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China Gold International Resources Corporation
|
[
"Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange",
"Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange",
"Gold mining companies of Canada",
"Gold mining in China"
] | 508 | 4,438 |
China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. (, ) is a Canadian-based gold and base metals producer headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company operates in the People's Republic of China, with assets including the CSH Gold Mine in Inner Mongolia and the Jiama Copper-Gold Polymetallic Mine in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Corporate Structure
China Gold International serves as the sole overseas vehicle of China National Gold Group Corporation (CNG), the largest gold producer in China. CNG holds a 40.01% interest in the company, offering strategic support, technical expertise, and access to capital resources.
Operations
The company’s main operating mines are:
CSH Gold Mine: An open-pit, heap-leach gold mine located in Inner Mongolia, in commercial production since 2008.
Jiama Copper-Gold Polymetallic Mine: A large-scale polymetallic project in the Tibet Autonomous Region, producing copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, lead, and zinc since 2010.
In 2024, China Gold International reported a significant increase in both gold and copper production. Gold output rose by 10%, reaching 162,652 ounces compared to 147,963 ounces in 2023. Copper production increased sharply by 139%, totaling 105.7 million pounds (approximately 47,929 tonnes), up from 44.2 million pounds (around 20,051 tonnes) in the prior year.
In January 2025, the company issued its production guidance for the year, forecasting stable gold and copper output. It also confirmed that operations at the Jiama Mine remained unaffected by a recent earthquake in the region.
Legal Issues
On March 29, 2013, a landslide at the Jiama mine site in Tibet buried 83 workers. In response, Canada’s National Contact Point for the OECD received a Request for Review regarding the company’s activities in the Gyama Valley. In 2015, the NCP issued a final statement making six recommendations on disclosure, labor practices, environmental management, and human rights.
|
Ilona Dávid
|
[
"Living people",
"Hungarian women in business",
"Hungarian chief executives",
"Women economists",
"1972 births",
"Women chief executives",
"21st-century Hungarian businesspeople",
"21st-century businesswomen",
"21st-century Hungarian economists",
"People from Tata, Hungary",
"20th-century Hungarian economists"
] | 1,123 | 9,991 |
Ilona Dávid (born in Tata, Hungary on December 30, 1972) economist, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of GYSEV Zrt. since 2010. President and CEO of Hungarian State Railways Zrt. from 2012 to 2018, chairwoman and chief executive officer of Volánbusz and DAKK Zrt. as well as Chairwoman of the Boards of other five regional bus transport centres (ÉMKK Zrt., DDKK Zrt., ÉNYKK Zrt., KNYKK Zrt., KMKK Zrt.). Since 2017, for the fourth year in a row, she has been ranked in the list of Forbes one of the most influential Hungarian women.
Career
She graduated as an economist on the Budapest Business School, then graduated in management and organization faculty at the Nyugat-Magyarországi Egyetem.
She has begun her professional career as an accountant at the Hungarian company of the SPAR trading chain. Five years later, she changed her position as Chief Accountant and was appointed CFO of Dunaferr Dunai Vasmű, a steel manufacturing company. Then she became the Financial Manager of Lukoil's Hungarian company. As chief financial officer of Duna Autó Zrt., she made a short detour in the field of motor vehicle trade, and since 2005 she has been Head of the Accounting Department of the Magyar Államvasutak Zrt. (MÁV, in English: Hungarian State Railways).
She has been the Chairwoman-CEO of Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurt Vasút Zrt. (GYSEV, in English: Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurt Railway Ltd.) since 2010.
At the head of Hungarian State Railways
In May 2012 she was appointed chairwoman and chief executive officer of MÁV Zrt., but she still held the chairwomanship of GYSEV.
In recent years, the MÁV Group has reorganized its formerly fragmented railway company through organizational simplification and significantly reduced its debt. For the first time in decades, MÁV Zrt. has been able to achieve a positive operating result and consolidated group-level profit by Dávid and her management.
Since 2012, member of the Steering Committee of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, senior committee member of the UIC – International Union of Railways, and vice-president of the Coordination Council of the Trans-Siberian Transport.
Since 2016 she is the President of the Hungarian Railway Association and the President of Consistory of Dunaújvárosi Egyetem (in English: University of Dunaújváros).
In 2017, she was elected co-chairman of the National Association of Strategic- and Public Service Companies and a member of the Supervisory and Audit Committees of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc.
In September of the same year, she was elected vice-chairwoman of the General Assembly of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies as the only woman among vice-chairmen. The Vice-Presidency post of CER has been performed with the membership of the executive committee of CER for the years 2018–2019.
At the head of Volánbusz
In 2018, she was appointed the chairwoman and chief executive officer of Volánbusz and Southern Great Plain Transport Center Ltd. with sales of HUF 23 billion and a staff of 17,500 (2018). At the head of Volán and DAKK, she is currently the only one among the managers of the transport centers, who is also in charge of the operational operation, her task is to renew the operation of the two companies. She has a unique insight into domestic road and rail transport, which the government is committed to transforming. Ilona Dávid is also a member of the Ministry of Public Transport working group.
She is the chairwoman of the Board of five other regional bus transport centres: ÉMKK, North Hungarian Transport Center Ltd., DDKK, South Transdanubian Transport Center Ltd., ÉNYKK, Northwest Hungarian Transport Center Ltd., KNYKK, Midwest Hungarian Transport Center Ltd. and KMKK, Middle East Hungarian Transport Center Ltd.
From October 1, 2019, only one public bus company, the Volánbusz Zrt. provides intercity bus services. With the merger of the six regional transport centers as above, with a total of nearly 19,000 employees, the third public company with the largest number of employees in Hungary was formed. The government has hoped that integration will be more effective and efficient. The workers and their jobs were not affected by the merger.
Awards and tributes
For her work in strengthening international rail links, she was awarded the Golden Chariot Award, one of the highest honours of the Russian Parliament and the Russian Ministry of Transport in 2013.
In August 2014, in recognition of her exemplary work for the renewal and continuous operation of the domestic railway transport sector, the "Magyar Érdemrend Lovagkereszt polgári tagozat" was awarded to her.
In 2015, she was awarded the Gold Medal Grade of "Közszolgálatáért Érdemjel".
In 2017, the Magyarországi Logisztikai Szolgáltató Központok Szövetsége (in English: Association of Hungarian Logistics Service Centres) awarded her the "Logisztikai Érdemrend" (in English: "Logistics Order").
In 2017 and 2018, Forbes selected her as the most influential Hungarian woman in business. In 2019 and 2020, she was second on the Forbes list.
Corporate social responsibility
Since 2010 she has been a member of Győr-Moson-Sopron Megyei Közlekedési Balesetmegelőzési Bizottság (Győr-Moson-Sopron County Traffic Accident Prevention Committee).
Since January 2016 she has been the President of the Dunaújvárosi Egyetem Konzisztórium (in English: Consistory of the University of Dunaújváros)
Since July 2016, she has been the President of the HUNGRAIL Magyar Vasúti Egyesület (Hungarian Railway Association).
Since 2017 she has been the chairwoman of the Board of the Vasutas Önkéntes Nyugdíjpénztár (the Voluntary Pension Fund of Railway Employees).
Positions held in international organizations
Vice-chairwoman of the General Assembly of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER)
Senior committee member of the UIC – International Union of Railways
Vice-president of the Transzszibériai Szállítások Koordinációs Tanácsa (TSZKT, in English: Trans-Siberian Transport Coordination Council, TSCC).
|
American Apparel
|
[
"Clothing manufacturers",
"Clothing brands of the United States",
"Clothing retailers of the United States",
"Lingerie brands",
"Underwear brands",
"Retail companies based in California",
"Manufacturing companies based in Los Angeles",
"Clothing companies established in 1989",
"Retail companies established in 1989",
"Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2017",
"Retail companies disestablished in 2017",
"1989 establishments in Quebec",
"2017 disestablishments in California",
"Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015",
"Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016",
"Companies formerly listed on NYSE American",
"Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles",
"Defunct retail companies of the United States",
"Defunct manufacturing companies based in California"
] | 7,923 | 85,333 |
American Apparel Inc. is a Los Angeles-based clothing retailer founded by Canadian businessman Dov Charney in spring 1989. Previously known as a "Made in USA" vertically integrated company, following its bankruptcy and sale to Gildan the company markets itself as "Ethically Made—Sweatshop Free," and most of its apparel is made in Honduras and Nicaragua.
American Apparel was founded in 1989 by Canadian Dov Charney. For some time, clothes were made in South Carolina.
In 1997, the company moved to Los Angeles. Charney sub-contracted sewing to Sam Lim's 50-worker shop under the Interstate 10 freeway in East LA. Months later, the two became partners. In 2000, American Apparel moved into the historic Alameda Square complex in downtown Los Angeles, where it continued to grow primarily as a wholesale business, selling blank T-shirts to screenprinters, uniform companies and fashion brands. Later, the company moved into the retail market.
In 2005, the company was ranked No. 308 in Inc.'s list of the fastest-growing U.S. companies in the United States, with a three-year growth of 440% and 2005 revenues of over US$211 million.
In late 2006, American Apparel went through a reverse merger and became listed on the American Stock Exchange.
It was also one of the few clothing companies exporting "Made in the USA" goods ; in 2007, the company sold about $125 million (~$ in ) of domestically manufactured clothing outside of America.
In 2010, American Apparel's auditors, Deloitte & Touche, resigned after informing the company that its financial statements for 2009 may not have been reliable. The resignation led to investigations by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.
In April 2011, American Apparel confirmed that it had secured $14.9 million (~$ in ) by selling some 15.8 million shares of common stock at 90 cents a share to a group of Canadian investors led by Michael Serruya and Delavaco Capital. The investors also received warrants to buy as much as 27.4 million additional shares. In April 2013, American Apparel issued a private offering of $206 million (~$ in ) in senior secured notes. The proceeds were used to repay a long-standing, high-interest credit facility from Lion Capital and Crystal Financial.
In June 2014, the company's board of directors ousted American Apparel founder, chairman and CEO, Dov Charney, after allegations of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour towards employees. As interim chief executive during the search for a permanent CEO, the company's CFO John Luttrell was appointed. As co-chairmen, the company appointed Allan Mayer and David Danziger. Charney, through his lawyers, claimed his ousting was illegal and demanded reinstatement. Soon after, Lion Capital, a key lender to American Apparel, demanded the repayment of a $10 million loan four years early. A failure to repay the loan would trigger a default on a $50 million credit line with Capital One Financial.
In December 2014, American Apparel replaced CEO Dov Charney with fashion executive Paula Schneider.
By September 2015, American Apparel struggled to avoid bankruptcy, as the company needed to repay a debt of $15.4 million (~$ in ) due the following month. It struggled to find funds and prepared to report lighter financial results in the coming weeks.
The clothes retailer warned investors in August 2015 that it would not have enough cash to "sustain operations for the next twelve months" which raised "substantial doubt that we may be able to continue as a going concern". The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 5, 2015. In January 2016, the company rejected a $300 million (~$ in ) takeover bid from Hagan Capital Group and Silver Creek, two investment firms aligned with Dov Charney.
In January 2017, American Apparel was acquired for $88 million (~$ in ) by the Canadian sportswear manufacturer Gildan Activewear.
Branding and advertising
American Apparel designs, creates and prints its own advertisements. The company is known for its provocative and controversial advertising campaigns, which is largely the inspiration of the company CEO Dov Charney. According to Adage, American Apparel's advertising "telegraphs the brand" from person to person. The sexually charged advertising has been criticized, but has also been lauded for honesty and lack of airbrushing.
According to CEO Dov Charney, the vision for the brand is that of a "heritage brand. It's like liberty, property, pursuit of happiness for every man worldwide. That's my America." In regards to the company's image overseas, advisor Harry Parnass stated that the brand is about aspiration and that they are "selling the American dream."
American Apparel images often display subjects with their blemishes, imperfections and asymmetrical features highlighted and attached with brief, personal descriptions. Many of the models in American Apparel's advertising are recruited by Charney and his colleagues on the street, or company stores; others are selected after sending their photos directly to the company website.
The company has also used pornographic actors and glamour models in some of its ads including Lauren Phoenix, Charlotte Stokely, Sasha Grey, Euguenia Diyordiychuk and Faye Reagan. Adult entertainment trade magazine Adult Video News cited the American Apparel website as "one of the finer softcore websites going". Some of the company's other ads, which feature nudity or sexual themes, have been banned by various advertising authorities. In 2009, an American Apparel ad which appeared in VICE Magazine was banned in the UK, because the image "could be seen to sexualise a model who appears to be a child". American Apparel complied with this ruling. American Apparel also came under fire for a 2014 ad for mini-skirts, which featured a model bending over so that her underwear was prominently exposed. In 2013, the company released an ad in which the model lay on a bed with her feet up in the air without wearing pants. The company also released an ad in which a model posed in a series of photos focused on her crotch, in which her face was not seen. The UK Advertising Standards Authority criticized the ad for being "voyeuristic" and "vulnerable".
For a time, Charney used a branding strategy that spotlighted his treatment of workers, promoting American Apparel's goods as "sweatshop free". In 2014, the company released a controversial ad with a topless model, and the words "Made in Bangladesh" across her chest, in an effort to draw attention to the company's fair labor practices. In 2008, the company took out a series of political ads featuring the corporate logo that called current immigration laws an "apartheid system".
In 2005, the company was named "Marketer of the Year" at the first LA Fashion Awards. Women's Wear Daily published a survey in April 2007 from Outlaw Consulting, a creative research firm tracking the habits of 21- to 27-year-olds, which ranked American Apparel as the 8th most trusted brand, ahead of such clothing brands as H&M and Levi's.
In 2007, Imp Kerr created a fake American Apparel ad campaign in New York. The stunt lasted almost a year, until it was revealed that the fake ads were actually Photoshop mockups. American Apparel ran a tribute ad on the back cover of Vice magazine showing a compilation of the fake ads.
In January 2008, the Intelligence Group, a trend and market research firm, listed American Apparel as their number two Top Trendsetting Brand, behind only Nike. In 2008, The Guardian named American Apparel "Label of the Year".
From 2009 until 2014, photographers such as Henrik Purienne and David Shama worked on a number of ad campaigns for American Apparel that defined the identity of the brand.
Lerappa
Lerappa ("Apparel" spelled backwards) is a virtual private island that was commissioned by American Apparel in Second Life to emulate the company's real-world stores. The store was designed by virtual content designer Aimee Weber and was completed and opened in Second Life on June 17 of 2006. The two-story company store was modeled after American Apparel's Tokyo showroom, and included some of the controversial advertising campaigns on the walls around the store. The building was constructed in mostly glass and featured lighting that change when the virtual world reaches night time. Outside the store was a stage where live virtual bands can perform.
Official American Apparel clothing, along with planned new lines the company was test marketing, was purchased in virtual form for less than 266 Linden (approximately US$1) and included a discount code usable at the company's real-life online store. 20 of American Apparel's styles were offered initially, Customers could also purchase real clothing from the company website via the virtual store. Lerappa was intended as an advertising experiment more than a vehicle for electronic commerce. In its first ten days of operation it generated approximately as much revenue as a typical retail location's daily sales.
Second Life protesters (aka. Second Life Liberation Army) held a protest opposing the company's real world use of sexually suggestive imagery in advertising campaigns. In February 2007 the virtual location was attacked by "virtual terrorists" via "white balls" which purposely placed in the store to temporarily obstruct areas of the screen.
American Apparel pulled out of Second Life's virtual arena and closed virtual shop in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Woody Allen billboard and lawsuit
In 2007, American Apparel put up two billboards, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, featuring an image of Woody Allen's character dressed as a Rabbi from the movie Annie Hall and Yiddish text, for a period of one week. According to Charney, the billboards were a satire and allegory alluding to both the scene in the movie and the similar controversy experienced by both individuals. Allen strongly objected to this use of his image and sued the company for $10 million. Allen testified at a December 2008 deposition that he considered the company's advertising to be "sleazy" and "infantile".
Although the company said as early as May 2008 that the billboards were meant "strictly as social parody", there was much debate over whether American Apparel's lawyers would use Allen's personal life, namely his affair with Soon-Yi Previn as their defense at the trial. Charney claimed that these rumors were outright false and that his speech was protected by the First Amendment. In May 2009, the case was settled by American Apparel's insurance carrier for $5 million (~$ in ), with the insurance company paying the bulk of the settlement. The settlement was for half of Allen's initial demand. Dov Charney said that if it had been up to him, he would have continued the case and taken it to trial.
Legalize LA, Legalize Gay, and Pride
In addition to participating in a variety of immigration protests, the company launched an advertising and advocacy campaign called "Legalize LA". The campaign featured advertisements in national papers like The New York Times as well as billboards, T-shirts, bus ads and posters. The company also maintains a Legalize LA portion of their website that features news articles relating to immigration reform, the brand and information on the history of the issue.
After the passing of Prop 8 (which defines marriage in the state as one man and one woman) in California in November 2008, American Apparel launched the Legalize Gay campaign. It is similar to the Legalize LA campaign, and shirts with "Legalize Gay" and "Repeal Prop 8" printed on them in the same style as the shirts of Legalize LA are sold by the company.
In June 2012, American Apparel partnered with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in releasing a new line of T-shirts to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. Fifteen percent of the net sales of the shirts were donated to GLAAD. Isis King modeled for this line, becoming American Apparel's first openly transgender model. In the summer of 2013, American Apparel announced their desire for more "transexy" models.
In 2013, American Apparel was named one of TheStreet.com's "8 Pro-Gay Companies".
Canada
In a November 2010 ad running in Canadian alternative weeklies, the company describes itself as "a majority-owned Canadian company, founded and operated by Dov Charney, a Montrealer". The ad goes on to say, "In the end, one of the important things that makes American Apparel special is its Canadian heritage."
In pop culture
In 2010, Kanye West released his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On this album, the song "Gorgeous" (featuring Kid Cudi and Raekwon) contained the following lyrics: "I need more drinks and less lights, and that American Apparel girl in just tights."
The 2013 Capital Cities song "Farrah Fawcett Hair", features a verse in which André 3000 lists a number of things he appreciates, ending with "getting tucked in every night for a month by the American Apparel ad girls". This song became the source for a parody by Willam Belli, Courtney Act, and Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 titled "American Apparel Ad Girls".
In February 2014, the band 5 Seconds of Summer released their hit single "She Looks So Perfect", which included the following lyrics: "You look so perfect standing there
in my American Apparel underwear."
Corporate culture and employment
The production system of American Apparel centralizes most of its employees in a single location. By not outsourcing, founder and former CEO Dov Charney believed that he knew his workers better and that it tied them directly to the brand. A banner on top of the downtown factory states "American Apparel is an Industrial Revolution."
Charney had also previously stated that American Apparel hired its creatives by their sense of culture and fashion, not their resume. Conversely, the company has also been accused of focusing on personal style and outward appearance in its hiring practices for retail positions. According to Charney, the unconventional corporate culture at American Apparel was responsible for the company's creativity and rapid growth. Charney also stated that the company was open about sexuality and its culture because "young people like honesty".
The company has been criticized for its unconventional corporate culture. Charney claimed to have slept with employees, and reportedly masturbated numerous times and had oral sex performed on him by an employee during a series of interviews with a writer for the magazine Jane.
Production
American Apparel believes in making clothing through controlling almost every step in their supply chain through the process of vertical integration. Meaning that they own and operate the factories that produce the majority of their products which are sold. The company has direct control from raw materials to the finished product which allows them to ensure responsible and sustainable practices. This control over their supply chain gives American Apparel the ability to minimize their impact on the environment, offer fair wages and fair benefits.
On the occasion where American Apparel does not have the correct equipment or enough capacity, they then use contractors and suppliers for certain tasks or products. When outsourcing, they apply a comprehensive selection process to assess the contractor's ability to comply with their quality standards, labor and environmental standards, and with their Code of Conduct. The contractors must also comply with international laws such as the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA).
Sexual harassment lawsuits
As of 2012, American Apparel has been sued in seven public sexual harassment lawsuits; all were dismissed, "thrown out", remanded to arbitration, or in one case, settled but with "no monetary liability to the company". Many cases were remanded to arbitration because the company required employees to sign away their right to any legal claim against Charney or American Apparel. In one prominent case, the company was sued by four ex-models for sexual harassment—including one separately named plaintiff who sued the company for $250 million—in a lawsuit which involved mutual nude photographs, sexual text messages and requests for money. The company was accused of being responsible for these leaks in a later lawsuit. However, the case was dismissed by a New York City judge in 2012. In another case, American Apparel was reprimanded in an opinion by the Second Appellate District for a settlement in which the plaintiff, Ms. Nelson, would agree that she had not been subjected to sexual harassment. American Apparel attempted to issue a press release which mentioned an arbitration hearing that had, in fact, never taken place due to Ms. Nelson's lawyer Keith Fink not showing up for arbitration. Keith Fink would instead later go on to represent Dov Charney in future cases, including defending against allegations of sexual harassment and assault. As of 2013, only one case, a "class action [lawsuit] on behalf of all female employees" which contains no "specific allegations against Charney," remains active. In response to the lawsuits, American Apparel has claimed that the lawsuits were extortionary attempts to "shake the company down", and has run advertisements saying so. Charney has maintained his innocence in all the lawsuits, telling CNBC that "allegations that I acted improperly at any time are completely a fiction." The board of directors voted to strip him of his position of chairman in June 2014 and fire him as CEO. Charney responded with several SLAPP lawsuits claiming defamation, which were thrown out in court.
In December 2014, Dov Charney was terminated as the company's Chief Executive Officer after months of suspension. He was replaced by Paula Schneider, president of ESP Group Ltd, company of brands like English Laundry, on January 5, 2015.
On July 1, 2025, Netflix released an episode on their docuseries "Trainwreck" regarding the working conditions at American Apparel, interviewing several past employees about the ups and downs of the company. It highlighted various aspects of working with and around Charney, including working shifts as long as 36 hours. It also shed light on the sexual harassments allegations and controversies regarding Charney and women, including minors.
Labor
As of 2008, the company employed more than 10,000 people and operated more than 200 retail locations in 20 countries. The company paid its manufacturing employees an average of $12 per hour. According to the San Francisco Chronicle the average factory worker at the company makes $80–120 per day, or roughly $500 per week compared to the $30–40 made daily at most other Los Angeles-based garment factories. Employees also receive benefits such as paid time off, health care, company-subsidized lunches, bus passes, free English as an additional language classes, on-site massage therapists, free bicycles and on-site bike mechanics, free parking in addition to the proper lighting and ventilation. Every floor of the factory includes free telephones where workers can make and receive long-distance phone calls. The company's employees in foreign countries do not receive the same hourly wages as their Los Angeles counterparts. However, employees in China will earn US Federal minimum wage. After going public, the company offered employees as much as $40 million in stock shares. The plan grants employees roughly 1 share of stock for every workday they'd spent at the company. Approximately 4,000 of the company's employees are eligible for the program. In previous years the waiting list for employment at American Apparel has had over 2,000 names on it. In 2010 the company was actively looking for staff following an investigation by US immigration found that 1,500 of its workers lacked the legal immigration documents and were subsequently dismissed.
New York Times reporter Rob Walker wrote about the controversy in his book Buying In and revealed that since the unionization drive, the company Sweat X, which was held up as the example for what American Apparel should be, had since gone out of business. He quotes Charney saying more explicitly that "[Sweat X] ... fucking failed."
The differences between American Apparel and Sweat X were the subject of the 2010 documentary No Sweat.
In 2015, the company hired the union-busting firm Cruz & Associates. The firm was paid a total of $462,343.
Immigration issues
As early as 2001, American Apparel has been a vocal advocate for reform of U.S. immigration laws. On May 1, 2002, American Apparel shut down its factory to allow the company's workers, many of whom are immigrants, to participate in a pro-immigration rally in downtown Los Angeles. Dov Charney, a Canadian, also marched alongside the workers. American Apparel participates annually in the May 1st Immigration March and Rally in downtown Los Angeles. In 2008, they added a route from their factory that eventually connected with other supporters near the city hall. The company's politics were eventually spun off into the Legalize LA advertising campaign.
In 2009, an ICE audit of American Apparel's employment records uncovered discrepancies in the documentation of about 25% of the company's workers, implying mainly that they were undocumented immigrants. American Apparel terminated the employment of about 1,500 employees that September as a result. American Apparel responded with questions of the effectiveness of such an action and said "[the firings] will not help the economy, will not make us safer. No matter how we choose to define or label them [undocumented immigrants] are hard-working, taxpaying workers." The ICE audit highlighted a new strategy from President Obama which announced they were shifting away from high-profile raids. According to CEO Dov Charney, American Apparel promised its workers who were fired for improper immigration documentation that they would be given "priority treatment, in terms of being interviewed for future positions with the company", if and when they "got [their] immigration papers in order." Commenting on the loss of 1,500 workers due to concerns over illegal immigration Charney said "It broke our efficiencies and generated a situation where we were late delivering garments. It lost us an enormous amount of money. It cost us agility."
Environmental policies
The company depends on environmentally friendly practices and is known for its innovations in sustainability due to vertical integration. American Apparel manufacturing system is designed around the concept of "Creative Reuse"—which converts excess fabric from one garment template into several additional garments such as bathing suit tops, belts, headbands, bows, bras, underwear and children's clothing. This otherwise wasted material reduces the amount of fabric the company needs to produce in addition to expanding its product line and saves approximately 30,000 pounds of cotton per week.
American Apparel maintains a bicycle lending program for its employees and according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals it is a vegan-friendly clothing company. As of 2007 the company planned to increase its use of organic cotton within the next four years from over 20% to 80%. American Apparel also sells a line of shirts under the "Sustainable" label that are 100% USDA organic cotton. In 2008, American Apparel purchased over 30,000 pounds of organic cotton known as B.A.S.I.C cotton.
In 2006, American Apparel installed a 146-kilowatt solar electric system on its factory roof, designed to reduce power costs by at least 20%. These panels power as much as 30% of the factory.
Philanthropy
In 2005, the company hosted a bikini car wash benefit with the American Red Cross to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, they packaged and delivered 80,000 shirts to the relief effort in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. As an underwriter of Farm Aid, American Apparel donates the blank shirts that the organization prints and sells as merchandise. In 2007, right before Christmas, American Apparel donated more than 300,000 articles of clothing, with the giveaway specifically targeting the homeless population of large cities. In 2009, the company had a "Justice for Immigrants" factory sale in Los Angeles—the proceeds of which benefitted organizations such as the Casa Libre Immigrant Children's Homeless Youth Shelter, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, the Coalition for Humane Immigration Reform of Los Angeles, Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, and the National Day Laborers Organizing Network.
American Apparel also donated more than $400,000 worth of garments to the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake through Fashion Delivers as well as over 5,000 pairs of socks to the shoe charity Soles4Souls.
Criticism
American Apparel was criticized in October 2013 for a "culturally insensitive display" in one of its New York stores. The display used imagery associated with Traditional African religion and Afro-American religion. This sparked outrage among some practitioners of these various religions, that include Haitian Vodou, Louisiana Voodoo, West African Vodun, Cuban Santería, and others.
See also
|
Currency Centre
|
[
"Irish companies established in 1978",
"Currencies of the Republic of Ireland",
"Mints of Europe",
"Banknote printing companies",
"Sandyford"
] | 421 | 3,649 |
The Currency Centre (; also known as the Irish Mint) is the coin mint and banknote printer for the Central Bank of Ireland, including the euro currency. The centre is located in Sandyford, Dublin, Ireland. The centre does not print the complete range of euro banknotes; other denominations are imported.
The centre was designed by architect Sam Stephenson, for which he won the RIAI Triennial Gold Medal in 1977-1979. Construction began in 1972, with the first notes being printed in 1974. In 1976, the Currency Centre printed the first notes of Series B along with the first mint of Irish coins. Before the centre was established, Irish coins were produced in the Royal Mint.
The first euro coins were minted in the centre in September 1999, whilst the first banknotes were printed in April 2000; these commenced delivery to banks and retailers in September (coins) and October (banknotes) of 2001. The final Irish coins, based on the Irish pound, were minted in September 2000 and the final banknotes were printed in April 2001.
The decision to continue printing euro notes in Dublin when those notes could be printed much more cheaply on existing presses elsewhere was described as a colossal waste of money in April 2012.
|
Charles Bruce-Gardner
|
[
"Businesspeople from London",
"Alumni of the University of Surrey",
"Businesspeople awarded knighthoods",
"Knights Bachelor",
"Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom",
"1887 births",
"1960 deaths",
"20th-century English businesspeople"
] | 376 | 3,159 |
Sir Charles Bruce-Gardner, 1st Baronet (6 November 1887 – 1 October 1960), born Charles Bruce Gardner, was an English industrialist, specialising in mechanical and aircraft production.
Born in London, he was the son of Henry Gardner and Florence Arliss. Educated at St. Dunstan's College and Battersea College of Technology, he was registered as a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
A director of John Summers & Sons from 1913, he subsequently became chairman of the John Lysaght Group He was also deputy-chairman of the Steel Company of Wales, a director of the Consett Iron Company and GKN, and chairman of British Iron and Steel Federation. He later became president of the Iron and Steel Institute.
Appointed an industrial advisor to the Governor of the Bank of England, as Chairman of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors from 1938 to 1943, he advised on the Shadow factory plan.
Changing his name by deed poll on 21 December 1937 to Charles Bruce-Gardner, he was knighted in the 1938 New Year Honours, having the honour conferred on 17 February 1938. He was created 1st Baronet Bruce-Gardner, 'of Frilford, in the County of Berkshire', on 12 February 1945.
|
Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris
|
[
"Defunct banks of France",
"BNP Paribas",
"French companies disestablished in 2000",
"French companies established in 1848",
"Banks based in Paris",
"Former central banks and banks of issue"
] | 4,348 | 35,947 |
The Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris (; CNEP), from 1854 to 1889 Comptoir d'escompte de Paris (CEP), was a major French bank active from 1848 to 1966.
The CEP was created by decree on 10 March 1848 by the French Provisional Government, in response to the disruption caused to the prior French credit system by the February revolution. It grew in France and overseas, collapsed in 1889, and was soon reformed as CNEP. It was nationalized in 1945 together with other major French depository banks. In 1966 it merged with Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie to form Banque Nationale de Paris.
The revolution of February 1848 caused a general failure of confidence in paper assets such as shares, bonds and bank deposits, and a rush to convert these assets to gold and silver. The Provisional Government was forced into emergency measures such as suspending payment on maturing treasury bonds, closing the stock market, forcing acceptance of banknotes and restricting the amount of withdrawals of saving deposits from the Bank of France. However, the government would not take action to help protect private enterprises and investors. Most of the private banks created during the July Monarchy were forced to close, and as a result there was no longer an efficient way to convert letters of credit into cash. There were even rumors that the Rothschilds were in serious difficulty and were preparing to liquidate. It was in this context that the CEP was created.
Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès was appointed Minister of Finance on 7 March 1848 and that evening published a decree that created the first comptoirs d'escompte (discount counters) for credit notes, in Paris and other commercial centers. The organization of the was defined in a decree of 8 March 1848. The book publisher Laurent-Antoine Pagnerre, one of the organizers of the Campagne des banquets that had led to the revolution in February, was appointed the bank's first Director and chairman of the board. Pagnerre was appointed on 9 March and the bank's statute was established by decree on 10 March. Although he resigned in June of that year, Pagnerre established the main innovative principles that were to guide the bank's future operations.
The Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris was set up as a limited liability bank, a structure that the state had long opposed. The Comptoir's authorized capital amounted to 20 million francs, of which one third was to be provided as cash by subscribers, one third by the city of Paris in the form of bonds, and one third by the state in the form of Treasury bonds. The city and state participation did not involve provision of cash, but was a guarantee in case of a deficit. Despite this participation by the state, there was no guarantee against the bank being liquidated at a loss if necessary. The Comptoir opened for business on 19 March 1848 in temporary offices in the Palais-Royal. Initial capital was just over 1.5 million francs.
A decree of 26 March established warehouses on the English model where manufacturers and traders could deposit their goods in exchange for a warrant that could be discounted at the CNEP "in anticipation of sale". Paperwork was simplified with a reduction in the number of signatures needed on these warrants.
It was hoped that this would help kick-start the economy by injecting liquidity. For the first time small enterprises had access to a modern form of credit, which in the past had only been available to the largest companies. Operations started somewhat slowly, with just 244,297 transactions in the first fifteen months worth 192 million francs. Even so, the CNEP was able to pay a dividend of 6% to private shareholders at the end of the first year of operations.
Early growth and collapse (1848–1889)
The 1851 French coup d'état led to the reestablishment of the Imperial monarchy. The publicly available shares of 6,666,500 francs were not fully subscribed until July 1852, when the bank reached a capital value of 20 million francs including the state and city shares. Under an act of 10 June 1853 the bank's articles were amended to become closer to standard corporate law, with the Ministry of Finance no longer overseeing the appointment of officers. The state and city withdrew their capital, with the full 20 million francs now supplied entirely by private investors. With this privatization, in July 1854 the bank took the name (CEP), which it was to retain until 1889.
In 1854 the CEP was reconstituted by Imperial decree for thirty years, starting from 18 March 1857, and authorized to increase its capital to 40 million francs. As of 18 March 1857 four subsidiaries were formed to provide credit respectively to entrepreneurs, metals, colonial foodstuffs, and railways. In the 1856/1857 fiscal year the CEP processed almost 615 million francs of warrants in 722,265 transactions. This was slightly down from 650 million francs and 736,380 transactions the previous year.
In 1867, the CEP's first French agency outside Paris opened in Nantes, which maintained close relations with the West Indies. Then came Lyon (1868), hub of the French silk industry, and Marseille (1869), France's gateway to the Mediterranean and Middle East. In an 1884 review of the French economy, the CEP was described as the third pillar of the financial establishment after the Bank of France and Crédit Foncier. Effective 18 March 1887, the CEP's banking license was extended by the French Republic for a further twenty years.
Overseas expansion
Following an imperial decree of 25 May 1860 that allowed it to set up branches in the French colonies and abroad, the CEP became the French bank with the most international activity, a position it kept for several decades afterwards. The environment was favorable to overseas expansion, as the signing in early 1860 of the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty between France and the UK encouraged bilateral and global trade.
The CEP created branches in Shanghai and Calcutta in 1860, at Réunion, Bombay, Hong Kong and Saigon in 1862, and London and Yokohama in 1867. In 1864 the Governor General of India approved an act enabling the Comptoir d'Escompte of Paris "to sue and be sued" in the name of the chief manager of its agencies in India, and this was extended in February 1867. Such an act recognized the bank as a legal entity and helped it to operate in India. It was a clear desire to compete with British banks and trade on their own turf, into which French exporters and importers wanted to break in; the first branches were opened in areas of English influence. It also provided a way of finding new supplier networks for Europe, which in the 1860s suffered a shortage of cotton as a result of the American Civil War.
In 1875, the CEP participated together with rival Crédit Industriel et Commercial in the creation of the Banque de l'Indochine, to which it contributed its branches in Saigon and Pondicherry. The CEP's influence remained dominant in the governance of the Banque de l'Indochine until 1889, and remained significant even after that date.
It opened further branches in San Francisco in 1877, Alexandria (followed by Cairo in 1906 and Port Said in 1909), Melbourne and Sydney in 1881, and Madagascar in 1885.
Staffing policies
In the early years of the bank the executives often had little formal education, but by the late 19th century secondary education had become more common. Applicants to become inspectors at the bank, who formed an elite corps from which future banking leaders were drawn, were expected to be proficient in law, economics or business. From 1901 they were subject to an entrance examination. Increasingly the senior executives had university degrees, often in law, with talented men from poor families able to rise to the highest levels. In addition to academic qualifications, future leaders were valued for their "character", intelligence, organization, adaptability and judgement of risks.
Alexis Rostand, head of the CEP's branch at Marseille from 1876, became the bank's head during the 1889 restructuring, director-general from 1902 to 1908 and chairman from 1908 to 1919. His assistant and successor Paul Boyer also worked his way up from the bottom, running an agency for a while, then becoming a director, director-general from 1915 to 1926 and president from 1919 to 1939. He was succeeded as director-general in 1926 by Alexandre Celier, formerly a director of the Treasury. This tendency to recruit from government inspectors of finance continued with Henry Bizot in 1930, later to be president, and Charles Farnier, a director of the French Treasury and then assistant governor of the Bank of France who became administrator / director general in 1935.
1889 crisis
In 1889, the CEP ran into major financial difficulty. One of its leading executives, Eugène Denfert-Rochereau, committed suicide on 5 March 1889, just as the collapse of copper prices following the left it with heavy losses. At the request of the Bank of France and the Ministry of Finance, the heads of the other leading banks met at the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas in March 1889 to discuss a plan to avoid a general crash by rescuing the CEP. In April 1889, it was decided to start a process of orderly liquidation of the CEP given the evaporation of confidence in the bank.
Reorganization and development (1889-1945)
Immediately after the start of the liquidation process, in June 1889, it was decided to form a new bank - the CNEP - that would assume most of the business of the former CEP. In 1891, it was reported that the bank's restructuring had reached the stage where its last guarantors could be paid, putting an end to the crisis. In the 1890s it expanded into the newly established French protectorate of Tunisia, opening branches in Tunis (1894), Sousse (1895), Sfax (1896) and Gabès (1897).
In the 1890s the CNEP introduced a Pension Fund and Provident Fund for employees, which became a model for other banks.
The twenty years from 1894 to 1914 saw rapid industrial growth as cities expanded their networks of trams, electricity and water. The Exposition Universelle (1900) was a symbol of the new age. All this needed funding arranged by the joint stock banks such as CNEP. By 1900 the Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris was again listed among the leading financial institutions in France, after the Crédit Lyonnais and the Société Générale.
There had been some mergers with local or regional banks, and the CNEP would at times work with major private banks such as Rothschilds to guarantee securities offerings, but in general the banking industry was still relatively unconsolidated. CNEP's strategy at the start of the 20th century was to focus on the main commercial centers, leaving its national rivals to compete with regional and local banks in the smaller centers. It also maintained a dynamic overseas presence and in 1901 was instrumental in the creation of the Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale. In 1905, it purchased the Nationalbank für Deutschland's stake in Banque d'Orient, a joint venture with the National Bank of Greece. In 1907, in coordination with the French authorities, it contributed its fledgling Moroccan branches to the newly created State Bank of Morocco in which the dominant partner was the rival Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. In 1918, the CNEP's seat in Tunis was relocated to the prestigious address of 3, avenue Jules Ferry (now Avenue Habib Bourguiba), facing the French Protectorate Residence. New Tunisian branches opened in Bizerte (1907), Monastir (1924), Mateur (1925), and Béja (1930). The latter three, however, were closed in the mid-1930s.
Following the upheaval of World War I (1914–1918), in the period from 1919 to 1926 the leading banks in France by volume were Société Générale (32% – 36%), Crédit Lyonnais (30% – 32%), CNEP (20% – 23%) and Credit Industriel et Commercial (9% – 14%).
In May 1919 about half the CNEP employees went on strike, and the executive leadership agreed to negotiate on the condition that representatives of all employees, including those who had continued to work, should be included. With the growing power of the unions in the 1920s, the company made a series of concessions to employees, such as the introduction of a minimum wage and improved treatment of women. In 1919 CNEP had 800 employees in the accounting department alone, and in the second half of the 1920s had about 10,000 employees in total. Wages were supplemented by bonuses that were roughly linked to the bank's financial results. The benefits packages took into account seniority, and were designed to encourage loyalty to the firm. However, promotions were made strictly on the basis of merit, with no allowance for seniority.
Starting in the 1920s there was a move to improve efficiency through a more scientific organization of the work, standardization of procedures and mechanization.
The first "Ellis" calculating machines were imported from the United States in 1926 with the explicit purpose of staff reduction. From then until 1937 more machinery was imported for card sorting and collation, typewriting, calculation and printing from manufacturers such as Ellis, Powers, Underwood and Burroughs, with the addition of devices made in France by Bull in the 1930s.
Nationalization and merger (1945–1966)
After World War II (1939–1945) a law passed on 2 December 1945 redefined the regulatory framework governing the banking industry and decreed the nationalization of the Banque de France and the four leading French retail banks: Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie (BNCI), CNEP, Crédit Lyonnais and Société Générale. In the 1950s CNEP, which traditionally had served medium-large companies in each large market, started trying to move up the value chain with its key customers. The bank's executives established closer relationships with the major enterprises through a policy of frequent contacts with their counterparts in these firms during which they discussed their banking and financing needs.
CNEP maintained the main lines of its strategy defined in the inter-war period: selective establishment of its headquarters, centralization of administrative and accounting operations. In 1963, it merged its Tunisian network into a new entity, the Banque d’Escompte et de Crédit à l’Industrie en Tunisie (BEIT), in partnership with Morgan Guaranty and the Banque industrielle de l'Afrique du Nord (BIAN), another bank that had existed since 1919. On the eve of its merger with BNCI in 1966, the CNEP had more than 100 branches in Paris and the surrounding region, and 733 in the rest of France, almost twice as many as in 1941. Outside France, it remained established in Australia, Belgium, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In 1966, by decision of Finance Minister Michel Debré, the Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris merged with the Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie to create the Banque nationale de Paris (BNP). Henry Bizot, president of the CNEP, was appointed president of the merged entity, and Pierre Ledoux, CEO of BNCI, became its CEO.
Paris headquarters building
In 1852 the Comptoir moved from its temporary office to new headquarters in the hôtel Rougemont at 14, rue Bergère, at first rented.
Ten years later the CEP purchased the building, and gradually acquired the surrounding land and buildings. Eventually it grew into a large complex of and an iconic exemplar of French bank architecture. By an act of 19 February 1991, a part of the main building was listed as a .
The main section of the new building was built between 1878 and 1883, following the bank's choice of architect Édouard Corroyer, known for having worked under Viollet-Le-Duc and led the restoration of the Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey, to design it. The CEP's annual general meeting of 30 January 1882 was held there even though it was still not finished. Corroyer took on the services of some of the best-known craftsmen of the time, including painter , mosaicist Giandomenico Facchina, and sculptor Aimé Millet, the last two of which had worked on the ornamentation of the Palais Garnier opera house.
Crossing the lobby decorated in opulent style with columns and mosaics, customers reach the main hall or atrium which serves as the bank main branch, with counters for their banking transactions. The hall is surmounted by a glass roof decorated with geometric and floral motifs, which lets in the daylight. The floor is constructed of glass blocks made by glassmaker Saint-Gobain, which allow this natural overhead lighting to penetrate down to the vaults, safes and securities depository in the basement. Stained glass artist Édouard Didron created the windows, and the silverware manufacturer Christofle made the outdoor lanterns. The Comptoir d'Escompte was at first illuminated by electric lights powered by batteries, since the authorities considered that engines were noisy and unsafe.
From the hall, a monumental staircase in ornate style, decorated with mosaics depicting flowers and birds, leads up to the management offices and the board room. It was in these rooms that contracts were signed for the financing of major projects and loans in the late 19th and early 20th century. From the very outset, the building was equipped with the cutting-edge technological innovations of its era: electricity, elevator, central heating, a pneumatic tube system for sending internal mail and clocks displaying the time in major cities around the world. Corroyer's goal was to communicate the wealth and power of the organization, and in this he succeeded by the standards of the time.
Between 1900 and 1905 a second section of the headquarters was constructed under the direction of the architect François Constant-Bernard. In 1899 the CNEP bought the building of the Saint-Gobain Compagnie des Glaces et Produits Chimiques at the corner of rue Bergère and rue du Conservatoire, and completed the Bergère building on this site in 1913, a major extension along the rue du Conservatoire. A major overhaul was undertaken by the architect Anthony Emmanuel Béchu, opening on 10 June 2009 as the new headquarters of BNP Paribas Investment Partners.
See also
Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie, originating in the Comptoir national d'escompte de Mulhouse
|
François Ortalo-Magné
|
[
"Living people",
"University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni",
"Academics of the London School of Economics",
"University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty",
"Academics of London Business School",
"20th-century French economists",
"21st-century French economists",
"Business school deans",
"Year of birth missing (living people)"
] | 441 | 4,302 |
François Ortalo-Magné is a UK-based European academic. He became the dean of the London Business School in August 2017, succeeding Andrew Likierman. In August 2024, he was succeeded by Sergei Guriev.
Early life
François Ortalo-Magné graduated from the École d'ingénieurs de Purpan, where he earned a master's degree in 1990. He went on to earn a PhD in Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1995.
Career
Ortalo-Magné was a professor of economics at the London School of Economics until 2001. He was the Robert E. Wangard Professor of Real Estate and the chair of the Department of Real Estate and Urban Economics at the Wisconsin School of Business from 2001 to 2011, when he became its Albert O. Nicholas dean. Ortalo-Magné became dean of the London Business School in August 2017. Ortalo-Magné is an expert in urban economics. He has published research in academic journals like The Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Urban Economics, the Review of Economic Dynamics, the International Economic Review, and The American Economic Review.
|
Bain Capital Ventures
|
[
"Bain Capital",
"Financial services companies established in 1984",
"Venture capital firms of the United States",
"American companies established in 2001"
] | 1,050 | 11,516 |
Bain Capital Ventures LLC is the venture capital division within Bain Capital, which has approximately $160 billion of assets under management worldwide. The firm's early-stage investments have included Attentive, Bloomreach, Billtrust, Docusign, Flywire, LinkedIn, Justworks, Turbonomic, Rent the Runway, Twilio, Rapid7, and Redis. Bain Capital Ventures manages $10 billion of committed capital, has over 400 active portfolio companies, and has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, and San Francisco.
