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Brookstone declares bankruptcy after more than 40 years of business
Home retail chain Brookstone has filed for bankruptcy for the second time since 2014 after more than four decades of business. Barring 35 airport locations, all of its US outlets will be shut down.
Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy in the US
Earlier this month, Cambridge Analytica closed up shop saying at the time that media coverage of how it came to obtain 87 million Facebook users' information had driven away nearly all of its customers and it was, therefore, "no longer viable" to operate. The company also said that it would be filing for bankruptcy, and now it has. Reuters reports that Cambridge Analytica filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy at the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday.
Camera maker DxO Labs files for bankruptcy
DxO Labs, maker of the DxO One camera attachment and PhotoLab, FilmPack and ViewPoint photo software, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, PetaPixel reports. The company did so on March 7th and DxO Labs says it's now undergoing a restructuring of its business. "We are very confident that this procedure, which should not last for more than a few more weeks, will not affect our customers in any way," the company said in a statement. The bankruptcy won't apply to the camera testing and rating company DxOMark, which was spun off from DxO Labs last September.
iHeartRadio owner files for bankruptcy, but you won't feel it
Radio giant iHeartMedia has filed for bankruptcy after years of dealing with a massive debt worth $20 billion. Don't worry, though: you might not even feel that the company is going through Chapter 11 proceedings. In its announcement, the media corporation said it has reached an agreement with the holders of over $10 billion of its outstanding debts. The agreement does require a "comprehensive balance sheet restructuring," but the company isn't shutting down. Debtwire analyst Seth Crystall told Variety that "[i]f you were listening to iHeartRadio, or going to iHeart concerts" you won't be affected by what's going on behind the scenes.
A new company is trying to revive the Skully AR helmet
Last year, Skully, the startup that crowdfunded its AR motorcycle helmet, shut down following many delays, mounting financial woes and an attempted sale to LeEco that didn't go through. But TechCrunch got its hands on an email that was sent to those still registered to the Skully email list and it says the original company's technology might not be lost forever.
Toys ‘R’ Us has declared bankruptcy
Toys 'R' Us might file for bankruptcy as soon as today, according to Bloomberg. That should help the toy giant restructure the $400 million in debt that comes due for it next year, which it was saddled with after getting bought out a decade ago. While the retail chain has been suffering declining sales for five years, Amazon has continued to grow its own toy sales, taking a bigger share of the industry.
Faulty airbags cost Takata everything
Takata, the Japanese corporation at the heart of the auto industry's largest ever product recall, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The business supplied airbag inflators that, thanks to poor standards in the plant where they were manufactured, were faulty. The scandal forced a worldwide recall of more than 40 million vehicles and several deaths have been linked to the issue.
Smart card Plastc goes under despite $9 million in preorders
Plastc, a smart payment card that can store all your CC details, promised to be the only plastic you'll ever need to bring when it started taking pre-orders in 2014. Now, almost three years and countless shipment delays later, the company threw in the towel. In a statement posted on its website, Plastc says it has officially shut down on April 20th and will file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. According to a Magnify Money editorial, Plastc raised $9 million from 80,000 pre-orders. It wasn't and will not be able to fulfill any of them.
Gawker settles with Hulk Hogan for a reported $31 million
Since Gawker lost its court battle with Hulk Hogan back in June and filed for bankruptcy, it's been unclear just how much the former professional wrestler would get given the massive $140 million judgment awarded him. But today, the media company's cofounder and CEO Nick Denton announced that they've settled with the celebrity for $31 million.
Gawker Media files for bankruptcy thanks to Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel
A few weeks ago, it was revealed that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, a co-founder of Paypal and current Facebook board member, was bankrolling Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker Media. (Got all that?) Despite the fact that Gawker has vowed to appeal the massive $140 million judgement against it, the company today has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The media company is now entertaining bids to buy the company, and Recode reports that publisher Ziff Davis has already put in a bid in the $100 million range.
World's largest coal mining firm declares bankruptcy
It won't shock you to hear that the coal industry is facing tough times lately. Job cuts, mine closures and other signs of financial trouble are par for the course. However, that downturn just reached an important milestone: Peabody Energy, the world's largest private coal mining company, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy across most of its US divisions. The firm says it didn't have much choice between steep drops in the price of coal, a weak Chinese market, overproduction of shale gas and "regulatory challenges" (read: better environmental policies). In plainer terms, people just aren't as interested in coal energy as they were in years past.
SF's Yellow Cab blames lawsuits, Uber and Lyft for bankruptcy
San Francisco's Yellow Cab Co-op has filed for bankruptcy, a few weeks after the first reports came out that it was on the verge of doing so. According to San Francisco Examiner, the biggest taxi company in the city blamed two things in the documents it submitted: 1.) lawsuits and 2.) ride-sharing services. Yellow Cab President Pamela Martinez wrote that the Co-op is self-insured unlike other cab companies. "On a short term basis, the ability to self-insure resulted in lower operating costs," the document read. "However, self-insurance exposed Yellow Cab to risks of catastrophic losses, which ultimately occurred."
