Yahoo must try to make Tumblr’s magic last
Ian Schrager, founder of a string of trendy boutique hotels, didn’t start out in the lodging business. As one of the original owners of Studio 54, he was at the…
GE eyes consumer finance unit IPO
General Electric is considering listing its consumer finance operations to fund more share buybacks and strengthen focus on its industrial businesses, its chief executive has indicated. Jeff Immelt told a…
Miner ECR’s placing knocks a quarter off its share price
Shares in ECR Minerals lost a quarter of their value on Wednesday as it emerged that the UK mining group had raised £400,000 by placing 400m of new equity (a…
Rating agencies under fire again
After coming under fire for their blessing of risky mortgage backed securities in the lead-up to the financial crisis, credit rating agencies are again facing criticism – this time for…
Google defends taxes from Labour onslaught
Eric Schmidt defended Google’s tax practices on Wednesday and said the internet group would continue to invest in the UK “no matter what” after Ed Miliband, Labour leader, criticised the…
Penguin pays $75m to resolve ebook claims
Penguin has agreed to pay $75m plus costs to resolve all US antitrust claims in relation to ebook pricing, helping pave the way for the completion of its merger with…
US doctors paid $1bn by drug companies
A dozen leading drug companies paid US doctors a total of more than $1bn last year, according to fresh data revealing the extent of links between the pharmaceutical industry and…
Amazon plans giant biosphere in Seattle
©NBBJ Amazon wants its staff to work in three giant spherical greenhouses in downtown Seattle, as its instinct to keep a low-profile is overpowered by the kooky futurism of its…
Ares hires ex-Blair adviser for Europe deals
Los Angeles-based fund manager Ares Management has appointed Charles Steel, a former adviser to Tony Blair and a one-time Carlyle Group investment executive, as managing director in charge of private…
Apple unlikely to change without tax reform
©AP Carl Levin, the combative chairman of the US Senate committee investigating Apple’s corporate tax practices, pushed the company’s top executives aggressively right to the end of Tuesday’s hearing. But…
Copper rises to six-week high
Worries about tighter supplies pushed up copper prices to a six-week high as a production outage at Indonesia’s Grasberg, one world’s largest copper mines, looked set to continue. Operations at…
Cable & Wireless to relocate from London
©Bloomberg Cable & Wireless Communications, the telecoms group that traces its history back to the early days of the British empire, is to leave the UK after more than 140…
Mobile drives company website refresh
Corporate websites are coming back into fashion. Did they ever go away? Yes, in the sense that many managers tuned[them?] out in favour of all-conquering social media. Now they are…
US housing upturn boosts Toll Brothers
Toll Brothers reported a 46 per cent rise in second-quarter earnings as the US luxury homebuilder sold more homes at higher prices while new orders rose to the most in…
Weak consumer spending hampers Target
Target added to signs that US consumers remain on tight budgets by reporting an unexpected fall in sales following similarly disappointing results from Walmart last week. The mass market retailer,…