Gates pleased with search for new CEO November 19, 2013 MICROSOFT chairman Bill Gates said yesterday he was pleased with the software giant’s progress in finding a new chief executive and that the search committee had spoken to a number of candidates, but did not give a date by which he expected a new leader to replace the retiring Steve Ballmer. Speaking at Microsoft’s annual [...]
Spain’s FCC soars after Bill Gates buys stake October 22, 2013 SHARES in Spanish builder FCC surged 13 per cent to an 18-month high yesterday after the company said late on Monday that Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, had become its second largest shareholder. The debt-laden construction company said Gates had bought six per cent of the firm for €113.5m.
Richard Branson defends his move from UK to Necker Island October 13, 2013 SIR Richard Branson insisted yesterday that his decision to leave Britain to live on Necker Island is not to save on his tax bill. The billionaire entrepreneur said he had lived on the private island for seven years, and that the move was motivated by a change in lifestyle rather than tax efficiency. Branson transferred [...]
Farage supports Ukip backing of eurosceptic Conservative MPs September 30, 2013 NIGEL Farage yesterday said he would be happy for members of his Ukip party to campaign for eurosceptic Conservative MPs – but categorically ruled out any chance of a formal alliance with the upstart grouping. “There isn’t going to be a deal between us and the Conservative party at the next general election,” he told [...]
Jamie Dimon’s $11bn day out September 26, 2013 JP Morgan boss heads to Washington for settlement talks JP MORGAN boss Jamie Dimon met Justice officials in Washington DC yesterday, travelling down from New York to hammer out the final details of the bank’s bill to settle mortgage investigations. The lender is facing the biggest ever fine levied on a bank, with officials thought [...]
Bill Gates tops Forbes rich list with $72bn pile September 16, 2013 MICROSOFT founder Bill Gates has topped the Forbes list of America’s richest 400 for the 20th time, with a cash pile of $72bn (£45.3bn). With his wealth up $6bn from last year, Gates has also reclaimed the title of world’s richest person, having passed Mexico’s Carlos Slim in May. Berkshire Hathaway guru Warren Buffett proved [...]
Hollande turns to robots and driverless cars to boost France September 12, 2013 FRANCOIS Hollande laid out a 10-year roadmap yesterday to revive French industry by promoting new technologies to drive job creation, but which offered little public money from stretched state coffers. The socialist president, whose 2014 national budget next month will focus on curbing spending, vowed to turn back what he called a lost decade of [...]
Lagarde warns governments not to depend on easy cash forever September 10, 2013 EUROPE’S governments must push ahead with the banking union plans to solve some of the economy’s underlying problems, International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde said yesterday. She warned them off permanently relying on easy money from the European Central Bank (ECB) which has mitigated some of their problems in the short term. “We very [...]
George Osborne to say Britain’s burgeoning recovery proves austerity was the right policy September 8, 2013 THE CHANCELLOR will today argue that spending cuts were the right policy and have helped get the UK back on the right track. George Osborne faced criticism for his plan to reduce the budget deficit, and argues the latest economic figures vindicate his approach. “The pace of fiscal consolidation has not changed, government spending cuts [...]
Elon Musk’s Hyperloopalooza runs out of steam before reaching the UK August 14, 2013 Hopes that the Hyperloop travel concept could work for Britain are vanishing faster than you can say “Concorde crossed with a rail gun crossed with an air hockey table”. Transport-watchers were quick to point out the practical flaws in the ambitious pod-cum-monorail idea set out by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to much hullabaloo on Monday [...]