Theres a lot going on at Twitter. The social media company, bought by Elon Musk for $44 billion in October, has gone through a massive down-sizing and introduced paid verified checkmarks, among other things.

Starting this week, the company will have new people among its leadership, too. Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, is set to take the helm from the worlds richest man as CEO on Monday. Also joining the business side is Joe Benarroch, a former NBCUniversal colleague of Yaccarinos, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. 

The new entrants both come with experience in the advertising realm, a key part of Twitters business thats taken a blow since Musk took over the platform last year. Yaccarino used to lead the ad sales division at NBCUniversal, while Bennaroch was the executive vice president of communications, global advertising and partnerships at the entertainment company, according to the Journal. 

Tomorrow, I start a different professional adventure at Twitter, taking on a role focusing on business operations, Benarroch wrote in a memo, the Journal reported. I am looking forward to bringing my experience to Twitter, and to working with the entire team to build Twitter 2.0 together.

In a tweet Sunday, Yaccarino confirmed the news publicly, saying: Welcome to the flock, @benarroch_joe! From one bird to the next. 

Lets get to work @Twitter!  #timetofly

Twitter did not immediately return Fortunes request for comment. 

The new additions come at a tricky time for Twitter, though. Just last week, the company lost two top lieutenantsboth in charge of the safety of Twitter in their capacities. Ella Irwin, who oversaw content moderation and policy, resigned Friday, as did head of brand safety, A.J. Brown. Irwin and Browns resignations have been linked to how Musk dealt with an issue surrounding trans people. 

These departures arent a great look for Twitter amid a proliferation of hateful content. The worlds richest man relaxed content rules and revived banned accounts after they were suspended for bad conduct, including that of former President Donald Trump and right-leaning Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Studies have found that hate speech on the social media platform has also doubled since Musk became the chief twit.

The direction Twitter was heading didnt bode well among advertisers, many of whom halted or reduced their funding after the takeover. The companys ad sales have dropped significantly since Musk bought Twitter last year. Between February and March of 2023, the top 10 advertisers of Twitter cut their spending by 89% compared to last September and October, according to data firm SensorTower, Bloomberg reported. Its advertising revenue is estimated to be $2.98 billion in 2023, down 28% from 2022, according to research firm Insider Intelligence cited by Reuters in April. 

There have been improvementsTwitter has introduced new brand safety tools and strategies that help companies watch what tweets appear with their ads. Some of these measures has already attracted spending from brands like pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, the Journal reported. Musk said in March that even though the company has lost much of its ad revenue, he expects it to turn cash flow-positive this year, thanks to cutting costs and trying to bring more advertisers back. But itll still be an uphill task for Yaccarino and her team to rebuild the ad business, which in 2021 made up nearly 90% of Twitters revenue. There are still challenges keeping advertisers away, including sharing a platform where right-wing media personality and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson plans to air a new show. 

Many big companies, including Target and Bud Lights parent, are still backing Pride events in June despite the minefield that the monthlong celebration has become for some of them.

Target and Bud Light recently came under fire for their efforts to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community, only to come under more fire when they tried to backpedal.

But even as they battle the negative publicity, Target and Bud Light havent pulled away from this years Pride celebrations. Target is a platinum sponsor of NYC Pride, which requires a $175,000 donation. And Bud Lights parent Anheuser-Busch is a sponsor of Pride celebrations in Chicago, San Francisco, Charlotte and elsewhere.

Many other big companies are sticking to their sponsorships as well, including PepsiCo, Starbucks, General Motors and Jeep parent Stellantis all of which said they have been supporting Pride events for decades and arent hesitating to back them again this year.

Jeff Gennette, CEO of Macys, another major Pride sponsor, told The Associated Press that although the company has received some negative reactions to its Pride merchandise, the company is very careful about how we put out this product that we select and how we position it on website and in stores and doesnt plan to remove any of it.

We stand by our values and were a highly inclusive organization. And we think the bulk of America is as well, Gennette said.

InterPride, which represents more than 375 Pride organizations globally, said 40% have reported their sponsorship dollars are up 20% or more this year.

The buying power of the LGBTQ+ community is likely too big for companies to ignore. LGBT Capital, a U.K.-based investment company, estimates the U.S. has more than 17 million LGBTQ+ people with more than $1 trillion in spending power.

For every one customer knocking the display over, there are 10 who love it, and they are going to vote with their feet, said Allen Adamson, co-founder and managing partner of marketing firm Metaforce.

Anheuser-Busch didnt respond to questions from the AP about its Pride sponsorships. Target said its focus is moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Despite the corporate support, there are clouds hovering over the rainbow.

