More UK boards are raising CEO pay for their US rivals, marking a shift in sentiment among CEOs, bosses and investors who had previously been reluctant to get involved in the transatlantic pay wars.London Stock Exchange Group is among the latest companies to seek shareholder approval for the pay package for its CEO David Schwimmer, which is being compared with US rivals, not British companies.“When you look at compensation standards around the world, the United States is in a different place,” Schwimmer said this week. “This is an issue that companies competing on a global basis from a base in…
Author: ricardofrancois
In late January, The Body Shop said it was selling a swath of its international business in a deal that the ethical beauty brand hailed as a “critical step towards delivering a robust transformation strategy”. The buyer of hundreds of stores in Europe and Asia has been described as an unnamed “family office” by the chain's new private equity owner, Aurelius, who did not mention any ties to the buyer.But instead of a wealthy family, the buyer was Friedrich Trautwein, a German businessman who had previously been involved in at least five investments in Aurelius, including several corporate failures, according…
The inaugural flight of an Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-800 took off from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa on April 28, 2021.Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty ImagesIn the nearly four years since the Covid-19 pandemic upended air travel, America's largest airlines have returned to profitability. The CEOs of two airline startups launched in the middle of the pandemic say they're about to get on board.Avello and Breeze, two low-cost carriers that debuted in 2021 when U.S. air travel demand was 30% below pre-pandemic levels, have rapidly grown their operations.They have launched…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Banco Santander is facing a potential shareholder revolt at its annual general meeting this month after influential proxy advisor ISS recommended that investors vote against CEO Ana Botin's pay package.Botín is one of the highest-paid bank executives in Europe, earning 12.2 million euros last year on the back of the Spanish bank achieving record profits thanks to high interest rates. Santander asked shareholders to approve a change to its pay policy, which would see the salaries of both Botín and CEO Hector…
Figuring out how to manage money together can be an important part of a happy relationship, but it's a skill that doesn't always come naturally.“When there is conflict or disagreement, it's usually not about the money itself, but rather about the meaning each person associates with money. There's always something deeper,” said Cohen Taylor, a licensed family and marriage therapist and behavioral wealth specialist at Wealth Enhancement Group.Getting on the same page with your partner when it comes to finances usually requires a lot of communication and sometimes a little compromise. In some cases, this may include realizing that your…
Diego Rivera's mural “Symbolism of California” is housed in a special staircase inside the San Francisco City Club. It depicts a woman often referred to as the Spirit of California and the reward she offers: an abundance of working men and their promise of advancement.The industry and extraction shown here convey one version of California's history—the version that has long been reinforced in schools, and in which much of California's origin story was wrapped up in the Gold Rush. However, the woman at the center of the mural represents a much older theme, one woven through history in Europe and…
Elon Musk, owner of Tesla andBeata Zorzel | norphoto | Getty ImagesLawyers who invalidated Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation as excessive on Friday sought a record $6 billion in legal fees, to be paid in shares of the electric car maker.“We recognize that the fees requested are unprecedented in absolute magnitude,” the three law firms said in a filing with the Delaware Court of Chancery.They said fees amount to an hourly rate of $288,888.Musk criticized the request as “criminal,” posting on his X platform that “lawyers who have done nothing but hurt Tesla want $6 billion.”Tesla Musk's lawyer did not…
Company insiders joke that Margherita della Valle's “Vodafone blood is red.” Such is the 58-year-old's passion for the company where she has spent just over half her life.But now the group's Italian CEO must do some of the bloodletting herself. It plans to sell Vodafone Italia as part of a comprehensive restructuring to streamline the company's operations that will see 11,000 employees cut. The potential deal to offload its Italian business to Swisscom – announced this week – is like “selling the house I grew up in”, according to a person close to it.Della Valle, who was appointed CEO last…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Buying a TV maker on a budget isn't the most obvious way to sell more advertising. But when you're the largest retailer in America and your stock price is at a record high, you can make a side bet or two.Walmart pitched its $2.3 billion acquisition of TV maker Vizio last month as a way to expand the reach of its small but fast-growing advertising unit. Right now, the retail giant mainly sells ads on its websites, apps and self-checkout screens in…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Not a day goes by that I don't scream at televisions, pepper grinders, lawnmowers, or Tupperware. Such bad design. It was very poorly implemented. If only Steve Jobs or Sir James Dyson made you, damn it!Hence my sadness at the news that Apple cars will remain a dream. Who wouldn't want to see what the maker of the iPhone — the most popular, stylish, and practical product since the Post-it Note — could do with cars?They would have ideally taken themselves out…