Investments
Bain Capital Ventures has raised slightly over $10 billion of investor capital since 2001 across ten core investment funds and three co-investment funds. The firm is currently investing its tenth fund, Bain Capital Venture Fund X, which raised $1.4 billion from investors. The following is a summary of Bain Capital Venture's private equity funds raised from its inception through 2023:
FundVintage YearCommitted Capital ($m) Bain Capital Venture Fund I2001$250 Bain Capital Venture Fund II2005$250 Bain Capital Venture Fund III2007$500 Bain Capital Venture Fund IV2009$525 Bain Capital Venture Fund V2012$660 Bain Capital Venture Fund VI2014$650, $200 Bain Capital Venture Fund VII2016$600 Bain Capital Venture Fund VIII2019$650, $250 Bain Capital Venture IX2021$950, $350 Bain Capital Ventures Fund X2023$1440, $480
Some of the company's notable investments have included: Attentive, Bloomreach, Clari, Docusign, Flywire, LinkedIn, Moveworks, Rapid7, and Redis.
Investments
Bain Capital Ventures works with seed, early and growth-stage investments. Its seed and early stage investments include Soona, Momento, Hightouch, and Zenlytic. Examples of growth stage investments include Docker, Tecton, GoCardless, and Signifyd.It invest in the US unit of Japanese national company 7 Eleven by taking a stake in its US Convenience business in case it sells it or list it in the public markets.
Noted Exits:
DocuSign: IPO valuation of $629 million in 2018
LinkedIn: IPO valuation of $7.8 billion in 2011
Twilio: IPO valuation of $150 million in 2016
Rent the Runway: IPO valuation of $357 million in 2021
Flywire: IPO valuation of $3.5 billion in 2021
Avidxchange: IPO valuation of $4.6 billion in 2021
Notable people
Ajay Agarwal
Scott Friend
Matt Harris
Aaref Hilaly
Sarah Hinkfuss
Merritt Hummer
Christina Melas-Kyriazi
Saanya Ojha
Enrique Salem
Slater Stitch
Kevin Zhang
Tina Dimitrova
|
Addition Financial
|
[
"Credit unions based in Florida",
"1937 establishments in Florida",
"Financial services companies of the United States",
"Banks established in 1937"
] | 1,302 | 13,005 |
Addition Financial (or Addition Financial Credit Union) is an American state-chartered credit union headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida. The credit union is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative with 26 branches in six counties, with its field of membership currently open to 26 counties in Florida.
History
A group of 23 educators founded the credit union that became Addition Financial in 1937 with the aim to create a better financial alternative to what the banks were offering. Whenfirst established, the credit union then named Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union, served educators in Orange County Public Schools. Over the years, the credit union changed its name to Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union, then shortened its name to CFE Federal Credit Union, as it broadened its field of membership to a community charter and began to serve consumers in Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties.
In 2011, the credit union (then CFE Federal Credit Union) acquired UCF Federal Credit Union, which bolstered its presence in the higher education community and at the University of Central Florida. In 2015, CFE acquired Seminole Schools Federal Credit Union.
In 2019, in order to expand outside of the realm of education and eliminate confusion surrounding who was eligible to join, CFE changed from a federal to a state charter, and changed its name to Addition Financial Credit Union.
Also in 2019, Addition Financial was one of the first credit unions in the state of Florida to purchase a bank. In August of that year, the credit union acquired Fidelity Bank of Florida, a commercial bank based in Merritt Island, thus expanding its footprint to Brevard County.
In 2024, Addition Financial announced plans to merge in Envision Credit Union, based in Tallahassee, FL, to expand services into the Big Bend region of North Florida as well as South Georgia. Following a member vote by Envision CU members, the legal merger is expected to be complete in October 2025, while full system integration will likely be completed in the first half of 2026.
Products and services
The credit union offers a range of consumer and business banking services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, mortgages and investment services. In addition, the company provides specific products designed for educators. Addition Financial offers co-branded affinity debit cards.
Community outreach and education
Addition Financial participates in several community outreach activities and initiatives that relate to their background in education. In 2008, Addition Financial opened its first student-run high school branch at Timber Creek High School. This program has expanded to serve nine high schools across Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties.
In 2013, Addition Financial (then CFE Federal Credit Union) acquired the naming rights for the UCF Arena, a sports and entertainment venue in Orlando, and was named the official financial institution of the UCF Knights. When the credit union changed its name in 2019, the arena was renamed the Addition Financial Arena. On August 18, 2022, UCF announced that Addition Financial had extended their naming rights for the facility through 2034.
In 2014, Addition Financial became the preferred credit union of Seminole State College of Florida, and was named the preferred credit union of Valencia College in 2018. Through its college and university partnerships, Addition Financial offers on-campus ATMs, financial education workshops, scholarships, event sponsorships and other support for students, faculty and staff. In 2016, Addition Financial was the second company to pledge its support to the new UCF Downtown Campus, pledging $1.5 million. In 2024, the University of Central Florida named Addition Financial as a Pegasus Partner, and the first financial institution to earn that distinction of community support and philanthropy.
The credit union partners regularly with education-focused non-profit organizations, such as A Gift For Teaching, and maintains close ties with Orange County Public Schools, Seminole County Public Schools, Lake County Public Schools and Osceola School District. In 2018, Addition Financial launched its Renovate to Educate Contest, selecting public school teachers from its partner school districts to receive a classroom makeover, designed by Interior Design interns from Seminole State College. In 2025, Addition Financial announced they are updating the Renovate to Educate Program to shift its focus on providing renovations and support to needs spaces at local public schools.
Addition Financial also provides scholarships through its annual Joseph A. Melbourne Jr. Scholarship Program. Each year, the credit union offers scholarships for six high school seniors in Florida and two UCF graduate students.
Addition Financial offers free financial education workshops both in person and virtually for its community partners. The credit union also provides free webinars and seminars, financial education blogs and the Making It Count podcast. In 2023, Addition Financial, along with a group of community education partners, launched Adding FUNdamentals, the area’s first financial literacy program targeted specifically for pre-kindergarten students.
In March 2020, Addition Financial also launched the On The + Side blog series to help community members cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
|
Jeanette Marais
|
[
"1960s births",
"Living people",
"20th-century South African businesswomen",
"20th-century South African businesspeople",
"21st-century South African businesswomen",
"21st-century South African businesspeople",
"People from the Free State (province)",
"University of the Free State alumni",
"Afrikaner people",
"International Institute for Management Development alumni"
] | 863 | 8,905 |
Jeanette Christina Marais-Cilliers (; born 1967 or 1968) is a South African businesswoman who has been chief executive officer of the Momentum Group since August 2023. She formerly held executive positions at Stanlib, Old Mutual, and Allan Gray.
Early life and education
The eldest of five siblings, Marais was born in 1967 or 1968. Her father and grandfather were Afrikaans-speaking farmers, and she grew up on the family farm near Reddersburg in the southern Free State. She completed a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and statistics at the University of the Free State. Later in her career, she completed a part-time Master of Business Administration at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Career in business
Marais began her first job in March 1990 at Momentum, an insurance company. Although she initially planned to become an actuary and was studying towards a degree in actuarial science, she became interested in client management while working in actuarial product development. Thereafter she moved to sales and marketing roles, including as part of the team that launched Momentum Administration Services. In 1999 she left Momentum to join PSG, where she helped set up the group's unit trust, and she later worked as a director at Stanlib and as an executive general manager at Old Mutual. Between 2009 and 2018, she worked at investment management firm Allan Gray, first as co-head of retail and then as an executive director for distribution and client services.
In January 2018, Momentum, by then restructured as Momentum Metropolitan Group after a merger with Metropolitan, announced that Marais would return to the company as second deputy chief executive officer. Her appointment was part of a leadership reshuffle that also included the appointment of Hillie Meyer as chief executive officer; she had spent a stint as Meyer's executive assistant at an earlier stage of her career, and she said that he appointed her to return to Momentum after she expressed frustration with the handling of the Metropolitan merger. Taking up the new position on 1 March 2018, she worked alongside the incumbent deputy chief executive officer, Mary Vilakazi, with special responsibility for Momentum Investments. She also oversaw Momentum Distribution Services, Consult by Momentum, and Momentum Money. In May 2023, at the end of Meyer's five-year term as chief executive, Marais was announced as Meyer's successor with effect from 1 August 2023. She became the first woman to lead the company.
Personal life
She is married to Johann Cilliers. They have no children. Since 2000 they have lived in Hout Bay, Cape Town; Marais commutes to Momentum Metropolitan headquarters in Centurion. They also own a farm in Paternoster. Marais has completed several ultramarathons.
|
Edward D. "Ted" Jones
|
[
"Businesspeople from St. Louis",
"1925 births",
"1990 deaths",
"University of Missouri alumni",
"American investment bankers",
"20th-century American businesspeople"
] | 1,615 | 12,061 |
Edward David "Ted" Jones Jr. (December 18, 1925 October 3, 1990), the son of the founder of Edward Jones Investments, later ran the firm and built its signature small town brokerage system. He devoted his last years along with his wife Pat Jones to establishing the Katy Trail State Park and the Prairie Fork Conservation Area in Missouri.
Early life and education
Jones was born in St. Louis, Missouri and spent much of his youth on his family's farm in Williamsburg, Missouri. Following graduation from the Taylor School in 1943, Jones enlisted in the Merchant Marines during World War II, then served in the United States Army in 1946 before returning to the University of Missouri in 1947 to study agriculture.
After one year of study, Jones was sent to New York City where he worked as a page on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He later worked at Josephthal & Co., an organization that served as Edward D. Jones & Co.’s New York correspondent. He returned to St. Louis in 1948 to work for his father Edward D. Jones.
In 1968, Ted succeeded his father to become Edward Jones Investments’ second managing partner until 1980. During his tenure, the firm expanded to over 300 branch offices.
Philosophy
While conducting business in rural Missouri and Illinois, Jones proposed that the company begin opening offices outside of St. Louis. He subsequently instituted the firm's branch office business model and oversaw the opening of the first one-person branch office in Mexico, Missouri. Jones’ expansion philosophy focused on towns of 20,000 to 35,000 people, many of which did not have access to personal brokers selling mutual funds, unit trusts and tax-free bonds.
Differing from other firms that went public, Jones kept the company a privately owned partnership, only allowing employees to purchase shares in the company instead of opening stock purchases to the general public.
Personal life
In the last 10 years of his life, he donated $2.2 million for Missouri to acquire property along 200 miles of abandoned Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad rail tracks to form a bicycle path for the Katy Trail State Park. The eastern terminus of the park is the confluence of the Missouri River and Mississippi River. In 2004 the park at the confluence was named Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park in honor of Jones and his wife.
In 2015 Edward "Ted" Jones Jr. was inducted into the "Hall of Famous Missourians" during a ceremony at the state capitol.
Jones, Edward D. "Ted"
|
Steve Cohen (businessman)
|
[
"1956 births",
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"American art collectors",
"American billionaires",
"American financiers",
"American financial company founders",
"American investors",
"American money managers",
"American financial analysts",
"American hedge fund managers",
"Businesspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut",
"Insider trading",
"Jewish American baseball people",
"American philanthropists",
"Jewish American sports executives and administrators",
"New York Mets owners",
"Philanthropists from New York (state)",
"Stock and commodity market managers",
"Wharton School alumni",
"20th-century American Jews",
"21st-century American Jews",
"Jews from New York (state)",
"John L. Miller Great Neck North High School alumni"
] | 4,303 | 53,602 |
Steven A. Cohen (born June 11, 1956) is an American hedge-fund manager and owner of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) since September 14, 2020, owning just over 97% of the team. He is the founder of hedge fund Point72 Asset Management and S.A.C. Capital Advisors.
In 2013 S.A.C. Capital Advisors pleaded guilty to insider trading and agreed to pay $1.8 billion in fines ($900 million in forfeiture and $900 million in fines) in one of the biggest criminal cases against a hedge fund. Cohen was prohibited from managing outside money for two years as part of the settlement reached in the civil case over his accountability for the scandal. The hedge fund agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and four counts of securities fraud and to close its doors to outside investors.
Early life and education
Cohen grew up in Great Neck, New York, where his father was a dress manufacturer in Manhattan's garment district and his mother was a piano teacher. He grew up in a Jewish family. He is the third of eight brothers and sisters. He took a liking to poker as a high school student, often betting his own money in tournaments, and he credits the game with teaching him "how to take risks." Cohen graduated from John L. Miller Great Neck North High School in 1974, where he played on the school's soccer team.
Cohen received an economics degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. While in school, Cohen was initiated as a brother of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity's Theta chapter, where he served as treasurer. While at Penn, a friend helped him open a brokerage account with $1,000 of his tuition money.
Investment career
Gruntal & Co. (1978–1992)
In 1978, after graduating from Penn, Cohen got a Wall Street job as a junior trader in the options arbitrage department at Gruntal & Co. On his first day on the job at Gruntal & Co., he made an $8,000 profit. He eventually would go on to make the company around $100,000 a day and eventually managed a $75 million portfolio and six traders. Cohen was running his trading group at Gruntal & Co. by 1984 and continued running it until he started his own company, SAC Capital, in 1992.
Throughout the late 1980s, the Securities and Exchange Commission became suspicious that Cohen had used inside information in December 1985 when he bet that RCA and GE would merge, ahead of the announcement. The SEC called him to testify, but he refused to answer any questions, invoking his right against self-incrimination. Then, the SEC started looking into his other investments from the same period, especially those involving Brett K. Lurie. However, Cohen was not charged with insider trading.
S.A.C. Capital Advisors (1992–2016)
In 1992, Cohen started S.A.C. Capital Advisors with $10 million of his own money and another $10 million from outside capital. The company's name, 'SAC Capital', is derived from Steven A. Cohen's initials.
In 2003, the New York Times wrote that "SAC is one of the biggest hedge funds and is known for frequent and rapid trading." In 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported that, while Cohen was once a rapid-fire trader who never held trading positions for extended periods, he now held an increasing number of equities for longer periods.
As of 2009, the firm managed $14 billion in equity.
Racketeering and insider trading charges
In December 2009, Cohen and his brother Donald T. Cohen were sued by Steven's ex-wife Patricia Cohen for racketeering and insider trading charges. On March 30, 2011, the United States District Court in Lower Manhattan dismissed the case, but, on April 3, 2013, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled that a lower court had erred in dismissing fraud-based claims by his former spouse and revived the lawsuit. The appeals court also revived claims of racketeering and breach of fiduciary duty while upholding the dismissal of an unjust-enrichment claim.
Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Pierre N. Leval said that Patricia Cohen had made a "plausible" allegation that Steven Cohen had concealed the $5.5 million during negotiations on a separation agreement in 1989, which preceded the divorce. The revival of the lawsuit came amid mounting pressure on Steven Cohen over an insider-trading investigation that led to the arrest of Michael Steinberg, one of Cohen's closest confidantes at SAC Capital. SAC affiliates reached two civil insider trading settlements totaling nearly $616 million with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SAC neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in either case.
SEC investigation (2012–2016)
On November 20, 2012, Cohen was implicated in an alleged insider trading scandal involving an ex-SAC manager, Mathew Martoma. The SEC brought charges against many other S.A.C. employees from 2010 to 2013 with various outcomes. Martoma was convicted in 2014, in what federal prosecutors billed as the most profitable insider-trading conspiracy in history. The SEC later brought a civil lawsuit against Cohen, alleging his failure to supervise Martoma and Michael Steinberg, who was a senior employee and confidant of Cohen's. Cohen settled his civil case with regulators in January 2016; the agreement with the SEC prohibited Cohen from managing outside money until 2018.
S.A.C. Capital Advisors "pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in 2013 and paid $1.8 billion in penalties" and was required to stop handling investments for outsiders. Cohen "escaped criminal indictment himself despite being the living, breathing heart of S.A.C. Capital." He was featured in January 2017 The New Yorker article titled "When the Feds Went After the Hedge-Fund Legend Steven A. Cohen".
Point72 Ventures (2014–present)
In 2014, Cohen founded Point72 Ventures, "a venture capital fund that makes early-stage investments".
GameStop short squeeze
In January 2021, Cohen's hedge fund Point72 joined Ken Griffin's Citadel in putting $2.75 billion into Melvin Capital, the hedge fund of former Cohen protege Gabe Plotkin, as a result of the GameStop short squeeze. Cohen denied that his involvement with the short squeeze would affect his willingness to spend money on the New York Mets. Cohen deactivated his Twitter account on January 29, 2021, due to an influx of threats against him and his family.
Cohen is portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio in the 2023 film Dumb Money, a biographical drama covering the short squeeze.
Wealth
In 2024, Forbes Magazine estimated Cohen's fortune at $21.5 billion, ranking him the 30th richest person in the United States. Cohen was dubbed "the hedge fund king" in a 2006 Wall Street Journal article. His 2005 compensation was reportedly $1 billion, considerably higher than his 2001 compensation of $428 million. In February 2015, Forbes listed Cohen as the highest-earning hedge-fund manager in 2014. In December 2013, Cohen's New York penthouse in the Bloomberg Tower was listed with an initial sale price of $115 million. According to Institutional Investor, Cohen made an estimated $1.7 billion in 2020.
New York Mets
Cohen became a minority owner of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2012, with an 8% stake in the club. In August 2020, Cohen had entered negotiations with Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz to buy a controlling interest in the team before reaching an agreement the following month. MLB approved the sale in October 2020, allowing Cohen to take control in November.
In 2021, the Mets struggled heavily. Cohen fired Brodie Van Wagenen when he took over and Jared Porter for harassment of a female reporter. In addition, underperformance from several players he acquired led the Mets to a historic collapse. The Mets were in first place for the longest of any team that finished with a losing record in MLB history, and the team finished with a 77-85 record. In 2022, with the highest payroll in baseball, the team performed better, finishing with a 101-61 record and making the playoffs. However, the Mets blew a 10.5 game division lead to the Atlanta Braves, settling for second place. The Mets then lost the 2022 National League Wild Card series in 3 games to the San Diego Padres, sealing another historic collapse. In 2023, despite Steve Cohen putting $331 million into the payroll, the team went 7-19 in June, and ultimately missed the playoffs, with a 75-87 record.
Philanthropy
Cohen has given $715 million to philanthropic causes throughout his life, including to charitable causes relating to veterans and children's health.
Cohen serves on the board of trustees of the New York-based Robin Hood Foundation.
Via the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, the Cohens have donated to projects involved in health, education, arts and culture, and the New York community. In 2014, the Cohen Foundation provided funding, via the New York University Langone Center, for the study of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. The foundation gave a grant in excess of $100,000 to the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science in 2014. In 2019, the foundation contributed $50 million of the more than $400 million raised for the New York Museum of Modern Art. The museum announced in 2017 that MoMA's largest contiguous gallery will be called the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Special Exhibitions. Cohen is on the board of the MoMa and LA MOCA. In 2024, the foundation gave a $116 million gift to LaGuardia Community College, which became the largest donation of any US community college.
In April 2016, Cohen announced the creation and a commitment of $275 million to the Cohen Veterans Network. The CVN's goal is to establish mental-health centers for veterans and their families throughout the United States. The goal was the establishment of 20–25 centers by 2020.
Cohen Veterans Bioscience, also funded by Cohen, conducts research into the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder on combat veterans.
Politics
In 2015, Cohen and his wife, Alexandra, donated $2.25 million to a Super PAC called America Leads that supported Chris Christie's presidential candidacy.
In 2017, Cohen contributed $1 million to Donald Trump's inauguration.
In 2021, Cohen donated $500,000 to a Super PAC supporting Andrew Yang's candidacy in the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, and a further $1.5 million to a Super PAC supporting Eric Adams.
Art collection
Cohen's art collection is reported to be worth around $1 billion.
The New York Times reported that Cohen began seriously collecting art in 2000. Cohen's tastes and collection began with Impressionist painters, acquiring works by Manet and Monet, after which he moved quickly into contemporary art.
While he has collected works from important emerging artists such as Adam Pendleton, he is most famous for collecting 'trophy' art, signature works by famous artists, including a Pollock drip painting from David Geffen for $52 million and Damien Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a piece that the artist had bought back from Charles Saatchi for $8 million.
In 2006, Cohen attempted to make the most expensive art purchase in history when he offered to purchase Picasso's Le Rêve from casino mogul Steve Wynn for $139 million. Just days before the painting was to be transported to Cohen, Wynn, who suffers from poor vision due to retinitis pigmentosa, accidentally thrust his elbow through the painting while showing it to a group of acquaintances inside of his office at Wynn Las Vegas. The purchase was canceled, and Wynn kept the painting until early November 2012, when Cohen finally acquired the painting for $150 million.
In May 2019, Cohen bought Jeff Koons's Rabbit for $91.1 million; the purchase was made through Robert Mnuchin and was the most expensive work sold by a living artist at auction at the time.
Cohen owns or has owned artworks by Lucio Fontana, Alberto Giacometti, Willem de Kooning, Jeff Koons, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol. In 2015, he reportedly bought the world's most expensive sculpture, Alberto Giacometti's Man Pointing. In November 2015, his art collection was estimated to be at about $1 billion. Cohen is reportedly building a private museum for some of his artwork on his Greenwich property. Cohen had also placed Marc Quinn's Self, a head sculpture made of frozen blood, in the SAC lobby.
Legacy and awards
In 2008, he was inducted into the Institutional Investors Alpha's Hedge Fund Manager Hall of Fame along with Alfred Jones, Bruce Kovner, David Swensen, George Soros, Jack Nash, James Simons, Julian Robertson, Kenneth Griffin, Leon Levy, Louis Bacon, Michael Steinhardt, Paul Tudor Jones and Seth Klarman.
In popular culture
Cohen loosely inspired the character Bobby Axelrod, played by Damian Lewis, on the Showtime series Billions.
Personal life
Cohen has been married twice. In 1979, he married Patricia Finke, a New York native from a working-class background who grew up in the Washington Heights, Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. They divorced in 1990 and have two children together.
In 1991, through a dating service, Cohen met Alexandra "Alex" Garcia, a single mother of Puerto Rican descent. Alex had grown up in Washington Heights, moving there from her original home in the projects of Harlem. '“She'd always wanted to marry a millionaire,” a friend told BusinessWeek, though she also saw Steve's other charms. She thought he was the funniest person she'd ever met.' Alex, a longtime Mets fan, has taken an active role in the Mets since Steve purchased the team, and is listed as an owner along with Steve. She currently serves as the president of the Amazin’ Mets Foundation, the team's associated charity. They have five children together (which includes one from her previous marriage).
In 1998, Cohen purchased a home on in Greenwich, Connecticut.
|
Herbert A. Allen Sr.
|
[
"1908 births",
"1997 deaths",
"American stockbrokers",
"American financiers",
"American racehorse owners and breeders",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"Allen family (investments)"
] | 501 | 4,563 |
Herbert A. Allen Sr. (February 13, 1908 – January 18, 1997) was an American stockbroker.
Biography
A partner in Allen & Company with his older brother, Charles Robert Allen Jr., for more than fifty-five years. They were one of the first in the industry to specialize in corporate takeovers. One of the wealthiest figures on Wall Street, in 1956 he was appointed chairman of Benguet Consolidated Mining Co. which had chrome and gold mining operations in the Philippines. Among his other investments, the Allen brothers' company held an eighty percent share position in Ogden Corporation as well as a substantial holding in pharmaceutical manufacturer, Syntex Corporation. He also controlled the Irvine Ranch in California, which was converted into a substantial real estate development company.
He was a major benefactor to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, which named a community hospital in honor of the family. Herbert Allen became a major participant in Thoroughbred horse racing.
Personal life
He was married to Ethel Strong, an Irish Catholic. Allen was a non-practicing Unitarian. They had two children, Herbert Allen Jr. and Susan Allen.
|
James Bateman (banker)
|
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"1718 deaths",
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"Bankers from London",
"Deputy governors of the Bank of England",
"Governors of the Bank of England",
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"18th-century lord mayors of London",
"Knights Bachelor",
"Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall",
"British MPs 1710–1713",
"British MPs 1713–1715",
"British MPs 1715–1722"
] | 946 | 7,312 |
Sir James Bateman (29 April 1660 – 10 November 1718) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1711 to 1718. He became Lord Mayor of London and Governor of the Bank of England.
Early years
Bateman was the son of Joas (anglicised to Joseph) Bateman of Tooting and his second wife, Judith de la Barre, daughter of John de la Barre, merchant, of Fenchurch Street. He was born and baptised the same day at St Martin Orgar in London. His father was a Flemish immigrant who had become a successful London merchant and alderman. Bateman built upon his father's mercantile business. From about 1683 or 1684 he was living at Alicante in Portugal, where he was involved in the wine trade. By the early 1690s he was back in London with a considerable fortune and carried on as an importer of wine from the Iberian peninsula. He married Esther Searle, the daughter and coheiress of John Searle, a Finchley merchant by licence dated 3 December 1691.
Bateman became an important player in the City of London and, subscribing to the Bank of England on its foundation in 1694, became one of its founding directors. He also began to dabble in politics. At the 1695 election he contested Totnes unsuccessfully. However, he was nearly impeached in 1695 because of his involvement with the Company of Scotland. He was active in establishing an alternative East India Company and in 1698 was a founding director of the New East Indies Company. He was knighted on 14 December 1698. At the first general election of 1701 he stood unsuccessfully at St Mawes. He seems to have decided to concentrate on City politics instead and was appointed Sheriff of London for 1701 to 1702, elected Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for 1703 to 1705 and Governor for 1705 to 1707. In 1705 he bought the Shobdon estate in Herefordshire and replaced the Jacobean house with a new Palladian style building, of which only the service block has survived. He resumed his position as a director of the Bank of England in 1707 until 1711. In 1708, he became an alderman and a member of the Loriners’ Company. He was a director of the United East India Company from 1709 to 1710, a prime warden of the Fishmongers’ Company for 1710 to 1712 and resigned as Director of the Bank of England in 1711 to become a sub-Governor of the South Sea Company until his death.
Bateman stood unsuccessfully for Parliament for London at the 1710 general election. He was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilchester at a by-election on 2 June 1711, and was returned again at the 1713 general election. At the 1715 general election, he was defeated in a contest at Ilchester but was returned as MP for East Looe. He was elected Lord Mayor of London for 1716 to 1717.
Death and legacy
Bateman died in 1718. He had four sons and three daughters. His estates in Herefordshire, Kent and Essex were divided between his sons. His son William was created Viscount Bateman and inherited Shobdon Court.
See also
Chief Cashier of the Bank of England
|
Linda Taylor
|
[
"1920s births",
"2002 deaths",
"American people convicted of fraud",
"American confidence tricksters",
"Criminals from Chicago",
"Prisoners and detainees of Illinois",
"People from Lauderdale County, Tennessee",
"Criminals from Tennessee",
"Welfare fraud"
] | 1,582 | 13,981 |
Linda Taylor (born Martha Louise White; January 1926 – April 18, 2002) was an American woman who committed extensive welfare fraud and, after the publication of an article in the Chicago Tribune in fall 1974, became identified as the "welfare queen". Accounts of Taylor's activities were used by then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, for his 1976 presidential campaign onwards, to illustrate his criticisms of social programs in the United States. Her criminal activities are believed to have extended beyond welfare fraud and may have included assault, theft, insurance fraud, bigamy, kidnapping, and possibly even murder.
Identity and early life
Taylor was born to Lydia Mooney White in Golddust, Tennessee, a few months after White moved there from Summit, Alabama. Although no birth certificate was issued, biographer Josh Levin estimates, based on other details provided by Taylor's relatives, that the birth probably occurred in January 1926. At birth she was named Martha Louise White. In October 1926, Lydia White married Joseph Jackson Miller, and subsequent United States Census records listed "Martha Louise Miller" as their daughter. The identity of Taylor's biological father is uncertain. In census records and court testimony, her relatives gave varying information about her parentage but always identified her as "white". Rumors in the family indicated that her father was black but Lydia White could have been convicted of a felony under Alabama's law against interracial relationships if she admitted this.
Throughout her life, Taylor presented herself as being of various racial and ethnic identities, including Black, Asian, Hispanic, and Jewish. Taylor represented herself as being many different ages, with one government official stating in 1974 that "it appears she can be any age she wishes, from the early 20s to the early 50s". Although she became best known under the name Linda Taylor, news reports indicated that she used as many as 80 different names, often with false identification documents to match. Her aliases included Linda Bennett, Connie Jarvis, Linda Jones, Constance Loyd, Linda Lynch, Linda Mallexo, Linda Ray, Constance Rayne, Linda Sholvia, Linda Taylor, Constance Wakefield, and Connie Walker. Her many identities included using the title 'Reverend' and posing as a nurse, a doctor, and a spiritual adviser who used Haitian Vodou.
Arrest, trial and media coverage
On August 8, 1974, Taylor filed a police report claiming that she had been robbed of $14,000——in "cash, jewelry, and furs". Chicago Detectives Jack Sherwin and Jerry Kush, who took the report, recognized her from a similar, previous report and she came under suspicion for false reporting, for which she was later charged. Additionally, Taylor was suspected of welfare fraud after Sherwin found welfare payment checks made out to multiple different names in her apartment.
Upon investigating her, Sherwin discovered Taylor was wanted on welfare fraud charges in Michigan. She was arrested at the end of August 1974 for possible extradition to Michigan. Released on bond, Taylor fled the state and was a fugitive until October 9, 1974, when she was caught in Tucson, Arizona. While the detectives had problems gaining the interest of the offices of both the state and federal attorneys, the media in the Chicago area became receptive to what the detectives told them. The case was used in conflicts among members of the Illinois state legislature and between Governor Dan Walker and his opponents, with the Taylor case being cited to support claims about welfare fraud being out of control.
Upon her return to Illinois, prosecutors opened a 31-count indictment against Taylor for fraud, perjury and bigamy, alleging that she had received welfare and Social Security checks under multiple names. Her attorney, R. Eugene Pincham, managed to delay the trial until March 1977, by which time the charges had been considerably reduced. Initial allegations involving 80 aliases and over $100,000 in fraudulently obtained funds had been narrowed to charges involving $8,000——obtained through four aliases, and charges of perjury in her testimony before a grand jury. The bigamy charges were dropped. After a trial lasting less than three weeks, the jury deliberated for about seven hours before finding her guilty on March 17, 1977. Taylor was sentenced to imprisonment for two to six years on the welfare fraud charges, and a year on the perjury charges, to be served consecutively. She began her sentence at Dwight Correctional Center on February 16, 1978.
Ronald Reagan, as a presidential candidate in 1976, regularly made claims about the welfare state being broken and repeatedly alluded to the Linda Taylor case, although he did not refer to her by name. At campaign rallies in January 1976 during the New Hampshire primary, Reagan claimed her income had been $150,000——a year, a figure which was derived from a Chicago Tribune report. After he had lost the Republican nomination to Gerald Ford, Reagan said in an October radio broadcast that "her take is estimated at a million dollars", a claim which, according to her biographer Josh Levin, appears to be unsourced. Other claims Reagan made about her "three new cars", including a Cadillac, were true. Her fraudulent claims have since been estimated at $40,000——over a number of years; however, she was only charged with stealing about $8,000 because of difficulties with assembling verifiable evidence.
Other suspected crimes
Taylor was believed to be a kidnapper, and possibly a murderer, but these offenses were never properly substantiated through an investigation. Three people she knew well in the 1970s and 1980s died under suspicious circumstances. Taylor is suspected of being the woman who posed as a nurse and abducted an infant, Paul Joseph Fronczak, from the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago in late April 1964. Taylor's son has said that his mother frequently took other people's children, and law enforcement also suspected her in the case. Based on the results of genetic testing, Fronczak was confirmed to be living in Michigan in December 2019.
Later years and death
Taylor was released from prison on parole on April 11, 1980. Her parole was completed on May 26, 1981. Taylor rejoined Sherman Ray, whom she had married shortly before her arrest in 1974. On August 25, 1983, Ray was shot by Willtrue Loyd, in what was later ruled to be an accident. Taylor collected on Ray's life insurance. Loyd and Taylor moved to Florida and subsequently married in March 1986. When Loyd died in 1992, Taylor (under the alias Linda Lynch) was listed as his next of kin but claimed to be his granddaughter rather than his wife. Taylor died of a heart attack on April 18, 2002, at Ingalls Memorial Hospital outside Chicago. Her remains were cremated.
Works cited
|
CRISIL
|
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"Credit rating agencies in India",
"2005 mergers and acquisitions",
"1987 establishments in Maharashtra",
"Indian companies established in 1987",
"Financial services companies established in 1987",
"Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India",
"Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange"
] | 634 | 6,514 |
CRISIL Limited, formerly Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited, is an Indian analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services and is a subsidiary of American company S&P Global.
CRISIL, was the first credit rating agency in India, introduced in 1988 by the ICICI and UTI jointly with share capital coming from SBI, LIC and United India Insurance Company. In April 2005, US based credit rating agency S&P acquired the majority shares of company.
, the company has revenue of , net income of . It is also India's largest ratings company, and , it had a market cap of .
In April 2024, Crisil Received SEBI Approval for ESG Scoring in India.
News
The former Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx India's first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) developed jointly by CRISIL and SIDBI.
CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extreme negative) to 200 (extreme positive). CriSidEx will have two indices, one for the 'survey quarter' and another for 'next quarter' once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey, providing independent time series data. The parametric feedback was captured through a survey of 1100 MSEs in November –December.
In February 2020, Crisil completed the acquisition of Greenwich Associates LLC, a provider of proprietary benchmarking data, analytics, and qualitative insights to financial services firms.
|
Fox Racing
|
[
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"Clothing companies established in 1974",
"Companies based in Irvine, California",
"Motorcycling retailers",
"Privately held companies based in California",
"Retail companies established in 1974",
"Sportswear brands"
] | 664 | 5,997 |
Fox Head, Inc. (doing business as Fox Racing) is an American extreme sports (primarily motocross and mountain biking), protective equipment, and lifestyle-clothing brand founded in 1974. Fox is owned by Revelyst, having been previously owned by Vista Outdoor.
History
The early histories of Fox Racing and Fox Racing Shox were intertwined. Fox Racing Shox is a brand of offroad-racing suspension components founded by Geoff Fox's brother, Bob Fox. Fox Racing Shox was originally owned by Moto-X Fox. In 1977 Bob's division split out as a separate company called Fox Factory.
In July 2006, Fox Racing decided to change its corporate name to Fox Head. The move was complete by the fall of that year. Fox decided such a change would help the brand further penetrate sporting venues aside from motocross, such as mountain bike, wake boarding, surfing; as well as expand into other products.
Peter Fox was named CEO in 2008, with Greg Fox remaining on the board of directors. Peter Fox subsequently left the company, but rejoined when Fox Head was acquired by Altamont Capital Partners in 2014, leaving the founder and his son in charge of the company.
In July 2022, it was announced that Fox Racing would be acquired by Vista Outdoor for $540 million.
Fox Racing entered the shoe business in early 2022 with the introduction of Union shoe line designed for bicyclists.
In 2023, Vista Outdoor began to integrate brands such as Bell and Giro into the Action Sports division with Fox Racing.
|
Florida East Coast Railway
|
[
"Florida East Coast Railway",
"Regional railroads in the United States",
"Former Class I railroads in the United States",
"Florida railroads",
"Transportation in Brevard County, Florida",
"Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida",
"Railway companies established in 1885",
"Alfred I. du Pont",
"1885 establishments in Florida",
"2007 mergers and acquisitions",
"Standard-gauge railways in the United States",
"Grupo México"
] | 14,200 | 109,300 |
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México.
Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Flagler. He originally visited Florida with his first wife, Mary; they sought assistance with the health issues she faced. A key strategist who worked closely with John D. Rockefeller building the Standard Oil Trust, Flagler noted both great potential and a lack of services during his stay at St. Augustine. He subsequently began what amounted to his second career, developing resorts, industries, and communities all along Florida's shores abutting the Atlantic Ocean.
The FEC is possibly best known for building the railroad to Key West, completed in 1912. When the FEC's line from the mainland to Key West was heavily damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the State of Florida purchased the remaining right-of-way and bridges south of Dade County, and they were rebuilt into road bridges for vehicle traffic and became known as the Overseas Highway. However, a greater and lasting Flagler legacy was the developments along Florida's eastern coast.
During the Great Depression, control was purchased by heirs of the du Pont family. After 30 years of fragile financial condition, the FEC, under leadership of a new president, Ed Ball, took on the labor unions. Ball claimed the company could not afford the same costs as larger Class 1 railroads and needed to invest saved funds in its infrastructure, the condition of which was fast becoming a safety issue. The company—using replacement workers—and some of its employees engaged from 1963 until 1977 in one of the longest and more violent labor conflicts of the 20th century. Ultimately, federal authorities had to intervene to stop the violence, which included bombings, shootings and vandalism. However, the courts ruled in the FEC's favor with regard to the right to employ strikebreakers. During this time Ball invested heavily in numerous steps to improve the railroad's physical plant, and installed various forms of automation. The FEC was the first US railroad to operate two-man train crews, eliminate cabooses, and end all of its passenger services (which were unprofitable) by 1968.
Today, the company's primary rail revenues come from its intermodal and rock trains. Brightline, an inter-city rail route, uses FEC tracks between Cocoa and Miami.
The FEC was historically a Class I railroad owned by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) from 2000 to 2016, FOXX Holdings between 1983 and 2000, and the St. Joe Company prior to 1983.
History
Henry Flagler: developing Florida's east coast
The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) was developed by Henry Morrison Flagler, an American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and John D. Rockefeller's partner in Standard Oil. Formed at Cleveland, Ohio, as Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler in 1867, Standard Oil moved its headquarters in 1877 to New York City. Flagler and his family relocated there as well. He was joined by Henry H. Rogers, another leader of Standard Oil who also became involved in the development of America's railroads, including those on nearby Staten Island, the Union Pacific, and later in West Virginia, where he eventually built the remarkable Virginian Railway to transport coal to Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Flagler's non-Standard Oil interests went in a different direction, however, when in 1878, on the advice of his physician, he traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, for the winter with his first wife, Mary, who was quite ill. Two years after she died in 1881, he married Mary's former caregiver, Ida Alice Shourds. After their wedding, the couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida, in 1883. Flagler found the city charming, but the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate. He recognized Florida's potential to attract out-of-state visitors. Though Flagler remained on the Board of Directors of Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the firm in order to pursue his Florida interests.
When Flagler returned to Florida, in 1885 he began building a grand St. Augustine hotel, the Ponce de Leon Hotel. Flagler realized that the key to developing Florida was a solid transportation system. At the time, St. Augustine was served by the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway (JStA&HR), a narrow gauge railway that began service in 1883 between South Jacksonville and St. Augustine. While the JStA&HR was used to transport building materials for the hotel's construction, Flagler found it was poorly constructed and its passenger services would be inadequate for patrons to reach his hotel. Flagler joined the board of the JStA&HR on December 10, 1885, before fully purchasing the line three weeks later. Flagler then rehabilitated the line to his standards, purchased new rolling stock, and converting the track to standard gauge. He built a modern depot facility as well as schools, hospitals and churches, systematically revitalizing the largely abandoned historic city.
The Ponce de Leon Hotel opened on January 10, 1888. By April of that year, Flagler acquired a second hotel in St. Augustine, the Casa Monica Hotel, which he renamed Cordova. He then built a third hotel, the Hotel Alcazar, which opened in 1898. With the success of his three St. Augustine hotels, Flagler incorporated the Jacksonville Bridge Company to build a bridge across the St. Johns River and connect the JStA&HR to the rest of Jacksonville's railroads. Passengers needed to be ferried across the St. Johns River in Jacksonville to access the line at the time, which was a time-consuming process. Construction began in 1889 and the bridge opened on January 5, 1890, allowing a direct connection for private railcars and Pullman coaches to reach St. Augustine.
By 1888, Flagler was interested in expanding his network beyond St. Augustine. He acquired three additional railroads that year to expand further south. He acquired the St. Johns Railway, which ran from St. Augustine west to the St. Johns River at Tocoi Landing. The St. Johns Railway first opened in 1858 and Flagler purchased the line from New York millionaire William Astor. Flagler also acquired another railroad from Astor, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway which ran from Tocoi Junction (about halfway between St. Augustine and Tocoi Landing) on the St. Johns Railway and ran southwest to East Palatka. Finally, Flagler acquired the St. Johns and Halifax River Railroad which opened in the early 1880s from East Palatka southeast to Ormond Beach and Daytona. It was extended west into Palatka after the completion of a bridge over the St. Johns River in 1888. In addition to expanding the network, the acquired railroads gave Flagler two additional accesses to the St. Johns River at Tocoi Landing and East Palatka, as well as additional connections to other railroads in Palatka. Continuing to develop hotel facilities to entice northern tourists to visit Florida, Flagler bought and expanded the Ormond Hotel in Ormond Beach.
Flagler created the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company in 1892 as a holding company for his railroad network.
Expanding further south
Beginning in 1892, when landowners south of Daytona petitioned him to extend the railroad south, Flagler began laying new railroad tracks; no longer did he follow his traditional practice of purchasing existing railroads and merging them into his growing rail system. Under Florida's generous land-grant laws passed in 1893, could be claimed from the state for every mile (1.6 km) built. Flagler would eventually claim in excess of for building his railroad, and land development and trading would become one of his most profitable endeavors. Flagler obtained a charter from the state of Florida authorizing him to build a railroad along the Indian River to Miami, and as the railroad progressed southward, cities such as New Smyrna and Titusville began to develop along the tracks.
The railroad reached Fort Pierce January 29, 1894. By March 22 of the same year, the railroad system reached what is today known as West Palm Beach. Flagler constructed the Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon. He also built the Breakers Hotel on the ocean side of Palm Beach, and Whitehall, his private 55-room, 60,000 square foot (5,600 m2) winter home. The development of these three structures, coupled with railroad access to them, established Palm Beach as a winter resort for the wealthy members of America's Gilded Age.
Palm Beach was to be the terminus of the Flagler railroad, but during 1894 and 1895, severe freezes hit all of Central Florida, whereas the Miami area remained unaffected, causing Flagler to rethink his original decision not to move the railroad south of Palm Beach. The fable that Julia Tuttle, one of two main landowners in the Miami area along with the Brickell family, sent orange blossoms to Flagler to prove to him that Miami, unlike the rest of the state, was unaffected by the frost, is untrue. The truth is that she wired him to advise him that "the region around the shores of Biscayne Bay is untouched by the freezes." He sent his two lieutenants, James E. Ingraham and Joseph R. Parrott—now famous in Florida history—to investigate; they brought boxes of truck (produce) and citrus back to Flagler, who then wired Tuttle, asking, "Madam, what is it that you propose?" To convince Flagler to continue the railroad to Miami, both Tuttle and William Brickell offered half of their holdings north and south of the Miami River to him. Tuttle added for shops and yards if Flagler would extend his railroad to the shores of Biscayne Bay and build one of his great hotels. An agreement was made and contracts were signed. On September 7, 1895, the name of Flagler's system was officially changed from the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company to the Florida East Coast Railway Company and incorporated. The Florida East Coast Railway reached Fort Lauderdale on March 3, 1896. On April 15, 1896, track reached Biscayne Bay, the site of present-day downtown Miami. At the time, it was a small settlement of less than 50 inhabitants. When the town incorporated, on July 28, 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the man responsible for the city's development by naming it Flagler. He declined the honor, persuading them to retain its old Indian name, "Miami." The area was actually previously known as Fort Dallas after the fort built there in 1836 during the Second Seminole War. To further develop the area surrounding the Miami railroad station, Flagler dredged a channel, built streets and The Royal Palm Hotel, instituted the first water and power systems, and financed the town's first newspaper, the Metropolis.
In 1903, Flagler extended the main line an additional 12 miles from Downtown Miami southwest to access much of the unsettled lowlands near Cutler Ridge which he felt could generate agricultural traffic. This proved successful and the following year, the line was extended to Homestead.
Labor issues
Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the fledgling rail empire extensively employed convict labor from largely African-American convicts. While most Southern states employed a form of convict lease at the time, renting prisoners' labor to various businesses, Florida's version of convict lease was considered "especially violent" compared to the others.
According to historian Joe Knetsch, reformers and muckrakers exaggerated charges of peonage regarding construction of the Florida East Coast Railway in 1893 to 1909. Flager and his lawyers defeated all legal challenges and neither the company or its employees were ever convicted in court. However, there were many reports of harsh working conditions and forced indebtedness to the company, and malfeasance by labor agents who hired men for the railway. Knetsch concludes that "Flagler in fact provided health care for his employees and was a far better employer than the press alleged."
Key West extension
Once the railroad reached Homestead in 1904, Flagler then sought perhaps his greatest challenge: the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. He became particularly interested in linking Key West to the mainland after the construction of the Panama Canal was announced by the United States in 1905. As the closest deep-water port in the United States to the canal, Key West was positioned to take advantage of significant new trade with the west that would be enabled by the opening of the canalthis, in addition to the city's existing involvement with Cuban and Latin American trade. Key West was a major coaling station for ship traffic between South America and New York. Flagler thought it would be profitable for coal to be brought by railroad to Key West for coaling those ships. Though, by the time the extension was finished, the range of ships had been extended to such a degree that they no longer stopped in Key West for coal.