A majority of negative social media posts about Pride this year are attacking companies for being woke and accusing them of sexualizing or grooming children, says RILA Global Consulting, which tracks more than 100 million websites and social media pages per day.

Thats an abrupt change from last year, when a majority of negative social media posts were focused on brands being inauthentic and not truly supporting the LGBTQ population even as they expanded their offerings.

In May and June of 2022, there were fewer than 400 posts calling for Pride-related boycotts, RILA said. This year, in May alone there were more than 15,000.

The backlash comes amid a furious and fast-spreading debate over the rights of transgender people. At least 17 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, most since the start of this year.

That has left many companies feeling jittery.

I had a sponsor last night say their CEO is skittish about getting political, said Fernando Lopez, executive director of San Diego Pride. The fact that theyre even having that conversation is disheartening at best.

Target has long marketed to the LGBTQ+ community. But it recently found itself at the center of the bullseye when angry customers tipped over Pride displays and threatened staff in some stores. Target wound up removing certain items, to the dismay of LGBTQ+ supporters.

Six weeks earlier, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney revealed on social media that Bud Light had sent her a commemorative can emblazoned with her picture. Boycott threats immediately followed, fueled by conservative commentators such as Matt Walsh, who has 1.9 million Twitter followers.

Kohls, Lego and Southwest Airlines also have taken heat for their LGBTQ-friendly marketing in recent days.

The backlash has produced real consequences. In the month ending May 13, Bud Lights U.S. sales were down 23%, according to Bump Williams Consulting. Targets shares have plunged 20% since mid-May, wiping away $15 billion in market value, although thats partly due to investor concerns about inflations impact on shoppers.

Lopez, at San Diego Pride, worries that some companies will back out of Pride celebrations because of concerns that boycotters will target them.

Companies may not be anti-LGBTQ, but they dont want to be putting their employees in a potentially dangerous space, Lopez said.

Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, said she understands that companies are facing difficult decisions but they also know that the LGBTQ+ community is watching very closely this year.

In the end, human rights will win out, Ford said. And were going to remember: Did you shirk and disappear on us or did you step forward and say, Even if its unpopular with a segment of the country, this is the right thing to do.

Some Pride organizations had already distanced themselves from Bud Light because they felt it wasnt doing enough to support the LGBTQ+ community beyond the street parties in June.

When Anheuser-Buschs multi-year sponsorship agreement with Miami Beach Pride ended in 2021, the organization signed a new multi-year contract with Molson Coors. Robert Legere, director of sponsorships for Miami Beach Pride, noted that Molson Coors seltzer brand Vizzy made a $1 million donation to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ group.

We dont just blindly say, Oh sure, well take your money. We want to make sure the companies have a clear path to why they want to participate, Legere said.

Others, like San Francisco Pride, are sticking with Bud Light but bracing themselves for backlash from attendees who think the brand should have done more to support Mulvaney.

Ford, the executive director, said Anheuser-Busch has been a longtime patron and increased its donation to San Francisco Pride this year. The group relies on its sponsors to keep its two-day, $3 million festival free, Ford said, and its costs for labor and security are skyrocketing.

There is some tension and we will be watching it. But on a local level, theyve been a very great supporter, she said.

In its hometown of St. Louis, Bud Light will sponsor the main stage at Pride and provide the beer for the VIP tent, said Jordan Braxton, the director of diversity, inclusion and outreach for Pride St. Louis.

Times can be difficult, but they support us and we support them, Braxton said. Theyve been supporting us for years. Its not our fault that you just woke up and realized it.

Instead, they are bullish on equities in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea and recommend an overweight position in developed-market government bonds, including long-dated Treasuries, and the dollar. 

Earnings per share for the S&P 500 are set to drop 16% this year, according to Morgan Stanley strategists led by Andrew Sheets. Thats one of the most bearish predictions among those tracked by Bloomberg, and contrasts with bullish forecasts from the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which anticipates mild growth.

We think that the downside risk to US earnings is now, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note published Sunday. While a deteriorating liquidity backdrop is likely to put downward pressure on equity valuations over the next three months, we also see EPS disappointment ahead as revenue growth slows and margins contract further.

Morgan Stanley anticipates that S&P 500 earnings per share will come in at $185, compared with a median $206 prediction from strategists. Sheetss team sees the gauge at 3,900 at year-end versus Fridays close at 4,282.37. The benchmark is on the edge of a bull market following a 19.7% rally from an October low, gaining amid enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence stocks despite rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and concerns about a potential recession.

