Joshua White

Media Appearances

• Where Musk’s Twitter Gambit Stands, Nearly Five Months In

  “We call it the zone of insolvency, which is certainly where Twitter is: You’re not profitable and you have this huge amount of debt,” said Josh White, an assistant professor of finance at Vanderbilt University and a former Securities and Exchange Commission economist. “Now, he’s going to have to focus on new sources of revenue generation in order to continue servicing the debt and just not go bankrupt.”

  March 8th, 2023

• Elon Musk-led Twitter has been sued by at least six companies for failing to pay bills

  Vanderbilt University finance professor Josh T. White, a former SEC economist, agreed the moves are unusual, and said litigation over nonpayment to vendors could result from “incorrect and aggressive capital structure.”

  February 24th, 2023

• Dude, where's my bitcoin? Crypto sits out the Super Bowl after a miserable year

  “The FTX collapse has left a stigma on the industry, even though much of FTX’s alleged fraud is what I would refer to as plain vanilla fraud,” said Josh White, an assistant professor of finance at Vanderbilt University and a former financial economist at the Securities and Exchange Commission. “This stigma is leaving them facing high scrutiny from regulators and Congress … so the decline in ad spending is prudent.”

  February 12th, 2023

• The trials of Elon Musk

  “If these investors purchased the stock at a price that was too high, which eventually did come back down in the near term, and then sold, then that purchase was made on false information,” said Josh White, a Vanderbilt University finance professor and former SEC economist.

  February 3rd, 2023

• Tesla trial: did Musk’s tweet affect the firm’s stock price? Experts weigh in

  “This seems like a weak defense,” based on the timeline evidence entered into the court record by expert witness Michael L Hartzmark, said Josh White, an assistant professor of finance at Vanderbilt University, who is a former financial economist for the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

  January 29th, 2023

• Microsoft layoffs suggest broader pain to come for the economy

  “The tech industry in general, and especially those focused highly on software and intellectual property like Microsoft, are facing especially strong macroeconomic pressure from the forecasted economic slowdown and especially the rapid rise in interest rates,” said Josh White, an assistant professor of finance at Vanderbilt University. “A large portion of their value is based on intellectual property rather than physical equipment. All companies will be looking to employ cost-cutting measures over the coming year, but for these companies that rely on IP, cost-cutting unfortunately means layoffs.”

  January 18th, 2023

• Job cuts in tech sector spread, Microsoft lays off 10,000

  “A big part of this is just overexuberance in hiring,” said Joshua White, a finance professor at Vanderbilt University. White, the Vanderbilt professor, said all industries are looking to cut costs ahead of a possible recession but tech companies could be particularly sensitive to the rapid rise in interest rates, a tool that has been used aggressively in recent months by the Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation.

  January 18th, 2023

• Big Tech layoffs: Has Silicon Valley finally 'lost its mojo'?

  If there's one thing we learned about tech history it's that busts are common – and inevitable. And so are the rebounds and the explosion of new industries entirely, said Vanderbilt University professor and former SEC economist Joshua White. “We had this decade of explosive growth in tech, and we moved to this app economy,” he said.

  December 15th, 2022

• Analysis: Musk's acrimonious Twitter bid heads for business school case study immortalisation

  Musk's attempt to take over Twitter is "a gift to professors and students", said Joshua White, a professor at Vanderbilt University, calling the situation "unprecedented".

  October 10th, 2022

• In major reversal, Elon Musk again proposes buying Twitter at full price

  The ball will now be in Twitter’s court to determine how to respond to Musk’s proposal. Twitter’s board will likely agree to move forward with closing the deal, according to Josh White, assistant professor of finance at Vanderbilt University. “The very public saga has certainly taken a toll on them and Twitter employees,” White said. “It is best for all parties to finish the deal and make a quick and seamless transition. I suspect it will close quickly.”

  October 5th, 2022