Amazon’s declaration of intent with the Kindle
Amazon is nothing if not relentless.
With the launch of the third generation Kindle – this time with a WiFi only model priced at $139 in the US – the Seattle-based company is reinforcing its leadership of the e-book reader market.
It faces competition from the multi-purpose Apple iPad, of course, but I still think there is a place for an E Ink screen device on which it is more comfortable to read books.
BP gets an American accent in the boardroom
It is no disrespect to Bob Dudley, the American who is about to become chief executive of BP, to note that were he British – or any other nationality – he probably would not be getting the job.
There is now a distinct possibility that BP will soon have not only an American chief executive but an American chairman too. Paul Anderson, a BP board member, has been mentioned as a possible successor to Carl-Henric Svanberg as non-executive chairman.
Mr Anderson, a former chief executive of both BHP Billiton and Duke Energy, was in the running to become BP chairman last year. As things turned out, it might have been useful to have him around.
Europe’s stress tests make a whimper not a bang
Oh dear. The results of the stress tests on European bansk – only seven out of 91 banks failed the tests compared with 10 out of 19 in a similar US exercise last year – are not reassuring.
Given that the European tests gave some leeway to national regulators across Europe to conduct examinations their own way, there was always a lot of scepticism about how rigorous the results would be.
Hedge funds keep on bringing in the money
So much for the death of hedge funds.
Asset management, having been through a couple of tough years, is back to doing fairly well for itself – and that includes hedge funds – according to the Boston Consulting Group.
The industry as a whole is back from a nasty 2008 with global assets under management rebounding from $47,000bn in 2008 to $52,600bn. Even more importantly for those concerned, the post-crash squeeze on operating margins seems to be easing.
Goldman Sachs is not superhuman after all
It is rare to hear the senior management of a company insisting so forthrightly that it has little control over its own destiny, but that was the message emerging from Goldman Sachs today.
David Viniar, Goldman’s chief financial officer, was at pains to hammer home this point on the investor conference call following its poor second quarter results:
“Our mix of business in not driven by management and the board . . . it is really driven by what our clients are demanding from us . . . It was very, very largely reduced client activity [that caused a sharp fall in revenues]“
Mr Viniar was trying to counter the suggestion that Goldman’s results were due to poor risk-taking or trading with its own capital. Instead, he wanted everyone to believe that Goldman’s fate was largely out of its hands, since it rises and falls on the financial tide.
Steve Jobs’ apology should have been heartfelt
Steve Jobs’ apology to customers who have bought an iPhone 4, and offer to supply a free case to alleviate any reception problems, was the right response but the way in which he delivered the message reduced the impact of his climbdown.
Mr Jobs looked exasperated by the fuss over the iPhone 4 losing reception when it is held in a certain way, and his body language and manner gave the impression that he was being forced into something that he did not really believe in.
Boardroom battles at bailed-out US companies
Companies controlled by the US government seem to have a lot of difficulty maintaining an amicable balance of power between their chairmen and their chief executives.
Harvey Golub’s abrupt resignation as chairman of American International Group after a stand-off between him and Bob Benmosche, AIG’s chief executive, is a second example of the phenomenon.
Before this, it was Ed Whitacre, who was appointed chairman of General Motors but decided that he would like to take the job of Fritz Henderson, GM’s former chief executive.
In general, US executives have difficulty with the notion of dividing power at the top of companies betweeen a non-executive chairman and a chief executive. It requires a degree of teamwork that they often exhort among employees but have trouble sticking with themselves.
As Mr Golub put it in his resignation statement:
“Bob Benmosche has informed the Board that he believes our working relationship as Chairman and CEO to be ineffective and unsustainable. At this point, I view asking the Board to choose between us would be an abdication of my responsibility to lead. Consequently, I’m resigning for the simple reason I believe it is easier to replace a chairman than a CEO.”
The US government opted to divide responsibilities in this way at the top of companies that had to be bailed out by taxpayers. The executives involved, however, are having trouble with the idea.
It does not reflect well on any of them.
The scientists refuse to be pushed on Avandia
Further to my column on Avandia suggesting that politicians should leave it to properly qualified regulators to decide on drug safely, the FDA advisory committee considering the anti-diabetes drug this afternoon decided against recommending that it is taken off the market.
That is something of a slap in the face to the politicians who I believe got ahead of themselves in declaring Avandia to be “a dangerous drug”, in the words of Rosa DeLauro, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives last month.
| About this blog | Blog guide |
John Gapper is an associate editor and the chief business commentator of the FT.
He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. He is co-author, with Nicholas Denton, of All That Glitters, an account of the collapse of Barings in 1995.
Andrew Hill is an associate editor and the management editor of the FT. He is a former City editor, financial editor, comment and analysis editor, New York bureau chief, foreign news editor and correspondent in Brussels and Milan.
John Gapper on Twitter
Follow John Gapper's tweets
johngapper: @normative b/c playing whack-a-mole with copyright infringement fomented by tech companies that profit from it is costly and frustrating?
johngapper: @daveg US ebook June 26. You can pre-order, if you're feeling reckless.
johngapper: RT @BBD_Suspense: It's a book cover kind of day. We just got in our first copies of @johngapper's A FATAL DEBT. So eye-catching: http:// ...
Andrew Hill on TwitterFollow Andrew Hill's tweets
andrewtghill: @Smoov_C Belated thanks, Carl - good to meet you all. I enjoyed the day - and my first visit to Iowa.
andrewtghill: Ariba, sold yesterday to SAP, was once a dotcom IPO rocket - up 291% on its first day of trading. My blog post: http://t.co/sfVCu2MB
andrewtghill: HP casualties include Autonomy founder - Mike Lynch defenestrated - so soon after selling his baby that must hurt http://t.co/IEDjf4bw
Older entries