Elon Musk: “I didn’t think SpaceX or Tesla would work” June 9, 2014 Billionaire tech titan Elon Musk – the brain behind Tesla electric cars, a project to colonise Mars and Hyperloop – has more ideas in a year than most people in a lifetime. But speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, the serial entrepreneur admitted that he hasn’t always had faith that things will come [...]
Pedal to the metal May 11, 2014 Annabel Palmer meets POD Point founder Erik Fairbairn, who’s helping drive the electric car revolution IT’S RARE to find an entrepreneur who, just midway through growing a business, is entirely candid about their exit plan. But Erik Fairbairn – founder of POD Point – plans to create 10 companies “this lifetime”. At 37, and already [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 28, 2014 US markets are expected to open higher today, following some reassuring news on US consumers. Personal income increased marginally more than expected last month (0.3 per cent), and personal spending was in line at 0.3 per cent. Later, we’ve got the Reuters/Michigan consumer sentiment index reading for March. It’s expected at 80.5, from 81.6 in [...]
Tesla shares surge upwards after positive view of battery factory February 25, 2014 THE SHARE price of electric car firm Tesla shot up by over 15 per cent yesterday, following a glowing note from a Morgan Stanley analyst who more than doubled his target price for the company. The enthusiastic assessment came from Adam Jonas, who said Tesla’s plans for a huge plant to manufacture the lithium batteries [...]
Carl Ichan just tore into EBay with an open letter February 24, 2014 Activist investor Carl Icahn has just put out a new letter, and his target is EBay, which he accuses as having "multiple lapses in corporate governance." Icahn says that he has "recently accumulated a significant position in EBay" as "there is great long-term value in the business." But things aren't all that rosy at the [...]
What you need to know before the US open February 21, 2014 US stock futures have edged higher as investors concentrate on the fortunes of tech companies, following some strong results. Better-than-expectated manufacturing data have continued boosted confidence across European and Asian markets, particularly after China’s equivalent results were weaker than forecast. Focus is on existing home sales, which are expected to have fallen slightly in January, [...]
3 electric car myths debunked February 20, 2014 If Tesla Motors' results are anything to go by, it looks like electric cars are taking off. Yesterday, the firm revealed a gross profit of $156.6m (£93.7m) – over six times higher than than a year earlier. The forward-thinking company, which is headed by PayPal and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, saw record transactions of its [...]
Electric results for Tesla as sales of Model S car hit record high February 19, 2014 ELECTRIC car firm Tesla yesterday revealed a gross profit of $156.59m (£93.68m) in the final quarter of last year, more than six times higher than the same period in 2012. Total revenues also doubled over the year, expanding from $306.32m in the final quarter of 2012 to $615.22m in the three months to December 2013. [...]
PayPal rival Stripe aims for the currency crown with expansion February 11, 2014 STRIPE, the online payments firm started by two Irish brothers in their mid-20s and valued at $1.75bn (£1.06bn) last month, has expanded its payment services from four to over 130 currencies. “This is something phenomenally important to businesses, because when you’re selling to an increasingly global audience you want to be able to make transactions [...]
Online payments company Stripe expands to 130 currencies February 11, 2014 Stripe, the online payments firm started by two Irish brothers in their mid-20s and valued at $1.75bn (£1.06bn) last month, has expanded its payment services from four to over 130 currencies. “This is something that is phenomenally important to businesses, because when you’re selling to an increasingly global audience you want to be able to [...]