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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Influential Magazine</title> <atom:link href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk</link> <description>Latest Entrepreneur & Business News</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 15:40:20 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2</generator> <image> <url>https://influentialmag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/cropped-inf-icon-32x32.png</url> <title>Influential Magazine</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height></image> <item> <title>Study Suggests Genetics as a Cause, Not Just a Risk, for Some Alzheimers</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/study-suggests-genetics-as-a-cause-not-just-a-risk-for-some-alzheimers/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/study-suggests-genetics-as-a-cause-not-just-a-risk-for-some-alzheimers/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 15:40:19 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/study-suggests-genetics-as-a-cause-not-just-a-risk-for-some-alzheimers/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Scientists are proposing a new way of understanding the genetics of Alzheimer’s that would mean that up to a fifth of patients would be considered to have a genetically caused form of the disease. Currently, the vast majority of Alzheimer’s cases do not have a clearly identified cause. The new designation, proposed in a study [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/study-suggests-genetics-as-a-cause-not-just-a-risk-for-some-alzheimers/">Study Suggests Genetics as a Cause, Not Just a Risk, for Some Alzheimers</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Scientists are proposing a new way of understanding the genetics of Alzheimer’s that would mean that up to a fifth of patients would be considered to have a genetically caused form of the disease.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Currently, the vast majority of Alzheimer’s cases do not have a clearly identified cause. The new designation, proposed in a study published Monday, could broaden the scope of efforts to develop treatments, including gene therapy, and affect the design of clinical trials.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It could also mean that hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone could, if they chose, receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s before developing any symptoms of cognitive decline, although there currently are no treatments for people at that stage.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The new classification would make this type of Alzheimer’s one of the most common genetic disorders in the world, medical experts said.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“This reconceptualization that we’re proposing affects not a small minority of people,” said Dr. Juan Fortea, an author of the study and the director of the Sant Pau Memory Unit in Barcelona, Spain. “Sometimes we say that we don’t know the cause of Alzheimer’s disease,” but, he said, this would mean that about 15 to 20 percent of cases “can be tracked back to a cause, and the cause is in the genes.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The idea involves a gene variant called APOE4. Scientists have long known that inheriting one copy of the variant increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and that people with two copies, inherited from each parent, have vastly increased risk.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The new study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, analyzed data from over 500 people with two copies of APOE4, a significantly larger pool than in previous studies. The researchers found that almost all of those patients developed the biological pathology of Alzheimer’s, and the authors say that two copies of APOE4 should now be considered a cause of Alzheimer’s — not simply a risk factor.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The patients also developed Alzheimer’s pathology relatively young, the study found. By age 55, over 95 percent had biological markers associated with the disease. By 65, almost all had abnormal levels of a protein called amyloid that forms plaques in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. And many started developing symptoms of cognitive decline at age 65, younger than most people without the APOE4 variant.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The critical thing is that these individuals are often symptomatic 10 years earlier than other forms of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Reisa Sperling, a neurologist at Mass General Brigham in Boston and an author of the study.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">She added, “By the time they are picked up and clinically diagnosed, because they’re often younger, they have more pathology.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">People with two copies, known as APOE4 homozygotes, make up 2 to 3 percent of the general population, but are an estimated 15 to 20 percent of people with Alzheimer’s dementia, experts said. People with one copy make up about 15 to 25 percent of the general population, and about 50 percent of Alzheimer’s dementia patients.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The most common variant is called APOE3, which seems to have a neutral effect on Alzheimer’s risk. About 75 percent of the general population has one copy of APOE3, and more than half of the general population has two copies.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Alzheimer’s experts not involved in the study said classifying the two-copy condition as genetically determined Alzheimer’s could have significant implications, including encouraging drug development beyond the field’s recent major focus on treatments that target and reduce amyloid.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Samuel Gandy, an Alzheimer’s researcher at Mount Sinai in New York, who was not involved in the study, said that patients with two copies of APOE4 faced much higher safety risks from anti-amyloid drugs.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When the Food and Drug Administration approved the anti-amyloid drug Leqembi last year, it required a black-box warning on the label saying that the medication can cause “serious and life-threatening events” such as swelling and bleeding in the brain, especially for people with two copies of APOE4. Some treatment centers decided not to offer Leqembi, an intravenous infusion, to such patients.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Gandy and other experts said that classifying these patients as having a distinct genetic form of Alzheimer’s would galvanize interest in developing drugs that are safe and effective for them and add urgency to current efforts to prevent cognitive decline in people who do not yet have symptoms.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Rather than say we have nothing for you, let’s look for a trial,” Dr. Gandy said, adding that such patients should be included in trials at younger ages, given how early their pathology starts.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Besides trying to develop drugs, some researchers are exploring gene editing to transform APOE4 into a variant called APOE2, which appears to protect against Alzheimer’s. Another gene-therapy approach being studied involves injecting APOE2 into patients’ brains.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The new study had some limitations, including a lack of diversity that might make the findings less generalizable. Most patients in the study had European ancestry. While two copies of APOE4 also greatly increase Alzheimer’s risk in other ethnicities, the risk levels differ, said Dr. Michael Greicius, a neurologist at Stanford University School of Medicine who was not involved in the research.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“One important argument against their interpretation is that the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in APOE4 homozygotes varies substantially across different genetic ancestries,” said Dr. Greicius, who cowrote a study that found that white people with two copies of APOE4 had 13 times the risk of white people with two copies of APOE3, while Black people with two copies of APOE4 had 6.5 times the risk of Black people with two copies of APOE3.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“This has critical implications when counseling patients about their ancestry-informed genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” he said, “and it also speaks to some yet-to-be-discovered genetics and biology that presumably drive this massive difference in risk.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Under the current genetic understanding of Alzheimer’s, less than 2 percent of cases are considered genetically caused. Some of those patients inherited a mutation in one of three genes and can develop symptoms as early as their 30s or 40s. Others are people with Down syndrome, who have three copies of a chromosome containing a protein that often leads to what is called Down syndrome-associated Alzheimer’s disease.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Sperling said the genetic alterations in those cases are believed to fuel buildup of amyloid, while APOE4 is believed to interfere with clearing amyloid buildup.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Under the researchers’ proposal, having one copy of APOE4 would continue to be considered a risk factor, not enough to cause Alzheimer’s, Dr. Fortea said. It is unusual for diseases to follow that genetic pattern, called “semidominance,” with two copies of a variant causing the disease, but one copy only increasing risk, experts said.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The new recommendation will prompt questions about whether people should get tested to determine if they have the APOE4 variant.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Greicius said that until there were treatments for people with two copies of APOE4 or trials of therapies to prevent them from developing dementia, “My recommendation is if you don’t have symptoms, you should definitely not figure out your APOE status.