Management & Leadership

Atlassian CEOs give Elon Musk mission-creep lesson

1 Aug 2022

The $53 bln software company’s two bosses are using their own cash for dealmaking side projects. They’re avoiding getting too distracted from their day job by having experts mostly run the show. It’s a useful example of how the Tesla chief can avoid a repeat of his Twitter mess.

Cheery bank CEOs have the edge on gloomy investors

29 Jul 2022

Santander, BNP, ING, Lloyds and SocGen have lost 27% of their value since mid-February, on fears higher rates will cause defaults to rise. Chief executives, meanwhile, expect returns to stay high. Share prices implying steeper losses than 2020 suggest the selloff is overdone.

Jack Ma’s exit would smooth Ant’s IPO march

29 Jul 2022

The Alibaba founder may cede control of the fintech giant. This could mark a big advance in Ant's efforts to clean up governance and placate the officials who derailed its $37 bln float in 2020. A simpler ownership structure puts the company one step closer to a revived listing.

Time for Volkswagen to park its Porsche IPO

28 Jul 2022

The 82 bln euro German group’s plan to list the luxury marque has been tarnished by its decision to name the same CEO for both companies. The IPO could be a distraction at a time when carmakers face a recession. The best option right now is a delay, plus a governance rethink.

Credit Suisse revamp risks being bad copy of UBS

27 Jul 2022

Like its rival in 2012, the $14 bln group is shrinking its trading businesses and cutting costs to focus on wealth management. Yet heavy losses and dicey markets will constrain new CEO Ulrich Koerner, who has never run an investment bank. A respectable valuation may take longer.

UBS’s growth dip cements discount to U.S. rivals

26 Jul 2022

Shares in Ralph Hamers’ $50 bln bank fell 6% after wealthy clients all but stopped investing new money in the second quarter. It’s a setback for his strategy, which rests on boosting revenue. Reversing the trend is key to earning a valuation multiple closer to Morgan Stanley’s.

Capital Calls: Philips disappoints again

25 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shares in the 17 bln euro Dutch medical technology group dive after handing investors another unpleasant outlook surprise.

VW’s CEO ouster heralds less noise, more muddle

25 Jul 2022

The $86 bln carmaker replaced Herbert Diess with Oliver Blume. It loses a bold champion of electric vehicles, but also one prone to gaffes and weakened by union battles. The decision to keep Blume in charge of both VW and Porsche, meanwhile, muddies the latter’s looming IPO.

Review: Lex Greensill epitomised post-2008 finance

22 Jul 2022

The Australian’s firm was one of many loosely regulated shadow banks that sprang up after the last crisis. Duncan Mavin’s “The Pyramid of Lies” explains how Greensill duped big lenders, investors and politicians. As interest rates rise, he’s unlikely to be the last failure.

Capital Calls: LVMH succession, Swedish Match

22 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Bernard Arnault insures the luxury group against future family feuds; the oral tobacco company’s results will embolden deal resisters.

Gap’s business is retro in all the wrong ways

18 Jul 2022

The retailer tossed aside CEO Sonia Syngal after just two years but its problems go back further. In 20 years Gap’s revenue hasn’t grown, even as Americans roughly doubled their apparel spending. As investor patience frays, the best thing the new CEO inherits is low expectations.

Capital Calls: Citi’s luck, BlackRock’s blues

15 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Citigroup’s second-quarter earnings were buoyed by its focus on trade flows and helping companies. Meanwhile, the world’s largest asset manager thinks investments will shift further into bonds but that business is less lucrative.

GSK split gives CEO fresh M&A test

15 Jul 2022

Emma Walmsley is hiving off the $102 bln drugmaker’s consumer unit. What’s left is currently valued at a discount to pharma peers, despite fast-growing vaccines sales, due to loss of exclusivity on key drugs. Walmsley needs to show she can buy businesses as well as break them up.

Capital Calls: Delta’s earnings are bad and worse

13 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shares in the company fell 7% after the company missed earnings expectations. That’s bad, but worse is that its main strength – pricing power – has limits.

Capital Calls: PC meltdown, Software short-seller

12 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shipments of personal computers suffered the biggest decline in years, yet still exceed pre-pandemic levels; SoftBank-backed communication software group Sinch has lost over a third of its value after a short-seller attacked its accounting.

Shinzo Abe’s assassination leaves Japan undone

8 Jul 2022

The polarising politician who dragged the country out of decades of deflation was gunned down in the street on Friday. His Abenomics agenda will outlive him, as most of the challenges he tried to solve endure. Without Abe’s charisma, however, tackling them may get harder.

Capital Calls: Swedish Match, FCA

8 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Elliott’s stake-building in Swedish Match may delay Philip Morris’s takeover of the oral tobacco company; the Hong Kong brain drain gathers pace with Ashley Alder’s move to Britain’s financial regulator.

Misra’s next step is worth watching, with caution

7 Jul 2022

The SoftBank Vision Fund boss is stepping back from startup investing. Rajeev Misra’s prior forays into structured credit and tech show a knack for identifying the next big thing. Both sectors’ subsequent implosions show the risks for investors of copying him too late.

Boris Johnson exit is beginning of end for Brexit

7 Jul 2022

Campaigning to quit the EU propelled the outgoing prime minister to high office; his three-year tenure showed the costs of that decision. The UK still faces lasting economic and diplomatic damage. But the idea of using Brexit to realign British society will depart with Johnson.

Boris Johnson’s woes obscure deep UK divisions

6 Jul 2022

The UK leader’s grip on office is slipping after senior cabinet members resigned. But his exit saga masks disputes over key issues like taxes, state intervention and relations with the EU, amid the UK’s singular economic mess. A new leader will find them even harder to reconcile.