Management & Leadership

Guest view: Banks need a culture shock

8 Jan 2019

Conduct failures from Wells Fargo to Goldman Sachs to Danske Bank have damaged trust in banking, and can have a serious impact on profitability. Reforming bank culture to avoid scandals requires changing behavior and attitudes. It’s a tough job - one that has to start at the top.

Activist too quick to take an ax to Dollar Tree

7 Jan 2019

Pushy investor Starboard wants control of the $23 bln low-price retailer’s board, and could push for a sale of its Family Dollar chain. Dollar Tree has underperformed peers. But Starboard, which only has 2 pct of the stock, may do better holding tight and waiting for a downturn.

World Bank could be a new stick to beat China

7 Jan 2019

Jim Yong Kim has quit as head of the global lender, and the White House has a big say on his replacement. American officials had already pressured the bank to lend less to China and warned about Beijing’s influence. A hawkish new boss could create a new front in the trade war.

Budget air guru was passenger more than pilot

4 Jan 2019

Herb Kelleher’s Southwest Airlines took the romance out of flying, and undercut the industry’s luxury pricing with cheap, direct flights. Budget travelers owe him thanks, but they owe more to the influence of plunging airplane-manufacturing costs and rising passenger demand.

A graying Facebook will require a different leader

4 Jan 2019

Mark Zuckerberg’s social network is losing the trust of users and regulators because of fake news and privacy worries just as its valuation looks over the hill. Surmounting the crisis will involve a new model. The founder’s priority is finding someone up to the task.

Next ECB boss will matter less than his sidekick

3 Jan 2019

Most of those vying to replace Mario Draghi at the European Central Bank lack his creativity. Others will have more scope to sway debates. Ireland’s freethinking Philip Lane is favourite to be chief economist. He would have outsized influence, especially in the next downturn.

Larry Ellison is anything but a check on Elon Musk

28 Dec 2018

The Oracle founder calls himself a “very close friend” of the Tesla CEO and owns nearly $1 bln of the automaker’s stock. He also shares an imperious style and penchant for outsized pay. Musk’s SEC deal mandated an independent director, but Ellison is unlikely to rein him in.

Boardroom brawls will be child’s play to politics

28 Dec 2018

Starbucks’ founder, hedgie Tom Steyer, Mike Bloomberg and Mark Cuban are mulling U.S. presidential runs. Billionaires selling coffee, data or stocks may not find their skills useful in a bruising political race with 30-some Democratic candidates calling out their immense wealth.

City is even less diverse than RBS makes it look

19 Dec 2018

The UK bank’s hire of a female CFO and potentially a female CEO too is unusual. But 50 FTSE-350 companies have no women on their executive boards at all. With firms often restricting them to non-P&L roles like HR, female CEOs will remain depressingly scarce.

Renault-Nissan: Only merging makes financial sense

19 Dec 2018

The French and Japanese carmakers' lopsided stakes in each other are a poor use of capital. A full-blown marriage could boost their value by about 30 percent. That’s less likely after Carlos Ghosn’s ouster as Nissan chairman; the auto alliance is driving in the wrong direction.

Goldman Sachs will spend 2019 in velvet handcuffs

18 Dec 2018

New boss David Solomon starts the year with a mission to grow, lots of ambition and a crosstown rival that has steadily upped its game. A big deal – say, buying an asset manager – could help Solomon vault ahead of Morgan Stanley. That’s if the 1MDB scandal doesn’t bind his hands.

Wanda takes a deft detour into Party nostalgia

18 Dec 2018

The property conglomerate said it will build a $1.7 bln “red tourism” destination, even as it sells off other theme parks. Wang Jianlin’s outfit may be shedding assets to pay back jittery creditors, but officials are the constituency he really needs to placate.

SoftBank writedown will cloud Son’s way forward

17 Dec 2018

The group and its $97 bln Vision Fund paid toppy prices for the likes of ARM and WeWork. With tech valuations and growth under pressure, CEO Masayoshi Son may have to mark down some valuations in 2019. Financial backers and fund staff could struggle to maintain the momentum.

Viewsroom: French misery gives Italy some company

13 Dec 2018

President Macron hopes a 10 bln euro splurge from state coffers will mollify rioters calling him the “president of the rich.” But it’ll worsen the country’s deficit, risking an EU rebuke. It may, though, offer cover for Italy, whose debt load is causing friction with Brussels.

Peugeot boss has better option to running Renault

13 Dec 2018

Carlos Tavares may be the most obvious European car executive to fill the Ghosn gap. But buying 22 bln euro Fiat Chrysler may be a more appealing alternative, so long as the Agnellis are looking to hand things over to the leader who best resembles the late Sergio Marchionne.

Glasenberg successor will run a different Glencore

13 Dec 2018

The commodities giant’s combative boss says he will retire in 3 to 5 years. It’s unclear who will replace him, even after a recent reshuffle. With a U.S. subpoena and other woes weighing heavily on the stock, Ivan Glasenberg may yet be tempted to consider a much bolder overhaul.

Vincent Bolloré will break up Vivendi

12 Dec 2018

The 66-year-old tycoon is smarting from a drubbing by Elliott in Italy, and his media group suffers from a huge conglomerate discount. A partial sale of Universal Music may help. But dismantling the whole group would release $10 bln in value, and keep potential activists at bay.

Hyundai heir is tightening his grip on the wheel

12 Dec 2018

A radical shake-up in the upper ranks of the Korean autos conglomerate should help de facto boss Euisun Chung repair multiple dents. Flagging sales and restructuring demands from activist Elliott are top of his to-do list. A firmer hand should drive progress on both.

General Electric can go from bad to worse in 2019

11 Dec 2018

The industrial group led by Larry Culp is mostly being propped up by its aviation arm as its power business sucks wind and its finance unit consumes cash. The risk is that cyclical, financial and competitive headwinds kick the strongest leg of the stool out from shareholders.

“Pere Noel” Macron won’t cheer marchers or markets

11 Dec 2018

France’s president pivoted from Teutonic austerity to Matteo Salvini-ish populism in response to violent protests over inequality. He pledged state cash to help the underpaid and pensioners. That may push up French borrowing costs without pleasing those in yellow vests.