Author: Jaxon Bennett

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Software giant SAP has overtaken Novo Nordisk to become Europe’s most valuable company, in the latest milestone for Germany’s surging stock market.SAP shares rose 1.3 per cent in early trading on Monday, lifting its market capitalisation to €313bn, just above that of the Danish drugmaker, whose shares dipped 2.5 per cent. Shares of SAP have risen more than 40 per cent in the past year as investors welcomed the shift of its business customers to the cloud, helping to power a rally…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Genetics testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US in a bid to sell itself, with chief executive Anne Wojcicki stepping down immediately as the once high-flying tech group fights for survival.California-based 23andMe said late on Sunday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to “facilitate a sale process to maximise the value of its business” after exploring strategic alternatives. In a post on X on Sunday, Wojcicki said she was disappointed that a previous bid she had…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.UK technology secretary Peter Kyle has urged opponents of a new artificial intelligence copyright regime not to “resist change”, as he prepares to rule on proposals that have enraged British musicians and filmmakers.Thousands of people working in the British creative and media industries have protested against the UK’s proposed system that would require every company, artist or author to opt out of their work being incorporated into AI systems by tech companies. Promising the UK’s Labour government will “prioritise . . . forward movement”, Kyle stressed…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Malaysia is planning to tighten regulations on semiconductors as it comes under US pressure to staunch the illicit flow to China of chips crucial to the development of artificial intelligence.The country’s trade minister said Washington was demanding Malaysia closely track the movement of high-end Nvidia chips that enter the country over suspicions that many are ending up in China, in violation of US export rules.He added that he had formed a task force with digital minister Gobind Singh Deo to tighten regulations…

Builder.ai, one of the UK’s best-funded tech start-ups, has relied on an auditor with long-standing links to its founder to sign off its accounts — a finding that has raised alarm with corporate governance experts.A partner at accounting firm PKF Littlejohn signed off the UK accounts of the artificial intelligence start-up, despite having previously served as a director of another company also set up by Builder.ai’s founder, Sachin Dev Duggal, according to a review of hundreds of filings analysed by the Financial Times.Duggal stepped down last month as chief executive of Builder.ai and last week resigned as a director from…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the US equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.StubHub, the online ticket marketplace that earned a windfall from Taylor Swift’s Eras concert tour, has filed for a US initial public offering that will test investor appetite for tech listings amid a slump in Wall Street stocks.The New York-based company said in a filing on Friday that it planned to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol STUB.StubHub did not disclose the size or price range of the share sale but would seek to raise…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The London stock market has plenty of dividend heavyweights. These are companies that can be depended upon to pay attractive and rising dividends, on repeat. Miners, banks, oil companies, tobacco businesses and Reits all feature heavily in the lists of top payers, given their typically stable and strong cash flows. With the average yield for the FTSE 100 at about 3.5 per cent, what should investors make of one that’s significantly higher — say twice the average? Shell’s yield is currently 4…

The biggest US investors in TikTok’s owner ByteDance are exploring a deal alongside software giant Oracle designed to assure President Donald Trump that the viral video app is free of Chinese control.Under the plan, existing backers of ByteDance including General Atlantic, Susquehanna, KKR and Coatue will seek to acquire additional stakes in a spun-off TikTok US business, according to multiple people familiar with the talks. Oracle would also potentially take a small holding in the business and secure the US app’s data.These financial institutions would look to buy out Chinese investors from the TikTok US business, one of the people…

It is a glorious, crisp day as I walk through the Hofgarten in the centre of Munich on my way to lunch. The Bavarian capital has sometimes been described as Italy’s most northerly city and its elegant gardens mimic the Italian Renaissance style. As residents stroll through the Hofgarten’s alleyways, it is hard to imagine a more opulent reflection of la dolce vita. It is therefore jarring to interview Torsten Reil, one of Germany’s most successful entrepreneurs, who nowadays spends his time thinking mostly about war. The best way to prevent another conflict from devastating his country, he argues, is…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.For Tesla, the pursuit of market dominance and shareholder value has, until recently, served the company well.The US company dominated the electric vehicle industry and has long been synonymous with innovation, propelled in part by the personal profile of its billionaire chief executive Elon Musk. But in recent months, as Musk has waded deeper into politics, his popularity has nosedived. Tesla’s car sales and share price have swiftly followed, paving the way for new challengers. At the front of the pack is…