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☆ Elon Musk says he dislikes how 'most alcohol' tastes and makes him feel, but is partial to 'red wine in a fine glass' or a Scotch on the rocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday night that he doesn't like 'most alcohol,' but is partial to a red wine. "But there is something quite beautiful about red wine in a fine glass." Soon after the game, Musk tweeted a poll about stepping down as the head of Twitter. In 2017, Musk tweeted: "A little red wine, vintage record, some Ambien... and magic!" And a couple months later, he described drinking wine from a mason jar at a friend's party.

The new shares bring the QIA's ownership in Credit Suisse to 6.87%, amounting to 272.25 million shares, from 5.57% as reported in its last SEC filing in November. Credit Suisse declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Monday and the QIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Credit Suisse's shares rose 2.2% on Monday to close at 3.15 Swiss francs. SNB, along with the QIA and Olayan Group, account for about 20% of Credit Suisse shares. Credit Suisse outlined plans in October to raise 4 billion Swiss francs from investors, cut thousands of jobs and shift its focus from investment banking towards its rich clients.

☆ Qatar's sovereign wealth fund — which invested $375 million in Elon Musk's Twitter buyout — says it hasn't told the new CEO to tweet less
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Qatar Investment Authority's CEO told Bloomberg TV it hasn't asked Elon Musk to tweet less. QIA's CEO said the fund trusts Musk's leadership to turn the company around. The sovereign wealth fund pumped $375 million into Musk's $44 billion Twitter acquisition. The Qatar Investment Fund is one of a group of high-profile investors who have provided funding for Musk's Twitter deal. The Qatar Investment Fund and Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

☆ Saudi Arabia weighs boosting Pakistan investment to $10 bln -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said it could increase its investments in the cash-strapped Pakistan economy to $10 billion, the Saudi state news agency reported on Tuesday, as well as increase the ceiling on deposits into the Pakistan central bank to $5 billion. He has also asked the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) to consider raising the ceiling for Saudi deposits into the Pakistan central bank as part of measures to support the struggling economy. Last month, the Saudis extended the terms of an existing $3 billion deposit in the central bank it made in 2021. read morePakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has sought to forge closer economic ties with Gulf states to secure bigger investments. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) aims to invest $3 billion in Pakistan, and in October, Sharif was invited to address delegates at Saudi's flagship investment conference, the Future Investment Initiative.

☆ Walmart gets $1 bln tax bill for shifting PhonePe headquarters to India - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) and other PhonePe shareholders will have to pay nearly $1 billion in tax after the digital payments company shifted its headquarters to India, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. PhonePe is raising funds at a $12 billion pre-money valuation from General Atlantic, Qatar Investment Authority and others, triggering the hefty charge, according to the report. Investors including Tiger Global Management have now purchased shares of PhonePe in India at the new price, leading to tax implications of roughly 80 billion Indian rupees ($966.13 million) for existing shareholders, Bloomberg News reported. PhonePe, Walmart and Tiger Global did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Walmart said last month it had completed the separation of PhonePe from Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart, adding that it would remain a majority stakeholder in both the companies.

☆ Elon Musk said Twitter is like a crashing plane with its 'engines on fire' in a discussion of the platform's financial issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said Twitter is like "a plane headed towards the ground" in a Twitter Space on Tuesday. He explained that he had cut costs because Twitter had a predicted negative cash flow of $3 billion next year. The company, Musk said, is set to make around $3 billion in revenue in 2023, with net cash outflows of around $6.5 billion. That debt has annual servicing costs of around $1.5 billion, Musk said. During the Twitter Space, Musk also spoke about his meetings with advertisers, explaining that they asked "hard questions" about their return on investment because of the declining macroeconomic situation.

☆ Elon Musk was photographed with the CEO of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund hours before asking followers if he should quit as Twitter boss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk was pictured with the CEO of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund during Sunday's World Cup final. The Qatar Investment Authority invested about $375 million in Musk's takeover of Twitter. Photographs show Musk sat close to Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority, and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former president Donald Trump. The Qatar Investment Authority declined to comment. Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesAccording to Bloomberg, the Qatar Investment Authority manages funds worth around $450 billion.

☆ Elon had to choose between Twitter and Tesla. He's choosing Tesla.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Elon Musk has been forced to make a tough choice: Tesla or Twitter. He's picking Tesla, which represents nearly half his $156 billion in estimated wealth, and the Twitter poll gave him a handy escape pod. That red ink wasn't as much of a problem when interest rates were low, and Tesla's shares were soaring. But as the Federal Reserve has aggressively hiked interest rates to curb inflation, using Tesla stock to pay off the debt on the Twitter buyout is a problem for Tesla. "Tesla is so much an Elon stock, it stands or falls because of him," Beauchamp said.

