The hedgie's five-year investment in the record label ended on a low note: his $64 bln takeover bid flopped and his returns look thin. As expected, top shareholder Vincent Bolloré got in the way. The saga shows even the loudest investor campaigns need someone willing to listen.
Editor’s picks
- The Big View
Index-tracking funds are on track to buy a large chunk of the shares sold in SpaceX’s record $75 billion offering. With more than half the U.S. market now invested by hands-off managers, benchmarks are distorting markets. It’s a recipe for buying high and selling low.
- Breaking View
Freshly crowned as the world's top wealth hub with $2.9 trln of flows, that status is at risk from China’s fresh scrutiny of outbound money. AIA, Pru, StanChart and HSBC shares slipped. Long-tolerated grey zones are narrowing. Growth hinges on how much opacity Beijing permits.
- Considered View
The European Commission is investigating the Chinese retailer’s $2.6 bln offer for fridge-to-TV seller Ceconomy. Intervention looks hard to square with a crowded consumer electronics sector. The odd target suggests the EU will cast a wide net in its attack on foreign subsidies.
- Considered View
The far-right proposal to cap Switzerland’s population at 10 mln, scheduled for a referendum in June, would damage the economy and likely struggle to translate into coherent measures. It still suggests that, above certain levels of migration, feelings may well trump economics.
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