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Zoom founder Eric Yuan transfers $6bn of his shares
Zoom founder Eric Yuan has transferred about 18 million of his shares worth more than $6bn (£4.4bn), according to a regulatory filing. Mr Yuan, who is also chief executive of the video-conferencing platform, moved roughly 40% of his stake in the company last week. The shares were shown as gifts to unspecified beneficiaries last week. Mr Yuan has seen his personal wealth rocket as Zoom became a household name during pandemic lockdowns.
An increasing number of students and professionals connected online boosting the fortunes of Zoom and its founder. Mr Yuan started Zoom in 2011 and listed it on the US stock market in 2019, making him a billionaire. He is currently worth $13.7bn, according to Forbes. A Zoom spokesperson said the transfers were related to Yuan's estate planning practices. "The distributions were made in accordance with the terms of Eric Yuan and his wife's trusts." Zoom's shares have nearly tripled in the past 12 months and the company has a market valuation of around $100bn.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56318577
All for 'dat
Experts urge caution over 'escape mutations' found in coronavirus variants in Japan
A series of coronavirus variants appearing to have an "escape mutation," which decreases the efficacy of immunity against the virus, have been found in and outside Japan.
According to Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), "a rampant spread of the mutation within the country can pose risks for controlling infections in the mid- and long term," but does not make the vaccine ineffective at the present stage. This mutation differs from a new strain of the virus from Britain, which is said to be more transmissible than the original. What kind of risks can be feared from the "escape mutation"?
A mutation of a virus indicates a change in genetic information during the process of its multiplication. Although mutations are dependent on the scale of the virus' spread, in the case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, it is believed to undergo mutation at a pace of around once every two weeks on average. Although it is rare for the characteristics of viruses to change greatly, there are cases where their properties alter when there is a change in amino acids constituting protein made from mutations.
The possibility of an escape mutation called this way to refer to dodging attacks of the immune system has been pointed out for a mutation called "E484K," where a change is seen in the 484th amino acid of the "spike protein" on the surface of the virus, which plays a great role in initiating infection. According to the NIID, E484K mutations were found in 91 cases across east Japan's Kanto region, and in two cases during airport quarantine inspections, as of Feb. 2. Tokyo Medical and Dental University reportedly confirmed three cases of E484K mutations from test samples of patients who were hospitalized or visited the university hospital between late December 2020 and mid-January 2021. Furthermore, the Kobe Municipal Government in western Japan announced having found five instances of virus strains with a E484K mutation as of Feb. 18. These virus strains are believed to have been brought in to Japan from overseas.
Meanwhile, a team of researchers at Keio University that conducts analysis on genetic information, indicated the view that an E484K mutation possibly occurred in Japan in two virus samples collected in August and December 2020.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210308/p2a/00m/0sc/025000c