The family behind Purdue Pharma is finding that no one wants their donations.

The Sacklers, long a formidable name in New York society and known for their generosity, have been – rightly or wrongly – blamed, at least in part, for the opioid crisis.

The billionaires behind OxyContin and other pharmaceuticals has donated tens of millions of dollars to such prestigious institutions and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia University and the American Museum of Natural History.

Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 200,000 deaths from prescription opioids since the launch of OxyContin back in 1996. And part of that awful stench seems to have attached itself – rightly or wrongly – to the Sackler name.

The family has “become synonymous with the opioid crisis. And it’s costing them their social status in NYC,” the New York Post recently wrote. “More than 2,000 lawsuits target Purdue Pharma for aggressively marketing OxyContin despite the painkiller having known addictive qualities. New York and Massachusetts lawsuits filed by the states’ attorneys general revealed Purdue’s plan, titled “Project Tango,” to roll out medicine to counter OxyContin addiction — ensuring profit on both ends of the spectrum. Connecticut, Rhode Island and Utah have also taken legal action.”

Indeed, the Post quotes one source who reportedly told them, “I wouldn’t invite them to my house. I like to socialize with people who are not involved in trouble … and [who] try to improve society, not hurt it.”

The situation grew worse when Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat and 2020 presidential candidate, decided to kick the family while it was done. She commented recently that she would like to see the Sackler family held accountable for its role in precipitating the opioid crisis.

“This crisis has been driven by greed, pure and simple,” Warren posted on medium.com. “If you don’t believe that, just look at the Sackler family. They’re billionaires. They own mansions around the world. Entire wings of museums in New York and London have been stamped with the family name. “But here’s the thing: the Sacklers made their money pushing OxyContin. Pushing it even as study after study demonstrated its addictive potential. Even as hundreds of thousands of Americans died.”

Warren added that she looks forward to an America “where when people like the Sacklers destroy millions of lives to make money, they don’t get museum wings named after them, they go to jail.”

Should New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio run for president? The recent New York Times headline said it best: ‘De Blasio for President? ‘Nah’

Indeed, the prospect of a de Blasio campaign for the White House often produces giggles. As New York magazine recently wrote, “De Blasio hasn’t officially declared his candidacy for president, though it sure looks like he’s going to, traveling to early primary states, holding $5,000-a-plate fundraisers, and opening his own PAC to fund national candidates and pay for his own stateside travel. He’s also pretty close to qualifying for the primary debates this summer, needing a one percent showing in just one more reputable poll to make the cut. Though the mayor appears ready to take on the toughest job in America, his allies in New York — not to mention his constituency — aren’t quite as thrilled.”

The Atlantic chimed in, as well, noting that the mayor’s communications director, Mike Casca, “who two months ago joined the payroll of his PAC, quit on Friday afternoon, shortly after attempting to bat down the latest round of stories that the mayor was soon joining the crowded Democratic-primary field. His government press secretary walked last month, in part to avoid being pulled into forthcoming 2020 efforts. His 2013 campaign manager, Bill Hyers, didn’t respond when I asked him what he made of the mayor’s White House ambitions, though he’s been talking with Pete Buttigieg about getting involved with his campaign.

John Del Cecato, the consultant who made de Blasio’s ads in the past, including the breakthrough, blockbuster spot featuring de Blasio’s biracial son, Dante, which turned around his 2013 mayoral race, won’t be involved either, though he declined to comment other than to confirm that he wasn’t going to participate. Lis Smith, a member of de Blasio’s 2013 team who was later denied an administration post after her own tabloid run-ins, is Buttigieg’s communications adviser.”

The liberal New Republic magazine asked in a recent headline, “Why Is Bill de Blasio’s Presidential Dream a Sad Joke?” Part of its answer was that “as de Blasio weighs entering the 2020 race, the prospect of a President de Blasio has been met with widespread derision. The New Republic’s Alex Shephard termed his interest in the presidency an “embarrassing quest for national fame,” while the mayor’s own allies (anonymously) told Politico that his flirtation with a presidential run was “f-ing insane.” De Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, has said the “timing is not exactly right” for him to launch a campaign.

