Latest / What the Flux / Major Aussie superfunds hacked | Star Entertainment's $300 million lifeline | TikTok's got a lot of buyers

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Major Aussie superfunds hacked | Star Entertainment's $300 million lifeline | TikTok's got a lot of buyers · What the Flux

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is what the Flux. I'm Brett and I'm justin
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and Wednesday, the ninth of April, jusey boy. The last
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  Speaker 1: few days have been wild on the share market, with
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  Speaker 1: many calling Monday's movements as Mayhem Monday. We do love
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: a silver lining, though, juzzy boy. So if there's one
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: thing to like about this mayhem, there are whispers that
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  Speaker 1: the RBA could cut the cash right yero point five
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  Speaker 1: percent at their next meeting in May. And those whispers
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: aren't from just any Joe Blow. This has come from
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  Speaker 1: the treasurer So here he is hoping. Yeah, Fox Am.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: A few weeks ago, you've probably never heard of the
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  Speaker 2: word tariff, but now the word tariff is suddenly everywhere.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: We're talking new speeds, podcasts, dinner table debates.
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  Speaker 1: We've done a deep dive into.
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  Speaker 2: What tariffs are, what the impact of them are, so
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: make sure to download the Flux app to check it out.
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  Speaker 1: Three informative stories today, Juzzy boy, Let's do it for
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  Speaker 1: our first. Australia's larger super funds were hit in a
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  Speaker 1: coordinated cyber attack, with thousands of accounts hacked into, and
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  Speaker 1: now the regulators want answers. Man we know this. Super
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  Speaker 1: funds are carrying a whole lot of Mueller, So tell
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  Speaker 1: me what's going on here? All right? Well, we know
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  Speaker 1: that the superannuation is money put aside by your employer
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  Speaker 1: over your working life. And does it boy. Australia's superindustry
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  Speaker 1: is a whopper. It's worth more than four point two
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  Speaker 1: trillion dollars as at the end of last year, and
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  Speaker 1: be man.
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  Speaker 2: It's grown by nearly eight hundred billion in just the
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  Speaker 2: last four years alone.
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  Speaker 1: Now, late last week, some of the largest super funds
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  Speaker 1: in Australia suffered a coordinated cyber attack.
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  Speaker 2: We'd be talking Australian Super, Australian Retirement Trust, host Plus
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  Speaker 2: Rest and Insignia Out. They were all hacked at the
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  Speaker 2: very same time.
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  Speaker 1: The attack targeted retiree superfund customers, who can legally take
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  Speaker 1: money out of their accounts. And right now b MAN
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  Speaker 1: Australian Super is the only fund to report that money
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  Speaker 1: was actually stolen. Four members lost around five hundred thousand
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  Speaker 1: dollars and be Man. Other super funds claim no members
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  Speaker 1: have lost money yet, even though thousands of accounts were compromised.
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  Speaker 2: They'd now be man Apra, which is the financial Institution
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  Speaker 2: Watchdog has warned all super funds to come forward asap.
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  Speaker 1: Or else ominous. So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 1: Security isn't just about tech. It's a major trust issue.
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  Speaker 1: You see, seventy three percent of Australians trust their super
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  Speaker 1: funds over the government according to the Financial Services Council.
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  Speaker 1: That is huge. Superfunds are meant to be the cornerstone
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  Speaker 1: of Australian retirement, so any sign of weakness can rattle
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  Speaker 1: millions of members and the man.
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  Speaker 2: Typically we think of cyber attacks as targeting big banks
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  Speaker 2: or big tech firms.
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  Speaker 1: But superfunds are prime targets because one they have huge
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  Speaker 1: pools of money, two they have valuable personal data, and
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  Speaker 1: three many of them have an older demographic of customers
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  Speaker 1: that might not have the digital know how if something
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  Speaker 1: strange is going on. Interestingly, be man APRA didn't order
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  Speaker 1: on the major super funds two years ago and they
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  Speaker 1: found foundational issues with their cybersecurity. So Jazi boit seems
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  Speaker 1: like it was only a matter of time until these
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  Speaker 1: gaps were exploited. For our second story, Star Entertainment lives
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  Speaker 1: to gamble another day after receiving three hundred million dollars
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  Speaker 1: in survival funds, but it will lose control of the
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  Speaker 1: company's metament in exchange. Bets are off, Juzzy boy, because
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  Speaker 1: this is surely Star's final roll of the dice. Tell
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  Speaker 1: me more, Okay.
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  Speaker 2: So Star Entertainment is the ASX listed Australian casino group
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  Speaker 2: behind some big name venues. We're talking to the Star Sydney,
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  Speaker 2: the Starburys Vegas and the Star Gold Coast.
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  Speaker 1: Now, over the past few years, Star Entertainment has faced
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  Speaker 1: a heap of scandal.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, from turning a blind item money laundering within the casino.
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  Speaker 1: To poor financial management. By the biggest problem for Star
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  Speaker 1: is that it's running out of cash and it's happening fast.
