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Sonder Holdings said on Monday it will wind down its operations and file for bankruptcy one day after Marriott International abruptly announced that it had terminated its licensing agreement with the San Francisco operator of thousands of rental properties. The one-two punch of news has caused chaos for employees and guests alike. Shares of Sonder have plummeted more than 64% as of mid-day trading on Monday. In a statement Monday, Sonder said it expects to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquid its U.S. business, in addition to initiating insolvency proceedings in the international countries where it operates. We are devastated to reach a point where a liquidation is the only viable path forward, said Janice Sears, interim chief executive officer of Sonder. We explored all viable alternatives to avoid this outcome, but we are left with no choice other than to proceed with an immediate wind-down of our operations and liquidation of our assets. Neither Marriott nor Sonder immediately responded to a request for comment from Fast Company. Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott said in a statement on Sunday that its immediate priority is supporting guests currently staying at Sonder properties and those with upcoming reservations and that it would contact guests who booked directly through Marriott channels to address their reservation and booking needs. Marriott remains committed to minimizing disruption to guests travel plans. EMPLOYEES, GUESTS IN CHAOS But the experiences of guests and employees alike indicate that this news has been nothing short of chaotic. On social media platforms including Reddit and LinkedIn, Sonder employees and guests recounted how the news of the termination of the Marriott partnership reached themwith some employees saying they learned their jobs had been terminated from news reports, while guests reported receiving notices that they had to vacate their rental immediately. One New York-based former Sonder employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she and her colleagues extended their shifts on Sunday to try to help guests and were on-site Monday cleaning things out and closing operations for the last time. She added that the now-former employees had no idea what would happen with their paid time off and sick time payouts. Another Sonder employee declined to comment about the situation amid a few developing scenarios that are currently taking place. On its website, Sonder said it has approximately 1,400 employees in more than 35 cities in 10 different countries. Meanwhile, guests have also been thrown into limbo during their stays. One Reddit user posted Sunday that they had been kicked out of a Sonder hotel mid-stay and weren’t allowed back in the room in the evening. The user didnt immediately respond to a request for an interview from Fast Company, but commented on another subreddit that after waiting on-hold with Marriott customer service for two hours, they had been refunded half of the $2,000 booking, along with a $50 credit for the inconvenience. Another Redditor posted Monday that the heating has been turned off and that theyve been asked to leave during a winter storm warning in Chicago. On LinkedIn, a woman shared that she had been staying at a Sonder location in London on Sunday night only to learn of the change from an email and note slipped under her door overnight. What a mess, she wrote. SONDERS WOES Financial woes for Sonder appear to have been too great for even a partnership with the worlds largest hotel chain to solve. The Marriott-Sonder partnership was announced in August 2024, and now the two companies are pointing fingers at each other, to some extent. Sonder has faced severe financial constraints arising from, among other things, prolonged challenges in the integration of the companys systems and booking arrangements with Marriott International, Sears said in the statement. Both Sonders CEO and CFO had left the company earlier in the year and the company had fallen into a pattern of reporting its earnings reports late. Sonder is also the latest bankruptcy victim that stems from the frenzy of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deals that began about five years ago. These so-called blank check deals saw a number of companies go public, only to later file for bankruptcy, including 23andMe and WeWork. The hotelier went public with a blank-check deal with Gores Metropoulos II in January 2022. FALLOUT FOR MARRIOTT Marriott, meanwhile, could emerge from the dissolution of this experimental partnership relatively unscathed. The company said the termination was due to Sonders default when it announced the news on Sunday. In a separate statement, Marriott scaled back its financial outlook for net room growth in 2025, to roughly 4.5% with the removal of Sonder rooms from its system, down from a prior forecast of approximately 5%. On Monday, Marriott announced a new agreement with Pacifica Hotels to convert two existing hotels in Osaka, Japan to its line of City Express Hotels by Marriott next year. Marriott shares fell about 0.2% in mid-day trading. And Jefferies analyst David Katz even upgraded his price target for the stock on Monday to $315, up from $308.