Other recommendations from the banks strategists include defensive stocks, developed-market investment-grade bonds, and for yield-hungry investors a preference for additional tier-one securities a type of subordinated bank debt over high-yield bonds.

To be sure, some strategists are more optimistic than those at Morgan Stanley. An Evercore ISI team led by Julian Emanuel raised their S&P 500 target for the year-end by 7.2% to 4,450. They said easing inflation likely signals a Fed pause and that dollars delivered during the pandemics darkest days will support the stock market.

Hollywood loves a story where the worlds of robots and humans collidethink I, Robot or Westworld. But Tinseltowns employees are pushing back against that becoming a reality in their work. Workers groups in the industry have been fighting for safeguards against A.I., along with higher pay and better benefits that matches the rise of a streaming-first era. 

Now, major studios have reached a tentative agreement with a directors union in a landmark move for the entertainment industry.

We have concluded a truly historic deal, Jon Avnet, chair of the Directors Guild of Americas Negotiations Committee said in a statement Saturday, when the deal was announced. As part of the agreement, wages will be hiked 5% in the first year of the contract, followed by 4% and 3.5% increases in the subsequent two years for the 19,000-member group. Other breakthroughs include a revamped structure of paying residuals, which is a form of royalty, and protections against novel technologies threatening the jobs of directors. 

The agreement between directors and studios also includes guidelines for the use of A.I., now a major flashpoint among Hollywood labor unions. Entertainment industry employees fear that the powerful tech could do their jobs if studios adopted these tools.

The DGA appears to have won protections against A.I. in its tentative deal, with the guild stating that it had arrived at an agreement confirming that A.I. is not a person and that generative A.I. cannot replace the duties performed by members.

For studios, this agreement could be a relief as it likely averted a strike from directors, which impacts the movie- and show-making process. The DGA deal with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the likes of Disney and Netflix, could also be a leading indicator of the current strike roiling Hollywoodthe labor action from the Writers Guild of America. 

The writers strike began a month ago, grinding several TV and film productions to a halt, including the popular sci-fi show Stranger Things, and talk shows like HBOs Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live.

A.I. and other fights

Executives at top production houses like Paramount Global and Fox Corp. indicated that a future where A.I. is used in writing scripts and editing was not too far away.  

A.I. is going to be able to do absolutely all of these things, Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said, Bloomberg reported in May. AMPTP has said that A.I. raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everyone and that content generated using the tech wont receive writing credit, according to Axios.

Writers grievances arent limited to A.I. The growth of streaming platforms prompted the WGA strike, because productions for streaming sites demand more work from fewer staff, who receive a smaller slice of the budget and lower residuals than they would on traditional TV.

More writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks, the WGAs March report noted. It said that pay increases didnt keep pace with inflation and the seasonal nature of streaming content drove writers pay down further.

The WGA congratulated and supported the DGAs new deal in a statement. But some WGA members werent too happy with what the deal could mean for their negotiations.

Thrilled that the DGA was able to use the power of the WGAs labor action to secure a deal that works for them, screenwriter Amy Berg wrote on Twitter Sunday. We proposed a number of these termsbefore the AMPTP cut off negotiations in order to hand a deal to the DGA.

Another writer, Steven DeKnight, posted on Twitter: The AMPTP continues to use their tired old playbook. And the DGA sadly continues to toe the line, knowing that they can draft off of the WGAs resolve to strike for a truly historic deal. Disappointing, but not surprising.

In the past, a deal with the directors alliance has typically been used as a reference for other guilds. For instance, in the previous 2007-08 writers strike, a deal between studios and the DGA led to further negotiations with the WGA. But WGA negotiator Chris Keyser cautioned that that may not be the case this time, according to Reuters. Its unclear what the impact of the DGA deal may be on the WGA, since some of their terms pertain to writers alone.

Since there isnt a ton of overlap with us I dont see this having a huge impact on the current WGA strike but only time will tell, writer and producer Phillip Iscove wrote on Twitter. 

The tentative DGA deal is set to be submitted to the Directors Guild of America National Board on Tuesday. The WGA and studios have no new discussions planned. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is scheduled to meet producers for negotiations later this week.

Theres trouble ahead in the commercial real estate spaceespecially in the office sector, which has been plagued by the shift to remote work.

In the first quarter of this year, the commercial real estate loan delinquency rate increased by 12 basis points to 0.77%. Thats the highest its been since the third quarter of 2021, when it reached 0.83%, according to a new report published by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Its a bigger deal than it might first appear.