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  Speaker 2: So now, rather than collapse, Bally's Corporation has come to
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  Speaker 2: the rescue.
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  Speaker 1: Yep. Bally's is the owner of nineteen casinos in the
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  Speaker 1: US and they've.
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  Speaker 2: Committed to investing two hundred and fifty million dollars into
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  Speaker 2: Star Entertainment.
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  Speaker 1: While Star's bigger shareholder will also tip in fifty mil.
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  Speaker 2: Thankfully for starb Man, this new cash will help Star
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  Speaker 2: meet its urgent financial obligations, but.
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  Speaker 1: Once the deal goes through, it will give Bali's majority
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  Speaker 1: control of Star Entertainment, So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 1: When a company is backed into a financial corner, it
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  Speaker 1: often has to give up control to survive.
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  Speaker 2: A man Star situation shows how far things can unwrap
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  Speaker 2: real fast.
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  Speaker 1: A few years ago Star was riding high with new
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  Speaker 1: property developments and casino revamps.
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  Speaker 2: But over the last few years it had legal battles,
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  Speaker 2: it had financial missteps and crumbling revenue.
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  Speaker 1: So its only path forward was external investment.
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  Speaker 2: And now Bali's with its majority stake, can call the
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  Speaker 2: shots man. Remember back in twenty seventeen when Channel ten
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  Speaker 2: went into voluntary administration, I do and then it was
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  Speaker 2: touch and go for a while, but it was rescued
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  Speaker 2: by US media giant CBS.
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  Speaker 1: CBS wiped out existing shareholders and took full control.
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  Speaker 2: And while the deal kept Ten on air, it resulted
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  Speaker 2: in a major power shift in Australian media.
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  Speaker 1: So sometimes the price of survival is handing over the
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  Speaker 1: keys to the castle, or in this case, the chips
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  Speaker 1: in the casino. For our third and final story, Donald
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  Speaker 1: Trump has extended TikTok's deadline for finding a new US
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  Speaker 1: owner again as negotiations with major US investors heat up.
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  Speaker 2: Seems like that's a bit too much going on with
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  Speaker 2: collapsing markets right now, b Man can't even focus on TikTok,
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  Speaker 2: So tell me more.
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  Speaker 1: Well. TikTok obviously is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance
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  Speaker 1: and launched globally in twenty seventeen.
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  Speaker 2: Since then, it's grown to nearly one hundred and thirty
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  Speaker 2: six million monthly active users in the US.
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  Speaker 1: And a lazy eight and a half million monthly actives
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  Speaker 1: in humble ad Australia as well.
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  Speaker 2: By the way, yep, but be Man, remember last year
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  Speaker 2: the US government passed the law the ban TikTok if
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  Speaker 2: it wasn't sold to a US company by January this year.
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  Speaker 2: But then when Donald Trump came into office, he said,
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  Speaker 2: we'll give you seventy five days to find.
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  Speaker 1: A new owner. And since then there has been a
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  Speaker 1: swarm of tech companies and investors wanted to get their
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  Speaker 1: algorithmic hands on TikTok.
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  Speaker 2: We're talking companies like Ohra, Cool and Microsoft, even Amazon.
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  Speaker 1: While investors like Blackstone and Trees and Horowitz have also
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  Speaker 1: reportedly submitted a proposal to acquire TikTok.
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  Speaker 2: Now, be Man technically without a new owner by early April,
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  Speaker 2: TikTok should be shut down in the US.
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  Speaker 1: But now Trump has signed a new executive order giving
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  Speaker 1: TikTok another seventy five days to finalize a deal.
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  Speaker 2: And this all comes after Donny J. Trump announced fifty
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  Speaker 2: four percent tariffs on China.
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  Speaker 1: But he did say that if TikTok sells to a
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  Speaker 1: US buyer, you may consider reducing the tariffs. Interesting, So
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: what is the key learning here? Tariffs are not just
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  Speaker 1: a trade tool, They're a bargaining chip in economic negotiation.
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  Speaker 2: You see be Man, Trump's fifty four percent tariff on
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  Speaker 2: Chinese goods is going to cause enormous pain.
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  Speaker 1: But Trump has dangled a carrot to China lower tariffs
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  Speaker 1: in exchange for the sale of TikTok and be Man.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: This shows how these tariffs have been used to achieve
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  Speaker 1: a totally unrelated outcome. Let this deal happen, or your
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: exports pay the price.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the downsize is that this deal making is actually
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  Speaker 2: creating market volatility.
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  Speaker 1: Not to forget the old retaliation that it welcomes.
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  Speaker 2: It's already happened with China whacking a thirty four percent
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  Speaker 2: tariff on US imported goods.
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  Speaker 1: So right now the US and China are in a
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  Speaker 1: tariff and TikTok stand off. The big question is who
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  Speaker 1: will blink first.
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  Speaker 2: Tariffs have jumped from boring economic textbooks to mainstream chad up,
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  Speaker 2: so what exactly.
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  Speaker 1: Is it and why should you care?
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: We've got the latest tea all in the What's app,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: so make sure to check it out.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on Friday.