The daily business briefing: May 2, 2016

(Image credit: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Puerto Rico defaulting on $422 million debt payment
2. Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright says he's Bitcoin creator
3. Halliburton and Baker Hughes call off $28 billion merger
4. Warren Buffett says Berkshire Hathaway doesn't profit from central bank moves
5. Ringling Brothers elephants perform in last show

published 2 May 2016

1. Puerto Rico defaulting on $422 million debt payment

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla on Sunday declared a moratorium on a $422 million debt payment due on Monday to the island's Government Development Bank. The default is the most significant one yet for the U.S. Caribbean island territory. Garcia Padilla said he made the "painful decision" due to Congress' failure to pass a legislative solution to Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt burden.

Craig Wright, an Australian businessman, publicly identified himself as the creator of digital currency Bitcoin on Monday. Wright, a computer scientist and entrepreneur, released evidence purporting to prove that he is indeed Bitcoin's pseudonymous inventor "Satoshi Nakamoto," saying he was coming forward reluctantly to stop the spread of "misinformation." "It's not because of my choice," he said. Wired and Gizmodo claimed Wright was the Bitcoin creator back in December.

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Oil services companies Halliburton and Baker Hughes are planning to call off their $28 billion merger after meeting opposition with antitrust regulators that "severely damaged deal economics," Halliburton Chairman Dave Lesar said. The proposed merger would have joined the world's second- and third-biggest oil services firms. Halliburton started its takeover bid in November 2014 in an effort to compete with industry leader Schlumberger Ltd.

Berkshire Hathaway leader and investment guru Warren Buffett said Monday that his company has not tried to profit from central bank monetary policies aiming to stimulate global economies. "It's a fascinating movie to watch," Buffett told CNBC. "I don't try to make money off the movie." The comments came after Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting over the weekend, a closely watched event where Buffett said hedge funds get "unbelievable" fees for poor performance, and warned that banks' derivatives holdings were "still a potential time bomb."

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus held its final performance with elephants Sunday in Providence, Rhode Island. The circus decided to speed up the retirement of its elephants, originally scheduled for 2018, under continuing pressure from animal rights groups. The circus company has used elephants for 145 years. "It is a bittersweet decision, there is no question about that, but it is the best thing," Kenneth Feld, chairman of the parent company who owns Ringling Brothers, said.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.