Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Private equity can no longer rely on borrowing cheap money to fuel returns, and will have to go back to its roots of sourcing good deals and making operational improvements, according to the head of
News
German companies are expected to go bust at a higher rate this year following a sharp increase in insolvencies in 2023, as businesses hit by high energy costs and the end of pandemic aid throw in the towel. Restructuring experts warn that many “zombie” companies kept afloat after the coronavirus pandemic by generous government aid
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has piled debt on the Silicon Valley mansion he acquired for a record sum, using the showpiece house as security for a multimillion-dollar loan. The technology investor tapped his sprawling nine-acre
The quashing in April 2021 of 39 UK sub-postmasters’ convictions marked the final blow to the Post Office after a decades-long David and Goliath struggle for justice. The Post Office had agreed the convictions should be overturned, but for most of the sub-postmasters it tried to reject arguments that they should never have been prosecuted
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Donald Trump is the first choice of just under half of likely Republican caucus goers, according to a new poll that underscores the former president’s dominance heading into the Iowa caucuses on Monday. The poll,
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Endeavour Mining turned to its longstanding law firm, Linklaters, to undertake investigations into its ousted chief executive, Sébastien de Montessus, despite complaints from employees at the gold producer about the firm’s independence, according to three
Were ITV to produce a show about a drama that ignited public rage and spurred new legislation, then Polly Hill and Kevin Lygo would take starring roles. The ITV executives were responsible for bringing to the screen Mr Bates vs The Post Office, a four-part series showing the real-life impact of a Post Office accounting
The US and UK had for weeks warned of retribution against the Houthi rebels menacing a vital maritime trade route. Late on Thursday, under cover of darkness, their response arrived. The US Navy fired dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles towards Yemen from its destroyers and submarines around the Red Sea, while British jets launched laser-guided
The semiconductor industry has begun the year with growing confidence that it left its latest cyclical downturn behind in 2023, as analysts hail a “turning point” for the $600bn market. But behind headline forecasts of a double-digit recovery in chip spending this year lies uncertainty about how broadly based that bounceback will be, as rising
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Taiwan started counting votes on Saturday afternoon in a pivotal presidential and parliamentary election that could influence China’s approach to its democratic neighbour. The eighth national vote since the country of 23.5mn first held free
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Post Office scandal was uncovered not by officialdom but by dogged, independent-minded heroes. These included journalists at the BBC, Computer Weekly and Private Eye; an engineer who blew the whistle at Fujitsu; several MPs;
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The US has bombed Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen for the second day in a row, fuelling concerns that the conflict in the region could escalate. US Central Command described the attack on a radar
Vijay Parekh had just turned 50 when the Post Office took him to court on trumped-up charges alleging he had stolen tens of thousands of pounds from the government-owned business. The former sub-postmaster, now 65, was pursued by investigators and lawyers acting for the Post Office, who tried to convince him that pleading guilty would
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Dinner with friends. All junior in age, all prolific readers. I come with bad news, and it isn’t humane to postpone or embroider these things. Literature — I notify them — is a lesser
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Post Office claimed tax relief on compensation it paid to victims of the postmasters scandal, sparking warnings that it risks a £100mn bill and insolvency if authorities rule the move unlawful. In its latest
BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink has been searching for years for the right private markets partner to make his $10tn money manager as formidable a player in alternative investments as it is in traditional asset management. His overtures to private equity, private credit and hedge funds rarely got beyond the first meal. Often the cultures
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The right thing for investors to do in 2023 was to ignore the worrywart consensus huggers (myself included) and leap with both feet in to a heady portfolio of the zingiest stocks. You only live
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. When Dave Calhoun, chief executive of Boeing, addressed its employees this week about a brush with disaster on a 737 Max aircraft carrying 171 passengers, he choked up. “I got kids, I got grandkids and
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Iowa caucuses on Monday night will mark the official start of the presidential primary season and serve as an early test of Donald Trump’s frontrunner status for the party’s nomination for the White House.
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Cryptocurrencies myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The writer is chief executive and chief investment officer of Richard Bernstein Advisors Proof of concept typically means evidence that a design idea is feasible. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts have suggested that the approval of bitcoin ETFs by
Just a day after the Israel-Hamas conflict began, the US sent its newest, most advanced aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean. Washington hoped the USS Gerald R Ford strike carrier group, plus further US forces, would deter Iran and its myriad proxies in the region and contain the crisis. But three months later, the US