Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has a $500 bln plan to attract new business to the oil-dependent kingdom: build a utopian society on the Red Sea free of many of Saudi’s legal and cultural constraints. Plus: why tech and finance execs won’t be joining President Trump in Asia. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
President Xi Jinping emerged stronger at the end of China’s Communist Party Congress. His desire to consolidate control however may not help his plans to keep the Middle Kingdom’s economic engine humming. Plus: U.S. telecom firms try again to dial up a merger. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Chinese Communist Party’s 19th National Congress kicks off this week. Delegates at the week-long confab will select new leaders, including for key financial and economic posts. But the spotlight will be on Xi and whether he can consolidate his power and extend his reign. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Nelson Peltz narrowly lost his acrimonious bid for a P&G board seat. Honeywell’s decision to spin off two small units was less than Dan Loeb lobbied for. These are temporary setbacks. Past experience and the financial firepower at their disposal make activists a powerful force. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Ford boss Jim Hackett’s plan to catch up with rival GM on electric and self-driving vehicles starts with $14 bln of cost cuts. China may be in pole position as it considers banning gasoline cars entirely. But plenty of factors could delay mass adoption of new technology. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The U.S. president and Republicans want to reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 pct from 35 pct. After a blistering defeat over Obamacare, the prospects of significant reform are slim. Meanwhile, Equifax’s CEO slinks out of the building. Plus: Puerto Rico’s prayer for relief. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Christian Democrats should win more votes than rivals. But they’ll need coalition partners to form a government. Choosing among them promises to be a nail-biter. Also: the Toys R Us bankruptcy won’t be a total loss for its private-equity owners. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Bridgewater’s founder thinks his kindred spirit resides in China’s anti-corruption czar Wang Qishan. Both seek radical transparency – though Dalio’s hunt is tied to forging a business in the Middle Kingdom. Plus: Exxon’s salvation may lie in the oil fields of West Texas. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Texas is facing $180 bln in hurricane cleanup costs, the most of any U.S. natural disaster. The Lone Star State has the wherewithal and chutzpah to cover a large chunk, yet expects Washington to pick up most of the tab. Global water risks, meanwhile, may require $12 trln to fix. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The U.S. runs out of money in a month and the president is attacking lawmakers in his own party. That could prompt Republicans and Democrats to work together to keep the lights on. Plus: Rupert Murdoch could be overpaying for Sky. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Great Wall Motors wants to buy Jeep. That’d leave the Italian-American carmaker cash rich but devoid of profit in a fast-changing industry. Meanwhile, Uber tries to find a silver lining to the cloud its drivers are under. Plus: what makes China’s unicorns a different breed. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Donald Trump’s inflammatory comments about white supremacists have lost him the support and advice of business leaders, leaving him increasingly isolated and ineffectual. Qatar’s stake in the LSE may prompt Saudi Aramco to shun the exchange for its IPO. Plus: M&A for the MAGA era. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The U.S. president needs Beijing’s help with North Korea even more after his recent warmongering outburst. Yet his administration just slapped petty import tariffs on Chinese aluminum. Also: what a Google engineer’s sexist memo says about the firm, Silicon Valley and society. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Questionable elections for a rubber-stamping new assembly may give President Nicolas Maduro more power. But the country’s people, economy - and some U.S. companies - will suffer. Also: Sprint, under a ton of debt yet overvalued, weighs its M&A options. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
CEO Mike Corbat pledged a huge earnings boost at the bank’s first investor confab in nine years. But Citi’s enduring crisis hangover will still leave it trailing most rivals. In China, HNA’s shadowy ownership may be a big problem for U.S. M&A. Plus: Google keeps clicking. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Republicans’ failure to replace Obamacare throws into doubt Washington’s ability to keep other high-profile election promises, not least cutting corporate levies. Meanwhile, President Trump’s fuzzy agenda for reforming NAFTA could give Canada and Mexico more bargaining power. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Tesla’s CEO is putting the firm’s reputation, and $50 million, on the line in a deal to quickly provide energy storage to South Australia. Over in Texas, a battle is brewing between investment icons Warren Buffett and Paul Singer over a long-suffering and oft-wooed energy company. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
It’s 20 years since the British handed the island and adjacent territory back to the mainland. Breakingviews’ Asia columnists explain how Hong Kong’s economy and society have changed and ask whether this once-dominant regional financial center can regain some of its lost luster. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The meal-kit delivery firm had an unappetizing IPO, barely opening above its much reduced price of $10 a share. Investors are starting to wise up to fluffy concoctions with little meat. The more discerning environment will make it difficult for half-baked companies with high risk. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Filling departed founder Travis Kalanick’s seat is no easy task, so we offer some suggestions. Elsewhere, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ seemingly crazy $13.7 bln offer for struggling grocer Whole Foods has some logic. Anbang lands in hot water in China. And the lure of 100-year debt. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Attempts to jump-start the ride-hailing app’s toxic culture stalled after board member and TPG founder David Bonderman’s sexist joke at a company meeting about sexism. The UK grapples with Brexit under a hung parliament. And could a Chinese invasion solve the North Korea problem? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The Brits are about to elect a new government that’ll take the country out of the EU. Brexit, though, has taken a back seat in the campaign to deadly attacks in London and Manchester – and growing concerns about how the new masters of Whitehall will deal with social welfare. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The president is pulling America out of the climate agreement signed by 195 countries in 2015. But the continued commitment from cities, companies, investors – and China - will limit the damage. Meanwhile Goldman Sachs steps into a Venezuelan mess. Plus: advertisers as activists. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Basic economics - and decency - fall by the wayside in the administration’s pitch that it can create $2 trillion of revenue by cutting $3.6 trillion of costs. OPEC and U.S. fields battle for oil supremacy. Zimbabwe invents the 'zollar'. And Bill Ford escapes his CEO’s crash unscathed. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Donald Trump’s promise to run the government like a business is proving difficult but Congress could act like strong independent directors to rein in his wayward management. China’s ambitious Silk Road project could leave its people holding the bag. Plus: job cuts at Ford. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Donald Trump’s surprise firing of the FBI director could bog down policies from tax cuts to regulatory reform and even throw the rule of law into question. South Korea elects a new leader to put its own presidential scandal in the past. Plus: Coach goes shopping for Kate Spade. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Lucre from apps and other services should get investors in the party mood ahead of the company’s iconic device turning 10. Big Oil gets buoyed by rising prices – and the New York Times by more readers. And Coach shows the retail industry how to cope with upheaval, up to a point. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
France is about to choose a new president. The UK has called a surprise election. Germans head to the polls soon and Italians and Greeks could be close behind. As Brexit gets in motion and President Trump settles in, Europe’s election season will bring risks and opportunities. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The UK PM wants an early general election to strengthen her majority in parliament, stoking market hopes of a friendly exit from the EU. Those may be misplaced. Elsewhere, Trump’s Buy American, Hire American plan is deeply flawed. And Goldman takes a beating from Morgan Stanley. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Taking three days to offer a basic apology to the passenger dragged off a flight suggests deeper problems at the U.S. airline. Poor leadership and processes took a toll on Wells Fargo and Toshiba, too. Executives and boards ignore the lessons of cultural failures at their peril. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
