Paramount sign outside of their offices at 1515 Broadway in New York City, U.S., February 17, 2026.
Image: REUTERS/Adam Gray
Wake up to the shifts shaping the future.
From boardroom shakeups and billion-dollar bets to the latest tech breakthroughs rewriting the rules, The Company Brief is your front-row seat to the stories moving markets and mindsets.
We cut through the noise so you can stay ahead of the curve, one bold business move at a time.
Trump warns countries that 'play games' with US trade deals will face higher tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the U.S. after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs, saying that if they did, he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws. Trump, in a series of social media posts, said he also may impose license fees on trading partners as uncertainty over his next tariff moves gripped the global economy and sent stocks lower. "Any Country that wants to 'play games' with the ridiculous Supreme Court decision, especially those that have 'Ripped Off' the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to. BUYER BEWARE!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump said that despite the court's decision to invalidate his tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, its decision affirmed his ability to use tariffs under other legal authorities "in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used."
Meta executive warned Facebook Messenger encryption plan was 'so irresponsible
Meta executives proceeded with a plan to encrypt the messaging services connected to its Facebook and Instagram apps despite internal warnings that it would hinder the social media giant’s ability to flag child-exploitation cases to law enforcement, according to internal company documents filed in a New Mexico state court case. “We are about to do a bad thing as a company. This is so irresponsible,” wrote Monika Bickert, Meta’s head of content policy, in one internal chat exchange dated March 2019, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s public announcement of the plan was being prepared. The filing, which was made public on Friday but not previously reported, contains emails, messages and briefing documents obtained in discovery for a lawsuit brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez that shed new light on what the company assessed the impact of the plan would be and how senior policy and safety executives viewed it at the time. Torrez alleges Meta allowed predators unfettered access to underage users and connected them with victims, often leading to real-world abuse and human trafficking. A trial began this month and is the first case of its kind against Meta to reach a jury.
SA may get US tariffs slashed to 15 percent after Supreme Court ruling
Following the US Supreme Court ruling on Friday that President Trump’s imposition of global tariffs are illegal, the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) believes that the US will place a 15% tariff on all imports. Wandile Sihlobo, Chief economist at Agbiz said that it appears that the US will now place a 15% tariff on all imports, seemingly replacing the previous higher tariffs before the US Supreme Court judgment. “If this is a new possibility, then it will bode well for South Africa. The 15% tariff will be a great relief from the 30% we have struggled with in the past few months.”
Paramount submits higher offer for Warner Bros Discovery in bid to block Netflix
Paramount Skydance submitted a higher offer for Warner Bros Discovery, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday, ratcheting up efforts to derail the HBO Max owner's deal with Netflix. The bidding war for one of Hollywood's most coveted assets, including the "Harry Potter" and "Game of Thrones" franchises, has raised the stakes for dominance in the streaming-led market. Paramount's new bid, which improves its initial offer of $108.4 billion, or $30 per share, for the whole company, seeks to address Warner Bros' concerns about the certainty of its financing, the source said. Warner Bros' chosen suitor, Netflix, which offered to buy the studios and streaming assets for $27.75 per share in cash, or $82.7 billion, is allowed to match the latest bid from David Ellison-led Paramount.