BUSINESS - Page 25

Billionaires increased in numbers and overall wealth last year, Swiss bank UBS (UBSG.S) said on Thursday, with the fortunes inherited by the newly-minted super-rich exceeding cash generated by self-made billionaires for the first time in years. The number of billionaires rose 7% to 2,544 people globally, while their total worth rose 9% to an estimated $12 trillion. The heirs of baby boomers and older individuals built their wealth after the financial crisis, boosted by low-interest rates that disproportionately helped them

Walmart is importing more goods to the United States from India to cut costs and reduce its reliance upon China amid escalating trade tension between Washington and Beijing. The world’s largest retailer shipped one-quarter of its U.S. imports from India between January and August this year, according to bill of lading figures shared with Reuters by data firm Import Yeti. That compared with just 2% in 2018. The company says it has been working to increase its sourcing from India

The billionaire urged the company he co-founded decades ago to take a page from hard-charging rival PDD Holdings Inc. in a surprise internal memo, in which the entrepreneur called on the tech giant to embark on fundamental change. Ma, who has mostly stayed away from day-to-day operations since 2020, stunned employees Wednesday by replying to a staff post on Alibaba’s internal forum, according to people familiar with the matter. In his brief message, the entrepreneur praised PDD’s decisions in past

Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) new smart car software and components firm is set for a valuation of up to 250 billion yuan ($34.67 billion) after it sells stakes to investors, including Changan Auto, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The Chinese company said on Sunday it would spin off its four-year-old Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) business unit — which aimed to become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intelligent electric vehicle (EV) era — into a

Toyota group companies plan to cut their stake in components maker Denso by year-end, with Toyota Motor (7203.T) and two affiliates selling about 10% of the auto supplier, sources familiar with the matter said. Based on current market prices, the sale would be worth about $4.7 billion. The sale would be one of the largest in Japan by an automaker and a key source of capital for parts makers who need to invest in research and development and revamp production

Joe Cash covers domestic Chinese fiscal and monetary policy, key economic indicators, and trade relations. Before joining Reuters, he worked on U.K. and E.U. trade policy across the Asia-Pacific region. He studied Chinese at the University of Oxford and is a Mandarin speaker. U.S. furniture company head Jordan England thinks his firm’s Chinese suppliers are among the best in the game. Still, geopolitics and a slowing economy have pushed him to source more products from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and

Since retreating from the spotlight at the height of a government-led industry crackdown, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma seeded a small company to process and sell farming produce in his latest venture. The entrepreneur set up “Hangzhou Ma’s Kitchen Food” last week with an initial registered capital of 10 million yuan ($1.4 million), according to corporate database Tianyancha. Ma’s whereabouts and activities have been a topic of intense speculation since 2020 when he stepped aside from Alibaba’s day-to-day operations and devoted

Shoppers took to stores worldwide on a Black Friday that appeared subdued compared with prior years, looking for discounted electronics, clothing, and household goods in the kickoff to the holiday shopping season, which is crucial to big retailers. But the day was tumultuous for some, including Best Buy (BBY.N) and Nordstrom (JWN.N) — both of which warned investors of slowing sales this week — as the companies struggled with an economic climate in which consumers are increasingly wary about spending

Barclays is working on plans to save up to 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion), which could involve cutting as many as 2,000 jobs, mainly in the British bank’s back office, a person with direct knowledge of the proposals told Reuters. Managers at the lender, led by Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan, known within the bank as Venkat, are reviewing proposals to boost profitability. The cuts would primarily affect Barclays Execution Services, the six-year-old business that brought support functions together into one

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron will inaugurate a 2.1 billion euro ($2.3 billion) investment by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), pitching the move as a sign of newly restored French industrial competitiveness. The investment, for which Macron’s office provided no detail, will be based in Chartres, west of Paris, where Novo already employs nearly 2,000 people. It relates to a Clayton buildup that the drugmaker has announced for 2020 and will also see it expand capacity at the