Americas wealthiest tech billionaires are faring extraordinarily well six months into a historic pandemic, posing a striking contrast with the fate of other Americans during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

When the coronavirus pandemic began to ravage the economy, those who worry about inequality expressed concern that billionaires and particularly tech billionaires would amass more power and that the income gaps would grow more dramatic. And their worries appear to have been well founded.

People like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Steve Ballmer have added tens of billions of dollars to their net worths since the beginning of the calendar year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The success of the very richest was punctuated on Monday when Bezoss net worth grew by $13 billion, the largest single-day jump since Bloomberg began tracking the day-to-day changes in 2012.

Its easy to lose track of precisely how wealthy the ultra-wealthiest have become. Terms like billionaires can generalize and disguise the scale of the fortunes created in todays economy. A billion here, a billion there the very rich remain very rich. Exactly how rich can feel irrelevant.

But the particulars of their staggering success matter because at the other end of Americas income inequality divide, the extra money would not feel so irrelevant. More than 30 million Americans are now depending on unemployment benefits, some of which are set to expire at the end of the month. Low-wage workers are especially prone to layoffs. And the pandemic is pounding poorer neighborhoods in particular, where the number of Covid-19 cases is higher.

Voices on the left see this as zero-sum those extra billions can make a difference if redistributed and are calling for a remaking of the American economy after this crisis. They would like to see the very wealthy pay more in taxes in order to repair what they believe is an insufficient safety net.

Market-oriented thinkers argue that these billionaires are becoming rich because they are creating value for their shareholders which is a basic imperative of capitalism and the billionaires happen to be some of these companies largest shareholders.

That argument, though, is why it is worth assessing the figures in the uppermost echelon of Americas elite. Over the last few weeks in particular, tech fortunes have climbed to new heights.

Thats true for no one more than Bezos, whose assets in 2020 have climbed by $75 billion; his net worth is now nearing almost $200 billion.

That historic wealth gain is due to the rise of Amazon, which has proved indispensable as people around the world stay at home in response to the pandemic. Its stock has skyrocketed 70 percent since the start of the year. Thats a boom for him as well as for his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, whose shares in the company have put her on the doorstep of becoming the worlds wealthiest woman, a position held now by Francoise Bettencourt Meyers. On New Years Day 2020, MacKenzie Bezos was the worlds 25th wealthiest person now shes 13th, with $63 billion to her name, per Bloomberg.

Amazon is not the only big tech company whose relative success has made the rich richer. The S&P 500 may be about flat in 2020, but the stock appreciation at Facebook, Apple, and Google parent company Alphabet has created even more winnings for its billionaires. But the rise of two other tech companies and the billionaires behind them have changed the tippiest of the tippy-top.

Ballmer, the longtime CEO of Microsoft, is not a household name for most Americans, who are far more familiar with his predecessor, Bill Gates. (Many of the countrys richest people are not faces you would recognize if you passed them on the street.)

But Ballmer is not just any rich person he has sneakily become Americas fifth-richest person thanks to the enormous growth in Microsofts stock, which has almost quadrupled over the last five years. That could draw more scrutiny to Ballmer, who remains in the public eye primarily as the animated courtside presence at the home games of the Los Angeles Clippers, which he owns. Ballmer began the year as the 15th-richest person.

The other tech billionaire who has turned a fortune into a super-sized fortune amid the recession is Musk, the idiosyncratic founder of Tesla and SpaceX. At the start of 2020, Musk ranked as the 35th richest person. But his net worth has nearly tripled over the last seven months, and Musk is now the sixth wealthiest person in the world with almost $75 billion. Teslas stock has almost quadrupled this calendar year.

All told, the coronavirus is proving to offer pretty good times for Big Techs leaders. Nine of the 15 richest people in the world come from Americas technology sector, according to the Bloomberg rankings, compared to seven at years beginning. Almost every tech billionaire is in the black, not the red, this year.

Not many Americans can say the same. And if the American economy drops further, the tech billionaire will loom fairly or unfairly as an easy scapegoat.

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Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are getting richer as the pandemic gets worse - Vox.com

Earlier this week, shares in Tesla Inc. the electric car giant led by CEO Elon Musk, were evaluated at just over $330 billion (U.S.) on the New York Stock Exchange.

To put this number in perspective, it is equivalent to the joint market value of Canadas big 6 banks, or about three times the market value of General Motors, Ford and Honda combined.

While it is debatable whether the market is assessing Tesla correctly or whether it is a bubble about to be burst, one thing is certain: the talent, vision and passion of the charismatic, outspoken some say genius entrepreneur who has led the company since 2008 are key to its success. For that, Musk should be rewarded.

But how exactly should he be compensated for his leadership role?

Paying a handsome remuneration for a successful and dedicated CEO is probably a good idea for any company. Making sure that the principle of pay-for-performance is kept and verifying that the CEO isnt rewarded for luck is also important.

But as it turns out, the compensation package that Musk received at Tesla is unparalleled. Inspired, one may say, by the name of another company Musk is leading SpaceX.

Back in January 2018, when Teslas value was about $85 billion, Musk was awarded a 10-year compensation plan which has the features of a video game.

According to the plan, there are 12 different milestones (tranches) that Musk could reach, or unlock, and his compensation is tied to those milestones. The first milestone (which was recently met) is for the company to have a market value of $100 billion. From there, each subsequent tranche is $50 billion higher.

The terms of Musks plan require that the market value of the company for each threshold, for example, $100 billion, be kept on average for at least six months.

If the condition is met, Musk becomes eligible for options equal to one per cent of the number of shares outstanding, or about 1.69 million options. Musk could exercise each option at a price of $350 a share.

To give an example, if the current share price of Tesla is $1,500 a share, and each option allows Musk to buy one share at $350, each option is worth $1,150.

If all goes according to the plan, and Musk clears the last tranche a market value of $650 billion for Tesla he will be granted in total just over 20 million options. This translates to a staggering 10-year compensation of $55.2 billion (or $5.5 billion annually).

To be clear, this is just Musks current compensation contract. In addition, he already owns 38.7 million shares or about 21 per cent of all outstanding Tesla shares worth about $60 billion at current market price.

To understand how outrageous and disconnected from reality Musks potential maximum annual pay of $5.5 billion is, a few comparisons are required:

The median compensation for an employee at Tesla was $56,163 in 2018. Musk could make about 100,000 times that amount annually.

The average pay of the top 100 highest-paid Canadian CEOs in 2018 was $11.8 million (CND) according to a recent report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Musk could make 630 times that amount annually.

The median CEO compensation for the largest American firms, those listed in the S&P 500 index, was $12.8 million (U.S.) in 2018. Musk could make 431 times that amount annually.

Americas top earner Alphabet Inc.s CEO Sundar Pichai received a stunning $281 million in 2019. Musk could make 20 times that amount annually.

How could anyone justify such pay?

