‘Don’t be evil’: Google abandoned motto and lost its way, says former exec January 6, 2020 Google’s former head of international relations has hit out at the company’s human rights record and corporate culture in a blog post detailing why he left the tech giant. Ross LaJeunesse, who left Google in May last year after 11 years at the firm, claimed that “standing up for for women, for the LGBTQ community, [...]
Investors brace for rocky week of geopolitical tension January 5, 2020 Investors are bracing themselves for a rocky week’s trading which will be dominated by heightened tensions in the Middle East and feature a key US jobs report and many companies’ financial results. Traders started 2020 in a buoyant mood on Thursday of last week, with equity indices rising considerably. The US’s assassination of Iranian general [...]
Vivendi sells Universal Music Group stake to Tencent consortium December 31, 2019 Vivendi has sold a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music Group to a Tencent-led consortium, in a deal valuing the label housing Lady Gaga, The Beatles, and Taylor Swift at €30bn (£25.5bn). The deal allows both companies to expand in the recovering global music market, giving Chinese conglomerate Tencent more access to US artists, [...]
Huawei predicts ‘difficult’ 2020 as US sanctions bite December 31, 2019 Huawei has cut its full-year revenue forecasts, with the Chinese tech giant’s chairman saying 2020 is likely to be a “difficult year” for the company after US trade blacklisting disrupted growth and its ability to source key parts. The world’s biggest maker of telecom network equipment and second largest smartphone manufacturer said its full-year revenue [...]
Global shares on the rise in end of year rally December 28, 2019 Global markets scaled records on Friday as the prospect of growth was raised by optimism surrounding a US-China trade deal and strong Chinese economic data. Wall Street saw all-time highs early on Friday before losing steam at the session’s close, with the Nasdaq losing some ground. The Dow Jones rose 23.87 points in total, or [...]
Oil prices rise on renewed hopes of US-China trade deal December 26, 2019 Oil prices lifted this morning as markets responded to a potential breakthrough in US-China trade talks and production cuts by producer group Opec. Brent crude rose 11 per cent to $66.23 a barrel in early trading, while West Texas Intermediate was up 0.25 per cent at $61.26. Read more: Shell takes $2bn hit amid slowing [...]
Clashes as police try to clear Hong Kong protesters after rally December 22, 2019 Hong Kong riot police pepper sprayed protesters to disperse crowds in the heart of the city’s financial district on Sunday after a largely peaceful rally in support of China’s Uighur ethnic minority turned chaotic. Dozens of police marched across a public square overlooking Hong Kong’s harbour to face off with protesters who hurled glass bottles and rocks at them. [...]
European dealmakers top global M&A rankings for second consecutive year December 17, 2019 Europe was the only region to enjoy a positive M&A performance in 2019 amid a global downturn that will continue into 2020, according to new analysis. European dealmakers marginally outperformed their regional index by 0.6 percentage points over the last year despite a poor performance from UK buyers, according to research by insurer Willis Towers [...]
Aramco hits $2 trillion as shares rise for fourth day in a row December 16, 2019 Shares in Saudi Aramco continued to rise for a fourth day, with the firm’s value tipping $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) as shares hit 38 riyals (760p) today. The firm’s opening price was 37.5 riyals, but soon rose 1.6 per cent to reach 38 riyals, making the oil giant worth $2.03 trillion. Read more: Saudi Aramco [...]
Uber in talks to sell Indian food delivery business to Zomato in $400m deal December 16, 2019 Uber is said to be in talks to sell its Indian food delivery business to local rival Zomato in a deal worth roughly $400m (£299m). The ride-hailing giant is looking to offload Uber Eats in India to Zomato as part of its plan to reach profitability by 2021, according to several media reports. Read more: [...]