-
-
Immune systems (Financial Times - Editorial comment)
"We have been here before, and it is no better second time around. Silvio Berlusconi’s success this week in getting the Italian parliament’s approval for legislation protecting Italy’s top four elected officials from prosecution while in office makes the heart sink – just as it did when he pursued the same route the last time he was in power.
It says much about the prime minister’s priorities that having won the election fewer than 100 days ago, he devoted such effort to the swift passage of this law. As before, Mr Berlusconi’s focus is not on Italy but on himself. ..."
Link all'articolo: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19fb86d2-58e6-11dd-a093-00007... "We have been here before, and it is no better second time around. Silvio Berlusconi’s success this week in getting the Italian p... more -
Times On Your Side
Searches are up for Natasha Archdale, the British artist who appreciates the female form so much that she creates pictures of female nudes from pieces of the Financial Times. Searches are up for Natasha Archdale, the British artist who appreciates the female form so much that she creates pictures of female n... more
-
Carl Icahn drinks Microsoft's milkshake
Yahoo’s shares jumped to their highest level since Microsoft abandoned its takeover offer as expectations rose that the internet company was about to come under renewed pressure to consider a deal.
Carl Icahn, the activist investor, is considering proposing nominees to the company’s board as a way to force Yahoo’s hand, according to one investor who has worked as an ally with him on similar situations.
This investor, and other media reports, also claimed that Mr Icahn had amassed a stake of as much as 4 per cent of Yahoo’s shares in preparation for a fight.
Mr Icahn has been sounding out other potential allies among hedge fund managers for more than a week, according to the investor.
Although Mr Icahn has yet to show his hand and has not formally approached the company, Yahoo itself now believes the activist investor is likely to show his hand before tomorrow’s deadline, according to a person close to the situation.
Mr Icahn is unlikely to try to take full control of the Yahoo board but would nominate directors so he could push for leadership change. Yahoo’s shares jumped to their highest level since Microsoft abandoned its takeover offer as expectations rose that the internet compa... more -
Web 2.0 fails to produce cash
Many members of the Web 2.0 generation of internet companies have so far produced little in the way of revenue, despite bringing about some significant changes in online behavior, according to some of the entrepreneurs and financiers behind the movement.
The shortage of revenue among social networks, blogs and other "social media" sites that put user-generated content and communications at their core has persisted despite more than four years of experimentation aimed at turning such sites into money-makers. Together with the US economic downturn and a shortage of initial public offerings, the failure has damped the mood in internet start-up circles.
Yet that has not stopped a continuing round of venture capital fundraising and acquisition activity at high valuations as investors and corporate acquirers hunt for businesses capable of rising above a crowded field.
"If you look at some of the valuations, you wonder what fantasy of revenues they're based on," said Mitchell Kertzman, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Hummer Winblad.
In one sign of the continued hopes for start-ups that have yet to alight on a solid business model, several financiers expressed support for the private fundraising being undertaken by Twitter, one of Silicon Valleys' most talked-about companies. The "micro-blogging" service, whose users post messages no more than 40 characters long, has yet to find a way to make money, but its early adoption by a group of enthusiastic users is seen as a sign that it will eventually be successful. Many members of the Web 2.0 generation of internet companies have so far produced little in the way of revenue, despite bringing about... more -
FT: McCain’s worrying foreign policy -- a third Bush term?
Commentary in the Financial Times: "The next president of the United States has a golden opportunity to make a fresh start in foreign policy, to rebuild America’s prestige and restore its reputation in the world, dragged through the mud over the past eight years by George W. Bush.
If that president turns out to be John McCain, the Republican candidate who is pushing national security as one of his strongest suits, will this – as his likely Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, is implying – amount to a third Bush term?..." Commentary in the Financial Times: "The next president of the United States has a golden opportunity to make a fresh start in for... more
-
related topics
Financial Times
Contributors (9)
Financial Times