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">He added, “It will only cause grief at this point.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Finding ways to help these patients cannot come soon enough, Dr. Sperling said, adding, “These individuals are desperate, they’ve seen it in both of their parents often and really need therapies.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/study-suggests-genetics-as-a-cause-not-just-a-risk-for-some-alzheimers/">Study Suggests Genetics as a Cause, Not Just a Risk, for Some Alzheimers</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/study-suggests-genetics-as-a-cause-not-just-a-risk-for-some-alzheimers/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Tensions Rise in Silicon Valley Over Sales of Start-Up Stocks</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/tensions-rise-in-silicon-valley-over-sales-of-start-up-stocks/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/tensions-rise-in-silicon-valley-over-sales-of-start-up-stocks/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 09:34:54 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/tensions-rise-in-silicon-valley-over-sales-of-start-up-stocks/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Sohail Prasad, an entrepreneur, launched a fund in March called the Destiny Tech100. The fund owns shares in hot tech start-ups like the payments firm Stripe, the rocket maker SpaceX and the artificial intelligence company OpenAI. Few people get the chance to invest in these privately held companies since their shares are not openly traded. [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/tensions-rise-in-silicon-valley-over-sales-of-start-up-stocks/">Tensions Rise in Silicon Valley Over Sales of Start-Up Stocks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Sohail Prasad, an entrepreneur, launched a fund in March called the Destiny Tech100. The fund owns shares in hot tech start-ups like the payments firm Stripe, the rocket maker SpaceX and the artificial intelligence company OpenAI.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Few people get the chance to invest in these privately held companies since their shares are not openly traded. Mr. Prasad’s intention with Destiny was to let the rest of the world get a piece of them through his fund.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But soon after Destiny debuted, two tech start-ups — Stripe and Plaid, a banking service — said the fund did not legally own their shares. A competitor criticized Destiny as “too good to be true.” Robinhood, the stock trading app, stopped letting investors buy into the fund, saying it had been added to its app by mistake.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Prasad was not surprised by the uproar. It was a sign of “a true cultural movement in which DXYZ is at the forefront,” he said, referring to Destiny by its ticker symbol.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Tensions over the shadowy and often enigmatic market of private company stocks have reached a boiling point, just as the buying and selling of such shares has grown bigger than ever. At its center is an age-old debate: Should everyone have access to the riches and risks of investing in Silicon Valley start-ups?</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The market for private company stocks, also known as the secondary market, is on track to hit a record $64 billion this year, up 40 percent from last year, according to Sacra, a research firm focused on private investments. A decade ago, the private company stock market was roughly $16 billion, according to Industry Ventures, a firm focused on secondary transactions.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As the appetite for private company shares has soared, so have the headaches. If a company is publicly traded, like Apple or Amazon, anyone can easily buy and sell its stock. But privately owned tech start-ups like Stripe typically have a small circle of owners, such as their founders and employees, as well as the wealthy individuals and venture capital firms that provided financing for the companies to grow. The companies’ stocks do not usually change hands.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Now, as these start-ups mature and don’t appear to be in a rush to go public, a wider range of investors are becoming eager to own their stock. New online marketplaces that match sellers of start-up stock with interested buyers have sprung up.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">And funds like Destiny have appeared. Destiny is among the only options for retail investors, since most other funds and marketplaces are restricted to “accredited” investors with high incomes or net worth.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The activity has increasingly rattled some start-ups, which have long resisted letting their shares freely change hands. The more people who own their stock, the more unwieldy the number of shareholders, which can lead to difficulties complying with securities laws, among other complications. While some start-ups are allowing some trading of their stock, other trades are happening without permission.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We’re coming to a point where something has to give,” said Noel Moldvai, the chief executive of Augment, a marketplace for private start-up shares.</p><h2 class="css-9ycfei eoo0vm40" id="link-1296de9">‘Hey, I Own Some SpaceX’</h2></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Among the online marketplaces for buying and selling private company stocks is Hiive, which started in 2022. It is currently offering customers shares in Anthropic, a hot artificial intelligence start-up.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Hiive bought $50 million of Anthropic stock and is letting investors buy chunks as small as $25,000, said Sim Desai, the company’s chief executive. The site oversees an average of around $20 million in deals a week.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">At Augment, which opened last year, investors interested in owning shares in Stripe can peruse four “sell orders,” or people trying to sell Stripe shares. Augment did more than $20 million of transactions in March, Mr. Moldvai said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Some investment funds — including Stack Capital, Fundrise, Private Shares Fund and ARK Invest’s ARK Venture Fund — are also pitching the ability to own a piece of private start-ups. Destiny, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange and contains shares in 23 start-ups worth around $53 million, is one of a few options that are publicly traded.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The activity has alarmed some start-ups. Stripe, valued at $65 billion in the private market, has issued a strongly worded statement about offers to buy its stock. Any offer to invest in its shares that does not come from the company is “very likely a scam,” it said. Stripe has encouraged shareholders to report such offers to law enforcement.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Stripe and Anthropic declined to comment for this article.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Even so, people remain eager to get shares of the start-ups, said Jeff Parks, chief executive of Stack Capital, which offers investors access to companies including SpaceX and Canva, a design software start-up.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“You want to be on the golf course like, ‘Hey, I own some SpaceX,’” he said.</p><h2 class="css-9ycfei eoo0vm40" id="link-6a9e686f">Risky Deals</h2><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Private stock sales go back more than a decade — and have always felt a bit like the Wild West.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Before Facebook went public in 2012, its privately held shares changed hands on marketplaces such as SharesPost and SecondMarket. The Securities and Exchange Commission warned that such marketplaces were risky “for even savvy investors” and fined SharesPost $80,000 for not registering as a broker-dealer.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the aftermath, start-ups tried restricting sales of their stock. But middlemen including Forge Global, then known as Equidate, found ways around it. They popularized “forward contracts,” which paid start-up employees cash if they pledged to transfer their company shares to an investor in the future.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Forward contracts caught on at start-ups like Airbnb. When Airbnb publicly listed its stock in 2020, Forge oversaw the transfer of $475 million of shares pledged by the vacation rental site’s employees to more than 100 investors.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“It was an administrative nightmare,” said Kelly Rodriques, Forge’s chief executive. Forge has since built technology to handle that process and no longer strikes forward contracts.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Some companies that have stayed private the longest, including Stripe, which is 14 years old, and SpaceX, which is 22 years old, have begun offering regular opportunities for employees to sell a portion of their stock at a set price.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Even though companies historically resisted the trading of their private stock, more are coming around to the idea, Mr. Rodriques said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The market has never been more accepting of secondary liquidity than it is now,” he said.</p><h2 class="css-9ycfei eoo0vm40" id="link-bcd042e">A Time of Destiny?</h2><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Prasad, a co-founder of Forge, left in 2019 to create Destiny. He raised $94 million in 2021 to buy stakes in start-ups with the plan of taking the fund public.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Prasad said his goal was to give more investors access to private start-up shares. “We’re trying to drive a world where it becomes less binary from being private to being public,” he said. Change, he added, “can make people uncomfortable at first.