Twitter is closing in on an $800 million funding deal, $400 million of which will be used to cash out current investors and employees.

Aside from additional revenue, the move will allow current stakeholders to monetize privately held common stock, as the company will probably not file for an IPO in the immediate future.

“Once the latest investments are complete, Twitter’s total cash haul since it was founded five years ago will be $760 million,” according to AllThingsD.

Current investors Benchmark Capital, Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, and other venture capitalists will be joined, going forward, by Russian heavyweight DST Global, an investor in Facebook, Zynga and Groupon. Continue reading...

So did News Corp. have a better day today? In a word, no. Some of the challenges rattling the media empire that Rupert Murdoch built:

• Scotland Yard has notified only 170 of 4,000 suspected victims, according to Sue Akers, deputy assistant commissioner of the London Metropolitan police in charge of the phone hacking scandal, at a hearing today. Akers told a group of MPs she’s taking a "very broad" approach to the inquiry in ‘Operation Weeting,’ which is examining 11,000 pages of material containing the names of the 4,000 possible victims. Murdoch has been called before a parliamentary committee to answer questions on the hacking scandal, according to a BBC report, along with his son James and Rebekah Brooks, the CEO of News International.

• News Corp.'s BSkyB bid is in trouble, with British politicians crossing party lines to support a motion which reads, "The house believes that it is in the public interest for Murdoch and News Corporation to withdraw their bid for BSkyB." Asked if the government expected News Corp to heed parliament, a spokesperson said: "Ultimately, that is a decision for News Corp but we would always expect people to take seriously what parliament has said." The House of Commons is scheduled to vote on it Wednesday, with Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly backing the motion.Continue reading...

As LeBron James dazzles on the court during these NBA playoffs, Interbrand's Patrick Kerns assesses the global brand-building strategy behind LeBron James Inc., from his forays into HP- and Intel-sponsored kids programming to becoming a part-owner in a British soccer team.

Kerns argues that "Any future agreements he enters must still align with LeBron’s brand in the long run, even if they are financially beneficial in the short term" — find out why in our latest Brand Speak column.

Dan Neil’s new review of the Mini Countryman in The Wall Street Journal starts out as a tribute to the latest version, noting its “spacious rear cabin,” “brilliant” accessory rail that allows interior personalization of the car, and adherence to Mini’s “epic” exterior design language.

But soon, Neil’s passionate piece veers into a sort of obituary for the Mini brand. “With the Countryman,” he writes, “tiny sharks have been jumped.”Continue reading...

Without a doubt, the breakout personal brand of the week has to be Ted Williams, whose honey-coated pipes landed him instant fame, job offers and a live segment on the Today Show three days after a viral video of his mellifluously-voiced panhandling pitch propelled him from Columbus, Ohio, to the world stage.

Despite flying Williams out to Manhattan, putting him up in a nice hotel and spiffing him up with a good haircut, the Today Show wardrobe dept. apparently wants to remind you, and him, that this is indeed a camo-jacketed homeless man. In this, The Today show seems to be just continuing the spirit of the original video, which begins, "Gonna' make you work for your dollar. Say something with that great radio voice."Continue reading...