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☆ Berkshire Reports Drop in Profits but Formidable Cash Stockpile
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported a sharp drop in first-quarter profits, driven largely by lower investment income, as the conglomerate’s chief executive, Warren E. Buffett, prepares to speak at its annual investor meeting. Those results belie an increase in operating earnings, which track the actual profits that Berkshire’s array of companies produce, and in Berkshire’s formidable cash hoard — which totaled nearly $189 billion as of March 31 — that points to the company’s robust health. The company’s latest results set a backdrop for the meeting in downtown Omaha, which will be the first for Berkshire since the death in November of Charles Munger, Mr. Buffett’s longtime business partner and alter ego, at age 99. For the first three months of the year, Berkshire reported $12.7 billion in earnings attributable to its shareholders, down 64 percent from the same time a year ago. Driving the drop was a steep fall in the paper value of Berkshire’s vast investment portfolio though Mr. Buffett has long warned shareholders to ignore fluctuations in the company’s stock holdings.

Persons: Berkshire Hathaway, Warren E, Buffett, Charles Munger, Buffett’s Organizations: Berkshire Locations: Omaha, Berkshire

☆ Endeavor, the Entertainment Company Led by Ari Emanuel, to Go Private
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Endeavor, the sports and entertainment company led by the Hollywood super agent Ari Emanuel, said on Tuesday that it planned to go private with the help of Silver Lake, the investment firm that has been its longtime financial backer. Under the terms of the deal, Silver Lake will buy the shares in Endeavor that it doesn’t already own for $27.50 a share in cash. That price is 55 percent above where Endeavor’s shares were trading on Oct. 25, the day before the company said it was weighing deal options. The deal values Endeavor, including its debt, at $13 billion. The long-awaited transaction is meant to usher in a new era for Endeavor, whose ambitious growth story failed to gain traction on Wall Street.

Persons: Ari Emanuel, Silver, Emanuel, Patrick Whitesell, Dwayne Johnson, Ben Affleck — Organizations: Endeavor, Hollywood Locations: Silver

☆ Soho House Seeks to Knock Back Its Critics
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Since going public nearly two years ago, the members club chain Soho House has endured a sharp decline in its stock price, economic turmoil and a short seller declaring that its shares are worthless. But the company’s chief executive, Andrew Carnie, insists it is on the right track — even as its main shareholders consider taking the business private again. “There’s no looking back,” Mr. Carnie said in an interview. “We’ve been pretty consistent over the past 12 months in delivering results.”The company released its latest quarterly financial results on Friday, reporting that it lost $118 million last year, down from a loss of $220.6 million in 2022. Using the pro forma earnings measure known as adjusted EBITDA, which excludes some expenses, it doubled its profit to $128 million.

Persons: Andrew Carnie, “, ” Mr, Carnie, “ We’ve Locations: Soho

☆ Rising Markets Lift Hedge Funds to Huge Gains
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As stock markets soared in 2023, so did the fortunes of many of the world’s biggest hedge funds. The 20 best-performing hedge funds made $67 billion in gains last year, triple what they reported in 2022, according to data released by LCH Investments, a so-called fund of funds that ranks the top 20 firms on lifetime gains, after fees. The strong performance by elite financiers follows the rally that stock markets have enjoyed over the past year. That has benefited hedge funds, especially those that make focused bets on individual stocks. The top 20 firms oversee just under 19 percent of the industry’s $3.5 trillion in assets under management, yet they represent 46 percent of the sector’s total lifetime gains.

Organizations: LCH Investments, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla

It was the first Davos gathering since 2020 without any Covid-related restrictions, as fears about the pandemic almost completely receded. Here are some of the big takeaways from the five-day conference, which ended Friday. Many of the meeting spaces on the main street of Davos billed themselves as places to learn about A.I. Attendees also discussed potential risks of A.I., including job losses, widening social inequality and the rapid spread of misinformation. One industrial executive mused in a private discussion about whether the cost of retraining workers whose jobs were altered by A.I.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Mustafa Suleyman, Aidan Gomez Organizations: Economic Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Cohere

Climate concerns boil overTensions are rising on Monday over contentious comments by Sultan Ahmed al Jaber, the oil executive and Emirati politician presiding over the COP28 climate summit. His skepticism about the world’s ability to halt a rise in global temperatures by reducing the use of hydrocarbons is casting fresh doubts over the U.A.E.’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis. “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phaseout of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5 C,” he said at an event before the summit. The controversy revived concerns about his role as leader of COP28, given that he is also the chairman of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Al Jaber has long contended that fossil fuel companies should play a prominent role in the world’s energy transition to bring down global temperatures.