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">To obtain private company shares for the fund, he used forward contracts to buy $1.7 million of stock in Stripe and Plaid.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Both companies have bristled at Destiny’s claim to the shares. Such deals would violate its rules, Plaid said in a statement last month, and it “does not recognize shares acquired in this manner.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Stripe also published a notice on its website. “We have become aware of certain investment funds that do not own any Stripe stock claiming to offer retail investors access to Stripe,” it said, warning that “their investments may have no value at all.” Stripe forbids forward contracts and has said such deals are void.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Prasad said he was confident that Destiny’s shares were legal.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Last month, Destiny’s share price soared, with the fund hitting a market capitalization of over $1 billion. A subsidiary of Ark Invest, the firm led by the well-known investor Cathie Wood, <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="css-yywogo" href="https://twitter.com/ARK_Funds/status/1780347223588434040" title="" target="_blank">posted</a> on social media that Destiny’s strategy was flawed because its market capitalization was so much higher than the value of its start-up investments. Ark offers a competing fund, the Ark Venture Fund, which is structured differently.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Ark declined to comment beyond a blog post in which it argued that its fund provided better access to private companies than funds like Destiny’s.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In response, Mr. Prasad posted an image of the “<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="css-yywogo" href="https://twitter.com/sohailprasad/status/1780623053866623000" title="" target="_blank">distracted boyfriend</a>” meme, implying Ark was jealous of his fund, and the “<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="css-yywogo" href="https://twitter.com/sohailprasad/status/1780983335117815977" title="" target="_blank">waiting</a>” meme from the Netflix show “Narcos,” implying Ark investors would take many years to liquidate their investments.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">On April 16, Robinhood removed the ability to buy Destiny’s stock from its app. A Robinhood spokesman said that it did not allow closed-end funds, the type of investment fund used by Destiny, and that Destiny’s fund had been mistakenly labeled by one of its vendors as a stock.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Prasad revealed plans to raise more money to “accelerate our momentum.” But Destiny’s share price crashed. On Friday, it was trading at a market capitalization of $141 million.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/tensions-rise-in-silicon-valley-over-sales-of-start-up-stocks/">Tensions Rise in Silicon Valley Over Sales of Start-Up Stocks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/tensions-rise-in-silicon-valley-over-sales-of-start-up-stocks/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Airline Agrees to Pay $79 Million After Selling Tickets for Canceled Flights</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/airline-agrees-to-pay-79-million-after-selling-tickets-for-canceled-flights/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/airline-agrees-to-pay-79-million-after-selling-tickets-for-canceled-flights/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 07:33:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/airline-agrees-to-pay-79-million-after-selling-tickets-for-canceled-flights/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Qantas, Australia’s national airline, said on Monday that it had reached a deal with the country’s consumer watchdog to pay the equivalent of $79 million for selling thousands of tickets to flights that it had already canceled. The airline said in a statement that the payments, totaling 120 million Australian dollars, would resolve a lawsuit [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/airline-agrees-to-pay-79-million-after-selling-tickets-for-canceled-flights/">Airline Agrees to Pay $79 Million After Selling Tickets for Canceled Flights</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Qantas, Australia’s national airline, said on Monday that it had reached a deal with the country’s consumer watchdog to pay the equivalent of $79 million for selling thousands of tickets to flights that it had already canceled.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The airline said in a statement that the payments, totaling 120 million Australian dollars, would resolve a lawsuit that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed against Qantas over the issue last year.<span class="css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0"> </span>The commission accused the airline of advertising and selling tickets for more than 8,000 canceled flights from May 2021 through July 2022. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The commission said Qantas had known that the flights would never take off, and that tickets remained available for an average of over two weeks after the flights were canceled<span class="css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0"> </span>— in some cases, for as long as 47 days. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Qantas said it expected to pay 20 million Australian dollars in compensation to more than 86,000 of its customers, as well as a fine of 100 million dollars, subject to court approval.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner, and we are sincerely sorry,” said the carrier’s chief executive, Vanessa Husdon.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the consumer watchdog’s chairwoman, said the agency was “pleased to have secured these admissions by Qantas that it misled its customers, and its agreement that a very significant penalty is required as a result of this conduct.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The airline has had a rocky few years. While it bills itself as “the spirit of Australia,” its customers there have complained about unreliable flights and high ticket prices. The airline has also taken flack for giving large paychecks to its board and its previous chief executive, after what a court called its illegal layoffs of 1,700 baggage handlers.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the airline’s statement Monday, Ms. Hudson said the resolution of the suit over the canceled flights “represents another important step forward as we work towards restoring confidence in the national carrier.” </p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/airline-agrees-to-pay-79-million-after-selling-tickets-for-canceled-flights/">Airline Agrees to Pay $79 Million After Selling Tickets for Canceled Flights</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/airline-agrees-to-pay-79-million-after-selling-tickets-for-canceled-flights/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>In China, Ruled by Men, Women Quietly Find a Powerful Voice</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/in-china-ruled-by-men-women-quietly-find-a-powerful-voice/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/in-china-ruled-by-men-women-quietly-find-a-powerful-voice/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2024 04:30:38 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/in-china-ruled-by-men-women-quietly-find-a-powerful-voice/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>In bars tucked away in alleys and at salons and bookstores around Shanghai, women are debating their place in a country where men make the laws. Some wore wedding gowns to take public vows of commitment to themselves. Others gathered to watch films made by women about women. The bookish flocked to female bookshops to [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/in-china-ruled-by-men-women-quietly-find-a-powerful-voice/">In China, Ruled by Men, Women Quietly Find a Powerful Voice</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In bars tucked away in alleys and at salons and bookstores around Shanghai, women are debating their place in a country where men make the laws.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Some wore wedding gowns to take public vows of commitment to themselves. Others gathered to watch films made by women about women. The bookish flocked to female bookshops to read titles like “The Woman Destroyed” and “Living a Feminist Life.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Women in Shanghai, and some of China’s other biggest cities, are negotiating the fragile terms of public expression at a politically precarious moment. China’s ruling Communist Party has identified feminism as a threat to its authority. Female rights activists have been jailed. Concerns about harassment and violence against women are ignored or outright silenced.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has diminished the role of women at work and in public office. There are no female members of Mr. Xi’s inner circle or the Politburo, the executive policymaking body. He has invoked more traditional roles for women, as caretakers and mothers, in planning a new “childbearing culture” to address a shrinking population.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But groups of women around China are quietly reclaiming their own identities. Many are from a generation that grew up with more freedom than their mothers. Women in Shanghai, profoundly shaken by a two-month Covid lockdown in 2022, are being driven by a need to build community.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I think everyone living in this city seems to have reached this stage that they want to explore more about the power of women,” said Du Wen, the founder of Her, a bar that hosts salon discussions.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Frustrated by the increasingly narrow understanding of women by the public, Nong He, a film and theater student, held a screening of three documentaries about women by female Chinese directors.