Opening Bell: 8.11.16
Valeant Under Criminal Investigation [WSJ]
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. defrauded insurers by shrouding its ties to a mail-order pharmacy that boosted sales of its drugs, people familiar with the matter said.
The lawyers, in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, are pursuing an unusual legal theory, previously unreported, that Valeant and a closely linked mail-order-pharmacy, Philidor Rx Services LLC, allegedly defrauded insurers by hiding their close relationship, the people familiar with the matter said.
Bill Maris, the CEO and founder of Google Ventures, is leaving [recode]
Bill Maris, the founder and chief of Google Ventures (or GV), is leaving the firm and its parent, Alphabet, Recode has learned. His last day, said sources, is Friday.
Maris would be the third high-ranking executive to depart from the Alphabet units outside of the main Google search business in recent months, as the tech giant continues to stumble through the transition into its new corporate structure.
Sources say Maris is being replaced by David Krane, a managing partner for the venture arm and one of the earliest corporate communications managers at Google.
Hedge funds double down on bets against oil [NYP]
Hedge funds nearly doubled their bets against West Texas Intermediate crude oil over the last month as prices pulled back from their June highs in the low $50s, according to Bloomberg data.
Short interest — betting that the price will fall further — in “black gold” is even greater than it was in January, when the price of oil plunged to the low-$30s.
Bearish oil bets likely reflect traders’ belief that the supply glut will continue weighing on the market, despite chatter from some oil-rich nations about setting new limits on production to pump up prices.
Vin Diesel is driving The Rock nuts on the set of ‘Fast 8’ [PageSix]
Bald bruiser movie stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Vin Diesel have been butting domes on the set of “Fast and Furious 8” and the two met Tuesday to clear the air after the confrontation publicly exploded this week.
On Monday The Rock went on an Instagram rant to vent that his blood was “boiling” over unnamed “candy ass,” “chicken s–t” male co-stars in the film who don’t, “conduct themselves as stand up men and professionals.” The film, which is close to wrapping production, also stars Scott Eastwood, Jason Statham and Vin Diesel — but sources confirmed to Page Six that the target of Johnson’s wrath was Diesel.
Airbnb and Others Set Terms for Employees to Cash Out [NYT]
Technology start-ups have long wrestled with a conundrum of how to reward their employees. Many of their workers are compensated with lucrative piles of a start-up’s stock, but cannot cash it in because the shares do not trade publicly.
So private companies such as Pinterest and SpaceX are increasingly arriving at the same solution: They are giving employees some controlled opportunities to sell their start-up shares — but in return, workers now must agree to more explicit restrictions on what they can and cannot do with their remaining stock.
This type of bargain was recently struck at Airbnb, the online room rental start-up. In July, the San Francisco-based company offered employees an opportunity to sell a percentage of their Airbnb stock as part of a deal that let investors buy those shares, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Romantic Relationship With Fannie Mae CEO Prompted Firing of Fifth Third Lawyer [WSJ]
Fifth Third Bancorp, Ohio’s largest bank, fired its general counsel last month because she was having a romantic relationship with the chief executive of Fannie Mae, Timothy Mayopoulos.
Fifth Third last month said Heather Russell, who was chief legal officer and corporate secretary for less than a year, departed following “a personal matter“ that represented “a conflict of interest.”
Decrepit 'old beggar' asking for money on streets is unmasked as a young woman [Mirror]
A seemingly decrepit old beggar asking passers-by in the street for money has been revealed as a much younger woman by a man who refused to be convinced by her act.
The onlooker filmed the whole deceitful affair that took place in the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.