Everyone's favourite piece of luggage is back
Lego is doing alright, Boeing not so much.
Hi there,
What is it that draws us to certain things? How do people spend their entire career studying the mating habits of ground beetles? I love that they do but it’s deeply strange. You sort of feel left out but also glad that someone is focussing on that because it sure as hell won’t be you.
Have you ever tried reading about something you want to be interested in but you're just not? By the third sentence your brain is doing everything it can to be elsewhere. It reminds you of all the suddenly very important other things you ought to be doing. It doesn’t help that now all we have to do is pick up our phones for a lovely bit of dopamine.
There are clearly a lot of factors at play from how your brain works to what the people around you like. With so many things competing for our attention it can actually be quite hard to get drawn into anything in a particularly meaningful way unless you happen to fall down a YouTube rabbit hole. But there’s a lot to be gained from focussing on just about anything. The mere state of having your attention fully engaged is pretty relaxing in itself, a brief respite from the unbearable lightness of being.
Think about it,
Hugo
Chief Rabbit Hole Explorer
The Business of Stuff
The Stuff
Government blocks takeover over The Telegraph 🫸 - the Kraken has awoken. Proposed new legislation will impose a statutory duty on ministers to block any deals that amount to foreign ownership of key British media assets. It’s a tricky balancing act to encourage foreign investment whilst at the same time not selling off vast swathes of the country. Yes you have the money, but then you don’t have the thing. Also, the government are a bit sceptical of what UAE-backed ownership means for the free press. Because no media-owners have used their assets to further their own causes before.
Moody’s is leaving Canary Wharf 👋 - like many other companies, the ratings agency is upping sticks and moving to the City. HSBC is another big name moving its HQ. Hard to say why really but definitely pandemic-induced. I guess people are just more dispersed now and less likely to relentlessly hop on the Jubes five times a week.
France isn’t bothering to build a load of new stadiums for the Olympics 🪵 - they’re just going to chuck up a load of temporary wooden ones which to be fair means they won’t be left with a load of white elephants and it's much more environmentally friendly. Which in turn is giving a boost to eco-construction in France more broadly.
More bad news for Boeing ✈️ - the woes of the plane manufacturer could really just be a regular segment. This week a 787 dropped suddenly in midair injuring 50 people and John Barnett, a whistleblower who had worked for Boeing for more than 30 years was found dead, appearing to have been suicided. All very dodgy to be honest.
Becks to be Stella’s new ambassador 🍺 - the beer affectionately known as ‘wife-beater’ will be fronted by Golden Balls himself who “embodies modern, premium values” according to Stella’s marketing team. Stella have been floundering about a bit recently, releasing that green one for Just Stop Oil protesters to drink but they were seemingly unimpressed.
Lego sales increased by 4% last year 🧱 - growth has been declining for seven years but the Danish purveyor of plastic construction materials continues to outshine its rivals. I always feel like I’m one particularly stressful day away from ordering a Millennium Falcon so that should help with the numbers at some point. Lego does feel super timeless, can’t imagine it not being the sort of thing you want your children to spend their time doing.
Briefcases are back, baby 💼 - with the help of The Inbetweeners and the fact you now have to lug a laptop about everywhere I thought they were done for good but according to the Financial Times searches for briefcases are up 17% and Smythsons reported a 10% YoY increase in sales. I need my bag attached to me otherwise I end up leaving nuclear secrets lying around on the tube.
Jamie Dimon back Bob Iger in proxy battle 🐭 - activist investor Nelson Muntz is at again, demanding a restructuring of Disney’s leadership and wider business, believing it should achieve “Netflix-like margins”. The JP Morgan CEO has stepped upto bat for Iger in a rare move, although the bank has previously advised Disney on its defensive approach to aggy investors.
Activist investors are also busy at Glencore ⛏️ - Tribeca Investment Partners are insisting that the mining company move its headquarters from London to Australia where they believe it would receive a better valuation. BHP made a similar exist from the London Stock Exchange a couple of years ago which will worry politicians even more as the UK is struggling to attract major listings.
IBM is letting staff go in marketing and comms 🤖 - as AI begins to take hold (or they try to give the impression that it is) they are reducing the number of roles they have for the most affected jobs. IBM announced its plans in August to replace 8,000 jobs with AI so is now presumably putting its money where its mouth is. They face steep competition and haven’t been the ‘it’ tech company for a while so will be incredibly keen to demonstrate their competency in this area.
Quote of the week
“You gotta do something” - Joey Diaz