Empty leather boardroom chair behind a dark table with a single teal-lit envelope on it, rain on the window and city lights beyond

Wednesday Brief: Bob Chapek’s Vail Retainer, SpaceX’s First Profit, Netflix’s Ad Cut, Utah Sues Kalshi

October 21, 2026 Aaron Harme

Vail Resorts’ board fight now includes a candidate who can’t quit without Oasis’s consent. Oasis Management’s contract with Bob Chapek pays him through the shareholder vote.

SpaceX reported a quarterly profit built partly on interest and a tax benefit, Netflix lowered its ad outlook for the year, Salesforce agreed to buy Braze, and Utah’s attorney general went to state court against Kalshi and Susquehanna.

In this Brief

Oasis pays Chapek through the vote, and he can’t withdraw without its consent
SpaceX’s profit rests on interest, related-party income and a tax benefit
Netflix’s ad forecast fell by about a tenth while full-year revenue held at the low end of its range
Braze holders get a big premium and still less than the 2021 IPO price
Utah’s suit names Susquehanna alongside Kalshi and asks for a geofence

Oasis pays Bob Chapek to stay in the Vail race

Oasis Management, the activist fund that owns about 9.6% of Vail Resorts, is paying former Disney CEO Bob Chapek $100,000 a month to run for Vail’s board, The Wall Street Journal first reported. Under the agreement Oasis filed with the SEC, the fee started July 28 and runs through the shareholder meeting “regardless of whether or not you are successfully elected.” He can leave only with Oasis’s consent, and if it lets him go, he returns what he was paid.

Oasis’s other three nominees each got two $50,000 payments and must put the after-tax money into Vail stock. Chapek agreed not to buy Vail voting shares while his deal runs. Vail’s own preliminary proxy says its board questioned whether he could represent all shareholders given the pay. Quartz reports that Vail’s fiscal 2026 net income fell to $147.5 million from $280 million and that pass sales through Sept. 18 were down 12%.

Oasis points to shareholder returns, and the contract makes sure its best-known candidate is still on the ballot when the meeting finally gets a date. Our longer read covers who controls the exits, and Aaron’s post has the other nominees’ terms.

SpaceX’s first profit leans on its cash pile

SpaceX earned $4.4 billion in the third quarter, its first profit as a public company, on revenue of $14.58 billion, up 161%, according to the earnings release SpaceX filed with the SEC. Operating income, the profit from running the businesses before interest, investment gains and taxes, was $2.79 billion. The rest came from $873 million of interest income, $1.03 billion of other income, $561 million of it from related parties the release doesn’t name, and a $390 million tax benefit, partly offset by $675 million of interest expense.

The AI segment, which sells cloud computing, booked $7.56 billion of revenue and $431 million of operating income while putting $16.4 billion into capital spending in the quarter. Starlink reached 13.6 million consumer subscribers, up from 7.2 million, as average monthly revenue per user fell to $69 from $83.

Over nine months, SpaceX spent $48.07 billion on capital projects against $13.10 billion of cash from operations. It still holds about $89.9 billion in cash and marketable securities on my math, so the same pile paying for the build-out is also producing a good share of the profit. Aaron’s post has the related-party detail.

Netflix trims its ad forecast and subscribers fill most of the hole

Netflix now expects about $2.7 billion of ad revenue this year, down from about $3 billion, citing a “slightly slower than expected rollout of some ad product capabilities,” its third-quarter shareholder letter says. Full-year revenue guidance is $51.1 billion, up 13%, and subscription growth “has outperformed” Netflix’s expectations. Third-quarter revenue rose 12% to $12.87 billion, with an operating margin of 34.6%.

The new total sits at the low end of the prior $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion range, CNBC reports, and shares fell in after-hours trading. Netflix is also cutting about 6% of its staff.

The cut works out to about $300 million, roughly a tenth of the ad forecast, and ads now come to about 5% of the year’s revenue, by my count. Next March the ad tier starts reaching 15 more countries on the same product rollout Netflix just said is running slow. Aaron’s post has the guidance math.

Salesforce buys Braze below its IPO price

Salesforce agreed to buy Braze for $47.50 a share in cash, about $5.66 billion in enterprise value, Salesforce said. Braze serves about 2,770 customers, including Canva, Instacart and Venmo. The deal needs Braze shareholder and regulatory approval and is set to close in Salesforce’s fiscal 2028.

Braze closed at $30.04 on Monday, CNBC reports, so the price is 58% above that close. Braze shares jumped more than 50%, and Salesforce slipped about 1%. Braze went public in 2021 at $65 a share, Axios’s Dan Primack notes, and Salesforce has paid billions this year for Listen Labs and Fin after dissolving its board M&A committee in 2023.

Anyone who bought the IPO and held is being cashed out about 27% below their purchase price, on my math, at a premium measured from Monday’s close. Salesforce gets a marketing business at a price set after Braze’s stock had lost more than half its IPO value. Aaron’s post has the IPO comparison.

Utah sues Kalshi and Susquehanna

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown sued KalshiEx, its market-making arm Kalshi Trading and Susquehanna International Group in state court on Tuesday, first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah wants Kalshi to stop offering sports, election, culture and “mention” markets in the state, install a geofence and repay money from bets the state calls illegal, InGame reports. It does not seek criminal charges. The complaint says Kalshi Trading acts “like a traditional sportsbook,” and Susquehanna is one of Kalshi’s largest market makers, the firms that stand ready to take either side of a trade.

Kalshi’s own February testimony counted 32,940 Utah accounts that completed sign-up and more than $5 million in open positions, 1.1% of its open interest at the time. The complaint estimates $30.6 million to $61.2 million in fees; InGame says Kalshi’s actual per-contract fees are lower and puts the total nearer $22.7 million. The suit follows an August federal ruling that Utah may enforce its gambling ban against Kalshi’s sports contracts.

Utah and Hawaii are the only states with no legal gambling. By naming Kalshi Trading and Susquehanna, Utah is suing the trading side along with the exchange that matches the trades. Kalshi has already geofenced Nevada, Michigan and Washington after rulings in those states. Our longer read goes through the suit.

Also noted

Hertz sold half the votes in Oro, its new fleet unit, for about $80.89 million while keeping most of the profits, Hertz’s 8-K shows; our longer read covers the four-times-money floor on any forced sale.
If Las Vegas and Seattle get NBA teams, each existing owner is looking at a payday “north of $500 million” that players don’t share, Sportico reports; Aaron’s post runs the league-wide total.
Foursquare’s sale to Infillion paid equity holders exactly $0, preferred stock included, cofounder Dennis Crowley wrote, per Business Insider; Aaron’s post has what the company raised.
Flutter plans up to 1,400 job cuts in its UK and Ireland business, subject to consultation, and blames last year’s UK gaming-tax increase, Flutter said.
The NFL is considering 10 international games next season, the most its labor deal allows, up from nine this year, Awful Announcing reports.

Sources

Discover more from Bitter Fool

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.