How can Musk justify it to himself? Does he really believe that he should get a contract worth about twice the annual GDP of Nepal, a country with a population of 28 million people?

Moreover, the fact that neither Musk nor the board of Tesla see fit to consider modifying the stratospheric compensation package in the midst of a global pandemic with historic high unemployment rates, shows how disconnected they are.

The company is defending the plan using a typical capitalist argument: Elons compensation will be 100 per cent aligned with the interests of our stockholders. That is, if the share price goes up, shareholders cant complain.

But for a company that is bragging about creating a better, sustainable world, and aspires to be instrumental in creating a green future, focusing solely on shareholders and share price is not what youd expect. What about other stakeholders? What about values related to equity and social justice?

Read the business news and analysis that matters most every morning, including the latest on what the coronavirus means for you, in our Star Business email newsletter.

Sure, create incentives, but $55 billion is excessive.

Elon Musks performance award is simply outrageous. The fact that he doesnt see this is disappointing. It also sets an inflated and problematic benchmark for other companies about to offer compensation plans to their CEOs.

But with pressure from activist shareholders, institutional investors and regulators, this can change. After all, Tesla is a public company, and its ordinary shareholders shouldnt sponsor what seems to be a pissing contest between Elon Musk and the richest person in the world Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

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Elon Musks performance award could reach $55 billion (U.S.) and that is unacceptable - Toronto Star

Here are five things you must know for Wednesday, July 22:

Stock futures were mixed Wednesday afterChina said the U.S. ordered the closure of its consulate in Houston and President Donald Trump warned the coronavirus outbreak probably will get worse before it gets better.

Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105 points, S&P 500 futures declined 10 points and Nasdaq futures were rising 14 14 points.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the move was initiated by the U.S. and China would react with firm countermeasures if Washington didnt revoke this erroneous decision, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, in a resumption of his daily virus briefings Tuesday, Trump said the coronavirus pandemic "will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better.

Something I dont like saying about things, but thats the way it is. Its what we have, the president added during first briefing since he had called them off in late April.

Trump also shifted his stance on masks, encouraging Americans to wear them.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said the number of coronavirus cases in some states could be much higher than has been confirmed. The CDC estimated the number of infections is about 10 times higher than the confirmed cases.

Global coronavirus infections crossed 15 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, and the U.S. reported more than 1,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday, the first time since June 10 the country has surpassed that mark.

A worry for investors also were talks between Democrat and Republican lawmakers in Washington over the $2 trillion gap in their respective coronavirus rescue packages.

Earnings reports are expected Wednesday from Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Report, Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report, Biogen (BIIB) - Get Report, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) - Get Report, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) - Get Reportand CSX (CSX) - Get Report.

The economic calendar Wednesday includesMBA Mortgage Applications for the week ended July 17 at 7 a.m. ET,Existing Home Sales for June at 10 a.m. and Oil Inventories for the week ended July 17 at 10:30 a.m.

United Airlines (UAL) - Get Reportdeclined slightly in premarket trading Wednesday after the carrier posted a second-quarter loss of $1.63 billion and called the period "the most difficult financial quarter in its 94-year history."

The airline reported a loss of $5.79 a share, compared with year-earlier earnings of $4.02 a share. Revenue plunged to $1.48 billion from $11.4 billion as travel demand remains severely depressed during the coronavirus pandemic.

United said it expects travel demand to remain weak until a vaccine or treatment for Covid-19 is developed and available.

The carrier also said it had about $15.2 billion of available cash as of July 20 and expected that figure to grow to $18 billion by the end of the third quarter.

The stock fell 0.21% to $33 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Snap (SNAP) - Get Reportdropped 8.25% to $22.70 in premarket trading Wednesday after the company beat Wall Street's revenue estimates but reported slightly lower active users than expected.

For the second quarter, the first that overlapped completely with the Covid-19 pandemic, Snap reported a loss of 23 cents a share on revenue of $454.2 million. Analysts had expected a loss of 22 cents a share on revenue of $442 million.

Snap reported 238 million daily active users, 17% higher than a year earlier, but a slight miss from estimates of 238.5 million.

This has been an extremely challenging time, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said on a conference call. While our revenue growth rate continues to be impacted by ongoing market disruptions, the fundamentals of our business are strong.

The company said revenue so far in the third quarter has risen 32% from last year but expects that to moderate to growth of about 20% during the period.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk qualified for a payout of $2.1 billion, his second massive compensation award from the electric carmaker.

Tesla's average trailing market value over six months rose above $150 billion on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg, meaning the CEO can exercise an additional 1.69 million stock options, though he must wait at least five years before he can sell them.

The options have a strike price of $350.02, meaning Musk would reap a $2.1 billion gain if he exercised and could immediately sell the shares, Bloomberg noted.

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Microsoft, Elon Musk, United and Snap - 5 Things You Must Know Wednesday - TheStreet

An aerial view of the Tesla Fremont Factory on May 13, 2020 in Fremont, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

During a second quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and CFO Zachary Kirkhorn told investors they hit an important milestone: four consecutive quarters of GAAP profitability. The electric vehicle maker stayed in the black, despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to sales of regulatory credits.

According to its earnings report, Tesla's total revenue hit $6.04 billion for the quarter, with about 7% of that, or $428 million, coming from sales of these credits.To put that in perspective, regulatory credit sales were greater than the company's free cash flow and amounted to four times Tesla's $104 million of net profit for the quarter.

Here's one way Tesla racked up these credits over the past year, according to Mike Taylor, president of the environmental credit brokerage and consulting firm Emission Advisors in Houston: selling them to other auto makers who want to avoid big fines.

In California, and at least 13 other states, any auto manufacturer who wants to sell their cars into that state must sell a certain amount of electric, hybrid electric or other zero emission vehicles (or ZEVs). Auto makers who are not selling these vehicles yet, or not selling many of them anyway, will buy credits from someone who is for compliance. Since Tesla only sells ZEVs, it doesn't need to keep the credits that it earns and can sell them before they expire.

Most states with a ZEV program in place plan to increase their requirements for eco-friendly cars for the next few years, so Taylor expects demand for credits to remain strong in the near-term. That should change dramatically, he cautioned, as other auto makers begin producing their own environmentally friendly vehicles in high volumes.

Prices for ZEV, and other types of regulatory credits, like greenhouse gas emission credits, are not typically disclosed. And environmental regulatory credits are not limited to the states, either.

Last year, Fiat Chrysler made adeal with Teslato comply with new European environmental regulations coming into play in 2021. In their most recentshareholderupdate, FCA disclosed that as of March 31, 2020, its agreements represent total commitments of 1.1 billion. FCA plans to use the credits it's buying from Tesla to stay in compliance through 2023, the filing said. The deal was a boon for Tesla. The Financial Times previously reported on FCA's deal with Tesla.