Persons: Sultan Ahmed al Jaber, Al Jaber, ”, COP28 Organizations: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Locations: Abu Dhabi

Vice President Kamala Harris, President Isaac Herzog of Israel, Elon Musk and other leaders in business and politics spoke on everything from artificial intelligence, economic tensions between the United States and China, and Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel at the annual DealBook Summit in New York on Wednesday. She has been tasked with wooing advertisers back to the platform after many were spooked by Mr. Musk’s erratic posts. [For select interviews from today’s DealBook Summit, follow and listen to our limited podcast series.] Vice President Kamala Harris defended the Biden administration’s economic record, as polls show that the president trails Donald J. Trump in battleground states ahead of the 2024 election. Ms. Harris said President Biden has done more to tackle inflation “than most advanced economies” but more work was needed to convince voters.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Isaac Herzog of Israel, Elon Musk, Andrew Ross Sorkin, ”, Linda Yaccarino, Donald J, Trump, Harris, Biden Organizations: The New York Times, today’s DealBook, Biden Locations: United States, China, Israel, New York

Good news for global marketsYesterday’s impressive rally in U.S. stocks and bonds has gone worldwide this morning, as investors see central banks making gains in their fight against inflation. Adding to the good news was a breakthrough in the House last night that could avert a government shutdown. The question now is whether this represents a false dawn on inflation, or the start of a durable decline in rising costs — and interest rates. President Biden, whose poll ratings have been hurt by inflation, also cheered the numbers. And consumer spending and industrial output in China rebounded last month, a hopeful sign for the world’s No.

Persons: Biden Locations: Britain, China

The summit won’t end the standoff between the world’s biggest economies. But it’s a sign that Biden and Xi want to maintain ties, despite trade tensions, tit-for-tat sanctions and questions about the future of Taiwan — and business leaders will be hoping for some sign of a thaw. Officials have been at pains to emphasize that the U.S. and China are competitors rather than zero-sum rivals. “We have a $700 billion trading relationship with China. The vast majority — 99 percent of that — has nothing to do with export controls,” Gina Raimondo, the commerce secretary, told CNN this weekend.

Persons: Biden, Xi Jinping, Xi, —, ” Gina Raimondo, Jake Sullivan, Janet Yellen, ” Xi, ” Organizations: CNN Locations: China, Washington, Beijing, San Francisco, Taiwan

The rule, de minimis, exempts packages shipped into the United States from duties and fees if they are worth less than $800. U.S. retailers want that rule changed. Over six years, that amounted to about $100 million in duties that could have been invested in modernizing the business, he added. Temu and Shein most likely account for 30 percent of packages shipped daily under the provision, according to a report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. A Shein spokeswoman said de minimis “is not critical to the success of our business,” and in July, Shein’s executive vice chairman said the company was “eager” to work with lawmakers to help change the rule.

Persons: de, minimis “, David Bridal’s, Jim Marcum, DealBook, Marcum, ” Organizations: Customs, Chinese Communist Party Locations: United States

In reaching a tentative contract with the U.A.W., Ford has moved to make peace with restive employees, one of the most costly problems it has faced in recent years. With that in mind, investors are weighing how much this week’s preliminary deal might weigh on the automaker as it deals with a different major issue: slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles. The new contract could cost Ford up to $2 billion annually over four years, according to Barclays analysts, or about 1 percent of sales. Employees were jubilant about the preliminary deal, which includes a 25 percent pay increase over the life of the contract and improvements on job security, pensions and more. “This is the best contract I have seen in my 30 years with Ford,” one worker, Robert Carter, told The Times.

Persons: Ford, Robert Carter Organizations: Ford, Barclays, Employees, Times

Wall Street’s real-life “Succession” has endedOne of Wall Street’s most closely watched succession races is over as Ted Pick prepares to become Morgan Stanley’s next chief executive. The path laid out by Gorman has made Morgan Stanley the envy of the financial world and helped it outpace its longtime rival, Goldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley’s board selected him over Andy Saperstein, who leads wealth management, and Dan Simkowitz, who oversees asset management. But Pick, a Morgan Stanley lifer who oversees investment banking and trading, is familiar with the most complex parts of the firm, making him in some ways the safest option. (Morgan Stanley is seeking to keep Saperstein and Simkowitz, making both co-presidents and giving them expanded portfolios.)

