COVID-19 Analysis on Soundbar Market Report for Q1- 2021 compared to 2020|Expected to reach USD 2.07 Billion by 2025|Technavio

FX Empire
‘Reopening’ stocks give S&P 500, Dow strong footing, tech names lag
(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Monday after a week of largely upbeat earnings strengthened expectations of sustained profit growth for companies, while some high-flying growth stocks lagged a broader rally.
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Why the stock market might give back its April gains
The market will give back its April gains over the next two months.
13h ago
Bloomberg
Bitcoin Miner Iris Is Said to Weigh Australia’s First SPAC Deal
(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin mining business Iris Energy Pty is weighing proposals from blank-check firms seeking to take the Australian company public, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be the country’s first such listing.The Sydney-based company has been approached by several special purpose acquisition companies about a deal to potentially list in the U.S. that could raise between $300 million and $500 million, the people said, asking not to be named discussing confidential matters.Iris is also considering options including a conventional or direct listing on the Australian Securities Exchange or the Nasdaq, said the people.Discussions are ongoing and there is no certainty that the company will go ahead with any listing, the people said.SPACs, which are shell companies that sell shares to list on public stock exchanges with the stated purpose of searching out and acquiring private businesses, became an $83 billion market last year, making up about 46% of 2020’s record IPO volume in the U.S., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The ASX doesn’t allow SPACs, and so far, no Australian company has merged with one.Read More: SEC Punts Long-Awaited Bitcoin ETF Decision to at Least JuneIris Energy Co-Founder and Executive Director Daniel Roberts said the company aims to go public and was considering a number of pathways to a listing. The data center operator could also raise a fresh funding round first.“We are in discussions with potential investors at the moment to do another private capital round in the very near term, as a bridge to the public markets,” Roberts said in a phone interview.In March, the company upsized a A$20 million ($15.5 million) fundraising, citing strong investor demand, ahead of what it said were plans for a first-time share sale in the middle of this year. That round was enlarged again, ultimately raising A$110 million, Roberts said.Proceeds from the March fundraising were earmarked for building a 50 megawatt data center in British Columbia, Canada, adding to an already-funded 30 megawatt project, the company has said. The facilities run Bitcoin mining equipment powered by renewable energy, according to its website. In British Columbia, the majority of electricity comes from hydroelectric power.Bitcoin is under increasing scrutiny for the amount of energy used in its creation, particularly in regions where electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal. Bitcoin mining alone may account for annualized emissions of carbon dioxide comparable to that of Sweden, according to an estimate by Digiconomist.Read More: Crypto Holders Say It’s Hurt Their Personal RelationshipsNot only are Iris’ power suppliers using renewables, the company has agreements with them to scale back mining and divert power into regional grids at peak demand times, Roberts said.“We can sit here today and say clothes dryers and Christmas lights are a waste of energy, but ultimately the market decides where energy should be diverted and it is choosing Bitcoin,” Roberts said. “We’re asking how we can service this market in a way that benefits an energy transition and regional employment.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
15h ago
TheStreet.com
Here's How High Ethereum Could Go as It Hits All-Time Highs
Unlike bitcoin, ethereum has been on fire lately. Here's how high the cryptocurrency can rally if bulls maintain momentum.
20h ago
Reuters
Verizon to offload Yahoo, AOL for $5 billion
(Reuters) -Verizon Communications Inc is getting rid of its media businesses that include iconic brands Yahoo and AOL for $5 billion, ending an expensive and unsuccessful run in the media and advertising world. Despite spending more than a decade and billions of dollars acquiring a stable of internet brands, the New York-based telecom company has struggled to make headway in a highly competitive internet advertising space dominated by Facebook Inc and Google and has focused its resources on developing 5G. Having written $4.6 billion off the value of the businesses in 2018, Verizon will get just $4.25 billion in cash from private equity firm Apollo Global, along with preferred interests of $750 million and a 10% stake in the unit - about half of what it had paid for the businesses.
22h ago
Reuters
Exclusive: KKR raises $18.5 billion for flagship North America buyout fund - sources
KKR & Co Inc has amassed about $18.5 billion for its latest flagship North America private equity fund, raising its biggest-ever fund in less than five months, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. It also happened with limited travel among KKR executives amid the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring investor demand for private-equity funds that promise to outperform the booming stock market. KKR raised about $17 billion for KKR North America Fund XIII from investors including sovereign wealth funds, family offices and public and private pension funds, the sources said.