The construction of the Overseas Railroad required many engineering innovations as well as vast amounts of labor and monetary resources. Many considered the Key West extension a folly as it was one of the most daring infrastructure ever built exclusively with private funds. At one time during construction, four thousand men were employed. During the seven years of construction, three hurricanes threatened to halt the project. This included the 1906 Florida Keys hurricane, which killed 135 of Flagler's workers.
The Key West extension cost $50 million and the lives of hundreds of workmen. Workers toiled under conditions sufficiently cruel and harsh that the US Justice Department prosecuted the FECR under a federal slave-kidnapping law. Journalists also chronicled conditions of debt peonage wherein immigrant labor was threatened with prohibitive transportation fees to leave Key West after seeing the unsafe and disease-ridden conditions, essentially forcing them to stay.
Despite the hardships, the final link of the Florida East Coast Railway to Trumbo Point in Key West was completed in 1912. The first train, a construction engineers' train, arrived in Key West on January 21, 1912. The next day, which is considered the first day of service on the new route, a proud Henry Flagler rode the first passenger train into Key West, marking the completion of the railroad's oversea connection to Key West and the linkage by railway of the entire east coast of Florida. The completed extension was widely known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Upon his arrival in Key West, Flagler stated "Now I can die in peace" with pride in his achievement. Flagler died 16 months later in May 1913.
FEC through the years
Effect of the Florida land boom and Great Depression
The Florida East Coast Railway benefitted greatly from the Florida land boom of the 1920s, which led to increased traffic. By 1923, the FEC was running five daily passenger trains roundtrip between Jacksonville and Miami. Two of these trains, the Havana Special and the Key West Express continued to Key West. The following year, the number of passenger trains between Jacksonville and Miami increased to eight with two continuing to Key West. In response to the land boom, the FEC made investments to their network to increase capacity. Within the decade, FEC built Bowden Yard in Jacksonville and the Miller Shops in St. Augustine. In 1923, the FEC built the Miami Belt Line, a freight route that ran from Little River through Hialeah that reconnected with the main line in Larkin (near Kendall), bypassing downtown Miami. A yard was also built in Hialeah. In 1925, the Moultrie Cutoff was built to shorten the distance between St. Augustine and Bunnell (just north of Ormond Beach) on the main line by bypassing its turn towards Palatka. The main line was also expanded to double track from Jacksonville to Miami in 1926, along with the installation of automatic block signaling. Many of the bridges were rebuilt when the main line was expanded to double track, including the original bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville which was replaced by the current Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge. By the end of 1926, the number of passenger trains from Jacksonville to Miami increased to 12, with some continuing to Key West.
Due to the prosperity of South Florida during the land boom, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad brought competition to the region by building a line from Central Florida to West Palm Beach in 1925. This line was extended to Miami and Homestead on a route nearly parallel to the FEC two years later.
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and Great Depression were harsh on the FEC. The railroad declared bankruptcy and was in receivership by September 1931, 18 years after Flagler's death. Bus service began to be substituted for trains on the branches in 1932. Streamliners plied the rails between 1939 and 1963, including The East Coast Champion (from New York), The Florida Special (from New York), City of Miami (from Chicago), Dixie Flagler (from Chicago) and South Wind (from Chicago), all of which were jointly operated with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
The Key West extension was heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. An FEC rescue train, with the exception of steam locomotive 447, was overturned by the storm surge at Islamorada. of track were washed away by the hurricane, two miles of which ended up washing ashore on the mainland at Cape Sable. The FEC's Long Key Fishing Camp was also destroyed in the storm. Traffic was immediately embargoed south of Florida City after the storm while the Florida East Coast Railway decided whether or not to restore the line.
The Florida East Coast Railway quickly determined that it was financially unable to rebuild the destroyed sections. The roadbed and remaining bridges south of Florida City were then sold to the state of Florida, which built the Overseas Highway to Key West, using much of the remaining railway infrastructure. A rebuilt Overseas Highway (U.S. Route 1), taking an alignment that closely follows the Overseas Railroad's original routing, continues to provide the only highway link to Key West, ending near the southernmost point in the continental United States. The remaining Long Key Viaduct, Seven Mile Bridge, and Bahia Honda Rail Bridge that once carried the Key West extension still stand and are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Change in ownership
In the early 1960s, Edward Ball, who controlled the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust, bought a majority ownership of FEC, buying its bonds on the open market, allowing the FEC to emerge from bankruptcy following protracted litigation with a group of the company's other bondholders, led by S.A. Lynch and associated with the Atlantic Coast Line which had proposed an alternate plan of reorganization. That same year, a labor contract negotiation turned sour. Ball was determined to save the railroad from the bankruptcy that had continued for more than a decade. Ball was certain that if the company didn't become profitable, the equipment and track would deteriorate to the point where some lines would become unsafe or unusable and require partial abandonment. Later, in 1962, the expanded Cuban embargo added to the woes.
Labor conflict
Having gained total control of the FEC by 1960, Ball sought to make the railroad profitable again by holding down wages. Despite the recommendation of a National Mediation Board convened by President Kennedy in 1962, Ball refused to grant FEC workers a 10-cents-an-hour raise, accepted by 192 other railroads, claiming that the FEC could not afford to raise wages. This led to a prolonged work stoppage by non-operating unions, beginning January 23, 1963, and whose picket lines were honored by the operating unions (the train crews).
Because the strike was by the non-operating unions, a federal judge ordered the railroad to continue observing their work rules, while the railroad was free to change the work rules for the operating unions, who were technically not on strike and thus had no standing in the federal court regarding the strike.
Ball's use of replacement workers to keep the railroad running during the strike led to violence by strikers that included shootings and bombings; a number of freight trains were derailed or blown up. Eventually, federal intervention helped quell the violence, and the railroad's right to operate during the strike with replacement workers was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. The FEC continued operation with heavily reduced non-union crews (often former strikers), at the cost of a high turnover rate, low morale, and deteriorating infrastructure.
Most of the unions struck an agreement with the FEC in 1971; the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers remained on strike until March 1, 1974, until the courts forced a settlement. According to historian Burton Altman:
After the settlement, workers were earning at least one dollar an hour less than their counterparts on other railroads. Wages were well below the industry's scale and the work force had been cut in half. When the strike began, 1,600 walked out. In time, 900 went back to work on the company's terms; others found employment elsewhere. Only about 100 stayed out until the end, and many of them could not return to work because they could no longer pass the required physical examinations or were too old to work. The end of the strike also ended their meager benefits that had enabled members to survive.
After Ball's death in 1981, Raymond Wyckoff took the helm of the company on May 30, 1984.
Strike's impacts on passenger service
From the beginning of the strike, the long-distance named passenger trains rerouted over an Atlantic Coast Line Railroad route through the central interior of the peninsula south from Jacksonville to Auburndale, and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad route south from Auburndale completed the trip to West Palm Beach and Miami. The strike and the resulting interior rerouting marked the end of long-distance coastal service between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach. Any resumed service later, in 1965, was strictly intrastate trains operated by the FEC.
Passenger service became a political issue in Florida during the early years of the labor strike, which essentially lasted 14 years, from 1963 to 1977. At the insistence of the City of Miami—which had long fought to get rid of the tracks in the downtown section just north of the county courthouse—Miami's wooden-constructed downtown passenger terminal was demolished by November 1963. Although a new station was planned at NE 36th Street and NE 2nd Avenue, it was never built.
Further, while freight trains were operated with non-union and supervisory crews, passenger runs were not reinstated until August 2, 1965, after the City of Miami sued and the Florida courts ruled that the FEC corporate charter required both coach and first class passenger services to be offered. In response, FEC sold "parlor car seating" for first class accommodations in the rear lounge section of a tavern-lounge-observation car. Train service operated daily, except Sunday. This new state-mandated passenger service consisted of a single diesel locomotive and two streamlined passenger cars, which, in addition to the operating crew, were staffed by a passenger service agent and a coach attendant, who were "non-operating". The mini-streamliner operated all of the way across three previously observed crew districts (Jacksonville to New Smyrna Beach to Fort Pierce to Miami). Following the letter of the law, the passenger service was bare bones. The trains carried no baggage, remains, mail or express and honored no inter-line tickets or passes. The only food service was a box lunch (at Cocoa-Rockledge in 1966). On-board beverage service was limited to soft drinks and coffee. Without a station in Miami, the 1950s-era station in North Miami became the southern terminus. This stripped-down service operated six days a week until it was finally discontinued on July 31, 1968.
FEC in the 21st century
Routing
The Florida East Coast Railway has operated from its relocated headquarters in Jacksonville since it sold the original General Office Building in St. Augustine to Flagler College in late 2006. Its trains run over nearly the same route developed by Henry Flagler, with the addition of the Moultrie Cutoff (St. Augustine to Bunnell), which was built in 1925 to shorten the main line south of St. Augustine.
Leadership
In March 2005, Robert Anestis stepped down as CEO of Florida East Coast Industries after a four-year stint, allowing Adolfo Henriquez to assume that position, with John D. McPherson, a long-time railroad man, continuing as president of the railway itself. By this time, the railroad had long since made peace with its workers.
In late 2007, in a move surprising to many employees and railroad industry observers alike, the FEC was purchased for over US$3 billion (including non-rail assets) by Fortress Investment Group, the principal investors who also control short line railroad operator RailAmerica. John Giles was named chairman, and David Rohal was named president. Both men were also principals with major responsibilities at RailAmerica as well, although the ownership of FEC and RailAmerica were not linked corporately, and the spinoff of RailAmerica as a publicly traded company did not include FEC.
In May 2010, James Hertwig was named as president and chief executive officer of the company effective July 1, 2010. Hertwig had recently retired from CSX, most recently having served as president of CSX Intermodal, one of CSX's major operating units.
James Hertwig retired as president and chief executive officer of the company effective December 31, 2017, and was replaced by Nathan Asplund as the railway was purchased by Grupo México and now manages it along with its other transport interests.
Operations
The FEC operations today are dominated by "intermodal" trains and unit rock (limestone) trains. Passenger service was discontinued in 1968 after labor unrest but later resumed (under a different operator) with the introduction of Brightline in 2018.
The company's major income-earning sources are its rock trains, transporting primarily limestone, and intermodal trains. FEC freight trains operate on precise schedules. Trains are not held for missed connections or late loadings. Most of the trains are paired so that they leave simultaneously from their starting points and meet halfway through the run and swap crews, so they are back home at the end of their runs. The FEC pioneered operation with 2 man crews with no crew districts, which they were able to start doing after the 1963 strike. The entire railroad adopted automatic train control (ATC) after a fatal 1987 collision caused by a crew not obeying signaling. .
FEC has what is called by some a "prime" railroad right-of-way. The heavy weight of the rock trains required very good trackage and bridges. The railroad has mostly 136 pound-per-yard (66 kg/m) continuous-welded rail attached to concrete ties, which sits on a high quality granite roadbed. The entire railroad is controlled by centralized traffic control with constant radio communication. Because the railroad has only minor grades, it takes very little horsepower to pull very long trains at speed. trains are a normal FEC operating standard.
Passenger service
The FEC was already in the freight-only business when Amtrak was created and assumed passenger operations of nearly all U.S. railroads' passenger services in 1971. Periodically, there has been speculation that the southern end of the FEC line might be used for a commuter rail service to complement the existing Tri-Rail line (which follows former CSX tracks to the west). There has also been some discussion about Amtrak or the State of Florida using FEC lines for a more direct route between Jacksonville and Miami. The company has more recently indicated that it is open to allowing commuter rail services along its lines, with potential service areas in Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Jacksonville's First Coast Commuter Rail.
In March 2012 FEC Industries (not FEC Railway) proposed a privately owned and operated service between Miami and Orlando along its route, to be named All Aboard Florida. New high speed trackage would be built between Brevard County (the oceanside county east of Orlando) and Orlando International Airport. In addition to the new track, the main line is once again being expanded to double track from Brevard County to Miami (some of the bridges still have adequate width from the previous double track). In 2014 the very first beginnings of All Aboard Florida commenced with studies and actual construction of the first phase, and construction began in November 2014. In 2015, AAF announced they would operate the service under the name Brightline. Since 2018, Brightline has had service on an initial stretch between West Palm Beach and Miami, with a station in Fort Lauderdale in between. In 2022, two additional stations in Boca Raton and Aventura were added. A new railway extension to Orlando International Airport started service in 2023, and a future rail expansion to Tampa is currently in the planning stages.
Rock trains
A lifeblood of the FEC is its transportation of high-grade limestone, which is used in the formulation for concrete and other construction purposes. The limestone is quarried near Miami in the "Lake Belt" area of Dade County and Broward County just west of Hialeah. The rock trains come out of the FEC yard at Medley in Miami-Dade County and the southern end of the FEC service area. Shipments currently are principally for materials dealers Titan and Rinker.
Rinker has since been sold and is now part of the multi-national Cemex. Rock train traffic dropped dramatically in 2008 with the elimination of all but one dedicated rock train. Other rock loads are now added onto other regular trains. Up until mid 2017, only one rock train remained, which is called the "unit train" and operates between Miami and City Point. Since then, rock traffic has rebounded, and the railroad has since added a second unit rock train which handles Ft. Pierce bound rock.
Intermodal services
The intermodal traffic includes interchanged shipments with CSX and Norfolk Southern, participation in EMP container service operated by UP and Norfolk Southern, United Parcel Service (UPS) piggyback trailers, trailers going to the Wal-Mart distribution center at Fort Pierce, and intermodal shipping container traffic through the ports of Miami, Port Everglades (adjacent to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and the principal source of imports), Port of Palm Beach/Lake Worth Inlet, and Port Canaveral.
Additionally FEC offers "Hurricane Service" offering trucking companies the opportunity of having their trailers piggybacked out of Jacksonville to save the expensive cost of back-hauling empty trailers.
Starting in 2012 the FEC began an aggressive project to reopen direct rail service to the ports of Miami, and Port Everglades. This is in anticipation of the expansion of the Panama Canal and the expected increase of intermodal traffic. In 2013 the drawbridge at the Port of Miami was repaired and reactivated and trains began to roll. In 2014 a new container shuttle was put into operation between Hialeah Yard and the Port of Miami. Also in 2014, the new rail lines into Port Everglades were opened, allowing direct access for FEC trains into the port. Further, a new transfer facility in Hialeah Yard will add additional intermodal transfer between trains, trucks, and planes. This facility opened in 2015. Additional capacity improvements are planned at other ports as well as the FEC's mainline.
Other freight
The FEC also hauls normal "manifest" freight to and from points along its right of way. These cars are hauled on whatever train is going that way, so intermodal and rock trains routinely have some manifest cars in their consists.
Additionally, the FEC currently transports Tropicana Products "Juice Train" cars to and from one of the company's processing facilities located on the "K" Line. The Juice Train concept was developed by Tropicana founder Anthony T. Rossi in conjunction with Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (a CSX predecessor) beginning in 1970.
Motive power
The FEC completed its "second generation" dieselization with the purchase of 49 GP40s and GP40-2s and 11 GP38-2s, ranging in the 400's. Most of these locomotives were extensively rebuilt, with others being retired. In 2002, the FEC acquired 20 ex-UP SD40-2s, which were numbered in the 700s. These ex-UP locomotives remained in their original colors with FEC markings; however, as of 2014 seven of them had been repainted into the "retro" Champion scheme. As of 2015 most of these were leased to CSXT.
In 2006 the FEC leased four SD70M-2's numbered in the 100 series (100-103), in a blue and yellow livery known by fans as the "Classic" or the "Alaskan" schemes. In 2009 when RailAmerica came into the picture, they added four more SD70M-2's (104-107) in the red, pearl, and blue scheme, which was the standard RailAmerica scheme. That brought the total SD70M-2 count to eight.
Seeking further power improvements, in 2009, the FEC leased three CITX SD70M-2's, making the count now of 11 of the big EMD's. These locomotives were numbered 140, 141 and 142; all were blue and white striped units. All of the SD70M-2's served on the railway until the end of 2014, when they were replaced with new power. The fleet GP38-2s were used principally for yard and road switching as well as the occasional local. The others were used as available in road service. Some test runs were made to observe the effect on fuel consumption of dynamic braking and combinations of new and old power.
In 2014 the railway purchased 24 GE ES44C4s, its first General Electric and AC powered locomotives. All of the GE's were delivered by the end of 2014, with the first arriving on November 21, 2014. In 2015 the railway began to experiment with LNG fuel that will help with costs and efficiency. With the arrival of the GE's the majority of the FEC's SD40-2's and a number of the SD70M-2's were temporarily leased to CSXT. As of year end 2017, all SD70M-2's had been returned to their respective leasing companies. Most of the SD40-2's remained on the FEC with the exception of leases to other companies.
LNG fuel
FEC is the only US railroad actively using liquefied natural gas, a much cleaner fuel than diesel, to power its 24 dual fuel GE ES44C4 locomotives. The locomotives are used in pairs with an LNG fuel tender between them.
Statistics
In 1925 FEC carried 979 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 261 million passenger miles on (at year-end) 849 miles of road and 1411 miles of track; corresponding numbers for 1970 were 1345, 0, 554 and 1058.
In 2005 FEC owned and operated:
of mainline track between Jacksonville and Miami, Florida
of branch, switching, and other secondary track
of yard track
Flagler Development owned and operated:
64 buildings
7.4 million rentable square feet
Motive fleet
Road numbers Model Notes 100–107, 140–142 EMD SD70M-2 Numbers 104–107 are painted in RailAmerica's red, pearl and blue colors; Numbers 100–103 were sold off to the Vermont Railway and Providence and Worcester. Numbers 140–142 are painted in CITX blue with white stripes. 100–107 were leased from EMD and returned by the end of 2014. 140–142 are leased from CITX and scheduled to be returned by the end of 2014. CSXT leased FEC 104–107 in 2015, but they are now in storage at the FEC New Smyrna Beach Yard. CSXT also leased CITX 140, 141, and 142 but have been returned to the leaser. 401–410 EMD GP40 402 wrecked, parts traded in for #424. Reportedly, #406 was painted yellow, red & black and numbered 2000. 406 / 2000 along with the 403 left the property in 2013. FEC 2000 and 403 were the last pure GP40's left on the railway. All other GP40's have been scrapped or sent off to various RailAmerica roads. 411–414, 16–18, 20–22, 24–27, 29–38, 40 and 443 EMD GP40-2 423 reblt to #437; 426 on the cover of country musician Randy Dukes’ album Riding the Rails. 416 repainted into the 1960s "retro blue" in 2013 and a number of others have followed. FEC 434 was the very last GP40-2 ever built by EMD and is still in service on the railway. 412 and 414 have been repainted into a new livery applied by new owner Grupo México. 415, 419, 428, 439, 441 EMD GP40-3 444–449 EMD GP40-3 Rebuilt GP40s; dynamic brake equipped. Off the property. 501–511 EMD GP38-2502 acquired by Chesapeake & Albemarle Railroad. 503 and 504 acquired by North Carolina & Virginia Railroad. 501 and 507 have been repainted into "retro blue". 505 and 506 to the South Carolina Central RR. 509 acquired by Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad. 701–720 EMD SD40-2 Ex-Union Pacific; Nos 703, 711, 713, 714, 715, 716 & 720 were overhauled & repainted into a yellow, red and black scheme. These units are painted in what is referred to as the "Champion" scheme that was used on the FEC E-units. Unit 701 was completely destroyed after a derailment on May 9, 2009. All SD40-2 units except for 711 and 715 were being used by CSX as leasers in 2015–2016 and have returned to FEC. 2000 EMD GP40 Originally numbered 406 and was a commemorative unit painted in "champion-esque" yellow, red and black. This unit left the property in 2013. Progress Rail 3576 & 3578 EMD SD40-2 Progress Rail 9917 EMD SD40-2 800–823 GE ES44C4 Delivered in November–December 2014; painted in the "champion" scheme.
Awards and recognition
On May 16, 2006, FEC was the recipient of the Gold E. H. Harriman Award for safety in Group C (line-haul railroad companies with fewer than 4 million employee hours per year).
Corporate history
The Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company was incorporated under the general incorporation laws of Florida to own and operate a railroad from Jacksonville in Duval county, through the counties of Duval, St. Johns, Putnam, Volusia, Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Dade, Polk and Hillsborough.
Florida state law chapter 4260, approved May 31, 1893, granted land to the railroad. At that time, it was already in operation from Jacksonville to Rockledge, the part south of Daytona having been constructed by them. The company had just filed a certificate changing and extending its lines on and across the Florida Keys to Key West in Monroe County.
The name was changed to the Florida East Coast Railway Company on September 7, 1895.
Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) incorporated in 1983 and was made the holding company for the Railway and the Commercial Realty/Flagler Development Company in 1984. The other subsidiaries are Orlando-based carrier, "EPIK Communication" and the logistics firm, "International Transit".
FECI began operating independently of the St. Joe Company on October 9, 2000 when St. Joe shareholders were given FECI stock.
On May 8, 2007, Florida East Coast Railway Company's parent, FECI, announced that FECI would be purchased with private equity funds managed by Fortress Investment Group in a transaction valued at $3.5 billion. Fortress Investment acquired Florida East Coast Railway from Florida East Coast Industries in March 2008.
On July 7, 2017, Grupo México Transportes, subsidiary of Grupo México, completed the acquisition of Florida East Coast Railway. FECI retained their passenger trackage rights, which are now used for Brightline.
Main line
At its greatest extent, Florida East Coast Railway's Main Line ran from Jacksonville via Miami to Key West, a distance of over 500 miles. Today, the Main Line continues to run from Jacksonville to Miami.
Prior to 1925, the main line deviated from its current route between St. Augustine and Bunnell. From St. Augustine, it ran southwest to East Palatka on the St. Johns River before turning back southeast to Bunnell. In 1925, the Moultrie Cutoff was built to reroute the main line on to a more direct route from St. Augustine to Bunnell, bypassing the inland swing to East Palatka. The original main line remained in service after the Moultrie Cutoff was complete, but it was downgraded to branch status (Palatka Branch) and is now mostly abandoned. The milepost numbers on the main line still reflect the original route, causing the mileposts to abruptly jump from 67 to 86.4 in Bunnell today.
In 1926, the main line was double-tracked between Jacksonville and Miami in response to the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Bridges were rebuilt and Automatic Block Signals were also installed at the same time.
The Key West Extension was destroyed by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and was not rebuilt with Florida City subsequently becoming the new southern terminus. The Overseas Highway (US 1) largely runs along the former Key West Extension right of way today.
In 1972, four years after the discontinuation of FEC's passenger services, work began to restore the main line to single track with passing sidings every 10 miles and Centralized traffic control. Also in 1972, FEC abandoned the main line from Miami south to Kendall, which included the demolition of the swing bridge over the Miami River in downtown Miami. The FEC sold the right of way of this abandoned segment to Miami-Dade Transit in 1979, who then built the southern half of Miami's Metrorail on the former right of way. Main line track from Kendall to Florida City remained in service at this time since it could still be accessed through the Little River Branch. By 1989, the remaining main line track from Kendall to Florida City (which had been the southern terminus since the abandonment of the Key West Extension in 1935) was abandoned. Today, the South Miami Dade Busway and South Dade Rail Trail run on the former right of way from Kendall to Florida City.
With the reintroduction of passenger service on the FEC via Brightline in the 2010s, most of the main line has once again been expanded to double track. Double track from Miami to West Palm Beach was completed in late 2017. Double track from West Palm Beach to Titusville has been completed as part of Brightline's second phase. Many bridges have been rebuilt along this segment as part of the project, despite the fact that many of the older bridges still have adequate width from the previous double track.
Kissimmee Valley Line
The Kissimmee Valley Line, also known as the Okeechobee Branch, ran from just south of New Smyrna Beach through the Kissimmee Valley roughly paralleling the main line. Branching off the Main Line at Edgewater, it headed southwest to Maytown, where it crossed the Enterprise Branch. From Maytown, it turned south and headed through largely rural agricultural land to Okeechobee, a small town on the north side of Lake Okeechobee. South of Holopaw, the line roughly parallels US 441.
Construction began at Maytown on February 25, 1911, and was completed to Okeechobee in 1915. The line was extended north from Maytown to Edgewater (just south of New Smyrna Beach) in 1916 to have its own connection to the Main Line.
By 1923, the branch was extended from Okeechobee southeast and around the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee to Belle Glade. The Interstate Commerce Commission had authorized the FEC to extend the line as far as Hialeah to connect with the South Florida network, but it was never built south of Belle Glade. The line was instead extended from Belle Glade west to South Bay and Lake Harbor on the south side of the lake at the Miami Canal in 1929. Here, it connected with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Haines City Branch.
In 1947, the Kissimmee Valley Line was abandoned from Maytown to Marcy since it ended up not generating the agricultural traffic it had hoped to. At the same time, the remaining line south of Marcy to Lake Harbor was connected to the Main Line at Fort Pierce and is now part of the Lake Harbor Branch.
Lake Harbor Branch
The Lake Harbor Branch (K Branch) runs from Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County to Lake Harbor in Palm Beach County. It basically serves the sugar farms in Palm Beach and Hendry Counties. It branches off the main line in Fort Pierce and heads southwest to Marcy, where it turns south along Lake Okeechobee. At Lake Harbor, it connects to the South Central Florida Express's main line (a former CSX branch). South Central Florida Express began leasing the line from FEC in 1998 and now fully operates the line from milepost K 15 south. FEC serves local customers on the line from milepost K 15 north, with South Central Florida Express having trackage rights from there into Fort Pierce Yard on the main line. They also have a car haulage arrangement with FEC to Jacksonville to interchange with CSX and Norfolk Southern.
The Lake Harbor Branch was originally built in the 1920s and was the southernmost segment of the Kissimmee Valley Line until 1947, when the Glades Cutoff from Marcy to Fort Pierce was built and the rest of the Kissimmee Valley Line to the north was abandoned.
Little River Branch (Miami Belt Line)
The Little River Branch connects to the main line near Little River and heads south west toward Hialeah, where it turns south towards Hialeah Yard and Miami International Airport. The line sees significant freight traffic since Hialeah Yard has been FEC's main yard for the Miami area since the closure of Buena Vista Yard on the main line. The branch currently ends just south of the airport at Oleander Junction, where it connects with CSX's Homestead Subdivision and the South Florida Rail Corridor. An industrial spur also runs northwest from the line near Medley. The line was realigned in the 1980s to accommodate the extension of Runway 9/27 at Miami International Airport.
Built in 1923, the Little River Branch (also known as the Miami Belt Line) was historically a freight bypass around downtown Miami when the FEC main line continued south to Homestead and Florida City. The branch continued south past its current terminus at the airport and reconnected with the main line at Larkin, just north of Kendall. The line was double-tracked north of Hialeah Yard in 1925. When construction of the line was authorized by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1923, the line from Little River to Hialeah was intended to be part of the extension of the Kissimmee Valley Line with track south to Larkin authorized as a branch line. The southern extension of the Kissimmee Valley Line was never built.
The branch was abandoned south of Oleander Junction in 2002. This abandoned segment is currently planned to become the Ludlam Trail linear park.
Palm Beach Branch
The Palm Beach branch was built to serve Flagler's hotels on Palm Beach island. When first built in 1895, the Palm Beach Branch ran from the main line east through West Palm Beach between Banyan Boulevard and Second Street (known then as Althea Street). It crossed the Lake Worth Lagoon and on to Palm Beach Island just south of Flagler's Royal Poinciana Hotel. The branch had passenger stations at both the Royal Poinciana and The Breakers, Flagler's other hotel on Palm Beach Island. The original branch was essentially the end of the FEC before the main line was extended south to Miami in 1896.
In 1902, Flagler's built his estate Whitehall for his wife Mary. Whitehall was across the branch's tracks from the Royal Poinciana Hotel. The estate's proximity to the branch prompted Mary to complain about the noise and smoke coming from trains at Whitehall. In response, Flagler promptly had the branch removed and relocated with a new trestle over Lake Worth Lagoon four blocks north. The branch then connected to the hotels on their north side and the bridge also included a pedestrian walkway for hotel patrons. The branch would remain service until 1935 when it was abandoned, a year after the closure of the Royal Poinciana Hotel.
After its removal, the former trestle became a toll bridge, which was replaced by the Flagler Memorial Bridge in 1938 (which carried State Road A1A until 2017 when a new bridge replaced the 1938 span). Much of the former right of way of this branch is still owned by the Town of Palm Beach.
Palatka Branch
The Palatka Branch (P Branch) ran from Moultrie Junction (just outside of St. Augustine) southwest to East Palatka before turning back southeast and reconnecting with the main line at Bunnell. There was also a spur with a bridge across the St. Johns River into Palatka, where there was a junction with the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway and the Florida Southern Railway (which would both become part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's network).
The Palatka Branch was built by predecessors St. Johns Railway, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway, and the St. Johns and Halifax River Railroad which all became the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895. The line was the Florida East Coast Railway's main line until the construction of the Moultrie Cutoff in 1925. After the completion of the Moultrie Cutoff between St. Augustine and Bunnell, the original main line though East Palatka remained in service and became the Palatka Branch.
The connection to Palatka and the bridge over the St. Johns River was removed in 1950, and track from East Palatka to Bunnell was abandoned in 1972. In 1983, track was abandoned from East Palatka to Hastings. The rest of the branch from Hastings was later abandoned in 1988 and all rail was removed to a point just west of I-95 near Vermont Heights. In 2001, rail service resumed up to this point and track was rehabilitated when new industries were located there. A daily local serves the eastern end of the line today known as the Wilber Wright Industrial Lead. Some of the right-of-way is now the Palatka-to-St. Augustine State Trail.
Enterprise Branch
The former Enterprise Branch (E Branch) was built in 1885 by the Atlantic Coast, St. Johns and Indian River Railroad and leased to the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railroad (JT&KW), one of the Plant System railroads. Initially, the westernmost five miles (8 km) served as a connection from the JT&KW main line at Benson Junction (known then as Enterprise Junction) to Enterprise, a port for steamboat traffic down the St. Johns River. Later, the line was extended southeast from Enterprise through Osteen, Kalamazoo, and Mims to Titusville. In Titusville, it connected to the St. Johns and Halifax River Railway, which would become the Florida East Coast Railway main line. The Enterprise Branch would also cross the Kissimmee Valley Line at Maytown, which was built in 1911.
A steam locomotive pulled the first train over the line onto the wharf on the Indian River at Titusville on the afternoon of December 30, 1885, and greatly accelerated the transportation of passengers, produce, seafood, and supplies to and from central Florida. While Titusville thrived thanks to this new transportation connection, Enterprise lost stature as a steamboat port, since Henry Plant's railroad paralleled the St. Johns River and greatly reduced travel times to Jacksonville.
During the winter of 1894–95, a widespread freeze hit twice, decimating the citrus crop and ruining that part of Florida's economy. This allowed Henry Flagler to acquire the line at a discount to piece together what became the Florida East Coast Railway.
The track of the E Branch was removed from Benson Junction to Aurantia in 1972, ending directly under the Interstate 95 overpass. The crossing gates and signals between Titusville and Aurantia were removed before the summer 2004 hurricanes and track was later removed by a steel salvage company. By 2008, all remaining track of the E Branch had been removed.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection took ownership of the rail bed on December 31, 2007. East Central Regional Rail Trail and the Florida Coast to Coast Trail now run along the former right of way.
Cape Canaveral Branch
In 1963, FEC built a branch from the main line from just north of Titusville east to Cape Canaveral. The branch included a causeway and drawbridge over the Indian River and ran to a point known as Wilson's Corner. The branch was built to serve the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and what would become Kennedy Space Center.
FEC built two yards along the branch: Jay Jay Yard at the junction with the FEC main line, and Wilson Yard at Wilson's Corner. The US Army Corps of Engineers then built the NASA Railroad beyond Wilson's Corner with a line to the Vehicle Assembly Building and another line to the launch pads. The FEC would use the branch to deliver equipment to NASA for the Apollo program.
In 1984, FEC sold its portion of the branch to the NASA Railroad. The NASA Railroad has since been used to deliver segments of the Solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle and the Artemis program.
Ormond Beach Branch
The Ormond Beach Branch was a short branch that ran from the main line in Ormond Beach. It ran east from the main line over the Halifax River to the Ormond Hotel, which opened in 1888. Flagler acquired the Ormond Hotel in 1888 and expanded it to 600 rooms. The Ormond Beach Branch was built by the Ormond Bridge Company as a branch of the St. Johns and Halifax River Railroad (the original builder of the main line from East Palatka to Daytona) in 1887. The branch would also run past The Casements, which would be the winter home of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and Flagler's former business partner. The Ormond Beach Branch was abandoned in 1932.
Fellsmere Branch
The former Fellsmere Branch ran from the main line at Sebastian west to Fellsmere. It was originally built by the Sebastian & Cincinnatus Railroad in 1896. In 1909, it was run by the Fellsmere Farms Company. In 1924, the line was taken over by the Trans-Florida Central Railroad. It was abandoned in 1952.
Orange City Branch
The former Orange City Branch (also known as the Atlantic and Western Branch) ran from New Smyrna Beach west to Orange City and Blue Spring on the St. Johns River. The branch was built by the Blue Spring, Orange City and Atlantic Railroad. In 1888, it became the Atlantic and Western Railroad. It later became part of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway, which changed its name to the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895. The line was in use until 1930.
Tocoi Branch
The railroad from Tocoi to Tocoi Junction (just west of St. Augustine), was built by the St. Johns Railway, an FEC predecessor (the original main line from Tocoi Junction to St. Augustine was also part of this line). The St. Johns Railway was built in 1858, making it the first FEC predecessor to be constructed. The Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway took it over by 1894, and changed its name to the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895. The Tocoi Branch was abandoned in April 1896, a year after the network was named the Florida East Coast Railway. This made the Tocoi Branch the first track to be abandoned by FEC. The right of way was later used for SR 95, which became State Road 214 at some time after the 1945 Florida State Road renumbering, and is now County Road 214.
Flagler Beach Branch
The railroad from Flagler Beach to Dorena, north of Bunnell, was built by the Lehigh Portland Cement Company in 1953. The line connected to the Lehigh Portland Cement Company Plant located near Flagler Beach. The line was abandoned in 1963, after a deadly strike erupted in that year that closed the massive plant. The site of the old plant was where some of the monorail beams were assembled for Walt Disney World Monorail System in the early 1970s. The route is now part of the rails to trails system. The plant has been demolished outside of one smokestack that will become a "lighthouse" for a new development. Some remains of the yard can be found in the woods near the eastern end of the Lehigh Greenway Rail Trail, which runs along the former right of way.
San Mateo Branch
The former San Mateo Branch ran from the main line just southeast of East Palatka south to San Mateo. It was built as a branch of the St. Johns and Halifax River Railroad (who built the original main line from East Palatka to Daytona) in 1892. The San Mateo Branch was abandoned in 1942.
Mayport Branch
This was originally built by the Jacksonville and Atlantic Railroad, a narrow gauge line from Jacksonville to Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville Beach). In late 1899 it was bought by Henry Flagler, who had the line converted to and extended it north along the coast to Mayport. The new branch opened in March 1900 and was abandoned in October 1932.
Family tree
Florida East Coast Railway – formed September 13, 1895, as a renaming of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railroad; still exists
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railroad – formed October 6, 1892, as a renaming of the FC&G; renamed the Florida East Coast Railway September 13, 1895
Florida Coast and Gulf Railway – formed May 28, 1892; renamed the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railroad October 6, 1892
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway – formed February 28, 1881, as a renaming of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railroad; merged with the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railroad October 31, 1892
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railroad – formed March 1879; renamed the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway February 28, 1881
St. Augustine and Palatka Railway – formed September 1, 1885; merged with the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railroad 1893
Historic stations
Main Line
MilepostCityStationConnections and notes0.0JacksonvilleJacksonvillerebuilt in 1919 as Jacksonville Union Terminaljunction with:1.3junction with Mayport Branch5.0Bowden Yard9.3Nesbit12.8Greenland15.2Bayard20.6Durbin24.2Woodland27.3Sampson31.4Magnolia Grove36.7St. Augustine37.0Moultrie Junctionnorth junction with Moultrie Cutoff40.0Tocoi Junctionjunction with Tocoi Branch44.2Hurds47.1ElktonElkton49.0ArmstrongArmstrong53.7HastingsHastings57.4Orange MillsOrange Mills61.5East PalatkaEast PalatkaPalatkaPalatkalocated on a spur across the St. Johns Riverjunction with:62.8San Mateo Junctionjunction with San Mateo Branch66.6YelvingtonYelvington68.8Roy76.4Dinner Island80.3Neoga82.3EspanolaEspanola86.6BunnellBunnellsouth junction with Moultrie Cutoff90.1DupontDupont97.6Harwood99.0VolusiaVolusia101.4Tomoka104.2OrmondOrmond107.0Holly HillHolly Hill109.8Daytona BeachDaytona112.5South DaytonaBlake114.7Port OrangePort Orange119.3Spruce Creek121.3Turnbull Bay124.6New Smyrnajunction with Atlantic and Western Branch127.1EdgewaterHawkes Parklater renamed Edgewaterjunction with Kissimmee Valley Line131.0Hucomer136.4Oak HillOak Hill143.2Lyrata143.5ScottsmoorScottsmoor150.4East Mims151.3TitusvilleJay Jayalso known as Cape Canaveral Junctionjunction with NASA Railroad154.4TitusvilleTitusvillejunction with Enterprise Branch157.7Pritchards162.6Delespine165.4Frontenac167.7Sharpes169.3City Point173.1CocoaCocoalater replaced by Cocoa-Rockledge station
to be rebuilt nearby by Brightline as the Cocoa station174.4RockledgeRockledgeRockledge Hotelslocated on a spur across Indian River179.4Bonaventure182.7Pineda189.8MelbourneEau Gallie190.7Sarno194.2Melbourne197.4Palm BayTillmanlater renamed Palm Bay199.9MalabarMalabar203.3Grant-ValkariaValkaria205.5Grant208.6Micco212.4Roseland214.5SebastianSebastianjunction with Fellsmere Branch219.3Wabasso221.9Quay225.5Gifford227.8Vero BeachVero231.1Oslo234.6Viking238.9St. Lucie VillageSt. Lucie241.5Fort PierceFort Piercejunction with Lake Harbor Branch246.4White City247.2Eldred249.0Ankona252.4Walton254.4Eden256.7JensenJensen258.8Rio260.5Gosling261.2StuartStuartto be rebuilt nearby by Brightline as the Stuart station266.0Salerno266.3Aberdeen268.7Fruita272.2Gomez274.7Hobe Soundmoved to a grove on Bridge Road west of Hobe Sound and still extant (Land purchased and developed into the Hobe Sound Polo Club and the old station now serves as the grounds office)277.8Likely283.3JupiterJupiterlater moved to 479 Seabrook Road, Tequesta to be used as a house. Now facing demolition.290.5Palm Beach GardensMonetrenamed Palm Beach Gardens293.3Lake ParkKelsey Cityrenamed Lake Park295.3Riviera BeachRiviera299.0West Palm BeachWest Palm Beachjunction with Palm Beach Branchrebuilt a short distance south of original in 2018 by Brightline as the West Palm Beach station300.0Palm BeachRoyal Poincianalocated on Palm Beach Branch300.1Breakers306.1Lake WorthLake Worth308.3LantanaLantana309.4HypoluxoHypoluxo312.3Boynton BeachBoynton316.9Delray BeachDelray321.3Boca RatonYamato324.6Boca Ratonrestored and functioning as a museum
nearby the Brightline Boca Raton station327.0Deerfield BeachDeerfield331.1Pompano BeachPompano338.3Colohatchee341.2Fort LauderdaleFort Lauderdalerebuilt nearby in 2018 by Brightline as the Fort Lauderdale station343.3Port Everglades Junctionjunction with Port Everglades Belt Line Railroad345.9DaniaDania350.6Hallandale BeachHallandale353.4OjusOjusrebuilt nearby in 2022 by Brightline as the Aventura station354.7North Miami BeachFulford357.4Arch Creek359.0Biscayne360.6MiamiLittle Rivernorth junction with Little River Branch361.8Lemon Cityknown today as Little Haiti363.2Buena Vista365.4Miamirebuilt in 2018 as MiamiCentral370.9Coconut Grove373.7Larkinsouth junction with Little River Branch376.4KendallKendall378.6Benson379.0Keys380.2Rockdale381.6PerrinePerrinelocated just northwest of Cutler Bay382.5PetersPeters385.8GouldsGoulds386.7Black Point387.8PrincetonPrinceton389.3NaranjaNaranja391.5Leisure CityModello393.9HomesteadHomestead395.6Florida CityFlorida City Key West Extension408.3Everglade415.4Jewfish417.1Key Largo424.3Rock Harbor430.8Tavernier434.5IslamoradaPlantation438.2Quarrynow the location of Theater of the Sea439.9Islamorada442.0Matecumbe445.3Indian Key447.6Midway449.2Lower Matecumbe450.6Craig455.0Crescent457.2Long Keylocation of Long Key Fishing Camp460.1Tom's Harbor463.9MarathonGrassy470.8Vaca474.2Marathon476.8Knights Key Dock474.2Pigeon Key484.0Missouri Key485.2Bahia Honda488.7Spanish Harbor491.9Big Pine Key495.0Torch Key495.8Ramrod Key499.9Cudjoe Key503.0Sugarloafalso known as Perky512.2Big Coppitt514.8Boca Chica Key518.2Stock Island522.0Key WestKey Westlocated on Trumbo Point
Kissimmee Valley Line
MilepostCityStationConnections and notes0.0EdgewaterEdgewater Junctionjunction with Main Line9.5CreightonCreighton17.6MaytownMaytownjunction with Enterprise Branch24.0Osceola28.8GenevaGeneva35.9ChuluotaChuluota39.4BithloBithlo47.1Pocataw51.5WewahoteeNarcoossee59.1Salofka64.9TohopkeeMail service terminated 192771.2Holopaw79.8IllahawMail service terminated 193584.7NittawMail service terminated 193590.0Kenansvillenamed for Henry Flagler's third wife, Mary Lily Kenan96.1Apoxsee99.1Lokosee106.1Yeehawcurrently known as Yeehaw Junction112.6Osawaw118.9Fort Drum122.9Hilocurrently known as Hilolo127.7Efal131.8Opal139.1OkeechobeeOkeechobeejunction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Miami Subdivision For stations south of Okeechobee, see Lake Harbor Branch
Lake Harbor Branch
MilepostCityStationConnections and notesK 0.0Fort PierceFort Piercejunction with Main LineK 14.0CanaK 28.5Marcyjunction with:K 14.0MantolaK 38.2BessemerK 40.0Port MayacaPort MayacaK 45.1Sand CutK 49.7Canal PointCanal PointK 52.5Pelican LakePelican LakeK 55.6CardwellK 57.6RunyonRunyonK 61.6Belle GladeBelle Glade-ChosenK 63.0DahlbergK 64.5South BaySouth BayK 70.9Lake Harborjunction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Haines City Branch
Little River Branch
MilepostCityStation Connections and notesLR 0.0 MiamiLittle Riverjunction with Main LineLR 4.6 HialeahIrisjunction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Miami Subdivision (SFRC/CSX)LR 8.5 Hialeah YardLR 11.8 Oleanderjunction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Homestead Subdivision (CSX)LR 14.7 Tropical ParkLR 18.0 Kendall Junction (Larkin)junction with Main Line
Enterprise Branch
MilepostCityStationConnections and notesE 0.0TitusvilleTitusvillejunction with Main LineE 2.1LaGrangeE 4.3MimsMimsE 9.4AurantiaAurantiaE 16.5MaytownMaytown Junctionjunction with Kissimmee Valley LineE 16.8MaytownE 21.2Cow CreekE 23.5FarmtonFarmtonE 29.5OsteenOsteenE 36.3EnterpriseEnterpriseE 40.1Benson Junctionjunction with Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway (ACL)
See also
Grupo México
Boca Express Train Museum
Florida tourism industry
Notable passenger trains operated over FEC rails: (sponsoring railroads and destinations)
Champion-east coast section (Atlantic Coast Line, New York City)
City of Miami (Illinois Central, Chicago)
Dixie Flagler (Louisville & Nashville, Chicago & St. Louis)
Dixie Flyer (Louisville & Nashville, Chicago & St. Louis)
Ponce de Leon (Southern Railway, Cincinnati)
Royal Palm (Southern Railway, Cincinnati)
South Wind (Louisville & Nashville, Chicago)
References
Citations
|
Patrick McCarthy (publisher)
|
[
"1951 births",
"2019 deaths",
"Businesspeople from Boston",
"Businesspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts",
"American publishers (people)",
"American magazine editors",
"Stanford University alumni",
"Boston University alumni",
"20th-century American businesspeople"
] | 330 | 2,685 |
Patrick McCarthy (June 6, 1951 – February 24, 2019) was chairman and editorial director of W magazine and Women's Wear Daily (WWD).
Born in Dedham, Massachusetts, he graduated from Boston University as an undergraduate and from Stanford University's graduate journalism school in 1973 then began his career at Fairchild Publications at WWD in London. When Fairchild retired in 1997, he selected McCarthy as his successor in the roles of chairman and editorial director. McCarthy spent his entire professional life with the company, seeing it through its first acquisition by Disney and then its 1999 sale to Condé Nast.
McCarthy died on February 24, 2019, aged 67, following a short illness. He is survived by a sister and three nieces.