The New York Times, which seems to take gleeful pleasure in dinging de Blasio for everything from calling errant snow days to ostentatiously hanging around Iowa, recently noted that Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has generated far more presidential buzz than the mayor of the country’s biggest city. Even in his hometown, there seems to be only one person who thinks a de Blasio presidential campaign would be anything other than a joke: de Blasio himself.”

Attacks on Jews in New York City continue, with a trio of assaults in three days in Williamsburg only the most recent examples.

A pair of community groups, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, recently met with New York City Police Department Chief of Department Terence Mohanan and Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison. Also in attendance were Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, State Senator Brian Kavanagh and Councilmember Antonio Reynoso, Chaim Deutsch, the Chair of NYC Council Jewish Caucus, Kalman Yeger and Simcha Eichenstein, Evelyn Cruz – representing Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Jonathan Boucher – Chief of Staff to Councilman Stephen Levin, Boris Santos – Chief of Staff to State Senator Julia Salazar, and others.

“While the scourge of anti-Semitism is growing at an alarming rate across the country and around the world, we must face the reality that here at home in New York City we have a serious problem of anti-Semitic attacks on identifiably Jewish members of our community,” said Rabbi David Niederman, President of the UJO of Williamsburg. “People merely walking on the streets here feel like sitting ducks, worrying that they must look over their shoulder in fear of being hurt because of their faith.”

Niederman added, “We call on the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force to thoroughly investigate these two incidents. Should the evidence show that the only reason these victims were attacked was that they were obviously Jewish, Brooklyn DA should charge and prosecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, including hate crime enhancements.”

NYPD personnel urged locals to, among other things, report crimes. “A person reports a hate crime in the same manner as they would report any other crime. If it is a serious crime in progress, call 911. If it is a non-serious crime, or a crime that occurred in the past, call your local precinct. The responding police officers will provide whatever immediate assistance is needed, and begin the reporting process. If the situation is deemed to be a possible bias-motivated incident, the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force will be notified,” the NYPD says on its Hate Crimes Task Force web site.

Upon notification of a possible hate crime, detectives from the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force will respond and conduct a thorough investigation. The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is a dedicated citywide team of investigators who are responsible for investigating all hate crimes and related incidents that occur within the city. Victims of hate crimes can be assured that they will be provided with the appropriate assistance, by the local precinct’s Community Affairs team and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force. People’s immigration status does not in any way prevent them from reporting Hate Crimes or receiving essential services.

How do New York’s airports rank in comparison with other airports? The 2019 annual international airport ratings have been released by AirHelp, an organization that specializes in air traveler rights and pursues compensation in cases of delays or cancellations. As reported by Bloomberg News, NYC’s local airports did not fare well in the rankings of 132 airports around the world. Newark Liberty Airport in NJ was ranked close to the bottom of the barrel at 116th place. New York’s JFK airport was ranked at 86th place worldwide. In general U.S. airports did not do well in the ratings. The best ranked airport in the U.S. was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which took 34th place.

Of course, this news should not come as a shock to anyone. Year after year, the NY Airports are consistently ranked lower other airports around the country and worse than others across the globe. “Newark is traditionally one of the worst performing airports in the country and one that travelers avoid because of the delays there,” says Scott Mayerowitz, Executive Editorial Director of the Points Guy travel website.

In all fairness, though, a major reason that U.S. airports fair so poorly in the rankings is weather-related delays, explains Henrik Zillmer, AirHelp’s Chief Executive Officer. He says locations with sunny weather have a great lead in the ranking, as they will barely suffer from storm or snow related delays. This is a big advantage for European airports, compared with American ones. However, the quality of service in the U.S. airports also trails behind. He says long security lines are one of the frequently cited problems. AirHelp’s top ranked airports are Doha’s Hamad International Airport, Tokyo Haneda International Airport, and Athens International Airport, which have consistently held the top spots since 2015, when the ratings first began.

