Intuit Buys Arena Naming Rights, MailChimp: What's Up?
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The most important thing in tech today is …
Intuit’s marketing investment. The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that the software company has secured naming rights to its arena, which CNBC’s Jabari Young reports is a 23-year agreement worth more than $500 million. It comes less than a week after Intuit announced it will spend $12 billion to buy digital marketing and newsletter platform MailChimp.
Intuit’s moves are important because they’re a bold strategic direction from a company that serves both consumers and small businesses, and has at times seemed ambivalent about the dual identity. Intuit acquired Credit Karma for $8.1 billion in 2020, just before the pandemic hit the U.S., clarifying a deeper commitment to consumer services; this planned MailChimp buy makes an equally strong statement about small business marketing services that drive revenue.
If Intuit sees an opportunity to accelerate out of the pandemic through these consumer and small business platforms, there’s likely to be a lot more money pouring into both sides of that bet.
Coming up today on CNBC’s TechCheck, 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT …
FireEye CEO Kevin Madia
While you were sleeping …
When problems have surfaced publicly, Facebook has said it addressed them by taking down offending posts. But it hasn’t fixed the systems that allowed offenders to repeat the bad behavior. Instead, priority is given to retaining users, helping business partners and at times placating authoritarian governments, whose support Facebook sometimes needs to operate within their borders, the documents show. WSJ
Retail darlings Warby Parker and Allbirds launched on the internet and paved the way for other brands to follow their playbooks and hope for similar success. Now, they’re betting big on real estate — not the web — to fuel future growth, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show. Whether they reap the benefits of physical stores could shape the path ahead for other online-first companies. CNBC
In the broader world …
One economic forecaster predicted a slowdown in global industrial activity earlier this summer. Lakshman Achuthan, co-founder of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, says the currency markets are now confirming his call. CNBC
On the horizon …
Today, 3 p.m. ET: Bret Taylor, Salesforce president: A Fortt Knox 1:1