But a lack of transparency and pricing data around automotive regulatory credits makes it hard for shareholders to predict how sales of these will affect Tesla's bottom line in any given quarter.

Zachary Kirkhorn, CFO, Tesla

Source: Tesla

On Wednesday's earnings call,Tesla CFO ZacharyKirkhorn revealed that while Tesla expects to double its revenue from regulatory credits in 2020 over the previous year, bringing it above $1 billion, he expects regulatory credit sales to decline eventually. In 2019 Tesla sold around $594 million in regulatory credits, up from $419 million in 2018.

On the call, AB Bernstein's Senior Tech Analyst, Toni Sacconaghi, pointed out that even though Tesla reportedGAAP operatingmarginsof5%for the trailing 12 months, that number would fall below 1% without the sale of these credits.

The CFOresponded, "We don't manage the business with the assumption that regulatory credits will contribute significantly to the future." But in the same breath added, "I do expect for our credit revenue to double in 2020 relative to 2019. And it'll continue for some period of time. Eventually this will reduce."

Later, Musk said growing profits was not as important to him as making Tesla's cars affordable, and therefore accessible to a broader base of drivers.

"We need to not go bankrupt obviously that's important because then we will fail in our mission," Musk said during the earnings call Wednesday. "But we are not trying to besuperprofitableeither, if profitability is 1% or 2 %, it's not crazy. Last quarter it was only point one percent. So we want to beprofitable, but we want to be slightlyprofitableand maximize growth and make the cars as affordable as possible, that is what we are trying to achieve."

To that aim, Tesla is working to reduce the cost of vehicle production, especially batteries, and wants to make more money from software over time, executives said, namely the company's yet to be completed Full Self-Driving system.

Although their comments acknowledge regulatory credit revenue should decline in the not too distant future for Tesla, Musk and Kirkhorn are not saying -- and may not know -- just how fast that day will come.

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Tesla's sale of environmental credits help drive to profitability - CNBC

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Were embarrassed says Twitter but investors seem unconcerned.

The hackers who breached Twitter security taking over the accounts of Apple, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and others to promote a cryptocurrency scam also raided the inboxes of 36 of their targets, Twitter has confirmed.

Were embarrassed, were disappointed, and more than anything, were sorry, the social media company said, confirming that the attack came after a small number of employees were phished and their credentials used to access Twitters internal systems, including getting through our two-factor protections.

As of now, we know that they accessed tools only available to our internal support teams to target 130 Twitter accounts. For 45 of those accounts, the attackers were able to initiate a password reset, login to the account, and send Tweets. We are continuing our forensic review of all of the accounts to confirm all actions that may have been taken, Twitter support said in a blog updated on July 22.

In addition, we believe they may have attempted to sell some of the usernames.

For up to eight of the Twitter accounts involved, the attackers took the additional step of downloading the accounts information through our Your Twitter Data tool, Twitter said. This is a tool that is meant to provide an account owner with a summary of their Twitter account details and activity. We are reaching out directly to any account owner where we know this to be true. None of the eight were verified accounts.

Among the eight, arguably curiously, was an elected Dutch official.

Twitter is rolling out additional company-wide training to guard against social engineering tactics to supplement the training employees receive during onboarding and ongoing phishing exercises throughout the year the company said.

Investors appear blase about the attack and the reputational impact on Twitter. The companys share price barely wobbled and has since climbed again. Twitter reported revenues of $808 million in Q1, 2020. The company claims 166 million monetizable daily active users. In April it noted that we have shifted resources and priorities to increase focus on our revenue products, particularly performance ads beginning withMAP, with the goal of accelerating our long-term roadmap.

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DMs Raided in Twitter Hack that Saw Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Barack Obamas Accounts Accessed - Computer Business Review

In 2010, Elon Musk said he would "rather stick a fork in my hand than write about my personal life."

But theCEO of Tesla and SpaceX is a fascinating figure, and over the years, he's opened up here and there about his childhood, his parents, and his relationships.

Musk got uncharacteristically candid for perhaps the first time in an in-depth Rolling Stone interview by Neil Strauss published in November 2017. He spoke of his breakup with ex-girlfriend Amber Heard, expressing his heartbreak over their parting. Musk also touched upon his estranged relationship with his father Errol, calling him a "terrible human being."

These days, Musk is dating the musician Grimes the pair debuted their relationship in May 2018, and just had their first child together.

Here's a look at Elon Musk's personal life over the years.

Continue reading here:

Inside the turbulent personal life of Elon Musk, who's dated Hollywood stars, has triplets and twins, and just had a baby with musician Grimes - MSN...

Elon Musk took to social media on Monday (July 20) to show off a new photo of his son, X AE A-Xii.

Das baby kann noch keinen lffel benutzen, the SpaceX CEO jokingly captioned the snap of himself cradling the baby in German, which translates to The baby cannot use a spoon yet.

Born on May 4, Musk and girlfriend Grimes originally named their firstborn X A-12. Soon after the birth, the pop star explained via Twitter that X is the unknown variable, the symbol is the elven spelling for A.I. and A-12 represents the classification for the CIA aircraft known as Archangel. However, the couple were eventually forced to reconsider the unique spelling of the babys name in order to comply with California state law.

Last month, Grimes also teamed up with rapper Ashnikko for her first taste of new music since giving birth, releasing the anime-heavy music video for the pairs new single Cry. Her latest album, Miss Anthropocene, was released back in February.

Check 0ut Musks adorable photo with X AE A-Xii below.

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Elon Musk Shares New Pic of Adorable Son, Gives Update on ...

TOPLINE

Elon Musk's meteoric rise up the Forbes Billionaire List has continued this month, as hes ascended past luminaries such as Warren Buffett and Steve Ballmer. As of Monday afternoon, Musk's net worth surpassed $74 billion, meaning he is now the fifth-richest person on the planet.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk celebrates after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on ... [+] May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Musk, 49, is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, the electric vehicle company whose stock price has soared since March.

Tesla shares gained another 9.5% in Monday's trading to $1,643.00, giving it a 60% rise in just three weeks since June 29, and a nearly 300% increase in 2020 alone.

Musk was ranked No. 31 on Forbes' Billionaires List as recently as mid-March, with a net worth just under $25 billion.

His fortune has nearly tripled since then, skyrocketing to $74.2 billion at the close of trading Monday, Forbes calculates.

Musk owns 21% of Tesla but has pledged more than half his stake as collateral for loans; Forbes has discounted his stake to take the loans into account.

