FINANCE
Blavatnik richest in Britain
Ukrainian businessman Len Blavatnik was named the wealthiest man in Britain in a rich list published in the Sunday Times yesterday. Blavatnik, an investor in a range of industries, including oil, petrochemicals and media, is worth £13.17 billion (US$20 billion), according to the list. The index found that the combined wealth of Britain’s 1,000 richest people had more than doubled in the past 10 years to more than £547 billion.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
United Spirits eyes dismissal
United Spirits Ltd, the Indian liquor maker controlled by Diageo PLC, asked chairman Vijay Mallya to resign, after an internal inquiry found company funds were diverted to other entities under his control. Mallya refused to quit. United Spirits’ board on Saturday passed the resolution calling for the tycoon’s resignation, after concluding an internal inquiry into loans and deposits made by the company over a three-year period, India’s biggest spirits maker said in an e-mailed statement. In response, Mallya said he intends to continue as chairman, and that the board’s decision relied on a report based on “half-truths and twisted facts.”
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla Twitter, e-mail hacked
Tesla Motors Inc’s Twitter feed and its media-relations e-mail account were hacked on Saturday, with the electric carmaker led by billionaire Elon Musk becoming the latest victim of online vandals. The hackers who compromised Tesla’s Twitter feed were able to post messages to the Palo Alto, California-based company’s more than 564,000 followers, and one of the attackers responded to an e-mail message to Tesla’s media contact, indicating that account was compromised, too. “It’s not been hacked sir,” the person wrote from a Gmail account, identifying themselves as a “tesla press representative” using a name that has been linked to earlier attacks on other companies.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Sobi open to takeover
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, the maker of treatments for rare diseases, is open to a potential takeover, people familiar with the matter said. Swedish Orphan, whose biggest shareholder is Investor AB, has held on-and-off talks with potential buyers since last year, the people said. The Stockholm-based company is currently valued at about 30.8 billion Swedish krona (US$3.56 billion). The drugmaker, better known as Sobi, could attract interest from large companies, including Pfizer Inc, which has an existing partnership with the Swedish firm, the people said. Biogen Inc, which also partners with Sobi, could look at parts or all as well, they said.
ENERGY
DONG Energy mulls split
The Danish government, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and the other owners of DONG Energy A/S plan to base any decision to split up the state-backed utility on a review due to be published later this year, Danish Minister of Finance Bjarne Corydon said. “A plan is being drafted for the future development of DONG Energy ahead of the stock-exchange listing,” Corydon said in an e-mail. “Based on that, a decision will be made. The plan is expected to be completed in the second half of 2015,” he added. The review, conducted by JPMorgan Chase & Co, explores a number of options, including one that envisages DONG Energy spinning off, or selling, its oil exploration and production unit.
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