Ant Group listing to be ‘world’s biggest’, Alibaba founder says October 24, 2020 The dual listing for Chinese fintech giant Ant Group will be the world’s biggest, Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Alibaba, said. “It’s the first time that the pricing of such a big listing – the largest in human history – has been determined outside New York City” he told the Bund Summit in the [...]
Screenshot: Will the UK’s live music industry ever recover? October 23, 2020 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week: ** Media Moment of the Week: Sky History gets tattoo regret ** Can the live music sector survive this crisis? ** The tide turns against Google Media Moment of the Week This week we [...]
US Senate committee votes to subpoena Twitter and Facebook bosses October 22, 2020 Top US lawmakers today voted to subpoena the chief executives of Twitter and Facebook after both platforms blocked controversial tabloid stories about Joe Biden’s son. Republicans on the US Senate judiciary committee approved the motion to haul in Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg unopposed today. Democrats on the committee had boycotted the meeting over the [...]
Fishing for likes: Facebook takes on Tinder as it rolls out dating service October 22, 2020 Facebook is ramping up the pressure on apps such as Tinder and Bumble as it rolls out a new dating feature. Facebook Dating was first launched in the US and 19 other countries last month, but will now be available to users in the UK and across Europe. The social media platform said the new [...]
Ant Group gets final approval for world’s biggest stock market float October 21, 2020 China’s Ant Group today won the final nod from regulators for its $35bn (£26.6bn) initial public offering, clearing the way for what could be the largest-ever stock market debut. The fintech giant, which is backed by Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, today won approval from the country’s top securities watchdog for its registration in Shanghai. Ant [...]
Ericsson boosted by margin growth as China 5G tensions mount October 21, 2020 Ericsson today reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter as higher margins and the rollout of 5G in China helped boost trading. Shares in the Swedish telecoms group were up more than seven per cent today as its strategy of improving profitability saw gross margins hit their highest level in 14 years. Adjusted revenue grew [...]
Startup community Supernode merges with VC fund to invest in media-tech October 21, 2020 Investor and startup community Supernode has absorbed media-tech VC fund Rooks Nest Ventures in what it claims is an industry first. The creation of Supernode Global comes out of the £28m Rooks Nest Ventures fund, launched in 2017 by film producer Michael Sackler, and the community platform Supernode. The new venture will offer access to [...]
Tiktok expands hate speech policy as watchdog launches crackdown October 21, 2020 Tiktok has vowed to do more to remove harmful content as the media watchdog launches a crackdown on video-sharing platforms. In a blog post published today, the viral video app said it was expanding its policy to take into account coded language and symbols used to spread hateful ideologies. Tiktok already removes content related to [...]
Google hits back at ‘deeply flawed’ US Justice Department lawsuit October 20, 2020 Google has hit back at a major antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department, branding it “deeply flawed” and warning that consumers would be negatively affected if the government wins its case. US officials today filed a lawsuit against the tech giant accusing it of breaking the law by using its market power to [...]
Netflix earnings: Is the streamer’s pandemic party coming to an end? October 20, 2020 Netflix will be in the spotlight after the bell this evening as it publishes its earnings for the third quarter. The streaming giant has had a bumper 2020 so far as millions of people have turned to home entertainment during the coronavirus pandemic. But as competition from rivals heats up and the impact of halted [...]