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A new prime minister, a new Formula 1 team, a new owner of Twitter and much more; it’s been an eventful week with a lot of information to digest. This roundup of business news touches on British politics, technology, the Kanye West controversy and other recent developments we thought were worthy of your radar.
- On Tuesday, October 25, Rishi Sunak officially became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His appointment took place during Diwali marking a historic moment as he became Britain’s first Hindu, Asian Prime Minister. Sunak’s appointment is a momentous occasion for British Asians, however, as a privately educated man with an estimated fortune of £7.3m (almost double that of the King), is it possible to consider his appointment a step positive for social mobility? Sunak was the only candidate to secure more than 100 Conservative MPs’ votes to become party leader after Liz Truss was forced to resign after just 44 days. Sunak is now tasked with managing the current economic crisis and global market turmoil the UK is facing.
- Kanye West has lost his billionaire status after companies cut ties with him over anti-black and anti-Semitic comments. Over the past two weeks, American rapper West, also known as Ye, has left Adidas, Balenciaga and his talent agency Creative Arts Agency; it has also been reported that his lawyer, Vogue, and Anna Wintour have cut ties with him following his abusive behavior. Adidas in particular faced pressure from employees and the public to cut ties after Kanye said in an interview: “I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t take me down. Now What?” Kanye has faced numerous allegations since 2016, however his latest comments appear to be the last straw for many companies, with his stadium shows and upcoming documentary also being cancelled.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is investigating Meta (parent of Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google) in relation to its retail financial services. It is investigating the impact of Silicon Valley expansion on payments, deposits, loans and insurance. The FCA suggests that while such moves may initially benefit consumers, Big Tech companies can also “exploit their ecosystems” and lock out consumers. All four companies hold UK FCA licenses for payment processing with their pace of expansion into financial products accelerating rapidly.
- Formula 1 (F1) has announced plans to form a women-only racing series. The proposed championship will be part of the F2 and F3 feeder pyramid and could come as early as 2023. The race series will be for young drivers aged 16 to 22 and marks a chance to increase opportunities for female drivers to enter F1. An F1 spokesman said: “We are committed to providing the best possible opportunities for women to enter our sport and gain the skills and experience needed to reach the top of F1.” The last time a woman raced in F1 was in 1976 when Italian driver Lella Lombardi contested the Austrian Grand Prix for Brabham-Ford.
- Elon Musk plans to close his Twitter acquisition by Friday. Musk has told co-investors who pledged to help fund Twitter’s $44 billion acquisition that he plans to close on the social media company’s acquisition by Friday. Musk’s lawyers have stated that documents have now been received from equity investors that include Sequoia Capital, Binance and the Qatar Investment Authority confirming Musk’s financing deal. The move signifies Musk’s commitment to meet a court deadline to complete the transaction by Friday.
Check the News every Thursday for this weekly roundup of business news.
