CANNABIS
CEO of MariMed dies suddenly
The chief executive of MariMed Inc., one of the state’s largest cannabis operators, has died unexpectedly. The Norwood-based company reported that CEO and cofounder Robert Fireman died on Sunday, but the company said it was not yet ready to provide information on its succession plan and did not disclose the cause of his death. At the time of the company’s last proxy filing in September, Fireman was 74. Fireman, a practicing attorney for 30 years, had been chief executive of MariMed since 2017 and helped grow the company’s presence across several states with cannabis cultivation, production, and retail facilities. As of the end of 2021, the company employed 326 people, including 260 full-timers, and reported $121.5 million in revenue for the year. “Bob Fireman worked tirelessly and passionately until his last day as Chairman and CEO of MariMed to fulfill our mission of improving people’s lives, much as he did as a philanthropist who cared so deeply about the people and community around him,” MariMed president Jon Levine said. — JON CHESTO
FINANCE
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Goldman Sachs to cut hundreds more jobs
Goldman Sachs aims to cut at least a few hundred more jobs as the Wall Street titan restructures its struggling consumer business and braces for an uncertain economy in the year ahead. The bank is drafting plans that could eliminate at least 400 positions from its loss-making retail banking operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Chief executive David Solomon has said he’s dialing back the firm’s ambitions for consumer banking. The latest cuts show the firm is moving beyond its annual exercise of weeding out underperforming staff, which was the focus just months ago. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter tries to launch premium service again
Twitter is once again attempting to launch its premium service, a month after a previous attempt failed. The social media company said Saturday it would let users buy subscriptions to Twitter Blue to get a blue checkmark and access special features starting Monday. The blue checkmark was originally given to companies, celebrities, government entities, and journalists verified by the platform. After Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, he launched a service granting blue checks to anyone willing to pay $8 a month. But it was inundated by imposter accounts, including those impersonating Musk’s businesses Tesla and SpaceX, so Twitter suspended the service days after its launch. The relaunched service will cost $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iPhone users. Twitter says subscribers will see fewer ads, be able to post longer videos, and have their tweets featured more prominently. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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FINANCE
Microsoft buys a stake in the London Stock Exchange
Microsoft is taking a roughly 4 percent stake in the operator of the London Stock Exchange, which has agreed to spend at least $2.8 billion in cloud-computing services from the technology giant. That spending commitment will be spread out over 10 years, according to the terms of the deal announced Sunday by Microsoft. Major exchanges have recently begun partnering with tech companies to shift their technology infrastructure to the cloud. About a year ago, Nasdaq announced it would migrate its North American markets to Amazon Web Services’ platform, while commodities and futures exchange operator CME Group inked a 10-year deal with Google to move its trading systems to the cloud. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
AUTOMOTIVE
AutoNation buys mobile car repair business
AutoNation is buying a mobile car-repair startup that counts Mercedes-Benz and Porsche among its investors for $190 million. The acquisition of Los Angeles-based RepairSmith Inc., which was founded in 2018, is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, AutoNation said Monday in a statement. The announcement confirmed an earlier report by Bloomberg News. AutoNation, the largest dealership chain in the United States, has been broadening its service offerings since the pandemic accelerated a shift to online car sales. Earlier this year it bought CIG Financial for $85 million to set up a captive finance arm to originate auto loans, and last month it acquired a 6.1 percent stake in car-shopping website TrueCar Inc. to enhance its digital capabilities. With RepairSmith, AutoNation will be able to send mechanics to consumers’ homes or offices if they don’t want to make a trip to the dealership. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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GRILLING
Weber to be taken private
Grilling company Weber is being taken private in a deal valued at about $3.7 billion. Investment funds managed by BDT Capital Partners LLC will buy all of the outstanding shares of Weber Inc. that they don’t already own for $8.05 per share. Weber’s board has approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of next year. Weber, based in Palatine, Ill., went public in August 2021 at $14 a share. Shares, which were listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the “WEBR” ticker symbol, closed Friday at $6.50. Weber began in 1952 when George Stephen created a kettle grill following a disastrous experience attempting to cook steaks on a brick fireplace barbecue. Stephen had been working at Weber Brothers Metal Works at the time, welding half spheres together to make buoys. He decided to use one of the half spheres, put legs on it, punch holes in the bottom for airflow and put a lid on top. That is how the kettle grill was born, according to Weber’s website. It has since gone on to create various types of grills and grilling accessories. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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AUTOMOTIVE
Subaru tells SUV owners to park outdoors because of fire risk
Subaru is telling the owners of nearly 272,000 SUVs in the United States to park them outdoors due to the risk of a fire. The company is recalling the 2019 through 2022 Ascents after getting reports of two fires. There were no reports of injuries. The company says a bolt that holds the ground terminal of a heater may not have been fastened properly during assembly. That can cause the terminal and surrounding parts to melt, increasing the risk of fire. Subaru says owners will be contacted within 60 days. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
FINANCE
London’s portion of IPOs lowest in 13 years post-Brexit
London’s share of proceeds from European initial public offerings has fallen to the lowest since 2009, in another sign of the UK’s shrinking place among global financial markets. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, listings in London have raised just £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) this year, accounting for 9 percent of the European total of $20.9 billion. That’s the lowest percentage of proceeds since the global financial crisis, when the UK capital contributed just 2 percent of all European IPO volumes. The poor showing underlines London’s struggle to maintain its status as a global financial center since Brexit. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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