Investors prepare for Facebook’s IPO November 20, 2011 REID Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, expects Facebook to finally pull off its long-awaited IPO in the first half of next year. Mark Zuckerberg’s (pictured) company is keen to cash in on the bumper demand for tech IPOs, with the social network expected to break every record in the book when it finally lists. Its [...]
A weekend in Johannesburg November 20, 2011 THERE’S too much history in this town.” So says my tour guide Zac as we speed away from Johannesburg airport. He’s not wrong. Just 125 years old, South Africa’s largest city has developed as though on steroids. The often bloody events that mark its relatively short lifetime read like those of a much older city. [...]
MATCH ANALYSIS November 20, 2011 KEY MOMENT Instead of the story centering on Chelsea suffering back-to-back defeats in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge for the first time since 2002, it may well have been all about the merits of a spirited second half revival were it not for the reactions and agility of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Less than [...]
Osborne under pressure due to the price of fuel November 15, 2011 GEORGE Osborne came under pressure yesterday to do more to help motorists struggling with the price of fuel. MPs unanimously approved a motion – without the need for a vote – calling for action on sky-high petrol prices after Cameron effectively gave his party freedom to break from the official line. The Tory-led motion was [...]
We shouldn’t write off traditional media yet November 15, 2011 LAST week I had the pleasure of two days of pure blue skies at the Monaco Media Forum. As you hope and expect at these gatherings, there was also a confusing barrage of blue-sky thinking. One speaker was working on a project to develop the 3D printer concept by investigating the practicality of printing a [...]
TalkTalk loses market share November 15, 2011 TalkTalk has succumbed to intense pressure from BT and Sky in the broadband market in recent months, shedding a net 70,000 customers. Revenues for the first six months fell 4.8 per cent to £844m but profits surged 36 per cent to £68m. Its net debt remained broadly flat at £475m.
Hamlet has a brand new Sheen November 10, 2011 Theatre HAMLET YOUNG VIC No play can bore or tire the viewer more if produced unoriginally or acted weakly, and none can engage, emote nor enthral more if done well, than Hamlet. This Hamlet, starring Michael Sheen and directed by Ian Rickson (director of smash hit Jerusalem, playing across town), is the enthralling kind. Every [...]
Murdoch is named chair of News Ltd November 9, 2011 RUPERT Murdoch has assumed the role of chairman of News Corp’s Australian arm in a bid to shore up its defence against an increasingly hostile government. Current chairman of News Ltd John Hartigan, a veteran journalist, is retiring, paving the way for a homecoming for Murdoch. Investors in News Corp have been pressing for Murdoch [...]
Carphone will sell its stake in US venture November 6, 2011 CARPHONE Warehouse (CPW) is set to announce a major overhaul of its tie-up with Best Buy, including shuttering a string of UK stores and selling its stake in its US joint venture for almost $1bn (£620m). The British firm will finally pull the plug on 11 super-sized “Big Box” electrical retailers when it posts its [...]
Willetts: Over-borrowing in the boom years was immoral November 6, 2011 INDIVIDUALS and politicians made a “moral mistake” by borrowing too much during the boom years, David Willetts, the universities minister, said yesterday. Willetts told Sky News the “values of our economy” had “gone wrong” under Labour, because there “was too much borrowing and not enough saving”. He said: “We were living beyond our means on [...]