12h ago
Bloomberg
Hertz Gets Sweetened Knighthead Offer in Brawl to Buy Renter
(Bloomberg) -- Investment firms Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management submitted a sweetened offer to buy Hertz Global Holdings Inc. out of bankruptcy in a deal that could see equity investors recover $2.25 a share.Hertz will evaluate the proposal that assigns the rental-car company a more than $6.2 billion enterprise value to determine if it’s higher than one from its current reorganization sponsor, a group backed by Centerbridge Partners, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the bid isn’t yet public.The bid includes fully committed debt and equity financing, the people said. Hertz bondholders would be paid in full while shareholders get the chance to own a bigger portion of the reorganized company.Hertz’s existing equity holders would receive 50 cents per share plus the chance to participate in either a boosted $1.3 billion rights offering or warrants for up to 10% of the reorganized company, the people said. Together, the cash and warrants would be worth around $2.25 a share, they said.Hertz shares jumped as much as 14% to $2.57 on Monday morning in New York after Bloomberg reported on the boosted offer. The plan gives Hertz an equity value of roughly $5.9 billion. Knighthead will fund $2.2 billion of the deal, and Apollo Global Management has also committed $1.5 billion of preferred equity, down from $2.5 billion in earlier discussions, the people said.The battle over ownership of Hertz has been heating up amid surging demand for travel in the U.S. Last month the company picked a plan from Centerbridge, Warburg Pincus and Dundon Capital Partners that outbid an earlier Knighthead deal. Both groups have since revised their plans. If the Knighthead bid meets Hertz’s qualifications, an auction may be held May 10 to determine the best bid.Representatives for Knighthead and Certares declined to comment. A representative for Hertz didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Last month, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath gave Hertz permission to pay Centerbridge a so-called breakup fee if its plan isn’t chosen. Walrath also allowed Hertz to start the process of collecting creditor votes on that proposal.Hertz has said it wants to exit bankruptcy by summer to take advantage of a hot stock market and to capture an expected increase in vacation rentals. The industry is raising prices as post-vaccination business and leisure travel surges and household-name rental companies don’t have enough cars for customers to drive off the lot.The case is Hertz Corp. 20-11218, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington). To view the docket on Bloomberg Law, click here(Updates with share price and chart in fifth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
19h ago
Reuters
Supply chain bottlenecks amid roaring demand slow U.S. manufacturing
U.S. manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in April, restrained by shortages of inputs as rising vaccinations against COVID-19 and massive fiscal stimulus unleashed pent-up demand. The survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday showed record-long lead times, wide-scale shortages of critical basic materials, rising commodities prices and difficulties in transporting products across industries. The ISM noted that "companies and suppliers continue to struggle to meet increasing rates of demand due to coronavirus impacts limiting availability of parts and materials."
20h ago
Reuters
U.S. car rental firm Avis Budget tops revenue estimates as demand recovers
Avis had to cut jobs and realign its fleet after the pandemic hammered rental demand in 2020, but things are starting to look up as vaccine rollouts gather pace and people get back on the road. "We continue to get new car deliveries every day and believe we can increase our fleet utilization efficiency to capture increased demand."
14h ago
Yahoo Finance
Buffett calls SPACs 'a killer,' says they hurt Berkshire's ability to do deals
Warren Buffett has a warning for would-be SPAC investors
1d ago
Yahoo Finance
Warren Buffett says if something happened to him, Greg Abel would take over Berkshire Hathaway
On Monday morning, CNBC's Becky Quick reported that when Buffett is no longer able to lead the company the top job will in fact go to 59-year-old Abel, vice chairman of non-insurance operations.