The airports’ ratings are primarily based (60 percent) on timely performance. The remaining score is divided (20 percent each) between service quality, and food /shopping options. AirHelp gathers data from multiple commercial vendors, along with its own database, and from surveys collected from 40,000 passengers in 40 countries during 2018.

AirHelp also had access to data regarding 72 airlines, rating the airline companies as well. The rankings were judged for on-time performance, service quality, and claim processing, with each of the three categories weighed equally. Qatar Airways was ranked as the top airline, for the second year in a row. American Airlines jumped to second place, having been ranked 23rd last year. It was followed by Aeromexico, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, and Qantas rounding out the top five. United Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. also saw improvements in their ratings, ranking 16th and 17th place respectively in 2018. The worst ranked airlines included in the list were: Ryanair, Korean Air, Kuwait Airways, and the U.K.’s EasyJet and Thomas Cook Airlines.

New York City’s Mayor de Blasio wanted to convert the former Park Savoy Hotel into a shelter for 150 men. A judge just said ‘Not so fast.’

Appellate Division Justice David Friedman has temporarily blocked the city from opening the planned homeless shelter on Manhattan’s Billionaires Row by granting an interim stay of a ruling.

In the wake of the judge’s ruling, city officials cannot begin putting men inside the building, which is located at 158 W. 58th St. Next to it is the posh 75-floor One57 apartment building. The ruling also gives both sides until May 20 to post their written arguments.

An attorney for the West 58th Street Coalition, which filed the suit against the city and claims the proposed shelter is a firetrap, told the New York Post on Thursday the group was “committed to making sure this building is not occupied in its current unsafe and nonconforming condition.”

“The city has an opportunity to prevent another similar tragedy before it happens, yet it remains hellbent on opening this shelter in this firetrap of a building in order to satisfy Mayor de Blasio’s political agenda,” lawyer Jeremy Honig told the Post.

De Blasio has loudly and often promised to “turn the tide on homelessness.” A report on homelessness from the mayor’s administration explains that “Today, we face a new kind of homelessness that is driven by years of wages not keeping up with the cost of housing in our city. It’s caused pain for millions and deep pain for thousands of people who have become homeless… Today, 70 percent of shelter residents are families. They are the invisible majority of our homeless crisis. For decades, the City has not done enough both these New Yorkers and the communities where they are sheltered.”

The mayor’s vision relies on three approaches, the report explains:

• First, doing more to keep people in their homes by making housing more affordable

and stopping illegal evictions.

• Second, making long-needed operational reforms to better serve people in shelters

and neighborhoods.

• Third, a reimagined shelter strategy that:

– Removes people from all cluster apartment units by the end of 2021 and

commercial hotel facilities by the end of 2023;

– Cuts the total number of shelter facilities by almost 45%;

– Keeps homeless people as close as possible to their own neighborhoods and on a path to get back on track.

The report adds, “Now, as a city, we are confronting homelessness head on, openly and honestly. Many of the factors that create homelessness are out of our control, but City government must do all that it can to help these New Yorkers. But the City can’t do it alone – we need families, community leaders and faith-based organizations to help.”

Good news for New York City: private-sector employment for lower Manhattan rose to 251,334 jobs in the third quarter of 2018, the most recent data available, according to an analysis by the Alliance for Downtown New York.

“Private-sector employment in Lower Manhattan has swelled to 251,224 private-sector employees, rebounding past immediate pre-9/11 levels and fulfilling the promise to return as a vibrant and essential commercial district for the nation, the group says on its web site, quoting its Q1 2019 Lower Manhattan Real Estate Market Report.

“The employment was largely driven by strong leasing activity across industries. In total there were 2M square feet of deals in Lower Manhattan, which helped the district outperform all other submarkets during one of the busiest quarters in seven years.

“This milestone is important for both practical and symbolic reasons,” said Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin in a press release. “Practically, it proves that the rebuilding effort has diversified our city’s economy in a meaningful way while generating thousands of jobs in growth industries. Symbolically, it shows that our determination and spirit can never be broken. While our work is not yet done, this data speaks to our phenomenal growth and importance as an engine of opportunity for the city, state, and nation.”