San Francisco's biggest Taxi company to file for bankruptcy
If the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's word isn't enough, take it directly from taxi companies: ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft are taking business from traditional cab drivers. According to a report from the San Francisco Examiner, Yellow Cab Co-op, the biggest taxi company in the city, is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy.
Rdio's collapse will hurt Sony, Roku and Shazam
When a company goes under, the firms that it still owes money to have to bear the pain of those unpaid debts. Rdio's collapse has, unfortunately, sent ramifications through the tech and music industries that'll see firms like Roku and Shazam reaching for the Tylenol. Music Business Worldwide is claiming to have details of Rdio's bankruptcy filing that reveals that it owed $2.7 million to Roku and $1.7 million to Shazam. In addition, the service had promised Sony Music $2.4 million and Facebook $495,000. Ouch.
As Rdio files for bankruptcy, Pandora picks it up for $75 million
Pandora, already one of the biggest players in the music streaming space, has just announced it is acquiring "key assets" from fellow streaming service Rdio for $75 million. However, this isn't just a standard case of one company buying another -- Pandora's press release says the deal is contingent upon Rdio "seeking protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California." It sounds as if Rdio has finally run out of cash while trying to compete with giants like Spotify and Apple Music, and Pandora will be stepping in to use its technology to enhance its platform. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.
Quirky will sell its Wink smart home tech after going bankrupt
Quirky hinted that things weren't going so well when it stopped building its namesake oddball gadgets, and it's now extra-clear that the company has hit a rough patch. It's filing for bankruptcy in a bid to get its house back in order, and the restructuring effort will include selling off Wink, the firm behind its relatively popular smart home platform. The contract manufacturing outfit Flextronics is making a "stalking horse" offer for Wink to set a baseline price, but the hope is that another company will pony up a greater amount. So how does this affect you, then?
Apple wants to stop RadioShack from selling your data
When RadioShack went bankrupt, it put shoppers' data up for sale alongside its brand name and stores. Well, Apple isn't happy with that data scattering to the four winds -- it's joining AT&T and other objectors by filing a motion to block attempts to sell customers' information. The Cupertino crew argues that the info isn't part of RadioShack's bankruptcy estate, and that selling off this content would breach both Apple's privacy policy as well as a reseller deal. There's no question that the motion is as much about protecting Apple's hide as it is yours (the company doesn't want to lose data to competitors), but it could mean a lot if it prevents a shady marketing firm from annoying you down the road. [Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
Aereo gets only $2 million from selling assets to TiVo and other companies
Aereo was expecting to sell its assets for at least $4 million (and up to $31 million) at a bankruptcy auction, following its loss in a protracted legal battle against broadcasters. Sadly, luck wasn't on its side yet again: the company has managed to raise a mere $2 million from the auction, which has only attracted 10 bidders. "We are very disappointed with the results of the auction. This has been a very difficult sales process and the results reflect that," one of Aereo's lawyer's, William Baldiga, said in a statement. The company has long planned to use the amount it will raise from the event to pay its creditors, and $2 million might not be enough.
RadioShack files for bankruptcy as Sprint eyes its stores
As expected, RadioShack filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. The electronics store has had 11 unprofitable quarters in a row that apparently even Weird Al and a drone, concept stores and Arduinos couldn't turn around. We've seen many electronics retailers fade out over the last few years, but most don't have a 94-year history behind them. In the immediate future, Reuters reports the company has a deal with its largest shareholder, Standard General to sell between 1,500 and 2,400 of its 4,000 stores. In turn, Sprint has an agreement to expand to about 1,750 of those stores, taking up about one-third of the space. TechCrunch posted a copy of the filing, and right now it's expected that the remaining stores will be closed, assuming the store's lenders approve of the deal -- leaving us with one fewer place to go when need a battery right now. [Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
Aereo's video streaming fairy tale ends at Chapter 11
When a company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it means that it's mere moments away from being torn to pieces by its creditors. That particular regulation also provides room for a turnaround, but given that the Supreme Court has essentially made its business model illegal, it's not looking good for Aereo. In a letter posted to the TV-streaming service's website, CEO Chet Kanojia tells former users that the challenges the company faced were "too difficult to overcome." In what can only be described as a farewell note, the CEO adds that he's hired restructuring expert Lawton Bloom, presumably to help sell off everything that isn't nailed down to pay off debt. So, farewell then Aereo, you tried to make watching TV easier and for that, you'll always have a place in our hearts. [Image Credit: Bebeto Matthews / AP Photo]
