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Why Canva boss, Cliff Obrecht isn’t bothered by $20 billion loss

Why Canva boss, Cliff Obrecht isn't bothered by $20 billion loss

Despite a $20 billion fall in its evaluation, a tumultuous economic landscape and a sudden string of tech companies announcing staff cuts and sharp declines, Australia’s start up golden child is not worried.

speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Canva’s co-founder Cliff Obrecht believed the bearish market would provide the company with lots of opportunities.

“These times of market uncertainty provide a lot of opportunity and other than the external valuation noise, it’s a huge opportunity for us to grow our business,” he said.

This comes as Australia’s largest venture capital firm Blackbird announced they had reduced the holding value of Canva by 36 per cent. Listed as Canva’s largest investor, with around a 14 per cent stake in Canva, this indicated a drop of about US$14 billion or A$20 billion, in the tech company’s estimated value.

“This holding value of Canva is the result of an independent valuation process that was completed by a big four accounting firm and adopted by Blackbird’s valuation committee, in consultation with our auditors,” the company shared in a statement to news.com.au.

Before this, Canva managed to more than double its worth in 2021. After acquiring a valuation of $19 billion in April 2021, the company skyrocketed to $54.5 billion just five months later.

In internal emails reported by Nine newspapers, chief executive Melanie Perkins said the company was set to mark its sixth year of being profitable. She also assured staff and said the company was still hiring, unlike some other technology companies.

“We had planned to dip out of profitability this year to invest in further accelerating growth,” she wrote.

“However, we changed course as soon as we noticed the macroeconomic environment changing and are now back to being profitable again this year, for the sixth year in a row.”

Founded in 2013, by Perth couple Ms Perkins and Mr Obrecht, and Tasmanian developer Cameron Adams, Canva is a free-to-use design tool that allows users to create social media posts, graphics, videos and presentations.

Since then, it’s become Australia’s most successful start-up – a title it continues to hold. For scale, Australia’s second largest start-up, online payments company Airwallex was valued at $5.5 billion in November 2021.

It’s believed Ms Perkins and Mr Obrecht hold a 30 per cent stake in the company, which given the most recent evaluation is close to $6 billion.

According to its website, Canva has more than 2000 employees and operates in 100 languages ​​and across 190 countries.

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Entertainment

Naomi Judd’s ‘graphic’ death records to remain sealed, per family’s wishes

Naomi Judd's 'graphic' death records to remain sealed, per family's wishes

Naomi Judd’s death records will be kept private – per her family’s request – due to the “graphic” nature in which she died, a judge has ruled.

The late country singer’s husband, Larry Strickland, and her two daughters, Wynonna and Ashley Judd, filed a request in Williamson County, Tennessee, on Monday to keep any investigation records into her suicide private as it may cause “emotional distress, pain and mental anguish” if released, court documents obtained by NBC said.

Naomi – who battled depression and mental illness for years – died in April aged 76.

Her family argued in the court documents that records could depict the death of the singer in a “graphic manner”, new york post reports.

“Moreover, the release of these records would continue to cause the entire family pain for years to come,” the filing also stated.

According to NBC, the request was temporarily granted, but a hearing regarding the matter was scheduled for September 12.

Strickland and the Judd sisters filed the request on the same day news broke that Naomi had left her daughters’ names out of her will and made her husband executor of her estate.

Wynonna, 58, and Ashley, 54, did not address the apparent slight but a source told RadarOnline.com earlier this week that Wynonna is “upset” that she was excluded because she formed half of the duo The Judds with her mother.

The singer reportedly believes she was “a major force behind her mother’s success”.

A legal expert told Page Six exclusively on Tuesday that while it is “common” for a person to name the spouse as the executor of their will, “leaving out her daughters seems pointed, like a purposeful act on Naomi’s part”.

Lawyer Holly Davis added, however, that if “there is an issue or tension between the husband and the daughters, we will find out if there will be a will contest via probate lawyers in the coming days”.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission

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Business

Airline IndiGo claims to have halved passenger disembarkation times

Airline IndiGo claims to have halved passenger disembarkation times

A low-cost airline has come up with what could be a game-changing idea to get passengers off airplanes quicker and keep the jets in the sky for longer.

One of the frustrations of air travel is the slow process of leaving the aircraft, with passengers having to squeeze through a single left hand door at the front of the plane.

If you’re at the back of the plane that can mean long waits as sometimes hundreds of people disembark in front of you.

To speed this up some airlines, including Virgin Australia and Qantas owned Jetstar, regularly allow passengers to disembark from a set of stairs at the rear of the airplane.