“After 9/11, we all agreed that our primary responsibility was to commemorate those we lost,” said Larry A. Silverstein, Chairman, Silverstein Properties. “At the same time, we had to restore the commerce that has defined the lower tip of Manhattan throughout the City’s history. At the end of the day, our vision was to create a better version of New York. That vision is now a reality. The bottom line is that Downtown New York – a place many had written off – is now the City’s hottest neighborhood.”

“As the home of New York’s largest TAMI Community and 9,000 workers, One World Trade Center is proud of its role in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan,” said Douglas Durst, Chairman of The Durst Organization. “We look forward to working with our partners to bring more exciting tenants, retailers and arts & culture to this fast-growing and dynamic community.”

The district’s retail and hospitality markets continued to thrive, the group added, with 20 new restaurants, shops and hotels opening in the first quarter. The new retailers included the highly anticipated Crown Shy, a seasonal neighborhood restaurant by Chef James Kent and Jeff Katz, and The Artezen Hotel, which brought 89 new rooms to the district.

Target has stores planned for Astoria and Elmhurst — and lots of people don’t like it.

Both locations are schedule to open for business no later than 2022. The locations are excellent, close to transportation and a wide variety of other retail businesses. The fear is that the big box retailer will steal employees and hurt the communities.

At present, the chain has 78 stores in the greater New York area, and over 17,000 employees. According to the company more than a dozen of those stores are so-called smaller-format outlets that measure about 40,000 square feet, roughly a third the size of a full-size store. Eight more smaller locations are planned in New York City.

“These corporations — Amazon, Target, Walmart, whoever — treat our neighborhoods like corporate playgrounds, and think our people are just open wallets,” said Patricia Chou, an organizer with Queens Neighborhoods United, in an interview with The City.

As to be expected, rallies were held on Friday afternoon to protest Target’s imminent arrival.

“In one particular bustling corner of Queens at 31st Street and Ditmars Boulevard, the arrival of Target would replace five active businesses–including a Key Food supermarket–and some vacant storefronts,” reports the web site 6sqft.com. “The busy intersection is already home to several banks, a CVS and a Starbucks. Last March, the owner of the property in question signed a memorandum with Target for a 15-year lease on a 47,000-square-foot, three-floor construction project, and there is an application for a demolition permit on file with the Department of Buildings. The new development includes 45,000 square feet of retail space in addition to Target.”

As 6sqft.com continues, “Many employees of the Key Food store are members of UFCW Local 1500. Larry Mandell, the store’s franchise owner, says he’d like to stay in the space, but his lease expires in October 2020, and he hasn’t heard back from the landlord regarding renewal negotiations.”

Meanwhile, expansion continues. The chain is preparing to open a new store in Washington Heights in 2020. It will occupy an approximately 25,000-square-foot space on West 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, a Target spokesperson said.

The opening was first reported by real estate publication The Real Deal, which spotted a new lease filing with the city Department of Finance. Target secured a 15-year lease at 600 W. 181st St. with landlord Maverick Management Corporation, Patch.com reports. It adds, “Target will have the option to extend the fifteen-year lease for an additional 15 years in three terms of five years, according to public records. The lease does not specify how much Target will pay for the space.”

Restaurants in Manhattan are hiring, and for a very good reason: they’ve gotten major concessions on their rents.

As reported by the New York Post, several New York City eateries managed to negotiate great rent deals with their landlords, which means profitable times ahead.

“In late April, real estate owners who had charged hundreds of thousands of dollars up front for last summer’s season were forced to settle for severely discounted leases as low as $20,000 a month to make sure their spaces weren’t vacant this summer,” the Post reported, citing sources.

The Post piece quoted Don Evans, one of the movers and shakers behind Dan’s Taste of Two Forks in the Hamptons, as saying that “Every deal is a little different, but it all happened within two weeks. The restaurateurs were hiring staff and working on the assumption that something would break, and it did. These are all very favorable rents.”