22h ago
Bloomberg
Cathie Wood Buys Twitter Dip Amid Worst Plunge Since October
(Bloomberg) -- Cathie Wood saw a buying opportunity in Twitter Inc.’s worst week since October.Her firm, Ark Investment Management, scooped up about 1.3 million shares of the social media network worth $71 million on Friday as the stock plunged 15%, according to an email on the firm’s trading activity. That slide came after after Twitter reported disappointing first-quarter sales, in contrast to the stronger-than-expected results from other big tech companies, including Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.Ark’s actively managed exchange-traded funds have suffered as investors have shifted out of growth stocks as the nation rebounds, which will benefit companies whose businesses are more closely tied to swings in the economy. Her $23 billion flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) -- the two funds that bought Twitter shares -- are down 3.5% and up just 1.5% this year, respectively, after posting triple-digit returns in 2020.But Wood is known for doubling down on her strategies during selloffs, especially when automaker Tesla Inc. plunges. She’s repeatedly said that despite the broader rotation out of high-growth companies and into value stocks, her team maintains their conviction in innovative technologies and has a five-year time horizon.“Twitter fits well with Ark and Cathie Wood’s” investment style, said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. “It’s on brand to the extent that it’s in the tech space and it’s a new Internet oriented company. But it is different from some of the moonshot companies they really like. Twitter is a tech company, but it’s kind of just your standard social media.”The social media giant’s stock plunged late last week after company executives said sales were sluggish in the first months of the year. Although its revenue gained 28%, it lagged some of the other digital advertising behemoths like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.Wood’s ARKK fell 1.8% as of 11:07 a.m. in New York. The fund just notched first month of outflows since September 2019, losing about $76 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
18h ago
Bloomberg
Ether Hits $3,000 as Bitcoin’s Crypto Dominance Declines
(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin’s domination of total cryptocurrency market value is declining as its next-biggest rival Ether reaches the $3,000 milestone.The rise of Ether suggests there’s room for more than one winner among digital tokens as the sector evolves. Bitcoin now accounts for about 46% of total crypto market value, down from roughly 70% at the start of the year, and Ether makes up 15%, according to tracker CoinGecko. Bitcoin remains the biggest cryptocurrency but the momentum in other tokens is drawing increasing interest. Proponents argue investors are getting more comfortable with a variety of tokens, while critics contend the sector may be in the grip of a stimulus-fueled mania.Cryptocurrencies were broadly higher on Monday. Bitcoin climbed above $58,000, while Ether jumped 6% to $3,151 as of 8:17 a.m. in New York.“Ethereum is rising and not much seems to be in its way,” Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at Oanda Corp., wrote in a note Friday, adding that other tokens were also seeing “fresh interest.”The current distribution of market share also reflects an April shakeout in the cryptocurrency sector. Bitcoin has yet to recover all the ground it lost after tumbling from a mid-April record of almost $64,870.Last month’s listing of crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. in the U.S. is the latest sign of how more investors are embracing the sector despite risks from high levels of volatility and expanding regulatory scrutiny.Ether is currently occupying the limelight. An upgrade of the affiliated Ethereum blockchain as well as the network’s popularity for financial services and cryptocollectibles are among the factors cited for the rally. Evercore ISI strategist Rich Ross has set a target of $3,900 for the token.Other cryptocurrencies have jumped too. The price of Binance Coin is up 3,460% over the past 12 months, according to CoinGecko. Dogecoin, a token started as a joke in 2013 but now a social-media favorite touted by the likes of Elon Musk, has surged 15,000% to a market value of around $50 billion.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
22h ago
Reuters
Digital Dollar Project to launch five U.S. central bank digital currency pilots
The U.S. nonprofit Digital Dollar Project said on Monday it will launch five pilot programs over the next 12 months to test the potential uses of a U.S. central bank digital currency, the first effort of its kind in the United States. The private-sector pilots initially will be funded by Accenture Plc and involve financial firms, retailers and NGOs, among others. The aim is to generate data that could help U.S. policymakers develop a digital dollar.
