Google paid $105m to two executives accused of sexual harassment March 12, 2019 Google paid a total of $105m (£79m) to two executives after they were accused of sexual harassment, according to court documents released last night. The lawsuit, filed by shareholder James Martin, confirms previous reports that Android creator Andy Rubin was paid $90m after he allegedly coerced sex from a colleague. Read more: Fintech superstar Marta [...]
FOMO Driving Lyft Valuation March 8, 2019 | City Talk Fear of missing out – FOMO – in financial markets is a powerful emotion. It can propel a bull market to record highs as investors watch stocks rise and want a piece of the action. It’s panic buying to a degree. And it’s just such a phenomenon that is behind investor appetite for stocks like [...]
Activist investor strikes upbeat tone as Just Eat interim boss rules himself out of the race March 6, 2019 A major Just Eat shareholder who has pressed the company to merge with a rival today welcomed the takeaway giant’s interim boss decision to rule himself out of the race for a permanent chief executive. Activist investor Cat Rock Capital Management, which owns a 1.7 per cent stake in Just Eat, said today that it appreciated Peter [...]
Uber avoids criminal liability following fatal self-driving car collision March 6, 2019 Uber has been cleared of liability by a US court after one of its self-driving cars struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona in March. A letter from the Yavapai County attorney, made public today, said there was “no basis for criminal liability” for Uber, but that the back-up driver, Rafaela Vasquez, should be referred [...]
Automakers and the tech giants are battling over the future of the car industry March 5, 2019 More than 100 years after the petrol-powered car passed go for the first time – and despite worldwide sales at a record high in 2018 – stress fractures are starting to appear. Tesla is on track to outsell both BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the US, car sales in China are declining for the first time in [...]
Lyft files for IPO ahead of rival Uber in listing that could value it at $25bn March 1, 2019 Ride-hailing company Lyft filed its initial public offering (IPO) registration today ahead of rival Uber in the race to hit the public markets. Lyft filed with an initial offering size of $100m (£75.62m), which is usually just a placeholder amount used to calculate fees that could change. The company did not disclose the price it plans to list at [...]
Tech startups remain private for longer leading to high valuation IPO pipeline February 26, 2019 Technology startup companies are choosing to remain private for longer due to the availability of capital from private equity and venture capital investors, creating a pipeline of high-value listings expected this year. The median age of venture capital backed technology companies at the time of IPO has risen from 10.9 years in 2018 from 7.9 [...]
High Court strikes down black cab appeal against Uber’s London licence February 26, 2019 The High Court rejected an appeal to block Uber's 15-month London licence today, dismissing claims that the decision to grant it was biased. Taxi drivers of the United Cabbies Group (UCG) argued that chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot's decision to grant Uber a licence to operate in London was affected by her husband's relationship with the company. Read more: [...]
Backlog of employment tribunal cases balloons 77 per cent February 24, 2019 The backlog of cases at employment tribunals has risen 77 per cent in a year after the number of cases rocketed following the scrapping of fees in July 2017. In the three months ended September 2018 outstanding cases hit 23,700, up from 13,360 in the same period in 2017. There were 36,900 single claims in the year to [...]
Daimler, BMW to launch Uber rival as Lyft races toward IPO February 22, 2019 | City Talk The conversation around ride-hailing has this year centred on Lyft and Uber – the two tech unicorns racing to list on the US stock market. However, in the penultimate week before Lyft makes its IPO filing public, German carmakers Daimler and BMW have announced that they are set to enter the market as well, with [...]