Quotes
McCarthy told Michael Gross in a New York magazine cover article:
When asked whether some punishments were arbitrary, McCarthy told Gross "Absolutely. Bite the hand that feeds you. Never stop biting it. And you know what? It will feed you more."
|
Philippine Guarantee Corporation
|
[
"Department of Finance (Philippines)",
"Government-owned and controlled corporations of the Philippines",
"Export credit agencies",
"Foreign trade of the Philippines",
"Establishments by Philippine presidential decree"
] | 822 | 7,745 |
The Philippine Guarantee Corporation (PHILGUARANTEE) is the Philippine export credit agency providing trade finance. It is setup as a government-owned and controlled corporation attached to the Department of Finance. Formerly known as the Philippine Export–Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM), it is the principal agency for state guarantee finance of the Philippines. The primary objective is to perform development financing roles through the provision of credit guarantees in support of trade and investments, exports, infrastructure, energy, tourism, agricultural business, modernization, housing, micro-enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises and other priority sectors of the economy, with the end in view of facilitating and promoting socio-economic and regional development.
The corporation is the result of the merger and consolidation of five Philippine Guarantee programs and agencies pursuant to Executive Order No. 58, series of 2018.
History
The organization was originally created by Presidential Decree 1080 on January 31, 1977, under the name Philippine Export and Foreign Loan Guarantee Corporation to provide guarantees and facilitate the entry of foreign loans for development projects. On February 12, 1998, its area of operation was expanded and its name accordingly changed to Trade and Investment Development Corporation of the Philippines by Republic Act No. 8494. It was re-titled again through an Executive Order 85 on March 18, 2002, to Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM).
On July 23, 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the merger of the Home Guaranty Corporation and PhilEXIM to prevent operational redundancies, standardize policies, facilitate timely approvals, and lower administrative costs. The order transferred the guarantee functions, programs, and funds of the Small Business Corporation and the administration of the Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool and the Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund to the PhilExim, the surviving entity in the amalgamation of the five Philippine Guarantee Programs and Agencies. It also authorized capital stock of the PhilExim to be increased from Php10 billion to Php50 billion while the equity contributions of the national government to the Home Guaranty Corporation, IGLF, and AGFP will be transferred to the PhilExim to form part of its paid-up capital. To reflect the centralized nature of the merged guarantee functions, the PhilEXIM was renamed Philippine Guarantee Corporation.
|
A. G. Gaston
|
[
"1892 births",
"1996 deaths",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"20th-century African-American businesspeople",
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"American men centenarians",
"American chief executives",
"Businesspeople from Birmingham, Alabama",
"People from Demopolis, Alabama",
"Writers from Birmingham, Alabama",
"Birmingham campaign"
] | 2,181 | 19,899 |
Arthur George Gaston (July 4, 1892 – January 19, 1996) was an American entrepreneur who established businesses in Birmingham, Alabama. He had a significant role in the movement to remove legal barriers to integration in Birmingham in 1963. In his lifetime, Gaston's companies were some of the most prominent African-American businesses in the American South.
Early life
The grandson of an enslaved person, A.G. Gaston was born on July 4, 1892, in Demopolis, Alabama to Tom and Rosa (McDonald) Gaston. Gaston's father died while he was still an infant. He grew up in a log cabin with his mother and grandparents, Joe and Idella Gaston. He moved to Birmingham in 1905 with the Loveman family, who employed his mother as a cook.
Gaston's formal education ended with the 10th grade. After earning his certificate from the Tuggle Institute (which only went through the 10th grade), he served in the army in France during World War I and then went to work in the mines run by Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in Fairfield and Westfield, Alabama.
Business growth
While working in the mines, he hit on the plan of selling lunches to his fellow miners and then branched into loaning money to them at 25% interest. While working in the mines he also conceived of the idea of offering burial insurance to co-workers having noticed that mine widows would come to the mines and to local churches to collect donations in order to bury their husbands and he wondered if people would "give a few dimes into a burial society to bury their dead". As a result, Gaston formed the Booker T. Washington Burial Insurance Company in 1923, which became the Booker T. Washington Insurance Company in 1932.
In 1938, Gaston bought and renovated a property on the edge of Kelly Ingram Park in downtown Birmingham, where, in partnership with his father-in-law, A. L. Smith, he started the Smith & Gaston Funeral Home. Smith & Gaston sponsored gospel music programs on local radio stations and launched a quartet of its own.
Realizing that there were not enough black people with sufficient training to be able to work in the insurance and funeral industries, in 1939 he and his second wife, Minnie L. Gardner Gaston, established the Booker T. Washington business school. (His first wife, Creola Smith Gaston, died in 1938.) Other Gaston enterprises included Citizens Federal Savings and Loan Association, the first black-owned financial institution in Birmingham in more than forty years. On July 1, 1954, Gaston opened the A.G. Gaston Motel on a site adjoining Kelly Ingram Park.
Political activities
Gaston kept a low political profile through most of the 1940s and 1950s. Although he was reluctant to confront white authorities and the white business establishment directly, he supported the civil rights movement financially. He offered financial support to Autherine Lucy, who had sued to integrate the University of Alabama, and had provided financial assistance to residents of Tuskegee who faced foreclosure because of their role in a boycott of white-owned businesses called to protest their disenfranchisement. When Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a civil rights leader in Birmingham, founded the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in the wake of the outlawing of the NAACP in the State of Alabama in 1956, the group held its first meeting at Smith & Gaston's offices.
When students at Miles College, a historically black college in Fairfield, attempted to use sit-in and boycott tactics to desegregate downtown Birmingham in 1962, Gaston used his position as a member of the board of trustees of the institution to dissuade them from continuing their campaign while he pursued negotiations with them. Those negotiations produced some token changes, but no significant progress toward desegregating the stores or hiring black employees.
When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), represented locally by Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, proposed to support those students' demands in 1963 by widespread demonstrations, challenging both Birmingham's segregation laws and Local Police Commissioner Bull Connor's authority, Gaston opposed the plan and tried to deflect the campaign from public confrontation into negotiations with white business leaders. Gaston posted $5000 bail for Dr. Martin Luther King and Reverend Abernathy when they were arrested.
At the same time, Gaston provided King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy with a room at his motel at a discount, and free meeting rooms at his offices nearby throughout the campaign. He maintained a public show of support for the campaign and not only took part in the meetings with local business leaders, but insisted that Shuttlesworth be brought in since "he's the man with the marbles".
That unity nearly dissolved, however, after Abernathy made comments about alleged "Uncle Toms" and Dr. King made a call for unity on April 9, 1963, that made it clear that he would press forward with his plans for confrontation. Gaston issued a press release in response in which he obliquely criticized King by lamenting the lack of communication between white business leaders and "local colored leadership".
That press release exposed a significant rift between the activists in the Civil Rights Movement. Hosea Williams described Gaston as a "super Uncle Tom" to the press while complaining that he overcharged for his motel rooms—despite the fact that Williams, and other civil rights leaders were staying at Gaston's motel free of charge. The leaders of the movement were eager, however, to avoid any public airing of those differences; Shuttlesworth soon apologized, SCLC leaders treated the press release as an expression of support for their campaign while Dr. King announced creation of a special committee of local leaders, including Gaston, to meet every morning to approve each day's plans.
That committee had no real power, however, as became clear when the movement encouraged school children to march against segregation on May 2, 1963. Gaston protested the strategy, telling King: "Let those kids stay in school. They don't know nothing." King replied, "Brother Gaston, let those people go into the streets where they'll learn something." The demonstrations continued.
Violence against Gaston
Because of his stance as a negotiator, Gaston often faced challenges by proponents from both sides of the civil rights issue.
Gaston remained disaffected from Dr. King, urging him to stay away, in a statement released in September 1963, after Dr. King announced plans to return to Birmingham to resume demonstrations.
On May 11, 1963, four people probably associated with the KKK attempted to blow up the part of the A.G. Gaston Motel where King and Abernathy were staying; the home of Martin Luther King's brother Reverend A. D. King was also bombed. Later that night, the bombings sparked riots by African Americans in the community in a 28-block section of Birmingham. The local police officers and state troopers responded to the crisis and subsequently beat rioters and bystanders. More than fifty people were injured as police were dispatched to clear Kelly Ingram Park.
On September 8, 1963, unidentified persons threw firebombs at Gaston's house, a day after he and his wife had attended a state dinner at the White House with President John F. Kennedy.
On the night of January 24, 1976, Gaston and his wife were kidnapped and beaten by an intruder, and Gaston was abducted in his own car; police officers found him two hours later, bound in the back seat of the car.
Death and legacy
Gaston published a memoir in 1968, coinciding with the founding of the A. G. Gaston Boys club.
Gaston famously said, "I never went into anything with the idea of making money...I thought of doing something, and it would come up and make money. I never thought of trying to get rich."
Gaston died in Birmingham, Alabama, on January 19, 1996, at the age of 103. He left behind an insurance company, the Booker T. Washington Insurance Company; a construction firm, the A.G. Gaston Construction Company, Smith and Gaston Funeral Home, and a financial institution, CFS Bancshares. The City of Birmingham owns the motel. His net worth was estimated to be more than $130,000,000 at the time of his death.
He is the subject of the 2004 biography Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire, written by his niece and grandniece, Carol Jenkins; Elizabeth Gardner Hines.
In 2017, President Barack Obama designated the A.G. Gaston Motel the center of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.
References
Gaston, A. G. (1968), Green Power: The Successful Way of A. G. Gaston. Birmingham: Southern University Press
Carol, Jenkins; Elizabeth Gardner Hines (December 2003). Black Titan, A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire. New York: One World/Ballantine. .
Bailey, Richard, They Too Call Alabama Home By Pyramid Publishing.
from Eyes on the Prize.
Marshall, David (July 1976). "A. G. Gaston: The Story of a Poor Boy From Demopolis Who Became One of the South's Leading Entrepreneurs". Black Enterprise: pp. 31–33.
Chenrow, Fred; Carol Chenrow (1973). Reading Exercises in Black History, Volume 1. Elizabethtown, PA: The Continental Press, Inc. p. 30. .
|
Muhammad al-Imadi
|
[
"1930 births",
"2022 deaths",
"People from Damascus",
"20th-century Syrian economists",
"Ministers of economy of Syria",
"Ministers of state planning of Syria",
"New York University alumni",
"Damascus University alumni"
] | 830 | 6,892 |
Dr. Mohammed al-Imadi (; 1930-2022) was a Syrian technocrat and economist. He is known for introducing economic reforms at a time when Syria's economy was strongly dominated by the socialist ideology of the Ba'ath Party. He is considered to have been the architect of Syria's economic liberalization.
Early life and education
Imadi was born in Damascus on August 31, 1930, to Jawdat al-Imadi (1882–1958) and Yissra al-Hawasli (1898–1969). Imadi studied law at the University of Damascus. In 1955, he was sent on a government scholarship to New York University (NYU) to pursue his higher education in economics. While at NYU in August 1956, he met and married Mildred Elaine Rippey (born 16 April 1934) from Palisades, New York. Imady received his Ph.D. in 1960 with an honorary distinction and returned with his wife and daughter to Damascus.
Early career
Upon his return to Damascus, Imady joined the Ministry of Planning. By 1968, he had been appointed Deputy Minister of Planning. In the late 1960s, he was asked to teach a course on the Economics of War to several generals, including Hafez al-Assad. By 1970 he was the Deputy Minister of Planning, but had secured a position in the UN as chief consultant in Libya. His planned departure however coincided with Assad's rise to power in November 1970.
The 1970s
Imady was asked to stay in Syria, and shortly after was appointed the Minister of State for planning Affairs in March 1972. In 1976, it was Syria’s turn to head the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group Annual Meetings. In his capacity as Minister of Economy, Imady himself chaired this meeting. Imady remained in this position until September 1979, when he was unanimously chosen by the Board of Governors of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development as the President of this institution. Shortly after being confirmed for another 5-year term, Imady was asked to return to Syria after having been chosen again as Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade.
Return to Damascus and professional activities
After his return to Damascus, Imady remained in his position as the Minister of Economy from April 1985 until December 2001, a total of sixteen years and eight months. In addition to the introduction in 1991 of Investment Law No. 10, Imady is also credited with the stabilization of the value of the Syrian pound. In the first cabinet change after Bashar al-Assad, Imady was finally replaced by Dr. Ghassan al-Rifa'i.
After 2001, Imady continued to work professionally at many different establishments, including Dar Al-Naím, an orphanage for Syrian children. He also helped establish the Arab International University (of which Imady served as the Chair of Board of Trustees).
Personal life
Mohammed Imady is known to be a technocrat who never joined the Ba'ath party or any other political organization. He was also known to be committed to his faith, yet liberal in his views. He had three children: Susan Sahar Imady (July 8, 1957), Muna Imady (February 18, 1962 – 2016), and Omar Imady (July 8, 1966). In 2022, Imady died in Damascus aged 91.
Publications
Imady is the author of several works including the following:
Syria's Experience in Trade Liberalization & Policies of Economic Reform: on the Occasion of the 41st Anniversary of the Damascus International Fair, Damascus, 1994Humūm al-tanmiyah: ḥawādith lan ansāhā (The Trials of Development – Events I won't forget) 2002Sūrīyah wa-masīrat al-takāmul al-iqtiṣādī al-ʻArabī (Syria & the movement towards Economic Arab Integration), 2003Taṭawwur al-fikr al-tanmawī fī Sūrīyah'' (The Evolution of Syrian Intellectual Approaches to Development), 2004
|
George Randolph Hearst Jr.
|
[
"1927 births",
"2012 deaths",
"American mass media owners",
"American socialites",
"Hearst family",
"American billionaires",
"United States Army personnel of the Korean War",
"Businesspeople from Los Angeles",
"Military personnel from California",
"United States Army soldiers",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"United States Navy sailors"
] | 627 | 5,055 |
George Randolph Hearst Jr. (July 13, 1927 – June 25, 2012) was an American businessman and member of the wealthy Hearst family. He served as the chairman of the board of the Hearst Corporation from 1996 through to his death in 2012, succeeding his uncle Randolph Apperson Hearst. He was a director at the company for over forty years.
Life
Hearst Jr. and his twin sister Phoebe were born July 13, 1927, in San Francisco, California. Hearst first joined the Naval Air Corps. Later, he joined the United States Army and served in the Korean War.
In 1948, he joined the advertising staff of the Los Angeles Examiner, which his grandfather had founded in 1903, then worked for several years at the family-run San Francisco Examiner. In 1957, he was named business manager of the Los Angeles Herald-Express and three years later was made publisher. In 1967, while publisher of the Herald Examiner, Hearst felt pressure from the growing workers unions and "was determined to break them." The strikes by the unions lasted until 1977 by which point circulation of the paper had been cut in half to 330,000 and advertising had evaporated, partly because of aggressive tactics by organized labor; the paper never fully recovered.
That same year, Hearst joined the Hearst Corporation, where he would spend the rest of his career. Non-family executives are a majority on the trust that controls the corporation, and this trust will not dissolve until all grandchildren alive at the death of William Randolph Hearst have died. George Jr. was one of the oldest grandchildren. However, there are five family seats among the 13 trustees, and George represented his branch of the family.
Hearst Jr. died in Palo Alto, California at age 84 following complications from a stroke.
Children
He married Mary Thompson (born 1931) in 1951, and they had four children, all born in California. They divorced in 1969.
Mary Astrid Hearst (1953–2004), born in Santa Monica, daughters Shannon and Alexis, later married Randy Ives, died at San Simeon, California, of cancer; known as "Bunny"
George Randolph Hearst III (born 1955)
Stephen Thompson Hearst (born 1956)
Erin Wilbur Hearst (born 1959), married a Mr. Knudsen
George Randolph Jr.
|
Edouard Bunge
|
[
"1851 births",
"1927 deaths",
"Businesspeople from Antwerp",
"Belgian businesspeople",
"Belgian business executives"
] | 719 | 7,073 |
Édouard Gustav Bunge (16 October 1851 – 19 November 1927) was a Belgian businessman, banker, and philanthropist. He was a close associate of Leopold II and one of the main investors in the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company and the Société Anversoise du Commerce au Congo, which exploited rubber in the Congo Free State.
Early life
Bunge was born on 16 October 1851, in Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. He was a son of Charles Gustave Bunge (1811–1884) and Laura (née Fallenstein) Bunge (1820–1899).
His brother, Ernest Bunge, was the father of Ivan Bunge of Le Havre, and the grandfather of Gerard Michel Bunge. His maternal grandparents were Georg Friedrich Fallenstein (a close friend of Georg Gottfried Gervinus) and Elisabeth (née Benecke) Fallenstein. Through his aunt, Helene Fallenstein (who was married to Max Weber Sr.), he was a first cousin of the prominent German sociologist and historian Max Weber and economist Alfred Weber.
Career
Bunge began working for the family business, today known as Bunge Limited, which had been founded by his grandfather, Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge, in Amsterdam in 1818 as an import-export business.
In 1859, Édouard relocated the family company to Antwerp. Edouard's brother Ernest brought the company into Argentina in 1884 and, in 1905, the business extended to Brazil and later on to the United States.
Personal life
In 1886 Bunge was married to Marie-Sophie Karcher (1863–1907). Together, they were the parents of:
Sophia-Laura Bunge (1887–1959), who married Felix Rhodius.
Dorothée Emilie Bunge (1889–1918), who married Victor Théodore Bracht.
Erica Bunge (1891–1986), who married Milton McIntyre Brown.
Eva Maria Bunge (b. 1894), who married Andrew James Widderson, OBE.
Hilda Bunge (1895–1980), who married American industrialist William Hallam Tuck in Antwerp in 1920. He was a son of Judge Somerville Pinkney Tuck, and brother to Ambassador Somerville Pinkney Tuck and businessman Alexander J. M. Tuck.
Before his death, "he donated a large sum for the establishment of an institute of medicine and surgery for the study of the most modern methods of science." Bunge died on 18 November 1927, in Ekeren, Belgium.
Descendants
Through his daughter Dorothée, he was a grandfather of Charles Victor Bracht, who was created a baron in 1967 for his services to industry and was later kidnapped and murdered.
|
Epson
|
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"Computer printer companies",
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"Japanese brands",
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"Robotics companies of Japan",
"Watch brands",
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"Suwa, Nagano"
] | 2,860 | 26,196 |
Seiko Epson Corporation, commonly known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan, the company has numerous subsidiaries worldwide and manufactures inkjet, dot matrix, thermal and laser printers for consumer, business and industrial use, scanners, laptop and desktop computers, video projectors, watches, point of sale systems, robots and industrial automation equipment, semiconductor devices, crystal oscillators, sensing systems and other associated electronic components.
The company has developed as one of manufacturing and research and development (formerly known as Seikosha) of the former Seiko Group, a name traditionally known for manufacturing Seiko timepieces. Seiko Epson was one of the major companies in the Seiko Group, but is neither a subsidiary nor an affiliate of Seiko Group Corporation.
Origins
The roots of Seiko Epson Corporation go back to a company called Daiwa Kogyo, Ltd. which was founded in May 1942 by Hisao Yamazaki, a local clock shop owner and former employee of K. Hattori, in Suwa, Nagano. Daiwa Kogyo was supported by an investment from the Hattori family (founder of the Seiko Group) and began as a manufacturer of watch parts for Daini Seikosha (currently Seiko Instruments). The company started operation in a renovated miso storehouse with 22 employees.
In 1943, Daini Seikosha established a factory in Suwa for manufacturing Seiko watches with Daiwa Kogyo. In 1959, the Suwa Factory was split up and merged into Daiwa Kogyo to form Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd: the forerunner of the Seiko Epson Corporation. The company has developed many timepiece technologies, such as the world's first portable quartz timer (Seiko QC-951) in 1963, the world's first commercial quartz watch (Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ) in 1969, the first automatic power-generating quartz watch (Seiko Auto-Quartz) in 1988, and the Spring Drive watch movement in 1999.
The watch business is the root of the company's ultra-precision machining and micromechatronics technologies and still a major business for Seiko Epson, although it accounts for a low percentage of total revenues. Watches made by the company are sold through the Seiko Watch Corporation, a subsidiary of Seiko Group. The watch brand Orient Watch, and it's sub-brand Orient Star, has been owned by Epson since 2009 and was fully integrated into the company in 2017.
In 1961, Suwa Seikosha established a company called Shinshu Seiki Co. as a subsidiary to supply precision parts for Seiko watches. When Seiko was selected to be the official time keeper for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a printing timer was required to time events, and Shinshu Seiki started developing an electronic printer.
In September 1968, Shinshu Seiki launched the world's first mini-printer, the EP-101 ("EP" for Electronic Printer), which was soon incorporated into many calculators. In June 1975, the name Epson was coined for the next generation of printers based on the EP-101, which was released to the public. The Epson name was coined by joining the initials EP (Electronic Printer) and the word son, making "Epson" mean "Electronic Printer's Son". In April of the same year, Epson America Inc. was established to sell printers for Shinshu Seiki Co.
In June 1978, the TX-80 (TP-80), an eighty-column dot matrix printer, was released to the market and was mainly used as a system printer for the Commodore PET computer. After two years of further development, an improved model, the MX-80 (MP-80), was launched in October 1980. It was soon advertised as the best selling printer in the United States. By 1982 Epson reportedly had 75% of the printer market; its products were so beloved that Steve Wozniak joked, "I doubt we'll ever bomb Japan as long as they make Epson printers".
In July 1982, Shinshu Seiki officially named itself the Epson Corporation and launched the world's first handheld computer, the HX-20 (HC-20), and in May 1983, the world's first portable colour LCD TV was developed and launched by the company.
In November 1985, Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd. and the Epson Corporation merged to form Seiko Epson Corporation.
The company developed the Micro Piezo inkjet technology, which used a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle and did not heat the ink at the print head while spraying it onto the page, and released the Epson MJ-500 inkjet cartridge for the Epson Stylus 800 printer in March 1993. Shortly after in 1994, Epson released the first 720 dpi colour inkjet printer, the Epson Stylus Color (P860A) utilizing the Micro Piezo head technology. Newer models of the Stylus series employed Epson's special DURABrite ink and used two hard drives (an HD 850 and an HD 860).
In 1994, Epson started to outsource sales representatives to help sell their products in retail stores in the United States. The same year, they started the Epson Weekend Warrior sales program. The purpose of the program was to help improve sales, improve retail sales reps' knowledge of Epson products, and to address Epson customer service in a retail environment. Reps were assigned on weekend shifts, typically around 12–20 hours a week. Epson started the Weekend Warrior program with TMG Marketing (now Mosaic Sales Solutions), and later with Keystone Marketing Inc, then returned to Mosaic, and switched again to Campaigners Inc. on June 24, 2007 after the Mosaic contract expired. The sales reps of Campaigners, Inc. are not outsourced; Epson hired rack jobbers to ensure retailers displayed products properly, freeing up its regular sales force to concentrate on profitable sales solutions to value-added resellers and system integrators, leaving "retail" to reps who did not require sales skills.
Personal computers
Epson entered the personal computer market in 1983 with the QX-10, a CP/M-compatible Z80 machine. By 1986, the company had shifted to the growing PC market with the Equity line. EPSON manufactured and sold NEC PC-9801 clones in Japan. Epson withdrew from the international PC market in 1996. The company still produces and sells PCs in Japan as of 2024.
21st century
In June 2003, the company became public following their listing on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Since 2017, the company is a constituent of the Nikkei Stock Average index. Although Seiko Group Corporation (f/k/a K. Hattori, Hattori Seiko, and Seiko Holdings) and the key members of the Hattori family still hold approximately 10% of the outstanding shares of Seiko Epson, the company is managed and operated completely independently from Seiko Group.
Seiko Watch Corporation, a division of Seiko Group, produces Seiko timepieces in-house through its subsidiaries as well as delegates the manufacture of some of its high-end watches (Seiko Astron, Grand Seiko, Credor, etc) to Epson. The company makes some of Seiko's highest-grade watches at the Micro Artist Studio inside its Shiojiri Plant in Shiojiri, Nagano. Beside Seiko timepieces, Epson develops, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells watches under its own brands such as Trume, Orient, and Orient Star.
In 2004, Epson introduced their R-D1 (the first digital rangefinder camera on the market), which supports the Leica M mount and Leica M39 mount lenses with an adapter ring. Because its sensor is smaller than that of the standard 35 mm film frame, lenses mounted on the R-D1 have a narrower field of view by a factor of 1.53. In 2006, the R-D1 was replaced by the R-D1s, a cheaper version with identical hardware. Epson has released a firmware patch to bring the R-D1 up to the full functionality of its successor, being the first digital camera manufacturer to make such an upgrade available for free.
In November 2011, Epson entered the smartglasses market under the Moverio brand. The BT-100 was the first consumer smartglasses with transparent optics, which were popular with drone pilots for providing a first-person view while still being able to see the drone in the sky.
In September 2012, Epson introduced a printer called the Expression Premium XP-800 Small-in-One, with the ability to print wirelessly. The Expression brand name has since been used on various models of scanners. In the third quarter of 2012, Epson's global market share in the sale of printers, copiers and multifunction devices amounted to 15.20 percent.
In September 2015, Epson debuted the ET-4550 printer, which enables the user to pour ink into separate inkwells from ink bottles instead of cartridges.
In 2016, Epson presented the large-format SureColor SC-P10000 ink printer; it prints with inks in ten colours on paper up to wide.
By 2025, Epson appeared to have the best (as judged by Consumer Reports) "all-in-one tank inkjet printers" on the market.
To control its printers, Epson introduced a printer control language, the Epson Standard Code for Printers (or ESC/P). It became a de facto industry standard for controlling print formatting during the era of dot matrix printers, whose popularity was initially started by the Epson MX-80.
Epson Robots is the robotics design and manufacturing department of Epson. Seiko Epson produces some microcontrollers, such as the S1C63. In 1980, Epson started the production of robots.
Ink cartridge controversies
In July 2003, a Netherlands-based consumer association advised its 640,000 members to boycott Epson inkjet printers. The organisation alleged that Epson customers were unfairly charged for ink they could never use. Later that month, however, the group retracted its call for a nationwide boycott and issued a statement conceding that residual ink left in Epson cartridges was necessary for the printers to function properly.
Epson designed ink to be left in the cartridges (having done so ever since the introduction of piezoelectric print heads) due to the way the capping mechanism worked. If the capping mechanism dries out, then the heads risk getting clogged, necessitating expensive repairs.
Nonetheless, Epson America, Inc. settled a class action lawsuit brought before the Los Angeles Superior Court. It did not admit guilt, but agreed to refund $45 to anyone who purchased an Epson inkjet printer after April 8, 1999 (at least $20 of which must be used at Epson's e-Store).
According to IDG News Service, Epson filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in February 2006 against 24 companies that manufactured, imported, or distributed Epson-compatible ink cartridges for resale in the U.S. On March 30, 2007, ITC judge Paul Luckern issued an initial determination that the cartridges in question did infringe upon Epson's patents.
In 2015, it emerged that Epson printers reported cartridges to be empty when in fact up to 20% of their ink remains. As in 2003, the company responded:
See also
Inkjet technology
|
ATI Technologies
|
[
"ATI Technologies",
"Semiconductor companies of Canada",
"Fabless semiconductor companies",
"Graphics hardware companies",
"Companies based in Markham, Ontario",
"Electronics companies established in 1985",
"Computer companies established in 1985",
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] | 3,352 | 30,587 |
ATI Technologies Inc. was a Canadian semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985, the company listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by AMD in 2006. As a major fabless semiconductor company, ATI conducted research and development in-house and outsourced the manufacturing and assembly of its products. With the decline and eventual bankruptcy of 3dfx in 2000, ATI and its chief rival Nvidia emerged as the two dominant players in the graphics processors industry, eventually forcing other manufacturers into niche roles.
The acquisition of ATI in 2006 was important to AMD's strategic development of its Fusion series of computer processors, which integrated general processing abilities with graphics processing functions within a single chip, which would become a popular option on computers in the following years, especially lower cost models.
In 2010, AMD ceased using the ATI brand name, renaming its flagship Radeon graphics processor products with its branding instead.
Lee Ka Lau, Francis Lau, Benny Lau, and Kwok Yuen Ho founded ATI in 1985 as Array Technology Inc.
Working primarily in the OEM field, ATI produced integrated graphics cards for PC manufacturers such as IBM and Commodore. By 1987, ATI had grown into an independent graphics-card retailer, introducing EGA Wonder and VGA Wonder card product lines that year. In the early nineties, they released products able to process graphics without the CPU: in May 1991, the Mach8, in 1992 the Mach32, which offered improved memory bandwidth and GUI acceleration. ATI Technologies Inc. went public in 1993, with shares listed on NASDAQ and on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
In 1994, the Mach64 accelerator debuted, powering the Graphics Xpression and Graphics Pro Turbo, offering hardware support for YUV-to-RGB colour space conversion in addition to hardware zoom; early techniques of hardware-based video acceleration.
ATI introduced its first combination of 2D and 3D accelerator under the name 3D Rage. This chip was based on the Mach 64, but it featured elemental 3D acceleration. The ATI Rage line powered almost the entire range of ATI graphics products. In particular, the Rage Pro was one of the first viable 2D-plus-3D alternatives to 3dfx's 3D-only Voodoo chipset. 3D acceleration in the Rage line advanced from the basic functionality within the initial 3D Rage to a more advanced DirectX 6.0 accelerator in 1999 Rage 128.
The All-in-Wonder product line, introduced in 1996, was the first combination of integrated graphics chip with TV tuner card and the first chip that enabled display of computer graphics on a TV set. The cards featured 3D acceleration powered by ATI's 3D Rage II, 64-bit 2D performance, TV-quality video acceleration, analogue video capture, TV tuner functionality, flicker-free TV-out and stereo TV audio reception.
ATI entered the mobile computing sector by introducing 3D-graphics acceleration to laptops in 1996. The Mobility product line had to meet requirements different from those of desktop PCs, such as minimized power usage, reduced heat output, TMDS output capabilities for laptop screens, and maximized integration. In 1997, ATI acquired Tseng Labs's graphics assets, which included 40 engineers.
The Radeon line of graphics products was unveiled in 2000. The initial Radeon graphics processing unit offered an all-new design with DirectX 7.0 3D acceleration, video acceleration, and 2D acceleration. Technology developed for a specific Radeon generation could be built in varying levels of features and performance in order to provide products suited for the entire market range, from high-end to budget to mobile versions.
In 2000, ATI acquired ArtX, which engineered the Flipper graphics chip used in the GameCube video game console. They also created a modified version of the chip (codenamed Hollywood) for the successor of the GameCube, the Wii. Microsoft contracted ATI to design the graphics core (codenamed Xenos) for the Xbox 360. Later in 2005, ATI acquired Terayon's cable modem silicon intellectual property, strengthening their lead in the consumer digital television market. K. Y. Ho remained as Chairman of the Board until he retired in November 2005. Dave Orton replaced him as the President and CEO of the organization.
On July 24, 2006, a joint announcement revealed that AMD would acquire ATI in a deal valued at $5.6 billion. The acquisition consideration closed on October 25, 2006, and included over $2 billion financed from a loan and 56 million shares of AMD stock. ATI's operations became part of the AMD Graphics Product Group (GPG), and ATI's CEO Dave Orton became the Executive Vice President of Visual and Media Businesses at AMD until his resignation in 2007. The top-level management was reorganized with the Senior Vice President and General Manager, and the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Consumer Electronics Group, both of whom would report to the CEO of AMD. On 30 August 2010, John Trikola announced that AMD would retire the ATI brand for its graphics chipsets in favour of the AMD name.
In addition to developing high-end GPUs (originally called a VPU, visual processing unit, by ATI) for PCs and Apple Macs, ATI also designed embedded versions for laptops (Mobility Radeon), PDAs and mobile phones (Imageon), integrated motherboards (Radeon IGP), and others.
"Ruby", a fictional female character described as a "mercenary for hire", was created by ATI to promote some of its products. Computer-animated videos produced by RhinoFX about Ruby on a mission (being a sniper, saboteur, hacker and so on) appeared at large technology shows such as CeBIT and CES.
Computer graphics chipsets
Graphics Solution / "Small Wonder" – Series of 8-bit ISA cards with MDA, Hercules, CGA and Plantronics Color+ compatibility using the United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) UM6845E CRT controller. Later versions added EGA support.
EGA / VGA Wonder – IBM "EGA/VGA-compatible" display adapters (1987)
Mach Series – Introduced ATI's first 2D GUI "Windows Accelerator". As the series evolved, GUI acceleration improved dramatically and early video acceleration appeared.
Rage Series – ATI's first 2D and 3D accelerator chips. The series evolved from rudimentary 3D with 2D GUI acceleration and MPEG-1 capability, to a highly competitive Direct3D 6 accelerator with then "best-in-class" DVD (MPEG2) acceleration. The various chips were very popular with OEMs of the time. The Rage II was used in the first ATI All-In-Wonder multi-function video card, and more advanced All-In-Wonders based on Rage series GPUs followed. (1995–2004)
Rage Mobility – Designed for use in low-power environments, such as notebooks. These chips were functionally similar to their desktop counterparts but had additions such as advanced power management, LCD interfaces, and dual monitor functionality.
Radeon Series – ATI launched the Radeon line in 2000, as their consumer 3D accelerator add-in cards, its flagship product line and the direct competitor to Nvidia's GeForce. The original Radeon DDR was ATI's first DirectX 7 3D accelerator, introducing their first hardware T&L engine. ATI often produced 'Pro' versions with higher clock speeds, and sometimes an extreme 'XT' version, and even more recently 'XT Platinum Edition (PE)' and 'XTX' versions. The Radeon series was the basis for many ATI All-In-Wonder boards.
Mobility Radeon – A series of power-optimized versions of Radeon graphics chips for use in laptops. They introduced innovations such as modularized RAM chips, DVD (MPEG2) acceleration, notebook GPU card sockets, and "PowerPlay" power management technology. AMD recently announced DirectX 11-compatible versions of its mobile processors.
ATI CrossFire – This technology was ATI's response to NVIDIA's SLI platform. It allowed, by using a secondary video card and a dual PCI-E motherboard based on an ATI Crossfire compatible chipset, the ability to combine the power of the two, three or four video cards to increase performance through a variety of different rendering options. There is an option for additional PCI-E video card plugging into the third PCI-E slot for gaming physics, or another option to do physics on the second video card.
FireGL/FirePro – Launched in 2001, following ATI's acquisition of FireGL Graphics from Diamond Multimedia. Workstation CAD/CAM video card, based on the Radeon series.
FireMV – For workstations, featuring "multi-view", for multiple displays with 2D acceleration only, usually based on low-end products of the Radeon series (now integrated into FirePro series).
Although AMD strongly considered making the functional part of the ATI drivers "open source", before the merger with AMD, ATI had no plans to release their graphics drivers as free software:
Personal computer platforms and chipsets
IGP 3x0, Mobility Radeon 7000 IGP – ATI's first chipsets. Included a DirectX 7-level 3D graphics processor.
9100 IGP – 2nd generation system chipset. IXP250 southbridge. It was notable for being ATI's first complete motherboard chipset, including an ATI-built southbridge. It included an updated DirectX 8.1 class graphics processor
Xpress 200/200P – PCI Express-based Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 chipset. Supports SATA as well as integrated graphics with DirectX 9.0 support, the first integrated graphics chipset to do so
Xpress 3200 – similar to Xpress 200, but designed for optimal CrossFire performance.
In addition to the above chipset, ATI struck a deal in 2005, with CPU and motherboard manufacturers, particularly Asus and Intel, to create onboard 3D Graphics solutions for Intel's range of motherboards released with their range of Intel Pentium M-based desktop processors, the Intel Core and Intel Core 2 processors, the D101GGC and D101GGC2 chipset (codenamed "Grand County") based on the Radeon Xpress 200 chipset. However, high-end boards with integrated graphics processor (IGP) still used Intel GMA integrated graphics processors. The deal with Intel ended with the purchase of ATI by AMD in 2006, with Intel announcing SiS IGP chipset (D201GLY chipset, codenamed "Little Valley") for entry-level desktop platform, replacing the "Grand County" series chipsets.
Multimedia and digital TV products
All-in-Wonder series – A series of multimedia graphics cards which incorporating TV tuner and Radeon family graphics cards onto one add-in card, which, after being seemingly discontinued was relaunched as All-in-Wonder HD on June 26, 2008.
TV tuners
TV Wonder and HDTV Wonder – a chipset family providing TV reception of various analogue TV and digital TV signals (PAL, NTSC, ATSC, DVB-T and so on) with first generation AVIVO technology, also supporting CableCARD, and Clear QAM technologies.
Theater – a family of QAM and VSB demodulators for the Digital Cable ready and ATSC environments.
Remote Wonder, wireless remote control series for ATI multimedia products. Operates using radio frequency, away from mainstream implementations using infrared.
Console graphics products
Flipper – The GameCube (codenamed "dolphin" during production) contains a 3D accelerator developed by ArtX, Inc, a company acquired by ATI during the development of the GPU. Flipper was similar in capability to a Direct3D 7 accelerator chip. It consisted of four rendering pipelines, with hardware T&L, and some limited pixel shader support. Innovatively the chip has 3 MB of embedded 1T-SRAM for use as ultra-fast low-latency (6.2 ns) texture and framebuffer/Z-buffer storage allowing 10.4 GB/second bandwidth (extremely fast for the time). Flipper was designed by members of the Nintendo 64 Reality Coprocessor team who moved from SGI. The Flipper team went on to have a major hand in the development of the Radeon 9700.
Xenos – Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console contains a custom graphics chip produced by ATI, known as "R400", "C1", internally as "Crayola", or more often as Xenos. Some of these features include the embedded DRAM (eDRAM). The Xenos also features the “True Unified Shader Architecture” which dynamically loads and balances pixel and vertex processing amongst a bank of identically capable processing units. This differs greatly from PC graphics chips of previous generations that have separate banks of processors designed for their individual task (vertex/fragment). Another feature presented in Xenos is the hardware surface tessellation to divide a surface into smaller triangles, similar to TruForm in terms of functionality, which is an advanced feature as it is not presented even in the DirectX 10 specification. The recent generation Radeon R600 GPU core inherited most of the features presented in Xenos, except eDRAM.
Hollywood – Successor to Flipper. Part of Nintendo's gaming console, Wii.
Handheld chipsets
Imageon – System-on-a-chip (SoC) design introduced in 2002, to bring integrated 2D and 3D graphics to handhelds devices, mobile phones and Tablet PCs. The Imageon 2298 included DVD quality recording and playback, TV output, and supported up to a 12-megapixel camera, with another line of Imageon products, the 2300 series supporting OpenGL ES 1.1+ extensions. The Imageon line was rebranded under AMD as Adreno, and sold to Qualcomm in 2009.
Imageon TV – Announced in February 2006, allowing handhelds devices to receive digital broadcast TV (DVB-H) signals and enables watching TV programs on these devices, the chipset includes tuner, demodulator, decoder, and a full software stack, operates alongside the Imageon chip.
Besides full products, ATI also supplied 3D and 2D graphics components to other vendors, specifically the Qualcomm MSM7000 series SoC chips of handheld and upcoming Freescale i. MX processors ATI claimed in May 2006, that it had sold over 100 million 'cell phone media co-processors', significantly more than ATI's rival NVIDIA, and announced in February 2007, that the firm had shipped a total of 200 million of Imageon products since 2003.
After the AMD acquisition, the Imageon and Xilleon were sold off to Qualcomm and Broadcom, respectively.
High-performance computing
ATI Firestream, using the stream processing concept, together with Close to Metal (CTM) hardware interface. After the AMD acquisition, it was succeeded by AMD FireStream in 2006, rebranded as AMD Stream Processor until 2012.
See also
Comparison of ATI chipsets
Comparison of ATI graphics processing units
Fglrx – Linux display driver used for ATI video cards
Radeon
Video card
Video-in video-out (VIVO)
Competing companies
Nvidia
Matrox
3dfx Interactive
|
Anadarko Petroleum
|
[
"1959 establishments in Texas",
"2019 disestablishments in Texas",
"1980s initial public offerings",
"2019 mergers and acquisitions",
"Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange",
"Defunct oil companies of the United States",
"Deepwater Horizon oil spill",
"Non-renewable resource companies established in 1959",
"Companies based in The Woodlands, Texas",
"Defunct companies based in Texas",
"Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2019",
"American companies established in 1959",
"American companies disestablished in 2019"
] | 2,658 | 23,771 |
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It was organized in Delaware and headquartered in two skyscrapers in The Woodlands, Texas: the Allison Tower and the Hackett Tower, both named after former CEOs of the company. In 2019, the company was acquired by Occidental Petroleum.
The company was the subject of multiple environmental cases, including the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history - the 2014 settlement related to the former Tronox subsidiary of Kerr McGee, a company purchased by Anadarko in 2006.
In addition to exploration and production, the company engaged in petroleum and natural gas gathering, processing, treating, and transportation. The company also participated in the hard minerals business through its ownership of non-operated joint ventures and royalty arrangements. As of December 31, 2018, the company had approximately of proved reserves, 45% of which was oil reserves, 37% of which was natural gas, and 18% was natural gas liquids. In 2018, the company produced per day.
The company's operations in the United States accounted for 86% of total sales volumes during 2018 and 88% of total proved reserves at year-end 2018. In the United States, the company had major holdings in the Delaware Basin, where it had over 580,000 gross acres, primarily in the Cline Shale; the Denver Basin, where it had more than 400,000 net acres; operating 4,600 vertical wells and 1,400 horizontal wells, and in Greater Natural Buttes, Utah, where it had approximately 2,850 wells.
The company's international operations accounted for 14% of total sales volumes during 2018 and 12% of total proved reserves at year-end 2018. The company had holdings in Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Colombia, and Côte d’Ivoire. In the 2019 Forbes Global 2000, Anadarko Petroleum was ranked as the 587th -largest public company in the world.
History
Anadarko was formed in 1959 as a subsidiary of Panhandle Eastern Corporation Pipe Line Company after the discovery of large amounts of natural gas in the Anadarko Basin, which underlies the western part of the state of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, and extending into southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado.
In 1986, Panhandle Eastern Corporation distributed its interests in Anadarko to its shareholders via a corporate spin-off, and Anadarko became a public company.
In 1999, the company purchased a tract in The Woodlands, Texas from the Woodlands Land Company to build an , 32-story headquarters building, on the site. In 2012, the company began construction of another office tower adjacent to its headquarters. The company named its two office towers after former CEOs. The buildings were completed in 2014.
In April 2000, the company acquired Union Pacific Resources in a $4.4 billion transaction.
In June 2001, the company acquired Berkeley Petroleum Corporation for C$1.2 billion plus the assumption of C$400 million in debt.
In December 2003, Robert J. Allison Jr. resigned as chief executive officer and was replaced by James T. Hackett, previously the chief operating officer of Devon Energy.
In June 2006, the company acquired Western Gas Resources in a $5.3 billion cash transaction.
In August 2006, the company acquired Kerr-McGee for $16 billion in cash.
In January 2007, the company sold assets in West Texas for $1 billion.
In February 2007, the company sold assets in Oklahoma and Texas for $860 million.
In December 2008, the company sold its 50% interest in the Peregrino heavy oil field offshore Brazil to Statoil for $1.4 billion.
In January 2012, the company sold midstream assets to Western Gas Partners for $483 million.
In January 2012, the company announced the discovery of a significant natural gas field, the Collier gas field, offshore Mozambique.
In May 2012, a planned CEO succession of Al Walker occurred, with Jim Hackett becoming Executive Chairman until May 2013, when Hackett retired to pursue a master's degree in theology. Al Walker became Chairman as well as CEO in May 2013.
In 2015, the company made an offer to acquire Apache Corporation, but the offer was rejected.
In February 2016, the company sold its interest in the Springfield oil and gas gathering system near the Eagle Ford shale for $750 million to Western Gas Partners.
In March 2016, the company announced layoffs affecting 1,000 employees or 17% of its staff. The layoffs were the result of weak commodity prices.
In December 2016, the company acquired assets in the Gulf of Mexico from Freeport-McMoRan. The company also announced the sale of its assets in the Marcellus Shale.
In January 2017, the company sold its assets in the Eagle Ford to Sanchez Energy and The Blackstone Group for $2.3 billion.
In June 2019, the company and the co-venturers in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 1 proceeded to start the Area 1 Mozambique LNG project, Mozambique's first onshore LNG development, to support the development of the Golfinho gas field and Atum gas field.
In August 2019, the company was acquired by Occidental Petroleum after Occidental outbid Chevron Corporation.
Environmental record
In December 2016, Anadarko was ranked as among the 14th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights and resource extraction in the Arctic by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Deepwater Horizon oil spill involvement
Anadarko owned a 25% non-operating minority interest in the Macondo Prospect, which was 65% owned and operated by BP, and was affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Under the joint operating agreement, Anadarko was required to pay costs related to any incident in proportion to its 25% ownership—except when caused by the operating partner's gross negligence or willful misconduct. Anadarko contended that gross negligence or willful misconduct by BP led to the explosion.
Settlement with BP
In early 2010, BP billed Anadarko more than $272million as a partial payment for its share of cleanup and response costs in the Gulf.
In May 2011, MOEX Offshore, a subsidiary of Mitsui and owner of a 10% non-operating ownership interest in the Macondo Prospect, settled claims with BP for $1.07billion.