Musk first debuted on Forbes 400 Wealthiest Americans List in 2012 in 190th place with a net worth of $2.4 billion. On January 1 this year, he was the 37th richest person on earth. However, Tesla's sudden and spectacular rise has propelled him near the very top of the world's wealthiest humans. Tesla's surge has confounded some investors, considering its far smaller than its competitors and only recently began to log quarterly profits. Tesla produced 103,000 vehicles in the first quarter; Toyota produced 2.4 million vehicles during that same period. In 2019, American automakers General Motors and Ford generated ten times more sales than Tesla. Late last month, analysts from Morgan Stanley warned that Tesla stock, which was trading at roughly $1,000 per share at that time, was "grossly overvalued and set to plunge." Earlier this month, Musk said that Tesla would produce virtually fully autonomous self-driving vehicles by the end of 2020, a claim that was met with skepticism by an auto industry accustomed to a heaping of hype from Musk on the capabilities of self-driving technology. Musk has not sold shares of Tesla since 2010.

"I really couldn't care less," Musk emailed Forbes about his net worth earlier this month. "These numbers rise and fall, but what really matters is making great products that people love."

"Moves like we are seeing in Microsoft and Tesla and Amazon are truly insane and unlike any i have ever seen in my life," tweeted analyst Jim Cramer on Monday afternoon. When asked if Tesla was a 'Covid Stock,' Cramer replied, "i don't even know if it is a stock. it is something else entirely, like a new species discovered in the wild."

When Kanye West initially announced that he was running for president, he said he had the "full support" of Musk, a longtime close friend. In a since-deleted tweet, Musk responded, "We may have more differences of opinion than I anticipated." However, Musk later told Page Six, "Kanye explained afterward some of the reasoning behind why he said what he said. It makes more sense than many people, including me, realized." On July Fourth, Musk tweeted, "You have my full support!"

Elon Musk: Tesla Will Have Level 5 Self-Driving Cars This Year (Forbes)

Tesla Is Now The World's Most Valuable Car Company With A $208 Billion Valuation (Forbes)

Tesla Stock May Be Rallying For This Absurd ReasonAnd This Won't End Well (Forbes)

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Elon Musk Is Now The Fifth Richest Person In The World - Forbes

NASA has revealed a tentative date for bringing astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley back to Earth.

The US astronauts made history last month when they were the first to be sent to the International Space Station on a SpaceX spacecraft.

A Nasa and SpaceXFalcon 9 rocket shot two US astronauts into space back in May.

The launch was a historic event because it was the first time a private company launched astronauts into space.

It was also the first time in almost a decade that astronauts blasted off from US soil.

The astronauts piloted their Crew Dragon capsule all the way to the ISS and now Nasa is aiming to have them fall back to Earth in it by August 2.

3

Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted: "We're targeting an Aug. 1 departure of @SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft from the @Space_Station to bring @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug home after their historic #LaunchAmerica mission.

"Splashdown is targeted for Aug. 2. Weather will drive the actual date. Stay tuned."

3

The capsule is intended to splash into the Atlantic ocean after blazing through the atmosphere.

It should undock from the ISS on August 1 and thrust itself back down before re-entry which should see parachutes help it to soften the impact.

The astronauts will then be met by boats in the Atlantic Ocean.

3

This landing has already been tested by an unmanned Dragon Crew capsule that made a safe re-entry last year.

Astronauts Behnken and Hurley have been helping out at the ISS since May 31, changing ageing batteries on space walks and assisting with scientific work.

The current plan is for them to undock from the ISS at 8pm ET on August 1.

This will be midnight in the UK.

However, weather and other factors can affect when astronauts can land back on Earth so this date and time is only provisional.

What is SpaceX?

Here's what you need to know...

SpaceX was founded by billionaire entrepreneurElon Muskwho still has part ownership of the company with 54 per cent equity and 78 per cent voting control.

SpaceX is a private American aerospace manufacturer that is based in California.

It was founded in 2002 with the goal to build affordable rockets and enable the colonisation of Mars.

The manufacturer also aimed to reducespacetransportation costs.

Since its creation, the firm has gained fame primarily as a pioneering rocket firm.

In 2008 it launched the first privately-funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit and later became the first private company to launch an object into orbit around the sun.

The company has grown dramatically over its lifespan, from 160 employees in November 2005 to around 7,000 as of November 2019.

As of March 2018, SpaceX had over 100 launches on its manifest representing about $12billion (9.24billion) in contract revenue.

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In other space news, aliens are living in underground tunnels on Mars formed by lava billions of years ago, experts suspect.

Elon Musk announced last month that SpaceX's mission to get man on Mars is now the company's"top priority".

And, Nasa has revealed thedesign of a moon landerthat could be taking astronauts back to the lunar surface by 2024.

Would you like to go to the International Space Station? Let us know in the comments...

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

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Elon Musks Crew Dragon spaceship will bring Nasa astronauts home next week in historic first ever missi - The Sun

A massive hack affected Twitter around 3pm EDT Wednesday (July 15th 2020), in which many high-profile accounts were used to tweet out a large-scale doubling scam.

It is unclear exactly how the hackers gained access to make the tweets from these accounts, but Twitter posted an update which corroborated reports that indicated company personnel and internal admin tools were involved.

Considering that the hackers had control over some of the most influential accounts on Twitter, posting a simple Bitcoin scam and exposing their access is a curious choice. As Kris Holt said, It could have been a lot worse - Accounts were frozen quickly, and the main known hacker address only received around $120,000 worth of BTC at the time of writing. Tracking these funds, however small the amount, is important and the FBI is reportedly investigating:

Tracking Funds

Bitcoin is a public blockchain, so anyone can pull and investigate all of the hack-associated transactions and addresses from their own node. Zach Finzi and I use this publicly available blockchain data to model the funds received and subsequently sent by the scammer(s).

Bitcoin Network Topology Visualization Twitter Hack/Cryptoforhealth Scam

The above graph uses the 3d Network Topology App for Splunk SPLK s Machine Learning Tool Kit. It shows the indexed transactions between addresses implicated in the scam. Each node represents an individual address and the edges represent a set of transactions and transfers of BTC between the two nodes. Blue nodes are those linked to the Twitter hack, and blue edges represent transactions between them. Green edges represent funds received by the hacker(s), and orange ones show where they sent their funds.

To better visualize the movement of funds we can use a Sankey diagram:

Sankey Diagram of BTC transactions associated with the Twitter Hack

In the above image, transaction directionality can better be seen (BTC moves from addresses on the left to those on the right). To reduce complexity, not all transactions or addresses are pictured.

Here, we can see that the scammer(s) consolidates funds received by apparent victims, before dispersing them to others. Visualizations like these, in addition to various algorithms, are often used in blockchain forensics to help analysts link address ownership/affiliation.

By aggregating the addresses controlled by the scammer(s) to a single representative wallet, and further limiting the number of transactions displayed (for better viewing), we can see that the addresses which directly received payments have been mostly emptied to a number of other addresses.

The primary address which the scammer collected payments with, and was linked on the cryptoforhealth website, before it was pulled down, can be tracked by anyone here.

