Plus, G7 to implement price cap on Russian oil
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Laxman Narasimhan will become the new CEO of Starbucks. The decision was made public on Thursday, hours after Narasimhan announced that he will step down from his role as CEO of Reckitt. More: - Prior to his position at the top of Reckitt, Narasimhan worked as the global chief commercial officer of PepsiCo and as a senior partner at McKinsey.
- Narasimhan will join Starbucks in October to learn about the company and about its plans for reinventing itself.
- After getting to know the firm, Narasimhan will assume his new role in April.
- Narasimhan will enter his new leadership role with several issues to contend with, including:
- An active unionization effort across more than 200 Starbucks stores in the U.S.
- Uncertain economic prospects in the company's two largest markets, the U.S. and China.
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SoftBank's Vision fund operation will cut at least 20% of its staff. The decision, which has not been made public, follows a promise made by founder Masayoshi Son to reduce expenses. More - SoftBank intends to cut at least 100 positions, mainly in its U.S., U.K., and China operations.
- The firm may begin announcing layoffs as early as this month.
- The plan to reduce staff comes after Son promised to implement "big cost-cutting efforts at Vision Fund" in response to poor quarterly results.
- Softbank and its Vision Fund investment division posted a $23.4B loss in August, the biggest in its history.
- Son has also said that Softbank plans to sell Fortress Investment Group, an asset manager that it acquired in 2017 for $3.3B
- Despite its losses, Softbank remains the largest technology-focused investment firm in the world.
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Lululemon Athletica Inc. reported earnings on Thursday that beat Wall Street's expectations. The company showed strong sales in its fitness apparel category despite rising inflation eating into the apparel sales of other firms. More: - The company's earnings per share stood at $2.20, well above the expected $1.87.
- Revenue reached $1.87B, surpassing the expected figure of $1.774B.
- Net sales grew by 29% to $1.87B while same-store sales rose by 23%, well above the 17.6% anticipated by StreetAccount.
- Traffic at Lululemon's stores grew by 30%, while its e-commerce traffic jumped by over 40%.
- "Despite the challenges around us in the macro-environment, guest traffic in our stores and on our e-commerce sites remains robust, which speaks to the strength of our multi-dimensional operating model," said Chief Financial Officer Meghan Frank.
- Lululemon's customer base comes from a higher-income bracket, making it less susceptible to inflationary pressures.
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U.S. employment surpassed its pre-pandemic level in August. The shift came after an increase in payrolls boosted total employment in the U.S. to 152.744 million. More: - The Labor Department released data on Friday showing that the number of jobs in the U.S. rose above pre-pandemic numbers for the first time since the pandemic began.
- The strongest employment growth was seen in the professional and business services sector, which added more than 1 million jobs between Feb. 2020 and Aug. 2022.
- The transportation and warehousing sector saw job gains of 758,000, while retail trade added 260,000 jobs.
- Jobs in leisure and hospitality have not grown above pre-pandemic levels as those industries have likely experienced structural changes as a result of the global health crisis that began in 2020.
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The G7 countries will implement a price cap on Russian oil purchases. The move comes as the international club scrambles to prevent high oil prices from boosting the resources available to the Kremlin for its war effort in Ukraine. More: - The U.S., the U.K, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan issued a joint statement on Friday announcing the planned price ceiling.
- The ceiling will be implemented by preventing insurers in G7 countries from covering shipments of Russian gas unless the price ceiling is observed.
- The U.S. first suggested the measure in April, and the willingness of the G7 to go along with the plan marks a significant political victory.
- Other countries will be permitted to participate in the price capping scheme, and its effectiveness will depend on how many nations choose to involve themselves in the initiative.
- "The initial price cap will be set at a level based on a range of technical inputs and will be decided by the full coalition in advance of implementation in each jurisdiction," according to the G7 report.
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Ben van Beurden is expected to step down as the CEO of Shell. The oil giant has shortlisted at least four possible candidates to replace van Beurden after a series of talks last summer. More: - 64-year-old van Beurden has worked at Shell for 39 years and is expected to leave his position sometime next year.
- During his time as CEO, van Beurden moved Shell's headquarters to London, pledged to cut emissions and reduce oil production, and oversaw Shell's acquisition of BG Group for $52B.
- Shell has seen major changes in the ranks of its senior executives recently.
- Maarten Wetselaar, former head of integrated gas and renewable energy, left Shell in October.
- Wael Sawan left his position as head of upstream to take Wetselaar's place.
- Zoe Yujnovich then moved from Rio Tinto to take Sawan's position as upstream director.
- Sawan and Yujnovich are both positioned as possible successors to van Beurden.
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- General Motors has offered to purchase Buick dealers that do not want to invest in the brand's transition to electric vehicles.
- New York City is suing Starbucks for an alleged violation of the city's "just cause" protections for fast food workers. Starbucks allegedly fired a barista who was also a union organizer.
- Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz warned that the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate hikes cannot address the supply-side bottlenecks that are causing the current inflation crisis.
- Approximately 20% of home sellers have decided to drop their asking price, according to Realtor.com, up from 11% last year.
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 |  | Gregory Bridgman is a writer and researcher with an academic background in politics and the philosophy of science and technology. He holds a BA from the University of Cape Town, an MS from University College London, and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Cambridge. He is interested in climate issues, technological changes, and the implications of the fourth industrial revolution. Please feel free to contact me at gregory@inside.com! | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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