America's post-9/11 defense industry has a major footprint in Los Angeles County, and not just in terms of building rockets and defense systems. Companies like Raytheon Technologies, based in El Segundo, and Northrop Grumman, which was once headquartered in L.A., have amassed billions in revenue as a result of defense contracts.
In July, Raytheon secured a $320 million contract for Stinger missile production for the U.S. Army. The company says it expects between $63.4 billion to $65.4 billion in sales in 2021. Other defense companies are not too far behind, either. Reporter Sarah Favot breaks down the six ways these and other defense contractors soared after 9/11.
⚖️ A federal judge ruled Friday that Apple's app store must loosen its restriction on how developers seek payments.
🔥 Jim Lazone, the dating app Tinder's now-former boss, has been named Yahoo's new CEO.
🎞 Loop Media, a Glendale-based streaming platform, has launched a new Movie Trailers+ channel.
🎥 Warner Bros. Pictures has released an NFT collection of digital artifacts to promote its new movie, Dune.
⬇️ Epic Games is shutting down the social video chat app Houseparty following its acquisition.
⛔️ Time's Up 71-member advisory board consisting of celebrities has been dissolved.
👀 In a recent Time Out survey, Los Angeles was voted the most expensive, overrated and inconvenient city in North America.
⚠️ Apple has fired a senior engineering program manager following her tweets about allegations of harassment, surveillance and workplace safety at the company.
Just How Much Money Is in Defense?
At one point in the years after 9/11, up to 20% of U.S. government spending was directed toward military defense. And while that spending has winded down over the years, the U.S. is still pouring in billions in defense.
In fiscal year 2020, the United States spent $714 billion on national defense, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a figure that registered as over 10% of total federal spending, according to an analysis by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
What Angelenos Need to Know About Vaccine Mandates
President Biden announced on Thursday a sweeping vaccine mandate that would affect as many as 100 million workers. So, who exactly has to get vaccinated in L.A.? And what about mask mandates? Reporter Keerthi Vedantam has some answers to your most pressing mandate questions.
Ferret Wants To Help You Vet Your VC Circles
Ferret is a web service that acts like a search engine to make it easier to get publicly available information that is difficult to find. But even investors have raised concerns over the app's legality. Privacy experts say that for Ferret.ai to work, it must comply with privacy laws. Co-founder Rob Loughan says it is legal because "we're so fastidious about doing it properly."
Early Bird Registration Is Now Open for the dot.LA 2021 Summit
Don't miss the go-to Summit for L.A.'s booming startup community, held October 28th – 29th at the Fairmont Miramar hotel. Guests will include early-to-late stage VCs, as well as growth-stage and angel investors. The Summit will encompass cutting-edge programming, fast pitch competitions, an awards show, networking, social events and more!
The dot.LA Summit will feature a curated selection of disruptive and innovative L.A.-based startups, keynote speakers and panelists made up of founders, CEOs and C-level executives working in tech, media, entertainment and healthcare.