Cape Cod man convicted in securities fraud case

CRIMINAL

A Cape Cod man was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty in June to securities fraud for his role in artificially inflating the trading price of Getty Images Holdings stock and attempting to cover it up. Mashpee’s Robert Scott Murray, the former CEO of 3Com, was running local investment firm Trillium Capital when he bought 300,000 shares of Getty stock in 2022 and 2023. He then tried to pressure Getty to place him on its board of directors. Federal prosecutors allege that when those efforts failed, Murray issued a press release in April 2023 announcing that Trillium was making a takeover bid for Getty, news that sent stock prices soaring. Murray sold his shares within an hour of the announcement for nearly $1.5 million, netting him more than $200,000, prosecutors said. (Getty rejected the offer at the time, saying company executives did not find it credible.) After selling those shares, Murray continued to claim that Getty’s offer was legitimate, but he later instructed an acquaintance to destroy evidence and, according to prosecutors, they were giving making false statements in response to a subpoena. As part of the sentence handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Kasper, Murray will also be required to forfeit any anticipated profits from the sale of Getty stock. — JOHN CHESTAU

AIRLINE

JetBlue shares fell more than 17 percent on Tuesday after a worse-than-expected sales forecast showed the recovery would take some time. Fourth-quarter revenue will decline as much as 7 percent from a year ago, the airline said Tuesday in a statement that also detailed results for the previous three-month period. The forecast hints at slow progress in the carrier’s efforts to cut costs and boost sales after a failed expansion. JetBlue faced a series of setbacks when federal courts blocked its planned acquisition of Spirit Airlines and dissolved its joint venture with American Airlines. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

FAST FOOD

Value dining helped improve McDonald’s U.S. sales in the third quarter as customers were hurt by higher prices around the world, but that recovery could be stalled in the final months of the year by an E. coli outbreak linked to the company’s Quarter Pounder burgers. U.S. same-store sales (or sales at stores open at least a year) rose 0.3 percent between July and September, the company said Tuesday. McDonald’s launched $5 meals in late June after a disappointing second quarter, and the company said its message of value resonated with consumers. — Associated Press

SPORTS SHOES

Adidas has reached an out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye that ends all claims stemming from the sportswear maker’s decision to end its partnership two years ago. The German company has cut ties with rapper and designer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after a series of offensive actions, including anti-Semitic comments. Analysts say the Yeezy line accounted for about half of Adidas’ total profits before the split. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

SHOES

Crocs shares fell more than 19 percent on Tuesday after the retailer of colorful plastic clogs tempered growth expectations and warned of slower sales of its casual brand HeyDude. Kroc’s sales growth in the third quarter, which includes the crucial back-to-school shopping period, remained flat. The company said it expects 2024 sales to grow 3 percent, the lower end of its previous forecast of 3 to 5 percent. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

CAPITAL

For all the criticism of corporate DEI programs for allegedly discriminating against white men, it turns out that these policies have been profitable for some of the most powerful of them. White men made up the majority of the 28 executives who were paid bonuses last year for meeting their company’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals, according to an analysis by Farient Advisors, an executive compensation consulting firm. CEOs whose businesses determine how much of their bonuses will be tied to short-term DEI goals as well as their payouts collectively took home about $5 million. American Airlines’ Robert Isom received the highest bonus for improving diversity at the company, earning $520,000 in DEI-related incentives, a Farient analysis found. McDonald’s Chris Kempczinski followed with about $396,300, and Coca-Cola Co. bosses. and Alcoa Corp. also benefited. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

Media

CNN banned a conservative commentator from its programs after he made on-air remarks Monday that seemed to imply that another guest, pundit Mehdi Hasan, was a member of Hezbollah. Commentator Ryan James Girdusky has appeared regularly on CNN in recent weeks as a Trump supporter. His comments were made on Monday’s episode of “News Night with Abby Phillip” as a panel of commentators became embroiled in a controversial debate over former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. Hassan and Girdusky argued over whether Girdusky had previously called Hassan an anti-Semite. (Girdusky said he was not.) Hasan said he was regularly called that label because “I’m a Palestinian supporter, so I’m used to it.” “Yeah, well, I hope your pager doesn’t go off,” Girdusky responded, in an apparent reference to the Israeli operation in which hundreds of pagers carried by members of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, were blown up in Lebanon. “Did you just say that I should die?” – Hassan answered. “Did you just say I should be killed live on CNN?” Girdusky said he believed Hassan identified himself as a Hamas supporter and quickly tried to apologize. Other committee members objected: “This is disgusting,” one said. Phillip, the host, interrupted Girdusky, saying, “Ryan, this is completely unaffordable.” When the show returned from the commercial break, Girduski was no longer on set, and Phillip apologized to viewers. “A line has been crossed here, and to me it’s unacceptable,” she said. — NEW YORK TIMES

AVIATION

Boeing raised about $21 billion in an expanded share sale, one of the largest ever for a public company, strengthening its balance sheet as it seeks to stave off a potential credit rating downgrade to junk. According to the statement, the American aircraft manufacturer sold 112.5 million shares of common stock at $143 each. The shares were priced at a discount of about 7.7 percent to Friday’s closing price of $155.01. The infusion of funds addresses one of new CEO Kelly Ortberg’s most pressing concerns at a time of financial turmoil for the aircraft maker. Boeing’s balance sheet had already been damaged by the pandemic, and before that there were two fatal plane crashes involving its operational model 737 Max. The workers’ strike is now in its seventh week and is crippling airliner production. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

CELL PHONES

Apple’s iPhone exports from India jumped by a third in the six months to September, underscoring its push to expand production in the country and reduce dependence on China. The US company exported nearly $6 billion worth of iPhones made in India, up a third in value terms from a year earlier. — BLOOMBERG NEWS