Sankey Diagram with Twitter Scam addresses aggregated

The addresses which now hold these funds can further be monitored in an attempt to see if they eventually are transferred to a known entity such as a regulated cryptocurrency exchange or gambling service, and to prevent the spending or laundering of them.

Natural Language Processing of Bitcoin Scam/Hack Events

Due to the high-profile nature of the accounts hit, the large security concerns that come with such an attack are perhaps more important than the missing $120k.

By combining techniques such as keyword detection, topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and named-entity recognition, I analyze natural language data surrounding Bitcoin. The below graphs shows unique document URLs (which are equivalent to unique articles, but also can contain structured text derived from images or videos) which contain the key term Bitcoin (and its aliases, such as BTC) and have topics related to scam, fraud, or hack.

The first image shows a daily count of the number of documents with the above criteria sorted by average term sentiment (that is sentiment in relation to the term Bitcoin). Expectedly, we can see a massive spike on July 15th and 16th.

Bitcoin Scam/Hack timeseries data from June 16th to July 16th 2020

By taking these filtered Bitcoin mentions, and limiting to only events from July 15th and 16th, we can see a highly negative average term sentiment (23.844%, where 0 is highly negative and 100 is highly positive). We also see that our models detect many mentions in these events for the high profile individuals whose accounts were compromised in this Hack:

Bitcoin Scam/Hack data from July 15th to July 16th 2020

Metadata about the information used in below panels (top). Top mentioned person name candidates identified through our neural nets (left). The overall sentiment for the term Bitcoin (right).

Despite the negative attention directed at Bitcoin, the incident does not imply any underlying security concerns for the Bitcoin network itself. In fact, the cryptofinancial ecosystems response to the hack has included spreading awareness of the scam, cooperative investigating of the activity, and reporting of the implicated addresses.

Bitcoinabuse.com, a site for self reporting of fraud-associated addresses, quickly received a number of reports for the scam addresses:

Twitter Hack Associated Addresses Bitcoinabuse Reports

Originally posted here:

Following Funds From The Twitter Hack & Bitcoin Scam - Affecting Joe Biden, Elon Musk, And Others - Forbes

On Wednesday, the Twitter accounts of some of the most famous people in the country were compromised as part of an apparent bitcoin scam.

Victims included Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Accounts for those people, and others, posted tweets asking followers to send bitcoin to a specific anonymous address.

For their efforts, the scammers received over 400 payments in bitcoin, with a total value of $121,000 at Thursday's exchange rate, according to an analysis of the Bitcoin blockchainperformed by Elliptic, a cryptocurrency compliance firm.

Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson said it's a low sum for what appears to be a historic hack that Twitter said involved an insider.

"Given the scale of the compromiseI don't think that's very much, but what we often see with these type of exploits is that the exploititself can be very sophisticated but they're not very good at monetizingit," Robinson said.

The scammers posted three separate bitcoin addresses and one address for the cryptocurrency Ripple, which didn't receive any transactions, Robinson said.

The largest transaction received by the scammers was one payment of about $42,000, which could be traced back to a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Robinson told CNBC.

CNBC could not verify who sent the bitcoin or if all of the money was proceeds from the scam. It's possible the scammers sent money to their own wallet to make their con look more successful.

Robinson said the people who fell for the racket were "a strange segment."

"It's people who are sophisticated enough to have crypto in the first place because otherwise they probably wouldn't have been able to make the payments in that short period of time, but also not crypto sophisticated enough to recognize the scam," Robinson said.

Shortly after the wallet started receiving funds, it started transferring them to different addresses. Robinson says that the scammers are probably doing this to "cash out." There could be benefits to moving fast before exchanges where cryptocurrency can be traded for cash or other coins block the addresses, he said.

Gemini, a major U.S. exchange, said it blacklisted the affected bitcoin addresses on Wednesday.

The scam tweets posted on Wednesday are similar to past scam tweets asking for bitcoin, with one major difference: The attackers were able to post them from compromised verified accounts with lots of followers.

Elon Musk's Twitter account was the first high-profile account to post a bitcoin tweet. Crypto scammers have targeted Musk in the past by creating dummy accounts that emulate Musk's account name and profile picture. They use those dummy accounts and reply to Tesla or SpaceX tweets asking for bitcoin.

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Twitter hackers who targeted Elon Musk and others received $121,000 in bitcoin, analysis shows - CNBC

Elon Musks mysterious Neuralink startup is working on a brain-computer interface that will allow wearers to stream music directly to their brain, the technology entrepreneur has claimed.

Mr Musk, who also heads SpaceX and Tesla, is set to reveal new information about the mysterious startup next month but has been slowly releasing details over Twitter in recent days.

Responding to computer scientist Austin Howard, Mr Musk confirmed that Neuralinks technology would allow people to listen to music directly from our chips.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

He also said that Neuralink could help control hormone levels and use them to our advantage (enhanced abilities and reasoning, anxiety relief, etc.).

Since its founding in 2016, Neuralink has only held one major public presentation about how the technology will work.

Speaking at the 2019 event, Mr Musk said the firm was working on a sewing machine-like device that would provide a direct connection between a computer and a chip inserted within the brain.

The technology could will first be used to help people suffering from brain diseases like Parkinsons, but the ultimate aim of Neuralink is to allow humans to compete with advanced artificial intelligence, he said.

The process of having the chip fitted will be similar to Lasik laser eye surgery, according to Mr Musk.

A robot designed by Neuralink would insert the 'threads' into the brain using a needle

Neuralink

A fully implantable neural interface connects to the brain through tiny threads

Neuralink

Trials of Neuralink's fully implantable neural interface system will begin in 2021

Neuralink

Neuralink says learning to use the device is 'like learning to touch type or play the piano'

Neuralink

A robot designed by Neuralink would insert the 'threads' into the brain using a needle

Neuralink

A fully implantable neural interface connects to the brain through tiny threads

Neuralink

Trials of Neuralink's fully implantable neural interface system will begin in 2021

Neuralink

Neuralink says learning to use the device is 'like learning to touch type or play the piano'

Neuralink

One part of it will involve a neurosurgical robot, which fits flexible threads into the brain connected to a tiny implantable computer chip.

A research paper detailing the device claims that a single USB-C cable will provide full-bandwidth data streaming to the brain.

Neuralink has 11 job postings listed on its website, offering roles for a mechanical engineer, a robotics software engineer, and a histology technician.

Over the weekend, Mr Musk made a request for people with specific expertise in wearables.

If youve solved hard problems with phones/ wearables (sealing, signal processing, inductive charging, power management, etc.), please consider working at [Neuralink], he tweeted.

Neuralink says learning to use the device is like learning to touch type or play the piano (Neuralink)

Earlier this month, Mr Musk hinted that Neuralinks chip will be able to cure depression and addiction by retraining the parts of the brain responsible for these afflictions.

Trials have already been carried out on animals and human trials were originally scheduled to take place this year, though details are yet to be made public.

