Charles Li tells Santa all about big bad Alibaba December 22, 2014 Writing a letter to Santa is pretty standard at this time of year, mostly for those between the age of four and nine. But penning a note to Little Saint Nick isn’t beyond some middle-aged finance chiefs, The Capitalist hears. Charles Li, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has written a [...]
Camden Market owner Market Tech Holdings valued at £844m after first day of trading on Aim December 22, 2014 Market Tech Holdings, the company that owns the iconic Camden Market, has a valuation of £844m after its first day of trading on the alternative investment market (Aim) of the New York Stock Exchange. Shares in the company which combines real estate assets with an e-commerce platform jumped by 12.5 per cent from their [...]
Hong Kong stock exchange chief exec Charles Li writes to Santa to lament loss of Alibaba IPO December 22, 2014 Writing a letter to Santa: At primary school it’s expected, for early teens it’s understandable, for sixth formers it’s a little strange. But for the chief executive of one of the world’s biggest stock exchanges it’s downright bizarre and just a bit bonkers. Charles Li, chief executive of the Hong Kong stock exchange [...]
The hour-long lunch break: Is it worth taking? December 15, 2014 Even well-known executives aren’t afraid to take some “me time”. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have been known to take them together. The French often take twice as long as the rest of us (and the Italians longer still), while 20 per cent of Brits claim not to take one at all, according to [...]
23 pictures that sum up 2014 December 15, 2014 The year is drawing to an end so it's time to take a look back at 2014 in pictures. In January, workers at the French Goodyear factory went on strike and then took two executives hostage after it was announced that the company was going to close the plant, with the loss of more [...]
Snap! Instagram leaves Twitter in the dust with 300m daily users December 10, 2014 FACEBOOK’S photo-sharing service, Instagram, yesterday said it now had more than 300m users sharing over 70m photos and videos each day. Meanwhile, microblogging service Twitter, which recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, reaching a valuation of $23.4bn (£14.8bn), had just 284m active users, according to its website. Instagram, bought by Facebook in April [...]
Manchester United share price plummets as club announces player spending in “near term” December 9, 2014 Manchester United’s share price plummeted by over nine per cent on the US stock exchange this morning, after Edward Glazer put 3m of his shares up for sale and the club confirmed further spending on players in the “near term”. After markets in the US closed yesterday Edward Glazer, one of Malcolm Glazer’s six [...]
Intercontinental Exchange exits stake in Euronext with share sale December 8, 2014 INTERCONTINENTAL Exchange (ICE) yesterday announced it was selling its final stake in Euronext, pricing the placement of 4.2m shares. The shares, representing approximately six per cent of Euronext’s share capital, are to be sold by way of an accelerated book-building to institutional investors, at a price of €23 each. ICE said it expected the gross [...]
What the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s October meeting tell us November 19, 2014 The minutes from the Federal Reserve's October 28 – 29 meeting showed little debate between its members on the key aspects of last month's statement. Last month, the Fed stuck to its pledge to keep interest rates near zero for a "considerable time" but gave little indication as to when interest rates would raise. [...]
Christmas countdown: The best shopping destinations in London, from Tiffany’s on Old Bond St to the Hyper Japan market at Olympia November 11, 2014 London is renowned as one of the great shopping centres of the world, a constantly evolving playground for anyone with money to spend and time to spend it. Whether you’re looking for hip new openings – like those from Bally, Richard James and Hackett – or stalwarts that are guaranteed to come up with [...]