But India’s largest carrier IndiGo has gone one step further and has introduced a third door for passengers to exit through.

And uniquely, the third door is on the right hand side of the plane which is rarely – if ever – used as an exit in anything other than an emergency.

The carrier reckons it could almost halve the time it takes to get passengers off the plane from up to 13 minutes to a mere seven.

“The new Three-Point Disembarkation process will be carried out from two forward and one rear exit ramp, making IndiGo the first airline to use this process,” an IndiGo spokesman told India’s Hindustan Times.

A video uploaded by Indian business journalist Sumit Chaturvedi shows the new process with passengers leaving an IndiGo Airbus A320 aircraft via the various ramps.

While the giant Airbus A380 “superjumbo” often boards and disembarks by three doors, this is the first time it’s been done for a smaller narrow-body plane typically used on domestic and short-haul routes, such as the A320.

“An A320 aircraft usually takes around 13 minutes for its passengers to de-board the aircraft. However, the new process will make the drill faster and will reduce the disembarkation time from 13 minutes to seven minutes,” the IndiGo spokesman said.

That could be good for passengers who won’t have to hang around on-board.

But it could be a boon for the airline too. The quicker passengers can leave the plane, the shorter the turnaround time to get it back in the air with more fare-paying passengers on board.

Do time savings add up?

However, some are skeptical of the airline’s claims.

Ben Schlappig of US aviation blog One Mile At A Time questioned if all the claimed time savings would occur in real-life settings.

“The process of actually getting out the door is one bottleneck, but I’d think that getting down the aisle is another thing that takes time, and that’s still an issue, even with a second door in the front.”

Why plans usually board from the left

Traditionally, jets board and deplane from the left, despite doors being on both sides of the fuselage.

This helps to keep passengers separated from ground crew in what can be a hectic and potentially dangerous environment. For instance, staff loading bags into the aircraft from the right don’t have to worry about tripping over travelers who remain on the left.

In addition, the right hand door is often used to bring supplies on board an aircraft, such as water and food, at the same time as passengers enter and exit on the left.

Initially IndiGo’s routes in and out of Delhi as well as the cities of Mumbai and Bengaluru will feature Three-Point Disembarkation. But the airline has said it could roll out the new process across the whole country and its fleet of 181 A320s in just 90 days.

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Entertainment

Kylie Jenner forced to reveal truth behind photos of her working in lab

Kylie Jenner forced to reveal truth behind photos of her working in lab

Kylie Jenner has hit back at haters who criticized her recent lab photos for being “unsanitary”.

But in the process of defending herself, the 24-year-old US makeup mogul has been forced to admit an embarrassing detail.

The Kylie Cosmetics founder uploaded a string of glamorous photos of herself working on cosmetics while wearing a lab coat, telling Instagram followers she was “in the lab creating new magic for you guys.”

The photos were called out by cosmetic developer Kevin James Bennett in an Instagram post, in which he slammed her for not wearing “a hair net, shoe covers, [a] mask … and disposable GLOVES.”

Jenner was quick to argue with Bennett, writing in the comments section, “Kevin — this picture is not taken in a manufacturing facility. i would never bypass sanitary protocols and neither would any other celeb or beauty brand owner.”

The reality star wrote that she was in a “small, personal space” in the pictures, which was strictly “for content.”

“[I was] creating my own fun samples and taking pictures for content nowhere near the mass manufacturing,” the kardashians alum went on to write. “No one is putting customers at risk!”

She concluded, “Shame on you Kevin for spreading false information !!!!”

In Bennett’s reply to Jenner, he accused the star of “serious[ly] gaslighting” her followers.

“So you were standing on a platform, looking into an expensive homogenizing kettle that had processed at least 50 liters of a complexion product (the product still covering the mixing paddles) without PPE or your hair tied back, wearing a lab coat? But this is not a cosmetics manufacturing facility?” I have asked. “It’s a personal space?”

Sources exclusively told Page Six that Jenner was not on the production floor when the pictures and videos were taken as she was simply reviewing colors and ideating on new concepts.

However, this was not made clear to Jenner’s fans, who have mixed feelings about the lab visit.

“Many brand owners take those pictures. Ella she’s not doing anything wrong and we have zero way to know how involved she is in formulation, ”one Instagram user wrote.

Another added, “I’ve seen all kinds of scenarios in development labs, but uncovered hair near a kettle in production would never happen. full stop.”

