Lloyds shareholders lose £385m HBOS High Court case November 15, 2019 Lloyds shareholders today lost a £385m High Court case against the bank’s acquisition of HBOS at the height of the financial crisis. England’s highest court rejected a claim from a group of 5,803 investors that they were “mugged” when the bank recommended the 2009 deal without revealing the state of HBOS’ finances. Read more: First [...]
Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick takes stock sale to over $700m November 14, 2019 Just days after disposing more than a fifth of his stake in ride-hailing app Uber, ousted chief executive Travis Kalanick has sold a further 6.1m shares in the company he helped found. According to a company filing submitted yesterday, the entrepreneur sold an additional $164m (£127.6m) of stock, taking the total disposed of this month [...]
Uber launches new safety measures in bid to secure a London licence November 14, 2019 Uber passengers will now be able to report discrimination immediately as a part of the app’s push to quell fears about safety and secure a long-term London licence later this month. The ride-hailing app was given a two-month licence extension by Transport for London (TfL) in September. TfL said it needed to see more evidence [...]
Has WeWork destroyed SoftBank’s credibility? November 13, 2019 By John Colley at Warwick Business School Why is Japanese investment firm SoftBank investing a further $8 billion into WeWork, even though the office rental company is now valued at just $8 billion, and buying out founder Adam Neumann at a further cost of $1.7 billion? Forgetting SoftBank’s previous sunk investments in WeWork – which [...]
Alibaba’s secondary Hong Kong listing gets exchange approval November 13, 2019 Alibaba has been given the green light by the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEX)for a secondary listing in the city that could raise up to $15bn (£11.7bn), in what is set to be one of the biggest fundraisings in the world this year. The Chinese online retail giant is set to begin a week-long investor [...]
Banks are under threat – and this time it’s personal November 13, 2019 The launch of Uber Money, which provides payment and banking services to the company’s drivers, is an example of the next big trend in banking — the rise of the so-called “non-bank”. The establishment of a financial product for non-banks goes beyond simple revenue growth. It is about establishing loyalty, and in the case of Uber, loyalty [...]
London startup Zego gains first ever licence for UK insurtech November 12, 2019 An insurance startup aimed at the gig economy today said it is the first insurtech firm in the UK to secure an insurance licence. Zego, which offers flexible insurance to freelance workers such as drivers for Uber or riders for Deliveroo, said it was awarded the licence by the Gibraltarian regulator. Chief executive Sten Saar [...]
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon says wealth gap is ‘huge problem’ November 11, 2019 JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon has admitted there is a “huge problem” with the wealth gap in the US, wading into the debate over income inequality after facing heat from Democratic frontrunner Elizabeth Warren. The Wall Street titan told CBS that “the wealthy have been getting wealthier too much in many ways”, but he remained tight-lipped when [...]
Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick offloads $550m in shares November 11, 2019 Uber’s ousted co-founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick has sold nearly 21 per cent of his stake in the ride-hailing app since restrictions on trading expired last week. Read more: Uber shares hit record low after IPO lock-up expiry In a series of transactions, Kalanick sold more than 20m shares worth roughly $547m (£425m), according [...]
Floating on Airbnb: We meet the founder who is taking the hassle out of hosting November 11, 2019 When James Jenkins-Yates rented out his London home via Airbnb while he went on holiday to Rome, it was a complete disaster. “Everything went wrong,” he tells me. “I had three back-to-back bookings over the week and guests were everywhere — I received calls at 3am, one guest couldn’t get in through the gate, cleaners [...]