Here’s a philosophical question Google (GOOG) investors can ponder this morning: If you own stock in the tech giant, would you rather have voting rights that are essentially worthless or ones that are literally worthless?
Updated 5 Years ago

As top government officials speed up the birth of a national credit card system in an asymmetrical response to U.S. sanctions over Russia's incorporation of Crimea, major state banks are eyeing their share in the multi-billion dollar financial transactions market. President Vladimir Putin has supported German Gref, the CEO of Russia's largest lender Sberbank, who offered to create a national payment system based on the existing Universal Electronic Card, or UEC.
Updated 5 Years ago

Just as the management of Russia's biggest social networking site VK was preparing to elect a new chief executive on Thursday, the website's founder Pavel Durov withdrew his resignation from the position, saying the joke was on those who had believed him. The board of directors of VK, formerly known as Vkontakte, had been scheduled to convene on Thursday to elect a new CEO. But Durov, who announced his resignation on Apr.1 in a farewell letter published on his personal VK page, said Thursday the move had been a prank.
Updated 5 Years ago

First, let's talk about that word story. It's one I find impossibly squishy in a business context. For me, it can conjure up performance art more than industry. But storytelling as it applies to business isn't about spinning a yarn or fairy tale. Rather, it's about how your products or services exist in the world. It's who you are and what you do for others--how you add value to people's lives, ease their troubles, meet their needs. A compelling brand story gives your audience a way to connect with you, one person to another, and to view your business as what it is: a living, breathing entity run by real people offering real value.
Updated 5 Years ago

Lack of money is a convenient scapegoat for many startups, but is being low on cash really the biggest thing holding your company back? "Sometimes, money just hides the real problems," says Caroline Ceniza-Levine, co-founder of SixFigureStart, a New York City-based business-coaching firm. "If you don't know what those issues are, you're going to be throwing good money after bad. Money should be the last thing entrepreneurs worry about." It's not hard to see why many entrepreneurs dive into the money hunt early in the game, especially when deal-hungry investors make it hard to resist. "Money is loose right now," says David Kalt, angel investor and CEO of Reverb.com, an online marketplace for new and vintage musical instruments that's based in Chicago. Twenty-six percent of venture capital deals in 2013 were seed funding--with dollar amounts increasing 22 percent from 2012 and 74 percent from 2011, according to the research firm CB Insights.
Updated 5 Years ago

Australia’s bid to reach a trade deal withJapan during Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s North Asia visit next week is being jeopardized by a disagreement over agricultural and car tariffs, Trade Minister Andrew Robb said. The free-trade talks are stuck on the issue of Japanese tariffs on beef and dairy imports, and Australian duties on car imports, Robb said in a phone interview from Melbourne today. Failure to sign an initial deal when Abbott meets with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe April 7 would be “unfortunate,” he said.
Updated 5 Years ago

Global rating agency, Fitch Ratings, has assigned Zenith Bank Plc’s $1 billion Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) programme a Long-term rating of ‘B+’ with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR4′ and a Short-term rating of ‘B’.
Updated 5 Years ago

European stocks advanced, posting their longest winning streak since October, before a report that may show the U.S. economy created jobs at a faster pace last month. U.S. index futures and Asian shares were little changed. EasyJet Plc rose 1.3 percent after the low-cost airline said more passengers took its flights last month.
Updated 5 Years ago

Global rating agency, Fitch Ratings, has assigned Zenith Bank Plc’s $1 billion Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) programme a Long-term rating of ‘B+’ with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR4′ and a Short-term rating of ‘B’.
Updated 5 Years ago

JPMorgan has been criticized for stopping payments from a Russian embassy by the minister of economic development for the Russian Federation – but this will not necessarily mean retaliation against the U.S. bank. "I do not think that it is a good way of doing business," Alexey Ulyukaev told CNBC of JPMorgan's decision.
Updated 5 Years ago