Persons: ”, Ted Pick, Morgan Stanley’s, James Gorman, Gorman, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Pick, Andy Saperstein, Dan Simkowitz, Morgan Stanley lifer Organizations: HBO

A cloudy forecast for Big Tech and A.I. The verdict so far, based on quarterly earnings reports released on Tuesday: Only one of them is showing early progress. The company reported $56.3 billion in sales, largely on the strength of its Azure cloud business. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s C.E.O., told analysts that more than 18,000 organizations were using Azure OpenAI, including new customers. (The Information reported on Tuesday that some early OpenAI customers were switching to cheaper alternatives … including Microsoft.)

Persons: Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s Organizations: Big Tech, Microsoft

☆ Web Summit Chief Steps Down Over Israel Remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The chief executive of Web Summit, one of Europe’s biggest technology conferences, stepped down on Saturday after major sponsors and speakers withdrew from the event, set for next month, following backlash over his public criticism of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks. “I sincerely apologize again for any hurt I have caused.”A spokeswoman for Web Summit said that the organization aimed to appoint a new chief executive as soon as possible. Web Summit said on Friday that it expected about 70,000 people to attend, about the same as last year. Among those to drop out were Ravi Gupta, a partner at Sequoia Capital, and Garry Tan, the chief executive of the technology incubator Y Combinator. But by Tuesday, he published an apology on Web Summit’s site in which he said he defended “Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself.”

Persons: Paddy Cosgrave, —, ”, “, Cosgrave’s, Ravi Gupta, Garry Tan, Cosgrave Organizations: Web, Google, Intel, Meta, Siemens, Web Summit, Western, Sequoia Capital Locations: Irish, Lisbon, Israel

Biden and Trump bid for blue collar votesIn an extraordinary show of support, President Biden plans to join striking autoworkers on the picket line in Michigan on Tuesday. It comes a day before Donald Trump is expected to speak to union members in Detroit instead of participating in the second Republican primary debate. The competing visits come as the two home in on battleground states ahead of next year’s election. But their appearances also reveal a political battle to become the voice of blue collar workers at a time when both candidates are struggling to win over mainstream voters and even some within their own parties. is somewhat troublesome for him: It includes incentives for automakers to make more electric vehicles, which labor leaders say will depend on non-union jobs and require fewer workers.

Persons: Biden, Trump, Donald Trump Organizations: Republican Locations: Michigan, Detroit

The work stoppage isn’t officially over yet, and actors remain on strike. attained suggest that as organized labor enjoys a surge in popularity across a variety of industries, its muscle-flexing is achieving results. “We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional,” the W.G.A. News reports suggest the deal includes provisions for residual payments from streaming, minimum staffing of shows and limits on the use of artificial intelligence. Until then, writers are still on strike, though they’re not actively picketing.

Persons: isn’t, they’re Organizations: Guild of America, Hollywood

California is taking some of the world’s biggest energy companies, including Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, to court, accusing them of concealing the damage caused by fossil fuels on the state for more than half a century. The strategy has echoes of an earlier fight: states’ legal battle against Big Tobacco in the 1990s. It argues that the oil majors should pay fines for burying scientific evidence linking carbon emissions to greenhouse gases. In the 1990s, California and dozens of other states brought cases against the four biggest U.S. tobacco companies. The companies were also compelled to label cigarettes as potentially lethal, to change how and where they marketed them, and to disband the Tobacco Institute, the industry-funded trade group.

Persons: ” Rob Bonta Organizations: Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Big Oil, Big Tobacco, American Petroleum Institute, Prosecutors, Tobacco Institute Locations: California

But these solutions may be missing something fundamental, according to Partha Dasgupta, an economist at the University of Cambridge. DealBook spoke with Dasgupta about updating economics to account for nature. “Asset management is a very well understood phenomenon,” Dasgupta said. The services of nature are interconnected, and “they can be brought down like a house of cards,” he said. Policymakers often assume that a few tweaks and some human ingenuity will allow for infinite goods and growth; Dasgupta does not.

Persons: Partha Dasgupta, Dasgupta, DealBook, ” Dasgupta, Biden, ”, “ Organizations: University of Cambridge Locations: British

Some deal makers wonder whether tennis, which has already confirmed initial talks with Saudi Arabia, will be the fund’s next target. “Of all the important sports around the world, I think tennis is clearly the one with the greatest opportunity for financial growth and the most unrealized value,” Maria Sharapova, the retired tennis star, told DealBook. Despite the popularity of tennis, the sport brings in only 1.3 percent of earnings from global media sports rights. That’s partly because tennis is made up of myriad entities — including the Women’s Tennis Association; the U.S. Tennis Association; and independent tournaments. The independently operated organizations make scheduling tournaments difficult and diminish bargaining power for sponsorship and media deals.