☆ A top art dealer sold a super-rich sheikh $5 million of 'antique' sculptures that had been polished with modern tools and contained plastic, court heard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A respected British art dealer sold seven "antique" artifacts to a Qatari sheikh in 2014 and 2015. The art dealer, John Eskenazi, has been ordered to repay the Qatari buyer $4.99 million and damages. But a High Court ruling last month found that the artifacts sold by John Eskenazi Limited (JEL) to the super-rich Qatari sheikh between 2014 and 2015 were forgeries. The judge ordered Eskenazi to refund what the sheikh had paid for the fake artworks, plus damages, on November 29. A spokesperson for Eskenazi told the newspaper: "John Eskenazi and his family have suffered years of anguish and anxiety as a result of this litigation.

☆ Walmart-backed PhonePe seeks to raise $1 bln - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BENGALURU, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Indian digital payments firm PhonePe is seeking to raise up to $1 billion from General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management, Qatar Investment Authority and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing sources. The all-equity round is expected to close in the next two weeks and may take Walmart-backed PhonePe's valuation close to $13 billion, according to the report. PhonePe declined to comment while Walmart, General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Qatar Investment Authority and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Qatar reviewing London investments after transport ads ban -FT
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Qatar has launched a review of its investments in London after the city’s transport authority this week banned the Gulf state’s tourism advertisements on the capital’s buses, taxis and Underground train system, Saturday’s Financial Times reported. The paper said the move by Transport for London (TfL) was triggered by concerns over the soccer World Cup host’s stance on LGBT+ rights and its treatment of migrant workers. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) owns Harrods, the department store, the Shard skyscraper and is co-owner of Canary Wharf. TfL said advertising which promotes travel to Qatar, tourism in Qatar, or portrays Qatar as a desirable destination would not be considered acceptable. Under the spotlight as it hosts the World Cup, Qatar has defended itself against criticism, saying it is a welcoming country that does not discriminate against people and has denied accusations of abuse of workers.

☆ Saudi's SNB to hold Credit Suisse stake for at least two years, chairman says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Saudi National Bank's (1180.SE) investment in Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) is tactical rather than strategic, its chairman said on Wednesday, adding that the Saudi lender expects to hold its stake in the Swiss bank for at least two years. SNB announced in October that it was taking part in Credit Suisse's capital raising and committed to investing up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.5 billion) to take a stake of up to 9.9%. Chairman Ammar Al Khudairy, speaking to Al Arabiya TV, said majority government-owned SNB would not consider selling its stake in the Swiss lender in the short-term. When asked whether the bank would raise its stake above 9.9%, Khudairy said there was no plan to do so. He also said the Saudi lender did not seek a seat on the Credit Suisse board.

☆ Qatar Investment Authority plans to raise stake in Credit Suisse - FT
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in front of an office building in Zurich, Switzerland October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Arnd WiegmannNov 2 (Reuters) - The Qatar Investment Authority plans to raise its stake in Swiss lender Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) by investing in a share sale alongside the Saudi National Bank (1180.SE), the Financial Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the talks. Credit Suisse declined to comment on the report, while Qatar Investment Authority did not immediately respond to a Reuters request. read moreLast week, Saudi Arabia-controlled SNB said it would invest up to 1.5 billion francs in Credit Suisse to take a stake of up to 9.9% and may invest in the investment bank. ($1 = 0.9980 Swiss francs)Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ CZ, the CEO of Binance, has bet big on Musk's Twitter buyout with a $500 million investment, saying he is 'extremely supportive' of the freedom of speech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, invested $500 million in Musk's acquisition of Twitter. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said he backed Elon Musk's Twitter buyout to support free speech. As a business, we are helping to increase the freedom of money, and free speech comes before freedom of money, so we need to help maintain free speech," Zhao said. Zhao confirmed Binance's investment into Twitter on October 28 via a tweet, saying his intern had wired $500 million. Despite putting $500 million into Musk's deal, Zhao said he has little insight into what the Tesla CEO intends to do at Twitter.

☆ FT: Qatar's sovereign wealth fund plans to increase stake in Credit Suisse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFT: Qatar's sovereign wealth fund plans to increase stake in Credit SuisseFinancial Times European banking correspondent Owen Walker discusses reports the Qatar Investment Authority is increasing its holdings in Credit Suisse, a move that will result in a quarter of the bank's shares being held by Middle Eastern investors.

☆ Twitter shares to be suspended on NYSE as Musk nears takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) shares will be suspended from trading on Friday, the New York Stock Exchange's website showed, as billionaire Elon Musk faces a court-ordered Oct. 28 deadline to close his $44 billion deal for the social media platform. Musk, the world's richest person, visited Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday and hinted he was the company's top boss after updating his profile bio to "Chief Twit". The company's stock closed at $53.35 on the NYSE on Wednesday. They were up about 1% at $53.90 in extended trading, slightly below Musk's offer price. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk visits Twitter headquarters ahead of deal close deadline
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk said on Wednesday he was entering Twitter Inc's (TWTR.N) San Francisco office, days ahead of a court-ordered deadline to close his $44 billion deal for the social media platform. said the caption to a video that Musk tweeted in which he was walking into the Twitter office carrying a sink in his hands. loadingTwitter confirmed Musk would visit the San Francisco office this week, but declined to comment further. The Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO notified co-investors who committed to help fund the Twitter deal that he plans to close it by Friday, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Twitter shares were up about 1% at $53.31, just about $1 below Musk's offer price.