Opening a restaurant, especially in Manhattan, is a pricey proposition to begin with. The median cost to open an independent restaurant was $375,500, according to RestaurantOwner.com. “The 25th percentile for Total Cost to Open was $175,500, meaning 25% of respondents spent less than this value. The 75th percentile for Total Cost to open was $750,500, indicating that 25% of respondents spent more than this value to open.”

The improved rent situation couldn’t have come at a better time for Manhattan restaurants. “It’s been a common complaint for restaurants struggling against pricey rent hikes and other factors that lead to closings, like ever-increasing construction and labor costs, a tighter regulatory environment, and a simple lack of customers due to changing tastes,” Eater New York wrote only weeks ago. “Tons of restaurants managed to ink new leases last year, but for many others, long-term leases expired — which ultimately meant the expiration of their businesses as a whole.

“The reality, restaurateurs and industry experts say, is that a lot of the full-service restaurants whose leases were up last year simply couldn’t keep up with the surrounding real estate market, with new market-rate rents quoted thousands of dollars above what they were paying,” the Eater piece continued. “Some were forced to change their concepts, while others paused their expansion plans. Restaurateurs across the city say calculating a viable rent is key to surviving in today’s climate, and most stick to a simple yet proven equation. But it’s not always enough to keep businesses alive — leading to an environment where it’s easier for monied fast-casual chains to thrive.

Another voice has been raised against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to ditch the city’s single-test admissions system for elite high schools.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a graduate of Brooklyn Tech, one of the schools targeted by the plan, told the New York Post on Friday that implementing the mayor’s plan is tantamount to “saying your kids are too dumb to pass.”

Williams told the Post that he thinks the plan “makes people believe that their communities are somehow dumber than others. The way it’s being presented, they’re saying your kids are too dumb to pass the test. That is an unacceptable way to present this. We will reject it every time.”

The plan, as presented by de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, would do away with the single-test system in favor of multiple measures of assessment.

Williams’s voice joins a wide-ranging chorus that has been criticizing the plan since it was announced last year. Many see it as an attempt to dumb-down the admissions process.

Last June, de Blasio’s office pointed out that the elimination of the Specialized High Schools Admissions test would require state legislation. “By the end of the elimination, the SHS would reserve seats for top performers at each New York City middle school. When the law is passed, the test would be phased out over a three-year period. Based on modeling of current offer patterns, 45 percent of offers would go to black and Latino students, compared to 9 percent currently; 62 percent of offers would go to female students, compared to 44 percent currently; and four times more offers would go to Bronx residents.

“There are talented students all across the five boroughs, but for far too long our specialized high schools have failed to reflect the diversity of our city,” said de Blasio. “We cannot let this injustice continue. By giving a wider, more diverse pool of our best students an equal shot at admissions, we will make these schools stronger and our City fairer.”

Carranza echoed, “As a lifelong educator, a man of color, and a parent of children of color, I’m proud to work with our Mayor to foster true equity and excellence at our specialized high schools. With the partnership of the State Legislature, we’re going to live up to what our public schools and what New York City are truly about – opportunity for all. This is what’s right for our kids, our families, and our city.”

City Hall’s increased tax on business revenues is sending small companies fleeing to Florida. As reported by the NY Post, last week in a ranking of small business growth, Miami overtook New York City for the first time. Analysts explain that this is a clear sign that thousands of New York’s most innovative, small business owners are packing up and bolting for lower-cost places, including sunny Florida.

“Although New York is still booming, the cost of doing business for small business owners continues to rise,” said Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit, which did the research for the rankings. “Rents continually increase, and labor costs are high and will continue to increase, since New York has enacted a law to raise the minimum wage to $15.”

Last year, NYC was demoted from its first place ranking down to number 4 in the latest national rankings of the top 25 cities for small business growth. Also, the American Legislative Exchange Council again ranked the NYC and NYS last in economic competitiveness.