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I think we should have a broader space for women to create,” Ms. He said. “We hope to organize such an event to let people know what our life is like, what the life of other women is like, and with that understanding, we can connect and provide some help to each other.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">At quietly advertised events, women question misogynistic tropes in Chinese culture. “Why are lonely ghosts always female?” one woman recently asked, referring to Chinese literature’s depiction of homeless women after death. They share tips for beginners to feminism. Start with history, said Tang Shuang, the owner of Paper Moon, which sells books by female authors. “This is like the basement of the structure.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">There are few reliable statistics about gender violence and sexual harassment in China, but incidents of violence against women have occurred with greater frequency, according to researchers and social workers. Stories have circulated widely online of women being physically maimed or brutally murdered for trying to leave their husbands, or savagely beaten for resisting unwanted attention from men. The discovery of a woman who was chained inside a doorless shack in the eastern province of Jiangsu became one of the most debated topics online in years.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">With each case, the reactions have been highly divisive. Many people denounced the attackers and called out sexism in society. Many others blamed the victims.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The way these discussions polarize society unnerved Ms. Tang, an entrepreneur and former deputy editor of Vogue China. Events in her own life unsettled her, too. As female friends shared feelings of shame and worthlessness for not getting married, Ms. Tang searched for a framework to articulate what she was feeling.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Then I found out, you know, even myself, I don’t have very clear thoughts about these things,” she said. “People are eager to talk, but they don’t know what they are talking about.” Ms. Tang decided to open Paper Moon, a store for intellectually curious readers like herself.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The bookstore is divided into an academic section that features feminist history and social studies, as well as literature and poetry. There is an area for biographies. “You need to have some real stories to encourage women,” Ms. Tang said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Anxiety about attracting the wrong kind of attention is always present.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When Ms. Tang opened her store, she placed a sign in the door describing it as a feminist bookstore that welcomed all genders, as well as pets. “But my friend warned me to take it out because, you know, I could cause trouble by using the word feminism.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Wang Xia, the owner of Xin Chao Bookstore, has chosen to stay away from the “F” word altogether. Instead she described her bookstore as “woman-themed.” When she opened it in 2020, the store was a sprawling space with nooks to foster private conversations and six study rooms named after famous female authors like Simone de Beauvoir.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Xin Chao Bookstore served more than 50,000 people through events, workshops and online lectures, Ms. Wang said. It had more than 20,000 books about art, literature and self-improvement — books about women and books for women. The store became so prominent that state-owned media wrote about it and the Shanghai government posted the article on its website.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Still, Ms. Wang was careful to steer clear of making a political statement. “My ambition is not to develop feminism,” she said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For Ms. Du, the Her founder, empowering women is at the heart of her motivation. She was jolted into action by the isolation of the pandemic: Shanghai ordered its residents to stay in their apartments under lockdown for two months, and her world narrowed to the walls of her apartment.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For years she dreamed of opening a place where she could elevate the voices of women, and now it seemed more urgent than ever. After the lockdown, she opened Her, a place where women could strike friendships and debate the social expectations that society had placed on them.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">On International Women’s Day in March, Her held an event it called Marry Me, in which women took vows to themselves. The bar has also hosted a salon where women acted out the roles of mothers and daughters. Many younger women described a reluctance to be treated the way their mothers were treated and said they did not know how to talk to them, Ms. Du said.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The authorities have met with Ms. Du and indicated that as long as the events at Her didn’t become too popular, there was a place for it in Shanghai, she said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But in China, there is always the possibility that officials will crack down. “They never tell you clearly what is forbidden,” Ms. Tang of Paper Moon said.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Ms. Wang recently moved Xin Chao Bookstore into Shanghai Book City, a famous store with large atriums and long columns of bookcases. A four-volume collection of Mr. Xi’s writings are prominently displayed in several languages.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Book City is huge. The space for Xin Chao Bookstore is not, Ms. Wang said, with several shelves inside and around a small room that may eventually hold about only 3,000 books.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“It’s a small cell of the city, a cultural cell,” Ms. Wang said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Still, it stands out in China.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Not every city has a woman’s bookstore,” she said. “There are many cities that do not have such cultural soil.”</p><p class="css-798hid etfikam0">Li You<!-- --> contributed to research.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/in-china-ruled-by-men-women-quietly-find-a-powerful-voice/">In China, Ruled by Men, Women Quietly Find a Powerful Voice</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/in-china-ruled-by-men-women-quietly-find-a-powerful-voice/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Sony and Apollo in Talks to Acquire Paramount</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/sony-and-apollo-in-talks-to-acquire-paramount/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/sony-and-apollo-in-talks-to-acquire-paramount/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2024 19:17:59 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/sony-and-apollo-in-talks-to-acquire-paramount/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Paramount has decided to formally open negotiations with a bidding group led by Sony Pictures Entertainment and the private equity giant Apollo, according to three people familiar with the matter. The move comes after a period of exclusive talks with the Hollywood studio Skydance lapsed on Friday night. A special committee of Paramount’s board of [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/sony-and-apollo-in-talks-to-acquire-paramount/">Sony and Apollo in Talks to Acquire Paramount</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Paramount has decided to formally open negotiations with a bidding group led by Sony Pictures Entertainment and the private equity giant Apollo, according to three people familiar with the matter. The move comes after a period of exclusive talks with the Hollywood studio Skydance lapsed on Friday night.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A special committee of Paramount’s board of directors met Saturday and signed off on beginning deal talks with Sony and Apollo, which last week submitted a letter of interest valuing the company at $26 billion, the people said. The committee also decided to push for further negotiations with Skydance, a studio founded by the technology scion David Ellison.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Paramount, the owner of Nickelodeon, MTV, CBS and Paramount Pictures, has been exploring a deal as it faces industrywide headwinds, including the decline of cable TV and the unprofitability of its streaming businesses.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Any deal between the Sony group and Paramount faces hurdles. Government regulations restrict foreign ownership of broadcast networks and would probably prevent Sony’s parent company, based in Japan, from owning CBS outright. The bidding group would likely push for Apollo, which is based in the United States, to hold the rights to the CBS broadcast license, according to two people familiar with their strategy. </p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Government regulators have also aggressively evaluated acquisitions under President Biden, with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission moving to block a number of proposed deals. Not all of those moves by regulators have been successful.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It also remains to be seen whether National Amusements, Paramount’s parent company, will support the Sony-Apollo bid. National Amusements has the power to veto any deal, giving the new bidders an extra incentive to secure its approval, though National Amusements has committed to supporting the special committee’s decision.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Sony and Apollo’s all-cash offer has been supported by many shareholders as an alternate to a merger with Skydance. Late last year, Shari Redstone, who controls National Amusements, signed off on a potential deal to sell her stake to Skydance, but that deal hinges on a related transaction for Skydance to merge with Paramount. The deal stalled last week after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement after a month of exclusive negotiations. Shareholders were bearish on the deal, saying it would enrich Ms. Redstone at their expense.