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Management & Leadership

Next Hong Kong chief gives China chance to reset

8 Apr 2022

Carrie Lam’s handling of protests and Covid-19 weakened the city’s stature and deepened economic imbalances. John Lee, the frontrunner to succeed her, looks thinly qualified to fix such issues. A more pragmatic approach from Beijing, though, might shore up investor confidence.

Telegram’s Russia performance is a one-man show

7 Apr 2022

Pavel Durov’s messaging app has resisted President Vladimir Putin’s edicts and survived them. The app’s popularity has surged, setting it up to double its $30 bln valuation. Yet for skeptics of transparency at Twitter or WhatsApp, Telegram arguably presents even starker risks.

Chancellor: In praise of slack

7 Apr 2022

Executives spent decades optimising strategies to boost efficiency and returns on equity. That left them exposed to shocks like the global pandemic and invasion of Ukraine. In a world that values spare capacity, Japanese firms look better placed than their American counterparts.

Capital Calls: Buffett’s HP bet, Gambling M&A

7 Apr 2022

Concise views on global finance: Berkshire Hathaway takes a hefty stake in the computer and printer maker; Betting group 888 negotiates a better price for buying UK bookie William Hill.

Capital Calls: U.S. truck drivers go missing

4 Apr 2022

Concise views on global finance: Bonuses and concessions from Washington aren't enough to fill the industry's empty cabs.

Martin Sorrell’s latest S4 pitch falls flat

31 Mar 2022

The former WPP ad man says a last-minute delay to his digital media upstart’s accounts are not a cause for concern. A 40% share price drop suggests investors disagree. S4’s breakneck growth targets and quirky corporate governance leave it exposed to undershooting positive spin.

Ericsson’s governance mess stretches beyond Iraq

30 Mar 2022

Investors rebuked CEO Börje Ekholm for not disclosing possible payments to Islamic State by stripping him of legal protections. The telecoms-kit maker kept voting details quiet, and its dual-class share structure means Ekholm looks safe. Investors have more reason to steer clear.

Generali investors better off with devil they know

30 Mar 2022

A rebel billionaire is vying for control of the 190-year-old insurer, a linchpin of Italian finance. Francesco Caltagirone promises higher returns and bolder M&A than under CEO Philippe Donnet. Fuzzy targets and slowing growth should make shareholders wary of switching horses.

Bayer has 29 bln reasons to say bye-bye to CEO

29 Mar 2022

Four years on, the 61 bln euro group’s Monsanto purchase has left it with cancer litigation and a clunky structure. Its current worth may be 32% less than the value of its bits, arguing for a breakup. That’s hard while boss Werner Baumann, the deal’s architect, is in place.

Sea’s ‘Free Fire’ churns up Singapore-India ties

25 Mar 2022

New Delhi’s ban on the mobile game persists despite diplomatic intervention. The clash, tangled in Chinese tensions, casts a shadow over India’s relations with one of its biggest foreign investors. Rising nationalist sentiment on both sides will make rifts harder to heal.

GE chief’s pay cut is a drop in the golden bucket

18 Mar 2022

Larry Culp had $10 mln knocked off his bonus after a year of shareholder anger and poor stock performance. Given the riches Culp has received to date, it’s a token gesture. As Goldman Sachs showed after a similar trim last year, such acts of contrition can be fleeting at best.

Starbucks CEO do-over points to two labor problems

16 Mar 2022

Howard Schultz is back for the third time as CEO, at least until the coffee chain finds a new one. As employees grow restive, drafting in a benevolent patriarch looks strategic. The lack of an internal successor, though, suggests unions aren’t Starbucks' only workforce challenge.

Capital Calls: LVMH and Arnault

16 Mar 2022

Concise views on global finance: The 315 bln euro luxury group’s plan to raise the age limit for its CEO role may mean Bernard Arnault is struggling to decide on a successor, though for now shareholders won’t care.

Fed board flame-out still leaves banks on thin ice

16 Mar 2022

Sarah Bloom Raskin’s failure to clinch the supervisory lead role at the central bank proves what was already clear: only a centrist who avoids divisive issues like climate can get approval from a divided Senate. But while Big Oil may be off the hook, Wall Street probably isn’t.

Discovery CEO pay starts new era on wrong footing

15 Mar 2022

David Zaslav was awarded $247 mln for heading the TV firm in 2021, twice what Tim Cook got for running Apple, a company 200 times bigger. Shareholders don’t get a say on Zaslav’s slab of cash and options. But they will after its merger with WarnerMedia, and it may not be pretty.

Deutsche CEO’s new plan is a dicey bet on peace

10 Mar 2022

Christian Sewing hopes to boost revenue 4% a year to hit a 10% return on tangible equity target in 2025. A prolonged Ukraine war and soaring energy prices could make that impossible. Sewing would then be back to square one: cutting his way to higher returns rather than growing.

Capital Calls: Americans accept inflation for now

10 Mar 2022

Concise views on global finance: U.S. prices rose a whopping 7.9% year-on-year in February. Even so, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has improved President Joe Biden's approval ratings. It may not last.

Wall Street hyperbole washes up in Sydney storms

4 Mar 2022

The New South Wales premier called this week’s torrent a “one-in-a-1,000-year event”. It evokes Goldman CFOs ascribing improbable standard deviations to choppy markets. Such quips, like the terms drought and natural disaster, mischaracterise risk and obscure needed action.

Capital Calls: Argentina, Oligarch yachts

4 Mar 2022

Concise views on global finance: Argentina’s $45 bln debt deal is hope trumping experience; Floating assets sometimes worth more than $500 million each are worthy sanctions targets.