NYC still ranks first place in annual revenue for small business owners, with Miami in second place, as per Biz2Credit. Median cash flow among local New York businesses is also still on the rise, even in comparison to last year. However, the cash doesn’t seem to stay long in the hands of its business owner. Expenses in NYC are too high. So, while NY still has much to offer, Miami can offer close to as much revenue with lower taxes and less restrictive regulations. “Other [New York City] mandates, such as paid sick leave, hit small business owners hard. New York is becoming less and less friendly for small business owners,” said Arora. “New York is still the place where the revenues are highest,” added Arora. “However, Miami is not that far behind, which is one of the major reasons it ranked No. 1 overall.”

As a direct result, NY is losing residents to other more cost effective states. Most of the recent estimates indicate that Gotham City is losing more than 100 residents daily.

Mayra Rodriguez Valladares, a capital markets and regulatory Consultant, told the Post that NYC has about $59 billion in assets, with a whopping $244 billion in liabilities. “Moreover, this burden grew by an additional $1,600 for every New York City resident every year since 2014,” she said.

There is money to be made – big money – in New York City’s commercial real estate.

MRP Realty and AEW Capital Management reportedly purchased a warehouse in the South Bronx 16 months ago. They then leased it to Amazon. Now they are about to cash in.

The 116,000-square-foot industrial property at 1300 Viele Avenue in the Hunt’s Point section is expected to go for approximately $70 million, sources have told The Real Deal.

“The identity of the family buying the property wasn’t disclosed,” Real Deal reported. “A Cushman & Wakefield team of Adam Spies, Doug Harmon, Kevin Donner, Adam Doneger and Anthony Pasquale negotiated the deal for the sellers. Washington, D.C.-based MRP Realty teamed up with AEW Capital Management – the $75 billion real estate manager owned by French investment bank Natixis – in late 2017 to buy the two-building warehouse complex taking up a full block at 1300 Viele and 1301 Ryawa Avenues for $25.6 million.”

Only days ago, MRP announced it had secured $191.8 million for phase one of the 13-acre mixed-use development called Bryant Street in Washington, D.C.’s Edgewood neighborhood, according to a press release from HFF, which represented MRP Realty in the financing negotiations.

Industrial and warehouse properties are growing in demand as players jockey for locations close enough to permit fast delivery of products.

Some see potential trouble ahead, however. The New York City real estate market “is expected to take a hit as the result of ambitious legislation designed to push back against climate change, which includes requiring the owners of residential and commercial buildings to cut energy usage and carbon emissions or face significant fines,” Forbes recently reported. “Under one of the six bills passed as part of the Climate Mobilization Act, buildings that are more than 25,000 square feet will be required to make fixes, such as upgrading boilers and installing new windows and insulation, to become more energy efficient, with the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 40% percent by 2030 and 80% by 2050.”

Beginning in 2024, the magazine continued, building owners who don’t comply “will be hit with fines totaling the difference between the emissions limit for the year and its actual emissions, multiplied by $268. Real estate industry leaders, including those involved in discussions leading up to the legislation that was crafted with the goal of it passing by Earth Day on April 22, worry that the aggressive law will further hurt the already struggling residential market as building owners are faced with making pricey retrofits and encouraging tenants to change their energy use.”

Teva Pharmaceuticals says it did nothing wrong, and that it will defend against lawsuits that allege price fixing.

The lawsuits are coming from 44 states in the United States. In response, the firm’s stock shares sank to their lowest level since November 2017.

Teva’s Chief Financial Officer Mike McClellan said at a meeting in Israel that the legal storm it is facing is neither new nor criminal in nature. “There have been no developments in this area. We take these accusations seriously, and we are going to defend ourselves.”

According to the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, citing the complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, Teva’s American unit and 19 other drug makers are alleged to have conspired to divide up the market for drugs to avoid competing and, in some cases, are said to have conspired to prevent prices from dropping or to raise them.

Teva has been developing and producing medicines to improve people’s lives for more than a century. It is a global leader in generic and specialty medicines with a portfolio consisting of over 35,000 products in nearly every therapeutic area. Around 200 million people around the world take a Teva medicine every day, and are served by one of the largest and most complex supply chains in the pharmaceutical industry.

