The telco firm prevailed against the DOJ and can now legally buy Time Warner for $85 bln. The green light doesn’t mean that regulators will roll over for other deals however. T-Mobile US and Sprint may still be in the crosshairs. Plus: An Australian bank cartel runs into trouble. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Despite Facebook’s mounting problems, only a third of independent shareholders refused to reelect Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg to the board. Tesla and Netflix owners tend to follow the leader, too. Yet protest votes are useful. Plus: Chinese stocks make it into the MSCI. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Germany may not be the bookies’ clear favorite to lift the trophy. But a data dive into player values, population and other factors predicts the team will emerge victorious. Meanwhile, Italy stages an economic and political comic opera. Plus: Ant Financial’s $10 bln kitty. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Getting Beijing to force companies to buy more U.S. soybeans and oil may help the Trump administration claim a numbers victory. But it reinforces China’s statist instincts while ignoring most U.S. business beefs with Sino-American trade. Plus: has Tencent hit a peak? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The $5 bln sovereign-wealth fund’s scandal played a role in voters replacing Prime Minister Najib Razak with nonagenarian Mahathir Mohamad. Its resurgence could mean bad news for Goldman Sachs and Najib himself. Plus: Walmart nabs Flipkart in a big bet on e-commerce in India. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Tesla’s CEO berated analysts for asking “boring, bonehead questions” after the electric-car maker reported a record quarterly loss. He then taunted Warren Buffett, suggesting his idea of corporate “moats” is sugary nonsense. Breakingviews columnists discuss why Musk is so testy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Dealmaking is breaking records. But more tie-ups are being pulled. And recent proposed unions like T-Mobile US with Sprint and Xerox with Fujfilm come with regulatory or boardroom drama. Crisis throwbacks and the careless brag-song of Sainsbury’s CEO are sending warning signals. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The Trump administration’s decision to ban U.S. companies from selling to the Chinese telecom giant is seriously hurting the company's business. And there’s no easy plan B for ZTE. Also: China has a new way to measure unemployment. Should investors take it seriously? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Upstarts like LendingClub and SoFi need to find ways to keep customers returning – just as traditional banks are fighting back and Goldman Sachs’ digital push into consumer lending takes off. Also: how Malaysia’s prime minister may be re-elected despite the 1MDB scandal. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
A volley of words threatens a trade war between PRC leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. Developing China has much at risk in fighting with the world’s largest economy. But American businesses are vulnerable too. Plus: Meituan goes all-in with local services. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The music-streaming service enjoyed a mostly smooth stock-market debut despite largely bypassing investment banks. Ultimately, though, business success, not IPO hype, is what counts. Plus: Regulators and automakers are sparking up an altogether too cozy relationship. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Yi Gang, the head of the People’s Bank of China, has experience working in America. Once considered a liability, it now may be one of his great assets. And the mainland is courting companies to list shares locally, while China’s version of Hulu plans its IPO - in New York. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
China’s President Xi Jinping can now stay in power for life. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein seems ready to retire after 12 years at the top. Yet five years may be the ideal length of service. Breakingviews columnists discuss the limitations to limitless rule. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Imposing levies on steel and aluminum has lost the president his economic adviser, ex-Goldman No. 2 Gary Cohn. That has shocked investors out of complacency. Also: Italy’s elections leave fringe parties in charge. And big deals may be back on the agenda for the mining industry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
A $1.8 bln scam at Punjab National Bank comes just months after the government injected $32 bln to bail out 20-odd state-run financial institutions. The scandal may increase calls for them to be privatized. Elsewhere: Will Sky be the limit for Comcast, Disney or Fox? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Broadcom has lowered its hostile bid for Qualcomm after its target upped its longstanding offer for NXP. That decreases the chance the two larger rivals can strike a deal – assuming regulators wouldn’t nuke it. Plus: Credit Suisse shines a rare light on Asian investment banking. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Higher wages, inflation fears and the prospect of faster than expected rate hikes are posing challenges market players haven’t seen for years. Comcast may spike Walt Disney’s potion to acquire Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment assets. Plus, Singapore’s airshow has everyone buzzing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Chair Janet Yellen forbids the $2 trln lender from growing bigger - on her last day in the job, and 17 months after Wells’ fake-accounts scandal hit. Meanwhile, fellow financial watchdog CFPB seems to be giving hacked Equifax a free pass. Plus: how Nintendo made a comeback. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
JPMorgan’s chairman and CEO intends to lead the bank until around 2023. Dimon has built a strong and successful company over the past 12 years. But the longer he stays, the harder it becomes to leave on an unambiguous high. Plus: Asian governments tackle bitcoin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The U.S. president seems to be trying to right past trade wrongs. But business has long since moved on, meaning tariffs on washing machines and solar panels will do more harm than good. Also, Merkel and Modi disappoint in snow-ravaged Davos. Plus: Spotify’s Wall Street snub. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The U.S. president heads to the Swiss Alps confab that’s the antithesis of his “America First” ideology. He’ll have competition: keynote speaker Narendra Modi, with his “Make in India” policy. Plus: BlackRock’s Larry Fink pushes social activism. And why Ford is stalling. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Talk of buying fewer of Uncle Sam’s bonds may be Beijing’s way of showing some teeth as the Trump administration mulls import tariffs. But as with other retaliatory trade tactics, it would hurt China too. Plus, why Nelson Peltz doesn’t want to be called an activist investor. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
More government borrowing and less central bank buying will force bondholders to fend for themselves, Breakingviews predicts. Plus, passive funds will force out a CEO, electric vehicles give gasoline cars a run for their money and soccer clubs’ spending splurge will intensify. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Companies that sweep settlements for bad behavior under the carpet will feel shareholder ire in 2018, Breakingviews predicts. Plus, Apple will float past the EU’s roving eye, splintering political parties are a ticking U.S. time bomb and bank bosses may hang up their hats. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
That the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will join Riyadh in hosting the world’s largest IPO is one of Breakingviews’ 2018 predictions. We also explain the method to our fortune-telling and lay out why China will win the 5G standards race, and why Wall Street will learn to love bitcoin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Disney’s $66 bln deal for the bulk of Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment empire is a reaction to the rapid rise of streaming-content providers like Netflix, and lets CEO Bob Iger delay retirement again. Elsewhere: the Democrats win in Alabama, and Chinese bike-sharing rides towards M&A. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini is bagging $500 million from selling the insurance company to drugstore chain CVS – despite only a middling performance as boss. Behind such healthcare mergers: a desire to cut out a surfeit of middlemen. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The ride-hailing app has hit a damaging set of speed bumps including accelerating losses, a bruising court battle with Alphabet and covering up a security breach. But new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi’s most important challenge is proving the firm can handle the long haul. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The telecom firm’s acquisition of Time Warner, owner of CNN, may hit regulatory hurdles in D.C. President Trump’s caustic tweets against the news network look self-interested, but watchdogs could yet legitimately rethink norms of competition. Plus: GE searches for a way forward. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
The chipmaker’s hostile tilt at Qualcomm is a rare aggressive move in the sector. Qualcomm has its own issues, awaiting approval for its NXP deal and fighting Apple in court. It all suggests the tech sector is too frothy. Plus: Is Hong Kong losing its moxie as a financial center? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
