Your commercial news round-up: Rishi Sunak, Kanye West, Meta, Formula 1, Elon Musk
updated on 27 October 2022
Reading time: three minutes
A new prime minister, a new Formula 1 team, a new owner of Twitter and much more; it's been an eventful week with lots of information to digest. This commercial news round-up touches on British politics, technology, Kanye West controversy, and other recent developments we felt were worthy of your radar.
- On Tuesday 25 October Rishi Sunak officially became the UK’s prime minister. His appointment happened to be during Diwali marking a historic moment as he became Britain’s first Hindu, Asian prime minister. Sunak’s appointment is a momentous occasion for Asian Britons however, as a privately educated man, with an estimated fortune of £7.3 million (roughly double the wealth of the King), is it possible to consider his appointment a positive step for social mobility? Sunak was the only candidate who managed to secure more than 100 Conservative MP votes to become leader of the party, after Liz Truss had to resign from the position after just 44 days. Sunak is now tasked with managing the current economic crisis and global market turmoil the UK is facing.
- Kanye West has lost his billionaire status as companies cut ties with him over anti-Black and antisemitic comments. Over the past two-weeks American rapper West, also known as Ye, has been dropped by Adidas, Balenciaga, and his talent agency Creative Arts Agency; it’s also reported that his lawyer, Vogue, and Anna Wintour have cut ties from him following his offensive behaviour. Adidas in particular faced pressure from employees and the public to cut ties after Kanye said in an interview: “I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?” Kanye has faced numerous denouncements since 2016, however his recent comments appear to be the final straw for many companies, with his stadium shows and upcoming documentary also being cancelled.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is investigating Meta (parent to Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google) concerning its retail financial services. It’s inquiring into the impact of Silicon Valley’s expansion into payments, deposits, credit and insurance. The FCA suggests that although such moves may initially benefit consumers, Big Tech companies may also “exploit their ecosystems” and lock consumers in. All four companies hold FCA permits in the UK for payment processing with their pace of expansion in financial products rapidly accelerating.
- Formula 1 (F1) has announced plans to form an all-female racing series. The proposed championship would form part of the F2 and F3 feeder pyramid and could come as early as 2023. The racing series would be for young drivers aged 16 to 22 and marks a chance to increase opportunities for female drivers to enter F1. An F1 spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring the best possible opportunities for women to get into our sport and to get the skills and experience necessary to get to the top of F1.” The last time a woman raced in F1 was in 1976 when Italian driver Lella Lombardi competed in the Austrian Grand Prix for Brabham-Ford.
- Elon Musk plans to close his buyout of Twitter by Friday. Musk has notified co-investors who pledged to assist in funding his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter that he plans to close his buyout of the social media company by Friday. Musk’s lawyers have stated that paperwork has now been received by equity investors that include Sequoia Capital, Binance, and Qatar Investment Authority confirming Musk’s financing agreement. This move signifies Musk’s commitment to comply with a court deadline to complete the transaction by Friday.
Check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up.
