the country’s sprawling intelligence apparatus, one of the most important national security positions in U.S. government. “The selection of a DNI is a very big deal,” said Emily Harding, director of the Intelligence, National Security and Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting the DNI’s broad access to classified material and role as the president’s main intelligence adviser. Russia, Syria, Snowden Trump’s announcement of Gabbard in November sent shockwaves through the national security establishment, adding to concerns that intelligence-gathering would be politicized, and weakened, during a second Trump administration. Skeptics questioned Gabbard’s past statements seen as sympathetic toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and defense of the government of former Syria leader Bashar al-Assad, whom she visited in Syria in 2017 while he was under U.S. sanction. At her hearing, Gabbard faced particularly pointed questioning from senators from both parties about her past defense of former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of highly classified documents and then sought asylum in Russia. Some were noticeably frustrated at her refusal to call Snowden a traitor. Republicans who expressed concerns faced an intense political pressure campaign, from Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who threatened to support primary opponents of any Republican who obstructed nominees. Senator Todd Young, an intelligence committee member who did not immediately back Gabbard, issued a statement supporting her before the panel’s party-line 9-8 vote to recommend the nominee to the full Senate. A former Marine Corps intelligence officer criticized by Musk before he endorsed Gabbard, Young said Gabbard had reassured him that she would support intelligence professionals and provide unbiased information. Gabbard’s supporters also praised her pledges to pare back the DNI’s office, at a time when Trump’s administration is slashing and even seeking to close government agencies. Past DNI nominees have been intelligence veterans confirmed with broad bipartisan support. Daniel Coats, a former ambassador and Republican senator who served on the intelligence committee, was confirmed by 85-12 in 2017, as Trump began his first term. The DNI under former President Joe Biden, Avril Haines, had held a series of major national security positions, including deputy director of the CIA. She was confirmed by 84-10. Harding said Gabbard will need to reassure allies that they can trust Washington as Trump pursues an aggressive foreign policy, and be cautious about making cuts amid myriad global challenges. “The person that is going to be doing it needs to be someone that he (Trump) trusts and somebody that he’ll listen to,” Harding said. Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent. She backed Trump and joined the Republican Party in 2024. Patricia Zengerle, Reuters
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E-Commerce
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