“Prosecutors said Teva Pharmaceuticals USA had orchestrated matters to inflate drug prices – sometimes by more than 1,000% – and to stifle competition for generic drugs,” Haaretz wrote.

“The allegations in this new complaint, and in the litigation more generally, are just that – allegations,” Teva said in a statement afterwards. “Teva continues to review the issue internally and has not engaged in any conduct that would lead to civil or criminal liability.”

“The statements did little to assuage investor concerns, and Teva shares plummeted 10.7% in Tel Aviv Stock Exchange trading on Sunday to close at 46.66 shekels ($13.07),” the newspaper reported. “Teva also trades on the New York Stock Exchange, but news of the suit came after the market closed on Friday. The sharp drop in Teva shares, as well as at another pharma company, Opko Health, based on pre-opening orders, led to a six-minute delay in the start of TASE trading on Sunday. Opko finished 13.8% lower at 7.56 shekels on unrelated news. The TASE’s benchmark TA-35 index fell 0.6% for the day in light trading.”

The company’s management continued to look forward, announcing just three days ago the launch of a generic version of Delzicol®1 (mesalamine) delayed-release capsules, 400 mg, in the U.S.

Teva EVP and Head of North America Commercial, Brendan O’Grady said in a press release, “Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease and we’re proud to provide another treatment option for patients.”

Rupert Murdoch explained Fox Corp.’s strategy last week, terming it “insanely simple.”

The event was the company’s first-ever Investor Day. Murdoch said he wants to focus its programming almost completely live events, including both news and sports.

Fox will be “pivoting at a pivotal moment,” said Murdoch. “We could see a shift coming in media and the danger to the industry,” he added.

“Our first quarterly results as Fox Corporation demonstrate the strength of our businesses as we delivered strong top line growth across our operating segments and across our key revenue categories. Fox commences as a standalone company with strong assets in unique positions to succeed in the evolving media landscape,” company CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement.

The content that will be driving the ad revenues will be 70% comprised of news, sports and other live events, he added. “The emphasis on live programming, like football games and breaking news, seeks to distinguish Fox from other broadcasters in an industry that has seen scheduled programming transform into “anytime viewing” thanks to services like Netflix and YouTube. “We’re standing apart from the mob and focusing on the power of now.”

In the wake of the Disney sale, Fox has four main brands: Fox News Channel, the country’s most-watched basic cable network; Fox Sports; Fox Network, the national television broadcast network; and Fox Television Stations, which owns and operates 28 broadcast stations in the US.

Fox reported total quarterly revenues of $2.75 billion, a 12% increase from the $2.46 billion of revenues in the prior year quarter. The increase in revenues was primarily attributable to affiliate and advertising revenue growth of 11% and 9%, respectively. This revenue growth was driven by a 29% increase in retransmission consent revenues and by a 10% increase in advertising revenues at the Television segment, its statement said.

The company also reported a 35% increase in other revenues primarily due to higher digital content licensing revenues at the Television segment. Quarterly income before income tax expense increased to $706 million from the $654 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to higher revenues at the Cable Network Programming and Television segments.

It was reported three days ago by The Hollywood Reporter that Fox Corporation will not launch a Fox-branded direct-to-consumer service, citing COO John Nallen as the source. “Apart from FoxNation, we see no reason for a Fox-branded direct-to-consumer offering,” he said at the event. He added that there will not be a “substantial or profitable future for a Fox family” offering.

Was billionaire businessman Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cheated of $340 million as part of a Ponzi-type scheme?

Some say yes.

Jeff Carpoff, the CEO of the defunct energy company DC Solar, “lived a lavish lifestyle before the FBI raided his and his wife Paulette’s Martinez, Calif., home and DC Solar’s offices in December, court papers show,” according to the New York Post. “Among the treasures now in the feds’ possession include a car collection totalling at least 157 cars, including three Bentleys, a 1926 Ford Model T, 17 Dodge Rams, and 15 Chevy Camaros. Also seized were season tickets for the yet-to-be-formed Las Vegas Raiders NFL team worth $782,949; more than $50 million in bank accounts, over 30 properties scattered throughout California and Nevada, and a stash of jewelry, including a “three prong diamond necklace” and a Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch worth more than $6,000, court papers show.”

