The Good News From Uber You Missed
The most important thing to know about Uber was buried deep in the business pages of the New York Times on Saturday.
Sergey Brin, Meet Bill Norris
Alphabet (the company formerly known as Google) reported healthy earnings a few weeks ago. Its revenue reached $21.5 billion, which included $185mm in sales from moonshot projects – investments in everything from driverless cars and solar-powered drones to genomics. But as executives discussed these ventures with investors, a faint echo from an earlier age – […]
Elon Musk and the Art of the Outrageous Prediction
Elon Musk, entrepreneur and PR genius, has done it again. He boldly predicted that the arrival of a self-driving car was just three years away. The press took note, and Mr. Musk found himself on the front page of the Financial Times. His gambit shows that an outlandish statement can have a very practical purpose.
A Rogue Tweet Spoils George Oborne’s Party
You have to feel some sympathy for UK finance minister George Osborne. Not only is he dealing with a stubbornly weak economy, but his top-secret annual budget presentation to Parliament was spoiled by an errant tweet. The incident was widely covered and featured plenty of hand-wringing and finger-pointing. But it’s amazing this sort of blunder […]
Google’s Earnings Goof
It’s embarrassing anytime a company’s earnings are released accidentally. But when the company is a giant known for its savvy technology skills, well, it’s a calamity. Amid the morning-after explanations, several questions remain unanswered.
After the LIBOR Scandal, More Transparency?
Perhaps the only thing more surprising than the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal that engulfed Barclays last week is the method by which the rate is set. For more than four decades, the benchmark interest rate has been set by a group of banks, based on voluntary declarations of each bank’s borrowing cost, not actual trades. But […]