Joseph Gebbia
Billionaire Airbnb co-founder Joseph Gebbia has joined Tesla's board, reversing a move to trim the number of directors at the world's most valuable electric vehicle maker.
Tesla said in June that it planned to have only seven board seats after the departure of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison in August, sparking criticism from a shareholder body over a lack of independent board members.
In July, SOC Investment Group filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) saying Tesla's plan failed to comply with a 2018 “consent decree” with the SEC that included having two independent board seats.
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Watch: Who is billionaire Elon Musk?
That agreement stemmed from a tweet by chief executive Elon Musk about taking Tesla private. Mr Ellison, a self-described close friend of Mr Musk, was appointed by Tesla in December 2018 to comply with the agreement.
Mr Gebbia, a designer and internet entrepreneur with a net worth of $7.48 billion, joins Tesla after saying in July he would take on an advisory role at Airbnb, stepping away from his full-time role.
“Congrats on an incredible company with Airbnb, now for Book 2!” Mr Musk tweeted at the time.
Some experts doubted whether the billionaire would add diversity to the Tesla board.
“This sounds like more of the same. More of the bros of Mr Musk rather than someone new and different,” said John Coffee, a professor and director at the Centre on Corporate Governance at Columbia Law School.
Mr Gebbia, 41, has waived all entitlement to cash compensation and has agreed to not take any stock-based rewards until July 2023, Tesla said in a regulatory filing.
Mike Novogratz
Mike Novogratz, the billionaire founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings, said cryptocurrencies had been relatively resilient in the past month ― partly because there are not many forced sellers left in the sector.
“We’re in this weird equilibrium where there are a few buyers, there are a few sellers and there’s not that energy in the market like you’re seeing in the equity market or the bond market where you have to sell, right?” Mr Novogratz said.
A lot of leverage has been taken out of the crypto sector, he said during a panel discussion at a conference in Singapore.
Digital tokens will take off again as soon as the US Federal Reserve flinches from its current path of aggressive monetary tightening, but not in a sustainable fashion until mass adoption of Web3 projects, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Novogratz told the panel that the implosion of Do Kwon’s Terraform Labs project was “heartbreaking” and a lesson for the cryptocurrency industry. He said Mr Kwon was among the smarter people he had met and “I wish him well”.
Mr Novogratz, who has a net worth of $6.84bn, was a big backer of Terraform Labs. Mr Kwon’s location is unknown and he is the subject of an Interpol red notice in the fallout of the $40bn collapse of his Terra ecosystem in May.
Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX US, is considering bidding for the assets of bankrupt lender Celsius Network, a person familiar with his deal-making says.
FTX was also in the process of raising a $1bn funding round, the same person said. That round has not closed yet or been made public.
In addition to its lending business, Celsius, which filed for bankruptcy in July, owns large Bitcoin mining operations and a crypto-custody business.
It is not known if Mr Bankman-Fried’s crypto companies — FTX or trading arm Alameda Research — are considering bidding for some or all of Celsius’s assets.
Celsius’s token, Cel, jumped by as much as 9.9 per cent on the development before retreating again, data from CoinGecko showed.
Mr Bankman-Fried, who has a personal fortune of $9.44bn, already scooped up the assets of bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital in an agreement valued at about $1.4bn.
Earlier this year, FTX propped up crypto platform BlockFi and was exploring a potential takeover of Robinhood Markets, in which Mr Bankman-Fried owns a stake. He is estimated to own more than 50 per cent of FTX US, and almost all of Alameda.
Alex Mashinsky, chief executive of Celsius, resigned on Tuesday and the company and its creditors are considering several alternatives, ranging from restructuring to liquidation.
In August, the company said it had received many offers of fresh cash to help to fund its restructuring process.
Larry Page
Kittyhawk, the air-taxi company backed by billionaire Google co-founder Larry Page, will be closing down, dealing a setback to the long-elusive dream of developing flying cars.
“We have made the decision to wind down Kittyhawk,” the company said on Twitter. “We’re still working on the details of what’s next.”
The company’s technology is expected to live on in the form of its Wisk Aero joint venture with Boeing. Wisk’s operations would not be affected by Kittyhawk’s shutdown, Boeing said on Wednesday.