Investors come under increased scrutiny of loans tied to office buildings, and banks are exercising caution over CRE loans, which could increase stress on borrowers and pressure policymakers to intervene, wrote S&P Global Market Intelligence researchers in their analysis titled: CRE loan delinquency rate at US banks rises sharply. 

Heading forward, the commercial real estate loan delinquency rate is expected to rise further.

One reason being the stress in the banking sector: Following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, commercial real estate borrowers started to see credit tighten further, in the form of fewer loans and stricter lending standards. That, in turn, is expected to increase delinquencies and defaults.

As of March 31, total commercial real estate loans at U.S. banks increased by 0.5% to $2.436 trillion from $2.422 trillion at the end of last year. And only multifamily commercial real estate loans edged lower, analysts wrote. Multifamily loans were at $593.09 billion by the end of the quarter. To compare, construction and land development loans were at $479.69 billion.

Total nonowner-occupied nonresidential property loans hit $1.151 trillion, which account for nearly half of all commercial real estate loans, the authors wrote. Nonowner-occupied simply means the property owner does not occupy the property as their personal residence. Those loans, the authors wrote, have increased for the past three quarters, jumping 24 basis points in the last quarter alone. 

Not to mention that the number of banks with commercial real estate exposure has also increased. Of those, 576 U.S. banks have exceeded regulatory guidance on CRE loan concentration by the end of the first quarter, an increase of 30.3% compared with a year earlier, the authors wrote. With that comes increased scrutiny from regulators, particularly among banks with construction loans with at least 100% of risk-based capital or commercial real estate loans with at least 300% of risk-based capital and 50% growth in the sector over the past three years, the authors note. 

The authors of the S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis compiled a list of the 20 largest banks in the U.S. that have exceeded commercial real estate exposure guidance. As of the first quarter of this year, New Jersey-based Valley National Bank (with $64.31 billion in total assets) was the largest to exceed CRE guidance. 

Its CRE loan balance grew 77% in the 36 months ended March 31 and CRE loans represented 457.8% of tier 1 capital plus allowance for loan and lease losses, the authors wrote, referring to Valley National Bank.  

As Fortunes recently reported, a doom loop could ensue between banks and the commercial real estate sector in a worst case scenario, which in some cases would look like fleeing depositors and an end to CRE loans. However, high CRE exposure isnt always bad, especially if a banks office exposure is relatively low.

Seth Jacobs has about 100 bins packed with marijuana flower sitting in storage at his upstate New York farm.

And thats a problem. There arent enough places to sell it.

The 700 pounds (318 kilograms) of pungent flower was harvested last year as part of New Yorks first crop of legally grown pot for recreational use. He also has roughly 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of distillate. Months later, there are only a dozen licensed dispensaries statewide to sell what Jacobs and more than 200 other farmers produced.

Now, another growing season is underway and farmers still sitting on much of last years harvest are in a financial bind.

We are really under the gun here. Were all losing money, Jacobs recently said at his farm on rolling land near the Vermont border. Even the most entrepreneurial and ambitious amongst us just cant move much product in this environment.

New York pot farmers arent the only ones struggling with difficult economic conditions. Marijuana growers in western states have also complained that low prices, tough competition from the black market, high state taxes and federal banking and exporting restrictions have made it tough for legal growers to make money.

But the farmers plight in New York is directly tied to the bumpy launch of the states recreational pot market.

State leaders had always planned to gear up the market in stages, giving a chance for a diverse set of participants to get a toe-hold. The states process for licensing new dispensaries, however, has moved at a far slower pace than expected.

Last fall, Gov. Kathy Hochul foresaw 20 new shops opening every month or so to start this year. Instead, one store was open by the start of the year, with 11 more opened since.

Unlicensed shops rushed in to fill the void, especially in New York City, but those outlets arent a legal market for the states farmers. Federal law prohibits the New York farmers from transporting their crop across state lines.

That means limited shelf space to sell the 300,000 pounds (136,000 kilograms) of cannabis grown in the state last year, much of the product meant to be processed for items like gummies and vapes.

Statewide, there is estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unsold cannabis, about 80% in the form of cannabis oil, according to the Cannabis Association of New York, a trade group. There are concerns the smokable flower will eventually become too old to sell.

Jacobs keep his bins of buds at Slack Hollow Organics in secure, temperature controlled units. More valuable still is the distillate at various processors hes waiting to sell. Elsewhere in rural New York, Brittany Carbone, co-founder of Tricolla Farms, said the stock theyre sitting on includes 1,500 packs of pre-rolled joints and about 2,000 packs of edibles.

