24/7 Wall St.

Bankrupt Sears wants to pay bonuses to some of its executives. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Sears Holdings Corp. is seeking permission to pay its top executives millions of dollars in bonuses over the next two financial quarters.

The company has pinpointed 18 top executives to share in a total $8.5 million in bonuses, split between the periods ending in January 2019 and April 2019, according to court papers filed Thursday

Bitcoin prices collapsed. According to Reuters:

Bitcoin tumbled more than 7.5 percent on Tuesday to below $4,500 BTC=BTSP, knocking off nearly a third in value of the world’s best-known cryptocurrency’s losses within a week as a selloff in digital currencies intensified across the board.

Other cryptocurrencies also fell sharply, with Ethereum’s ether losing 10 percent ETH=BTSP and Ripple’s XRP XRP=BTSP down 13 percent in a largely sentiment-driven slide.

Bitcoin is now trading at $4,354.20, its lowest level on the Bitstamp exchange since October 2017.

France plans to replace auto management giant Carlos Ghosn due to charges he faces in Japan. According to The Wall Street Journal:

France is moving to fill a power vacuum at carmaker Renault SA after Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn was arrested in Japan on allegations of financial misconduct at Nissan Motor Co., Renault’s Japanese partner.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday that he plans to ask Renault board members to install “interim governance” at Renault immediately because Mr. Ghosn, who was arrested by Japanese authorities on Monday, is unable to carry out his duties.

Victoria’s Secret has a new chief. According to The Wall Street Journal:

L Brands Inc., trying to revamp business at its flagship Victoria’s Secret chain, on Monday said it is halving its annual dividend and hiring a Tory Burch executive to lead the lingerie division.

The retailer, which is on track to report its third consecutive annual profit decline, said it plans to cut its annual payout to $1.20 a share, starting with the March payout. The move will save about $325 million in cash.

The company said John Mehas will be joining Victoria’s Secret early next year to succeed Jan Singer, who resigned last week. Mr. Mehas currently serves as president of Tory Burch and previously led Club Monaco.

Buzzfeed’s growth may come from M&A, says its CEO. According to The New York Times:

Still, these are largely stopgaps. The better solution according to Jonah Peretti, a founder of the company and its chief executive, would require a much more audacious effort: a series of mergers with five or six top internet publishers.

“You have Vice and Vox Media and Group Nine and Refinery,” Mr. Peretti said in an interview. “There’s tons of them that are doing interesting work.”

A major investment bank advised people to move more assets to cash. According to Bloomberg:

Goldman Says It’s Time for Equity Investors to Boost Their Cash. Goldman Sachs says it may be wise to dial back on risk in equities.