ENTERTAINMENT
Broadway tops gross record
New York City’s Broadway ended last year with a bang — a big New Year’s Eve holiday capping off the highest-grossing calendar year in history. According to the Broadway League, the total gross was US$1.362 billion, with total attendance of 13.13 million for the year that just ended. The total take was a 14 percent uptick over 2013 — boosted by premium pricing — making last year the highest-grossing calendar year on Broadway. There also was a 13 percent increase in attendance over 2013. A hugely profitable Christmas week led to the highest-grossing new year’s holiday week, with The Elephant Man, It’s Only a Play, The Book of Mormon, Aladdin and The Lion King all breaking theater records.
INVESTMENT
Morgan Stanley fires ‘thief’
US investment bank Morgan Stanley on Monday said that it had fired an employee for stealing the personal data of hundreds of thousands of wealth management customers. Some account information for about 900 of the clients, including account numbers and names, was briefly posted on the Internet and, once detected, was “promptly removed,” the bank said in a statement. No passwords or US social security numbers were stolen, the company said, adding: “There is no evidence of any economic loss to any client.” Morgan Stanley did not identify the alleged thief, but said the person worked in its wealth management business, without providing further details.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
JPMorgan settles lawsuit
JPMorgan Chase & Co has reached a settlement with accusers who alleged in a lawsuit that it had manipulated foreign exchange rates to its advantage, a well-placed source said on Monday in New York. The bank was one of 12 named in the class-action suit filed in March last year alleging that its staff conspired to manipulate rates in the multitrillion US dollar foreign exchange market in ways that cheated customers while boosting bank earnings. JPMorgan was not expected to divulge the financial terms of the deal with the plaintiffs, who include large investment funds, urban governments and employee pension plans, the source said, adding that the settlement payout was less than US$1 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
Volvo finishes Dongfeng deal
Swedish truck maker Volvo Group on Monday said that it had completed the acquisition of 45 percent of a subsidiary to Chinese motor giant Dongfeng Motor Group (東風) for US$893 million. Announced in January 2013 and now confirmed by Beijing, the deal awards Volvo a share in Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles worth 5.5 billion yuan (US$886 million). The other 55 percent remains in the hands of the parent company Dongfeng, one of the main shareholders of the French carmaker PSA.
UNITED STATES
Chinese pet treats recalled
Petco on Monday said that it has removed all remaining Chinese-made dog and cat treats from its Web site and stores across the US amid concerns that they have sickened thousands of pets and killed 1,000 dogs in the nation since 2007. The US Food and Drug Administration said that initial tests have not connected the Chinese jerky and rawhide treats to the illnesses, but the San Diego-based company and rival PetSmart vowed in May last year to ban the snacks. Petco, which has 1,300 stores, is the first US pet retailer to pull the treats. Phoenix-based PetSmart Inc said on Monday that it plans to have them off shelves by March.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last