23h ago
Bloomberg
Secretive Billionaire Kenneth Dart Makes $6.7 Billion Bet on Tobacco Stocks
(Bloomberg) -- It took decades for sustainable investing to become mainstream, but now every week one giant investor after another announces their commitment to ESG.Kenneth Dart will not be joining that club.The billionaire is heir to a plastic cup fortune. More than two decades ago he renounced his U.S. citizenship and moved to the Caribbean, becoming the biggest real estate owner in the Cayman Islands. For years he invested in distressed sovereign debt with Argentina’s former President Cristina Kirchner calling him a “vulture.”And over the past six months Dart, 66, has quietly accumulated one of the classic sin investments. Through a Cayman Islands vehicle called Spring Mountain Investments, Dart has built a 7% stake in British American Tobacco that’s now worth $6 billion. Last month, Spring Mountain disclosed a separate $634 million position in rival Imperial Brands. The Financial Times first reported the firm’s tobacco investments.A small portion of the positions were entered into using total return swaps, the filings show. These types of swaps were at the center of the March implosion of family office Archegos Capital Management, causing billions in bank losses.Tobacco WagerSpring Mountain is the latest in a series of entities the publicity-shy Dart has used to buy securities. He previously set up Portfolio Services Ltd., Seneca Investments, EM Ltd., Eastern Capital and LBS Investments. In recent years these have been used to invest in obscure biotechnology stocks that make up a fraction of his fortune, estimated at $6.6 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.Susanna de Saram, a representative of Dart’s firm Dart Enterprises, declined to comment on investment decisions.Dart’s tobacco wager goes against one of the hottest trends in finance: Investing in companies that focus on environmental, social and governance factors, which in theory means corporations have long-term sustainable prospects.The tobacco industry has for decades been the antithesis of ESG investment. Dominated by a few corporate behemoths, the companies operate in a market at risk of being quashed by regulation or customers giving up -- or dying from -- the habit.Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, has been a longtime champion of tobacco-control efforts.While a larger group of investors are shunning the stocks, it can create opportunities for those less concerned with the societal outcomes of their portfolio.Dividend YieldsTobacco stocks “were a one-way ticket up until around 2016” before concerns about new regulation, especially in the U.S., began discouraging investors, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Duncan Fox.Over the past five years, the MSCI World Tobacco Index has dropped 32%. That’s punished long-term holders, but has juiced the dividends the stocks pay. British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands have dividend yields exceeding 8%.Investors may also be overstating the regulatory risks -- after all the firms have experience adapting to and profiting under new regulations --and there’s potential growth in alternative tobacco products and the new cannabis markets, Fox said.Still, there’s a reason why so many investors shun the stocks.“Smoking has been in decline for the past five decades because of what we call the ESG Squeeze: pressures from societal attitudes, regulation, and taxation,” Citigroup Inc. analyst Adam Spielman wrote in March. In 10 to 20 years there could be no smokers left in many markets, according to Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett.Read more: Smoking may disappear within a generation, analysts predictDart has made successful contrarian bets in the past. He made billions from companies such as Salomon Inc., Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., and in troubled sovereign debt, according to a 1995 Businessweek profile.Trained as a chemical engineer, he’s long been focused on his investment portfolio instead of the family business, Dart Container, where he no longer has a role or ownership. Mason, Michigan-based Dart Container is run by his brother, Robert Dart.In recent years Dart’s focus seemed to shift from markets to property development, primarily in the Cayman Islands, where he’s made his home. Dart Real Estate has developed $1.5 billion in projects, including hotels, office buildings and residential complexes, according to its website.(Updates with total return swaps in fifth paragraph, Dart Enterprises’ response in seventh.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
17h ago
Yahoo Finance
Burned out millennials quitting their jobs eye 'private money flowing around’
Multiple surveys have found workers are considering or planning to look for a new job.