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Under the terms currently being contemplated in the Sony-Apollo tie-up, Sony would be a controlling shareholder, with Apollo owning a minority stake, according to the two people familiar with the bidders’ strategy. Sony executives have discussed operating the Paramount studio as a division of their larger empire, uniting the studios behind the “Spider Man” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises and combining their theatrical marketing and distribution operations</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Though the finer points of the deal have yet to be detailed, Sony and Apollo have discussed putting Paramount — which includes the Paramount+ streaming service and the CBS broadcast network — into a joint venture, the two people said. One scenario under discussion is allowing Apollo to sell its minority stake back to Sony in a few years, allowing Sony to consolidate its ownership of the company.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It is unclear what Skydance will do next. It sweetened its offer to Paramount last week, offering a $3 billion investment to buy back stock and pay down debt, but that extra incentive wasn’t enough to get the deal across the finish line. Skydance could still improve its bid, but one person familiar with the company’s strategy said it was unwilling to continue negotiating only to drive up the price for another suitor.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Paramount is still interested in a potential deal with Skydance and even offered to cover the company’s legal fees, one person familiar with the matter said.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/sony-and-apollo-in-talks-to-acquire-paramount/">Sony and Apollo in Talks to Acquire Paramount</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/sony-and-apollo-in-talks-to-acquire-paramount/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>‘The Fall Guy’ Fizzles With $28 Million in Ticket Sales</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/the-fall-guy-fizzles-with-28-million-in-ticket-sales/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/the-fall-guy-fizzles-with-28-million-in-ticket-sales/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2024 18:14:54 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/the-fall-guy-fizzles-with-28-million-in-ticket-sales/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>“The Fall Guy” seemed to have everything. Megawatt stars. Death-defying stunts. Splendid reviews. An original story — what sequel-weary moviegoers say they want. Universal backed “The Fall Guy” with a six-month marketing campaign, releasing trailers that racked up 400 million views and carpet-bombing televised sporting events, including the Super Bowl, with ads. It added up [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/the-fall-guy-fizzles-with-28-million-in-ticket-sales/">‘The Fall Guy’ Fizzles With $28 Million in Ticket Sales</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The Fall Guy” seemed to have everything.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Megawatt stars. Death-defying stunts. Splendid reviews. An original story — what sequel-weary moviegoers say they want.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Universal backed “The Fall Guy” with a six-month marketing campaign, releasing trailers that racked up 400 million views and carpet-bombing televised sporting events, including the Super Bowl, with ads.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It added up to only $28.5 million in North American ticket sales from Friday to Sunday, the worst start to Hollywood’s all-important summer season since 1995. “The Fall Guy” cost Universal at least $200 million to make and market and was released in 4,002 theaters in the United States and Canada. It collected an additional $37 million overseas.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">This is why studios do not take risks on new stories. “The business is so tough, and it’s so hard to break through with new ideas,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office numbers. “You want to explain to shareholders why you spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a newfangled idea that crashed?”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The Fall Guy,” an action comedy, shares a name and some basic D.N.A. with a television drama that ran on ABC from 1981 to 1986. But the movie’s story is entirely new. Scott Mendelson, a box office columnist with his own subscription newsletter, said moviegoers complain that Hollywood isn’t making enough original films, “only to stay home or go elsewhere when they do.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Ryan Gosling, fresh off “Barbie” and a celebrated singing performance at the Academy Awards, plays a down-on-his-luck stunt man who gets caught up in a murder mystery while trying to rekindle a romantic relationship. Emily Blunt plays a movie director. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham and Jason Momoa round out “The Fall Guy” cast.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It was the first time in 19 years that Hollywood’s summer season — a four-month period that typically accounts for 40 percent of annual ticket sales — did not start with a superhero or a sequel. Last year, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” from Marvel started the summer with $118 million in opening-weekend ticket sales, going on to take in $846 million worldwide.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">To find a season opener with lower ticket sales than “The Fall Guy,” you would have to go back to 1995, when “French Kiss,” a mid-budget romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, arrived to about $18 million in today’s dollars. (The most-recent original movie to start a summer season was Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven,” which arrived to $31.5 million in 2005, after adjusting for inflation.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When movies arrive to disappointing ticket sales, studios always say they are hopeful that word of mouth will result in a wider audience in the weeks to come. Universal was no different on Sunday, saying in a statement that it “anticipates continued playability for this action/thriller, perfect-for-date-night film in the weeks ahead.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the case of “The Fall Guy,” it may not (just) be spin. Romantic comedies can start slow and build. “Anyone but You,” made for $25 million, opened to a dismal $8 million in Christmas weekend sales and chugged away to $219 million worldwide. In 2022, “The Lost City,” made for $68 million, arrived to $30.5 million and ultimately took in $193 million.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/the-fall-guy-fizzles-with-28-million-in-ticket-sales/">‘The Fall Guy’ Fizzles With $28 Million in Ticket Sales</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/the-fall-guy-fizzles-with-28-million-in-ticket-sales/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>China Is Buying Gold Like There’s No Tomorrow</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/china-is-buying-gold-like-theres-no-tomorrow/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/china-is-buying-gold-like-theres-no-tomorrow/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2024 04:56:34 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/china-is-buying-gold-like-theres-no-tomorrow/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>As gold surged this year to its highest price ever, Xena Lin joined the frenzy by making monthly purchases of gold “beans,” pebble-like morsels of the precious metal. For Ms. Lin, a 25-year-old administrative worker in southern China, the $80 beans — small enough to rest on a fingertip and weighing about one-thirtieth of an [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/china-is-buying-gold-like-theres-no-tomorrow/">China Is Buying Gold Like There’s No Tomorrow</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As gold surged this year to its highest price ever, Xena Lin joined the frenzy by making monthly purchases of gold “beans,” pebble-like morsels of the precious metal.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For Ms. Lin, a 25-year-old administrative worker in southern China, the $80 beans — small enough to rest on a fingertip and weighing about one-thirtieth of an ounce — were an affordable way to buy into the gold excitement without splurging for jewelry, gold bars or coins. She had dabbled with investing in stocks in the past, but she said buying gold, especially in this fun way, inspired her to continue investing.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I’m still working hard to save more,” Ms. Lin said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Often considered a safe investment during times of geopolitical and economic turmoil, gold has soared in price in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza. But gold’s climb to highs above $2,400 per ounce has proved more resilient, and lasted longer, because of China.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Chinese consumers have flocked to gold as their confidence in traditional investments like real estate or stocks has faltered. At the same time, the country’s central bank has steadily added to its gold reserves, while whittling away at its holdings of U.S. debt. And throwing fuel on the fire are Chinese speculators betting that there is still room for appreciation.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">China already held considerable sway in gold markets. But the country’s influence has become more pronounced during this latest bull run — a nearly 50 percent increase in the global price since late 2022. It continued to scale new heights despite factors that traditionally make gold a comparatively less appealing investment: higher interest rates and a strong U.S. dollar.