Warren Buffett was spending $15bn on renewable energy. He’s now upped that to $30bn June 10, 2014 Yesterday, it momentarily slipped Warren Buffett’s mind how much money Berkshire Hathaway is shelling out on wind and solar power in the US – $15bn (£8.9bn). Speaking at the Edison Electric Institute’s annual convention in Las Vegas, the guru investor turned to deputy Greg Abel for a reminder of the figure, before coming back with, [...]
Richard Branson leads $25m investment round in FX group TransferWise June 9, 2014 RICHARD Branson has led a $25m (£15m) investment round in London-based money transfer business TransferWise, the company will reveal today. TransferWise is an international money transfer platform, using peer-to-peer technology to cut the exchange fees charged by banks and brokers. “Financial services such as foreign exchange have been ripe for disruption for decades and it’s [...]
Sports Direct investors attack new bonus plan for Mike Ashley June 9, 2014 Sports Direct shareholders lashed out yesterday, claiming they had not been consulted on the latest proposal for a bonus share scheme that seeks to reward its founder Mike Ashley. The retailer has set out plans for a share programme that would reward Ashley alongside Sports Direct’s 3,000 employees, after shareholders rejected two earlier attempts to [...]
Why Britain’s battle against Jean-Claude Juncker may not be worth it June 9, 2014 WHEN Prime Ministers pick EU battles, they have to choose carefully. Like it or not, the UK’s historically unenthusiastic approach to EU integration – an understandable one at that – leaves it open to accusations of holding the rest of Europe over a barrel whenever the government appears to drag its feet. In the current [...]
Elon Musk: “I didn’t think SpaceX or Tesla would work” June 9, 2014 Billionaire tech titan Elon Musk – the brain behind Tesla electric cars, a project to colonise Mars and Hyperloop – has more ideas in a year than most people in a lifetime. But speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, the serial entrepreneur admitted that he hasn’t always had faith that things will come [...]
Sports Direct launches third attempt for Mike Ashley bonus June 9, 2014 Sports Direct is initiating a third attempt to award founder Mike Ashley a bonus, after two previous attempts failed due to shareholder opposition. The 2015 bonus share scheme provides for the grant of no-cost options of up to 25m ordinary shares in the company to 3,000 employees, including Ashley. The scheme could be worth £200m. However, [...]
Christine Lagarde grovels to Osborne over IMF’s prediction June 9, 2014 IMF BOSS Christine Lagarde yesterday gave a pleading apology to chancellor George Osborne over claims a year ago that his economic policies were “playing with fire.” Since the International Monetary Fund made the claims the economy has recovered rapidly, with unemployment diving and GDP now thought to be back at its pre-crash peak. “I completely [...]
South African retail tycoon eyes UK move with new shell vehicle June 9, 2014 SOUTH African retail magnate Christo Wiese has created a shell company in the UK, in a sign that he is poised to make a move on the UK high street. According to Companies House, the name Pepkor UK was set up earlier this year. Former Asda chief executive Andy Bond and his business partner Mark [...]
Christine Lagarde rules herself out of running for top EU job June 6, 2014 CHRISTINE Lagarde yesterday ruled herself out of the running to become president of the European Commission, saying she would instead see out her term as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “I’m not a candidate and the reason I’m not a candidate is that I have a job,” Lagarde said. “It’s a job that [...]
The ECB’s new interest rate policy – what does it all mean? June 5, 2014 The European Central Bank has taken the bold decision to push the deposit rate from zero to minus 0.1 per cent, essentially meaning that Eurozone banks must pay the central bank to make deposits there. But what does this decision from ECB president Mario Draghi mean for everyone? Funding For Business Lending [...]