Persons: Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, ” Maria Sharapova, DealBook Organizations: U.S, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Women’s Tennis Association, U.S . Tennis Association Locations: Saudi Arabia, U.S

But it was justified in Musk’s mind because of his conviction that Twitter’s management had misled him. At 4:12 p.m. Pacific time, once they had confirmation that the money had transferred, Musk pulled the trigger to close the deal. But when his Twitter email was cut off, it took him a few minutes to get the document into a Gmail message. Hybrid work is winningChief executives aren’t letting up on their push to get workers back to the office. And even Zoom, a symbol of remote work, has ordered some of its employees to work in the office.

Persons: Twitter Elon Musk’s, Wall, Walter Isaacson, Isaacson, “, ”, Musk, Agrawal, Andy Jassy, Amazon’s, “ It’s, Organizations: Elon, Twitter Elon, Twitter, Wall Street, Mr, Meta, Labor Locations: ”

☆ UBS Reports Record-Breaking $29 Billion Profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When UBS agreed to buy its archrival Credit Suisse for a little over $3 billion this spring at the Swiss government’s behest, analysts and investors said that price represented a steep discount. UBS’s latest financial results reflect just how much of a steal it was. On Thursday, the bank reported a $29 billion profit in its second quarter — yes, billion with a “b” — the biggest quarterly profit in banking history. But that paper gain belies the challenges that UBS faces as it moves to complete the largest takeover of a bank since the 2008 financial crisis. That process will include absorbing some of its onetime competitor’s domestic footprint and shuttering a large portion of its investment banking operations.

Persons: “, It’s Organizations: UBS, Credit Suisse

A stormy forecast for insuranceHurricane Idalia, strengthened to a Category 3 storm on Wednesday morning, packing soaking rains and destructive winds of up to 125 miles per hour, as it lumbers toward the Florida coastline. Such disasters are becoming more common — and more costly — each year, sending insurance costs soaring for homeowners and businesses. Some firms doubt they can continue to cope with such superstorms, while others have limited their business in the state. One of their big complaints: State regulations prevent them from raising prices for customers, they say, forcing them to say no to new policies. Florida’s woes reflect a nationwide problem, one that is expected to intensify as climate change unleashes more extreme weather events.

Persons: Hurricane, Ian Organizations: Carolinas, Insurance, Insurance Information Institute Locations: Florida, Coast, Georgia

C.E.O.s urge Washington to help with asylum seekersAs New York City’s migrant crisis continues to escalate, with more than 100,000 arrivals from the southern U.S. border straining shelters, some of the city’s top business leaders are intervening in a fight over who’s responsible. But recent communications by the Biden administration suggest that such calls won’t be heeded. The letter underscores the increasing urgency of the crisis, which has pitted Mayor Eric Adams against Gov. Adams has said the crisis could cost the city $12 billion over three years, while Hochul has spent $1.5 billion and deployed nearly 2,000 National Guard members so far. The migrant crisis is a business issue.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Larry Fink, BlackRock, Jane Fraser, Citigroup —, Biden, won’t, Eric Adams, Kathy Hochul —, Adams, Hochul Organizations: JPMorgan, Citigroup, Gov, Biden, National Guard Locations: Washington, York, U.S, New

Her visit, which will include meetings with business leaders and government officials, including her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, will be closely watched as she looks for common ground on trade, even as she seeks to curtail it. Here is what Ms. Raimondo expects to focus on during her trip, according to The Times’s Ana Swanson, Alan Rappeport and Keith Bradsher. Ms. Raimondo is likely to defend the escalating tech war, which she will argue is meant to protect U.S. national security. (Ms. Raimondo said on Monday that she would neither compromise nor negotiate on that point.) The White House this month announced plans to bar private equity and venture capital firms from making investments in China in quantum computing and advanced semiconductors.

Persons: Raimondo, Gina Raimondo, Wang Wentao, Ana Swanson, Alan Rappeport, Keith Bradsher, Ms Organizations: China, Biden administration’s, U.S Locations: Beijing, China

Charles Kohnen, co-founder of the submersible manufacturer SEAmagine Hydrospace, estimates that there are 200 manned vessels worldwide. Some are used by scientific institutions, others for tourism. But a growing number belong to a select group of yacht owners. “It’s not like a fancy car,” Kohnen said. “It’s more like a $5 million spacecraft.”Just as having a helicopter and launchpad on a yacht was hot in the 1980s, Kohnen said, getting a personable submersible is increasingly a thing for the wealthy.

Persons: Charles Kohnen, “ It’s, ” Kohnen, “, Kohnen

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