14h ago
Bloomberg
Ethanol-Maker’s Sales Slump Shows Why It Wants to Ditch Biofuel
(Bloomberg) -- Green Plains Inc.’s first-quarter revenue trailed analysts’ estimates after declines in its ethanol business, highlighting volatility that’s prompting the company to shift away from the biofuel.Revenue fell 13% from a year earlier to $553.6 million, compared with the $625.3 million average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Ethanol sales volumes slid 26% from the year-earlier period, in part due to winter weather woes that slowed output throughout the industry.The slump comes after U.S. ethanol producers struggled with lower demand as the virus pandemic limited car travel and fuel use. While corn-based ethanol consumption is rebounding with economies reopening and gasoline demand nationwide on the rise, Green Plains Chief Executive Officer Todd Becker has already decided to reduce the company’s reliance on corn-based biofuel as its main product.“Green Plains 2.0 is in sight,” Becker told analysts on an earnings conference call Monday.Becker seeks to reinvent the company into a maker of high-protein and sugar ingredients made from corn for use in products ranging from pet food to candy, with ethanol merely a byproduct. The plan has drawn backing from Wall Street. The stock has more than doubled since the beginning of the year. Shares slipped 0.7% at 12:27 p.m. in New York.First-quarter ethanol crush margins, which includes extracting “ultra-high protein” ingredients from corn, swung to profitability after posting a loss in the same period last year.Key InsightsThe Omaha, Nebraska-based company’s adjusted Ebitda of $15.4 million. Analysts had forecast $16.1 million in ebitda.Company posted a first-quarter loss per share of 17 cents, smaller than the 46-cent loss analysts expected.Lower production volumes of ethanol were likely due to impacts of the February cold snap throughout the central U.S. and plant upgrades and maintenance, Truist Securities analyst Jordan Levy wrote in a note; he has a “buy” rating on the stock.Get MoreClick here for the earnings statementFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
16h ago
Bloomberg
Scottish Question Hangs Over U.K. Assets From Pound to Banks
(Bloomberg) -- A week that could set in motion the eventual collapse of the 314-year union between England and Scotland is concentrating City trading desks on market disasters ahead.As Scots enter a May 6 vote pitched on whether there should be a second independence referendum, fund managers and sell-side strategists see potential for massive chaos across the U.K.’s economic landscape in the years to come. Yet in an echo of the early days of the Brexit poll, few are hedging for this disruptive prospect while the derivatives market is showing no signs of oncoming stress.While the stakes could hardly be higher, it’s not clear the U.K. government will agree to another referendum, even if pro-independence parties win a majority on Thursday. But with the vote stirring uneasy memories of Britain’s split from the European Union, fund managers are dusting off old playbooks for how to trade a binary risk event where timing is everything.“You’d have massive uncertainty, financial chaos and recession,” and a 10% devaluation of the pound, said Mark Nash, a money manager at Jupiter Investment Management.Nash isn’t hedging such a scenario yet -- and neither is the market. The median of forecasts in a Bloomberg survey has the pound holding at $1.39 through June.Still, a handful of investment analysts have ventured forth bearish calls.Strategists at Credit Agricole SA recommend shorting the pound versus the dollar, with political risk over Scottish independence among the reasons.Barclays Plc abandoned a call to go long on the pound versus the euro on the potential for pre-election volatility.UBS Group AG credit strategists cut their outlook on a select group of U.K. bank bonds to neutral from overweight, warning that the “long U.K. trade” in credit could unravel on referendum risk.One thing is for certain: if things escalate, money managers will need to move fast. Odds show a repeat of the 2014 referendum, where Scotland voted to remain, would be too close to call.“Markets ignore things and ignore things and ignore and then suddenly panic. I have a feeling that is quite likely to happen with the Scottish independence issue,” said Jane Foley, head of currency strategy at Rabobank. “What I’m telling our clients is to be aware that even though this may not impact the pound right now, it’d be foolhardy to ignore it because it might suddenly come into the market’s agenda.”Consequences of secession would be huge. Negotiations would be necessary over what currency an independent Scotland would use, whether it would take a share of the British national debt, and what trade arrangements it would have with the remainder of the U.K. The Scottish National Party also harbors ambitions to bring Scotland into the EU, a situation that would create huge border and trade tensions, if the problem of ring-fencing Northern Ireland in Brexit is any example.