Schiehallion: Value of Spacex stake in Baillie Gifford trust skyrockets Investing Baillie Gifford’s Schiehallion trust marked up the value of its holdings in Elon Musk’s Spacex by 86 per cent last year, as the trust worked to close the gap between its share price and underlying assets. The valuation of Spacex, which makes up 9.4 per cent of Schiehallion’s portfolio, has increased by more than 600 [...]
Sidemen charity match proves importance of entertainment in sport Sport Business On Saturday afternoon at Wembley Stadium, 90,000 fans packed out the home of football for a charity match featuring online celebrities the Sidemen. Having begun with games at Southampton in 2016 and Charlton’s The Valley, the Sidemen – a group of seven YouTubers who have banded together to grow their brand, and whose most notable [...]
US ban looms, yet TikTok’s ad revenue soars Tech TikTok’s advertising revenue is set to exceed $30bn this year, despite looming uncertainty over a potential US ban. WARC Media’s latest insights suggest that this could jeopardise almost $12bn in ad spend. The platform’s ad business is growing rapidly, helping to cushion the blow should a ban take effect in the US, which accounts for [...]
UK watchdog probes Tiktok over child data practices March 3, 2025 The UK’s data watchdog has launched a major investigation into Tiktok, Reddit and Imgur, raising new concerns over how social media platforms handle children’s personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is scrutinising the video platform’s use of teenage user data to recommend content, amid growing fears that its algorithm could expose young people to [...]
MPs slam Tiktok, Meta and X over misinformation failures February 26, 2025 MPs were left frustrated after questioning executives from big tech firms TikTok, Meta and X on how platforms handle misinformation and harmful content. The science, innovation and technology committee (SITC)’s evidence session on Tuesday, saw platform representatives struggle to provide clear answers on their content moderation policies. The session formed part of its ongoing inquiry [...]
Want Gen Z to believe in democracy? Why not actually try it January 29, 2025 Reports that Gen Z are increasingly disillusioned with democracy aren’t surprising. Too many powers in Britain have been handed to unelected quangocrats with no skin in the game while autocracies like China and the UAE are offering superficially attractive alternatives, says James Price “Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms [...]
President Trump says he’s open to X owner Elon Musk buying Tiktok January 22, 2025 President Donald Trump said he was open to the idea of X-owner Elon Musk buying TikTok as well, as the app navigates attempts to ban it in the US. The social media platform with links to the Chinese government, which boasts over 170m American users, briefly went dark on Sunday after the Supreme Court upheld [...]
X and Meta: Who’s benefiting from Tiktok’s brief hiatus? January 20, 2025 As Tiktok temporarily went down on Sunday afternoon, rival social media platforms such as X and Meta scrambled to fill the void left by the app’s absence. Several competitors moved quickly to capitalise on its downfall, hoping to attract its 170m US user base by picking up its various features. Before the ban took effect [...]
‘It’s caused uproar’: Inside the fallout from WPP’s four-day office week mandate January 20, 2025 Earlier this month, WPP’s Mark Read sent an all-staff memo ordering employees back into the office for four days a week. With staff fearing an exodus of talent and a petition calling on the policy to be revoked, reaching nearly 20,000 signatures, Ali Lyon tells the inside story of a firm known for its brand [...]
Supreme Court upholds Tiktok ban despite Trump’s efforts January 17, 2025 On Friday, the Supreme Court confirmed the federal law banning Tiktok in the US from 19 Sunday, unless the app is sold. This unanimous decision to ban-or-sell the video app was made due to national security claims. “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, Tiktok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet [...]