Jenner founded Kylie Cosmetics in 2014 and began selling products the following year, going on to also launch Kylie Skin and Kylie Baby in 2019 and 2021, respectively.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission

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Business

Ford axes Focus and Fiesta ST in shift to SUVs and utes

Ford axes Focus and Fiesta ST in shift to SUVs and utes

Ford has axed its popular Fiesta and Focus hot hatches as it focuses on utes and SUVs.

The brand ditched the regular Focus and Fiesta some time ago but continued to import the ST performance models in limited numbers. So far this year the pair has attracted only 183 buyers.

Ford President Andrew Birkic says the decision recognizes the fact that buyer tastes have shifted in recent years. He also hinted there would be performance-car replacements in other segments.

“Both the Focus ST and Fiesta ST have been segment defining hot hatches for Ford Australia and have put smiles on the faces of enthusiasts across the country and we want to thank those fans for their passion,” he says.

“But with semiconductor-related supply shortages and our focus on emerging areas of growth, we’ve made the difficult decision to call time on these iconic hot hatches in Australia. We look forward to sharing more about the next era of our performance vehicle line-up soon,” he says.

The move comes as somewhat of a shock as the brand has just started imported updated versions of both cars.

Ford says it has secured just 40 Focus STs for the remainder of the year, but Fiesta supply is likely to be more than that. The company will also look at trying to secure more vehicles from the plant in Germany if demand warrants it.

The move continues Ford’s shift away from traditional passenger vehicles to utes and SUVs, in particular the Ranger and the Everest wagon, which is based on Ranger underpinnings.

Between them, the Ranger and Everest made up roughly 85 per cent of Ford sales this year. The percentage would have been higher but sales have tapered off as buyers waited for the new models.

The new Ranger was launched last month and the Everest will follow shortly.

A new version of the Ranger Raptor will also arrive soon. It is powered by a potent twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine putting out a V8-like 292kW of power and 583Nm of torque.

Ford will also take the covers off an all-new Mustang at the Detroit motor show next month.

“The Ford Mustang remains the country’s most popular sports car and we’re preparing for the launch of the next-generation Ranger Raptor, which sets a new performance benchmark for dual-cab utes in Australia,” Birkic says.

Both vehicles could become sound investments for those buyers who snap them up, as discontinued performance vehicles have been attracting big prices from car collectors.

Second-hand versions of the Subaru WRX STI EJ25 Final Edition, which launched last year for $62,440, are selling for between $125,000 and $170,000.

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Entertainment

Keanu Reeves lands first TV role in Hulu’s The Devil In The White City

Keanu Reeves lands first TV role in Hulu's The Devil In The White City

Keanu Reeves is taking on his first big television role.

Reeves, 57, is set to star in Hulu’s The Devil In The White Citywhich is being executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese as well as the John Wick star.

The show, written by Castle Rock producer Sam Shaw, has been in development for over a decade after DiCaprio took on the project in 2010. The streaming service only announced on Thursday that it would be moving forward.

Based on Erik Larson’s bestseller of the same name, Reeves will portray Daniel H. Burnham, a young architect who helped develop early skyscrapers.

Deadline reported that the limited series will begin production in 2023 and will be released the following year. A representative for Hulu did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

The series will be a meeting for DiCaprio and Scorsese. The duo worked together on gangs of new york in 2002, Shutter Island in 2010 and The Wolf Of Wall Street, all of which Scorsese directed and DiCaprio starred in.

Aside from Reeves’ four-decade-long acting career, the Matrix star has experience in producing as well. He is currently executive producing John Wick: Chapter 4which is set to be released next March.

Reeves has played the iconic action hero John Wick for nearly a decade, but the role was originally intended for an older actor such as Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford.

One of the John Wick producers, Basil Iwanyk, revealed in the new book, They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Oral History Of John Wick, Gun Fu, And The New Age Of Action by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, that the legendary assassin was supposed to be played by a 75-year-old man.

Iwanyk said in the book that one of his best friends sent him a script from Derek Kolstad — the creator of the John Wick franchise, according to Entertainment Weekly.

“The lead was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after being retired. It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick a**. I thought, ‘OK, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford,’” Iwanyk said.

Reeves has been dominating the big screen since he landed his first major film part in 1986’s Youngblood. The Devil In The White City will mark the actor’s first big TV role.

This story originally appeared on Fox News and is republished here with permission

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Entertainment

Addison Rae removes Instagram photo of ‘blasphemous’ Adidas bikini

Addison Rae removes Instagram photo of 'blasphemous' Adidas bikini

Addison Rae is courting controversy with her latest swimsuit snap.

