Page proves himself the right chief for Google
As Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, launches a new music subscription service and the company’s share price continues to climb, it’s worth nothing what a success he has so far been in the role – despite the doubters, including myself. Read more
The consumer as founder
L’exception culturelle: just when you thought it was safe…
Seen from outside France, the country’s “cultural exception” – which protects its art, music and movie industries in trade negotiations – is like a long-running film franchise.
In the new sequel – Exception Culturelle 3D, if you will – Pierre Lescure, author of a government-commissioned report, has given the story a great new twist by suggesting a tax on smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and e-readers to fund French cultural output. Read more
Dimon should lose his chairmanship, not his job
My views on Jamie Dimon’s dual roles as chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase have not changed since a year ago, when I called for him to give up the chairmanship, but the stakes are much higher.
Mr Dimon faces a shareholder vote at the bank’s annual meeting next week to enforce a split of the two roles in the company bylaws. According to the Wall Street Journal, he has hinted that he might give up both jobs and leave if that passes. Read more
In the browser wars that began in the 1990s, it took more than a decade for regulators to stop Microsoft exploiting its dominance with users of Windows software. In today’s mobile battles, customers have done so themselves in six months. Microsoft’s rapid retreat over Windows 8 – the latest, mobile-inspired, version of its operating software – shows wise flexibility rather than its traditional obstinacy. But it also demonstrates that Steve Ballmer, the company’s chief executive, has lost the power to “embrace and extend” the Windows hegemony into new fields. Read more
It’s the 18th annual Ira Sohn Investment conference, the must-have ticket for Wall Street investors. Held in New York’s Lincoln Center, money managers crowd the cultural heart of the city as the Philharmonic gives up its stage to the virtuosos of the hedge fund world. They are here to pitch their best ideas in public, all in the cause of cancer research (the most expensive tickets top $100,000).
There have been big calls at the conference before, David Einhorn’s (left) big short against Lehman brothers for one, and even SAC’s Steven Cohen appeared in 1999. This year the cast of 18 includes: Elliott Management’s Paul Singer to start proceedings, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square and investing legend Stanley Druckenmiller either side of lunch. Jeffrey Gundlach and Mr Einhorn will finish off the day.
The FT’s Dan McCrum and Arash Massoudi will be there to capture all the tips and report back on repercussions out in the market.
Bankers were “the Praetorian guard of capitalism”, Michael Noonan, Ireland’s finance minister, said last week. Given the scarring defeat suffered by the free market’s crack troops in the financial crisis, and the curbs now applied to their pay and rations, you might expect enthusiasm to replace them in the front line to be muted. Read more
The Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting is like Woodstock for capitalists. It draws tens of thousands of shareholders, value investors, groupies and the curious to the midwestern city Omaha, Nebraska.
They make the pilgrimage each spring to sit at the feet of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, the two men who have spent half a century building a sprawling $260bn conglomerate.
The FT’s Dan McCrum is there to capture the weekend festivities and the wise words from the pair of octogenarian sages. He will be blogging from the cornfields and investor meetings on Friday and Saturday, so check back frequently. All times are BST.
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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.
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