1. Twitter head of news Vivian Schiller said Wednesday night that she is leaving the company (via a series of tweets, of course). That leaves Adam Sharp to run the microblogging platform’s government and news units under the media division led by Katie Jacobs Stanton.
Schiller is the company’s latest in a string of major defections, following former COO Ali Rowghani and head of media for North America Chloe Sladden, both of whom left in June.
1/3 Stepping down from Twitter so new global media lead @katies can reorganize as she sees fit. Wish everyone at twitter nothing but best.
— Vivian Schiller (@vivian) October 8, 2014
2. Gap CEO Glenn Murphy will step down in February, the company announced Wednesday night as it disclosed flat September sales. Art Peck, called the company’s "digital guy" by Bloomberg Businessweek, will replace him.
Gap says CEO to step down Feb. 1; September sales lackluster http://t.co/aKYe0Md2TR $GPS pic.twitter.com/Xl3CZG2zLu
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 9, 2014
3. A White House advance team member hired a prostitute in Colombia in 2012, The Washington Post reported Wednesday night. However, the Obama administration never acknowledged the incident, even as it disciplined nearly two dozen Secret Service and military officials for their role in the Cartagena, Colombia, prostitution scandal.
The White House pushed back against the report, saying it had been cleared of any wrongdoing after an investigation.
"Senior White House aides" and "prostitute" in same sentence is never good. @CarolLeonnig, @DavidNakamura http://t.co/MT2gVpxqeS
— Dana Milbank (@Milbank) October 9, 2014
4. A tense protest took place overnight after an off-duty white police officer in south St. Louis reportedly returned fire at and killed a black teenager. The incident comes two months after the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, by a police officer touched off days of unrest there.
5. GNC has stopped selling two supplements that include ingredients under criticism by scientists. Redline White Heat and OxyTHERM Pro were pulled from the company’s online store on Wednesday, according to USA Today. Both contain a chemical known by names including AMP Citrate, DMBA, and 4-amino-2-methylpentane citrate.
GNC stops sale of two supplements in wake of news story http://t.co/6QBd94yVJW
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 9, 2014
6. Samsung moved up one spot to No. 7, while McDonald’s fell two to No. 9 in Interbrand’s annual list of the world’s most valuable brands. Apple, Google, and Coca-Cola were the top three, according to the list.
Here's the full Top 100 Best Global Brands from @Interbrand Available for download at http://t.co/zxQv3Gt6RA #BGB2014 pic.twitter.com/BC6lW9JKn0
— Graham Hales (@GrahamHales) October 9, 2014
7. San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green apologized Wednesday night for taking a selfie at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and posting it to his Instagram account with the caption, "You know I had to do it one time lol #Holocaust."
I have great respect n understanding for this country's history n wanted to continue chronicling my experience in Berlin
— Danny Green (@DGreen_14) October 8, 2014
8. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said Wednesday at Vanity Fair’s conference that disappearing ads are coming the service soon as part of its Stories feature. Users will be able to choose whether to opt-in to the ads.
Get ready, Snapchat users – ads are coming soon, CEO confirms http://t.co/pM7xdO6NxS pic.twitter.com/RskU71pi4C
— Paul Parsons (@PaulParsons1981) October 9, 2014
9. Red Bull has agreed to refund consumers who purchased the drink in the past 10 years as part go a settlement of a deceptive advertising suit. Customers can get either $10 in cash or two free Red Bull products worth up to $15.
Red Bull has agreed to pay $13M to customers in the United States for false advertising. http://t.co/EocAITvOzj pic.twitter.com/WLDcddvjSo
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) October 9, 2014