Reckitt slump offers a cue to slim down 18 Mar 2024 The $41 bln Lysol maker’s shares fell sharply after it lost a US court case. One option for Reckitt Benckiser is to separate the nutrition arm, focus of the legal woes. That would ease the hit to the rest of the group, but also leave a new arm that may yet be worth something.
UK media muddle is fresh turn-off for foreign cash 14 Mar 2024 Hurried Westminster amendments are set to block an Abu Dhabi-backed bid to buy the Telegraph. It’s OK to stop foreign states owning domestic media, and it may not even upend UAE relations. But making policy on the hoof so flagrantly offers a new reason to swerve UK assets.
Time continues to be on TikTok’s side 12 Mar 2024 A US bill that would force the social media app’s parent ByteDance to sell the platform is gaining ground. Demands are like those made years ago, only the app is now more powerful, the relationship with China more complicated, and politicians less willing to compromise.
Apple’s Epic fail powers up EU tech oversight cred 11 Mar 2024 The $2.6 trln firm quickly reversed its decision to close ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games’ developer account. Frowns from the EU, which is going after Big Tech via fresh laws, look to have played a role. The episode is as much a victory for the bloc’s credibility as it is for Epic.
Musk vs. Altman is a battle everyone loses 5 Mar 2024 The Tesla boss's complaint that OpenAI ignored obligations to the human race distracts from a bigger problem. Existential issues are best overseen by democratic governments, because to leave them to techno-libertarians and private contracts is absurd. AI is no different.
EU’s $2 bln Apple bite is still more of a bark 4 Mar 2024 Brussels is fining the US giant more than expected for hurting streaming competition. That leaves $2.7 trln Apple open to similar cases. But as with other EU bids to rein in Big Tech, it hikes the cost of doing business more than it shakes up the sector.
Healthcare’s $450 bln octopus becomes the kraken 28 Feb 2024 Trustbusters are probing UnitedHealth, which insures 53 mln patients and works with 10% of US doctors, while also managing pharmacy benefits and more. It’s hard to dispute the market power. Whether there’s abuse, and how to stop it without hurting consumers, is less obvious.
Stephen King ghost-writes trustbusting bestseller 27 Feb 2024 The US FTC is suing to block the $25 bln merger of grocers Kroger and Albertsons partly because of perceived harm to union labor. It resembles, oddly enough, a winning DOJ lawsuit over Penguin’s deal to buy Simon & Schuster. The case has a good shot at becoming a horror classic.
Buffett puts $1 trln grid problem in a bad light 26 Feb 2024 The billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway became one of the biggest US utilities on the basis that providing electricity would generate steady returns. He now says he made a “costly mistake.” Thirteen-digit capital demands from climate change are quickly dimming investment prospects.
Russia risk looms over Euroclear profit windfall 22 Feb 2024 The Brussels-based clearing house is a reluctant depository for sanctioned Russian assets. It made 5.7 bln euros before tax last year thanks to cash sitting on its balance sheet. But the bonanza also makes it a target. A blow to financial stability would far exceed one-off gains.
Peter Thiel’s latest bitcoin bet is a coronation 13 Feb 2024 The billionaire’s Founders Fund pocketed $1.8 bln in 2022 on crypto investments before dipping back in last fall. Bitcoin has since been anointed with an ETF and technology that furthers its use. The currency isn’t yet legitimate, but Thiel’s return marks its growing status.
Elon Musk charts largely painless Delaware exodus 2 Feb 2024 Tesla’s boss is angling to reincorporate in Texas after the First State’s corporate judiciary undid his $56 bln pay package. Such a move would invite yet another lawsuit, but have little effect on investors. It also might give other cultish CEOs ideas on the value of governance.
Meta investors take wins now, forget about later 1 Feb 2024 The company is paying its first ever dividend just as politicians are on the warpath: a senator this week said CEO Mark Zuckerberg had blood on his hands. DC dysfunction protects investors for now. But safety issues dent its reputation, and political shifts will be a problem.
Elon Musk is his own worst enemy: part 420 31 Jan 2024 A Delaware court nixed the Tesla CEO’s $56 bln pay package, finding rampant dysfunction behind it. The sum may have been justifiable, but the carnival barking that underpins the company’s valuation complicates matters. If investors keep enabling Musk, bad governance will persist.
Exxon activists banished best with vote, not court 22 Jan 2024 The $385 bln oil giant wants a judge to stop a shareholder proposal urging stringent emissions limits from going to a vote. Similar measures failed before. Fighting rather than letting this one fall flat amplifies dissent and echoes past doomed dismissals of investor concerns.
Spirit deal loss eases anxiety for everyone else 16 Jan 2024 A judge grounded JetBlue’s $4 bln purchase of the ultra-cheap carrier. The defeat avoided a potentially unprecedented intervention by regulators that would have clouded the industry, while affirming antitrust blowback. But Spirit’s shares halved, for good reason.
New York Times arrives in new tech with AI lawsuit 28 Dec 2023 The 172-year-old newspaper publisher is suing OpenAI and its backer Microsoft for alleged unauthorized use of its articles to train chatbots. It could help compel tech companies to pay publishers for news content, shifting a modicum of power back to the battered media industry.
Antitrust legendarily unpredictable despite Epic 12 Dec 2023 A jury ruled against Google in a case brought by the gaming firm while an emboldened FTC blocked Sanofi from snagging a new drug. Yet Pfizer is pushing ahead with a $43 bln deal. Rainmakers can be comforted that regulators’ front offices aren’t a totally impenetrable barrier.
NCAA gets B for paying jocks; for an A, drop the C 6 Dec 2023 The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s plan to uncap amateur earnings while attending school is a long-overdue change for good. Its blueprint has flaws, however, and keeps control in the hands of a few. A good next step would be to separate sports from higher education.
Purdue mess pits drug victims against due process 5 Dec 2023 The $10 bln settlement ending opioid lawsuits is done and dusted, except for a case being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Justices’ discomfort over bankruptcy protection for the Sackler family has merit. But throwing out a deal means aggrieved parties just have to wait longer.