As reported by Page Sixthe 21-year-old TikTok sensation shared a now-deleted Instagram photo of herself in Praying’s $A143 Holy Trinity Bikini, the top of which is printed with “Father” on one side and “Son” on the other.

While the image only captured Rae’s top half, the bottoms of the scandalous suit, which was created in collaboration with Adidas, reads “Holy Spirit” across the crotch.

While the He’s All That star’s famous friends gushed over the look – photographer Mark “The Cobrasnake” Hunter called it a “home run”, while Canadian singer Tate McRae wrote, “oh my god addison” – many commenters expressed their disapproval of the daring swim style.

“Nah this disrespectful to Jesus. Sad what y’all do for money,” one person wrote, while another added, “This is not okay! BLASPHEMY!”

“Is nobody gonna talk about this disrespecting religions,” a third wrote, while a fourth deemed the bikini “so messed up”.

Last weekend, Christina Aguilera posed on Instagram in the French version of the two-piece – printed with “Pere”, “Fils” and “Esprit Saint” – cheekily captioning her video, “A religious experience”.

The pop star’s post didn’t draw the same criticism as Rae’s, however; perhaps things got lost in translation?

A favorite of young stars including Olivia Rodrigo, Halsey and Maddison Beer in addition to Rae, Praying offers cheeky styles inspired by Y2K nostalgia. Popular pieces include a crop top that labels its wearer “God’s Favorite” and a shoulder bag that commemorates Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s decade-long love.

Rae has had a rough few weeks, following Page Six’s exclusive reveal that her 46-year-old father, Monty Lopez, allegedly “misled” a 25-year-old woman into a five-month affair.

Since then, she has canceled press appearances, and said she’s been “struggling” to process the news.

This article originally appeared on Page Six and was reproduced with permission

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Entertainment

Melanie Lynskey claims she was brutally body-shamed on Coyote Ugly

Melanie Lynskey claims she was brutally body-shamed on Coyote Ugly

New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey has candidly recalled the body-shaming she and other actresses faced while filming the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly.

“All the girls had this regimen they had to go on. It was ridiculous,” the actress told The Hollywood Reporter. “I was already starving myself and as thin as I could possibly be for this body, and I was still a [size] four [Australian size eight].”

Lynskey, now 45, played Gloria, a woman who was the best friend of actress Piper Perabo’s lead character, Violet, in the movie.

Now the New Zealand actress has said she faced harsh criticism from the original costume designer, makeup artist and others while she was filming, new york post reports.

“There were already people putting a lot of Spanx on me in wardrobe fittings and being very disappointed when they saw me, the costume designer being like, ‘Nobody told me there would be girls like you,’” Lynskey said.

“Really intense feedback about my physicality, my body, people doing my makeup and being like, ‘I’m just going to help you out by giving you a bit more of a jawline and stuff.’ Just the feedback was constantly like, ‘You’re not beautiful. You’re not beautiful.’”

Lynskey later clarified that the costume designer credited on the movie was not the person she was referring to in her comments.

“The costume designer who initially worked on Coyote Ugly left for some reason, and a lovely kind woman named Marlene Stewart took over and she was AWESOME,” Lynskey tweeted on Wednesday.

“The first person was mean, the person credited was not,” she wrote. “And my answer was kind of a jumble – I had experiences with makeup artists offering to help my face look better but that did not happen on Coyote Ugly. The hair and makeup team were amazing and so kind and among the best I’ve ever worked with.”

But the body-shaming did not stop in the early 2000s.

In January, the Heavenly Creatures actress revealed that she faced a similar situation with a crew member while filming Showtime’s yellowjackets recently.

“They were asking me, ‘What do you plan to do? I’m sure the producers will get you a trainer. They’d love to help you with this,’” she told rolling stone.

The actress’ co-star Juliette Lewis found out about the interaction and wrote a letter to production on Lynskey’s behalf.

“I want women to be able to watch [Yellowjackets] and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one.’ That representation is important,” Lynskey concluded.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission

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Entertainment

HBO Max and Discovery merger could mean fewer streaming services to pay for

HBO Max and Discovery merger could mean fewer streaming services to pay for

You know how you’re always complaining that there are too many streaming services and it seems like you have to pay for about five different platforms just to watch the 10 shows you hear about?

That may be about to change. The long-promised consolidation of the sector seems to finally be happening.

This morning, Warner Bros Discovery announced it will combine the media conglomerate’s two existing streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+, into one service.

