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Richard Liu has stepped down as chief executive of JD.com, the Chinese ecommerce group he founded more than two decades ago, marking the latest exit for one of the country’s top entrepreneurs. Beijing’s months-long campaign to rein in Big Tech has spurred several Chinese entrepreneurs to flee executive roles in favour of working from behind

Shell will take a writedown of up to $5bn after its decision to quit Russia as the UK-listed energy group warned extreme price volatility in commodity markets would hit cash flow. In a trading update ahead of next month’s first-quarter results, Shell said ending its three joint ventures with Kremlin-backed gas producer Gazprom would result

Hardware rental start-up Grover has brought in former magazine executive Joanna Coles to chair its board, as it plans a rapid expansion of its consumer electronics subscription service fuelled by a new $330mn fundraising. Coles, who spent 12 years with publisher Hearst and was the former editor of women’s lifestyle magazine Cosmopolitan, has lately transitioned

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Good morning and welcome to Europe Express. The eurozone’s own bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, will soon be looking for a new managing director to succeed Klaus Regling when his term ends this autumn. We’ll look at who might take over and why the ESM has been struggling to play a role of late.

Elsewhere on Thursday . . .  Putin’s invasion reminds us that we live in a finite world. Worldcoin promised free crypto If they canned their eyeballs with “The Orb.” Now they feel robbed. Behind Arsenal’s retro merch boom. If stocks don’t fall, the Fed needs to force them. On regulation, racing, and safety innovation. Naked mole rats have

Through the little country town of Machynlleth, just before the old Dyfi blast furnace and down the potholed lane through fields, woods and over the River Einion, you’ll find Wales’s best restaurant. Though the setting is deeply rural — getting here by car takes three hours from Cardiff, more like six from London — those

This is part of a series, ‘Economists Exchange’, featuring conversations between top FT commentators and leading economists A chart first brought economist Branko Milanovic to worldwide attention. In 2013, the former World Bank economist and his colleague Christoph Lackner captured in a simple picture how global growth in two decades of rapid globalisation had accrued

European banks are stepping up their complaints to Brussels about a lack of clarity on how to implement EU sanctions on Russia and a “misalignment” with equivalent measures imposed by the US and UK. Representatives of the region’s biggest banks, including the European Banking Federation, are due to discuss their concerns with European Commission officials

This is an audio transcript of the Rachman Review podcast episode: French presidential election too close to call [MUSIC PLAYING] Gideon RachmanHello and welcome to the Rachman Review. I’m Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times. This week, we’re looking at the French presidential election. The first round of voting takes place

One thing to start: Jason Kilar, chief executive of WarnerMedia, is leaving the company along with most of his senior leadership team on the eve of its takeover by rival Discovery. Channel 4: when politicians are on the sellside  The funny thing about the British government’s plan to privatise Channel 4 is that it’s very

Despite art dealer Adam Williams winning a still life by 18th-century artist Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin at auction for a record-breaking €24.3mn, his client might yet not end up with the picture, if the Louvre has anything to do with it. The Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, has confirmed that “The Basket of Wild Strawberries” (1761) should

Faultlines that were exposed when coronavirus shook corporate bond markets must be addressed to prevent future disruptions to a key source of funding for companies worldwide, according to the top organisation representing securities regulators. The International Organization of Securities Commissions is examining ways to improve the overall functioning and liquidity of corporate bond markets, particularly

Europe is blessed with many things but abundant and accessible mineral wealth and processing infrastructure are not among them. Industrially, Europe has positioned itself as a centre of excellence for research and development and high-end manufacturing, insulated from the challenges of extracting and processing raw commodities. Politically, Europe has driven the global agenda in environmental,

Two weeks ago the new Retroville shopping centre in north-western Kyiv was hit by Russian shelling, killing eight people. Now, a backhoe digger is clearing a mountain of debris in one section of the mall and Vladyslav Apostolov, co-founder of coffee chain Coffeelat, is trying to get back to business. “I am working on reopening

The writer is a bond portfolio manager at Barksdale Investment Management and co-author of ‘Undiversified: The Big Gender Short in Investment Management’ Not to be left out of the ESG gold rush, a growing number of bond firms now offer environmental, social and governance funds. ESG integration has become a standard box to be checked

John Hejduk was what became known as a paper architect. It’s true that the American realised a few buildings, but his real influence was exerted through his strange sketches of enigmatic forms, evocative fragments of industrial architecture and sinister, dreamlike pieces of concentration camp towers appearing side-by-side with Ferris wheels and beach huts. One of

Samsung Electronics has forecast its highest first-quarter operating profit since 2018 on strong smartphone and microchip sales, but the positive projections failed to dispel growing doubts over its technological edge against rivals Apple and Taiwan chipmaker TSMC. Chip prices held up better than expected in the first three months of 2022 despite the gloomy global

A spate of lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities is piling severe pressure on transport and logistics across the country, exacerbating the economic fallout of the government’s commitment to its zero-Covid policies as cases continue to soar to record levels. The disruption has affected the trucking industry in particular, which plays a critical role

A South Korean state-run bank has delayed the approval of a loan earmarked for an offshore gas project run by Australian energy company Santos after indigenous Australians argued the project would damage the local environment. The delay of the loan to South Korean energy group SK E&S, a major investor in the scheme, and the