Classic Layout

FB names Dropbox CEO to board

Bloomberg Dropbox Inc Chief Executive Officer Drew Houston is joining Facebook Inc’s board. Houston, who co-founded file-sharing software company Dropbox in 2007, is a friend of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Houston has in the past turned to Zuckerberg for help running his own company. “He’s given me a lot of advice on company scaling,” Houston told Bloomberg’s Emily Chang in ...

Read More »

Economic cost of EU climate ambition comes under scrutiny

Bloomberg The world’s biggest trading bloc shouldn’t rush into more ambitious climate targets this decade without assessing how lower emissions could impact the economy, according to a top European Union (EU) lawmaker. With the EU preparing to forge its flagship Green Deal into law later this month, European People’s Party Parliamentarian Peter Liese said his party wants to see how ...

Read More »

Pompeo would be smart to rein in his belligerence

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent blowup at NPR host Mary Louise Kelly was not an isolated, out-of-character moment or a particular surprise for those who have worked with him — or been on the receiving end of one of his blasts. Kelly’s radio interview on January 24 was going fine until she pressed Pompeo on whether he owed an ...

Read More »

Carney refuses to play an encore

A UK rate cut was not to be — well not yet anyway. After an entirely sensible decision at his final meeting before bowing out, the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will hand over the reins to his successor Andrew Bailey in mid-March without any radical change. With such a sharp recovery in a wide range of UK confidence ...

Read More »

Unilever should sell the Lipton unit and more

Alan Jope’s efforts to instill purpose into the British heritage tea brand, PG Tips, have been all about bringing people together over a nice cup of tea. Now Unilever NV’s chief executive officer wants to cleave the tired tea business apart from the rest of the consumer giant. He’s conducting a strategic review of the division, which also includes the ...

Read More »

Lagarde’s optimism was too optimistic for ECB

Christine Lagarde sounded mildly optimistic as she talked about the euro region’s economy last week. The disappointing data gives her a reality check. The situation remains fragile and the European Central Bank (ECB) is still far from its inflation target. The newly installed ECB president would be wise to return to her earlier caution. The monetary union expanded by a ...

Read More »

The robots are coming for fund management jobs

Remember Aibo, the computerised dog Sony Corp. started selling in 1999 as the first personal robot? Hiro Mizuno, the chief investment officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), does. So he asked Sony’s computer science lab unit to build him a cyberhound using artificial intelligence to help oversee the external fund managers who manage GPIF’s $1.6 trillion in assets. ...

Read More »

Luxury king is armed for uncertain times

When even LVMH misses estimates, it’s not a good look for the luxury sector. While the owner of the Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior brands still delivered 8% growth in organic sales in the final quarter of the year, this was slightly below the consensus of analysts’ estimates of 8.7%. Organic sales from the fashion and leather goods division rose ...

Read More »

Fed rate cuts do no favours for spring homebuyers

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times last year and pledged not to increase them absent meaningful increases in wages and inflation — welcome news for the labour market and economic expansion. But in a twist, the shift wasn’t welcomed by one group of people: would-be homebuyers. Although lower mortgage rates mean more households can afford a higher purchase ...

Read More »

WeWork officially opens in UAE

Dubai / WAM Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s tech ecosystem officially launched WeWork x Hub71 – three floors of beautifully designed workspace offering 1,200 desks for members to innovate, collaborate and connect – in the award-winning international financial centre, Abu Dhabi Global Market, on Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi. The grand launch event was attended by Hub71’s strategic partners, senior government officials, ...

Read More »
Send this to a friend