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Last month, gold prices vaulted higher even after the Federal Reserve signaled that it would keep higher interest rates for longer. And it has continued to appreciate even as the dollar has risen against almost every major currency in the world this year.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Prices have pulled back to around $2,300 per ounce, but there is a growing sentiment that the gold market is governed no longer by economic factors but by the whims of Chinese buyers and investors.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“China is unquestionably driving the price of gold,” said Ross Norman, chief executive of MetalsDaily.com, a precious-metals information platform based in London. “The flow of gold to China has gone from solid to an absolute torrent.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Gold consumption in the country rose 6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the China Gold Association. It came on the heels of a 9 percent increase last year.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Gold investing became more alluring as traditional investments turned lackluster. China’s real estate sector, the destination for most families’ savings, remains in crisis. Investor confidence in the country’s stock markets has not fully returned. A string of big investment funds aimed at the wealthy toppled after failed bets on real estate.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">With few better alternatives, money flowed into Chinese funds that traded in gold, and many young people took to collecting beans in tiny quantities.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Online merchants are aggressively hawking gold beans. On Alibaba’s Taobao, one of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms, a merchant sold gold beans on a livestream — a blend of the Home Shopping Network and Amazon. She said buying beans was “like shopping, but an investment.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The tiny beans came in five shapes, including one that resembled a peanut and another like a persimmon. Paying $87 per bean, a person could buy into the gold boom for the price of a hot pot meal, she said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Kelly Zhong, a teacher in Beijing, started buying gold in 2020 at the outset of the pandemic. She has amassed more than two pounds of gold bars, but she has also invested in the metal through exchange-traded funds. She said she was inspired by an old saying: “Jade in prosperous times, gold in troubled times.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As she felt the world become more chaotic, Ms. Zhong added to her stockpile, betting that gold prices would only climb. She has stopped buying, but she is not ready to sell. She sees no reason to. The Chinese economy is still struggling, and neither real estate nor stocks seem like a sound investment.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The money has to go somewhere,” she said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Another major buyer of gold in China is the country’s central bank. In March, the People’s Bank of China added to its gold reserves for a 17th straight month. Last year, the bank bought more gold than any other central bank in the world, adding more to its reserves than it had in nearly 50 years.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Beijing is buying up gold to diversify its reserve funds and reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar, long considered the most important currency to hold in reserve. China has been reducing its U.S. Treasury holdings for more than a decade. As of March, China had about $775 billion worth of U.S. debt, down from about $1.1 trillion in 2021.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When China increased its gold holdings in the past, it bought domestically using renminbi, said Guan Tao, global chief economist at BOC International in Beijing. But this time, he said, the bank is using foreign currencies to buy gold — effectively reducing its exposure to the U.S. dollar and other currencies.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Many central banks, including China, starting acquiring gold after the U.S. Treasury Department took the rare step of freezing Russia’s dollar holdings under sanctions imposed on Moscow. Other American allies imposed similar restrictions for their currencies.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Guan said the sanctions had shaken the “foundation of trust for the current international monetary system” and forced central banks to protect their reserves with more diverse holdings. “We can see this wave of gold’s rise may be different from the past,” he said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Although Beijing has been buying up gold, the metal accounts for only about 4.6 percent of China’s foreign exchange reserves. In percentage terms, India holds nearly twice as much of its reserves in gold.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The combination of aggressive retail buying from Chinese consumers and central bank purchases has drawn the interest of speculators on markets in Shanghai who are betting that this trend will continue. Average trading volume for gold on the Shanghai Futures Exchange more than doubled in April from a year earlier.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“They are swimming with the tide,” said Mr. Norman from MetalsDaily. “China is now dominating the gold market.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For Ms. Lin, buying gold beans is satisfying, she said, because it feels like frivolous shopping but she’s actually investing her money in something she can touch. She said she would continue to buy more beans.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The price of gold always goes up and down,” she said. “But the increase is within the range that I can bear, so I think it’s OK.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/china-is-buying-gold-like-theres-no-tomorrow/">China Is Buying Gold Like There’s No Tomorrow</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/china-is-buying-gold-like-theres-no-tomorrow/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Lawsuit Accuses Everton Bidder 777 Partners of $600 Million Fraud</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/lawsuit-accuses-everton-bidder-777-partners-of-600-million-fraud/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/lawsuit-accuses-everton-bidder-777-partners-of-600-million-fraud/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 04 May 2024 15:40:39 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/lawsuit-accuses-everton-bidder-777-partners-of-600-million-fraud/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The American investment firm 777 Partners, whose bid to buy the English Premier League soccer team Everton has been on hold for months amid doubts about the company’s finances, was accused by one of its lenders on Friday of running a yearslong fraud scheme worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The accusation came in a [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/lawsuit-accuses-everton-bidder-777-partners-of-600-million-fraud/">Lawsuit Accuses Everton Bidder 777 Partners of $600 Million Fraud</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The American investment firm 777 Partners, whose bid to buy the English Premier League soccer team Everton has been on hold for months amid doubts about the company’s finances, was accused by one of its lenders on Friday of running a yearslong fraud scheme worth hundreds of millions of dollars.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The accusation came in a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in New York by Leadenhall Capital Partners, a London-based asset management company. It said that it had provided 777 Partners with more than $600 million in financing, only to discover that roughly $350 million in assets serving as collateral for the loans either were not in 777’s control or had already been pledged to other lenders.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The lawsuit is the latest, most serious claim against 777 Partners, which has for years made bold assertions about its financial health — it has previously claimed $10 billion in assets — even as it was trailed a string of lawsuits, corporate failures and unpaid bills.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The suit could have immediate implications for 777’s stalled bid to buy Everton: The Premier League has not approved the sale, and the financially strapped club recently said it was seeking alternate investors.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But questions about the company’s balance sheet also carry the risk of contagion for the broader world soccer market, given that 777’s portfolio includes ownership stakes in teams in Australia, Brazil, Belgium, France and Germany, and because it owes debts at all of them.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Leadenhall’s lawsuit names a host of 777 companies as defendants, and also its two owners, Steven Pasko and Josh Wander, and their biggest financial backer, Kenneth King, and his firm, A-CAP.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Leadenhall Capital Partners offered no further comment on Saturday about the court filing. A-CAP’s chief legal officer, Jill Vinjamuri Gettman, did not reply to an email seeking comment.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">777 Partners did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit or its accusations, and in recent months it has declined to respond to questions about its ability to close the Everton deal “out of respect for the process.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But in an open letter to Everton fans posted on the team’s website last year, Mr. Wander acknowledged that questions had been raised about his company’s finances. “Rest assured,” he wrote then, “in this case, that the truth is far more boring than the fiction.