In October 2011, Anadarko settled all claims with BP for $4 billion and its 25% stake in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (Macondo Prospect) to BP in return for indemnification by BP for all costs related to the oil spill, including those arising under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
Fine under the Clean Water Act
In December 2015, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ordered Anadarko to pay a civil fine under the Clean Water Act of $159.5 million, or $50 per barrel of oil spilled as a result of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The judge stated Anadarko was not at fault for the spill, but the company's 25% ownership stake made it responsible. Barbier wrote that the $159.5 million fine "strikes the appropriate balance between Anadarko's lack of culpability and the extreme seriousness of this spill." The fine came after BP and Anadarko had unsuccessfully appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States to reject Judge Carl Barbier's finding of negligence in the Deepwater Horizon accident.
Tronox litigation and settlements
In April 2014, Anadarko settled with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency to pay $5.15 billion to clean up environmental waste sites around the country. It was the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history.
The environmental contamination sites were inherited by Anadarko after it purchased Kerr-McGee in 2005. As background, in 2006, Kerr-McGee spun off its Tronox subsidiary to offload 70 years of environmental dumping of toxic waste across 22 states beginning in the 1920s. The environmental damages included polluting Lake Mead in Nevada with rocket fuel, leaving behind radioactive waste piles throughout the territory of the Navajo Nation and dumping carcinogenic creosote in communities throughout the East, Midwest and South at its wood-treating facilities. According to one report, "Kerr-McGee, rather than pay for the environmental mess it created, decided to shift the liabilities between 2002 and 2006 into Tronox. Kerr-McGee, meanwhile, kept its oil and gas assets with Anadarko acquiring the remainder of Kerr-McGee.
Lawsuit from Tronox shareholders
In 2009, shareholders of Tronox sued Anadarko, as successor to Kerr-McGee, for having misled investors about the large environmental and other liabilities Tronox would assume from Kerr-McGee.
Lawsuit from the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice, on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, sued Anadarko for $25 billion.
In April 2014, the parties reached a $5.15 billion settlement in what was at the time the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history. Since then the total amount for the complete and comprehensive cleanup of the BP DeepWater Horizon incident has passed $60 billion.
|
Agma Lahlou-Tazi
|
[
"1964 establishments in Morocco",
"Financial services companies established in 1964",
"Insurance companies of Morocco",
"Société Nationale d'Investissement",
"Companies based in Casablanca"
] | 398 | 3,604 |
AGMA is a Moroccan insurance company specialising in life insurance and asset management.
History and profile
Agma Lahlou-Tazi was established in January 1964. It is part of Mohammed VI's holding company SNI. The company was listed on Casablanca Stock Exchange in November 1998 and is based in Casablanca.
Key people
Key people of the company are as follows:
Mohamed Lahlou, Chairman of the Board and Managing Director
Hassan Benchekroun, Finance Director
Mohamed Doubiany, Director of Accountancy
A. Gabli, Director of Information Solutions (Systems)
A. Nougaoui, Director of Development, Organization and Communication
Abdelhay El Ouarzazi, Director of Human Resources, Foreign Claims
T. Awad, Director of Transport and Health Insurance
Nadia Bakkali, Assistant of Chairman of the Board and Managing Director
A. Benkiran, Director of Property Damage Insurance
N. Chekri, Director of Casualty Claims Insurance
Abdelaziz Cherrad, Director of Premiums Collection
Mostafa Hannaoui, Director of Individuals Insurance
Abdellatif Yacoubi, Director of Auto and Casualty Insurance
Daniel Antunes, Director
Philippe Carle, Director
Khalid El Bouri, Director
Mounir Majidi, Representative of Siger on the Board
Bassim Jai Hokimi, Director
Guy Motais de Narbonne, Representative of Ona Courtage on the Board
Nelly Rabane, Representative of Societe Financiere de Gestion et de Placement on the Board.
Ownership
The company is owned by the following entities, as of 2013:
ONA Courtage (SNI) 50%
Others 27%
PATRIMOINE GESTION ET PLACEMENTS 16,07%
CAISSE MAROCAINE DE RETRAITE (CMR) 6,39%
WAFA ASSURANCE 0,35%
MCMA 0,14%
|
Panayis Athanase Vagliano
|
[
"1814 births",
"1902 deaths",
"Greek businesspeople",
"British businesspeople in shipping",
"United States of the Ionian Islands people",
"Burials at West Norwood Cemetery",
"Greek businesspeople in shipping",
"Greek philanthropists",
"Immigrants to the United Kingdom",
"People from Cephalonia",
"19th-century Greek philanthropists",
"19th-century British businesspeople",
"Greek merchants"
] | 575 | 4,575 |
Panayis Athanase Vagliano (; 1814–1902) was a Greek merchant and shipowner, acclaimed as the 'father of modern Greek shipping'.
He was born in Kerameies on the Greek island of Cefalonia, where he first became a sailor, before becoming part of the Greek diaspora.
Russia
He joined his brothers Marinos and Andreas, initially settling in Taganrog, Russian Empire around 1840. Together they formed Vaglianos Bros. as grain-merchants and shippers, making good profits from the high prices of grain during the Crimean War. It is said that they sometimes bought the whole Russian wheat export crop, and were pioneers of exchange-traded wheat contracts.
After the war ended, fellow Greeks had problems finding shippers for their cargoes from the Great Powers; Vaglianos Bros. stepped in and offered them financing and transport on their own ships.
London
Vagliano moved his business to London in 1858, as grain merchants, bankers, and shippers, but kept in contact with Russia through his brothers. There was already a well-established Greek merchant community in London, and they assisted his membership of the Baltic Exchange from where his business thrived. His operation based in London avoided restrictive Greek commercial laws, enabling him to loan money to other Greeks for shipbuilding, and he was quoted as wishing for 'the seas covered with a thick forest of Greek masts'.
Legacies
Vagliano Bros. continued operating after his death, and survived the loss of its traditional markets in Russia and Turkey after World War I by concentrating on shipping and finance; in this way they helped develop Greek shipping dynasties.
However, he is probably best remembered in his native Greece for a donation that funded the National Library of Greece building (the ) in Athens. He was also a philanthropist in London, and donated money towards Saint Sophia Cathedral in London and the Greek Orthodox cemetery within West Norwood Cemetery, where he is interred next to his brother Marinos in a grand neoclassical Greek mausoleum modelled on the Tower of the Winds, now listed Grade II. At his death he was enormously wealthy (his estate was valued at £3M) and he willed a considerable legacy to Kefalonia for charitable purposes.
Sources
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
ref: Vagliano & Vallianos
Further reading
|
Guidance Software
|
[
"OpenText",
"Computer security software companies",
"Digital forensics software",
"Software companies based in California",
"Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles",
"Multinational companies headquartered in the United States",
"Companies based in Pasadena, California",
"Software companies established in 1997",
"1997 establishments in California",
"2017 mergers and acquisitions",
"Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq",
"American subsidiaries of foreign companies",
"Defunct software companies of the United States"
] | 856 | 8,200 |
Guidance Software, Inc. was a publicly traded company founded in 1997 by Shawn McCreight. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, the company developed and provided software solutions for digital investigations primarily in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia/Pacific Rim. Guidance Software had offices in Brazil, Chicago, Houston, New York City, San Francisco, Singapore, United Kingdom and Washington, D.C., and employed approximately 371 employees. On September 14, 2017, the company was acquired by OpenText.
Best known for its EnCase digital investigations software, Guidance Software's product line was organized around four markets: digital forensics, endpoint security analytics, cyber security incident response, and e-discovery. The company served law-enforcement and government agencies, as well as corporations in various industries, such as financial and insurance services, technology, defense contracting, telecom, pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. The company operated through four business segments: products, professional services, training and maintenance, and operates two certification programs for the EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE) and EnCase Certified eDiscovery Practitioner (EnCEP) designations. In May 2010, the company completed the acquisition of Tableau, LLC. In February 2012, Guidance Software acquired CaseCentral.
Notable case mentions
Guidance Software has been noted in a number of high-profile use cases. In 2002, Guidance Software's EnCase was used in the murder trial of David Westerfield to examine his computers and disks to connect him to child pornography. That same year, EnCase was used by French police to uncover emails from now-convicted shoe bomber Richard Colvin Reid.
In 2004, EnCase software was used in the trial of now convicted Scott Peterson for the murder of his wife, Laci Peterson. Computer forensic experts used EnCase to examine Peterson's five computer hard drives, which provided valuable evidence that he had shopped online for a boat, studied water currents, bought a gift for his mistress in the weeks leading up to his wife's death and showed interest in a computer map that included Brooks Island, where his wife was later found.
In 2005, American serial killer Dennis Lynn Rader (also known as the BTK killer) sent a floppy disk to FOX affiliate KSAS-TV in Wichita, Kansas. Using EnCase, police were able to find metadata embedded in a deleted Microsoft Word document that was, unbeknownst to Rader, on the disk. The metadata contained "Christ Lutheran Church", and the document was marked as last modified by "Dennis." A search of the church website turned up Dennis Rader as president of the congregation council. Police began surveillance of Rader.
In 2011, following Sony Online Entertainment's multiple security breaches, Sony said it would be working with Data Forté, Guidance Software and Protiviti to resolve its PlayStation breach. And in May 2011, after the killing of Osama bin Laden, it was reported that an assault team of Navy SEALs removed computers, hard drives, USB sticks and DVDs from bin Laden's compound for forensic analysis. Based on a job description supporting the task, Guidance Software's EnCase is believed to be the tool selected for analysis of the electronic gear. Later that year, Guidance Software's EnCase was noted as a forensic software tool used in the trial of Casey Anthony, following the death of her daughter Caylee Anthony. Investigators used EnCase to search digital cameras and computers. Using the software, Detective Sandra Osborne of Orange County Sheriff's Department, found correctly and incorrectly spelled searches for the word “chloroform.”
Key Management
John Colbert - CEO
Victor Limongelli- CEO
Shawn McCreight - CTO and Founder
Frank Sansone - CFO
Barry Plaga - CFO
Sandy Gyenes - CHRO
Mark Harrington - General Counsel
|
New Zealand Company
|
[
"Companies of the United Kingdom",
"British companies established in 1839",
"Chartered companies",
"Immigration to New Zealand",
"British colonisation of Oceania",
"British companies disestablished in 1858",
"1830s in New Zealand",
"1858 disestablishments in New Zealand",
"Trading companies of the United Kingdom",
"Trading companies established in the 19th century",
"Trading companies disestablished in the 19th century",
"Settlement schemes in the British Empire"
] | 10,559 | 76,006 |
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the Southern Hemisphere. Under Wakefield's model, the colony would attract capitalists, who would then have a ready supply of labour: migrant labourers who could not initially afford to be property owners but would have the expectation of one-day buying land with their savings.
The New Zealand Company established settlements at Wellington, Nelson, Wanganui and Dunedin and also became involved in the settling of New Plymouth and Christchurch. The original New Zealand Company started in 1825, with little success, then rose as a new company when it merged with Wakefield's New Zealand Association in 1837, received its royal charter in 1840, reached the peak of efficiency about 1841, encountered financial problems from 1843 from which it never recovered, returned its charter in 1850 and wound up all remaining business with a final report in 1858.
History
The company's board members included aristocrats, Members of Parliament and a prominent magazine publisher, who used their political connections to ceaselessly lobby the British government to achieve its aims. The company bought a lot of land from Māori using questionable contracts and in many cases resold that land, with its title in doubt. The company launched elaborate, grandiose and sometimes fraudulent advertising campaigns. It vigorously attacked those it perceived as its opponents—chiefly the British Colonial Office, successive governors of New Zealand, the Church Missionary Society and the prominent missionary Reverend Henry Williams, and it stridently opposed the Treaty of Waitangi, which was an obstacle to the company's obtaining the greatest possible amount of New Zealand land at the cheapest price. The company, in turn, was frequently criticised by the Colonial Office and New Zealand governors for its "trickery" and lies. Missionaries in New Zealand were also critical of the company for fear that its activities would lead to the "conquest and extermination" of Māori inhabitants.
The company viewed itself as a prospective quasi-government of New Zealand and in 1845 and 1846 proposed splitting the colony in two, along a line from Mokau in the west to Cape Kidnappers in the east, with the north reserved for Māori and missionaries and the south becoming a self-governing province, known as "New Victoria" and managed by the company for that purpose. The British Colonial Secretary rejected the proposal.
Only 15,500 settlers arrived in New Zealand as part of the company's colonisation schemes, but three of its settlements would, along with Auckland, become and remain the country's "main centres" and provide the foundation for the system of provincial government introduced in 1853.
1825 expedition
The earliest organised attempt to colonise New Zealand came in 1825, when the New Zealand Company was formed in London, headed by the wealthy John George Lambton, Whig MP (and later 1st Earl of Durham). Other directors of the company were:
East India Company merchants George Lyall, George Palmer (snr), Stewart Marjoribanks and Russell Ellice;
politician and merchant Edward Ellice (brother of Russell, and also brother-in-law of Lambton);
political economist Robert Torrens snr; landowner and politician Edward Littleton (later 1st Baron Hatherton);
Royal Navy officer and politician Courtenay Boyle;
banker James Pattison (sometime chair of the East India Company, and later Governor of the Bank of England;
writer and politician Aaron Chapman;
politician and banker Abraham Wildey Robarts;
shipping insurer Ralph Fenwick;
solicitor John William Buckle;
William Mannings; and
James Faden.
The company unsuccessfully petitioned the British Government for a 31-year term of exclusive trade and for command of a military force. It anticipated that large profits could be made from New Zealand flax, kauri timber, whaling, and sealing.
Undeterred by the lack of government support for its plan to establish a settlement protected by a small military force, the company dispatched two ships to New Zealand the following year under the command of Captain James Herd, who was given the task of exploring trade prospects and potential settlement sites in New Zealand. On 5 March 1826 the ships, Lambton and Rosanna, reached Stewart Island, which Herd explored and then dismissed as a possible settlement, before sailing north to inspect land around Otago Harbour. Herd was unconvinced that area was the ideal location and sailed instead for Te Whanganui-a-Tara (present-day Wellington Harbour), which Herd named Lambton Harbour. Herd explored the area and identified land at the south-west of the harbour as the best place for a European settlement, ignoring the presence of a large pā that was home to members of Te Āti Awa tribe. The ships then sailed up the east coast to explore prospects for trade, stopping at the Coromandel Peninsula and the Bay of Islands. In January 1827 Herd surveyed parts of the harbour at Hokianga, where either he or the company's agent on board negotiated the "purchase" of tracts of land from Māori in Hokianga, Manukau and Paeroa. The price for the land was "five muskets, fifty three pounds powder, four pair blankets, three hundred flints and four musket cartridge boxes". After several weeks Herd and the New Zealand Company agent decided the cost of exporting goods was too high to be of economic value and they sailed to Sydney, where Herd paid off the crew and sold the stores and equipment, then returned to London. The venture had cost the New Zealand Company £20,000.
Wakefield's influence
The failure of Lambton's project came to the attention of 30-year-old aspiring politician Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who was serving three years in jail for abducting a 15-year-old heiress. Wakefield, who had grown up in a family with roots in philanthropy and social reform, also showed an interest in proposals by Robert Wilmot-Horton, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies for state-assisted emigration programmes that would help British paupers escape poverty by moving to any of Britain's colonies. In 1829 Wakefield began publishing pamphlets and writing newspaper articles that were reprinted in a book, promoting the concept of systematic emigration to Australasia through a commercial profit-making enterprise.
Wakefield's plan entailed a company buying land from the indigenous residents of Australia or New Zealand very cheaply, then selling it to speculators and "gentleman settlers" for a much higher sum. The immigrants would provide the labour to break in the gentlemen's lands and cater to their employers' everyday needs. They would eventually be able to buy their own land, but high land prices and low rates of pay would ensure they first laboured for many years.
In May 1830 Wakefield was released from prison and joined the National Colonisation Society, whose committee included Wilmot-Horton, nine MPs and three clergymen. Wakefield's influence within the society quickly grew and by the end of the year his plans for colonisation of Australasia had become the central focus of the society's pamphlets and lectures.
Despite the £20,000 loss incurred in his earlier venture, Lambton (from the 1830s known as Lord Durham) continued to pursue ways to become involved in commercial emigration schemes and was joined in his endeavours by Radical MPs Charles Buller and Sir William Molesworth. In 1831 and again in 1833 Buller and Molesworth backed Wakefield as he took to the Colonial Office elaborate plans to recreate a perfect English society in a new colony in South Australia in which land would be sold at a price high enough to generate profit to fund emigration. The Whig government in 1834 passed an Act authorising the establishment of the British Province of South Australia, but the planning and initial sales of land proceeded without Wakefield's involvement because of the illness and death of his daughter. Land in the town of Adelaide was offered at £1 per acre on maps showing town and country sites—though the area was still little more than a sandhill—but sales were poor. In March 1836 a survey party sailed for South Australia and the first emigrants followed four months later. Wakefield claimed all credit for the establishment of the colony, but was disappointed with the outcome, claiming the land had been sold too cheaply.
Instead, in late 1836, he set his sights on New Zealand, where his theories of "systematic" colonisation could be put into full effect. He gave evidence to a House of Commons committee which itself comprised many Wakefield supporters, and when the committee handed down a report endorsing his ideas, he wrote to Lord Durham explaining that New Zealand was "the fittest country in the world for colonisation". Wakefield formed the New Zealand Association, and on 22 May 1837 chaired its first meeting, which was attended by ten others including MPs Molesworth and William Hutt, and R.S. Rintoul of The Spectator. After the association's third meeting, by which time London banker John Wright, Irish aristocrat Earl Mount Cashell and Whig MP William Wolryche-Whitmore were also on board and the group was attracting favourable newspaper attention, Wakefield drafted a Bill to bring the association's plans to fruition.
The draft attracted stiff opposition from Colonial Office officials and from the Church Missionary Society, who took issue both with the "unlimited power" the colony's founders would wield and what they regarded as the inevitable "conquest and extermination of the present inhabitants". Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the colonies Lord Howick and Permanent Under-Secretary James Stephen both were concerned about proposals for the settlements' founders to make laws for the colony, fearing it would create a dynasty beyond British government control, while Anglican and Wesleyan missionaries were alarmed by claims made in pamphlets written by Wakefield in which he declared that one of the aims of colonisation was to "civilise a barbarous people" who could "scarcely cultivate the earth". Māori, Wakefield wrote, "craved" colonisation and looked up to the Englishman "as being so eminently superior to himself, that the idea of asserting his own independence of equality never enters his mind". Wakefield suggested that once Māori chiefs had sold their land to settlers for a very small sum, they would be "adopted" by English families and be instructed and corrected. At a meeting on 6 June 1837 the Church Missionary Society passed four resolutions expressing its objection to the New Zealand Association plans, including the observation that previous experience had shown that European colonisation invariably inflicted grave injuries and injustices on the indigenous inhabitants. It also said the colonisation plans would interrupt or defeat missionary efforts for the religious improvement and civilisation of the Māori. The society resolved to use "all suitable means" to defeat the association and both the Church and Wesleyan missionary societies began to wage campaigns in opposition to the company's plans, through pamphlets and lobbying to government.
Charter
In September 1837, four months after the New Zealand Association's first meeting, discussions began with the 1825 New Zealand Company over a possible merger. The 1825 company claimed ownership of a million acres of New Zealand land acquired during its 1826 voyage, and Lord Durham, chairman of that company, was suggested as an ideal chairman of the new partnership. By the end of the year he had been elected to that role.
Through late 1837 the New Zealand Association vigorously lobbied both the British government and Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, then returned with a revised Bill that addressed some of the government's concerns. On 20 December 1837 it was rewarded with the offer of a royal charter similar to those under which British colonies had been earlier established in North America. The chartered body was to take responsibility for the administration, and the legislative, judicial, military and financial affairs of the colony of New Zealand, subject to safeguards of control by the British Government. To receive the charter, however, the association was told by Colonial Secretary Lord Glenelg it would have to become a joint stock company, and therefore have "a certain subscribed capital". In a letter to Lord Durham, Lord Glenelg explained that the government was aware of the risks of the proposed New Zealand venture and knew that the South Australian colony established under the Wakefield system was already heavily in debt. It therefore considered it reasonable that the interests of shareholders should coincide with those of emigrants in the pursuit of the colony's prosperity. But members of the association decided the requirement was unacceptable. Reluctant to invest their own money in the venture, and wary of the risks of the shares being subject to fluctuations in the stock market, they rejected the offer. On 5 February 1838 the Colonial Secretary in turn advised Lord Durham that the charter had therefore been withdrawn. The New Zealand Association's plans would again hinge on a Bill being introduced to, and passed by, Parliament.
Public and political opinion continued to run against the association's proposals. In February 1838 The Times wrote disparagingly of the "moral and political paradise", the "radical Utopia in the Great Pacific" conceived in "the gorgeous fancy of Mr Edward Gibbon Wakefield", in March Parliament debated—then defeated—Molesworth's motion of no confidence in the Colonial Secretary over his rejection of the association's plans, and later that month the association's second Bill, introduced by Whig MP Francis Baring on 1 June, was defeated 92 votes to 32 at its second reading. Lord Howick described the failed Bill as "the most monstrous proposal I ever knew made to the House".
Three weeks after the Bill's defeat, the New Zealand Association held its final meeting and passed a resolution to the effect that "notwithstanding this temporary failure", members would persevere with their efforts to establish "a well-regulated system of colonization". Two months later, on 29 August 1838, 14 supporters of the association and the 1825 New Zealand Company convened to form a joint-stock company, the New Zealand Colonisation Association. Chaired by Lord Petre, the company was to have paid-up capital of £25,000 in 50 shares of £50, and declared its purpose was "the purchase and sale of lands, the promotion of emigration, and the establishment of public works". A reserved share of £500 was offered to Wakefield, who by then was in Canada, working on the staff of that colony's new governor general, Lord Durham. By December, although it was still yet to attract 20 paid-up shareholders, the company decided to buy the barque Tory for £5250 from Joseph Somes, a wealthy shipowner and member of the committee.
Within the British Government, meanwhile, concern had grown about the welfare of Māori and increasing lawlessness among the 2,000 British subjects in New Zealand, who were concentrated in the Bay of Islands. Because of the population of British subjects there, officials believed colonisation was now inevitable and at the end of 1838 the decision was made to appoint a Consul as a prelude to the declaration of British sovereignty over New Zealand. And when Lord Glenelg was replaced as Colonial Secretary in late February, his successor, Lord Normanby, immediately brushed off demands from the New Zealand Colonisation Association for the royal charter that had been previously offered to the New Zealand Association.
On 20 March 1839 an informal meeting of members of the Colonisation Association and the 1825 New Zealand Company learned from Hutt the disturbing news that the Government's Bill for the colonisation of New Zealand would contain a clause that land from then on would be able to be bought only from the Government. Such a move would be a catastrophic blow for the Colonisation Association, for whom success depended on being able to acquire land at a cheap price, directly from Māori, and then sell it at a high price to make a profit for shareholders and fund colonisation. The news created the need for swift action if private enterprise was to beat the Government to New Zealand. In a stirring speech, Wakefield told those present: "Possess yourselves of the soil and you are secure—but if from delay you allow others to do it before you, they will succeed and you will fail."
Members of the two colonisation groups subsequently formed a new organisation, the New Zealand Land Company, with Lord Durham as its governor and five MPs among its 17 directors (in 1840 the directors were Joseph Somes, Viscount Ingestre, M.P., Lord Petre, Henry A. Aglionby, M.P., Francis Baring, M.P., John Ellorker Boulcott, John William Buckle, Russell Ellice, James Robert Gowen, John Hine, William Hutt, M.P., Stewart Marjoribanks, Sir William Molesworth, M.P., Alexander Nairn, Alderman John Pirie, Sir George Sinclair, M.P., John Abel Smith, M.P., Alderman William Thompson, M.P., Frederick James Tollemache, M.P., Edward G. Wakefield, Sir Henry Webb, Arthur Willis, George Frederick Young). The company acted urgently to fit out the Tory, advertise for a captain and surveyor and select Colonel William Wakefield as the expedition's commander. William Wakefield was authorised to spend £3000 on goods that could be used to barter for land. By 12 May 1839, when the Tory left England under the command of Captain Edward Chaffers, the company had already begun advertising and selling land in New Zealand, and by the end of July—months before the company had even learned the Tory had arrived in New Zealand—all available sections for its first settlement had been sold. The company had already been warned in a letter from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary that the government could give no guarantee of title to land bought from Māori, which would "probably" be liable to repurchase by the Crown. The company had also been told that the Government could neither encourage nor recognise its proceedings.
The company's prospectus, issued on 2 May, detailed the Wakefield system of colonisation the company would carry out: 1100 sections, each comprising one "town acre" and 100 "country acres", would be sold in London, sight unseen, at £1 per acre, with the funds raised used to transport the emigrants to New Zealand. Emigrants would be selected either as capitalists or labourers, with labourers being required to work for the capitalists for several years before obtaining land of their own. One in 10 surveyed sections—scattered throughout the settlement—would be reserved for Māori who had been displaced, and the rest would be sold to raise £99,999, of which the company would retain 25 per cent to cover its expenses. Labourers would travel to New Zealand for free, while those who bought land and migrated could claim a 75 percent rebate on their fare.
1839 expedition and land purchases
The Tory was the first of three New Zealand Company surveyor ships sent off in haste to prepare for settlers in New Zealand. In August the Cuba, with a surveyors' team headed by Captain William Mein Smith, R.A., set sail, and a month later—still with no word on the success of the Tory and Cuba—on 15 September 1839 it was followed from Gravesend, London, by the Oriental, the first of five 500-ton immigrant ships hired by the company. Following the Oriental were the Aurora, Adelaide, Duke of Roxburgh and Bengal Merchant, plus a freight vessel, the Glenbervie, which all sailed with instructions to rendezvous on 10 January 1840 at Port Hardy on d'Urville Island where they would be told of their final destination. It was expected that by that time William Wakefield would have bought land for the first settlement and had it surveyed, and also inspected the company's land claims at Kaipara and Hokianga.
The company provided Wakefield with a lengthy list of instructions to be carried out on his arrival. He was told to seek land for settlements where there were safe harbours that would foster export trade, rivers allowing passage to fertile inland property, and waterfalls that could power industry. He was told the company was eager to acquire land around harbours on both sides of Cook Strait and that while Port Nicholson appeared the best site he should also closely examine Queen Charlotte Sound and Cloudy Bay at the north of the South Island. He was told to explain to Māori that the company wanted to buy land for resale to allow large-scale European settlement and that he should emphasise to tribes that in every land sale, one-tenth would be reserved for Māori, who would then live where they were assigned by a lottery draw in London. Wakefield was told:
Wakefield arrived at Cook Strait on 16 August and spent several weeks exploring the bays and sounds at the north of the South Island. The Tory crossed Cook Strait on 20 September and with the aid of whaler and trader Dicky Barrett—who had lived among Māori in Taranaki and the Wellington area since 1828 and also spoke "pidgin-Māori"—Wakefield began to offer guns, utensils and clothing to buy land from the Māori around Petone. Within a week he had secured the entire harbour and all surrounding ranges, and from then until November went on to secure signatures and marks on parchments that supposedly gave the company ownership of 20 million acres (8 million hectares)—about one-third of New Zealand's land surface at a cost of about a halfpenny an acre. On 25 October he persuaded 10 chiefs at Kapiti to add crosses at the foot of an 1180-word document that confirmed they were permanently parting with all "rights, claims, titles and interests" to vast areas of land in both the South and North Islands as far north as present-day New Plymouth. On 8 November in Queen Charlotte Sound he secured the signature of an exiled Taranaki chief, Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke, and 31 others for land whose description was near-identical to that of the Kapiti deal. On 16 November as the Tory passed Wanganui three chiefs came aboard the Tory to negotiate the sale of all their district from Manawatu to Patea. The areas in each deed were so vast Wakefield documented them by writing lists of place names, and finally expressed the company's territory in degrees of latitude.
Wakefield had learned from Barrett the complicated nature of land ownership in the Port Nicholson area because of past wars and expulsions and from late October Wakefield was informed of—but dismissed—rumours that Māori had sold land that did not belong to them. Problems with some of their purchases were emerging, however. Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha boarded the Tory near Kapiti to tell Wakefield that in its October agreement Ngāti Toa intended the company to have not millions of acres at the top of the South Island, but just the two small areas of Whakatu and Taitapu. And in December, a week after arriving at Hokianga to inspect the land bought from the 1825 New Zealand Company, Wakefield was told by Ngāpuhi chiefs that the only land the New Zealand Land Company could claim in the north was about a square mile at Hokianga. Further, there was nothing at all for them at either Kaipara or Manukau Harbour. There was a prize for him, however, with his purchase on 13 December of the Wairau Valley in the north of the South Island. Wakefield bought the land for £100 from the widow of whaling Captain John Blenkinsopp, who had claimed to have earlier bought it off Te Rauparaha. That sale would lead to the 1843 Wairau Affray in which 22 English settlers and four Māori were killed.
Further purchases followed in Taranaki (60,000 acres in February 1840) and Wanganui (May 1840, the conclusion of negotiations begun the previous November); the company explained to the 1842 Land Claims Commission that while the earlier deeds covering the same land had been with the "overlords", these new contracts were with residents of the lands, to overcome any resistance they might have to yield physical possession of the land.
In July the company reported it had sent 1108 labouring emigrants and 242 cabin passengers to New Zealand and despatched a total of 13 ships. Another immigrant vessel, the London, sailed for New Zealand on 13 August, and before the year it was followed by Blenheim, Slains Castle, , and Olympus.
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi gave the Crown a pre-emption right to purchase any Māori land being sold. Hobson began reviewing all earlier Maori land sales.
Under instructions from the Colonial Office, Hobson was to set up a system in which much of the revenue raised from the sale of land to settlers would be used to cover the costs of administration and development, but a portion of the funds would also be used to send emigrants to New Zealand. That plan, says historian Patricia Burns, was further proof of the "pervasive influence of the Wakefield theory".
In April the Rev. Henry Williams was sent south by Hobson to seek further signatures to the treaty in the Port Nicholson area. He was forced to wait for 10 days before local chiefs would approach him and blamed their reluctance to sign the treaty on pressure by William Wakefield. On 29 April, however, Williams was able to report that Port Nicholson chiefs had "unanimously" signed the treaty. William Wakefield was already strongly critical of both the treaty and Williams and repeatedly attacked the missionary in the company's newspaper for his "hypocrisy and unblushing rapaciousness".
Williams, in turn, was critical of the company's dealings, noting that the deeds of purchase for land it had claimed to have bought from the 38 deg. to the 42 degrees parallel of latitude were drawn up in English, which was not understood by Māori who had signed it, and that the company's representatives, including Barrett, had an equally poor grasp of Māori. Williams found that company representatives had met Māori chiefs at Port Nicholson, Kapiti and Taranaki, where neither party understanding the other and had not visited other places where the company claimed to have purchased land.
Hobson, meanwhile, was becoming alarmed at the news of the company's growing assumption of power. He learned of their bid to imprison a Captain Pearson of the barque Integrity and that on 2 March they had raised the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand at Port Nicholson, proclaiming government by "colonial council" that claimed to derive its powers from authority granted by local chiefs. Interpreting the moves as smacking of "high treason," Hobson declared British sovereignty over the entirety of the North Island on 21 May 1840, and on 23 May declared the council illegal. He then despatched his Colonial Secretary, Willoughby Shortland, with 30 soldiers and six mounted police on 30 June 1840, to Port Nicholson to tear down the flag. Shortland commanded the residents to withdraw from their "illegal association" and to submit to the representatives of the Crown. Hobson, claiming his hand had been forced by the New Zealand Company's actions, also proclaimed sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand—the North Island by right of cession at Waitangi, and the South and Stewart Islands by right of discovery.
Wellington
Ignoring the wishes of William Wakefield, who wanted the initial settlement at the southwest side of the harbour where there were excellent anchorages for ships, Surveyor-General William Mein Smith began in January 1840 to layout 1100 one-acre (4047 m2) sections of the town, initially called "Britannia", on the flat land at Pito-one (now Petone), at the north of the harbour. The sections, near the mouth of the Hutt River, were laid out in parallelograms, with the plan including boulevards and public parks. Settlers who had bought a town section had also bought 100 "country acres" (about 40ha), where they could grow their food. Smith considered it important to locate the town and country areas close together and the Hutt Valley appeared to promise that space. The drawback was that his chosen locality was a mix of dense forest, scrub, flax and swamp, its river was prone to flooding and the beach so flat that when the first passenger ships began to arrive—just four days after Smith began his survey work—they were forced to anchor 1600 metres from the shore. But construction of temporary houses began, as well as the assembly of wooden houses that had been carried on each ship, while tents also soon dotted the dunes behind the beach. Local Māori assisted with the construction and also provided food—fish, potatoes and other vegetables and occasionally pork.
Eight weeks later, in March, after all passenger ships had arrived, settlers voted to abandon surveying at Pito-one—where the swamps, repeated flooding and poor anchorage facilities were proving too much of an obstacle—and move the town to Wakefield's preferred location of Thorndon at Lambton Bay (later Lambton Quay), which was named in honour of Lord Durham. Surveyors quickly encountered problems, however, when they discovered the land selected for the new settlement was still inhabited by Māori, who expressed astonishment and bewilderment to find Pākehā tramping through their homes, gardens and cemeteries and driving wooden survey pegs into the ground. Surveyors became involved in skirmishes with the Māori, most of whom refused to budge, and were provided with weapons to continue their work.
Wakefield had purchased the land during a frantic week-long campaign the previous September, with payment made in the form of iron pots, soap, guns, ammunition, axes, fish hooks, clothing—including red nightcaps—slates, pencils, umbrellas, sealing wax and jaw harps. Signatures had been gained from local chiefs after an explanation, given by Wakefield and interpreted by Barrett, that the land would no longer be theirs once payment was made. Evidence later provided to the Spain Land Commission—set up by the Colonial Office to investigate New Zealand Company land claims—revealed three major flaws: that chiefs representing pā of Te Aro, Pipitea and Kumutoto, where the settlement of Thorndon was to be sited, were neither consulted nor paid; that Te Wharepōuri, an aggressive and boastful young chief eager to prove his importance, had sold land he did not control; and that Barrett's explanation and interpretation of the terms of the sale was woefully inadequate. Barrett told the Spain Commission hearing in February 1843: "I said that when they signed their names the gentlemen in England who had sent out the trade might know who were the chiefs." Historian Angela Caughey also claimed it was extremely unlikely that Wakefield and Barrett could have visited all the villages at Whanganui-a-Tara in one day to explain the company's intentions and seek approval.
In line with his instructions, Wakefield promised local Māori they would be given reserves of land equal to one-tenth of the area, with their allotments chosen by lottery and sprinkled among the European settlers. The reserves were to remain inalienable to ensure that the Māori would not quickly sell the land to speculators. Jerningham Wakefield, the nephew of William Wakefield who had also arrived on the Tory in 1839, espoused the company's hope that interspersing Māori with white settlers would help them change their "rude and uncivilised habits". In a later book on his New Zealand adventures he wrote: "The constant example before their eyes, and constant emulation to attain the same results, would naturally lead the inferior race, by an easy ascent, to a capacity for acquiring the knowledge, habits, desires and comforts of their civilised neighbours."
In November 1840, the New Zealand Company directors advised Wakefield that they wished to name the town at Lambton Harbour after the Duke of Wellington in recognition of his strong support for the company's principles of colonisation and his "strenuous and successful defence against its enemies of the measure for colonising South Australia". Settlers enthusiastically accepted the proposal. The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator was published in Wellington from 1840 to 1844. Initially privately owned by Samuel Revans, it was regarded as a "mouthpiece of the New Zealand Company".
Nelson
In April 1841 the company informed the Colonial Secretary of its intention to establish a second colony "considerably larger" than the first. The colony was initially to be called Molesworth after Radical MP Sir William Molesworth, a supporter of Wakefield, but was renamed Nelson (after the British admiral) when Molesworth showed little interest in leading the colony. It was planned to cover , consisting of 1000 allotments. Each would be 150 acres (60 hectares) of rural land, 50 acres (20 hectares) of accommodation land and one "town acre" (4000 square metres), with half the funds raised by land sales being spent on emigration and about £50,000 ending up as company profits. The land would be sold at £301 per allotment or 30 shillings an acre, one pound an acre more than land at Wellington, with a lottery to determine the ownership of specific allotments.
Three ships, the Arrow, Whitby, and Will Watch, sailed that month for New Zealand with surveyors and labourers to prepare plots for the first settlers (scheduled to follow five months later). Land sales proved disappointing, however, and threatened the viability of the settlement: by early June only 326 allotments had been sold, with only 42 purchasers intending to actually travel to New Zealand. Things had improved little by the drawing of the lottery in late August 1841, when only 371 of the allotments were drawn by purchasers, three-quarters of whom were absentee owners.
The ships arrived at Blind Bay (today known as Tasman Bay), where the expedition leaders searched for land suitable for the new colony, before settling on the site of present-day Nelson, an area described as marshy land covered with scrub and fern. In a meeting with local Māori, expedition leader Arthur Wakefield claimed to have gained recognition – in exchange for "presents" of axes, a gun, gunpowder, blankets, biscuits and pipes – for the 1839 "purchases" in the area by William Wakefield. By January 1842 the advance guard had built more than 100 huts on the site of the future town in preparation for the arrival of the first settlers. A month later the township was described as having a population of 500, along with bullocks, sheep, pigs and poultry, although the company was yet to identify or purchase any of the rural land for which purchasers had paid.
The search for this remaining would ultimately lead to the Wairau Affray – then known as the "Wairau Massacre" – of 17 June 1843, when 22 Europeans and four Māori died in a skirmish over land in the Wairau Valley, 25 km from Nelson. Arthur Wakefield claimed to have bought the land from the widow of a whaler who, in turn, had claimed to have bought it from chief Te Rauparaha. The chief denied having sold it. Although settlers in Nelson and Wellington were appalled at the slaughter at Wairau, an investigation by Governor Robert FitzRoy laid the blame squarely at the feet of the New Zealand Company representatives.
As early as 1839 the New Zealand Company had resolved to "take steps to procure German emigrants" and appointed an agent in Bremen. A bid in September 1841 to sell the Chatham Islands to the German Colonisation Company—yet to be formed—for £10,000 was quashed by the British Government, which declared that the islands were to be part of the colony of New Zealand and that any Germans settling there would be treated as aliens. The party of German migrants on the St Pauli, with 140 passengers including John Beit, the "overbearing and arrogant, greedy, untruthful" New Zealand Company agent in Hamburg, went to Nelson instead.
Government intervention
The New Zealand Company had begun its colonisation scheme without the approval of the British government; as late as May 1839 Parliamentary Under-secretary Henry Labouchere warned company director William Hutt that there was no guarantee that titles to land purchased from Māori would be recognised and that such land would be subject to repurchase by the Crown. In January and February 1840 both New South Wales Governor George Gipps and Hobson in New Zealand issued proclamations that all land previously purchased from Māori would have to be confirmed by government title, and that any future direct purchases from Māori were null and void.
Gipps introduced his New Zealand Land Claims Bill to the New South Wales Legislative Council in May 1840, instituting a process to appoint commissioners who would investigate all lands acquired from Māori and the conditions under which the transactions had taken place. The Bill also stipulated that Māori owned only the land which they "occupied", by living on or cultivating it; all other land was deemed "waste" land and owned by the Crown. The subsequent Act, passed on 4 August, prohibited the grant of any land purchase greater than four square miles (2560 acres). The New Zealand Company had already claimed to have bought two million acres (8,000 km2), part of which it had sold directly to settlers, and when news of the government move reached Wellington in August it sparked panic, prompting hundreds of settlers to prepare to abandon their land and sail to Valparaíso, Chile.<ref>[ An Account of the Settlements of the New Zealand Company by The Hon H W Petre] (Smith, Elder and Co, 1842), Chapter 3.</ref> In a bid to restore certainty to the settlers over their land claims a three-man deputation was sent to Sydney to meet Gipps; in early December the deputation returned with news that Gipps would procure for the Wellington settlers a confirmation of their titles to 110,000 acres of land, as well as their town, subject to several conditions including that the 110,000 acres were taken in one continuous block, native reserves were guaranteed and that reserves were made for public purposes.
In late September or early October 1840, MP and New Zealand Company Secretary Charles Buller appealed to the Colonial Office for help for the company which he claimed was in "distress". Over the next month, the two parties negotiated a three-part agreement that, once agreed, was hailed by the company as "all that we could desire". Colonial Secretary Lord John Russell agreed to offer a royal charter for 40 years, which would allow the company to buy, sell, settle and cultivate lands in New Zealand, with the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission, formed in January 1840, to have oversight of the company's colonisation activities. Russell also agreed to assess the total sum of money the company had spent on colonisation and then grant the company title to four acres for every pound it had expended. In return, the company would relinquish its claim to 20 million acres. He also promised the company a discount—at a level to be decided later—for a purchase from the government of 50,000 acres. The company began providing figures to the Colonial Office of its total outgoings, which included £20,000 paid to the 1825 company and £40,000 paid to the New Zealand Colonisation Company of 1838 as well as £5250 paid for the Tory. The company's spending on placards, printing and advertising, employee salaries, and food and transport for the emigrants were also included in the total, along with the costs of goods, including firearms, that had been used to buy land. A final calculation in May 1841 was that under the agreed formula the company was entitled to an initial 531,929 acres, with possibly another 400,000 to 500,000 acres to come. In May Russell agreed to allow the company a 20 per cent discount on the cost of 50,000 acres it wished to buy in New Plymouth and Nelson.
Hobson visited the Wellington area for the first time in August 1841 and heard complaints first-hand from Māori both in the town and also from as far afield as Porirua and Kapiti that they had never sold their land. Hobson assured them that their unsold pā and cultivations would be protected, but within days provided William Wakefield with a schedule, dated 1 September, which identified 110,000 acres at Port Nicholson, Porirua and Manawatu, 50,000 acres at Wanganui and 50,000 acres (later lifted to 60,000 acres) at New Plymouth; the government would waive its rights of pre-emption in those defined areas (thus abandoning any move to reclaim or resell lands possibly still owned by "residents" in the wake of the company's purchase from the "overlords"), and in a confidential note Hobson promised that the government would "sanction any equitable arrangement you may make to induce those natives who reside within the limits referred to in the accompanying schedule, to yield up possession of their habitations" as long as no force was used. FitzRoy pressured Te Aro Māori to accept £300 for valuable land in the middle of Wellington for which they had never been paid, by explaining that their land was almost valueless.
New Zealand Land Commission
In May 1842 Hampshire attorney William Spain, who had been appointed by Russell in January 1841 as an independent Land Commissioner, opened his official inquiry into New Zealand Company land claims and any non-Company counter-claims to the same lands. Spain quickly discovered that the New Zealand Company purchases in the Port Nicholson, Wanganui, and New Plymouth districts were hotly contested by Māori. In Wellington several important chiefs, notably those of Te Aro, Pipitea and Kumutoto pā took little or no part in the proceedings. Those in favour of "selling" the land gave two main reasons for their stance: European arms and settlement would give them protection against their enemies, notably the Ngāti Raukawa of Ōtaki who were expected to attack at any time; and they were aware of the wealth that a European settlement—"their Pākehā"—would bring them through trade and employment. Some sales were also motivated by complex power struggles among Māori iwi, with assent to purchases deemed as proof of status. Company officials and the Colonial Office in London each argued that if the Māori were to be compensated for land they had not sold, the other should pay it; the Colonial Office claimed that its agreement of November 1840 was made on the assumption that the company's claim was valid, while the company objected to being asked to prove that Māori in all transactions had both understood the contracts and had the right to sell. Company representatives in London attempted to challenge the legality of Spain's inquiry and instructed William Wakefield that he should not answer to it.
Spain, who was given a price scale that determined arbitrarily what each purchase should have been worth, concluded each of his investigations into the validity of the New Zealand Company purchases by announcing how much land they would be rewarded. The company was awarded 151,000 acres (61,155ha)at Nelson after payment of £800 but the claim on the Wairau valley was rejected. At Wellington the company was ordered to pay £1500 to complete the Port Nicholson agreement and it was then awarded 71,900 acres (29,100ha). Spain refused a Crown grant of any land at Porirua and promised just 100 acres (40.5ha) at Manawatu. He awarded 40,000 acres (16,200ha) at Wanganui and 60,000 acres (24,300ha) at Taranaki. In London, the Colonial Office had already decided that land claimed by settlers but not awarded to them by the Land Claims Commission should revert not to the Māori owners, but to the Crown.
The Taranaki ruling led to Spain's downfall. Spain had made the decision based on information from William Wakefield that much of the Taranaki region had been sparsely populated by Māori at the time of the purchase. The cause of the depopulation was that most of the local Te Āti Awa population had either migrated to Ōtaki or the Cook Strait region after defeat by raiding Waikato war parties in the 1820s, or been enslaved by the Waikato, but many were now returning. Spain ruled that regardless of the reason for their departure, Te Āti Awa had forfeited the land and that the company purchase from the few remaining residents was valid. With tensions between settlers and Māori in Taranaki at an all-time high, and alerted by Protector of Aborigines George Clarke of problems with Spain's Taranaki ruling, FitzRoy sailed in August 1844 for New Plymouth, where he was briefed by Bishop George Selwyn and then announced he would reverse Spain's decision. Instead of the 60,000 acres in Taranaki, the company would be awarded just 3800 acres, where settlers were already located. The decision outraged settlers, who were aware of friction with returning Māori, but had been hoping the Governor would station a body of troops at New Plymouth or sanction the formation of a militia to protect their land. FitzRoy later wrote: "It appeared so clear ... that the view taken by the land commissioner could not be adopted by the government without causing bloodshed, and the probable ruin of the settlement; because the injustice of awarding land to the New Zealand Company, which was well known not to have been purchased by them, was apparent to every native." FitzRoy's decision infuriated Spain, whose resignation was then demanded by the Governor.
