Figma, TikTok, Kanye, and more. Let’s dive in.
Adobe Buying Figma
Adobe Inc has announced a deal to acquire the collaborative design software Figma for a whopping $20 billion. Figma has risen in popularity over the past few years, largely due to its collaborative, cloud based environment and high adoption rate among schools and new designers. Current CEO and founder Dylan Field will continue to lead Figma as a separate division under the Adobe umbrella once the deal is completed.
TikTok Copies BeReal
TikTok added a controversial new feature called “Now” to its mobile app. The feature prompts users to film a 10-second video at a random time during their day, strikingly similar to the format of the BeReal app. Many TikTok users, who tend to overlap with BeReal’s core user base, have been critical of the feature. TikTok Now is “now” available in the US inside of the app, and will be available as a separate app in other regions.
Kanye Ending Gap Deal
Kanye West has officially terminated his contract with the Gap company. In a letter he wrote to Gap, he claimed the company had a breach of contract. The largest claims include failing to sell Yeezy products in its current locations and failing to open standalone Yeezy stores, which were supposed to open in late 2021. Kanye now plans to open stores and continue growing the Yeezy brand on his own.
Patagonia Given Away for $3 Billion
Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, has decided to give away all of the private shares in the company to a nonprofit: The Holdfast Collective will use the proceeds to help fight climate change. Because of the structure of the donation, Chouinard will not have to pay taxes on the gift. Some are skeptical of the move, while others are calling it smart tax avoidance.
Squid Game Wins Emmy
Squid Game is the first foreign-language drama to win an Emmy Award. The creator Hwang Dong-hyuk won for outstanding directing, and the main character, Lee Jung-jae, won the award for best actor in a drama series. Netflix has teased a second season for the hit show, but its release is not expected for at least another 1–2 years.
Ethereum Merge Complete
The Ethereum chain successfully completed the transition from proof of work to the proof of stake protocol. The change allegedly will reduce global energy consumption by 0.2%, since power hungry mining computers are no longer needed. However, the price of Ethereum dropped significantly by a few hundred dollars. Some are speculating the lack of mining rewards is causing the price crash, but others are saying it is just a normal correction.
Fun fact: More than 400 billion PDFs were opened in Adobe products in the last year.