Berkshire Hathaway reportedly took a $377 million charge “after investing hundreds of millions in tax-equity investment funds tied to a company that federal authorities say engaged in fraud, according to Berkshire’s first-quarter regulatory filing. The investments were tied to DC Solar, Debbie Bosanek, Buffett’s assistant, said Wednesday in response to Bloomberg’s questions about the expense. That’s the mobile solar generator company that federal authorities have alleged ran a fraudulent scheme involving tax benefits.”

It was in late December, according to abc7news.com. that the FBI said it had raided a home in Martinez, California owned by Paulette and Jeff Carpoff.

“There were a lot of FBI and U.S. Marshals going in, they said it wasn’t something we had to worry about,” a neighbor told the news organization.

In a statement quoted by abc7news.com, the Carpoff’s law said that the family “was surprised and disappointed with the actions taken by the government earlier this week which appear to relate to an ongoing tax dispute. The Carpoffs are grateful for the support of their friends and family and have trust in the system to resolve this matter.”

Aside from Buffett’s company, investment firms like East West Bankcorp and Progressive Corp also reported losses involving their investments into DC Solar, Business Times reported. “The mobile solar generator company apparently bloated their capabilities in terms of providing investors with “favorable tax consequences.” Federal authorities who had investigated the business allegedly uncovered a large Ponzi-type scheme involving various investments. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also formally accused DC Solar of engaging in a Ponzi scheme. In February, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has determined that the firm’s operations seemed to reflect evidence of an investment fraud scheme.”

Retired Americans are scared, and so they are, basically, unretiring – looking for jobs in case Social Security payments get rolled back and they end up outliving their savings.

Over 50% of elderly employees told Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) in a survey that they have returned to work, or never stopped in the first place, because they want the income.

Another research project, this one conducted by AARP, found that 13% of respondents aged 45 and older said they were retired but still looking for work.

As part of its just-released research, TCRS asked Americans what retirement means to them. What they found was that workers most often associate

retirement with the words “freedom” (55 percent), “enjoyment” (53 percent), and “stress-free” (43 percent), despite the magnitude of preparations and challenges involved.

The study, titled What Is “Retirement”? Three Generations Prepare for Older Age found that “Retirement is no longer associated with a gold watch and metaphoric sunsets. Today’s workers expect to extend their working lives beyond age 65. Their vision of retirement balances continued work with freedom and more time to pursue personal interests,” according to Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica

Institute and TCRS.

Other research highlights include:

• Eighty-six percent of workers cite positive word associations with “retirement,” compared with only 37

percent who cite negative words.

• Fifty-five percent of workers plan to work after they retire, including 41 percent who plan to work part time and 14 percent full time. Among workers planning to work in retirement and/or past age 65, most plan to do so for financial reasons (80 percent) and almost as many for healthy-aging reasons (72 percent).
• Forty-four percent of workers envision a phased transition into retirement during which they will reduce work hours with more leisure time to enjoy life (27 percent), or work in a different capacity that is less demanding and/or brings greater personal satisfaction (17 percent). Another 22 percent plan to continue working as long as possible until they cannot work anymore.
• The most often cited retirement dreams are traveling (67 percent), spending more time with family and friends (57 percent), and pursuing hobbies (48 percent). Thirty percent of workers dream of doing some form of paid work such as pursuing an encore career (13 percent), starting a business (13 percent), and/or continuing to work in the same field (11 percent). Twenty-six percent dream of doing volunteer work.

“Workers must take greater action in saving, investing, financially planning – and protecting their health – to successfully transform their visions of retirement into reality,” said Collinson. “In addition to preparing for longer lives and more time spent in retirement, workers are increasingly expected to self-fund a greater portion of their retirement income as a result of the evolving retirement landscape.”