This Sept. 24, 2019 photo shows former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, right, in front of his attorney, Miles Ehrlich, outside of a federal courthouse in San Francisco. President Donald Trump has pardoned Levandowski, who plead guilty to stealing trade secrets before joining Uber’s effort to build robotic vehicles for its ride-hailing service. Levandowski was among the more than 140 people included in a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump’s White House term. (AP Photo/Michael Liedtke)
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump pardoned a former Google engineer who was sentenced to prison last year for stealing trade secrets from the tech giant related to robotic vehicles.
Anthony Levandowski left Google in early 2016 where he worked in the autonomous vehicle division to start his own company called Otto. That company was acquired by Uber for $680 million as the ride-hailing venture pursued its own autonomous vehicle division.
Before leaving, Levandowski downloaded a trove of Google’s self-driving car technology, leading eventually to 33 counts of intellectual property theft against him. He plead guilty to one count and was sentenced to 18 months in prison last summer.
Levandowski was among the more than 140 people included in a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump's White House term, which included former chief strategist Steve Bannon, ex-members of Congress and other allies of Trump and his family.
In a White House statement, the administration said the pardon was supported by one-time Trump supporter and tech billionaire Peter Thiel, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz, and Palmer Luckey, founder of the virtual reality company Oculus VR.
Levandowski thanked the president in an early morning tweet Wednesday, saying he was grateful for the opportunity to move forward.
Uber sold its autonomous vehicles development arm four months after Levandowski was sentenced.
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Compare These Stocks Add These Stocks to My Watchlist 7 Stocks to Buy In January
If you’re anything like me, then Christmas always has a way of sneaking up on you. And once you get to Christmas, it means that the end of the year is just a week away. For investors, 2020 is ending with as much volatility as it began. And in between, it wasn’t a whole lot calmer.
But whether you’re facing a decision on where to allocate IRA contributions or just looking to spend some time this holiday season rebalancing your portfolio, you may be wondering what stocks to buy in January of next year. It will be a time when there’s a lot of hope, but a real normal will still be months away. What should you do?
My advice to you is to keep it simple. And that’s what I’m trying to do in this special presentation. I’m not trying to trip you up or send you down the rabbit hole on a secret speculative stock. I’m looking at buying into companies that appear to be good buys as the economy recovers.
View the "7 Stocks to Buy In January".
