BUSINESS

Cirque du Soleil has accepted an offer to sell itself to its lenders in a deal that would kick its current private equity owner, TPG Capital, out of the tent, The Post has learned. The bankrupt circus giant, known for dominating the box office in Las Vegas, OK’d the lenders’ offer in the middle of the night on Wednesday — marking the latest twist in a heated tug-of-war for control of the entertainment company, sources said. The deal forgives roughly $800 million of Cirque’s $1.1 billion in outstanding loans in exchange for ownership, while leaving its current owners — a group led by billionaire private titans like David Bonderman — empty-handed. The restructuring plan includes $375 million in new spending money, a $20 million fund to help out-of-work employees and contractors,

Netflix said it tapped its longtime content chief Ted Sarandos to run the streaming giant alongside its founder Reed Hastings — just in time to deal with fears that growth will slow. Hastings said the promotion of the 20-year Netflix veteran — known for pushing the company to produce its own shows — won’t affect the company’s day-to-day operations. “Ted has been my partner for decades,” Hastings said in a statement. “This change makes formal what was already informal — that Ted and I share the leadership of Netflix.” Sarandos will also join the board of directors. The entertainment giant behind “Stranger Things” and “Tiger King” also reported strong second-quarter subscriber growth on Thursday, but warned of slowing growth in the coming quarter, which sent the share down 10 percent

Bonnier, the 216-year-old Swedish publishing giant that owns Field & Stream, Popular Science and Saveur, has changed the CEO of its American operation as it nears a deal to sell off its US-based titles. Eric Zinczenko, a 14-year veteran of Bonnier Corp who has spent the past four years as CEO of the US unit, is exiting and will be replaced by chief operating officer David Ritchie. After years of cutbacks, the company in May decided to toss in the towel on America, and officially put the entire operation on the block and is apparently close to a deal. “We received a dozen initial bids and after concluding the management meetings with these prospective buyers, we are currently evaluating the merits of five strong final bids,” said a spokeswoman. She added that “a...

The federal government is cracking down on fat bonuses for top executives of Neiman Marcus after The Post reported on the bankrupt chain’s controversial efforts to enrich its CEO. Henry Hobbs, the acting US Trustee overseeing Neiman’s Dallas, Texas, bankruptcy, blasted $10 million in bonuses Neiman has set aside for its senior staff, including CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck, once the company emerges from bankruptcy. He demanded to know more before they are approved. In a court document filed Tuesday — one day after The Post’s report — Hobbs requested that the court reject the bonuses unless the luxury retailer can prove they are tied to performance and “not a pay-to-stay retention plan.” Paying executives of a bankrupt company extra simply to stick around and do their jobs wa

Wearing masks to school might not appeal to kids as much as dressing up for Trick or Treat — but Crayola thinks it can make the practice entertaining as children prepare to head back to classrooms amid a resurging COVID-19 pandemic. The crayon maker collaborated with manufacturer SchoolMaskPack to create a “five-day mask system for kids,” which Parents magazine touted as “this year’s must-have back-to-school item.” “It’s looking more and more like wearing masks is the new normal,”  says SchoolMaskPack spokesperson Hans Lao. “You should want a fresh mask every day like you want a fresh pair of underwear each day.” Available for preorder now, the five-mask packages cost $29.99 for kids sizes and $39.99 for adults and will arri

New York is launching a “full investigation” into the massive Twitter hack that targeted big names including Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. The probe will be run through the state’s Department of Financial Services. “Foreign interference remains a grave threat to our democracy and New York will continue to lead the fight to protect our democracy and the integrity of our elections in any way we can,” Cuomo said. On Wednesday, several high-profile Twitter accounts were taken over by anonymous hackers as part of a bitcoin scam. Gates’ account, for example, tweeted, “Everyone is asking me to give back, and now is the time. I am doubling all payments sent to my BTC address for the next 30 minutes.” At least

Hackers appeared to rake in nearly $119,000 worth of bitcoin after they took over more than a dozen high-profile Twitter accounts Wednesday. One digital wallet linked to the unprecedented attack received about 12.8 bitcoin — worth roughly $117,328 as of Thursday afternoon — after the hackers tweeted its ID number from accounts owned by Elon Musk, Kanye West, Bill Gates, Apple and others, according to data provider Blockchain.com. Another roughly 0.17 bitcoin, or $1,625, went to a wallet mentioned in a since-deleted tweet from CashApp’s corporate Twitter account, the data show. The payment service is owned by Square, where Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey serves as CEO. The owner of the latter account emptied it by sending all the cryptocurrency to other wallets, while the former

Facebook’s Instagram app will reportedly launch a new service in the coming weeks that copies the wildly popular features of the controversial TikTok app. Instagram Reels — which, like TikTok, allows users to make 15-second video clips set to music — will make its global debut soon as TikTok faces growing scrutiny over its Chinese ownership from governments worldwide, NBC News reported. The new Instagram feature, which also enables users’ videos to go viral on a “Top Reels” feed in the app’s Explore section, is currently available in France, Germany, Brazil and India. The global launch will arrive just weeks after Instagram parent company Facebook killed Lasso, its own TikTok clone. Instagram has found great success copying the features of F...

US retailers continued their swift recovery from the coronavirus crisis last month — but a recent surge in infections could sicken merchants once again. Retail and food service sales climbed 7.5 percent in June, to $524.3 billion, beating economists’ expectations for a 5 percent gain on the heels of May’s record 18.2 percent surge, the US Census Bureau said Thursday. But the stats don’t reflect how the coronavirus has overwhelmed many parts of the country, forcing some reopened businesses to close again and adding to consumers’ fears about catching the deadly bug. “The road ahead for the consumer looks a little foggy and uncertain to say the least,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank. “July spending faces the hea

Kohl’s has joined retail heavyweights like CVS, Target, Best Buy and Walmart by requiring all customers at every store to wear masks beginning Monday to fight the spread of coronavirus. “As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, face covering mandates have grown to apply to approximately 70 percent of our store base — therefore we’ve made the decision to take a consistent approach across our entire store fleet,” the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based company said in a statement. Longtime customer Terrie Piell said the new policy will make her more likely to move her Kohl’s shopping from online to brick and mortar. “I find the mask to be a small inconvenience compared to not being able to shop or do business at all,” said Piell, 57, a marketing profes