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Beyond its central accusation that 777 Partners had persuaded Leadenhall to lend it $350 million through a false representation of its assets, the claim includes details of behind-the-scenes discussions and investigations to resolve the matter.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the filing, Leadenhall said it had begun to question its relationship with 777 after receiving an anonymous tip in 2022 charging that Mr. Wander had pledged assets that he either did not own or had already pledged elsewhere to secure new loans.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">After looking into the tip and concluding that the accusation was true, Leadenhall said, its executives confronted Mr. Wander. In several recorded calls in March and April 2023, Leadenhall said in the lawsuit, Mr. Wander acknowledged that assets had been double-pledged, which he described as an “embarrassing mistake,” and pledged to fix the problem.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Upon further investigation, Leadenhall said, it discovered that all of 777’s assets were already pledged to a separate investment company, A-CAP, run by Mr. King. In unusually blunt language, Leadenhall accused the 777 owners, Mr. Wander and Mr. Pasko, and A-CAP of “operating a giant shell game at best, and an outright Ponzi scheme at worst.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the months since the announcement last fall of 777’s bid for Everton brought heightened scrutiny to his businesses and himself, Mr. Wander has repeatedly sought to assure the team’s fans that 777 Partners remains committed to its proposed acquisition. But executives and fans at other soccer clubs controlled by 777 Partners may be unnerved by the latest accusations and the possible consequences for their teams.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Last fall, for example, executives at the Brazilian club Vasco da Gama complained that a $25 million loan that 777 Partners had given Everton was similar to an amount that was, at that moment, still owed to Vasco. The money eventually arrived, but only after 777 Partners attributed the delay to a public holiday in the United States.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Elsewhere, concerns will likely continue to fester. At a match in France on Saturday, fans of another 777-owned club, Red Star F.C. of Paris, handed out fake bank notes bearing a photo of Mr. Wander and the words “In Josh We Don’t Trust.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The protest, the notes said on their reverse side, “is a reflection of current owner of Red Star: an appearance of wealth that in fact conceals a lack of real economic stability, and an imminent disaster waiting to happen.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/lawsuit-accuses-everton-bidder-777-partners-of-600-million-fraud/">Lawsuit Accuses Everton Bidder 777 Partners of $600 Million Fraud</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/lawsuit-accuses-everton-bidder-777-partners-of-600-million-fraud/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Berkshire Reports Drop in Profits but Formidable Cash Stockpile</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/berkshire-reports-drop-in-profits-but-formidable-cash-stockpile/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/berkshire-reports-drop-in-profits-but-formidable-cash-stockpile/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 04 May 2024 14:39:15 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/berkshire-reports-drop-in-profits-but-formidable-cash-stockpile/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported a sharp drop in first-quarter profits, driven largely by lower investment income, as the conglomerate’s chief executive, Warren E. Buffett, prepares to speak at its annual investor meeting. Those results belie an increase in operating earnings, which track the actual profits that Berkshire’s array of companies produce, and in Berkshire’s [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/berkshire-reports-drop-in-profits-but-formidable-cash-stockpile/">Berkshire Reports Drop in Profits but Formidable Cash Stockpile</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported a sharp drop in first-quarter profits, driven largely by lower investment income, as the conglomerate’s chief executive, Warren E. Buffett, prepares to speak at its annual investor meeting.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Those results belie an increase in operating earnings, which track the actual profits that Berkshire’s array of companies produce, and in Berkshire’s formidable cash hoard — which totaled nearly $189 billion as of March 31 — that points to the company’s robust health.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The company’s latest results set a backdrop for the meeting in downtown Omaha, which will be the first for Berkshire since the death in November of Charles Munger, Mr. Buffett’s longtime business partner and alter ego, at age 99.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For the first three months of the year, Berkshire reported $12.7 billion in earnings attributable to its shareholders, down 64 percent from the same time a year ago. Driving the drop was a steep fall in the paper value of Berkshire’s vast investment portfolio though Mr. Buffett has long warned shareholders to ignore fluctuations in the company’s stock holdings.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Berkshire also disclosed that it had trimmed its huge stake in Apple, which Mr. Buffett has called one of his company’s most important holdings, by about 13 percent in the quarter. It now owns about $135.4 billion, down from $174.3 billion at the end of 2023. (Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, is attending the annual meeting.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Looking at operating earnings, Mr. Buffett’s favored metric because it measures the tangible health of Berkshire’s business, the company reported a 40 percent gain, to $11.2 billion. That was propelled by a more than doubling of Berkshire’s core insurance underwriting business, as its Geico insurer charged higher premiums per policy and reported fewer claims, while its reinsurance division didn’t take any hits from catastrophes in this year’s first quarter.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Those gains offset weaker results in other parts of Mr. Buffett’s empire, including an 8 percent fall in net earnings at the BNSF railroad because of lower shipments of fuel versus consumer goods and lower fuel surcharge revenue.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Its Pilot Travel Centers chain of truck stops, which it acquired full control of in January, reported a 19 percent drop in net earnings, as the business saw lower margins on fuel sales and higher operating expenses.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">And Berkshire disclosed that its PacifiCorp utility, which operates in the West, faces federal and state investigations and lawsuits over any role it played in wildfires in 2020 and 2022.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The earnings report was released ahead of the Berkshire meeting, which will see tens of thousands of Berkshire shareholders gather at the CHI Health Center arena in the company’s hometown to watch Mr. Buffett answer questions.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Among the topics that he will probably discuss — some with the help of his top lieutenants, including his likely successor, Gregory Abel — are his outlook on the economy and the November elections and where he sees investment opportunities.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/berkshire-reports-drop-in-profits-but-formidable-cash-stockpile/">Berkshire Reports Drop in Profits but Formidable Cash Stockpile</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/berkshire-reports-drop-in-profits-but-formidable-cash-stockpile/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Is It Good to Go Exclusive?</title> <link>https://influentialmag.co.uk/is-it-good-to-go-exclusive/</link> <comments>https://influentialmag.co.uk/is-it-good-to-go-exclusive/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 04 May 2024 12:36:22 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://influentialmag.co.uk/is-it-good-to-go-exclusive/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance has been the most tumultuous media deal in years. Now it has taken yet another turn after the exclusivity period for negotiations expired without an agreement in hand. A month ago, a special committee of Paramount’s board agreed to enter into exclusive talks with Skydance — a Hollywood studio run [...]</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/is-it-good-to-go-exclusive/">Is It Good to Go Exclusive?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance has been the most tumultuous media deal in years. Now it has taken yet another turn after the exclusivity period for negotiations expired without an agreement in hand.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A month ago, a special committee of Paramount’s board agreed to enter into exclusive talks with Skydance — a Hollywood studio run by the tech scion David Ellison — even as the private equity giant Apollo Global Management reached out with a $26 billion offer. Paramount shareholders grumbled that granting exclusivity was a mistake, and that the company should have engaged with Apollo instead.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">This week, the special committee told Skydance that it was letting the exclusivity period lapse. The end of exclusivity doesn’t alone kill the deal with Skydance. But it does allow Paramount to open up negotiations with Apollo and Sony Pictures Entertainment, which joined Apollo’s bid.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The so far fruitless negotiations raise a question that deal makers have long debated: Why do companies like Paramount agree to exclusivity in the first place?</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Buyers often prefer exclusivity more than sellers. </strong>Exclusivity is a sign from the seller that it is committed to doing a deal and not just using a bid to drum up higher offers.