More information is set to be announced on 28 August.

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Elon Musk claims his Neuralink chip will allow you to stream music directly to your brain - The Independent

Elon Musks Boring Company has confirmed the use of Tesla Model S, Model X, and Model 3 in its upcoming new Loop.

With several projects getting closer to reality, the Boring Companys vision is starting to become clearer.

Musk has admitted that he started the company as a joke before it actually became serious and secured some major transportation projects.

The goal was always to build tunnels, but the Boring Company changed its strategy a few times when it comes to the transportation system inside the tunnels.

Now with the Las Vegas conventional Center Loop on track to be completed in the next few months, The Boring Company has been releasing more details about what it has been calling a Loop.

The goal has been to use electric vehicles with autonomous capabilities enabling them to travel fast inside narrow tunnels.

For the Las Vegas project, it was already confirmed that they would use Tesla vehicles, but they never confirmed which ones or even if they would be existing Tesla vehicles or they are building a new vehicle especially for that purpose.

Now The Boring Company has updated its FAQ section on its website and released about information about the vehicles it plans to use in its Loop:

Loop is an all-electric, zero-emissions, high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported via compatible Autonomous Electric Vehicles (AEVs) at up to 150 miles per hour through Main Artery Tunnels between stations. AEVs are Tesla vehicles (Model S, 3, and X) that operate autonomously within the Loop system.

The startup has also released several new concept images of three different Boring Company station designs: surface stations, subsurface stations, and subsurface open-air stations.

Considering these concept images and the references to Model S, 3, and X are coming just as the company is working to complete the Las Vegas project, its likely going to be the system they plan to develop for this project.

The Boring Company is planning to complete the project by the end of the year.

I am glad to finally see images of a full station, which hasnt been clear until now.

As for the Tesla vehicles, that was to be expected, but there are still a few interesting questions.

For example, since those vehicles are going to be operating completely autonomously within the tunnels, should they even have a steering wheel?

Also, this might only be for the Las Vegas project.

Weve heard from a San Bernardino County official last month that Tesla is making a 12 passenger electric van for the Boring Companys project in the region though Tesla never confirmed the news themselves.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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Elon Musks Boring Company confirms use of Tesla Model S, X, and 3 in new Loop - Electrek

There was a big worldwide computer hack on Wednesday, July 15. Im sure you heard about it.

A breach in Twitters security allowed hackers to break into the accounts of leaders and technology moguls in one of the worst attacks in recent years. The ruse discovered Wednesday included bogus tweets from former President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Celebrities Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, were also hacked.

Oh yeah, there was that one. Also, one of my social media platforms was hacked. Yep, me and Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos were just four peas in a pod. Their pods just happen to be slightly more upscale than mine.

My hack was a pretty familiar one. A friend request went out to people that I was already friends with, including a photo from my page. A few connections, in a weak moment, clicked on the request and received a message from some fourth or fifth world country where life is cheap but they do have internet cafes.

My hackers were smart enough not to ask a journalists friends for loads of bitcoin, but it was some sort of scam where they could weasel their way into friends accounts and probably send out more fake friend requests and on and on and on. Makes you sort of long for the days of the honest bank robber who walks in and demands money from a teller.

After I learned of the hack, I immediately notified the social media company and they went into a flurry of action. Or maybe I should say they went into a flurry of inaction. Basically, they sent me to a web page that said I should change my password. Whoopee, what technical geniuses they are. No wonder we surrender all individual rights to them. As a social media company, they promise connections with people the world over, but if you want to connect with them, well thats a different story. They want their Wizard to stay cloaked in mystery. Or they just couldnt be bothered. Too busy tinkering with their algorithms to squeeze another dollar from their system. Meanwhile, they sell your personal stats to any gangster around the world sitting in an internet caf and eventually hack you.

So, I changed my password, which I wont remember until the next time I get hacked. It gave me little sense of satisfaction.

Yeah, this so-called modern world has some serious bs to deal with. I remember the early days of the personal computer industry when people thought this new technology was going to change the world all for the better. And then when the world was connected, it was going to be even better. We would have more understanding among people of different races, creeds and colors as the lines of communication would remain open. Promises, promises. The automobile was going to take us everywhere, too, except for the fact were all stuck in traffic.

Yeah, promises. I just posted a story about people who believe that high-end furniture seller Wayfair is some kind of front for child sex trafficking. Back when I was a kid, you heard that kind of stuff on off days on talk radio and it didnt get much further than that. Now? People treat that kind of information like it is some deep, dark secret that they tell everyone about. Particularly at Thanksgiving dinner. Weve gotten more paranoid, maybe because we know these companies know so much about us. Or that well say something that gets us canceled.

As to that other hack on Wednesday, the FBI said it is investigating and said the high-profile accounts appear to have been compromised in order to perpetuate cryptocurrency fraud.

Twitter said the hackers used social engineering to target some of the companys employees and then gained access to the accounts. The term refers to taking advantage of human nature via phishing attacks, tricking people into downloading malicious software or compromising them by offering something in return for information. Twitter did not say how its employees were compromised.

The attackers sent out tweets from the accounts of the public figures, offering to send $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to an anonymous bitcoin address.

Cybersecurity experts say such a breach could have dire consequences since the attackers were tweeting from verified, globally influential accounts with millions of followers.

If you receive a tweet from a verified account, belonging to a well-known and therefore trusted person, you can no longer assume its really from them, said Michael Gazeley, managing director of cybersecurity firm Network Box.

Reacting to the breach, Twitter swiftly deleted the tweets and locked down the accounts to investigate. In the process it prevented verified users from sending out tweets for several hours. Bob Sturm of KTCK The Ticket radio station in Dallas is a big verified user of Twitter. The lockdown kept us from getting the latest sports news from Bobs big sports brain.

Twitter said Thursday it has taken significant steps to limit access to internal systems and tools. User passwords did not appear to have been compromised, Twitter said, so its not necessary for users to reset them. Oh, and Twitters stock price fell 39 cents on Thursday because of the hack.

As for me, I posted a note on my site, telling my friends not to pay attention to the fake friend request. I also requested my friends to raise a glass of wine, whiskey or Dr Pepper and toast our friendship virtually with a salud!, which is Spanish for to your health.

As to the people who hacked me? Im comforted by the fact that I live in a place with great Mexican food and they dont. And Im toasting them, too, with words that are the complete and total opposite of salud.

This report contains information from the Associated Press.

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In Market: Me and Elon Musk: Birds Tweeting of a feather - fortworthbusiness.com

Twitter accounts belonging to Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Apple, among other prominent handles, were compromised and posted tweets that appeared to promote a cryptocurrency scam.

"Everyone is asking me to give back, and now is the time," Mr Gates' tweet said, promising to double all payments to a Bitcoin address for the next 30 minutes.

A spokesperson for Twitter said the company is looking into the issue.

