When you're growing a business quickly, it can be really tough to retain staff and keep morale high. Often a company's growing pains can be felt throughout the organization. When my company, Likeable Media, was named the sixth best place to work in New York City, I realized that some of the lessons that I've learned about maintaining company culture all tie back to the concept that your employees are truly your lifeblood.
Updated 6 Years ago

That is up from a 1% annual increase in consumer prices in Tokyo in March. The data comes after Japan increased its sales tax to 8% from 5% from 1 April, pushing up prices. The inflation rate in Japan's capital city is seen as a leading indicator of the trend that is likely to follow across the country in coming months.
Updated 6 Years ago

Billionaire hedge-fund managerJohn Paulsonsaid today that Puerto Rico’s economy is at the beginning of a turnaround and predicted the island will become the Singapore of the Caribbean. Paulson, speaking today at the 2014 Puerto Rico Investment Summit in San Juan, a conference designed to promote the territory and attract investors, said he’s building a home in the commonwealth. The hedge-fund manager, who last year considered relocating to Puerto Rico to take advantage of new tax laws, said opportunities to buy real estate in the region won’t last much longer, and he’s looking to purchase sites that can be developed to serve people he expects to move here because of the legislation.
Updated 6 Years ago

Police in Britain launched a campaign Thursday urging Muslim mothers to talk to the authorities if they think their children may be about to go and fight in Syria in an attempt to make clear that if they go to Syria they “may end up dead”. Counter terrorism officials in the UK warned Thursday that young Muslims travelling to Syria risked death, kidnapping and criminal prosecution if they get involved in terrorism.
Updated 6 Years ago

U.S. prosecutors are seeking more than $13 billion from Bank of America Corp. to resolve federal and state investigations of the lender’s sale of bonds backed by home loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, according to people familiar with the matter. The settlement would come on top of the $9.5 billion the bank agreed last month to pay to resolve Federal Housing Finance Agency claims, said two people who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. A deal could come within the next two months, the people said.
Updated 6 Years ago

The founders of Chinese internet company Alibaba Group have set up a charitable trust focusing on the environment and health that could be worth as much as $3 billion, making it one of the biggest in Asia. Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder and executive chair, and Joe Tsai, a co-founder of Alibaba, created the trust that will be funded by share options that represent about 2 percent of their combined equity in Alibaba, the company said in a statement on its microblog on Thursday.
Updated 6 Years ago

China passed the biggest changes to its environmental protection laws in 25 years, outlining plans to punish polluters more severely as leaders work to limit contaminated water, air and soil linked to economic growth. The amended law “sets environmental protection as the country’s basic policy,” according to a copy posted on the government’s website. The rules hadn’t been changed since first enacted in 1989 as China began consuming more energy and the world’s most-populous country transformed into a global manufacturing hub.
Updated 6 Years ago

Apple Inc.’s quarterly results this week showed the iPhone maker reduced its cash holdings for the first time since 2006, cranked up a share buyback program by $30 billion and raised its dividend. General Electric Co. is considering tapping its $57 billion in overseas cash to acquire France’s Alstom SA, according to a person familiar with the situation. The steps are encouraging investors who have pushed companies to reward them with higher payouts, as well as economists who consider the piles of cash a missed opportunity to start long-awaited spending on tools, facilities or new businesses to help accelerate growth and create jobs. Signs that the U.S. is rebounding from a winter slowdown and Europe is recovering from its recession are also beginning to encourage companies to pursue acquisitions.
Updated 6 Years ago

Miguel Abitbol spent almost $4,000 on television equipment to show World Cup soccer matches at his bar and restaurant in Rio de Janeiro. He’s praying there will be enough electricity to power it. Abitbol’s 48-inch (122-centimeter) set is one of 16 million expected to be sold in Brazil this year as it hosts the world’s most-watched sporting event. The kick off in June is looming as the nation contends with a drought that reduced water supply needed for hydroelectric power to near-critical levels. A blackout in February cut electricity to 6 million people.
Updated 6 Years ago

The software maker's efforts to move further into cloud computing - a move championed by new chief executive Satya Nadella - seem to be paying off. Azure, a cloud computing product, saw revenue grow 150%, Microsoft.
Updated 6 Years ago