Spain's award in Wanganui also failed to be delivered in full: some chiefs refused to sell regardless of the amount of compensation offered. Spain offered to return to Māori four sections of land along with £1000, which Wakefield attempted to distribute with the money in gold and silver, but when they continued to refuse Spain informed them their refusal would not prevent the land from going to the settlers.
Further settlements
The New Zealand Company also established a settlement at Wanganui in 1840, chiefly as a spillover settlement, the site of the rural land promised to Wellington purchasers. A traveller in the colony at the time described Wanganui as "one of the unwholesome, mushroom settlements engendered by the New Zealand Company for the purpose of removing to a distance a portion of the clamorous script-holders who, on arriving from England, looked, and looked in vain, for their land." The Wanganui settlement was beset with problems when settlers arrived to find Māori on the land, denying it had been sold. The company also sent surveyors down the east coast of the South Island to consider further sites, where they made contact at Akaroa with the fledgling French colony established there under the auspices of Jean-François Langlois's Nanto-Bordelaise Company.
The company also became indirectly involved in the settlement of New Plymouth in 1841, through its links with the Plymouth Company, to which it sold a total of 60,000 acres, of indeterminate location, in mid-1840. The Plymouth Company sent a survey party to choose where the settlement would be located and in January 1841 that company's surveyor, Frederick Carrington, selected Taranaki. The Plymouth Company encountered financial difficulties that led to a merger of the two companies on 10 May 1841.
In July 1843 the New Zealand Company issued a prospectus for the sale of 120,550 acres (48,000 hectares), divided between town, suburban and rural lots at a new settlement called New Edinburgh. The location of the settlement still remained undetermined. An office was established in Edinburgh to attract Scottish emigrants. A 400,000 acre (160,000 hectare) block was selected around the harbour at Otago in January 1844. The company worked with the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland on the sale of, and ballot for, land and the first body of settlers sailed for what became the settlement of Dunedin in late November 1847.
A month later Gibbon Wakefield began actively promoting a plan he had proposed in 1843: a Church of England settlement. New Zealand Company directors initially hoped to site the settlement in the Wairarapa region in the lower North Island. When local Māori refused to sell, however, its surveyor inspected Port Cooper (Lyttelton Harbour) on the east coast of the South Island and chose this as the location. Land was bought from 40 members of the Ngāi Tahu iwi in June 1848. The colonising efforts were taken up by the Canterbury Association, Gibbon Wakefield's new project, and the New Zealand Company became a silent partner in the settlement process, providing little more than the initial purchase funds. The first of the body of 1512 Canterbury settlers sailed on 8 September 1850 for their new home.
For more information on New Zealand Company involvement in New Plymouth, see History of New Plymouth For more information on New Zealand Company involvement in Christchurch, see Canterbury AssociationFinancial difficulties and dissolution
The New Zealand Company began falling into financial difficulties from mid-1843 for two reasons. It had planned to buy land cheaply and sell it dearly and anticipated that a colony based on a higher land price would attract affluent colonists. The profits from the sale of land were to be used to pay for free passage of the working-class colonists and for public works, churches and schools for instance. For this scheme to work it was important to get the right proportion of labouring to propertied immigrants. In part the failure of the company's plans were because this proportion was never achieved – there were always more labourers, whose emigration was heavily subsidised by the company, than landed gentry.
The second major flaw arose because a large proportion of the land in the new colony was bought for speculative reasons by people who had no intention of migrating to New Zealand and developing the land they had bought. This meant that the new colonies had a serious shortage of employers and consequently a shortage of work for the labouring classes. From the outset, the New Zealand Company was forced to be the major employer in the new colonies and this proved a serious financial drain on the company. Repeated approaches were made to the British government seeking financial assistance and in late 1846 the company accepted an offer for a £236,000 advance with strict conditions on, and oversight of, future company operations.
In June 1850 the company admitted land sales in Wellington, Nelson and New Plymouth had remained poor and its land sales for the year ended April 1849 amounted to only £6,266. With little prospect of trading its way to profitability, the company surrendered its charter. A select committee report concluded the company's losses were "mainly attributable to their own proceedings, characterised as they were in many respects by rashness and maladministration."
Gibbon Wakefield, who had resigned from the company in disgust after its 1846 financial arrangement with the British government, remained defiant to the end, declaring in 1852 that had the company been left alone it would have paid a dividend, recouped its capital "and there would now be 200,000 settlers in New Zealand".
The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 provided for a quarter of the proceeds of land sales of land previously purchased by the New Zealand Company would go to pay off the debt until it was paid off.
The company, in its final report in May 1858, conceded it had erred, but said the communities they had planted had now assumed "gratifying proportions" and they could look forward to the day when "New Zealand shall take her place as the offspring and counterpart of her Parent Isle ... the Britain of the Southern Hemisphere."
See also
New Zealand Company ships
Canterbury Association
Otago Association
Further reading
A Society of Gentlemen: The Untold Story of the First New Zealand Company'' by Richard Wolfe (2007, Penguin, North Shore Auckland)
|
Negative gearing
|
[
"Real estate in Australia",
"Investment",
"Real estate investing"
] | 2,388 | 19,262 |
Negative gearing is a form of financial leverage whereby an investor borrows money to acquire an income-producing investment and the gross income generated by the investment (at least in the short term) is less than the cost of owning and managing the investment, including depreciation and interest charged on the loan (but excluding capital repayments). The investor may enter into a negatively geared investment expecting tax benefits or the capital gain on the investment after it is sold to exceed the accumulated losses of holding the investment. The investor would take into account the tax treatment of negative gearing, which may generate additional benefits to the investor in the form of tax benefits if the loss on a negatively geared investment is tax-deductible against the investor's other taxable income and if the capital gain on the sale is given a favourable tax treatment.
Overview
Negative gearing is often discussed with regard to real estate, where rental income is less than mortgage loan interest costs, but may also apply to shares in companies whose dividend income falls short of interest costs on a margin loan. The tax treatment may or may not be the same between the two.
Positive gearing occurs when one borrows to invest in an income-producing asset and the returns (income) from that asset exceed the cost of borrowing. From then on, the investor must pay tax on the rental income profit until the asset is sold, at which point the investor must pay capital gains tax on any profit.
When the income generated covers the interest, it is simply a geared investment, which creates passive income. A negative gearing strategy makes a profit under any of the following circumstances:
if the asset rises in value so that the capital gain is more than the sum of the ongoing losses over the life of the investment;
if the income stream rises to become greater than the cost of interest (the investment becomes positively geared); or
if the interest cost falls because of lower interest rates or paying down the loan principal, making the investment positively geared.
The investor must be able to fund any shortfall until the asset is sold or until the investment becomes positively geared. The different tax treatment of planned ongoing losses and possible future capital gains affects the investor's final return. In countries that tax capital gains at a lower rate than income, it is possible for an investor to make a loss overall before taxation but a small gain after taxpayer subsidies.
Some countries, including Australia and Japan, allow unrestricted use of negative gearing losses to offset income from other sources. Several other OECD countries, including the USA, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Canada and France, allow loss offsetting with some restrictions. Applying tax deductions from negatively geared investment housing to other income is not permitted in the United Kingdom or the Netherlands. With respect to investment decisions and market prices, other taxes such as stamp duties and capital gains tax may be more or less onerous in those countries, increasing or decreasing the attractiveness of residential property as an investment.
A negatively-geared investment property will generally remain negatively geared for several years, when the rental income will have increased with inflation to the point that the investment is positively geared (the rental income is greater than the interest cost).
The tax treatment of negative gearing (also termed "rental loss offset against other income") varies. For example:
the United States restricts the practice to lower/middle income taxpayers who are active in managing their rental investment and also allows interest costs against the family home to be fully tax deductible.
Canada limits the practice by ensuring the investment generated a positive return over its life.
countries with lower tax rates have a lower benefit from negative gearing due to a lower top rate of tax or a higher threshold for a specific tax rate.
Taxation implications of negative gearing by country
Negative gearing can be a tax-effective strategy in Australia, because the tax system has a single income tax schedule for income from all sources. This means that for taxation purposes net investment income losses can be offset against other types of income, such as wage or business income, with only a few limits or restrictions.
Negative gearing continues to be a controversial political issue in Australia and was a major issue during the 2016 Australian federal election and the 2019 Australian federal election, during which the Australian Labor Party proposed to eliminate the tax-deductibility of negative gearing losses against non-investment income (with some exceptions), and to halve the capital gains tax discount to 25%. Analysis found that negative gearing in Australia provides a greater benefit to wealthier Australians than the less wealthy.
Federal Treasurer at the time, Scott Morrison, in defence of negative gearing, cited tax data that showed that numerous middle income groups (he mentioned teachers, nurses, and electricians) benefit in larger numbers from negative gearing than finance managers.
United Kingdom
While allowing for negative gearing in its basic form, the United Kingdom does not allow the transfer of one type of income (or loss) to another type of income. This is due to its schedular system of taxation. In this type of taxation system, the tax paid is dependent on income source. Therefore, an individual who received an income from labour and from land would pay two separate tax rates for the two relevant income sources.
Between 1997 and 2007, the Tax Law Rewrite Project changed this system by simplifying the schedules. As with the previous system, people would not be allowed to transfer incomes (or losses).
A UK government online resource on renting out property in England and Wales outlines how to offset losses. It states that losses can be offset against "future profits by carrying it forward to a later year" or against "profits from other properties (if you have them)".
New Zealand
New Zealand abolished negative gearing in March 2021 and it will be fully phased out by April 2025.
The Rental Income Guide states a loss can only be deducted against other incomes if the rental income is at market rate.
The Opposition Labour Party attempted to raise negative gearing in the 2011 election, but after their failure to win government the issue reduced in significance.
New Zealand now has ring-fencing rules, abolishing negative gearing in the residential property market. Residential property deductions can only be made against residential property income and cannot be deducted from income from other sources, e.g. wages.
Canada allows the transfer of income streams in some situations.
Personal business expenses may always be deducted from personal business income. If those expenses exceed business incomes (i.e., the business is losing money for tax purposes), the resulting "non-capital loss" may be deducted from other personal incomes, so long as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) believes that it is a genuine business (and not a personal activity being used to generate tax losses). This loss may also be carried back up to 3 years, or carried forward up to 20 years, to offset income earned in those years.
Interest paid on a loan can be treated as a business expense, so long as the money was borrowed to generate income. Claim the following carrying charges and interest you paid to earn income from investments: [...] Most interest you pay on money you borrow for investment purposes, but generally only if you use it to try to earn investment income, including interest and dividends. However, if the only earnings your investment can produce are capital gains, you cannot claim the interest you paid.
United States
In principle, the US federal tax does not allow the transfer of income streams. In general, taxpayers can only deduct expenses of renting property from their rental income, as renting property out is usually considered a passive activity. However, if renters are considered to have actively participated in the activities, they can claim deductions from rental losses against their other "nonpassive income". A definition of "active participation" is outlined in the "Reporting Rental Income, Expenses, and Losses" guide:You actively participated in a rental real estate activity if you (and your spouse) owned at least 10% of the rental property and you made management decisions or arranged for others to provide services (such as repairs) in a significant and bona fide sense. Management decisions that may count as active participation include approving new tenants, deciding on rental terms, approving expenditures, and other similar decisions.It is possible to deduct any loss against other incomes, depending on a range of factors.
Japan
Japan allows tax payers to offset rental losses against other income.
Individuals can claim losses against rental loss with minimal restrictions, but if the property was owned through a partnership or trust there are restrictions.
There are a number of additional rules, such as restricting claims of losses due to Bad Debt. Additional information can be found in the Japan Tax Site.
Germany
The German tax system is complex, but within the bounds of standard federal income tax, Germany does allow the transfer of income under certain conditions. Rental losses can be offset against rental income and against income from other income streams including employment income, income from independent personal services and trade and business income. In order for losses from renting and leasing to be offset against income or profits from other types of income, it must be established that there is an intention to generate a profit from the source of income generating the losses. In the case of real estate that is rented out for regular residential purposes, the German tax authorities generally assume an intention to generate a profit, unless the real estate is rented out at unusual low conditions (less than 2/3 of a comparable rent).
Germany recognises seven sources of income:
Agriculture and forestry
Trade and business
Independent personal services
Employment
Capital investment
Rents and royalties
"other income", as specified and strictly limited by law to certain types of income such as income from private transactions and income of a recurring nature (e.g. pensions)
The income from each of these sources is calculated separately.
Rental income is taxed as income and is subject to the progressive tax rate. Interest on loans provided to finance real estate, expenses, and property-related cost (e.g., management fees, insurance) can be deducted from the taxable rental income.
If real estate is held as private assets (i.e. not as a business asset), the gain from the sale of a property after a holding period of more than 10 years is generally tax-free respectively does not constitute taxable income. However, there are exceptions to this rule, e.g. it is assumed that the sale of three "objects" (individual properties, real estate or rights equivalent to real estate) within 5 years constitutes a business activity and that the income generated from the sale is therefore business income and not possibly tax-exempt "other income".
Netherlands
In principle, the Dutch tax system does not allow the transfer of income. Most citizens calculate tax, separately, in 3 income groups:
Box 1 income includes income from employment and income from the primary residence
Box 2 income, which includes income from a substantial holding in a company, as well as gains from substantial shareholdings
Box 3 deals with income from savings and investments
Dutch resident and non-resident companies and partnerships owning Dutch property are in principle allowed to deduct interest expenses on loans from banks or affiliated companies, and property-related costs from their taxable income.
See also
Debt
Financial engineering
Leveraged buyout
Rent seeking
|
Vani Kola
|
[
"1960s births",
"Indian venture capitalists",
"Women venture capitalists",
"Silicon Valley people",
"Businesswomen from Karnataka",
"Businesspeople from Bengaluru",
"Osmania University alumni",
"Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering alumni",
"Living people",
"Year of birth missing (living people)"
] | 1,077 | 11,025 |
Vani Kola is an Indian venture capitalist. She is the founder and managing director of Kalaari Capital, an Indian early stage venture capital firm. She was listed as one of the most powerful women in Indian business by Fortune India in 2014.
Early life and education
Vani Kola was born in in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana), India. She commenced her post-secondary education at age 16. She attended Osmania University in Hyderabad, where she studied electrical engineering and was "one of six girls among 400 engineering students". She earned her Bachelor of Engineering before leaving India in the late 1980s to pursue her Master of Engineering from Arizona State University in the United States.
Career
Silicon Valley
Kola had a 22-year career in Silicon Valley. A serial entrepreneur, she was the founder and CEO of the e-procurement company RightWorks, selling the company to ICG after four years for $657 million. She was then the founder and CEO of Certus Software.
Venture capital in India
Kola returned to India in 2006, after her successful career as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, to start a venture capital firm in India, drawn to the growing Indian opportunity. She and Vinod Dham founded Indo-US Venture Partners (IUVP) in 2006. A partnership with New Enterprise Associates (NEA), it was her initial undertaking into venture capital in India. In 2012, it was re-branded as Kalaari Capital.
Kalaari Capital began operations as a US$150 million fund in September 2012. Under Kola's leadership, the firm has grown to have US$650 million in assets under management, as of 2017.
Kola is the managing director of Kalaari Capital. She is a technology-focused early-stage investor and works with entrepreneurs to build global companies, leveraging India's domestic growth to create high growth enterprises. Kola has led investments in e-commerce, mobile services, education and healthcare. Some of her notable venture capital endeavours include: Dream11, Urban Ladder, Snapdeal, and Myntra.
Awards and recognition
Kola was recognised as one of the most powerful women in Indian business by Forbes in 2014. She was awarded with the TiE Delhi-NCR 5th Edition of Women Entrepreneurship Summit Award on 20 July 2018, in Delhi. As part of the first-ever startup awards launched by The Economic Times, Kola was awarded the Midas Touch award for the best investor in 2015. She also won the NDTV Women of Worth award for leadership excellence in business and entrepreneurship. She has been identified as one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in 2016. She has been profiled in numerous books and was named as one of Fortune India's 'Most Powerful Women in Business' in 2018 and 2019.
ACT Grants
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACT Grants, a not for profit initiative coalition of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, was setup in April 2020. Kola, along with other senior leaders, has been spearheading this initiative. ACT Grants, which already has a corpus of ₹100 crores, has supported 50 different ventures.
Heartfulness Institute
Kola is also a Heartfulness trainer and is actively involved in supporting the Heartfulness Institute, a non-profit organisation focussed on human transformation through yoga and meditation.
Personal life
Kola is married to Srinivas Kola and has two daughters. She ran marathons and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in the 2000s. Kola meditates daily and has been a meditation practitioner for over two decades. In 2021 she was quoted in an article about "Zoom Fatigue" as an example of a person returning to the office to return to face-to-face communications.
|
Neos Finance
|
[
"Banks established in 1997",
"Banks disestablished in 2013",
"Italian companies disestablished in 2013",
"Defunct banks of Italy",
"Companies based in Bologna",
"Former Intesa Sanpaolo subsidiaries",
"Cardine Banca",
"Italian companies established in 1997"
] | 323 | 2,898 |
Neos Finance was an Italian bank specialized in consumer credit. Before its closure, it was part of Intesa Sanpaolo Group.
History
Neos Finance started as Finemiro SpA (Fin-Emi-Ro). In 1997 the parent company, Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna of Bank Group Casse Emiliano Romagnole, transformed the company into Finemiro Banca. The bank became part of Cardine Banca Group in 2000 and again part of Sanpaolo IMI in 2002. At the year of 2004, Sanpaolo IMI held 96.84% shares, Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San Marino held 2.65% and Unibanca held 0.51%. In 2005 the bank changed its name to Neos Banca as well as Sanpaolo IMI reached 99.49% ownership ratio. On 2 January 2007, the bank followed Sanpaolo to merge into Intesa Sanpaolo Group, as well as reached 100% ownership. In 2009, a reverse merger was taken, which former subsidiary Neos Finance absorbed all the assets of Neos Banca.
In the year end of 2011, Neos Finance had an equity of €53,011,842; total asset of €4,983,684,044 and a net loss of €128,758,833. In 2004, the figures were equity €126.924 million, total assets €2,190,125,152 and net profits of €11,839,145. A scandal was also exposed in 2010.
On 1 January 2014 Mediocredito Italiano, another subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo, absorbed the leasing segment of Neos Finance, as well as rest of the business activity were merged into Intesa Sanpaolo Personal Finance on 1 April 2013.
|
Liberty Property Trust
|
[
"1972 establishments in Pennsylvania",
"1994 initial public offerings",
"2020 mergers and acquisitions",
"2020 disestablishments in Pennsylvania",
"American companies established in 1972",
"Real estate companies established in 1972",
"Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange",
"Financial services companies established in 1972",
"Real estate investment trusts of the United States",
"Companies based in Chester County, Pennsylvania",
"Real estate companies disestablished in 2020",
"Financial services companies disestablished in 2020"
] | 774 | 7,018 |
Liberty Property Trust was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings and industrial properties. As of December 31, 2017, the company owned interests in 461 industrial and 48 office properties comprising 86.0 million square feet.
History
The company traces its history to Rouse & Associates, which was formed in 1972 by Willard Rouse, George Congdon, David Hammers, and Menard Doswell to develop warehouse space in South Jersey.
In 1974, Rouse & Associates purchased the Great Valley Corporate Center (GVCC) in Malvern, Pennsylvania, which was the first office park to incorporate a graduate college, a business development and training center, and a day care center.
In 1987, Rouse & Associates opened One Liberty Place, the first skyscraper in Philadelphia to be taller than Philadelphia City Hall, and the tallest building in Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2007. Elsewhere their UK subsidiary Rouse Kent developed Kings Hill in the United Kingdom.
In 1994, Rouse & Associates changed its name to Liberty Property Trust and became a public company via an initial public offering.
In 1995, the company acquired Lingerfelt Development Corporation in a $125 million transaction.
In 1997, the company acquired 2 portfolios of properties for $130 million.
In 2003, founder and chief executive officer Willard Rouse died from lung cancer.
In 2014, in a joint venture with Comcast, the company began construction of the Comcast Technology Center, which at , is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere outside of Manhattan and Chicago and was designed by Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank. The company owns a 20% interest in the project.
In 2016, the company sold a portfolio of 8 properties for $131.1 million, an 8 building portfolio in Herndon, Virginia for $97 million, and a portfolio of 108 properties for $969 million.
On February 4, 2020, the company was acquired by Prologis.
|
Malawi Stock Exchange
|
[
"1995 establishments in Malawi",
"Companies listed on Malawi Stock Exchange",
"Stock exchanges in Africa",
"Economy of Malawi",
"Companies of Malawi",
"Blantyre"
] | 579 | 5,091 |
The Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) is a Malawian stock market based in Blantyre, Malawi.
Overview
The Malawi Stock Exchange was inaugurated in March 1995 and opened for business for the first time on 11 November 1996, under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, with 2,300 Malawian citizens buying shares in the first company to be listed – Malawi's largest insurance firm, the National Insurance Company.
International Finance Corporation, a World Bank affiliate, and the Financierings Maatschappij Ontwikkelingslanden, a Dutch development bank with close ties to the Dutch Ministry for Development Co-operation, provided 40% of the $500,000 required for establishing the stock market in Blantyre, and the European Union sponsored seminars and publicity campaigns. The exchange operates in terms of the Capital Markets Development Act of 1990 and the Capital Market Development Regulations of 1992. It has a supervisory committee which comprises representatives of the central bank, the government and the private sector. It is a member of the African Stock Exchanges Association.
The MSE has a modest market listing. More stringent listing rules are currently being prepared. Membership of the Exchange is corporate and individual.
Market listing
Number Symbol Company NotesMarket Capitalisation (MK)1AIRTELAirtel Malawi plcTelecommunication1,066,780,000,000 2 BHLBlantyre Hotels plcLodging, Resorts12,218,372,758 3FDHBFDH Bank plcBanking, Finance1,023,767,985,938 4 FMBCHFMB Capital Holdings plcBanking, Finance1,364,328,750,000 5 ICONIcon Properties plcReal Estate120,574,000,000 6 ILLOVOIllovo Sugar Malawi plcSugar966,781,359,8007 MPICOMalawi Properties Investment Company plcReal Estate42,582,819,434 8 NBMNational Bank of Malawi plcBanking, Finance1,616,555,031,495 9 NBSNBS Bank plcBanking, Finance442,378,044,378 10
NICONICO Holdings PlcFinance, Mortgages, Insurance421,524,198,126 11 NITLNational Investment Trust plcInvestments59,400,000,000 12 OMU Old Mutual Limited Banking, Finance26,973,452,875 13PCLPress Corporation plcFood Distribution, Aquaculture, Real Estate, Beverages, Tourism, Telecommunication300,613,093,720 14 STANDARD Standard Bank Malawi plc Banking, Finance1,408,046,518,906 15 SUNBIRD Sunbird Tourism plc Tourism, Hotels, Resorts, Real Estate62,798,129,981 16TNMTelekom Networks Malawi plc Mobile Telephony256,633,902,000
Trading times
Trading takes place from Monday to Friday with the following times:
Pre-Open: 09:00 - 09:30
Open: 09:30 - 14:30
Close: 14:30 - 15:00
Post-Close: 15:00 - 17:00
See also
Economy of Malawi
List of stock exchanges
List of African stock exchanges
|
History of banking in Hong Kong
|
[
"History of banking",
"Banking in Hong Kong",
"Economy of Hong Kong"
] | 979 | 7,780 |
The history of banking in Hong Kong refers to the chronological account and development of financial institutions in the region from its early days to the present..
19th century
British colonial influence
After the establishment of Hong Kong as a British colony in 1842, the territory witnessed the foundation of its modern banking system. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) was established in 1865, with the primary purpose of financing trade between China and Europe.
Growth of local banking
By the latter part of the 19th century, apart from international banks, there was a significant emergence of local Chinese banks. These banks primarily served the financial needs of the local population and played a pivotal role in nurturing the domestic economy.
Early 20th century
Economic volatility
The early decades of the 20th century were marked by economic uncertainties worldwide, which also influenced Hong Kong's trade-dependent banking landscape. The Great Depression, in particular, had a significant impact on banking operations and trade finance. Throughout the early 20th century, Hong Kong faced various financial pressures, not just from global events like the Great Depression, but also due to regional disruptions caused by events such as the Chinese Civil War. These challenges required banks in Hong Kong to adopt adaptable business models and strategies, ensuring their survival.
Development of regulatory framework
New rules and regulations were introduced by Hong Kong authorities to oversee banking operations. By the mid-20th century, initiatives were introduced to supervise lending practices, manage risks, and ensure the overall soundness of the financial institutions operating in the territory. Among the new measures were deposit insurance schemes, periodic financial health checks for banks, and stricter audit requirements.
Post-war era
Post-war recovery
Following World War II, Hong Kong's banking sector played a central role in the region's post-war recovery, financing reconstruction and trade. In the wake of World War II, Hong Kong faced the massive task of rebuilding its infrastructure and economy. The banking sector was pivotal in this recovery phase, offering loans for reconstruction efforts and promoting trade activities, thereby setting the stage for Hong Kong's subsequent growth.
Emergence as a financial hub
By the 1970s, with the rise of global finance, Hong Kong began to incorporate into the global economy as one of the world's leading financial centers. This era saw the introduction of more foreign banks and the expansion of existing local banks. The banking industry capitalized on this momentum, positioning itself to service global corporations, investors, and facilitating capital flow across borders and numerous jurisdictions.
Late 20th century to present
Banking reforms
With an increasing emphasis on transparency and international standards, the late 20th century witnessed a series of banking reforms aimed at strengthening Hong Kong's position in the global finance arena. Among the reforms were improved disclosure practices and capital adequacy requirements.
Financial crises and resilience
The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the 2008 financial crisis were some of the most significant recent challenges for Hong Kong's banking sector. Regulatory oversight and interventions played a significant role in stabilizing of the banking sector during the global economic upheavals.
Digital banking and fintech
In the 21st century, digital banking and fintech innovations began reshaping the banking landscape in Hong Kong. Traditional banks expanded their services to include digital platforms, while new digital-only banks emerged. These developments reflected a broader trend in the banking industry's adaptation to technological advancements.
See also
Economy of Hong Kong
History of banking in China
History of banking in the United Kingdom
List of banks in Hong Kong
Banking Code
New Zealand
|
Bourse de Tunis
|
[
"1969 establishments in Tunisia",
"Stock exchanges in Africa",
"Companies of Tunisia",
"Organisations based in Tunis",
"Economy of Tunis"
] | 786 | 6,253 |
The Bourse des Valeurs Mobilières de Tunis (BVMT) or Bourse de Tunis () is a stock exchange based in Tunis, Tunisia. It was founded in 1969, and currently lists around 50 stocks.
The exchange is under the control of the state-run Financial Market Council. The government has provided tax breaks to increase the number of listings, but companies have been slow in going public.
The creation of the award was in February 1969. Although this creation is relatively old, the role of the stock market in financing Tunisia's economy has remained limited or insignificant due to the dominance of the state and banks . This results in significant levels of money creation and inflation.
This period is characterized by ease of access to bank loans and state aid, a very advantageous remuneration of deposits with banks that are regulated, protected and exempt income and a fairly heavy taxation of stock market investments.
The award will be increasingly seen as a registrar of transactions as a mirror of the economy having its place in the corporate finance. Moreover, the market capitalization represents just 1% of GDP at the end of 1986.
As part of the structural adjustment plan, a financial market reform started in 1988 with the aim of establishing a legal framework allowing the market to contribute to the financing of the economy. Deposits with banks are taxed, the rates of interest on deposits are falling as a result of lower inflation and savings in securities enjoys favorable taxation with the abolition of taxation on most -values and dividends. The tax on corporate profits also down 80% to 35%.
To meet international standards, reform is adopted with the promulgation of the Law of 14 November 1994 on the reorganization of financial market. This law creates the new public regulator: the Financial Market Council, which began operations on 15 November 1995. Following this major reform of the Tunis Stock Exchange that establishes the foundations of a financial market, potentially able to finance part of the economy, the situation continues to evolve fifty companies listed in March 2009, for a market capitalization of up to 8.7 billion dinars (against 3.1 billion in 2004) or 16% of national GDP.
Listed companies
Financials
Amen Bank
Arab Tunisian Bank
Banque Attijari de Tunisie
Banque de l'Habitat
Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie
Banque Nationale Agricole
Banque de Tunisie
Société Tunisienne de Banque
Banque de Tunisie et des Emirats
Union Bancaire pour le Commerce et l'Industrie
Union Internationale de Banques
Financial services
Arab Tunisian Lease
Attijari Leasing
Compagnie Internationale de Leasing
El Wifack Leasing
Tunisie Leasing
Placements de Tunisie - SICAF
Société de Placement et de Développement Industriel et Touristique - SICAF
Société Tunisienne d'Investissement à Capital Risqué
Poulina Group Holding
Modern Leasing
Insurance
Compagnie d'Assurances et de Réassurrances
Société Tunisienne d'Assurances et de Réassurances
Société d'Assurances Salim
La Société Tunisienne de Réassurance « TUNIS Re »
Telecommunication
Société Tunisienne d'Entreprises de Telecommunications
Servicom
General retailers
Automobile Réseau Tunisien et Services
Magasin Général
Société Nouvelle Maison de la Ville de Tunis
Société Tunisienne des Marchés de Gros
Ennalk Automobiles
Travel and leisure
Société Tunisienne de l'Air
Healthcare
Société Adwya
Société des Industries Pharmaceutiques de Tunisie
Consumer goods
Société l'Accumulateur Tunisien
Société Générale Industrielle de Filtration
Société Tunisienne d'Equipement
Société Tunisienne des Industries de Pneumatiques
Food and Beverage
Société Frigorifique et Brasserie de Tunis
Tunisie Lait
Société de Production Agricole de Teboulba
Personal and household goods
Electrostar
Construction and materials
Essoukna
Société Immobilière et de Participation
Société Immobilière Tuniso-Séoudienne
Société Moderne de Céramique
Les Ciments de Bizerte
Carthage Cement
Industrial goods and services
Société Industrielle d'Appareillage et de Matériels Electriques
Société Tunisienne de Verreries
One Tech Holding
Chemicals
Air Liquide Tunisie
Société Chimique
Société des Industries Chimiques du Fluor
Basic resources
Société Tunisie Profiles Aluminium
Oil and gas
Société de Transport des Hydrocarbures Par Pipelines
See also
List of African stock exchanges
List of stock exchanges
|
Lehman Brothers
|
[
"Lehman Brothers",
"Barclays",
"1850 establishments in the United States",
"Banks based in New York City",
"American companies established in 1850",
"Financial services companies established in 1850",
"Banks established in 1850",
"Financial services companies disestablished in 2008",
"Banks disestablished in 2008",
"Former investment banks of the United States",
"Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange",
"Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008",
"Defunct banks of the United States",
"Defunct companies based in New York City",
"Defunct financial services companies of the United States",
"History of Montgomery, Alabama",
"Shearson Lehman/American Express",
"2008 disestablishments in New York (state)",
"Nomura Holdings",
"American companies disestablished in 2008"
] | 9,278 | 92,688 |
Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch), with about 25,000 employees worldwide. It was doing business in investment banking, equity, fixed-income and derivatives sales and trading (especially U.S. Treasury securities), research, investment management, private equity, and private banking. Lehman was operational for 158 years from its founding in 1850 until 2008.
On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following the exodus of most of its clients, drastic declines in its stock price, and the devaluation of assets by credit rating agencies. The collapse was largely due to Lehman's involvement in the subprime mortgage crisis and its exposure to less liquid assets. Lehman's bankruptcy filing is the largest in US history, having beaten the previous record holder Worldcom, Inc., and is thought to have played a major role in the unfolding of the 2008 financial crisis. The market collapse also gave support to the "too big to fail" doctrine.
After Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, global markets immediately plummeted. The following day, major British bank Barclays announced its agreement to purchase, subject to regulatory approval, a significant and controlling interest in Lehman's North American investment-banking and trading divisions, along with its New York headquarters building. On September 20, 2008, a revised version of that agreement was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James M. Peck. The next week, Nomura Holdings announced that it would acquire Lehman Brothers' franchise in the Asia–Pacific region, including Japan, Hong Kong and Australia, as well as Lehman Brothers' investment banking and equities businesses in Europe and the Middle East. The deal became effective on October 13, 2008.
Under the Lehman family (1850–1969)
In 1844, 23-year-old Hayum Lehmann, who changed his name to Henry Lehman, the son of a Jewish cattle merchant, emigrated to the United States from Rimpar, Bavaria. He settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where he opened a dry-goods store, "H. Lehman". In 1847, following the arrival of his brother Emanuel Lehman, the firm became "H. Lehman and Bro." With the arrival of their youngest brother, Mayer Lehman, in 1850, the firm changed its name again and "Lehman Brothers" was founded.
During the 1850s, cotton was one of the most important crops in the United States, and was Alabama's highest-grossing cash crop. Until the U.S. Civil War, nearly all U.S. cotton was produced by slave labor, and by the 1860 census, slaves constituted nearly 45% of Alabama's total population. Mayer Lehman was listed as the owner of seven slaves ("three males and four females ranging in age from 5 to 50") in the U.S. Census of 1860.
Capitalizing on cotton's high market value, the three brothers began to routinely accept raw cotton from slave plantations as payment for merchandise, eventually beginning a second business trading in cotton. Within a few years this business grew to become the most significant part of their operation. Following Henry's death from yellow fever in 1855, the remaining brothers continued to focus on their commodities-trading/brokerage operations.
By 1858, the center of cotton trading had shifted from the South to New York City, where factors and commission houses were based. Lehman opened its first branch office at 119 Liberty Street, and 32-year-old Emanuel relocated there to run the office. In 1862, facing difficulties as a result of the Civil War, the firm teamed up with a cotton merchant named John Durr to form Lehman, Durr & Co. Following the war the company helped finance Alabama's reconstruction. The firm's headquarters was eventually moved to New York City, where it helped found the New York Cotton Exchange in 1870, commodifying the crop; Emanuel sat on the board of governors until 1884. The firm also dealt in the emerging market for railroad bonds and entered the financial-advisory business.
Lehman became a member of the Coffee Exchange as early as 1883 and finally the New York Stock Exchange in 1887. In 1899, it underwrote its first public offering, the preferred and common stock of the International Steam Pump Company.
Despite the offering of International Steam, the firm's real shift from being a commodities house to a house of issue did not begin until 1906. In that year, under Emanuel's son Philip Lehman, the firm partnered with Goldman, Sachs & Co., to bring the General Cigar Co. to market, followed closely by Sears, Roebuck and Company. Among these were F.W. Woolworth Company, May Department Stores Company, Gimbel Brothers, Inc., R.H. Macy & Company, The Studebaker Corporation, the B.F. Goodrich Co., and Endicott Johnson Corporation.
Following Philip Lehman's retirement in 1925, his son Robert "Bobbie" Lehman took over as head of the firm. During Bobbie's tenure, the company weathered the capital crisis of the Great Depression by focusing on venture capital while the equities market recovered.
In 1924, John M. Hancock became the first non-family member to join the firm, followed by Monroe C. Gutman and Paul Mazur, who became partners in 1927. By 1928, the firm had moved to its One William Street location.
In the 1930s, Lehman underwrote the initial public offering of the first television manufacturer, DuMont Laboratories, and helped fund the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). It also helped finance the rapidly growing oil industry, including the companies Halliburton and Kerr-McGee. In the 1950s, Lehman underwrote the IPO of Digital Equipment Corporation. Later, it arranged the acquisition of Digital by Compaq.
An evolving partnership (1969–1984)
Robert Lehman died in 1969 after 44 years in a leadership position for the firm, leaving no member of the Lehman family actively involved with the partnership. At the same time, Lehman was facing strong headwinds amidst the difficult economic environment of the early 1970s. By 1972, the firm was facing hard times and in 1973, Pete Peterson, chairman and chief executive officer of the Bell & Howell Corporation, was brought in to save the firm.
Under Peterson's leadership as chairman and CEO, the firm acquired Abraham & Co. in 1975, and two years later merged with Kuhn, Loeb & Co., to form Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc., the country's fourth-largest investment bank, behind Salomon Brothers, Goldman Sachs and First Boston. Peterson led the firm from significant operating losses to five consecutive years of record profits with a return on equity among the highest in the investment-banking industry.
By the early 1980s, hostilities between the firm's investment bankers and traders prompted Peterson to promote Lewis Glucksman, the firm's President, COO and former trader, to be his co-CEO in May 1983. Glucksman introduced a number of changes that had the effect of increasing tensions, which when coupled with Glucksman's management style and a downturn in the markets, resulted in a power struggle that ousted Peterson and left Glucksman as the sole CEO.
Upset bankers, who had soured over the power struggle, left the company. Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman of the firm's M&A committee, recalled in a February 2003 interview with Private Equity International that "Lehman Brothers had an extremely competitive internal environment, which ultimately became dysfunctional." The company suffered under the disintegration, and Glucksman was pressured into selling the firm.
Merger with American Express (1984–1994)
Shearson/American Express, an American Express-owned securities company focused on brokerage rather than investment banking, acquired Lehman in 1984, for $360 million. On May 11, the combined firms became Shearson Lehman/American Express.
From 1983 to 1990, Peter A. Cohen was CEO and chairman of Shearson Lehman Brothers, where he led the $1 billion purchase of E.F. Hutton to form Shearson Lehman Hutton. In 1989, Shearson backed F. Ross Johnson's management team in its attempted management buyout of RJR Nabisco, but were ultimately outbid by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, who was backed by Drexel Burnham Lambert.
Divestment and independence (1994–2008)
In 1993, under newly appointed CEO Harvey Golub, American Express began to divest itself of its banking and brokerage operations. It sold its retail brokerage and asset management operations to Primerica and in 1994 it spun off Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb in an initial public offering, as Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. After being spun off, Dick Fuld became CEO of the company. He led one of the United States and the world's bulge-bracket investment banks. Fuld steered Lehman through the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and when the Long Term Capital Management hedge fund collapsed in 1998.
In 2001, the firm acquired the private-client services, or "PCS", business of Cowen & Co. and later, in 2003, aggressively re-entered the asset-management business, which it had exited in 1989. Beginning with $2 billion in assets under management, the firm acquired the Crossroads Group, the fixed-income division of Lincoln Capital Management and Neuberger Berman. These businesses, together with the PCS business and Lehman's private-equity business, comprised the Investment Management Division, which generated approximately $3.1 billion in net revenue.
During the subprime mortgage crisis, Fuld kept his job while CEOs of rivals like Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup were forced to resign. In addition, Lehman's board of directors, which included retired CEOs like Vodafone's Christopher Gent and IBM's John Akers were reluctant to challenge Fuld as the firm's share price spiraled lower.
In May 2008, prior to going bankrupt, the firm had $639 billion in assets.
Response to September 11, 2001 attacks
On September 11, 2001, Lehman occupied three floors (38–40) of 1 World Trade Center, where one of its employees was killed in the terrorist attacks of that day. Its global headquarters in Three World Financial Center were severely damaged and rendered unusable by falling debris, displacing over 6,500 employees. Trading operations moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. When stock markets reopened on September 17, 2001, Lehman's sales and trading capabilities were restored.
In the ensuing months, the firm spread its operations across New York City in over 40 temporary locations. The investment-banking division converted the first-floor lounges, restaurants, and all 665 guest rooms of the Sheraton Manhattan Hotel into office space.
The bank also experimented with flextime (to share office space) and remote work via virtual private networking after the attacks. In October 2001, Lehman purchased a 32-story, office building for a reported sum of $700 million. The building, located at 745 Seventh Avenue, had recently been completed, and not yet occupied, by rival Morgan Stanley. Lehman began moving into the new facility in January and finished in March 2002. The firm did not return to Three World Financial Center as its structural integrity had not been given a clean bill of health, and the company could not have waited for repairs to Three World Financial Center to conclude.
After the attacks, Lehman's management placed increased emphasis on business continuity planning. Aside from its headquarters in Three World Financial Center, Lehman maintained operations-and-backoffice facilities in Jersey City, space that the firm considered leaving prior to 9/11. The space was not only retained, but expanded, including the construction of a backup-trading facility.
June 2003 SEC litigation
In June 2003, the company was one of ten firms which simultaneously entered into a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Office of the New York State Attorney General and various other securities regulators, regarding undue influence over each firm's research analysts by its investment-banking divisions. Regulators alleged that the firms had improperly associated analyst compensation with the firms' investment-banking revenues, and promised favorable, market-moving research coverage, in exchange for underwriting opportunities. The settlement, known as the "global settlement", provided for total financial penalties of $1.4 billion, including $80 million against Lehman, and structural reforms including a complete separation of investment banking departments from research departments, no analyst compensation, directly or indirectly, from investment-banking revenues, and the provision of free, independent, third-party, research to the firms' clients.
Rise of mortgage origination (1997–2006)
Lehman was one of the first Wall Street firms to move into the business of mortgage origination. In 1997, Lehman bought Colorado-based lender, Aurora Loan Services (not a bank), an Alt-A lender. In 2000, to expand their mortgage origination pipeline, Lehman purchased West Coast subprime mortgage lender BNC Mortgage LLC. Lehman quickly became a force in the subprime market. By 2003 Lehman made $18.2 billion in loans and ranked third in lending. By 2004, this number topped $40 billion. By 2006, Aurora and BNC were lending almost $50 billion per month. By 2008, Lehman had assets of $680 billion supported by only $22.5 billion of firm capital. From an equity position, its risky commercial real estate holdings were thirty times greater than capital. In such a highly leveraged structure, a 3 to 5 percent decline in real estate values would wipe out all capital.
Malfeasance
A March 2010 report by the court appointed examiner indicated that Lehman executives regularly used cosmetic accounting gimmicks at the end of each quarter to make its finances appear less shaky than they really were. This practice was a type of repurchase agreement that temporarily removed securities from the company's balance sheet. However, unlike typical repurchase agreements, these deals were described by Lehman as the outright sale of securities and created "a materially misleading picture of the firm's financial condition in late 2007 and 2008".
Subprime mortgage crisis
In August 2007, the firm closed its subprime lender, BNC Mortgage, eliminating 1,200 positions in 23 locations, and took an after-tax charge of $25 million and a $27 million reduction in goodwill. Lehman said that poor market conditions in the mortgage space "necessitated a substantial reduction in its resources and capacity in the subprime space."
In September 2007, Joe Gregory appointed Erin Callan as CFO. On March 16, 2008, after rival Bear Stearns was taken over by JPMorgan Chase in a fire sale, market analysts suggested that Lehman would be the next major investment bank to fall. Callan fielded Lehman's first quarter conference call, where the firm posted a profit of $48.9 million, compared to Citigroup's $5.1 billion and Merrill Lynch's $1.97 billion losses which was Lehman's 55th consecutive profitable quarter. The firm's stock price leapt 46 percent after that announcement.
In 2008, Lehman faced an unprecedented loss to the continuing subprime mortgage crisis. Lehman's loss was a result of having held on to large positions in subprime and other lower-rated mortgage tranches when securitizing the underlying mortgages; it is unclear whether Lehman was simply unable to sell the lower-rated bonds or voluntarily kept them. In any event, huge losses accrued in lower-rated mortgage-backed securities throughout 2008. In the second fiscal quarter, Lehman reported losses of $2.8 billion and was forced to sell off $6 billion in assets. In the first half of 2008 alone, Lehman stock lost 73% of its value as the credit market continued to tighten.
On June 9, 2008, Lehman Brothers announced a US$2.8 billion second-quarter loss, its first since being spun off from American Express, as market volatility rendered many of its hedges ineffective during that time. Lehman also reported that it had raised a further $6 billion in capital. As a result, there was major management shakeup, in which Hugh "Skip" McGee III (head of investment banking) held a meeting with senior staff to strip CEO Richard Fuld and his lieutenants of their authority. Consequently, Joe Gregory agreed to resign as president and COO, and afterward he told Erin Callan that she had to resign as CFO. Callan was appointed CFO of Lehman in 2008 but served only for six months, before departing after her mentor Joe Gregory was demoted. Bart McDade was named to succeed Gregory as president and COO, when several senior executives threatened to leave if he was not promoted. McDade took charge and brought back Michael Gelband and Alex Kirk, who had previously been pushed out of the firm by Gregory for not taking risks. Although Fuld remained CEO, he soon became isolated from McDade's team.
In August 2008, Lehman reported that it intended to release 6% of its work force, 1,500 people, just ahead of its third-quarter-reporting deadline in September. On August 22, 2008, shares in Lehman closed up 5% (16% for the week) on reports that the state-controlled Korea Development Bank was considering buying the bank. Most of those gains were quickly eroded as news came in that Korea Development Bank was "facing difficulties pleasing regulators and attracting partners for the deal."
On September 9, Lehman's shares plunged 45% to $7.79, after it was reported that the state-run South Korean firm had put talks on hold. Investor confidence continued to erode as Lehman's stock lost roughly half its value and pushed the S&P 500 down 3.4% on September 9. The Dow Jones lost 300 points the same day on investors' concerns about the security of the bank. The U.S. government did not announce any plans to assist with any possible financial crisis that emerged at Lehman.
