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Business Journals
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Journals
X CEO Linda Yaccarino departs; UCSF Health stays with Blue Shield
Happy Wednesday, Bay Area. At the top of the tech world this morning is news that X CEO Linda Yaccarino said she is stepping down from the company after two years at the helm, according to a Wednesday post on what was once called Twitter that said "the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai." Billionaire owner Elon Musk's announcement in March that his xAI had acquired X at a valuation of $33 billion brought into question Yaccarino's future at the company, Bloomberg reports. Musk's SpaceX plans to raise new funding and launch an employee tender by selling insider shares at a $400 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports, as the company sees its fortunes rise on the back on its fast-growing Starlink satellite internet unit. In return-to-office news, national office foot traffic increased 8.3% year-over-year in June, according to data in the Office Index from last month. Overall, though, nationwide office visits were still down 27.4% compared to June 2019. And we end in Union Square, where a new location of popular Chinese toy store Pop Mart is coming, the SF Standard reports. The shop is set to open at 200 Powell St. in a green Art Deco building at the corner of O'Farrell later this year. And now on to the day's top headlines here in the city and across the Bay Area. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events Blue Shield and UCSF Health reach new agreement Blue Shield of California and UC Health announced on Tuesday they have reached a new agreement whereby UC Health will extend contracts pending the completion of formal contract renewal process. The move means that Blue Shield members can continue to access UC Health providers and UC Health providers will accept Blue Shield members as in-network. Blue Shield of California and UC Health had been in ongoing contract negotiations with a potential agreement expiration date of Aug. 9, which could have pushed UCSF Health out of network for Blue Shield members. UCSF renews big Mission Bay lease UCSF has secured a 147,000-square-foot lease renewal in Mission Bay's Alexandria Center at 499 Illinois St., the Registry reports. The transaction ranks among the quarter's most significant leases, according to a second-quarter 2025 market report by Newmark, alongside new deals from Coinbase's 150,671 square feet of space and LinkedIn's separate renewal of 150,000 square feet. Tri Counties Bank plans West Portal branch with familiar faces Tri Counties Bank is opening a new branch in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood this summer. The branch is the former site of a First Republic Bank branch and will be led by former First Republic Bank employees. 'Our focus is to provide West Portal with a superior banking experience through personalized service and a full range of strategic financial solutions," Scott Robertson, senior vice president and head of community banking at Tri Counties Bank, said in a statement. Instead of traditional teller lines, the West Portal branch will feature five "relationship desks" where customers can sit down with a banker. Cruise lays off 100 workers San Francisco-based robotaxi company Cruise has announced 101 layoffs in the Bay Area, according to state WARN filings, as part of a broader restructuring to scale back its General Motors-backed operations. The lion's share of the layoffs — 85 of them — come at 1201 Bryant St. in San Francisco. An office at 840 W. California Ave. in Sunnyvale would also be affected. The job cuts are effective immediately. Sign up for the Business Times' free morning and afternoon daily newsletters to receive the latest business news driving change in San Francisco. Download the free San Francisco Business Times app for breaking news alerts on your phone. M&A Watch Meta (Nasdaq: META) is taking a 3% stake in Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica for $3.5 billion in an effort to develop AI-powered smart glasses, Bloomberg reports. The market for smart glasses is expected to grow to $8.26 billion by 2030 from $1.93 billion in 2024, according to GrandView Research. People on the Move HTEC, a global digital engineering and product development company based in Palo Alto, has named Tim Sears as chief AI officer. Funding Watch South San Francisco-based Centivax has raised $45 million in Series A funding to advance its universal flu vaccine into human trials within eight months. Investors include Future Ventures, NFX, BOLD Capital, Amplify Partners, Kendall Capital and Base4 Capital. Funds will support clinical trials and enlarging a pipeline of vaccines. S.F.-based edtech Honor Education raised $38 million in Series A funding from Alpha Edison, Wasserstein & Co, Audeo Ventures, Interlock Partners and New Wave Capital. Palo Alto-based Sundial raised $16 million in Series A funding led by GreatPoint Ventures. Final thought … How about those Giants? If you didn't watch the final moment of last night's game against the Phillies, it's worth a look — especially with the help of announcer Dave Flemming's call. Meanwhile at the Business Times, don't forget to mark you calendar for our first Business of Sports event July 15 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the United Club inside Chase Center. DOWNLOAD the free SFBT app for breaking news alerts on your phone.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
6 cities where workers are returning to the office
The long shadow of the pandemic still looms over the workforce, with many still working from home. But office buildings and downtown parking garages are slowly filling up as people return to their cubicles. The latest data from the Office Index suggests that nationwide office visits may be trending upwards once again. Although March 2025 office visit levels didn't match the peaks of October and July 2024, visits last month were only 32.2% below March 2019 levels — an improvement over March 2024. Significantly, among months with 21 or fewer working days, March 2025 ranked as the second-busiest in-office month since the pandemic, just slightly behind October 2023. Overall, the Office Index points to a renewed upswing in return-to-office momentum, likely driven by increasingly strict mandates from governments and corporations. Though persistent post-pandemic office visit gaps point to the continued prevalence of hybrid work, March's noticeable uptick suggests that offices may be poised to make further gains in the coming months. Here are the six cities with the biggest year-over-year return-to-office increases between March 2024 and March 2025, according to Bostonians had the highest year-over-year return-to-office rate of any city, with a 10.2% uptick in office visits compared to a year ago. Still, Boston office populations are 40% below where they were pre-pandemic. Washington D.C. was in second with a 9.8% increase over last March. But the city's offices are still 30.6% lower in occupancy than before the pandemic. President Trump gave workers an incentive to come back to their offices in the form of a not-so-veiled threat. 'If people don't come back to work, come back into the office, they're going to be dismissed,' he said shortly after taking office. According the amount of office workers in San Francisco has increased by 9.6% over last March. Still, San Francisco has a long way to go before reaching pre-pandemic office levels. Offices are still 44% below the pre-pandemic baseline. DOGE administrator and Trump confidante Elon Musk said the city's empty streets gave it a 'post-apocalyptic' feel. New York City's office occupancy crept up 6.1% from the previous year and now leads the pack overall, sitting only about 10% below pre-pandemic occupancy levels. Miami saw a 5.7% increase over last March. The city is still 17% below its pre-pandemic occupancy. shows office visits going up 5.6% in March 2025 over March 2024, but the city still lags far beyond it's pre-pandemic rate. The city is still down over 44% in office visits. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
