The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into Activision Blizzard, adding yet more scrutiny to the company after California sued alleging executives ignored reports of sexual misconduct and discrimination against women employees.
The investigation, according to The Wall Street Journal, includes subpoenas of personnel files of six former employees, separation agreements reached this year with staffers and Chief Executive Bobby Kotick's communications with other senior executives regarding complaints of sexual harassment or discrimination.
💲 Tech workers in L.A. were among the nation's highest paid in the industry in 2020.
💰 UCLA has landed a $13.3 million contract with the NIH to expand its COVID rapid tests.
🕶 Stageverse, an L.A.-based metaverse platform, today launched beta access to a VR experience for the rock band Muse.
🐔 Rapper Drake is joining Samuel L. Jackson and others as backers of the L.A. chicken restaurant, Dave's Hot chicken.
📱 NBC is tapping into Pinterest users to help promote its new show, "Ordinary Joe."
⚠️ Instacart workers are calling for a boycott of the app over unfair labor practices they say include wage theft, tip theft, unsafe working conditions, and other allegations.
💸 Hungry, a food service startup that recently set operations in L.A., has attracted venture funding from sports stars like Arizona Cardinals'DeAndre Hopkins and Chicago Bulls' Lonzo Ball.
'Bobby Kotick Must Go' Tweets One Investor
On Twitter, a prominent investor, Ross Gerber, called for Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick to leave the company.
"We have to seriously reconsider our position in $ATVI - Bobby Kotick must go," Gerber, president and CEO of Santa Monica-based wealth and investment management firm Gerber Kawasaki, tweeted.
Pfizer Vaccine Shown Safe for Children of Ages 5-11
Pfizer and BioNTech announced Monday its vaccine has been shown to be safe and highly effective among children between ages 5 and 11. The companies plan to apply to the Food and Drug Administration by the end of the month for emergency authorization to use the vaccine in these children.
Nominate Innovators for dot.LA's Startup Awards
Nominate Innovators for dot.LA's 2021 Startup Awards
We are thrilled to announce the dot.LA Startup Awards 2021, a celebration of the most innovative people and companies in the L.A. startup and tech community. The event will be hosted live on Friday, October 29th, during the dot.LA Summit.
Nominations are open for company submissions in six categories. Get involved and nominate a startup or an individual to win an award by clicking here.
Nominations Are Open for Our Summit LA Pitch Showcase
We're looking for Southern California startups that have a product on the market and have raised less than $1 million in funding to pitch at dot.LA's Summit on Thursday, October 28th at 6:00pm PT on the main stage at Fairmont Miramar.