“Rise up”: The full text of Tony Blair’s Open Britain speech on Brexit February 17, 2017 Tony Blair has been absent from British politics for years, now – but today he returned in spectacular style, urging the UK's population to "rise up" against Brexit. Although some (including former deputy PM Nick Clegg) liked it, the majority of reaction has been that he missed the mark. Not sure what you think? Here's [...]
As loss-making Snapchat sets its valuation at up to $22.2bn, would you have to be mad to invest in its IPO? February 17, 2017 Chris Beauchamp, a senior market analyst at IG, says Yes. As the latest tech IPO to come to market, Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, offers the usual combination of coolness, hype and dubious fundamentals. The IG grey market in Snap continues to suggest that the stock will see a pop on the first day [...]
Damon Hill: Liberty Media knows as much about Formula One as Donald Trump does about the White House February 16, 2017 Former world champion Damon Hill has compared Formula One's new American owners to the administration of US President Donald Trump. Liberty Media completed its takeover of Formula One in January, ousting stalwart Bernie Ecclestone and bringing a raft of heavy hitters to govern the sport, including media mogul Chase Carey and former Mercedes boss Ross [...]
Mark Clattenburg vows to improve refereeing in Saudi Arabia after quitting English football in shock move February 16, 2017 England’s top referee Mark Clattenburg has vowed to help raise standards of officiating in Saudi Arabia after announcing his shock decision to quit the Premier League and move to the Middle East. Clattenburg has agreed to become Saudi Arabia’s head of referees, a role in which he will oversee the country’s officials while also taking [...]
All about the price tag? Yahoo’s price Tumblrs by hundreds of millions as Verizon closes in on a deal February 16, 2017 Verizon is close to agreeing a discount of up to $350m (£280m) on its purchase of beleaguered tech giant Yahoo. The US telecoms giant agreed to pay $4.8bn for Yahoo last year, but has been trying to renegotiate the deal in the wake of two mammoth cyber attacks on the business. Sources told Reuters an updated [...]
Firms are wising up on the need to reform executive pay February 16, 2017 To mere mortals, executive pay can sometimes seem out of this world. Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs No2 who is now director of the National Economic Council in the US, was awarded $284m (£227m) by the Wall St bank upon departure. In the UK, the best paid chief executive is WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell, whose [...]
Jack Dorsey gave Twitter a really expensive Valentine’s Day present February 15, 2017 Twitter founder Jack Dorsey celebrated Valentine's Day with a big confidence boost for the social network. Dorsey bought just over $7m (£5.6m) worth of Twitter stock – and of course, tweeted about it, using the romantic hashtag #LoveTwitter. #LoveTwitter https://t.co/fELbw0ska7 — jack (@jack) February 14, 2017 The Twitter boss, who also founded (and is, controversially, chief executive of) payments company [...]
Ladies and gentlemen, here are the best eggs benedict in London February 14, 2017 1. The Wolseley 160 Piccadilly, St James’s, W1J 9EB The Wolseley isn’t just somewhere to eat breakfast – it’s an institution, somewhere to see and be seen, especially if you work in the media or arts. As you’d expect from such a revered establishment, it also serves an excellent line in eggs benedict. If you [...]
Could corporate spying be a larger threat to business security than cyber attacks? February 14, 2017 When a fresh-faced graduate reported promptly one morning for his first day at a financial institution, he offered up a passport as identification. Reception staff checked his name off a list of other new recruits and issued him with a building pass to join scheduled induction sessions. He never attended the meetings, and instead swept [...]
The worrying tale of how my business made $515m more than Snapchat last year February 14, 2017 The marketing and media agency I co-founded likely made at least $1bn more profit than Uber last year. We also made $515m more than Snapchat and $450m more than Twitter. This isn’t because we did anything particularly remarkable. We just stuck to the basic business principle that it’s better to make money than lose it. [...]