The next day, Lehman announced a loss of $3.9 billion and its intent to sell off a majority stake in its investment-management business, which included Neuberger Berman. The stock slid seven percent that day. Lehman, after earlier rejecting questions on the sale of the company, was reportedly searching for a buyer as its stock price dropped another 40 percent on September 11, 2008.
Just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, executives at Neuberger Berman sent e-mail memos suggesting, among other things, that the Lehman Brothers' top people forgo multimillion-dollar bonuses to "send a strong message to both employees and investors that management is not shirking accountability for recent performance." Lehman Brothers Investment Management Director George Herbert Walker IV dismissed the proposal, going so far as to actually apologize to other members of the Lehman Brothers executive committee for the idea having been suggested. He wrote, "Sorry team. I am not sure what's in the water at Neuberger Berman. I'm embarrassed and I apologize."
Short-selling allegations
During hearings on the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers and bailout of AIG before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld said a host of factors including a crisis of confidence and naked short-selling attacks followed by false rumors contributed to both the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. House committee Chairman Henry Waxman said the committee received thousands of pages of internal documents from Lehman and these documents portray a company in which there was "no accountability for failure".
An article by journalist Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone contended that naked short selling contributed to the demise of both Lehman and Bear Stearns. A study by finance researchers at the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business studied trading in financial stocks, including Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, and found "no evidence that stock price declines were caused by naked short selling".
On Saturday, September 13, 2008, Timothy F. Geithner, then the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, called a meeting on the future of Lehman, which included the possibility of an emergency liquidation of its assets. Lehman reported that it had been in talks with Bank of America and Barclays for the company's possible sale; however, both Barclays and Bank of America ultimately declined to purchase the entire company, in the former case because the British government (in particular, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and the CEO of the Financial Services Authority Hector Sants) refused to allow the transaction at the last minute, quoting stockholder regulations in the UK, despite a deal having apparently been completed.
The next day, Sunday, September 14, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) offered an exceptional trading session to allow market participants to offset positions in various derivatives on the condition of a Lehman bankruptcy later that day. Although the bankruptcy filing missed the deadline, many dealers honored the trades they made in the special session.
Shortly before 1 am Monday morning (UTC−5), Lehman Brothers Holdings announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection citing bank debt of $613 billion, $155 billion in bond debt, and assets worth $639 billion. It further announced that its subsidiaries would continue to operate as normal. A group of Wall Street firms agreed to provide capital and financial assistance for the bank's orderly liquidation and the Federal Reserve, in turn, agreed to a swap of lower-quality assets in exchange for loans and other assistance from the government. The morning witnessed scenes of Lehman employees removing files, items with the company logo, and other belongings from the world headquarters at 745 Seventh Avenue. The spectacle continued throughout the day and into the following day.
Brian Marsal, co-chief executive of the restructuring firm Alvarez and Marsal was appointed as chief restructuring officer and subsequently chief executive officer of the company.
Later that day, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) suspended Lehman's Australian subsidiary as a market participant after clearing-houses terminated contracts with the firm. Lehman shares tumbled over 90% on September 15, 2008. The Dow Jones closed down just over 500 points on September 15, 2008, which was at the time the largest drop in a single day since the days following the attacks on September 11, 2001.
In the United Kingdom, the investment bank went to administration with PricewaterhouseCoopers appointed as administrators. In Japan, the Japanese branch, Lehman Brothers Japan Inc., and its holding company filed for civil reorganization on September 16, 2008, in Tokyo District Court. On September 17, 2008, the New York Stock Exchange delisted Lehman Brothers.
On March 16, 2011 some three years after filing for bankruptcy and following a filing in a Manhattan U.S. bankruptcy court, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc announced it would seek creditor approval of its reorganization plan by October 14 followed by a confirmation hearing to follow on November 17.
Liquidation
Barclays acquisition
On September 16, 2008, Barclays PLC announced that they would acquire a "stripped clean" portion of Lehman for $1.75 billion, including most of Lehman's North America operations. On September 20, 2008, a revised version of the deal, a $1.35 billion (£700 million) plan for Barclays to acquire the core business of Lehman (mainly its $960-million headquarters, a 38-story office building at 745 Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, with responsibility for 9,000 former employees), was approved. After a 7-hour hearing, U.S. bankruptcy judge James Peck ruled: "I have to approve this transaction because it is the only available transaction. Lehman Brothers became a victim, in effect the only true icon to fall in a tsunami that has befallen the credit markets. This is the most momentous bankruptcy hearing I've ever sat through. It can never be deemed precedent for future cases. It's hard for me to imagine a similar emergency."
Luc Despins, then a partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, the creditors committee counsel, said: "The reason we're not objecting is really based on the lack of a viable alternative. We did not support the transaction because there had not been enough time to properly review it." In the amended agreement, Barclays would absorb $47.4 billion in securities and assume $45.5 billion in trading liabilities. Lehman's attorney Harvey R. Miller of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, said "the purchase price for the real estate components of the deal would be $1.29 billion, including $960 million for Lehman's New York headquarters and $330 million for two New Jersey data centers. Lehman's original estimate valued its headquarters at $1.02 billion but an appraisal from CB Richard Ellis this week valued it at $900 million." Barclays were not to acquire Lehman's Eagle Energy unit, but to have entities known as Lehman Brothers Canada Inc, Lehman Brothers Sudamerica, Lehman Brothers Uruguay and its Private Investment Management business for high-net-worth individuals. Finally, Lehman would retain $20 billion of securities assets in Lehman Brothers Inc that are not being transferred to Barclays. Barclays acquired a potential liability of $2.5 billion to be paid as severance, if it chooses not to retain some Lehman employees beyond the guaranteed 90 days.
Nomura acquisition
Nomura Holdings, Japan's top brokerage firm, agreed to buy the Asian division of Lehman Brothers for $225 million and parts of the European division for a nominal fee of $2. It would not take on any trading assets or liabilities in the European units. Nomura negotiated such a low price because it acquired only Lehman's employees in the regions, and not its stocks, bonds or other assets. The last Lehman Brothers Annual Report identified that these non-US subsidiaries of Lehman Brothers were responsible for over 50% of global revenue produced.
Sale of asset management businesses
On September 29, 2008, Lehman agreed to sell Neuberger Berman, part of its investment management business, to a pair of private-equity firms, Bain Capital Partners and Hellman & Friedman, for $2.15 billion. The transaction was expected to close in early 2009, subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, but a competing bid was entered by the firm's management, who ultimately prevailed in a bankruptcy auction on December 3, 2008. Creditors of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. retain a 49% common equity interest in the firm, now known as Neuberger Berman Group LLC. In Europe, the Quantitative Asset Management Business has been acquired back by its employees on November 13, 2008 and has been renamed back to TOBAM.
Financial fallout
Lehman's bankruptcy was the largest failure of an investment bank since Drexel Burnham Lambert collapsed in 1990 amid fraud allegations. Immediately following the bankruptcy filing, an already distressed financial market began a period of extreme volatility, during which the Dow experienced its largest one day point loss, largest intra-day range (more than 1,000 points) and largest daily point gain. What followed was what many have called the "perfect storm" of economic distress factors and eventually a $700bn bailout package (Troubled Asset Relief Program) prepared by Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, and approved by Congress. The Dow eventually closed at a new six-year low of 7,552.29 on November 20, followed by a further drop to 6626 by March of the next year.
The fall of Lehman also had a strong effect on small private investors such as bond holders and holders of so-called minibonds. In Germany, structured products, often based on an index, were sold mostly to private investors, elderly, retired persons, students and families. Most of those now worthless derivatives were sold by the German arm of Citigroup, the German Citibank now owned by Crédit Mutuel.
Ongoing litigation
On March 11, 2010, Anton R. Valukas, a court-appointed examiner, published the results of its year-long investigation into the finances of Lehman Brothers. This report revealed that Lehman Brothers used an accounting procedure termed repo 105 to temporarily exchange $50 billion of assets into cash just before publishing its financial statements. The action could be seen to implicate both Ernst & Young, the bank's accountancy firm and Richard S. Fuld, Jr, the former CEO. This could potentially lead to Ernst & Young being found guilty of financial malpractice and Fuld facing time in prison. According to The Wall Street Journal, in March 2011, the SEC announced that they weren't confident that they could prove that Lehman Brothers violated US laws in its accounting practices.
In October 2011, the administrators of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. lost their appeal to overturn a court order forcing them to pay £148 million into their underfunded pensions plan.
As of January 2016, Lehman paid more than $105 billion to its unsecured creditors. In addition, JPMorgan will pay $1.42 billion in cash to settle a lawsuit accusing JPMorgan of draining Lehman Brothers liquidity right before the crash. The settlement would permit another $1.496 billion to be paid to creditors and a separate $76 million deposit.
The brokerage unit of Lehman Brothers completed its liquidation process on September 28, 2022, after paying out over $115 billion to its customers and creditors over the course of 14 years. As of December 2022, Lehman's British operations were being administrated by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which expected to complete the administration process no earlier than 2025.
Merger and acquisition history
The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list):
Former officers
Richard S. Fuld Jr.
Scott J. Freidheim
Rodger Krouse (born 1961)
Jack Langer (born 1948/1949), basketball player and investment banker
Bart McDade
Hugh McGee
George Herbert Walker IV
Frederick M. Warburg
Joseph Rosenberg
In popular culture
The events of the weekend leading up to Lehman's bankruptcy are dramatized in the 2009 BBC television film The Last Days of Lehman Brothers.
In the 2010 animated film Despicable Me, the main character Gru visits the Bank of Evil, which funds all evil plots for villains around the world and has a sign reading "Formerly Lehman Brothers".
The 2011 drama film Margin Call focuses on the events of a 24-hour period at a large investment bank based on an amalgam of investment banks, drawing heavily from the culture of Lehman Brothers. However, the events in the film are primarily a depiction of the actions of Goldman Sachs.
The 2011 HBO film Too Big to Fail recounts the days before Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the fallout afterward.
The 2011 film Horrible Bosses features a character by the name of Kenny Sommerfield (played by P. J. Byrne) who worked at Lehman Brothers until its bankruptcy, ending up broke.
The fall of Lehman Brothers is depicted in the 2015 film The Big Short, where two of the characters walk around the Lehman Brothers offices after the bankruptcy to see the main trading floor.
In Imbolo Mbue's 2016 debut novel Behold the Dreamers, an immigrant from Cameroon is a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, an executive at Lehman Brothers.
In the 2016 animated film Zootopia, there is a brief appearance of a bank called Lemming Brothers, which is staffed by lemmings.
The Lehman Trilogy is a three-act play by Italian dramatist Stefano Massini about the history of the Lehman Brothers.
In the 2019 Showtime comedy series Black Monday, a fictionalized version of Lehman Brothers with an altered spelling is central to the plot and represented by brothers Larry & Lenny Leighman.
Principal locations (first year of occupancy)
17 Court Square, Montgomery, Alabama (1847)*
119 Liberty Street, New York, NY (1858)
176 Fulton Street, New York, NY (1865–1866?)
133–35 Pearl Street, New York, NY (1867)
40 Exchange Place, New York, NY (1876)
16 William Street, New York, NY (1892)
One William Street, New York, NY (1928) **
55 Water Street (1980) ***
3 World Financial Center (1985)
745 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY (2002)
* Henry Lehman established his first store location on Commerce Street, in Montgomery, in 1845. In 1848, one year after Emanuel's arrival, the brothers moved "H. Lehman & Bro." to 17 Court Square, where it remained when Mayer arrived in 1850, forming "Lehman Brothers".
** Designated as a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee in 1996.
*** Sales and trading personnel had been in this location since 1977; they were joined by the firm's investment bankers and brokers in 1980.
See also
MF Global, the largest Wall Street firm to collapse, as it did in 2011, since the Lehman Brothers debacle in September 2008
Valukas Report on the failure of Lehman
Bankruptcy in the United States
The Lehman Trilogy, a play about the Lehman family and the collapse of the firm in 2008
Further reading
Auletta, Ken. Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman. Random House, 1985
Bernhard, William, L., Birge, June Rossbach Bingham, Loeb, John L., Jr. Lots of Lehmans: The Family of Mayer Lehman of Lehman Brothers, Remembered by His Descendants. Center for Jewish History, 2007.
Birmingham, Stephen. Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York. Harper and Row, 1967.
Dillian, Jared, , New York: Simon and Schuster, September 13, 2011.
Geisst, Charles R. The Last Partnerships. McGraw-Hill, 1997
Shirkhedkar, Jayant. Saving Lehman, One person at a time. McGraw-Hill, 2007
Lehman Brothers. A Centennial – Lehman Brothers 1850–1950. Spiral Press, 1950
Schack, Justin (May 2005). "Restoring the House of Lehman". Institutional Investor, p. 24–32.
Wechsberg, Joseph. The Merchant Bankers. Pocket Books, 1968
Lawrence, G. McDonald. (2009) A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers. Crown Business
Sorkin, A. Ross (2009). Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves. Viking Adult
Kane and Stollery (2013). "Lessons learned: an exchange of view".
Kane and Stollery (2018). "5 years on: what have we learned: an exchange of views".
|
Economy of Guinea
|
[
"Economy of Guinea",
"World Trade Organization member economies",
"African Union member economies"
] | 3,790 | 39,065 |
The economy of Guinea is dependent largely on agriculture and other rural activities. Guinea is richly endowed with minerals, possessing an estimated quarter of the world's proven reserves of bauxite, more than of high-grade iron ore, significant diamond and gold deposits, and undetermined quantities of uranium. In 2021, Guinea was the world's biggest exporter of Aluminium Ore ($3.2B/ Gold $5.5B) 2021 trade surplus was $4.3B.
Guinea also has considerable potential for growth in the agricultural and fishing sectors. Land, water, and climatic conditions provide opportunities for large-scale irrigated farming and agroindustry. Remittances from Guineans living and working abroad and coffee exports account for the rest of Guinea's foreign exchanges industry.
Economic history
Guinea was part of the franc zone countries that included most of the former French Colonies. After Independence, these countries did not become completely economical free. France decided against monetary autonomy hence they could not use a freely convertible currency. The state intervention of the new governments was characterized by stops of quotas on imports and internal price controls. In the time up to c. 1980, the franc-zone countries had on average a lower inflation and a higher economic growth compared to the Anglophone counterparts, who could use their own currencies.
But regarding the time after c. 1980 and the economic liberalism, characterized by Structural Adjustments, the franc zone countries could not outperform the rest.
Since 1985, the Guinean Government has adopted policies to return commercial activity to the private sector, promote investment, reduce the role of the state in the economy, and improve the administrative and judicial framework. The government has eliminated restrictions on agricultural enterprise and foreign trade, liquidated many parastatals, increased spending on education, and vastly downsized the civil service. The government also has made major strides in restructuring the public finances.
The IMF and the World Bank are heavily involved in the development of Guinea's economy, as are many bilateral donor nations, including the United States. Guinea's economic reforms have had recent notable success, improving the rate of economic growth to 5% and reducing the rate of inflation to about 99%, as well as increasing government revenues while restraining official expenditures. Although Guinea's external debt burden remains high, the country is now current on external debt payments.
Current GDP per capita of Guinea shrank by 16% in the 1990s.
The government revised the private investment code in 1998 to stimulate economic activity in the spirit of a free enterprise. The code does not discriminate between foreigners and nationals and provides for repatriation of profits. Foreign investments outside Conakry are entitled to especially favorable conditions. A national investment commission has been formed to review all investment proposals. The United States and Guinea have signed an investment guarantee agreement that offers political risk insurance to American investors through OPIC. Guinea plans to inaugurate an arbitration court system to allow for the quick resolution of commercial disputes.
Mean wages were $0.45 per man-hour in 2009.
In 2002, the IMF suspended Guinea's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) because the government failed to meet key performance criteria. In reviews of the PRGF, the World Bank noted that Guinea had met its spending goals in targeted social priority sectors. However, spending in other areas, primarily defense, contributed to a significant fiscal deficit. The loss of IMF funds forced the government to finance its debts through central bank advances. The pursuit of unsound economic policies has resulted in imbalances that are proving hard to correct.
Under then-Prime Minister Diallo, the government began a rigorous reform agenda in December 2004 designed to return Guinea to a PRGF with the IMF. Exchange rates have been allowed to float, price controls on gasoline have been loosened, and government spending has been reduced while tax collection has been improved. These reforms have not reduced inflation, which hit 27% in 2004 and 30% in 2005. Currency depreciation is also a concern. The Guinea franc was trading at 2550 to the dollar in January 2005. It hit 5554 to the dollar by October 2006. In August 2016 that number had reached 9089.
Despite the opening in 2005 of a new road connecting Guinea and Mali, most major roadways remain in poor repair, slowing the delivery of goods to local markets. Electricity and water shortages are frequent and sustained, and many businesses are forced to use expensive power generators and fuel to stay open.
Even though there are many problems plaguing Guinea's economy, not all foreign investors are reluctant to come to Guinea. Global Alumina's proposed alumina refinery has a price tag above $2 billion. Alcoa and Alcan are proposing a slightly smaller refinery worth about $1.5 billion. Taken together, they represent the largest private investment in sub-Saharan Africa since the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. Also, Hyperdynamics Corporation, an American oil company, signed an agreement in 2006 to develop Guinea's offshore Senegal Basin oil deposits in a concession of ; it is pursuing seismic exploration.
On 13 October 2009, Guinean Mines Minister Mahmoud Thiam announced that the China International Fund would invest more than $7bn (£4.5bn) in infrastructure. In return, he said the firm would be a "strategic partner" in all mining projects in the mineral-rich nation. He said the firm would help build ports, railway lines, power plants, low-cost housing and even a new administrative centre in the capital, Conakry. In September 2011, Mohamed Lamine Fofana, the Mines Minister following the 2010 election, said that the government had overturned the agreement by the ex-military junta.
Youth unemployment remains a large problem. Guinea needs an adequate policy to address the concerns of urban youth. One problem is the disparity between their life and what they see on television. For youth who cannot find jobs, seeing the economic power and consumerism of richer countries only serves to frustrate them further.
Economic sectors
In 2019, the country was the world's 3rd largest producer of bauxite.
Bauxite mining and alumina production provide about 80% of Guinea's foreign exchange. Several U.S. companies are active in this sector. Diamonds and gold also are mined and exported on a large scale, providing additional foreign exchange. Concession agreements have been signed for future exploitation of Guinea's extensive iron ore deposits.
Guinea is richly endowed with minerals, possessing an estimated one-third of the world's proven reserves of bauxite, more than 1.8 billion metric tons (MT) (2.0 billion short tons) of high-grade iron ore, significant diamond and gold deposits, and undetermined quantities of uranium.
Lately, with the increase of alumina demand from the booming economy of China, there is a renew interest in Guinea riches. The consortium Alcan and Alcoa, partner with the Guinean government in the CBG mining in north western Guinea, have announced the feasibility study for the construction of a 1 million TPa alumina smelter. This comes with a similar project from Canadian start-up Global Alumina trying to come with a 2 billion dollar alumina plant in the same region. As of April 2005, the National Assembly of Guinea has not ratified Global's project.
Revenue from bauxite mining is expected to fall significantly in 2010 due mainly to the world economic situation.
Mining controversies
Guinea has large reserves of the steel-making raw material, iron ore. Rio Tinto was the majority owner of the $6 billion Simandou iron ore project, which it had called the world's best unexploited resource. This project is said to be of the same magnitude as the Pilbara in Western Australia.
In 2017, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group pled guilty to a multi-year bribery scheme, after an investigation by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) led to a trial in the United States and a fine of $412 million. Following this, the SEC also filed a lawsuit in the US against head of Och-Ziff European operations, Michael Cohen, for his role in a bribery scheme in the region.
In 2009 the government of Guinea gave the northern half of Simandou to BSGR for an $165 million investment in the project and a pledge to spend $1 billion on railways, saying that Rio Tinto wasn't moving into production fast enough. The US Justice Department investigated allegations that BSGR had bribed President Conté's wife to get him the concession, and so did the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the next elected President of Guinea, Alpha Condé, and an assortment of other national and international entities.
In April 2014 the Guinean government cancelled the company's mining rights in Simandou. BSGR has denied any wrongdoing, and in May 2014 sought arbitration over the government of Guinea's decision to expropriate its mining rights. In February 2019, BSGR and Guinean President Alpha Condé agreed to drop all allegations of wrongdoing as well as the pending arbitration case. Under the agreement, BSGR would relinquish rights to Simandou while being allowed to maintain an interest in the smaller Zogota deposit that would be developed by Niron Metals head Mick Davis.
In 2010 Rio Tinto signed a binding agreement with Aluminum Corporation of China Limited to establish a joint venture for the Simandou iron ore project. In November 2016, Rio Tinto admitted paying $10.5 million to a close adviser of President Alpha Condé to obtain rights on Simandou. Conde said he knew nothing about the bribe and denied any wrongdoing. However, according to recordings obtained by France 24, Guinean authorities were aware of the Simandou briberies.
In July 2017, the UK-based anti-fraud regulator, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Australian Federal Police launched an investigation into Rio Tinto's business practices in Guinea.
Further, In November 2016, the former mining minister of Guinea, Mahmoud Thiam, accused head of Rio Tinto's Guinea operation department of offering him a bribe in 2010 to regain Rio Tinto's control over half of the undeveloped Simandou project.
In September 2011, Guinea adopted a new mining code. The law set up a commission to review government deals struck during the chaotic days between the end of dictatorship in 2008 and Condé coming to power.
In September 2015, the French Financial Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into President Alpha Conde's son, Mohamed Alpha Condé. He was charged with embezzlement of public funds and receiving financial and other benefits from French companies that were interested in the Guinean mining industry.
In August 2016, son of a former Prime Minister of Gabon, who worked for Och-Ziff's Africa Management Ltd, a subsidiary of the U.S. hedge fund Och-Ziff, was arrested in the US and charged with bribing officials in Guinea, Chad and Niger on behalf of the company to secure mining concessions and gain access to relevant confidential information. The investigation also revealed that he was involved in rewriting Guinea's mining law during President Conde's rule. In December 2016, the US Department of Justice announced that the man pleaded guilty to conspiring to make corrupt payments to government officials in Africa.
According to a Global Witness report, Sable Mining sought iron ore explorations rights to Mount Nimba in Guinea by getting close to Conde towards the 2010 elections, backing his campaign for presidency and bribing his son. These allegations have not been verified yet but in March 2016 Guinean authorities ordered an investigation into the matter.
The Conde government investigated two other contracts as well, one which left Hyperdynamic with a third of Guinea's offshore lease allocations as well as Rusal's purchase of the Friguia Aluminum refinery, in which it said that Rusal greatly underpaid.
Guinea also has considerable potential for growth in the agricultural and fishing sectors. Land, water, and climatic conditions provide opportunities for large-scale irrigated farming and agroindustry. Possibilities for investment and commercial activities exist in all these areas, but Guinea's poorly developed infrastructure continues to present obstacles to investment projects.
Three primary energy sources make up the energy mix in Guinea – biomass, oil and hydropower. With 78%, biomass (mostly charcoal) makes the largest contribution in primary energy consumption in Guinea. It is locally produced, while Guinea imports all petroleum products.
The people of Guinea are among the poorest in West Africa and this reality is reflected in the development of the country's telecommunications environment. Radio is the most important source of information for the public in Guinea, and the only one to reach the entire country.
There is a single government-owned radio network, a growing number of private radio stations, and one government TV station. The fixed telephone system is inadequate, with just 18,000 lines to serve the country's 10.5 million inhabitants in 2012. The mobile cellular system is growing rapidly and had an estimated 4.8 million lines in 2012. Internet usage is very low, reaching just 1.5% of the population in 2012.
Economic statistics
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1990–2024.
Year GDP (in billion US$ PPP) GDP per capita (in US$ PPP)GDP(in billion US$ nominal) GDP growth(real) Inflation(in Percent) Government debt(Percentage of GDP)19906.5 1,0763.74.3%25.7%71.6%19958.9 1,1295.14.7%5.6%66.5%200011.7 1,3324.02.5%6.8%91.5%200515.2 1,5884.53.0%31.4%97.9%200616.1 1,6394.22.5%34.7%95.2%200717.6 1,7496.36.5%22.9%60.8%200818.7 1,8097.04.1%18.4%58.5%200918.5 1,7456.8 -1.5%4.7%61.3%201019.5 1,7926.94.2%15.5%71.1%201121.0 1,8836.85.6%21.4%53.9%201222.7 1,9807.45.9%15.2%26.9%201324.0 2,0418.43.9%11.9%34.0%201425.3 2,0998.83.7%9.7%35.2%201526.5 2,1468.83.8%8.2%44.4%201629.6 2,3438.610.8%8.2%43.0%201733.3 2,56610.310.3%8.9%41.9%201836.1 2,71811.96.4%9.8%39.3%201940.5 2,97113.45.6%9.5%38.6%202044.6 3,19014.14.7%10.6%47.8%202151.3 3,58116.35.6%12.6%42.7%202257.1 3,89119.64.0%10.5%40.2%202362.5 4,15723.05.7%7.8%40.8%202466.6 4,32125.54.1%11.0%37.8%
GDP:
purchasing power parity – $26.5 billion (2017 est.)
GDP – real growth rate:
6.7% (2017 est.)
GDP – per capita:
purchasing power parity – $2,000 (2017 est.)
GDP – composition by sector:
agriculture:
19.5%
industry:
38.4%
services:
42.1% (2017 est.)
Population below poverty line:
47% (2006 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
2.7% (2007)
highest 10%:
30.3% (2007)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.9% (2017 est.)
Labor force:
5.558 million (2017)
Labor force – by occupation:
agriculture 76%, industry and services 24% (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate:
2.8% (2017 est.)
Ease of Doing Business Rank
179th
Budget:
revenues:
$382.7 million
expenditures:
$711.4 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Industries:
bauxite, gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries
Industrial production growth rate:
8% (2017 est.)
Electricity – production:
1 billion kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity – production by source:
fossil fuel:
63.55%
hydro:
36.45%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1998)
Electricity – consumption:
930 million kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity – exports:
0 kWh (2016)
Electricity – imports:
0 kWh (2016)
Agriculture – products:
rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats; timber
Exports:
$2.115 billion (2017 est.)
Exports – commodities:
bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee, fish, agricultural products
Exports – partners:
China 35.8%, Ghana 20.1%, UAE 11.6%, India 4.3% (2017)
Imports:
$2.475 billion (2017 est.)
Imports – commodities:
petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs (1997)
Imports – partners:
Netherlands 17.2%, China 13.2%, India 11.8%, Belgium 10%, France 6.9%, UAE 4.5% (2017)
Debt – external:
$1.53 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Economic aid – recipient:
$359.2 million (1998)
Currency:
1 Guinean franc (GNF) = 100 centimes
See also
Trade unions in Guinea
Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea
Guinean franc
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Further reading
|
Citigroup
|
[
"Citigroup",
"1980s initial public offerings",
"American companies established in 1998",
"Banks based in New York City",
"Banks established in 1998",
"Companies based in Manhattan",
"Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange",
"Companies in the Dow Jones Global Titans 50",
"Financial services companies established in 1998",
"Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average",
"Midtown Manhattan",
"Multinational companies based in New York City",
"Primary dealers",
"Publicly traded companies based in New York City",
"Subprime mortgage crisis",
"Systemically important financial institutions"
] | 14,827 | 132,413 |
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, the bank holding company for Citibank, and Travelers; Travelers was spun off from the company in 2002.
Citigroup is the third-largest banking institution in the United States by assets; alongside JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, it is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board, and is commonly cited as being "too big to fail". It is one of the eight global investment banks in the Bulge Bracket. Citigroup is ranked 36th on the Fortune 500, and was ranked #24 in Forbes Global 2000 in 2023.
Citigroup operates with two major divisions: Institutional Clients Group (ICG), which offers investment banking and corporate banking services, as well as treasury and trade solutions (TTS) and securities services such as custodian banking; and Personal Banking and Wealth Management (PBWM), which includes Citibank, a retail bank, the third largest issuer of credit cards, as well as its wealth management business.
Citigroup was formed on October 8, 1998, following the merger of Citicorp, the bank holding company for Citibank, and Travelers to create the world's largest financial services organization.
Citicorp (1812–1985)
Citibank (formerly City Bank of New York) was chartered by the State of New York on June 16, 1812, with $2 million (~$ in ) of capital. Serving a group of New York merchants, the bank opened for business on September 14 of that year, and Samuel Osgood was elected as the first President of the company. After the Panic of 1837, Moses Taylor acquired control of the company. The company's name was changed to The National City Bank of New York in 1865 after it converted its state charter into a federal charter and joined the new U.S. national banking system. After Taylor died in 1882, Percy Rivington Pyne I became president of the bank. He died nine years later and was replaced by James Stillman. The bank became the largest bank in New York City after the Panic of 1893 and the largest bank in the U.S. by 1895. It became the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1913, and the following year it inaugurated the first overseas branch of a U.S. bank in Buenos Aires, although the bank had been active in plantation economies, such as the Cuban sugar industry, since the mid-19th century. The purchase of U.S. overseas bank International Banking Corporation in 1918 helped it become the first American bank to surpass $1 billion in assets. During the United States occupation of Haiti and the bank's income from Haiti's loan debt related to the Haiti indemnity controversy, the bank earned some of its largest gains in the 1920s due to debt payments from Haiti, becoming the largest commercial bank in the world in 1929. As it grew, the bank became an innovator in financial services, becoming the first major U.S. bank to offer compound interest on savings (1921); unsecured personal loans (1928); customer checking accounts (1936) and the negotiable certificate of deposit (1961).
The bank merged with First National Bank of New York in 1955, becoming the First National City Bank of New York in 1955. The "New York" was dropped in 1962 on the 150th anniversary of the company's foundation. The company organically entered the leasing and credit card sectors, and its introduction of U.S. dollar-denominated certificates of deposit in London marked the first new negotiable instrument in the market since 1888. The bank introduced its First National City Charge Service credit card—popularly known as the "Everything card" and later to become MasterCard—in 1967. Also in 1967, First National City Bank was reorganized as a one-bank holding company, First National City Corporation, or "Citicorp" for short. The bank had been nicknamed "Citibank" since the 1860s when it began using this as an eight-letter wire code address.
In 1974, under the leadership of CEO Walter B. Wriston, First National City Corporation changed its formal name to "Citicorp", with First National City Bank being formally renamed Citibank in 1976. Shortly afterwards, the bank launched the Citicard, which pioneered the use of 24-hour ATMs. John S. Reed was elected CEO in 1984, and Citi became a founding member of the CHAPS clearing house in London. Under his leadership, the next 14 years would see Citibank become the largest bank in the United States and the largest issuer of credit cards and charge cards in the world, and expand its global reach to over 90 countries.
Travelers Group (1986–2007)
Travelers Group, at the time of the merger, was a diverse group of financial concerns that had been brought together under CEO Sandy Weill. Its roots came from Commercial Credit, a subsidiary of Control Data Corporation that was taken private by Weill in November 1986 after taking charge of the company earlier that year. Two years later, Weill mastered the buyout of Primerica Financial Services—a conglomerate that had already bought life insurance company A L Williams as well as brokerage firm Smith Barney. The new company took the Primerica name, and employed a "cross-selling" strategy such that each of the entities within the parent company aimed to sell each other's services. Its non-financial businesses were spun off.
In September 1992, Travelers Insurance, which had suffered from poor real estate investments and sustained significant losses in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, formed a strategic alliance with Primerica that would lead to its amalgamation into a single company in December 1993. With the acquisition, the group became Travelers Inc. Property & casualty and life & annuities underwriting capabilities were added to the business. Meanwhile, the distinctive Travelers red umbrella logo, which was also acquired in the deal, was applied to all the businesses within the newly named organization. During this period, Travelers acquired Shearson Lehman—a retail brokerage and asset management firm that was headed by Weill until 1985—and merged it with Smith Barney.
Ownership of Salomon Brothers (1997–2003)
In November 1997, Travelers Group (which had been renamed again in April 1995 when they merged with Aetna Property and Casualty, Inc.), acquired Salomon Brothers, a major bond dealer and bulge bracket investment bank, in a $9 billion (~$ in ) transaction. This deal complemented Travelers/Smith Barney well as Salomon was focused on fixed-income and institutional clients, whereas Smith Barney was strong in equities and retail. Salomon Brothers absorbed Smith Barney into the new securities unit termed Salomon Smith Barney; a year later, the division incorporated Citicorp's former securities operations as well. The Salomon Smith Barney name was abandoned in October 2003 after a series of financial scandals that tarnished the bank's reputation.
Merger of Citicorp and Travelers (1998–2001)
On April 6, 1998, Citicorp and Travelers announced a merger. The deal would enable Travelers and Citicorp to access each other's customer base for the marketing of financial products.
In the transaction, Travelers Group acquired all Citicorp shares; existing shareholders of each company owned about half of the new firm. While the new company maintained Citicorp's "Citi" brand in its name, it adopted Travelers' distinctive "red umbrella" as the new corporate logo, which was used until 2007.
The chairmen of both parent companies, John S. Reed and Sandy Weill respectively, were announced as co-chairmen and co-CEOs of the new company, Citigroup, Inc., although the vast difference in management styles between the two immediately presented question marks over the wisdom of such a setup.
The remaining provisions of the Glass–Steagall Act—enacted following the Great Depression—forbade banks to merge with insurance underwriters, and meant Citigroup had between two and five years to divest any prohibited assets. Weill stated at the time of the merger that they believed "that over that time the legislation will change ... we have had enough discussions to believe this will not be a problem". Indeed, the passing of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in November 1999 vindicated Reed and Weill's views, opening the door to financial services conglomerates offering a mix of commercial banking, investment banking, insurance underwriting, and brokerage.
Joe J. Plumeri worked on the post-merger integration of the two companies and was appointed CEO of Citibank North America by Weill and Reed. He oversaw its network of 450 branches. J. Paul Newsome, an analyst with CIBC Oppenheimer, said: "He's not the spit-and-polish executive many people expected. He's rough on the edges. But Citibank knows the bank as an institution is in trouble—it can't get away anymore with passive selling—and Plumeri has all the passion to throw a glass of cold water on the bank." Plumeri boosted the unit's earnings from $108 million to $415 million in one year, an increase of nearly 300%. He unexpectedly retired from Citibank in January 2000.
In 2000, Citigroup acquired Associates First Capital Corporation for $31.1 billion in stock, which, until 1989, had been owned by Gulf+Western (now part of National Amusements), and later by Ford Motor Credit Company. The Associates was widely criticized for predatory lending practices and Citi eventually settled with the Federal Trade Commission by agreeing to pay $240 million to customers who had been victims of a variety of predatory practices, including "flipping" mortgages, "packing" mortgages with optional credit insurance, and deceptive marketing practices.
In 2001, Citigroup made additional acquisitions: European American Bank, in July, for $1.9 billion, and Banamex in August, for $12.5 billion.
Spin-off of Travelers (2002)
The company spun off its Travelers Property and Casualty insurance underwriting business in 2002. The spin-off was prompted by the insurance unit's drag on Citigroup stock price because Travelers earnings were more seasonal and vulnerable to large disasters and events such as the September 11 attacks. It was also difficult to sell insurance directly to its customers since most customers were accustomed to purchasing insurance through a broker.
Travelers merged with The St. Paul Companies Inc. in 2004 forming The St. Paul Travelers Companies. Citigroup retained the life insurance and annuities underwriting businesses until it sold them to MetLife in 2005.
In spite of divesting Travelers Insurance, Citigroup retained Travelers' signature red umbrella logo as its own until February 2007, when Citigroup agreed to sell the logo back to St. Paul Travelers, which renamed itself Travelers Companies. Citigroup also decided to adopt the corporate brand "Citi" for itself and virtually all its subsidiaries, except Primerica and Banamex.
Subprime mortgage crisis (2007)
Heavy exposure to troubled mortgages in the form of collateralized debt obligation (CDOs), compounded by poor risk management, led Citigroup into trouble as the subprime mortgage crisis worsened in 2007. The company had used elaborate mathematical risk models which looked at mortgages in particular geographical areas, but never included the possibility of a national housing downturn or the prospect that millions of mortgage holders would default on their mortgages. Trading head Thomas Maheras was close friends with senior risk officer David Bushnell, which undermined risk oversight. As Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin was said to be influential in lifting the Glass–Steagall Act that allowed Travelers and Citicorp to merge in 1998. Then on the board of directors of Citigroup, Rubin and Charles Prince were said to be influential in pushing the company towards MBS and CDOs in the subprime mortgage market.
Starting in June 2006, Senior Vice President Richard M. Bowen III, the chief underwriter of Citigroup's Consumer Lending Group, began warning the board of directors about the extreme risks being taken on by the mortgage operation that could potentially result in massive losses. The group bought and sold $90 billion of residential mortgages annually. Bowen's responsibility was essential to serve as the quality control supervisor ensuring the unit's creditworthiness. When Bowen first became a whistleblower in 2006, 60% of the mortgages were defective. The number of bad mortgages began increasing throughout 2007 and eventually exceeded 80% of the volume. Many of the mortgages were not only defective but were a result of mortgage fraud. Bowen attempted to rouse the board via weekly reports and other communications. On November 3, 2007, Bowen emailed Citigroup chairman Robert Rubin and the bank's chief financial officer, head auditor, and the chief risk management officer to again expose the risk and potential losses, claiming that the group's internal controls had broken down and requesting an outside investigation of his business unit. The subsequent investigation revealed that the Consumer Lending Group had suffered a breakdown of internal controls since 2005. Despite the findings of the investigation, Bowen's charges were ignored, even though withholding such information from shareholders violated the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX), which he had pointed out. Citigroup CEO Charles Prince signed a certification that the bank was in compliance with SOX despite Bowen revealing this wasn't so. Citigroup eventually stripped Bowen of most of his responsibilities and informed him that his physical presence was no longer required at the bank. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission asked him to testify about Citigroup's role in the mortgage crisis, and he did so, appearing as one of the first witnesses before the Commission in April 2010.
As the crisis began to unfold, Citigroup announced on April 11, 2007, that it would eliminate 17,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce, in a broad restructuring designed to cut costs and bolster its long underperforming stock. Even after securities and brokerage firm Bear Stearns ran into serious trouble in summer 2007, Citigroup decided the possibility of trouble with its CDOs was so tiny (less than 1/100 of 1%) that they excluded them from their risk analysis. With the crisis worsening, Citigroup announced on January 7, 2008, that it was considering cutting another 5 percent to 10 percent of its 327,000 member-workforce.
Failed takeover of Nikko Asset Management
In 2007, Citigroup acquired 61% of Nikko Asset Management for $7.7 billion to take majority control in what was then the largest foreign buyout ever of a Japanese company. Citigroup attempted to buy out the remaining shares of Nikko later that year at a cost of $4.6 billion to take full control of the company. Two years later, Citigroup sold its stake to Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, for $795 million as it retreated from Japan.
Collapse and US government intervention (2008)
By July 2008 Citigroup was described as struggling, and by November they were insolvent, despite their receipt of $25 billion (~$ in ) in taxpayer-funded federal Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. On November 17, 2008, Citigroup announced plans for about 52,000 new job cuts, on top of 23,000 cuts already made during 2008 in a huge job cull resulting from four-quarters of consecutive losses and reports that it was unlikely to be in profit again before 2010. The same day on Wall Street markets responded, with shares falling and dropping the company's market capitalization to $6 billion, down from $300 billion two years prior. Eventually staff cuts totaled over 100,000 employees. Its stock market value dropped to $20.5 billion, down from $244 billion two years earlier. Shares of Citigroup common stock traded well below $1.00 on the New York Stock Exchange.
As a result, late in the evening on November 23, 2008, Citigroup and Federal regulators approved a plan to stabilize the company and forestall a further deterioration in the company's value. On November 24, 2008, the U.S. government announced a massive bailout for Citigroup designed to rescue the company from bankruptcy while giving the government a major say in its operations. A joint statement by the US Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced: "With these transactions, the U.S. government is taking the actions necessary to strengthen the financial system and protect U.S. taxpayers and the U.S. economy."
TARP funding
Citi received the largest amount of TARP funding, "a larger bailout than any other U.S. bank." The bailout called for the government to back about $306 billion in loans and securities and directly invest about $20 billion in the company. The Treasury provided $20 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds in addition to $25 billion given in October. The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC agreed to cover 90% of the losses on Citigroup's $335 billion portfolio after Citigroup absorbed the first $29 billion in losses. The Treasury would assume the first $5 billion in losses; the FDIC would absorb the next $10 billion; then the Federal Reserve would assume the rest of the risk. The assets remained on Citigroup's balance sheet; the technical term for this arrangement is ring fencing.
In return, the bank gave the U.S. Treasury $27 billion of preferred shares and warrants to acquire common stock. The government obtained wide powers over banking operations. Citigroup agreed to try to modify mortgages, using standards set up by the FDIC after the collapse of IndyMac Bank, with the goal of keeping as many homeowners as possible in their houses. Executive salaries would be capped. As a condition of the federal assistance, Citigroup's dividend payment was reduced to $0.01 per share.
In a New York Times op-ed, Michael Lewis and David Einhorn described the November 2008 $306 billion (~$ in ) guarantee as "an undisguised gift" without any real crisis motivating it.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the government aid provided to Citi in 2008/2009 was provided to prevent a worldwide chaos and panic by the potential collapse of its Global Transactions Services (now TTS) division. According to the article, former CEO Pandit said if Citigroup was allowed to unravel into bankruptcy, "100 governments around the world would be trying to figure out how to pay their employees".
According to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Citigroup paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to more than 1,038 of its employees after it had received its $45 billion (~$ in ) TARP funds in late 2008. This included 738 employees each receiving $1 million in bonuses, 176 employees each receiving $2 million bonuses, 124 each receiving $3 million in bonuses, and 143 each receiving bonuses of $4 million to more than $10 million. As a result of the criticism and the U.S. Government's majority holding of Citigroup's common stock, compensation and bonuses were restricted from February 2009 until December 2010.
In 2009, Jane Fraser, the CEO of Citi Private Bank, stopped paying its bankers with a commission for selling investment products, in a move to bolster Citi Private Bank's reputation as an independent wealth management adviser, as opposed to a product pusher.
Creation of Citi Holdings (2009)
On January 16, 2009, Citigroup announced its intention to reorganize itself into two operating units: Citicorp for its retail and institutional client business, and Citi Holdings for its brokerage and asset management. Citigroup will continue to operate as a single company for the time being, but Citi Holdings managers will be tasked to "take advantage of value-enhancing disposition and combination opportunities as they emerge", and eventual spin-offs or mergers involving either operating unit were not ruled out. Citi Holdings consists of Citi businesses that Citi wants to sell and are not considered part of Citi's core businesses. The majority of its assets are U.S. mortgages. It was created in the wake of the financial crisis as part of Citi's restructuring plan. It consists of several business entities including remaining interests in local consumer lending such as OneMain Financial, divestitures such as Smith Barney, and a special asset pool. Citi Holdings represents $156 billion of GAAP assets, or ~8% of Citigroup; 59% represents North American mortgages, 18% operating businesses, 13% special asset pool, and 10% categorized as other. Operating businesses include OneMain Financial ($10B), PrimeRe ($7B), MSSB JV ($8B) and Spain / Greece retail ($4B), less associated loan loss reserves. While Citi Holdings is a mixed bag, its primary objective is to wind down some non-core businesses and reduce assets, and strategically "breaking even" in 2015.
On February 27, 2009, Citigroup announced that the U.S. government would take a 36% equity stake in the company by converting US$25 billion in emergency aid into common stock with a United States Treasury credit line of $45 billion to prevent the bankruptcy of the company. The government guaranteed losses on more than $300 billion of troubled assets and injected $20 billion immediately into the company. The salary of the CEO was set at $1 per year and the highest salary of employees was restricted to $500,000. Any compensation amount above $500,000 had to be paid with restricted stock that could not be sold by the employee until the emergency government aid was repaid in full. The U.S. government also gained control of half the seats in the board of directors, and the senior management was subjected to removal by the US government if there were poor performance. By December 2009, the U.S. government stake was reduced from a 36% stake to a 27% stake, after Citigroup sold $21 billion of common shares and equity in the largest single share sale in U.S. history, surpassing Bank of America's $19 billion share sale 1 month prior. By December 2010, Citigroup repaid the emergency aid in full and the U.S. government had made a $12 billion (~$ in ) profit on its investment in the company. Government restrictions on pay and oversight of the senior management were removed after the U.S. government sold its remaining 27% stake in December 2010.
On June 1, 2009, it was announced that Citigroup would be removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average effective June 8, 2009, due to significant government ownership. Citigroup was replaced by Travelers Co.
Sale of Smith Barney (2009)
Smith Barney, Citi's global private wealth management unit, provided brokerage, investment banking and asset management services to corporations, governments and individuals around the world. With over 800 offices worldwide, Smith Barney held 9.6 million domestic client accounts, representing $1.562 trillion in client assets worldwide.
On January 13, 2009, Citi announced the merger of Smith Barney with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Citi received $2.7 billion and a 49% interest in the joint venture.
In June 2013, Citi sold its remaining 49% stake in Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management for $13.5 billion following an appraisal by Perella Weinberg.