Kittyhawk traces its history to 2010, when a company then known as Zee. Aero set out to pioneer the market for so-called eVTOLs — electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft — ultimately with the goal of democratising the skies.
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Watch: Electric flying taxi takes to skies in test flight
The secretive company was run by Sebastian Thrun, a Google veteran who worked on self-driving cars, augmented-reality glasses and other projects.
The business was one of several start-ups working on the concept, which has proven to be a greater challenge than some expected. Air taxis have suffered crashes during testing in recent months, raising concerns about their safety.
Kittyhawk formed its Wisk venture with Boeing in 2019 and the plane manufacturer went on to invest $450 million in the partnership. Earlier this week, Boeing and Wisk presented their vision for a world where eVTOLs can coexist with larger commercial aircraft.
Kittyhawk’s decision to cease operations does not change Boeing’s commitment to Wisk
Boeing spokeswoman
“Kittyhawk’s decision to cease operations does not change Boeing’s commitment to Wisk,” a spokeswoman for Boeing said.
“We are proud to be a founding member of Wisk Aero and are excited to see the work they are doing to drive innovation and sustainability through the future of electric air travel.”
Boeing helped to showcase Wisk’s rotor-powered Cora aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow in July.
Along with financing the business, Boeing has been providing engineering resources for a larger, electric four-seater aircraft that Wisk intends to eventually certify with US regulators.
The air-taxi market still has numerous competitors, including Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, Germany’s Lilium NV and Brazil’s Eve, but they face uncertain prospects for these futuristic vehicles. Aviation regulators have not yet certified the new generation of flying machines to transport humans.
Kittyhawk’s goal was to make an air taxi that could be remotely piloted, was smaller and lighter than other eVTOLs, and could take off from nearly anywhere. The company was aiming for a cost of less than $1 a mile, which would have made the taxis cheaper than ride-sharing services.
Now Kittyhawk’s shutdown closes a chapter for one of the highest-profile eVTOL pioneers — and shows how hard the market is to crack. As of Wednesday, the company still had this message on its home page: “If anyone can do this, we can.”
Reuters and Bloomberg
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Champion%20v%20Champion%20(PFL%20v%20Bellator)
%3Cp%3EHeavyweight%3A%20Renan%20Ferreira%20v%20Ryan%20Bader%20%3Cbr%3EMiddleweight%3A%20Impa%20Kasanganay%20v%20Johnny%20Eblen%3Cbr%3EFeatherweight%3A%20Jesus%20Pinedo%20v%20Patricio%20Pitbull%3Cbr%3ECatchweight%3A%20Ray%20Cooper%20III%20v%20Jason%20Jackson%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EShowcase%20Bouts%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EHeavyweight%3A%20Bruno%20Cappelozza%20(former%20PFL%20World%20champ)%20v%20Vadim%20Nemkov%20(former%20Bellator%20champ)%3Cbr%3ELight%20Heavyweight%3A%20Thiago%20Santos%20(PFL%20title%20contender)%20v%20Yoel%20Romero%20(Bellator%20title%20contender)%3Cbr%3ELightweight%3A%20Clay%20Collard%20(PFL%20title%20contender)%20v%20AJ%20McKee%20(former%20Bellator%20champ)%3Cbr%3EFeatherweight%3A%20Gabriel%20Braga%20(PFL%20title%20contender)%20v%20Aaron%20Pico%20(Bellator%20title%20contender)%3Cbr%3ELightweight%3A%20Biaggio%20Ali%20Walsh%20(pro%20debut)%20v%20Emmanuel%20Palacios%20(pro%20debut)%3Cbr%3EWomen%E2%80%99s%20Lightweight%3A%20Claressa%20Shields%20v%20Kelsey%20DeSantis%3Cbr%3EFeatherweight%3A%20Abdullah%20Al%20Qahtani%20v%20Edukondal%20Rao%3Cbr%3EAmateur%20Flyweight%3A%20Malik%20Basahel%20v%20Vinicius%20Pereira%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro from Dh7,000 return including taxes. Avianca fliles from Rio to Cusco via Lima from $399 (Dhxx) return including taxes.
The trip
From US$1,830 per deluxe cabin, twin share, for the one-night Spirit of the Water itinerary and US$4,630 per deluxe cabin for the Peruvian Highlands itinerary, inclusive of meals, and beverages. Surcharges apply for some excursions.
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
