Business

This week, media and tech giants will gather in Sun Valley to discuss the future of streaming and explore potential strategic alliances. Allen & Co.’s annual conference, known as “billionaires’ summer camp,” kicks off Tuesday at a ski lodge in Idaho. Since 1983, the event has been the birthplace of major media deals and a space for industry leaders to discuss the future of their businesses and the broader economy. The guest list for Sun Valley includes media leaders like Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav; Disney’s Bob Iger and his potential successors Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, Josh D’Amaro and Hugh Johnston; as well as Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters; along with tech titans like Amazon’s Andy Jassy and Jeff Bezos; and Apple CEO Tim Cook. While these moguls are regular gu...

The semiconductor industry is actively seeking workers in a competitive labor market, driven by growing demand for talent and the need for funding from the CHIPS and Science Act, which aims to stimulate domestic manufacturing. The U.S. economy is expected to face a shortage of about one million workers by 2030, as generative AI further fuels demand in the industry. A 2023 study by the Semiconductor Industry Association predicts a shortage of 67,000 computer scientists, engineers, and technicians in the U.S. chip industry by 2030, while the entire U.S. economy is projected to face a gap of 1.4 million such workers. A separate study by Deloitte suggests that the talent shortage in the semiconductor industry could worsen due to the global economic climate and ongoing supply chain issues. Glo...

HBC, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, has announced its acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group for $2.65 billion. The merger will unite two iconic luxury retailers under one roof. The new entity, Saks Global, will include Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks OFF 5TH, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Richard Baker, CEO of HBC, expressed his excitement about the merger, highlighting the benefits it envisions for customers, partners and employees. He emphasized the potential for technological advances to transform the luxury retail experience. Major leadership changes include Marc Metrick, currently CEO of Saks.com, who will become CEO of Saks Global. Ian Putnam, president and CEO of HBC Properties and Investments, will oversee Saks Global’s real estate and investment businesses, both of which wil...

On June 21, 2024, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing celebrated its 24th listing anniversary, amid growing optimism about the future of the city’s IPO market. In an interview with CNBC, George Chan, global head of IPOs at EY, expressed confidence that the Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) market is set to see substantial improvement over the next five years, starting in the second half of this year. Chan noted that while it may take a few years to reach the peak levels seen in 2021, the trend is clearly positive. “I see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. Over the past three years, factors such as high interest rates in the United States, increased regulatory scrutiny, slowing economic growth, and geopolitical tensions between the United States and China have dampened IPO activi...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with the progress made over the past year in tackling inflation, but stressed that more confidence was needed before considering a rate cut. "We've made quite a bit of progress in getting inflation back to our objective," Powell told a central bank forum in Sintra, Portugal. "The latest inflation readings, and to a lesser extent the previous one, suggest that we're returning to a disinflationary path. We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2% before we begin the process of reducing or easing policy." Powell spoke alongside European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde and Brazilian central bank governor Roberto Campos Neto at an event hosted by the ECB and moderated by CNBC...

Wan Gang, the visionary behind the rise of electric vehicles in China, sees European collaboration as a promising path forward. HEFEI, China — Wan Gang, widely recognized as the architect of China's electric vehicle (EV) strategy, suggested Wednesday that Chinese investment in Europe's electric vehicle industry could benefit both regions amid ongoing trade disputes . “I think the governments of China and the European Union are now considering how, through negotiations, they can combine investment with commodity trade,” said Wan Gang, currently president of the China Association for Science and Technology. Wan made the remarks via an official English translation during a panel at the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos” meeting in Dalian, China. Representatives from China’s Foreign Minist...

A recent survey by a Chinese business group in the United States shows that Chinese companies are still interested in doing business in the United States, even if things are difficult. Most of the companies surveyed (nearly 60%) want to continue investing the same amount of money in the United States, and some (30%) even want to invest more. The survey also found that many Chinese companies are concerned about the relationship between the United States and China and the overall health of the U.S. economy. More than 60 percent of respondents believe the economic environment in the United States is getting worse. There is also much more concern (93 percent compared to 81 percent last year) that the United States and China are unable to work well together. The US government has made it harde...