Facebook may be the world’s most popular social media platform – with more than 750 million registered users, US$2 billion in annual revenues and even an award-winning movie based on its founders – yet for all the “like” buttons in the world, the company was listed among the most hated companies in America according to a recent Business Insider report.
Shares in China’s top carriers – namely Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines – rose yesterday as reports emerged citing the government’s interest to invest 1.5 trillion yuan (US$232 billion) in the aviation industry.
According to a Reuters report, the investment “will push consolidation among airlines to hone their international competitiveness.”
American social media gaming company Zynga could become the most valuable video-game company in the US after filing its intention to raise US$1 billion in an initial public offering that would value the company at US$20 billion.
The creator of popular Facebook games such as Cityville, Farmville and Mafia Wars, Zynga would be the first publicly traded company whose profits solely depended on the sale of virtual goods.
China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), could be on the verge of acquiring a stake in Facebook, if a report in Business Insider is to be believed.
According to Business Insider sources, financial firm Citibank has been trying to obtain as much as US$1.2 billion worth of Facebook stocks on behalf of two sovereign wealth funds – one from China and another from the Middle East.
American chocolate manufacturer Mars Inc. has announced plans to build a brand new “state-of-the-art” chocolate manufacturing facility in Topeka, Kansas – its first such site in the US for over 35 years.
The company – known worldwide for numerous confectionary products such as the eponymous Mars Bar, M&Ms, Snickers and Skittles – expects the new facility to be completed by late 2013, by which time it should create more than 1,000 jobs for Kansas residents.
Everyone knows Microsoft and most people on the planet have used Microsoft products at some point in their lives. Like all companies, Microsoft has to constantly adapt to provide relevant and current products/services in today’s ever changing competitive technological landscape. With the advent of Cloud computing, this is a critical time in Microsoft’s development. For this reason, I thought it poignant and extremely relevant to get into the head of a very senior Microsoft executive.
This interview is part of a series of discussions with Singapore-based thought leaders on the art of communication, carried out by Andrea Edwards, CEO of SAJE, a content, communication and events agency. You can see the full series at the SAJEideas blog.
Ares is an investment firm which has $37 billion of funds invested in private equity, high-yield bonds and other corporate debt. Canyon Partners, an alternative-investment firm that manages $18 billion. Imperial Capital, is a boutique investment bank.
So what do these investment firms have in common?
All three firms can trace their origins to Drexel Burnham Lambert, an investment bank that collapsed into bankruptcy in 1990, fatally wounded by an insider-trading scandal.
Is Barça the best club soccer team the world has ever seen?
Is it better than the Santos of the 1960s (which was home to Pelé)? Or the AC Milan of the 1990s?
After beating Real Madrid to the La Liga title, and their trilling 3-1 win against Manchester United in the 2010-11 Champions League final, in which even their opponents had to describe them and their star player, Footballer of the Year Messi, as ‘mesmerising’, many would say yes.
Barça is also a cash machine.
11 May 2011.
No sooner had we breathlessly reported April’s record highs for gold and silver, at over $1,500 

and close to $50 per troy ounce respectively, than commodities stage a ‘flash crash’, startling 

investors and traders alike. Last week silver slumped to below $35 and even gold lost 3.6%.