The sheer number of prominent accounts impacted made it arguably the biggest security incident in Twitter's history.

A hack like this is particularly concerning not just because of any financial scam that can be run, but because so many world leaders use Twitter - and some, like US President Donald Trump, use it to announce major policy decisions.

A hack that took over an account belonging to one of those leaders could have devastating consequences.

Last year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account was hacked, raising concerns about whether any account on the platform can truly avoid being compromised.

The mechanism by which that hack occurred was fixed by Twitter after Mr Dorsey's hack and there's no reason to believe it is to blame here.

"We can confirm that this tweet was not sent by Bill Gates," a spokesperson for Gates told CNN Business.

"This appears to be part of a larger issue that Twitter is facing. Twitter is aware and working to restore the account."

"Like many others, our @Uber account was hit by a scammer today," the company tweeted.

"The tweet has been deleted and we're working directly with @Twitter to figure out what happened."

Within minutes of the tweets being posted, a bitcoin account that appeared in some of them showed more than 320 transactions and received more than $113,000.

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Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Apple, Uber, Kanye West and others hacked in cryptocurrency scam - 9News

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday explaining why Florida is the best state to host his multi-billion dollar electric car company.

Musk in recent months has grown increasingly frustrated with the high taxes and stiff shutdown orders impacting his factory in Alameda County, California. So much so, he has threatened to relocate his factory.

In the two-page letter, Patronis made his case as to why Florida is the right prescription for all his woes.

With Tax Day Upon us you must be saying to yourself, What are you thinking?, Patronis wrote. No doubt, youve got to wonder whether all those taxes you pay in California are really worth it. As Floridas Chief Financial Officer, Im here to remind you that there is no time like the present to consider moving your businesses to the Sunshine State. Youre passion for changing the world for the better can best succeed in a state that supports and promotes free enterprise.

Patronis used more than flattery to lure the Spacex CEO. He also made a fiscal case as to why Florida is the best landing pad for the business in the country.

As a Florida resident you wouldnt be subject to state income taxes, Patronis continued. Also, depending on how many of your businesses are organized, you may realize up to a 50% savings on Corporate Income taxes as Floridas 4.4% corporate income tax is half of Californias 8.84% rate.

Patronis also highlighted the states overall financial health in comparison to California. Florida has yet to touch its Budget Stabilization Fund. California, however, has already burned through $9 billion of its rainy day fund.

For a successful businessman like yourself, California has no problem raising taxes and fees in poor economic times, so prepare yourself, for the inevitable shakedown by politicians and bureaucrats who have never had to worry about making payroll, Patronis explained.

The letter from Patronis to Musk does not come as a cold call. On Twitter, Patronis has frequently reached out to Musk, sending pictures of Floridas white sand beaches while mentioning the fiscal highlights of the state.

Patronis even launched a website inviting Floridians to add their name to an online welcome card for Musk.

Join me in inviting Elon Misk to Florida where he can reopen Tesla without lawsuits and the threat of imprisonment, the welcome card said in May.

Patronis has been a public and vocal critic of high tax states. In recent weeks, he casted stones at the tri-state area, who he describes as the Haven of High Taxes.

As he told Musk, Florida would never do such a thing.

Unlike California, Florida wont take your business for granted, Patronis wrote. California leaders arent interested in helping your success; theyre interested in your submission to their authority.

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'What are you thinking?': CFO Jimmy Patronis invites Elon Musk to Florida on Tax Day - Florida Politics

The Bitcoin scam as it appeared on Elon Musk's Twitter feed.

Bitcoin scammers targeted the Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Kanye West, Barack Obama and other famous tech executives, entertainers and politicians on Wednesday in what appears to be a large-scale hack. Apple, Uber and other businesses were also caught up in the sprawling hack, which Twitter later attributed to a social engineering attack on its employees.

Twitter accounts with millions of followers seemed to have been compromised, raising concerns about whether the company is doing enough to protect the security of its users. While cryptocurrency scams aren't a new problem for Twitter, the size of Wednesday's attack is unusual.

Stay in the know. Get the latest tech stories from CNET News every weekday.

"I'm feeling generous because of Covid-19," a now-deleted tweet from Musk's account reads. "I'll double any BTC payment sent to my BTC address for the next hour. Good luck, and stay safe out there!"

Similar tweets were sent through the Twitter account belonging to Gates, the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder. "I am doubling all payments sent to my BTC address for the next 30 minutes. You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000," the tweet, which was deleted, read.

This is the scam tweet sent from Bill Gates' account. (The Bitcoin address has been removed from this screenshot.)

The scam tweets would periodically vanish, only to reappear minutes later.

A spokesperson for Gates confirmed the tweet wasn't sent by the billionaire.

"We can confirm that this tweet was not sent by Bill Gates. This appears to be part of a larger issue that Twitter is facing. Twitter is aware and working to restore the account," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Obama's account tweeted a message similar to the one shared by the Musk and Gates accounts. In a tweet sent to his 120 million followers, Obama's account tweeted that the former president was giving back because of the novel coronavirus and that he would double all bitcoins sent to his address for the next 30 minutes.

It wasn't immediately clear how the hack was conducted or how many accounts were impacted, although Twitter did provide an update late Wednesday, indicating that while its investigation into the hack was ongoing, the company had determined it to be the result of a "coordinated social engineering attack."

"We detected what we believe to be a coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools," Twitter said in a tweet. (For tips on how to secure your Twitter account, see this CNET story.)

But for the hack's first two hours, Twitter didn't have a handle on the incident. In a tweet, the company said some users might not be able to tweet or reset their password as they reviewed and tackled the problem. Twitter also began removing tweets of screenshots showing internal tools that were possibly used in the attack.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted Wednesday evening that it was "a tough day for us at Twitter" and promised to share the company's findings when it completed its diagnosis of the hack.

Some users who tried to tweet got an error message, saying this appeared to apply only to verified users with "blue checks."

"This request looks like it might be automated. To protect our users from spam and other malicious activity, we can't complete this action now. Please try again later," the message read. Twitter didn't respond to questions about whether only verified accounts couldn't tweet.

Twitter has now removed this restriction. Users with verified accounts are now able to tweet again, but Twitter Support stated that functionality may "come and go."

"We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible," the tweet read.

The scam tweets end with a link pointing to where unsuspecting readers can send bitcoin. As of Wednesday afternoon, a spot check of the BTC address from the tweets shows a total received of 12.30776555 BTC, or roughly $113,572.

The Wednesday hack isn't the first time that Twitter accounts have been compromised by scammers. In 2018, hackerstook control of the verified Twitter accounts of Target and Google's G Suite. In that attack, hackers exploited a third-party marketing service, not its own system, according to the company.

