Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.
(Sharecast News) - Elon Musk has reportedly invested approximately $1bn in Skydance, the new media empire led by David Ellison. The deal comes alongside fresh equity infusions from existing investors, including board member Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs's widow. Semafor first reported the news. The investment follows Paramount's recent $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery, a huge acquisition that brought the media companies together under the Skydance name. At the head of the new media empire is David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder and Donald Trump ally Larry Ellison. - Guardian
The UK is watering down rules introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis that were designed to hold City bosses accountable for wrongdoing. The plans, put forward by the financial industry's two top regulators, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), include a reduction in reporting for "lower-level misconduct" and would also free 140,000 managers from extra checks. - Guardian
A think tank once led by Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary, has criticised her plans for a North Sea wealth fund, saying it would be ineffective. The New Economics Foundation (NEF), which Ms Fahnbulleh led between 2017 and 2023, said the proposed Energy Wealth Fund would fail in its aims because tax revenue from oil and gas drilling was too small to fund net zero plans. - Telegraph
John Healey will launch a tax raid on retiring business owners to fund fresh incentives for entrepreneurs to grow in Britain. The Telegraph understands that a £1bn tax break mainly used by owners who sell their businesses, known as Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR), will be significantly scaled back in next week's Budget. Savings from the move could then be diverted to entrepreneurs in the form of lower capital gains tax rates or higher reliefs if they create jobs and economic value in Britain. - Telegraph
Meta Platforms' huge artificial intelligence spending plans caused its stock market value to fall by more than $100bn and triggered a wider rout of US technology shares on Thursday. The owner of Facebook and Instagram told investors it would need to raise "hundreds of billions of dollars" over the coming years, starting as early as this autumn, to fund its AI bets. The scale of its investment reignited concerns about the sustainability of tech companies' debt-fuelled splurging - totalling more than $1trn - on data centres and computer chips. - The Times