☆ Musk informs co-investors he plans to close Twitter deal by Friday-source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: An image of Elon Musk is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. Musk pledged to close the deal on a video conference call on Monday with bankers who are helping fund the deal, according to the report. Musk has pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covers the $44 billion price tag and closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp, have committed to provide $13 billion of debt financing to support the deal. The closure of the deal will put to rest months of speculation that the erratic entrepreneur would abandon the takeover.

☆ Musk informs co-investors he plans to close Twitter deal by Friday, person familiar says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Elon Musk has notified co-investors who committed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) that he plans to close his buyout of the social media firm by Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move is the clearest sign yet that Musk plans to comply with a Delaware court judge's deadline to complete the transaction by Friday. Musk pledged to close the deal on a video conference call on Monday with bankers who are helping fund the deal, according to the report. Musk has pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covers the $44 billion price tag and closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), have committed to provide $13 billion of debt financing to support the deal.

A clock is seen near the logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse at the Paradeplatz square in Zurich, Switzerland October 5, 2022. Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia were weighing up, through their sovereign wealth funds, whether to put money into Credit Suisse's investment bank and other businesses, Bloomberg reported. A spokesperson for Credit Suisse declined to comment, reiterating that it will update on its strategy review when it announces third-quarter earnings. The largest Middle Eastern sovereign fund investor in Credit Suisse, the Qatar Investment Authority, declined to comment. The New Jersey case was the largest of its remaining exposure on its legacy RMBS business, Credit Suisse said, with five remaining cases, all far smaller, still in litigation.

☆ Credit Suisse approached Middle Eastern fund for capital injection - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Paritosh Bansal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) has approached at least one Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund for a capital injection, according to a source familiar with the situation, as the Swiss bank looks at ways to restructure its operations. Credit Suisse's approach indicates that the sale of assets alone may be insufficient to cover the costs of an imminent overhaul. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA spokesperson for Credit Suisse declined to comment, reiterating that it will update on its strategy review when it announces third-quarter earnings. Bloomberg reported separately that Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia were weighing, through their sovereign wealth funds, whether to put money into Credit Suisse's investment bank and other businesses. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, is also one of the largest investors in Credit Suisse.

As market volatility persists amid Europe's energy crisis and worsening economic forecasts, companies are holding off on their plans to go public. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"One transaction alone cannot re-open the floodgates of IPO executions. This requires more predictable macro and reduced equity market volatility," said Antoine de Guillenchmidt, co-head of EMEA Equity Capital Markets at Goldman Sachs. Going forward, as interest rates continue to rise and companies look for financially efficient ways of refinancing their balance sheets, equity capital markets are likely to see a surge in convertible bond activity. "We will see many more convertibles and mandatory convertible instruments because some issuers don't have many alternatives, and investors are still very keen," said Andreas Bernstorff, head of equity capital markets at BNP Paribas.

☆ We got an exclusive look at the 9-slide pitch deck Innovafeed, an insect protein startup, used to raise $250 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

We got an exclusive look at the 9-slide pitch deck it used to secure the funding. A startup developing insect-based food for aqua-farming, pet food, and eventually humans just raised $250 million to ramp up production. "One of the products we replace in aqua-feed is fish meal," Ray said. "Fish meal is made of small fish caught in South America, in Africa, turned into a meal to feed other food production. Replacing fish meal with Innovafeed's product reduces the carbon footprint of salmon feed by 50%, the cofounder said.

☆ Demand for Porsche AG listing strong as retail investor subscription period begins
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA Porsche Taycan is displayed at a car show in Oslo, Norway, November 10, 2021. Indicated demand for the listing, due to take place on Sept. 29 at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, exceeds the full deal size, the bookrunning said. It was too early for visibility on retail demand, they added. Total proceeds from the sale will be 18.1-19.5 billion euros and could help Volkswagen fund its electrification drive. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Matt Scuffham, Lucy Raitano in London, Victoria Waldersee in Berlin; Editing by Miranda Murray and Madeline ChambersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The IPO drought is about to break with Porsche set to raise $9.4 billion in its public debut
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Luxury car maker Porsche is set to go public in Europe later this month at a valuation of up to $75 billion. The debut of Porsche will help break a nearly year-long drought in the IPO market as investors remain defensive. The US IPO market has suffered one of its longest stretches of minimal debuts since the unraveling of the dot-com bubble about 20 years ago. According to data from Bloomberg, the global IPO market has raised just $80.5 billion, spread out over 1,617 deals so far in 2022. That's in stark comparison to 2021's global IPO market, which raised more than $700 billion across more than 4,000 deals.

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