Instagram founders leaving Facebook
The founders of Instagram announced in a surprise move Monday that they were leaving Facebook – apparently due to disagreements with Mark Zuckerberg over the photo app’s direction.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger said they were “ready for their next chapter” and said they were grateful for the six years they spent at Facebook, which acquired the photo sharing app for $1 billion.
“We’re planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again,” Systrom, Instagram’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Building new things requires that we step back, understand what inspires us and match that with what the world needs; that’s what we plan to do.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, praised the founders in a statement.
“Kevin and Mike are extraordinary product leaders and Instagram reflects their combined creative talents,” he said. “I wish them all the best and I’m looking forward to seeing what they build next.”
Despite the parting pleasantries, there had been growing tensions between Instagram’s founders and Zuckerberg about the future of the app, Bloomberg reported.
For years, Systrom and Krieger successfully resisted changes to Instagram that Facebook wanted. They also leveraged Facebook’s abundant resources such as engineers, according to Bloomberg.
Michael Kors buys Versace
Michael Kors is buying the Italian fashion house Versace in a deal worth more than $2 billion (1.83 billion euros), continuing its hard charge into the world of high-end fashion.
The deal Tuesday comes just 14 months after the New York handbag maker spent $1.35 billion adding to its portfolio Jimmy Choo, the shoemaker that rocketed to fame on the high heels of “Sex and the City.”
Like others in the fashion industry, Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. is trying to fire up sales by cranking up the glamour.
Tapestry, once known as Coach, acquired Kate Spade last year. Like Coach, Michael Kors is changing its name as it seeks to reframe how people in perceive it.
Michael Kors remains the chief creative director at Kors, but the expanding company will be renamed Capri Holdings Ltd., with $8 billion in projected annual sales. Versace will be a key engine of growth, executives said in a conference call Tuesday.
Bringing in Versace adds a layer of glitter to the company, which sells handbags for less than $500. Versace bags can fetch five times that figure.
Versace’s flamboyant styles have invoked collective gasps, perhaps most notably when Jennifer Lopez appeared at the 2000 Grammy Awards in a navel-bearing dress.
Versace’s fall styles include midi-dresses with baroque print for $2,950, and vinyl skinny jeans for $1,250.
American Airlines expands inflight food options
American Airlines is expanding its inflight food options with the addition of a light and healthy Mediterranean menu.
The world’s largest carrier on Monday announced an agreement with the restaurant chain Zoe’s Kitchen.
American, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, says the new Zoe’s Kitchen menu will be sold on most domestic flights longer than three hours beginning Dec. 1.
Options will include hummus topped with olives, a turkey sandwich with specialty cheese and crunchy Mediterranean slaw, and a chicken wrap with roasted tomatoes, arugula and artichokes.
American currently serves cookies and mini pretzels for free during flights over 250 miles (400 kilometers). Sandwiches, wraps and snack boxes are also available for sale on most domestic flights.
TVA aids Duke Energy in restoring power
More than 80 TVA transmission and power supply, police and emergency management workers have returned home after aiding the in Hurrican Florence relief efforts in the Carolinas.
The TVA workers, who were among more than 20,000 utility employees who came from across the United States to aid Duke Energy, helped restore elecricity to nearly 1.8 million customers left in the dark for at least some period during and after the storm.
Florence came ashore along the North Carolina coast as a Category 1 hurricane. Duke Energy is one of the largest electric power holding companies in the U.S., providing electricity to 7.6 million retail customers in six states.
“Flooding, road closures and structural damage made power restoration unusually challenging,” said Bret Renfroe, general manage of transmission lines for TVA. “In some instances, we used Duke’s special equipment to gain access to swampy areas.”
Back in the Tennessee Valley, James Everett, river forecast center senior manager, said TVA took action in advance to prepare for the storm by creating storage capacity in reservoirs to avert potential flooding. Though the most-dire forecasts never materialized in the TVA region, proactive measures would have helped avert potential flooding in TVA’s service area if Hurricane Florence had produced the heavy rainfall that was initially expected.
“Despite releasing large amounts of water ahead of Florence, pool levels were and are still well positioned to help meet peak energy demands during current hot weather,” Everett said. “In fact on Thursday Sept. 20, we had every available hydro unit online and generating power.”
Home prices rise at slower pace
U.S. home prices rose in July at the slowest pace in 10 months as climbing mortgage rates become a more significant factor for a growing number of prospective buyers.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased 5.9 percent in July compared with a year earlier, down from a 6.4 percent annual gain the previous month.
Home prices are rising at twice the rate of wages, which has likely contributed to a cooling in the market this year. Sales of existing homes have dropped 1.5 percent in the past 12 months. Mortgage rates last week reached their highest level since May.
“Coupled with mortgage rate increases, higher prices are stifling home sales as more buyers are priced out of the market,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said Tuesday after the report was released.
The combination of rising home prices and higher mortgage rates has made homes less affordable, even as a strong job market and some signs of higher pay have lifted demand.
The average 30-year mortgage rate rose to 4.65 percent last week, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. That is up from 3.83 percent a year ago.