What we really need to see is more retailers get open, and thats going to actually give us the sustainable solution, Carbone said.

The lack of sales is a particular problem for small farmers who stretched themselves thin financially to produce last years crop and now need capital for their second year.

Jacobs, whose brand is Bud & Boro, said he wont grow plants for distillate this year because of the backlog. Carbone said they are planting on less than the acre theyre legally allowed and are holding off on infrastructure investments, like hoop houses to help with growing.

In New York, many critics blame missteps by state officials in their well-intentioned effort to open the market to a diverse array of entrepreneurs. That meant reserving the first legal pot harvests for struggling hemp farmers. And people with past marijuana convictions were given the chance to open some of the first dispensaries.

Critics say the process has been cumbersome for dispensary applicants. And there have been issues with a planned $200 million fund to help social equity dispensary licensees with the costly task of setting up shops.

The fund was supposed to consist of up to $150 million in private investment. But state Dormitory Authority spokesperson Jeffrey Gordon declined to say whether any private money had been invested yet, saying in an email only that work to raise private capital is ongoing.

Gordon noted New Yorks complex and unprecedented effort to create a new statewide enterprise from scratch, which included evaluating 10,000 commercial properties for dispensary locations and arranging for banking, training and other services for the licensees.

The retail rollout also was hobbled by a federal judges ruling in November that temporarily barred New York from issuing dispensary licenses in parts of the state, including Brooklyn and Buffalo. The injunction was later narrowed to the Finger Lakes region before a settlement was reached this week.

The Office of Cannabis Management has taken recent steps to boost demand, including the provisional approval last month of 50 new dispensary licenses. And plans are in the works for that would allow groups of growers to join with retail licensees to sell their cannabis at places other than stores, like at a farmers market or a festival.

We know these cultivators are worried about how to sell last years harvest as they decide whether to plant a cannabis crop in 2023, and we will continue to support them as more adult-use dispensaries open to sell their products, cannabis office spokesman Aaron Ghitelman said in an email.

On a separate track, Hochul and the Legislature approved a new law giving regulators broader power to seize weed from the illicit shops competing with the legal shops.

Though frustrated, farmers like Jacobs and Carbone are hanging on. Carbone has gotten her farms brand, TONIC, into six dispensaries. Jacobs has received some intermittent payments and hopes the farmers market policy being devised will give him a new avenue to sell his marijuana.

This all will get worked out, Jacobs said. And I want to be there when it does.

Jack Dorsey, Twitters cofounder and former CEO, has endorsed Democratic presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

On Sunday, the influential tech billionaire tweeted a Fox News YouTube video entitled Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. argues he can beat Trump and DeSantis in 2024 writing, He can and will.

Asked whether he was endorsing or predicting, he replied, Both. 

Kennedy, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of his slain brother Robert F. Kennedy, is like Dorsey a strong believer in Bitcoin, which he recently described as an exercise in democracy. 

Last month, Kennedy delivered a well-received keynote address at a Bitcoin conference in Miami. He called Bitcoin a bulwark against government and corporate expansion and intrusion.

As president, I will make sure that your right to hold and use Bitcoin is inviolable, he added.

He pledged to defend the right of self-custody of Bitcoin and other digital assets. You should be able to own your own private keys, the same as you own the keys to your car or own your walletI dont think the government has the right to demand access to your Bitcoin key or indeed any of your passwords. To say otherwise to cede essential territory to surveillance state. 

An anti-vaccine activist, Kennedy frequently and controversially attacked Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, over the way he handled the pandemic, accusing him of orchestrating fascism and writing a book on the topic.

When a Twitter user commented there was not a chance the DNC [Democratic National Committee] allows him to be nominated, Dorsey replied, Even more reason. He later added that the DNC seems more irrelevant by the day and wrote end of an empire, to which Tesla CEO and current Twitter owner Elon Musk replied with two fire emoji.

Earlier on Sunday, Musk tweeted that hell host Kennedy in the Twitter Spaces audio platform on Monday afternoon. Dorsey replied to that by writing, Excellent. 

The event came together quickly, with Musk asking Kennedy Friday on Twitter, Would you like to do a Spaces discussion with me next week? Kennedy replied in the affirmative, and Dorsey chimed in, This would be great. 

Twitter Spaces also figured large in politics last month, when Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced his presidential bid there, although technical glitches marred the event.

On Friday evening, Musk tweeted, System is being upgraded & stress-tested in advance of @RobertKennedyJr interview on Monday. 

When a Twitter user commented that Kennedys shaky voice is an issue, Dorsey replied by calling it a super power, saying it sets the candidate apart. 

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