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E-Commerce
Tesla is getting into the rental car market. Drivers can now rent a Tesla in two Southern California locationsSan Diego and Costa Mesafor three to seven days, starting at $60 daily, according to Electrek. Tesla will be renting, not leasing its EVs, and plans to continue rolling out additional U.S. locations starting this month. Fast Company has reached out to Tesla for comment. The news comes as the electric vehicle (EV) maker looks for new ways to head off further declines in U.S. sales following the expiration of its federal tax credits, and comes amid continued backlash against the company for CEO Elon Musks role in the U.S. government, coupled with growing competition in the EV market. Those federal EV tax credits of up to $7,500 expired on October 1, after President Donald Trump signed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law. Each Tesla rental will include the option for supervised Full Self-Driving and Supercharging, at no extra cost, and as incentive to buy, customers will a receive a $250 credit if they purchase a model within a week, Electrek reported. Shares of Tesla, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) were trading up over 4% in midday trading on Monday. Shares of rental car company Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ) were down nearly 3% at the time of this writing in the aftermath of its recent quarterly earnings report. The car rental giant had purchased a fleet of Teslas to increase its EV offerings, but has been selling them as demand decreased, along with resale value. The news comes just days after shareholders approved a controversial pay package for CEO Elon Musk worth up to nearly $1 trillion in compensation, and as a head of Tesla’s ailing Cybertruck business announced he was leaving Tesla following the company’s recall of some 63,000 Cybertrucks due to their bright front lights, per the Associated Press. A look at the numbers shows Tesla’s third quarter earnings missed analyst expectations, even while it reported $28.1 billion in revenue, up 12% from the previous year. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at 50 cents versus an expected 54 cents. The company has reported year-over-year revenue declines the two previous quarters.
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Think. Create. Change. These three verbs are the driving force behind the World Changing Ideas Summit, a first-of-its-kind event created in partnership with Fast Company and Johns Hopkins University (JHU). This November 19 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., the World Changing Ideas Summit will convene academics and senior business leaders for a day of immersive, thought-provoking experiences designed to advance Americas innovation ecosystem. From dynamic panels to interactive innovation showcases to hands-on breakout sessions, the World Changing Ideas Summit aims to go beyond dialogue and inspire action. “The World Changing Ideas Summit is a wholly new kind of event: a partnership between two very different organizations, both known for their commitment to innovation, coming together to explore the near future through the ideas they’re most excited about, says Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. The World Changing Ideas Summit is modeled after Fast Companys annual World Changing Ideas list, which celebrates the businesses and organizations developing creative solutions to the most pressing issues of our time. Paired with Johns Hopkins University’s renowned history of scientific discoveries, the World Changing Ideas Summit stands as a dynamic partnership between two of the most innovative forces in media and academic research, focusing on transformative advancements in healthcare, space exploration, and physical AI.As we celebrate our 150-year anniversary, Johns Hopkins is doubling down on our commitment to improving lives by bringing the benefits of research to the world, said Cybele Bjorklund executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center. This summit provides a fresh vision and venue to bolster America’s powerful innovation ecosystem, rooted in our drive to forge stronger connections between government, universities and the private sector.” The World Changing Ideas Summit features a mix of JHU faculty and World Changing Ideas honorees including Akhila Kosaraju, cofounder and CEO of Phare Bio; Jordan Shuff, research engineer at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute; Hongquan Li, cofounder and CEO of Cephla; Dennis Woodfork, mission area executive for National Security Space at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; and more who will unpack key topics from how to use star-mapping technology to analyze cancerous tumors to examining national security implications in space to how AI-powered predictive models are evolving professional sports, and much more. With spotlights on how these innovations can strengthen the health, well-being, and flourishing of the world (and beyond), the World Changing Ideas Summit will highlight the full extent of what is possible when government, academia, and business industries join forces. Visit the World Changing Ideas Summit event page to register for the event and stay up-to-date with the agenda and list of speakers.
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