1 UK starts Lloyds Bank privatisation (BBC) The
government's sale of Lloyds Banking Group has begun, with big investors being
offered 6% of the bank. Based on Monday's closing share price, that stake would
be worth £3.3bn and the deal will cut the government's stake in Lloyds to
32.7%. Back in June, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced
that the government was preparing to sell its stake.
The sale
of Lloyds is a big privatisation. The 6% stake is worth more than the expected
market value of the entire Royal Mail, which is due to be privatised in the
next few weeks. From today big investors will be able to say how many shares
they want of Lloyds and at what price. The government and its advisors will
then look at those offers, decide on a price and divide up the available
shares.
In
August, Lloyds announced profits of £2.1bn ($3.2bn) in the six months to the
end of June, compared with a loss of £456m for the same period last year.
2 New wealth
record for US super-rich (Jennifer Rankin in The Guardian) Five years after the
2008 financial crisis, America's super-rich have recovered all their losses to
see their wealth reach an all-time high. According to Forbes magazine the 400
wealthiest Americans are worth a record $2.02 trillion, up from $1.7tn in 2012,
a collective fortune slightly bigger than Russia's economy.
In
another sign of fizziness at the top of the economy, the cost to enter the
billionaires' club has also gone up to levels not seen since the 2008 crash. In
2013, an aspiring plutocrat needs at least $1.3bn to make the Forbes list – the
highest since just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers sent stock markets
plummeting.
Bill
Gates has been named as the richest American for the 20th year in a row, with a
personal fortune of $72bn. The computer entrepreneur turned philanthropist
recovered his position as the world's richest man in May, when he overtook
mobile phone tycoon Carlon Slim, who had held the top spot for the previous
four years. In second place is Warren Buffett, the investor feted for his
shrewdness. Buffett, with a fortune of $58.5bn, was one of the biggest gainers
in 2013, which helped him retain his place on the list. The outspoken founder
of software company Oracle, Larry Ellison, takes third place with a $41bn
fortune.
3 Airbnb's revolution in a spare room (Carol Cadwalladr in The Guardian) Founded by two designers, Brian Chesky and Joe Gabbia, and a technologist, Nathan Blecharczyk, in 2008, Airbnbt is now the granddaddy of what has come to be known as the "sharing economy". Its rate of growth is phenomenal. At the start of 2012, one million people had used the site. By the end of 2012, it was 4 million. And the effect – on the hotel industry, on people's travelling habits, on householders' incomes – is only just starting to be felt. There's an economic revolution that Airbnb is spearheading. And it's happening in people's bedrooms.
Airbnb takes a booking every two seconds, and there are now 300,000 rooms, apartments and houses listed on the site (including 500 castles, 200 treehouses and 1,400 boats). There are a lot of people saying that Airbnb is the next eBay; one of the most recent attempts to value it has it going public for an estimated $10bn. Although Blecharczyk is keeping his cards close to his chest, it's clear they're not going to stop at apartments. "I think there is a lot before us that people can't fully anticipate," he says. He's probably right. Because who could have anticipated this?
No comments:
Post a Comment