Thomson Reuters defends boss following reports of hunt for successor October 21, 2019 Thomson Reuters has thrown its support behind chief executive Jim Smith following reports the company has hired an executive search firm to pick his successor. The media conglomerate is said to have appointed search firm Spencer Stuart to draw up a shortlist of candidates, with co-chief operating officer Neil Materson slated as an internal contender. [...]
DEBATE: Could the BBC survive becoming a subscription service? October 21, 2019 Could the BBC survive becoming a subscription service? Nicholas Mazzei, a corporate social responsibility adviser, says YES. The BBC is a well-loved and historic British institution, but it needs to move with the times. Ending its guaranteed income and making it compete for its customers through a subscription model would drive it to become more [...]
That’s a rap: Hipgnosis lands Timbaland catalogue as it beefs up portfolio October 16, 2019 Music royalties investment firm Hipgnosis has bought the music catalogue of prolific US record producer Timbaland in its latest high-profile acquisition. Read more: Musical shares: Why Merck Mercuriadis believes the old ones are always the best The London-listed firm said it has secured the rights to 108 albums and songs belonging to Timothy Mosley, better [...]
Telegraph group suffers profit slump as ‘structural decline’ outweighs subscriber growth October 15, 2019 The Telegraph has suffered a huge decline in pre-tax profit for the year, as a rise in subscriber numbers failed to counteract a “structural decline” in print revenue. Telegraph Media Group (TMG) posted pre-tax profit of just £900,000 in 2018, a fall of 94 per cent on the previous year. Revenue also slipped three per [...]
Musical shares: Why Merck Mercuriadis believes the old ones are always the best October 14, 2019 Merck Mercuriadis has a party trick. If you tell the veteran music mogul-turned City slicker your favourite band, he’ll name an older band that influenced them. Like a Spotify algorithm, but in real life. Mercuriadis’s encyclopedic music knowledge is hardly surprising. Over his career he has managed artists including Morrissey, Beyonce and Elton John, and [...]
Hiro Capital launches with €100m fund as it sets sights on gaming boom October 14, 2019 A team of gaming entrepreneurs has set up a brand new venture capital firm to pump €100m (£87.6m) into the booming games and esports industries. Hiro Capital launched today with the aim of targeting what it describes as a funding gap in the market, splitting its investments between creative games studios and industry technology. Read [...]
Northedge snaps up UK video games firm Catalis in £90m deal October 14, 2019 Private equity group Northedge Capital has bought London-based video games company Catalis in a deal valuing the firm at £90m. Northedge has invested £46.6m in Catalis, while major backer Vespa Capital and chief executive Dominic Wheatley have reinvested their shareholdings in the company as part of the transaction. Read more: MPs call for regulation of [...]
Mastercard and Visa join Paypal and others in abandoning Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project October 12, 2019 Mastercard, Visa, eBay and Stripe have all pulled out of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra. It comes a week Paypal announced they were withdrawing from Libra and is a huge blow to the social network’s plans to launch what it envisioned as a global currency. Read more: Paypal become first firm to drop out of Facebook’s [...]
Facebook pays just £28m in UK corporation tax in 2018 after sales worth almost £800m October 11, 2019 Facebook paid just £28m in UK corporation tax in 2018 according to its latest filing at Companies House. This is despite it having recognised sales worth £797m with a gross profit of £763.4m for the year. Read more: OECD targets tech giants as it shakes up global tax rules It is the latest example of [...]
James Murdoch acquires minority stake in Vice Media October 11, 2019 James Murdoch has agreed to buy a minority share in Vice Media as he looks to build his own media empire. The younger son of Rupert Murdoch created Lupa Systems earlier this year with the $2bn proceeds from the family’s $71bn sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney. Read more: Government and BBC ‘must reach [...]