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Sellers generally prefer to negotiate without exclusivity because it limits their ability to shop around for a higher price. And since they’ve already signaled to a buyer they’re willing to make a deal, they’ve weakened their bargaining power.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Many big public company deals are negotiated without exclusivity, since shareholders expect the company to get the highest possible price.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Exclusivity can help sellers with thorny deals.</strong> In addition to helping to cajole a potential buyer to spend millions on due diligence, committing to negotiate with just one party can obscure limited interest.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“An auction is a really good way of selling something when you have multiple bidders,” Edward Rock, a professor of corporate law at New York University told DealBook. “It’s a really bad way of selling something if you announce an auction and only one person shows up, because now everybody knows there’s no one else out there interested in buying the company.”</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">For Paramount, other factors were most likely in play.</strong> Shari Redstone, the company’s board chair, almost certainly prefers a Skydance deal, which would allow her to sell her shares at a control premium. It’s unclear whether the all-cash Paramount offer from Sony and Apollo would be as lucrative for her.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Redstone appointed the special committee to lead Paramount’s negotiations to avoid conflicts of interest. But that committee is nonetheless aware that Skydance’s bid for National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount, was supported by Redstone, the company’s most influential shareholder. That was likely a factor in its decision to move forward with exclusive talks, said Steven Davidoff Solomon, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Solomon said the special committee might have seen Skydance’s offer as the only plausible deal on the table. “Let’s see if we can get it done,” Solomon said, articulating his interpretation of the committee’s approach. “If we <em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">can’t</em> get it done, then 30 days later, we can go do another deal.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">But time is money. </strong>The highly publicized 30-day deadline put a spotlight on the deal, adding an unwelcome level of dramatic tension as the two sides sought to hammer out a tricky agreement. The 30 days also coincided with the departure of Paramount’s C.E.O., Bob Bakish, which left the company on shakier footing and potentially weakened its bargaining power.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">If Paramount begins talks with Sony and Apollo, it’s not clear they will result in a deal. It’s not clear whether there will now be any deal at all. But in any case, Paramount’s special committee will have a lot to talk about when it meets today to discuss its options. <em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">— Lauren Hirsch</em></p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><h3 class="css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0" id="link-36c9f6c7"><span>IN CASE YOU MISSED IT</span></h3><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">The United States added fewer jobs than expected last month.</strong> Non-farm payrolls released this week showed that 175,000 jobs were created, fewer than forecast, and that wage growth slowed. The data capped a week of new economic indicators and the Fed’s decision to leave rates unchanged until it is confident that inflation is closer to its 2 percent target.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Trump Media’s auditor with fraud.</strong> The regulator charged BF Borgers with failing to comply with accounting rules, and the firm agreed to stop filing audited statements on behalf of clients. Trump Media has been a client of BF Borgers since 2022.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">The Biden administration recommended reclassifying marijuana.</strong> Cannabis company stocks jumped on news that the Justice Department recommended changing the drug’s classification from Schedule I (the same level as heroin) to Schedule III (which would put it on a par with Tylenol and codeine). The move could help President Biden’s appeal among younger voters.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Another crypto mogul was sentenced to prison.</strong> Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance and one of the industry’s biggest names, was given a term of four months for money laundering. Zhao, who pleaded guilty last year, received less than the three-year term that prosecutors had recommended. With a fortune estimated at $33 billion, he may become the richest federal inmate in U.S. history.</p><h2 class="css-9ycfei eoo0vm40" id="link-4a51ebde">Munger’s best zingers</h2><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Much of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting in Omaha today will resemble gatherings of years past: the tens of thousands of attendees from around the world; dozens of representatives from the conglomerate’s portfolio companies, from Fruit of the Loom to the BNSF railroad; and Warren Buffett himself on hand to answer shareholder questions.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But this year Buffett will be without his longtime right-hand man, Charlie Munger, who died in November at age 99. For ages, the centerpiece of the shareholder conclave was an hourslong question-and-answer session featuring the two men, who perfected a buddy-comedy act — Buffett first answered with sunny optimism, and then Munger followed with sharp-tongued cynicism. (This year, Buffett will be joined by his top lieutenants, Greg Abel and Ajit Jain.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Here are some of the best zingers that Munger let fly at Berkshire annual meetings over the years:</p><ul class="css-1le37cb ez3869y0"><li class="css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0"><p class="css-1il0jfh evys1bk0">“If you mix the mathematics of the chain letter or the Ponzi scheme with some legitimate development like the development of the internet, you are mixing something which is wretched or irrational or has bad consequences with something that has very good consequences. But you know, if you mix raisins with turds, they’re still turds.” (2000)</p></li><li class="css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0"><p class="css-1il0jfh evys1bk0">“What I needed to get ahead was to compete against idiots. And luckily there’s a large supply.” (2014)</p></li><li class="css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0"><p class="css-1il0jfh evys1bk0">“I have avoided compensation consultants all my life. I hardly can find the words to express my contempt.” (2017)</p></li><li class="css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0"><p class="css-1il0jfh evys1bk0">“A man who jumps out of a building is OK until he hits the ground.” (2023, on government deficits)</p></li></ul><hr class="css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0"/><h2 class="css-9ycfei eoo0vm40" id="link-573a501e">On our radar: A.I. art that gives humans some hope </h2></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Ever since ChatGPT was released in 2022, businesses and governments have been trying to figure out how artificial intelligence will work alongside humans. Can the technology take on entire jobs? Is it a collaborator? And which functions could A.I. augment rather than replace?</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For clues on the future, DealBook visited two art galleries in London featuring works created by traditional artists experimenting with A.I.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In “AI & Technology Influence on Contemporary Art,” a show curated by Virginia Damtsa and on display through Sept. 10 at Gabriel Scott, three painters have used the tech to test the boundaries of human creativity, exploring whether A.I. is a liberating tool or an existential risk to creativity. Jonathan Yeo — whose painting of King Charles III, the first since he was crowned, will be unveiled this month — asked an A.I. to create a series of self-portraits. Von Wolfe, an oil painter, built his own A.I. to create an image of a digital sculpture that is displayed in a light box. And Henry Hudson asked an A.I. to create an image and then used oils to paint a version of it.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Post-Photography: The Uncanny Valley,” a show at the Palmer Gallery through May 17, also features the work of three artists. Boris Eldagsen of Germany won a Sony World Photographer Award last year — and turned it down, after revealing that he had used A.I. to create his entry partly to kick-start a discussion about technology and art. The image, “The Electrician,” and other works by Eldagsen are displayed alongside images by Ben Millar Cole, a British photographer, and Nouf Aljowaysir, a Saudi-born artist. It would be impossible for most viewers to know that the images were generated using tools like DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The artists created the works by using A.I. as a tool, as if it were a paintbrush or a computer. For workers trying to understand how their own jobs will evolve, that could provide some hope that humans will have a role to play for a bit longer yet.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Thanks for reading! We’ll see you Monday.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">We’d like your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><p><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk/is-it-good-to-go-exclusive/">Is It Good to Go Exclusive?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://influentialmag.co.uk">Influential Magazine</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://influentialmag.co.uk/is-it-good-to-go-exclusive/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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