Daily Pulse: Time Eyes Yahoo, Bill Gates on Apple (Part II), Viacom to Sell Stake in Paramount

Yahoo’s Light at the End of the Tunnel: Time Inc. is the latest company to potentially take Yahoo’s core business — search, mail, and news sites — under its wing, Bloomberg reports. The deal pits Time, itself a former media giant, up against digital powerhouses like Verizon and AT&T, ultimately “putting itself squarely in an underdog role to merge with the business.” Time has managed to stay in the game by pursuing a “Reverse Morris Trust transaction with Yahoo, a tax-free deal in which one company merges with a spun-off unit.” If the deal pulls through, Marissa Mayer would be out as CEO.

Actually ... Bill Gates told Bloomberg he was "disappointed" by reports, based on an interview he did with the Financial Times, that he backs the FBI over Apple in a stand-off over unlocking an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Gates didn't say he was misquoted, but that he had a more nuanced view. "You don’t just want to take the minute after a terrorist event and swing that direction, nor do you want to completely swing away from government access when you have some abuse,” he told Bloomberg Go. “You want to strike that balance that the United States leads and setting an example.”

Viacom’s Plan for Paramount: Viacom — no stranger to unhappy investors — plans to sell a minority stake in Paramount Pictures by the end of the third quarter, CNBC reports. The deal would allow Viacom to retain control of the studio, which ranked last among six of the largest film studios in 2015. After the announcement by Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, shares climbed 6%.

Twitter’s New App: Twitter, which came under fire earlier this month for altering its real-time timeline, released a new app — this time, for developers. Fabric “lets coders keep a close eye on the health of their own smartphone apps or Internet services.” The goal is to encourage the developer community “to feed the growth of Twitter proper” (although how much Fabric can save this former tech darling is up for debate).

Foodies: Instacart, the four-year-old grocery delivery startup, has signed a five-year delivery partnership with Whole Foods that would make it the “exclusive delivery partner for Whole Foods’ perishables business.” The deal provides more street cred to Instacart, while helping boost Whole Foods’ sales (the $10 billion company has been facing increasing competition as more grocers sell organic items). The two companies already work together in 16 cities.

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Will Whole Foods' recent deal with Instacart be its saving grace? 

Trust No One: Saudi Arabia is playing a high-stakes game of the prisoner’s dilemma, refusing to cut oil production because it doesn’t trust anyone else to. The burden, says Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi, should instead fall to high-cost producers who would eventually have to “lower costs, borrow or liquidate,” resulting in a rebalanced market.

Cover Photo: Visitors have a break on day 2 of the Mobile World Congress on February 23, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. The annual Mobile World Congress hosts some of the world's largest communications companies, with many unveiling their latest phones and wearables gadgets. 

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What you may have missed — and really should read:

• Bill Gates just wrote a rallying cry for clean energy. But is it enough? Gates discusses his letter in our interview.
• Could the Yelp scandal have been avoided? Here’s why companies should offer career coaching as a wellness benefit
• Joe Nocera is not on good terms with the NCAA: Is it exploiting young athletes?
• As MWC starts, TED ends: Here's what Bill Gross learned in Vancouver.
• How do you recharge outside work? See how to find stolen time in your day

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Missed the last update? Catch up: ‘Bill Gates Backs the FBI, Uber Defends Its Background Checks, Zuckerberg to Telecoms: We're Not the Enemy’

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