💳 Bolt Built $11 Billion Payment Business on Inflated Metrics and Eager Investors

Today’s pick

Bolt Built $11 Billion Payment Business on Inflated Metrics and Eager Investors. Even in Silicon Valley, a place teeming with entrepreneurs where fortunes are made seemingly overnight, Ryan Breslow stands out. He has promised to shake up the boring but important business of online payments with Bolt Financial, the start-up he… (Erin Woo / The New York Times)

Erin Woo @erinkwoo

NEW: Bolt, Ryan Breslow’s $11 billion payments start-up, often overstated its technological capability and misrepresented the number of merchants using its service in a rush to show growth, @maureenmfarrell and I found. Our investigation for @nytimes:

nytimes.comBolt Built $11 Billion Payment Business on Inflated Metrics and Eager InvestorsThe start-up has had a meteoric rise, thanks to its charismatic co-founder, Ryan Breslow. But he sometimes stretched the truth to get there.

---

Apple discontinues the iPod after 20 years. Apple has announced that it's discontinuing the iPod Touch, the last remaining model in its lineup of portable music players. In a news post on Tuesday, the company says that it will sell the current Touch “while supplies last.” While… (Mitchell Clark / The Verge)

David Pierce @pierce

RIP iPod! My gold iPod Mini will forever be my favorite gadget of all time

theverge.comApple discontinues the iPod after 20 yearsIf you want a new iPod Touch, this may be your last chance.

---

The 477 Price Checkers Who Determine Inflation. Emily Mascitis has one of the most important jobs you never knew existed. As Americans' monthly bills climb at the fastest rate in four decades, it is Ms. Mascitis's work that confirms the $9 you just paid for a 4-pound bag of… (Rachel Wolfe / Wall Street Journal)

Rachel Wolfe @rachelbwolfe

For one of my favorite stories I've ever gotten to write, I followed a BLS price checker whose job it is to help calculate the Consumer Price Index (aka that scary inflation number we're all talking about) w/ a lot of help from @bourreelam & @wallernikki wsj.com/articles/infla…

---

FIFA and EA Sports End Two-Decade Video Game Partnership. After almost three decades, one of the most successful commercial relationships in sports is over. Months of tense negotiations between the video-game maker Electronic Arts and FIFA, soccer's global governing body, ended without an agreement to… (Tariq Panja / The New York Times)

The New York Times @nytimes

Breaking News: Soccer’s global governing body and EA Sports are ending a partnership that created FIFA, one of the most popular video games of all time. The game has generated more than $20 billion in sales over the past two decades.

nyti.msFIFA and EA Sports End Decades-Long Video Game PartnershipThe demise of a relationship that produced one of the most popular games of all time will mean risks for soccer’s governing body but few changes for consumers.

---

Musk says he would reverse Trump's Twitter ban, calling it 'foolish' and 'morally wrong'. Tesla CEO takes aim at Twitter for ‘strong left bias', blaming the location of its headquarters in San Francisco. Elon Musk has strongly criticised Twitter… ( Financial Times)

Jim Pickard @PickardJE

Musk tells @FT he would reverse Trump’s Twitter ban, calling it ‘foolish’ and ‘morally wrong’

ft.comSubscribe to read | Financial TimesNews, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

---

The best way to reach new readers is word of mouth. If you click THIS LINK in your inbox, it’ll create an easy-to-send pre-written email you can just fire off to some friends.

---

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply or on Twitter.

Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

P.S. Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.