Even Dorsey hasn't been immune from hacking. In 2019, Dorsey's account was compromised and the hackers tweeted out sexist, racist and anti-Semitic comments. Twitter said there was a security issue with Dorsey's mobile provider that allowed the hackers to compose and send tweets from his account via text message. In a tactic known as SIM swapping, a hacker bribes an employee of a mobile provider to get them to switch the numbers tied to the SIM card. That allows them to bypass security measures such as two-factor authentication.

Politicians urged others not to fall for the Bitcoin scam, and some reached out to Dorsey for answers. Shortly after the hack occurred, Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, asked Dorsey in a letter to respond to questions such as whether the attack threatened the security of President Donald Trump's account and its impact on the security of other users.

"I am concerned that this event may represent not merely a coordinated set of separate hacking incidents but rather a successful attack on the security of Twitter itself," he said in the letter. "A successful attack on your system's servers represents a threat to all of your users' privacy and data security."

On Thursday, Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, called on Twitter to explain how the hack happened.

"While this scheme appears financially motivated and, as a result, presents a threat to Twitter users, imagine if these bad actors had a different intent to use powerful voices to spread disinformation to potentially interfere with our elections, disrupt the stock market, or upset our international relations," Markey said in a statement. "That is why Twitter must fully disclose what happened and what it is doing to ensure this never happens again."

Musk and Gates weren't the only high-profile accounts that appear to have been compromised. Scammy tweets were seen in the feeds for fast food chain Wendy's, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, philanthropist Warren Buffett, musician Wiz Khalifa, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and celebrity Kim Kardashian. Scammers also appear to have targeted athletes, such as former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather, and even a popular parody account for God, along with cryptocurrency businesses.

"ALL MAJOR CRYPTO TWITTER ACCOUNTS HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED," tweeted Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. "We are investigating and hope to have more information shortly."

"WARNING: @Gemini's twitter account, along with a number of other crypto twitter accounts, has been hacked," added Tyler Winklevoss, echoing his twin brother and Gemini co-founder's concern. "This has resulted in @Gemini, @coinbase, @binance, and @CoinDesk, tweeting about a scam partnership with CryptoForHealth. DO NOT CLICK THE LINK! These tweets are SCAMS."

Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In the US, #hacked was trending along with Bitcoin and #twitterhacked.

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Twitter hack hits Elon Musk, Obama, Kanye West, Bill Gates and more in Bitcoin scam - CNET

File photo of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Image Source: Reuters)

Elon Musk has said his mysterious brain-computer chip startup Neuralink could help cure mental conditions like addiction and depression.

In 2019, Neuralink said that it had developed a "sewing machine-like" device which could connect brains to the computers, even though not much has been revealed about the working of the technology, The Independent reported. Musk had founded the startup Neuralink in 2016. More on Neuralink is expected to be revealed on August 28, Musk has said.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk is Now the Seventh-Richest Person in the World After Surpassing Warren Buffett

Responding to a query on Twitter on the device's ability to help cure depression and addiction, Tesla boss Musk said that it can help that also. This is both great and terrifying, he said. "Everything weve ever sensed or thought has been electrical signals. They early universe was just a soup of quarks and leptons. How did a very small piece of the universe start to think of itself as sentient? he said in a tweet.

The device is likely to be used in conditions like Parkinsons and in the long-term, it will delve into artificial intelligence, competing with humans. To insert the device in the brain will require removing part of the skull and the device with its electrode threads will be fitted in the brain, according to reports.

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Great and Terrifying, Says Elon Musk on Neuralink Brain Device's Ability to Cure Depression - News18

Twitter CEO and Co Founder, Jack Dorsey addresses students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), on November 12, 2018 in New Delhi, India.

Amal KS | Hindustan Times | Getty Images

Twitter said late Thursday that about 130 people were targeted in a cyberattack that took control of high-profile accounts to promote a bitcoin scam.

"Based on what we know right now, we believe approximately 130 accounts were targeted by the attackers in some way as part of the incident," the social media firm tweeted.

"For a small subset of these accounts, the attackers were able to gain control of the accounts and then send Tweets from those accounts."

The hack, which took place on Wednesday, compromised the accounts of several prominent figures in business and politics.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama were all affected, as well as the corporate accounts of Apple and Uber.

The accounts were seen posting tweets trying to convince people to send them bitcoin, with the promise of sending back double the funds in return.

Previously, scammers have used the names and profile pictures of people like Musk to lure people into sending them cryptocurrency. But on Wednesday, all of the accounts involved were genuine and belonged to the people targeted.

"These attackers were the equivalent of stealing a McLaren F1, taking it for a joyride and then crashing it into a telephone pole 4 minutes later," Alex Stamos, the former chief security officer of Facebook, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday.

"There is so much more damage that could have been done."

According to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, the hackers received $121,000 from over 400 payments to three separate bitcoin addresses. Roughly half of those payments were made from U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges, Elliptic added.

Twitter said it believes the hack was what it called a "coordinated social engineering attack" on its employees in other words, insiders at the company were tricked into handing over access to internal systems and tools.

"The biggest area of risk for almost any company is the insider threat," said Stamos. "To operate your business, you have to provide data and access to thousands and thousands of employees."

On Thursday, Twitter said it was "working with impacted account owners and will continue to do so over the next several days."

"We are continuing to assess whether non-public data related to these accounts was compromised, and will provide updates if we determine that occurred," the company said.

It's not clear how much control the hackers had over the profiles they compromised for instance, whether they gained access to users' direct messages and other sensitive information. However, the company said there was no evidence the attackers accessed users' passwords, adding: "Currently, we don't believe resetting your password is necessary."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now looking into the attack, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

A Twitter spokesperson said the firm had nothing further to add.

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Twitter says 130 people were targeted in hack that hijacked accounts of Elon Musk, Joe Biden - CNBC

Elon Musk has once again taken to Twitter, providing an update on the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin currently being constructed. The infamously eccentric and absolute meme-lord of a billionaire CEO offered a sunny concept rendering in addition to what are either, a) real clues about the end product, or b) just more shitposting, as per the usual.

The most notable of these clues/shitposts involved a possible indoor/outdoor rave space on the roof. Which sounds like a joke at first but only provokes doubt when you consider Musks tendency to operate on, how shall we put this unconventional cerebral frequencies. That and the fact he publically took it to a poll earlier this year (which yielded an overwhelming 90.2% vote in favour of said Tesla Gigafactory Berlin rave space).

Our prediction? Rave space or not, Musks own tracks RIP Harambe and Dont Doubt ur Vibe, as well as a bit of Rammenstein apparently, will be blasted on repeat. So locals can look forward to that if nothing else, I suppose.

Musk went on to answer a handful of queries, of which the following additional details were revealed:

The Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin is scheduled for completion sometime in July of 2021, with the automaker having previously stated its desire to kick-off production around this time. Incidentally, as noted by Robb Report, this date coincides with the European launch of the Model Y.

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Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory Will Apparently Have A Rooftop Rave Space - Boss Hunting