While neither HBO Max nor Discovery+ operates in Australia, the significance of today’s news could herald forthcoming changes within the industry that will eventually affect locally available services.

In Australia, there are close to two dozen subscription video on demand platforms. The high number of services has led to frustrations among consumers who are asked to shell out more and more money to access a fractured slate of programming.

The growth in the number of streaming services is approaching unsustainable levels, especially as customers began to evaluate household budgets during a challenging global economic environment.

The number of streaming services has been steadily increasing, ranging from niche platforms such as the horror-focused Shudder to broad appeal brands such as Disney+.

A consolidation of services within the industry has long been mooted and the Discovery+ and HBO Max merger could be the first in a coming wave as the sector evolves.

HBO programming, including Succession and the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragonand Discovery shows such as Deadliest Catch are distributed in Australia through Foxtel and Binge* while some HBO Max originals titles go to Stan.

Warner Bros Discovery’s announcement was light on details on what the combined streaming platform might look like, only that it would roll out in the US in mid-2023. The current timetable for global plans are Latin America in late-2023, Europe in 2024 and Asia-Pacific in mid-2024.

There’s no confirmation on whether Australia would be one of those Asia-Pacific markets. Warner Bros currently has a multi-year content deal with Foxtel, which it signed in 2020 with no publicly disclosed end date.

Warner Bros Discovery chief executive David Zaslav said of the combined streaming service: “We think that product is going to be superb.”

According to The Verge, Zaslav hinted that the new streaming platform would be built on Discovery’s technology platform, referencing the technical glitches that have beset HBO Max.

The changes to Warner Bros Discovery’s current multiple streaming platforms were pre-empted earlier this week with the revelation the studio was to shelve several projects that had either wrapped filming or delivered finished work.

The most prominent of the canceled titles was DC movie batgirlwhich reportedly had a $US70 million ($A100 million) production budget.

Early media reports suggested that batgirl had performed poorly with early test audiences and the studio was unwilling to spend the money for reshoots or the added cost of marketing.

Other media reports hinted that batgirl and canceled projects such as Scoob: Holiday Haunted they were sacrificed in the name of tax breaks.

the batgirl axing fueled speculation of a significant announcement about HBO Max’s future, given the DC movie had been commissioned specifically for streaming and not cinema release.

HBO is an American pay TV network which has been responsible for some of the most acclaimed series over the past three decades, including The Sopranos, Succession, TheWire, Game of Thrones, Sex And The City and veep.

Even though HBO has never been directly sold to Australian viewers, the strength of its brand and its association with quality programming has made it an international phenomenon.

HBO Max also houses Warner Bros’ movies archives.

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Entertainment

Kim Kardashian reveals body fat percentage: ‘Athlete category’

Kim Kardashian reveals body fat percentage: 'Athlete category'

Reality star, billionaire businesswoman, lawyer and now “athlete”.

Kim Kardashian, 41, has revealed her overall body fat percentage – or lack thereof – telling fans she falls into the esteemed “athlete category.”

The mother-of-four shared on Instagram she underwent body composition testing with US company BodySpec, with her results showing she has a total body fat of just 18.8 per cent.

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According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, what is considered a “healthy body fat” depends on your age. In Kardashian’s case, women aged 40 to 59 should fall between “23 per cent to 33 per cent” of overall body fat to be considered healthy.

Meanwhile, the athlete category falls anywhere between 14 and 20 per cent.

Elsewhere in the results, Kardashian further claimed her bones were stronger than “93-97 per cent” of people.

Kardashian, who initially made a name for herself thanks to her voluptuous figure, has significantly trimmed down in recent years after switching to a plant-based diet.

But her oft-extreme methods to achieve her figure have courted controversy at times, more recently when she revealed her rapid weight loss to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s original gown for the Met Gala in May.

She said on the red carpet she lost 7kg in just three weeks to fit into the iconic Jean Louis gown Monroe wore to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

In an interview with Allure in July, the SKIMS founder defended the move, likening herself to an actor preparing for a role.

“If I was starving and doing it really unhealthy, I would say that, of course, that’s not a good message,” she began. “But I had a nutritionist, I had a trainer. I have never drunk more water in my life. I don’t see the criticism for other people when they lost weight for roles — they are [considered] geniuses for their craft.”

Kardashian went on to admit she cares about how she looks “more than 90 per cent of the people on this planet,” adding that she has learned to be more carefree in recent times — but still “hates” one aspect of her body.

“I’m at peace with not being perfect and I wasn’t like that before, I hate my hands — they’re wrinkly and gross,” she said.

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