Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma named China’s richest man October 10, 2018 Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been named as the richest man in China for the second time in recent years after his wealth rose more than a third to $39bn (£29.6bn). Ma last topped the Hurun rich list in 2014 but has regained his position at the top after a new round of investment in [...]
German digital bank N26 backed by Tencent and Peter Thiel launches in the UK October 4, 2018 A German digital bank backed by Tencent, Li Ka-shing and Peter Thiel will launch in the UK today with the aim of taking on the big high street banks and adding to the fierce competition among British app-only banks. N26, which already counts 1.5m customers across 17 European countries, has started rolling out its banking [...]
Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing to plug £16m into customer service after passenger death September 5, 2018 Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing is set to fork out 140m yuan (£16m) to improve its customer service, after a passenger was raped and killed by her driver. Founder Cheng Wei told government regulators of his decision when they visited the company as part of a nation-wide inspection into ride-hailing firms, according to reports from Chinese newspaper Beijing [...]
Bricking it: Lego sales and profits fall on weaker dollar September 4, 2018 Lego was impacted by the weaker US dollar in the first half of 2018, reporting lower sales and profits today. The Danish toy company said it was pleased with performance given the challenges of the toy industry, and is now focused on stabilising the business. The figures Global consumer sales grew one per cent in [...]
August’s top and bottom performing funds September 4, 2018 The Turkish lira succumbed to a savage slump in August following a doubling of US tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium in retaliation for the imprisonment of a pastor on terrorism charges. Concerns about the Turkish economy had been mounting for some time given President Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic rule and the appointment of his son-in-law [...]
JD.com boss returns to China after being put under US arrest for sexual misconduct September 3, 2018 The top boss of Chinese retail giant JD.com has been allowed to travel back to China after his arrest in the US on suspicion of criminal sexual misconduct. Richard Liu was arrested in Minneapolis on Friday evening and released "pending complaint" the following afternoon, according to police records. JD.com said in a statement today that Liu [...]
Chinese online retail tycoon released after US sexual conduct charge September 2, 2018 The billionaire leader of a Chinese web retail giant was arrested in the US on Friday on a charge of criminal sexual conduct, before being released a day later. Richard Liu, the founder of JD.com – one of China’s biggest online retailers, and a major rival to web behemoth Alibaba – was taken into custody [...]
Chinese tech stocks rise as its national leadership group gets an overhaul | City A.M. August 9, 2018 Technology stocks in China rose overnight after Beijing said it has revamped its national leadership group for the sector. Tasked with doing the research and planning for China’s government strategy on tech, the former National Technology and Education Leadership Group has now had the “education” dropped from its name to represent a narrowed focus from [...]
Softbank’s Indian Uber challenger brand Ola is launching in the UK | City A.M. August 7, 2018 Ola, the Indian ride-hailing firm backed by Japanese mega-investor Softbank, is bringing its services to the UK. Ola’s app will allow riders to choose from services across both private hire vehicles and black cabs, in a bid to shake things up by challenging major UK taxi disruptors Uber and Gett at the same time. The [...]
UK adtech startup Mirriad signs deal with Chinese behemoth Tencent | City A.M. July 26, 2018 London-based video-advertising technology startup Mirriad has today signed a deal with Chinese media giant Tencent. The deal will utilise Mirriad’s in-video tech to place ads in online video content, even once its in post-production. City A.M. understands that staff from Mirriad will join and pitch with Tencent’s advertising teams as part of the deal, from [...]