“I wonder whether markets have actually considered the full ramifications of this election,” said Julian Howard, director of multi-asset solutions at GAM Investments, whose portfolios are strategically positioned for a decline in sterling. “It would be a lot worse than Brexit as Scotland is much more closely stitched to the U.K. than Britain was into Europe. We’re talking since the 1700s rather than the 1970s.”Mr. BrexitThe domicile of financial institutions could also be contested. If they were to remain based on Edinburgh, Scottish banks would miss out on the support of the Bank of England’s quantitative easing program and become less creditworthy, according to Charlie Parker, managing director at boutique investment manager Albemarle Street Partners.It’s the kind of tail-risk event that makes careers, for those with enough foresight to get it right.At Nomura Holdings Inc., strategist Jordan Rochester was part of a team that developed a money-spinning model to help the bank call the 2014 referendum result early. His political analysis on the split from the EU then led him to be nicknamed Mr. Brexit. Now he says the pound could fall up to 6% if Scotland voted to leave, depending on how priced it was prior to the result.But even he isn’t worried about the election on Thursday itself, and says the pound could even be in line for gains if the SNP fails to win more than half of the seats, as some polls suggest. Still, the independence cause could prevail once Green votes are counted, and an actual referendum date could trigger heavy hedging.Read: Why Scotland’s Road to Independence Vote Is Rocky: QuickTake“The market will look at polling in a new referendum and treat it much more like a tighter vote than 2014 -- when it was only last-minute scares, not months in advance,” Rochester said.Westminister would likely mount resistance to any plans to seek an independence vote, refusing to grant the Scottish parliament the permission to make it legally watertight. That leaves the potential for a lengthy constitutional quagmire over whether the Scottish parliament can call a legitimate referendum on its own.Even though the prospect of an invigorated Scottish break-away movement is scary for traders, derivatives markets remain calm. Options indicate the cost of insuring swings in the pound well below recent lows. Five-year risk reversals in cable trade near their average since Bloomberg began compiling data in 2005.“The difficulty with assessing the impact of these events on markets is that even if we know they are on the horizon, we don’t know when markets will react and if in the end the status quo will prevail,” said Sheena Shah, currency strategist at Morgan Stanley. Her firm sees a 30% chance of a referendum by the end of 2024. “There are so many unknowns and follow-up hurdles.”(Adds Rabobank comment in eighth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
2h ago
Bloomberg
Samsung Windfall Gives Richest Korean Woman $7 Billion Fortune
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Ra-hee, the wife of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, boosted her fortune to more than $7 billion after receiving billions of dollars in stocks in the much-awaited transfer of her husband’s assets.Hong, 75, inherited about 83 million shares in Samsung Electronics Co., making her the largest individual shareholder in the tech giant with a 2.3% stake, according to a filing last week. Hong is the richest woman in South Korea with a net worth of $7.4 billion as of Monday’s stock-market close, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.It’s another consequence of the massive passing of wealth after Lee’s death, which saw his son Jay Y. cement control over the group after his holdings rose significantly in key affiliates. The late Lee’s only son is worth $12.6 billion, according to the index, while his sisters Boo-jin and Seo-hyun saw their wealth swell to $5 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively.“It’s a win-win situation for the family members,” said Park Ju-gun, head of Seoul-based research firm Leaders Index. “It has ensured more stable control for Jay Y. Lee, while other family members get more of a voice with their increased stakes.”A Samsung Electronics spokeswoman declined to comment on the family’s net worth.The drama over succession at South Korea’s largest company has roiled the country since the late Lee, the patriarch and longtime head of Samsung Electronics, suffered a heart attack in 2014. Jay Y. Lee has been accused in two different lawsuits of illegal behavior to ensure control over the conglomerate and is currently serving a jail sentence after a conviction for bribery in the first case.Hong received the biggest slice of the late Lee’s stake in Samsung Electronics as it was divided in a 3:2:2:2 ratio between her and her three children. Hong got about 33% of the shareholding, while her children each received about 22%, according to the legally prescribed ratio.Stock holdings in the conglomerate’s other key affiliates, its de facto holding company Samsung C&T Corp. and Samsung SDS Co., were transferred according to the same ratio.But Jay Y. was able to tighten his grip as he received half his father’s shares in Samsung Life Insurance Co., raising his stake to more than 10% from 0.06%. Samsung Life owns 8.5% of Samsung Electronics.Last week, the family announced its plan to pay one of the largest inheritance-tax bills at more than 12 trillion won ($10.7 billion), as well as its intention to donate 1 trillion won for medical facilities and about 23,000 works of art, including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.Hong led Samsung’s Leeum museum, which houses works such as Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Untitled (Black Figure)” and Gerhard Richter’s “Two Candles.” She resigned as director in 2017, and hasn’t taken any management roles at Samsung companies.“It’s an extraordinary concentration of wealth,” Park said. “This single family’s fortune creates inequality even among conglomerates.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
8h ago
FX Empire
U.S. Dollar Index (DX) Futures Technical Analysis – Trend Changed to Up, but Struggling to Follow-Through
Since Friday’s rally was likely fueled by short-covering, the index will have to pullback into at least 90.890 in order to attract real buyers.
1d ago

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COVID-19 Analysis on Soundbar Market Report for Q1- 2021 compared to 2020|Expected to reach USD 2.07 Billion by 2025|Technavio

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U.S. Dollar Index (DX) Futures Technical Analysis – Trend Changed to Up, but Struggling to Follow-Through