All posts by Alison Meadows

About Alison Meadows

Alison Meadows has a PHD in Economic Trends in Modern Times and is a known writer who focuses on hedge fund investments. Meadows, her husband, and three kids live in Boston, where she grew up and attended college. Contact Alison at alison[at]businessdistrict.com

Fox Buys Sky

Uncategorized, ,
Rupert Murdoch at Les Misérables red carpet movie premiere, Sydney, Australia. Photo by Eva Rinaldi.

It took five years, but Rupert Murdoch has finally acquired the rest of the UK-based Sky Network. Murdoch is the Australian-American media mogul billionaire owner of 21st Century Fox, who tried, but failed a complete buyout of Sky in 2011. Now he is getting the 61 percent that he didn’t already own for almost $15 billion, $13.52 per share. The price is a 36 percent increase over the closing price of the stock on December 8. Fox projects that it will be able to close the deal for $14.6 billion before the end of 2017.

The sale was scrapped in 2011 due to News Corp.’s phone hacking and alleged bribery scandal. Because of this summer’s Brexit decision, the value of the pound dived, making the price of Sky’s shares a relative bargain.

“We have been thoughtful, disciplined and focused as we have contemplated the best use of our capital to drive the growth of the business into the future,” said Lachlan Murdoch, 21st Century Fox’s executive chairman.

The deal with Sky is Fox’s largest transaction to date. Sky will add value to Fox by providing its own programming, library to sports broadcasting rights, and more during a time when large telecom and content providers are consolidating.

“All in all, even taking into account the sports cost issue, this is probably a better and more durable business than most US. investors would presume,” said Michael Nathanson, of MoffettNathanson Research, who lowered its rating on Fox shares to Neutral from Buy and increased the target price $2 to $32.

Rupert Murdoch owns 21st Century Fox with his sons James and Lachlan, including Fox TV network, Fox News and Hollywood study 20th Century Fox.

Business Schools Could Lose Overseas Students in President Trump America

Education, News, , , , ,

Until the election of Donald Trump to become the US president beginning in early 2017, US business schools were a desirable option for students from overseas looking to earn an MBA. Now some of these prospective students are reconsidering US business schools as an option.

“I want to be able to work in the country where I study after graduation,” one marketing executive from India said. “So it is important to be in a place that is immigrant-friendly.”

US business school deans are hopeful that this prospective student is not the sign of a trend.

Douglas Skinner, dean of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business says he is “cautiously optimistic,” about the backlash from a Trump presidency. He pointed out that even if the economy was to stall, (something he does not think will happen,) domestic demand for MBA places would rise, since that is the trend when jobs are more scarce.

But Skinner is afraid that the threatened proposals to immigration will seriously effect enrollment in his school’s MBA program. More than one-third of the full-time students attending the Chicago Booth School of Business come from overseas.

“If there was a restriction on visas to students that would clearly be somewhat harmful to us,” Prof Skinner says. He adds that other schools are even more dependent on students from abroad than Booth is.

Business Insider Lists Mo Abudu Top 100 Bus Visionaries

News, , , ,

The only African appearing on the Business Insider prestigious list of 100 of the world’s most influential business leaders, Mo Abudu, CEO and Chairwoman of EbonyLife TV, was ebullient at receiving the recognition.

“This is a big moment for the entire EbonyLife TV team. Our goal remains to tell African stories and we do that by annually producing over 1000 hours of premium, original and home grown entertainment programming content. From Talk, Entertainment, Reality, Comedy, Drama, Lifestyle and Factual the channel boasts exclusive ownership of 90% of the content…”

Abudu shared the glory with other corporate starts as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and the CEOs of IKEA, Apple, Amazon, Google, Starbucks and Alibaba, who were at the head of the list.

Placing even 56th on the list is no mean feat, as it means coming in ahead of the heads of such popular companies as Spotify, Snapchat, Zara, LinkedIn, and Uber.

A group of analysts compiled the list, assessing companies from all over the globe, in the private and public sectors, in a large variety of industries.

EbonyLife TV recently began its third year and the most popular channel in the entertainment category. It has recently moved into more cities in Nigeria, and distributes programs to49 African countries, including South Africa and other countries of Southern Africa.

Because of Abudu’s list of successes in the TV entertainment sector, especially her popular talk show “Moments with Mo,” she has earned the nickname, “Africa’s Oprah Winfrey.”

Other women appearing on the list include: Kim Jordan, founder and executive chairwoman of the New Belgium Brewing Company; Rose Marcario, CEO of Patagonia; and Ellen DeGeneres of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and Ellen Digital Network.

Google’s Project Wing Taking Off

Transportation Industry, , ,
Drone Fox-C8 XT. Photo courtesy of ZullyC3P.

The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy announced that Google’s drone delivery service, Project Wing, will begin testing in the United States. The step is part of a White House initiative to encourage research into safety measures and other issues connected to unmanned flight.

Tuesday’s email announcement stated that the National Science Foundation has budgeted $35 million over five years on research into unmanned flight, while the Department of the Interior is planning on increasing its use of drones.

The White House is following up on the Federal Aviation Administration’s June finalization of introductory regulations controlling drone flight, especially creating guidelines for acquiring unmanned pilot licenses and rules for commercial unmanned flights.

“Honestly, the way I think about these issues, I don’t think about the problems,” said Dave Vos, the head of Project Wing. “I think about the solutions that we can bring to bear.”

Vos was speaking at a White House event promoting drone technology.

Giant Recall of Half-Million Hoverboards Sends Industry Reeling

Consumerism, , , , ,

Hoverboards, the extraordinarily lazy persons’ answer to skateboards, are dangerous, at least according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The commission said that they know of at least 99 reports of overheating of the lithium-ion battery packs overheating, sparking, smoking, catching on fire, and then finally, exploding.

They added that a minimum of 18 injuries have been reported. Included in those injuries are neck burns, legs and arm burns, and more. There has also been damage to property.

The recall will include about 501,000 hoverboards distributed by 10 companies. Some of those companies are Powerboard, Airwalk and iMoto.

The announcement urges consumers to immediately refrain from using their hoverboards and to contact the recalling company at once. Depending on the model the company will either fully refund the purchase price, repair the board for free, or replace it free of charge.

The boards were all manufactured in China. They were sold all over the US in stores and on-line between June 2015 and May 2016. They ranged in price from $350 to $900.