To Nelson Bunker Hunt, the world was full of enemies. There was inflation. It was running as high as 13 percent in the 1970s, like a thief threatening to steal the family fortune earned by his father, H.L., in the oil fields of East Texas. There was Muammar Qaddafi and the American oil men who collaborated with him. When Hunt and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar had refused to pay Qaddafi half their earnings from the Libyan oil fields, like their competitors had, Qaddafi had simply snatched the Hunts’ 8 million acres.
Updated 5 Years ago

Quantitative easing may turn out to be a gift that keeps on giving for the U.S. economy. As the Federal Reserve prepares to end its third round of bond buying next week, the central bank plans to hang on to the record $4.48 trillion balance sheet it has accumulated since announcing the first round of purchases in November 2008.
Updated 5 Years ago

Ello, which launched in August, has also become a Public Benefit Corporation, which prohibits its current and any future owners from breaking that promise. The network plans to make money by introducing micro-payments for additional features.
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News outlet Quartz described his 30-minute chat as making him sound "like someone was stepping on his face". Others were kinder. "This CEO is so cool, I want to cry," wrote one. Fellow chief executive - Apple's Tim Cook - was also in China, questioning officials about an alleged hack of its iCloud service.
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The payment follows new calculations by the EU, which determines how much each member state should contribute based on gross national incomes. It would add about a fifth to the UK's annual net contribution of £8.6bn. A government source said the budget demand was "not acceptable".
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The news comes after the firm reported a net loss of 2.8bn Australian dollars ($2.6bn; £1.6bn) for the 12 months to June - its biggest ever annual loss. Shares of the Sydney-listed airline rose more than 3% before midday. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce made the announcement in Sydney at the company's annual general meeting.
Updated 5 Years ago

The software giant made $4.5bn (£2.8bn) in the three months to September, 13% lower than the same time last year. "Integrations and restructuring expenses" cost $1.1bn, Microsoft said. But the new Nokia business also boosted revenues. They climbed 25% to $23.2bn, beating expectations and sending shares higher in after-hours trading.
Updated 5 Years ago

Typically, an average Nigerian home seeker would want to have it in the conventional brick and mortar, which is not only more expensive but also takes longer time to deliver. This is frequently cited as a reason for the housing deficit in the country estimated at 17 million units. As part of efforts at bridging this deficit, Nigerite Limited, a complete building components solution company, has entered the market with dry construction method. The company’s managing director, FRANK LE-BRIS, in this interview with CHUKA UROKO, speaks on Nigeria’s housing market, dry construction as an alternative building method, among other issues. Excerpts:
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The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Heritage Bank on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt, signed an agreement formalising Afreximbank’s $272 million facility in support of Heritage Bank’s acquisition of Enterprise Bank from the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). According to Obi Emekekwue of Afreximbank’s external communication, the pan-African trade bank served as the sole lead arranger for the $272 million, representing 80 percent of Heritage Bank’s $344 million winning bid for Enterprise Bank.
Updated 5 Years ago

A new chapter in the systematic nurturing of new age business leaders opened last week with the debut of the Stanbic IBTC Business Leadership Series. The series is fully dedicated to facilitating the emergence of a new crop of business leaders beholden to excellence, innovation and integrity and capable of optimising the growth in the economy to deliver impeccable value to Nigeria. Speaking at the event, headlined by the duo of e-commerce innovator and founder of leading online retail chain, Konga, Sim Shagaya and South African motivational speaker, Vusi Thembekwayo, Yinka Sanni, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, says Nigeria has entered a critical phase in her economic evolution. This phase, he says, is one that makes innovative leadership increasingly critical, if Nigeria is to fully optimise the gains of the growth it continues to record year-on-year.
Updated 5 Years ago