Return to profitability, denationalization (2010)
In 2010, Citigroup achieved its first profitable year since 2007. It reported $10.6 billion in net profit, compared with a $1.6 billion loss in 2009. Late in 2010, the government sold its remaining stock holding in the company, yielding an overall net profit to taxpayers of $12 billion (~$ in ). A special IRS tax exception given to Citi allowed the US Treasury to sell its shares at a profit, while it still owned Citigroup shares, which eventually netted $12 billion. According to Treasury spokeswoman Nayyera Haq, "This (IRS tax) rule was designed to stop corporate raiders from using loss corporations to evade taxes and was never intended to address the unprecedented situation where the government owned shares in banks. And it was certainly not written to prevent the government from selling its shares for a profit."
Expansion of retail banking operations (2011)
In 2011, Citi was the first bank to introduce digitized Smart Banking branches in Washington, D.C., New York, Tokyo and Busan (South Korea) while it continued renovating its entire branch network. New sales and service centers were also opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Citi Express modules, 24-hour service units, were introduced in Colombia. Citi opened additional branches in China, expanding its branch presence to 13 cities in China.
Expansion of credit card operations (2011)
Citi Branded Cards introduced several new products in 2011, including: Citi ThankYou, Citi Executive/AAdvantage and Citi Simplicity cards in the U.S. It also has Latin America partnership cards with Colombia-based airline Avianca and with Banamex and AeroMexico; and a merchant loyalty program in Europe. Citibank is also the first and currently the only international bank to be approved by Chinese regulators to issue credit cards under its own brand without cooperating with Chinese state-owned domestic banks.
Chinese investment banking joint venture (2012)
In 2012, the Global Markets division and Orient Securities formed Citi Orient Securities, a Shanghai-based equity and debt brokerage operating in the Chinese market. In January 2019, Citigroup announced that it sold its stake in the business to its Chinese partner.
Federal Reserve stress tests (2012–2016)
The company failed the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review stress tests in 2012 due to Citi's high capital return plan and its international loans, which were rated by the Fed to be at higher risk than its domestic American loans.
In 2013, Sanjiv Das was replaced as head of CitiMortgage with Jane Fraser, former head of Citi Private Bank.
The company failed the stress tests again in 2014, this time due to qualitative concerns.
However, it passed the stress tests in 2015 and in 2016.
In February 2016, the company was subject to a $1.1 billion fraud lawsuit filed by lender Rabobank and other investors as a result of the bankruptcy of Oceanografia SA, a Mexican oil services firm. The plaintiffs claimed that Citigroup conspired with Oceanografia to accept falsified work estimates. The courts found in favor of Citigroup.
In April 2016, Citigroup announced that it would eliminate its bad bank, Citi Holdings.
Spin-off of Napier Park Global Capital (2013)
Under the leadership of CEO Michael Corbat, Citi Capital Advisors (CCA), formerly Citi Alternative Investments, was a hedge fund that offered various investment strategies across multiple asset classes. To comply with the Volcker Rule, which limits bank ownership in hedge funds to no more than 3%, Citi spun off its hedge fund unit in 2013 and gave a majority of the company to its managers. The spin-off of CCA created Napier Park Global Capital, a $6.8 billion hedge fund with more than 100 employees in New York and London and managed by Jim O'Brien and Jonathan Dorfman.
Downsizing of consumer banking unit (2014)
In October 2014, Citigroup announced its exit from consumer banking in 11 markets, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Japan, Guam, the Czech Republic, Egypt, South Korea (consumer finance only), and Hungary.
2015 onwards
In May 2015, the bank announced the sale of its margin foreign exchange business, including CitiFX Pro and TradeStream, to FXCM and SAXO Bank of Denmark. Despite this deal, industry surveys pegged Citi as the biggest banking player in the forex market. The company's remaining foreign exchange sales & trading businesses continued operating in the wake of this deal under the leadership of James Bindler, who succeeded Jeff Feig as the firm's global head of foreign exchange in 2014.
In November 2015, Springleaf acquired OneMain Financial from Citigroup.
In February 2016, Citi sold its retail and commercial banking operations in Panama and Costa Rica to the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) for $360 million (~$ in ). The operations sold include 27 branches serving approximately 250,000 clients. Citi continues to offer corporate and institutional banking and wealth management in Panama and Costa Rica. On April 1, Citigroup became the exclusive issuer of Costco-branded credit cards. In April 2016, Citi was given regulatory approval for its "living will", its plans to shut down operations in the event of another financial crisis.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Citi provided support to cardholders including waiving late fees. It also announced that some lower paid employees would receive a one-off payment of US$1,000 to help them through the crisis. This was not just limited to the US. In Singapore where Citi had a large operation, low paid staff would receive S$1,200.
In August 2020, Citi mistakenly wired $900 million (~$ in ) to the creditors of one of its clients, the American cosmetics corporation Revlon. Citi sued to get most of the money back but as of June 2022 had been unsuccessful. In October, the same year, Citigroup was fined $400 million by the US bank regulators as a result of their risk in control systems and was ordered to update their technology. The company will have four months to make a new plan and submit it to the Federal Reserve.
In November 2023, Citigroup began initiating layoffs as part of a corporate overhaul. The layoffs were part of a restructuring plan announced by CEO Jane Fraser, which includes the formation of five new divisions and the departure of several senior executives. The move was in response to Citigroup's stock performance and increased expenses. The full extent of the job cuts, referred to internally as "Project Bora Bora," were reported to involve a reduction of at least 10% or 20 000 of the workforce in several departments.
Combination of Markets and Securities Services (2019)
In 2019, Citi combined its Global Markets and Securities Services business into Markets & Securities Services, which includes broad trading and execution capabilities in addition to custody, clearing, financing and hedging services.
Shrinking of consumer banking unit (2021–2025)
In February 2021, Jane Fraser, became CEO of the company, the first female CEO of a Big Four bank.
In April 2021, Citi announced it would exit its consumer banking operations in 13 markets, including Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. In January 2022, it was announced that UOB would purchase Citi's consumer banking business in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam for approximately $4.9bn. In August 2023, it was announced DBS Bank had acquired Citi's consumer banking business in Taiwan, Citi Consumer Taiwan, for a total consideration of $706m. Citi will continue to operate its consumer banking businesses in the US, Canada, Europe and in only 4 other markets: Hong Kong, Singapore, London and the UAE across the entire APAC and EMEA regions.
In January 2022, Citi further announced its plan to exit consumer banking in Mexico, as well as small-business and middle-market banking operations. On March 1, 2022, Citi disclosed an exposure of over $10bn in Russian assets, which may be materially affected by Russia's expulsion from the SWIFT banking system.
In September 2022, Citi was planning to shutter its retail bank business in the United Kingdom. In January 2024, Citi announced that it would be cutting 20,000 jobs from the company. In June 2024, at its biennial Investor Day, Jane focused the conversation on Citi's Securities Services business, the most profitable of its five business units.
In October 2024, it was reported that the company would move significant portions of its financial infrastructure to Google Cloud.
In December 2024, Citigroup along with Bank of America announced that they are exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).
In March 2025, Citigroup seeks to reduce reliance on external IT contractors, cutting their share by 20% to 50%. They intend to hire full-time employees instead, increasing their technology workforce to 50,000. Improved risk management, data governance after regulatory penalties, including a $136 million for data issues, have prompted such measures. A recent $22.9 million fraud case which involved external contractors is also cited by Citigroup as a reason for the shift. The bank intend to reduce its external suppliers from 144 to 50 and plans to shift IT operations from Rutherford, NJ, to Jersey City. The bank’s stock fell 0.7%, accumulating a 4.4% loss for the year.
Involvement in controlling the sale of guns
In 2018, The New York Times reported about Citi's actions, under the direction of CEO Michael Corbat, to intervene in the matter of gun control. In particular, their credit card policies were set to restrict the sale of guns below age 21.
New York City
The company operates offices in the following buildings:
388 Greenwich Street (Manhattan), its global headquarters
Citigroup Center, a diagonal-roof skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan
787 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
666 Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
399 Park Avenue (Manhattan)
485 Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)
One Court Square (Long Island City, Queens)
Citigroup EMEA
Citigroup Centre, Canary Wharf, London
Citibank Vietnam
Citibank first opened a branch in Vietnam prior to 1975. In 1993, Citi returned to Vietnam and established a representative office in Hanoi. Citi established the first fully operational U.S. bank branch in Hanoi in 1994. Following the branch opening in Ho Chi Minh City in 1998, Citi established its retail banking franchise in Vietnam in 2009.
Naming rights to Citi Field
Citigroup owns the naming rights to Citi Field, the home ballpark of the New York Mets Major League Baseball team, via a $400 million (~$ in ), 20-year deal that commenced with the stadium opening in 2009.
Sioux Falls
Citibank moved its credit card operations to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 1981 after that state eliminated caps on interest rates.
Regulatory action, lawsuits, and arbitration
In 2004, Japanese regulators took action against Citibank Japan loaning to a customer involved in stock manipulation. The regulator suspended bank activities in one branch and three offices and restricted their consumer banking division. In 2009, Japanese regulators again took action against Citibank Japan, because the bank had not set up an effective money laundering monitoring system. The regulators suspended sales operations within Citibank's retail banking for a month.
On March 23, 2005, the National Association of Securities Dealers, the former name of the American self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers, now known as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FInRA) announced total fines of $21.25 million against Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., American Express Financial Advisors and Chase Investment Services regarding suitability and supervisory violations of their mutual fund sales practices between January 2002 and July 2003. The case against Citigroup involved recommendations and sales of Class B and Class C shares of mutual funds.
On June 6, 2007, FInRA announced more than $15 million (~$ in ) in fines and restitution against Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., to settle charges related to misleading documents and inadequate disclosure in retirement seminars and meetings for BellSouth Corp. employees in North Carolina and South Carolina. FInRA found that Citigroup did not properly supervise a team of brokers located in Charlotte, N.C., who used misleading sales materials during dozens of seminars and meetings for hundreds of BellSouth employees.
In July 2010, Citigroup agreed to pay $75 million (~$ in ) to settle civil charges that it misled investors over potential losses from high-risk mortgages. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that Citigroup had made misleading statements about the company's exposure to subprime mortgages. In 2007, Citigroup indicated that its exposure was less than $13 billion, when in fact it was over $50 billion.
In April 2011, an arbitration panel ordered Citigroup Inc to pay $54.1 million for losses from municipal securities funds that cratered between 2007 and 2008.
In August 2012, Citigroup agreed to pay almost $25 million (~$ in ) to settle an investor lawsuit alleging the bank misled investors about the nature of mortgage-backed securities. The lawsuit was on behalf of investors who purchased certificates in one of two mortgage-backed securities trusts from Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust Inc in 2007.
In February 2012, Citigroup agreed to pay $158.3 million (~$ in ) to settle claims that it falsely certified the quality of loans issued by its CitiMortgage unit over a period of more than six years, so that they would qualify for insurance from the Federal Housing Administration. The lawsuit was initially brought by Sherry Hunt, a CitiMortgage employee.
On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a historic settlement with the federal government and 49 states. The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about $26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and in-direct payments to the states and the federal government. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in U.S. history, only trailing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. The five banks were also required to comply with 305 new mortgage servicing standards. Oklahoma held out and agreed to settle with the banks separately.
In 2014, Citigroup agreed to pay $7 billion (~$ in ) to resolve claims it misled investors about shoddy mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said "The bank's misconduct was egregious. ... As a result of their assurances that toxic financial products were sound, Citigroup was able to expand its market share and increase profits" and that "the settlement did not absolve the bank or its employees from facing criminal charges."
In July 2015, Citigroup was fined $70 million by the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and ordered to pay $700 million to customers. Citigroup had conducted illegal practices in marketing add-on products for credit cards, including credit monitoring, debt-protection products and wallet-protection services.
In January 2017, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. was fined $25 million (~$ in ) by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for order spoofing in U.S. Treasury futures markets, i.e., placing orders that were intended to be canceled before execution, and for failing to diligently supervise its employees with regard to spoofing.
Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing bankruptcies
On October 22, 2001, Citigroup was sued for violating federal securities laws by misrepresenting Citigroup's Enron-related exposure in its 2001 Annual Report and elsewhere, and failing to disclose the true extent of Citigroup's legal liability arising out of its 'structured finance' deals with Enron. In 2003, Citigroup paid $145 million (~$ in ) in fines and penalties to settle claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Manhattan district attorney's office.
In 2004, Citigroup paid $2.65 billion pre-tax, or $1.64 billion after-tax, to settle a lawsuit concerning its role in selling stocks and bonds for WorldCom, the second largest telecommunications company in the world, which collapsed after an accounting scandal.
On February 5, 2002, Citigroup was sued for violating federal securities laws and misleading investors by issuing false information about Global Crossing's revenues and financial performance. In 2005, Citigroup paid $75 million (~$ in ) to settle the lawsuit. Citigroup was accused of issuing exaggerated research reports and not disclosing conflicts of interest.
In 2005, Citigroup paid $2 billion (~$ in ) to settle a lawsuit filed by investors in Enron. In 2008, Citi also agreed to pay $1.66 billion (~$ in ) to Enron creditors.
On November 8, 2007, Citigroup was sued for financial misrepresentations and omissions of what amounted to more than two years of income and an entire line of business. In 2012, the company paid $590 million (~$ in ) to settle the case.
Senior leadership
Chairman: John Dugan (since January 2019)
chief executive officer: Jane Fraser (since March 2021)
chief financial officer: Mark Mason (since February 2019)
List of former chairmen
This list only contains chairmen since the formation of Citigroup in 1998; for a full list of chairmen including Citigroup's predecessors, please see List of chairmen of Citigroup.
John Reed and Sandy Weill (1998–2000)
Sandy Weill (2000–2006)
Charles Prince (2006–2007)
Sir Win Bischoff (2007–2009)
Dick Parsons (2009–2012)
Michael O'Neill (2012–2019)
List of former chief executives
This list only contains chief executives since the formation of Citigroup in 1998.
Sandy Weill (1998–2003)
Charles Prince (2003–2007)
Vikram Pandit (2007–2012)
Michael Corbat (2012–2021)
Financial data
Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Revenue 80.077 86.327 77.300 51.599 80.285 85.749 77.261 69.190 76.419 76.882 77.277 70.797 72.444 72.854 75.067 75.501 71.884 75.338 78.462 81.139 Net income 24.589 21.538 3.617 (27.684) (1.606) 10.602 11.215 7.541 13.673 7.313 17.242 14.912 (6.798) 18.045 19.401 11.047 21.952 14.845 9.228 12.682 Assets 1,494 1,884 2,187 1,938 1,856 1,914 1,874 1,865 1,880 1,843 1,823 1,809 1,875 1,917 1,951 2,260 2,291 2,416 2,412 2,353 Headcount 296 327 375 323 265 260 266 259 251 241 231 219 209 204 210 210 223 240 239 229
Note: Financial data in billions of US dollars and employee data in thousands. The data is sourced from the company's SEC Form 10-K from 2005 to 2024.
Ownership
Citigroup is mainly owned by institutional investors, who own around 30% of shares. The 11 largest shareholders of Citigroup in December 2023 were:
The Vanguard Group (8.71%)
BlackRock (8.68%)
State Street Corporation (4.34%)
Berkshire Hathaway (2.89%)
Kingdom Holding Company (2.2%)
Geode Capital Management (1.95%)
Morgan Stanley (1.49%)
BNY Mellon (1.32%)
Fisher Investments (1.30%)
Massachusetts Financial Services (1.14%)
Northern Trust (1.01%)
Criticism
Criminal cartel charges in Australia
On June 1, 2018, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that criminal cartel charges were expected to be laid by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) against ANZ Bank, its Group Treasurer Rick Moscati, along with Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and a number of individuals.
Conflicts of interest on investment research
In December 2002, Citigroup paid fines totaling $400 million (~$ in ), to states and the federal government as part of a settlement involving charges that ten banks, including Citigroup, deceived investors with biased research. The total settlement with the ten banks was $1.4 billion. The settlement required that the banks separate investment banking from research, and ban any allocation of IPO shares.
Citigroup proprietary government bond trading scandal of 2004
Citigroup was criticized for disrupting the European bond market by rapidly selling €11 billion worth of bonds on August 2, 2004, on the MTS Group trading platform, driving down the price and then buying it back at cheaper prices.
Plutonomy report
A leaked 2005 plutonomy report prepared by Citi global strategists for its investor clients documented the imbalance of wealth between the top 1% and the bottom 60% of
Anglo-American (viz. United States, United Kingdom, and Canada) households. Six drivers and other economic measurements, such as income and savings rates were also studied and included, in what was described as "an ongoing [bio-]technological revolution; capitalist-friendly governments and tax regimes"
both powered by and consumed by the wealthy;
the middle class was not its focus.
Terra Securities scandal
In November 2007, it became public that Citigroup was heavily involved in the Terra Securities scandal.
Allegations of theft from customer accounts
In August 2008, Citigroup agreed to pay nearly $18 million in refunds and fines to settle accusations by California Attorney General Jerry Brown that it wrongly took funds from the accounts of credit card customers. Citigroup paid $14 million of restitution to roughly 53,000 customers nationwide. A three-year investigation found that Citigroup from 1992 to 2003 used an improper computerized "sweep" feature to move positive balances from card accounts into the bank's general fund, without telling cardholders. Brown said that Citigroup "knowingly stole from its customers, mostly poor people and the recently deceased when it designed and implemented the sweeps ... When a whistleblower uncovered the scam and brought it to his superiors [in 2001], they buried the information and continued the illegal practice."
Shareholder rejection of executive compensation plan
At Citi's 2012 annual shareholders' meeting on April 17, Citi's executive compensation package was rejected, with approximately 55% of the votes being against approval. One of the largest and most activist of the shareholders voting no, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, stated Citi "has not anchored rewards to performance".
Accusations of futures market manipulation
In January 2017, bank regulators fined Citigroup $25 million on account of five traders from the bank having manipulated U.S. Treasury futures more than 2,500 times between July 2011 and December 2012. Citigroup was criticized for failing to adequately supervise its traders and for not having systems in place to detect spoofing, which involves entering fake orders designed to fool others into thinking prices are poised to rise or fall.
Alleged money laundering by Raul Salinas
In 1998, the General Accounting Office issued a report critical of Citibank's handling of funds received from Raul Salinas de Gortari, brother of Carlos Salinas, the former president of Mexico. The report, titled "Raul Salinas, Citibank and Alleged Money Laundering", indicated that Citibank facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars through complex financial transactions that hid the funds' paper trail. The report indicated that Citibank took on Salinas as a client without making a thorough inquiry as to how he made his fortune, an omission that a Citibank official called a violation of the bank's "know your customer" policy.
Failure to establish effective risk management
In 2020, Citigroup agreed to pay $400 million (~$ in ) to federal regulators over long-standing concerns regarding Citigroup's failure to establish effective risk management. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said that Citi had engaged in "unsafe and unsound banking practices." According to them, Citi had failed to correct problems that had been known for years.
The bank has also been accused of failing to control the flow of dark money through its accounts. In 2017, prosecutors claimed drug smugglers were using Citigroup's Banamex USA unit to sneak dirty money into the United States from Mexico. The company agreed to pay more than $97 million to settle the allegations. In 2018, the O.C.C again indicted Citi for shortcomings in its anti-money laundering policies, Citi was required to pay $70M (~$ in ).
In June 2024, agents from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, citing recent investigations into the Sinaloa Cartel, said money launderers continually found ways to take advantage of Citibank's lax controls and oversight policies.
Anti-Armenian discrimination
In 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Citigroup to pay $24.5 million in fines and $1.4 million in restitution to Armenian Americans, alleging that the bank had illegally discriminated against members of the ethnic group and had unjustly denied them credit cards for which they had applied in a period beginning in 2015 and ending in 2021. According to the CFPB, Citigroup employees used the presence of -ian or -yan in applicant surnames as an indicator that a customer should undergo enhanced screening processes, while also deciding to avoid making mention of this screening method in emails. (The suffixes -ian and -yan are frequently found in Armenian surnames.)
Lobbying
Between 1998 and 2014, Citigroup spent nearly $100 million lobbying the federal government. As of 2008, Citigroup was the 16th largest political campaign contributor in the US, out of all organizations, according to OpenSecrets. From 1989 to 2006, members of the firm donated over $23,033,490, 49% of which went to Democrats and 51% of which went to Republicans.
Matthew Vadum, a senior editor at the conservative Capital Research Center, acknowledged these figures, but pointed out that Citigroup had been "a longtime donor to left-wing pressure groups", and referred to a Capital Research Center Foundation Watch 2006 study of Fortune 100 foundation giving, where Citigroup's foundation gave "20 times more money to groups on the left than to groups on the right" during the tax year 2003.
In 2014 Citigroup's PAC contributed $804,000 (~$ in ) to campaigns of various members of Congress, i.e. 162 members of the House, including 72 Democrats, where donations averaged about $5,000 per candidate. Of the 57 Democrats supporting the 2015 Spending bill, 34 had received campaign cash from Citigroup's PAC at some point since 2010. Citigroup's 2014 donations favored Republicans only slightly. The bank's PAC had been nearly as generous to Democrats as Republicans – $30,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (the maximum) and $10,000 to the 'New Democrat Coalition', a group of moderate Democrats most of whom voted for the 2015 spending package. Citibank's PAC made donations to both the campaigns and the leadership PACs of many top Democrats who voted for the 2015 spending bill, including Steny Hoyer (Md.) House Democratic Whip and Representatives Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida.).
Public and governmental relations
In 2009, former chairman Richard Parsons hired long-time Washington, D.C. lobbyist Richard F. Hohlt to advise him and the company about relations with the U.S. government, though not to lobby for the company. While some speculated anonymously that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would have been a particular focus of Hohlt's attention, Hohlt said he'd had no contact with the government insurance corporation. Some former regulators found room to criticize Hohlt's involvement with Citigroup, because of his earlier involvement with the financial services industry during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. Hohlt responded that though mistakes were made in the earlier episode he'd never been investigated by any government agency and his experience gave him a reason to be back in the "operating room" as parties address the more recent crisis.
In 2010, the company named Edward Skyler, formerly in New York City government and at Bloomberg L.P., to its senior public and governmental relations position. Before Skyler was named and before he began his job search, the company reportedly held discussions with three other individuals to fill the position: NY Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "political guru ... [who] spearheaded ... his short-lived flirtation with a presidential run ..., who will soon leave City Hall for a position at the mayor's company, Bloomberg L.P. ... After Mr. Bloomberg's improbable victory in the 2001 mayor's race, both Mr. Skyler and Mr. Sheekey followed him from his company to City Hall. Since then, they have been a part of an enormously influential coterie of advisers"; Howard Wolfson, the former communications director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and Mr. Bloomberg's re-election bid; and Gary Ginsberg, now at Time Warner and formerly at News Corporation.
On March 21, 2018, it was announced that Citigroup changed its policy to forbid its business customers from performing certain firearm-related transactions. The policy doesn't affect clients who offer credit cards backed by Citigroup or borrow money, use banking services, or raise capital through the company.
Notable staff
Current
Jane Fraser is a Scottish-American banking executive. She was appointed CEO in March 2021 and was formerly president of Citi, and chief executive officer, Global Consumer Banking. Educated at Girton College, Cambridge, and Harvard Business School, she was a partner at McKinsey & Company for 10 years before joining Citigroup in 2004. She has been promoted numerous times and acceded to four CEO posts, the latest being CEO of Citigroup Latin America in April 2015. She was included on Fortune "Most Powerful Women in Business" list in 2014, 2015 and 2021, and has been called the "Number 1 Woman to Watch" for two consecutive years by American Banker.
Mark Mason is an American business executive, serving since 2019 as the chief financial officer (CFO) of Citigroup.
Edward Skyler is an American politician and businessperson. He was deputy mayor for operations for New York City, the youngest deputy mayor in New York City's history. In 2010, he was named executive vice president, Global Public Affairs at Citigroup.
Edward L. Morse has been the global head of commodities research since 2011.
Catherine L. Mann has been the chief economist since 2018.
Manuel Falcó has been the global head of investment banking since 2018
Former
Sanford I. Weill – was CEO from 1998 until October 1, 2003. He was also one of the 25 people that Time magazine blamed for the financial crisis.
Robert Rubin – was an advisor and from 1999 till 2009 served as a board member. Rubin received $126 million compensation from Citigroup between 1999 and 2009.
Charles Prince – was CEO from 2003 to November 2007. Prince was famously quoted as saying Citigroup was "still dancing" just as the financial crisis hit.
Vikram Pandit – was CEO from December 2007 to October 2012.
Willem Buiter – was the chief economist from 2010 until 2018.
Michael Corbat – was CEO from October 2012 to February 2021.
Karen Peetz – was Chief Administrative Officer from 2020 to 2023.
See also
Big Four banks
Further reading
Schull, Joseph, 100 Years of Banking in Canada: A History of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Illustrated by Brad Smith. Vancouver: Copp Clark, . ix, 222 p.; ill.; 24 cm.
|
Saravana Stores
|
[
"Superstores",
"Retail companies of India",
"Retailing in Chennai",
"Jewellery retailers of India",
"Retail companies established in 1969",
"Companies based in Chennai",
"1969 establishments in Tamil Nadu"
] | 696 | 8,804 |
Saravana Stores, founded in 1969, is a chain of retail stores in India. It is the largest family owned business retail chain in India. It is the first store to introduce Aadi Thallupadi sale concept.
Locations
Saravana Stores operates seven stores in Chennai, at T. Nagar, Purasawalkam, Porur, Padi, Sholinganallur, Pallavaram and Usman Road. The company has mega stores in Madurai, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore. The company is growing rapidly and has plans to open stores in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bengaluru. The company also operates the Saravana Selvarathinam Stores in Tirunelveli and Madurai.
Revenue
In 2023, the company reported an annual turnover of about ₹ 2495 crore (300 million US dollars).
Foray into 100% milk based ice cream
In 2004, Saravana Groups launched a new ice cream brand named , a 100% milk based ice-cream brand. The factory is located at Padappai, a suburb of Chennai en route Sriperumbudur and sold across Tamil Nadu. It has a capacity of 10,000-litres per day ice cream production and expected to expand to 30,000 litres per day.
Fire incident
On 2 September 2008, a fire inside the building led to the death of two of its employees and damages worth crores of rupees. Unauthorized construction and ignoring safety measures are believed to be the reason.
Super Saravana Stores: On March 1,2023 around 4.30 p.m. the flames were noticed in the Food Court on 9floor. The staff and the customers from all the floors were evacuated. No one was injured in the accident. Property worth 37 crore has been damaged in the major fire that broke out on Melur Main Road in Madurai city.
|
Economy of East Africa
|
[
"Economy of Africa",
"East Africa",
"Economy of Kenya",
"Economy of Tanzania",
"Economy of Ethiopia"
] | 2,329 | 17,360 |
The Economy of East Africa is characterized by diverse sectors, with agriculture playing a pivotal role, employing the majority of the population and contributing significantly to GDP. Key crops include coffee, tea, and horticultural products. East Africa is the fastest growing region in Africa. The region has also seen rapid growth in tourism with Tanzania and Kenya pioneering tourism due to safari parks. Nairobi and Addis Ababa are the main financial hubs in East Africa.. East Africa has a total GDP of $511.96 Billion contributing to around 18% of Africa's GDP. Kenya and Ethiopia lead in GDP contributing 25% and 22% respectively to regional GDP while Seychelles and Mauritius lead in Gdp per capita.
GDP
As of 2025, Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa with a nominal GDP of $131.67 billion, followed closely by Ethiopia at $117.46 billion. Seychelles leads in GDP per capita at $21,630, with Mauritius second at $12,330. At the bottom, South Sudan and Burundi have the lowest GDP per capita at $251 and $490 respectively, reflecting significant income disparities across the region. East Africa has a total GDP of $511 Billion at Nominal and $1.7 Trillion at PPP , Kenya and Ethiopia accounts for close to half of the GDP each contributing 25% and 23% respectively. .
Rank Country Nominal GDP (USD billion) GDP (PPP) (USD billion) GDP per Capita (nominal USD) GDP per Capita (PPP USD) East Africa 511.96 1,724.30 1,205.52 4,060.23 1 Kenya 131.67 401.97 2,470 7,530 2 Ethiopia 117.46 484.41 1,070 4,400 3 Tanzania 85.98 293.59 1,280 4,370 4 Uganda 64.28 187.11 1,340 3,900 5 Sudan 31.51 117.77 625 2,340 6 Madagascar 18.71 64.24 595 2,040 7 Mauritius 15.50 41.35 12,330 32,910 8 Rwanda 14.77 58.12 1,040 4,100 9 Somalia 12.99 32.50 766 1,920 10 Burundi 6.75 13.98 490 1,020 11 Djibouti 4.59 9.94 4,340 9,410 12 South Sudan 4.00 11.39 251 716 13 Seychelles 2.20 4.27 21,630 42,010 14 Comoros 1.55 3.66 1,700 4,020 15 Eritrea No data No data No data No data
Real GDP growth
East Africa is the fastest growing region in Africa. Rwanda, Ethiopia, Djibouti boast some of the fastest economic growth in the region.
+ East African Countries by Real GDP Growth No. Country and Flag Real GDP Growth (in billions USD) 1 Rwanda 6.9 2 Djibouti 6.5 3 Ethiopia 6.2 4 South Sudan 5.6 5 Uganda 5.6 6 Tanzania 5.5 7 Kenya 5.0 8 Mauritius 4.9 9 Burundi 4.3 10 Somalia 3.7 11 Comoros 3.5 12 Seychelles 3.2 13 Eritrea No data 14 Sudan -4.2
Government Debt
Nearly all East African countries have government debt to GDP percentage of more than 50%. Sudan has the highest (344%), 4 times larger than the following second country. This is due to the ongoing civil war.
+ Debt to GDP of Selected African Countries No. Country Debt to GDP (%) 1 Sudan 344.4 2 Mauritius 80.1 3 Kenya 69.9 4 Burundi 86.8 5 Rwanda 71.4 6 Seychelles 58.4 7 Djibouti 32.7 8 Madagascar 55.5 9 Uganda 51.4 10 South Sudan, Republic of 56.9 11 Tanzania 47.3 12 Comoros 34.9 13 Ethiopia 33.6 14 Eritrea no data 15 Somalia no data 15 East Africa 69.00
Current Account Balance
Djibouti and South Sudan have the highest account balance, while Kenya and Ethiopia have the least account balance.
+ Account Data for East African Countries # Country Account Balance 1 Djibouti 0.344 2 South Sudan, Republic of 0.259 3 Comoros -0.082 4 Seychelles -0.815 5 Mauritius -0.96 6 Burundi -0.539 7 Madagascar -1.046 8 Rwanda -1.443 9 Somalia -1.828 10 Tanzania -2.74 11 Sudan -3.125 12 Uganda -3.616 13 Kenya -5.584 14 Ethiopia -5.247 15 Eritrea no data
Oil and Gas in East Africa
East Africa untapped crude oil is seen as considerable and giant with Tanzania gas production with Norway's Equinor with exports of natural gas in sea basin regions, Mozambique with TotalEnergies in gas fields with pipeline towards southern Africa country's such as south Africa , Somaliland SL10/SL13 near Exploration /Production in Qishn fault regions with Genel Energy Somaliland estimates of crude around 30 Bn barrels with recent oil discovery in southern Somaliland, new oil installations such as refinery's planned in Berbera port regions . Uganda and major crude oil pipeline towards Tanzania ports with concession company TotalEnergies.
Economic hubs of East Africa
East Africa is home to several key economic hubs that significantly contribute to the region's overall economic landscape. Below are five major economic centres in East Africa:
Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi is the economic powerhouse of East Africa, serving as the region's primary financial center and hosting major corporations and banks. Its robust infrastructure and growing technology sector significantly contribute to economic activities and innovations across the region.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Addis Ababa plays a vital role in East Africa's economy as a hub for trade and commerce. Its central location and development initiatives make it a key player in fostering economic integration and facilitating investments within the region.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Dar es Salaam is crucial to East Africa's economy due to its status as the largest port city in Tanzania. It serves as a primary transit point for goods entering and leaving the region, supporting trade and boosting economic growth.
Kampala, Uganda
Kampala contributes to East Africa's economy through its vibrant market activities and diverse industries. Its growth in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries enhances regional trade and investment opportunities.
Mombasa, Kenya
Mombasa is essential to East Africa's economic landscape as a major port city facilitating maritime trade. Its economy is driven by shipping, tourism, and agriculture, significantly impacting trade flows within the East African community. It has the largest port in East Africa.
Berbera, Somaliland
Berbera is set to serve eastern Africa country's such as Ethiopia and Djibouti in Somaliland with major DP World redevelopment of Berbera port , and creation of Berbera Economic Zone (BEZ) New silk refinery construction of 30,000 barrel per day refinery opening in 2028 in Berbera , Berbera opened data centre By Wingu Africa linked to submarine cables of Africa and Asia that would serve the region
Population
Rank Country Population (millions) East Africa 424.68 1 Ethiopia 110.15 2 Tanzania 67.18 3 Kenya 53.35 4 Sudan 50.42 5 Uganda 48.02 6 Madagascar 31.44 7 Somalia 16.96 8 South Sudan 15.90 9 Rwanda 14.1610 Burundi 13.7711 Mauritius 1.2612 Djibouti 1.0613 Comoros 0.9114 Seychelles 0.1015 Eritrea no data
Inflation rate
Sudan has the worst inflation due to ongoing civil war, while South Sudan is due to decline in oil revenues due to factors such as currency depreciation. Although most countries in East Africa are recovering from inflation, Sudan and South Sudan are having hyperinflation.
+ Inflation Data Table No. Country Oct Inflation Data April Inflation Data 1 Sudan ▲ 200.1 145.5 2 South Sudan, Republic of ▲ 120.6 54.8 3 Ethiopia ▼ 23.9 25.6 4 Burundi ▼ 20 22 5 Madagascar ▼ 7.4 7.8 6 Kenya ▼ 5.1 6.6 7 Rwanda ▼ 4.9 5.8 8 Mauritius ▼ 3.5 4.9 9 Somalia ▲ 5 4.8 10 Tanzania ▼ 3.2 4 11 Uganda ▼ 3.5 3.8 12 Comoros ▲ 4 2 13 Djibouti ▼ 1.4 1.8 14 Seychelles ▲ 0.8 -0.2 15 Average ▲ 27.07 20.66
Inter-country trade unions in East Africa
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) - COMESA is primarily an economic organization that facilitates cooperation among member states, including initiatives that address labor and trade issues.
East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) - EATUC represents trade unions from East African countries, advocating for workers' rights and promoting regional cooperation.
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) - ITUC is a global organization that includes many member unions from East Africa and addresses cross-border labor issues.
See also
List of East African Community sub regions by Human Development Index
|
United Bank of India
|
[
"Defunct banks of India",
"Indian companies established in 1950",
"Banks established in 1950",
"Banks disestablished in 2020",
"Companies formerly listed on the National Stock Exchange of India",
"Companies formerly listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange",
"Banks based in Kolkata",
"Indian companies disestablished in 2020",
"1950 establishments in West Bengal"
] | 1,251 | 11,734 |
United Bank of India (UBI) was an Indian nationalized bank which provided financial and banking services. Established in 1950 and headquartered in Kolkata, the bank was nationalised by the government of India in 1969 becoming one of public sector banks in the country. The bank has been amalgamated with Punjab National Bank, along with Oriental Bank of Commerce, with effective from 1 April 2020.
UBI was the result of the merger in 1950 of four Bengal-based banks: Comilla Banking Corporation (founded by Narendra Chandra Dutta in 1914 in what is now Bangladesh), Bengal Central Bank (founded by J. C. Das in 1918), Comilla Union Bank (founded by Indu Bhusan Dutta in 1922) and Hooghly Bank (founded by D. N. Mukherjeee in 1932). All four had suffered runs in December 1938 after the failure of the Nath Bank. The Reserve Bank of India assisted the banks in amalgamating to form United Bank of India.
In 1961, UBI merged with Cuttack Bank (est. 6 June 1913) and Tezpur Industrial Bank (est. 6 June 1918, as the first commercial bank in Assam province). Four years later, in 1965, the government of Pakistan took over the bank's branches in Pakistan.
On 19 July 1969, the government of India nationalised UBI, along with 13 other major Indian commercial banks. At the time of nationalisation UBI had only 174 branches. In 1973, UBI acquired Hindustan Mercant
ile Bank (est. 1944). In 1976, UBI acquired Narang Bank of India, which had been established in 1943 in Narang, Gujarat.
Amalgamation
On 30 August 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that United Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce would be merged with Punjab National Bank. The proposed merger would make Punjab National Bank the second largest public sector bank in the country with assets of and 11,437 branches. MD and CEO of UBI, Ashok Kumar Pradhan, stated that the merged entity would begin functioning from 1 April 2020. The Union Cabinet approved the merger on 4 March 2020. Punjab National Bank announced that its board had approved the merger ratios the next day. Shareholders of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank will receive 1,150 shares and 121 shares of Punjab National Bank, respectively, for every 1,000 shares they hold. The merger came into effect since 1 April 2020. Post merger, Punjab National Bank has become the second largest public sector bank in India
On 30 March 2009, the Indian government approved the restructuring of United Bank of India. The government proposed to invest 2.5 billion rupees in shares by 31 March and another 5.50 billion in the next fiscal year in Tier-I capital instruments. The move is part of the Indian government's program to improve the capital base of the state-owned banks. UBI gets SEBI approval for Rs 1,000 crore equity issue via QIP On 22 November 2017, United Bank of India (UBI) said it has received SEBI's approval for issue of equity shares worth Rs 1,000 crore by way of institutional placement.
On 1 April 2020, the bank along with Oriental Bank of Commerce has been merged with Punjab National Bank, making it as the second largest public sector bank in India.
Controversy over Non-performing Assets (NPAs)
In February 2014, an RBI-appointed forensic audit by Deloitte found serious lapses in the Non-performing asset detection system of the bank. It is yet to be established whether this oversight on the part of the bank was deliberate or unintentional.
The bank has reported a loss of ₹1,238 crore during Q3 of the 2013-14 fiscal year, resulting in a downgrade of its tier-II bonds by ICRA, an associate of Moody's Investor Service. United Bank of India's reported NPA of 10.82% is the highest in percentage among listed banks in India.
Delivery channel based products
ATM with cash recycler at many branches
Varieties of debit card like platinum and moments card
Internet banking
Mobile banking
Prepaid card
SMS banking
United E passbook application
United wallet for utilities payment
United credit card
United UPI Bhim application
See also
United Bank of India (1866-1874)
|
Noor Bank
|
[
"Banks established in 2008",
"Islamic banks of the United Arab Emirates",
"Defunct banks of the United Arab Emirates"
] | 1,045 | 9,518 |
Noor Bank (formerly Noor Islamic Bank) was established in January 2008, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In 2018, the bank was ranked the 11th largest bank in the UAE in terms of asset size.
Noor Bank is a full-service Shari’a-compliant bank, offering a range of products and services - in corporate and personal banking, wealth management, Takaful (Islamic insurance), treasury and trading. It has presence across the country, at multiple locations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Al Ain.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum opened Noor Bank to the public on January 7, 2008. The bank's products and services are governed by a Shari’a Board, composed primarily of Islamic scholars from the fields of law and finance. Noor Bank is a subsidiary of Noor Investment Group LLC and a sister company of Noor Takaful.
In May 2008, the bank launched the first 24-hour, seven-days-a-week branch in the UAE. In November 2008, the bank opened a 24/7 branch at the Dubai Airport. In February 2009, the bank was ranked in the top ten mandated lead arrangers list by Bloomberg. That year, Noor Bank posted a net profit of US$139 million for the period ended December 31, 2008. After reporting an operating loss of US$2.5 million in the first half of 2010, the bank realized an operating profit of US$56.4 million by the second quarter of 2011. Noor Bank partnered with Emaar Properties in 2013 to provide mortgages to non-UAE residents.
In 2013, Noor Bank launched Noor Trade, a division of the bank directed at servicing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Noor Trade is composed of two divisions, Business Banking and Emerging Corporates.
On 7 January 2014, the bank dropped 'Islamic' from its name, becoming 'Noor Bank' as part of a rebranding effort. That same year, the bank reported that its income had tripled.
As of 2016, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the bank's chairman, and the board of directors includes Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
Dubai Islamic Bank officially acquired Noor Islamic Bank under the name Dubai Islamic Bank in December 2019.
|
Tate George
|
[
"1968 births",
"Living people",
"20th-century African-American sportsmen",
"20th-century American sportsmen",
"21st-century African-American sportsmen",
"American businesspeople convicted of crimes",
"American men's basketball players",
"American businesspeople in real estate",
"American white-collar criminals",
"Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey",
"Connecticut Pride players",
"Fort Wayne Fury players",
"Milwaukee Bucks players",
"New Jersey Nets draft picks",
"New Jersey Nets players",
"Point guards",
"Quad City Thunder players",
"Rockford Lightning players",
"UConn Huskies men's basketball players",
"Union Catholic Regional High School alumni"
] | 1,210 | 9,817 |
Tate Claude George (born May 29, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the 22nd overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft from the University of Connecticut. A and guard, he played a total of four years in the NBA for the Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 4.2 points per game in his career.
College career and prior NBA
George is best remembered for his miraculous buzzer-beating shot to defeat Clemson in the Sweet Sixteen of the 1990 NCAA Tournament. With only one second left in the game and UConn down by 1 point, Scott Burrell threw a full court pass to George. George caught the pass, spun around and released a 15-footer with 1 second on the clock. The shot fell through as time expired, and UConn won the game.
George was a member of the CBA-champion Quad City Thunder in 1993–94, with George averaging 16.4 per game. The Thunder defeated the Omaha Racers 4–1 in the finals, winning last three on road to claim the title. The Thunder won the opener in double overtime after George tied the game with last-second buckets at both the end of regulation and of the first overtime. The Thunder then lost the second game in triple overtime, but won three straight in Omaha, the last in OT.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| align="left" | 1990–91
| align="left" | New Jersey
| 56 || 11 || 10.6 || .415 || .000 || .800 || 0.8 || 1.9 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 3.4
|-
| align="left" | 1991–92
| align="left" | New Jersey
| 70 || 2 || 14.8 || .427 || .167 || .821 || 1.5 || 2.3 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 6.0
|-
| align="left" | 1992–93
| align="left" | New Jersey
| 48 || 1 || 7.9 || .378 || .000 || .833 || 0.6 || 1.2 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 2.5
|-
| align="left" | 1994–95
| align="left" | Milwaukee
| 3 || 0 || 2.7 || .333 || .000 || 1.000 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 177 || 14 || 11.4 || .414 || .071 || .820 || 1.0 || 1.8 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4.2
|}
|-
| align="left" | 1991–92
| align="left" | New Jersey
| 4 || 0 || 11.0 || .304 || .000 || .333 || 0.0 || 2.0 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 3.8
|-
| align="left" | 1992–93
| align="left" | New Jersey
| 2 || 0 || 11.0 || .286 || .000 || .000 || 1.5 || 3.0 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 2.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 6 || 0 || 11.0 || .300 || .000 || .333 || 0.5 || 2.3 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 3.2
|}
Ponzi scheme
George founded The George Group, a real estate development firm based in West Orange, New Jersey.
On September 23, 2011, George surrendered to authorities on fraud charges related to his alleged operation of a Ponzi scheme while CEO of The George Group.
On September 30, 2013, George was found guilty on four counts of federal wire fraud. Each count carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His bail was immediately revoked, and was scheduled to be sentenced January 16, 2014. On January 21, 2016, in New Jersey federal court, George was sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement in the aforementioned Ponzi scheme. Upon his release he is ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution. He will also be on three years of supervised release after serving his sentence.
In September 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a 2019 Tax Court decision that George was liable for unpaid taxes on his NBA pension payment for 2013. George had argued that his incarceration should excuse his failure to file a return or to pay tax beyond the amount withheld from his pension payment. He was released from prison in 2021.
|
5 lats coin
|
[
"Silver coins",
"Five-base-unit coins",
"Economic history of Latvia",
"National symbols of Latvia"
] | 960 | 8,346 |
The 5 lats coin was a Latvian lat coin minted in 1929, 1931 and 1932. It became a popular symbol of independence during the Soviet occupation of Latvia. It was reproduced in several modern commemorative coins of Latvia and is used on the national sides of the Latvian 1 and 2 euro coins. The reverse design was featured on the Ls 500 banknote and in watermarks of all lats banknotes.
In February 1929, the Latvian Ministry of Finance decided to issue a ℒ︁𝓈 5 circulation coin depicting the head of a maiden, which would symbolize the Republic of Latvia and freedom. The coin was designed by Rihards Zariņš. The image of the maiden on the coin is colloquially known as Milda (a Latvian female name). The model was Zelma Brauere (1900-1977), a proofreader of the State Securities Printing House. She served as a model for other works of the artist, including the ℒ︁𝓈 10 and ℒ︁𝓈 20 banknotes and the 50s coin.
In 1939, the Latvian government prepared to mint new ℒ︁𝓈 5 coins to be issued in 1941. The Latvian maiden was to be replaced by a portrait of the authoritarian leader of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis. Those coins were never minted as the Second World War broke out.
After the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, lats continued to circulate alongside the Soviet ruble, although silver coins had largely disappeared from circulation. (Even prior to the war, Latvian people had started to hoard silver coins to prepare for the imminent crisis.) On 25 March 1941, all denominations of lats were abruptly annulled. As the general society was given no prior warning, an estimated 50 million lats were never exchanged for rubles. The people were left with suddenly-worthless coins and bills, except for sentimental value and the silver content in the coins. The Soviet authorities, however, did have ℒ︁𝓈 5 coins worth around ℒ︁𝓈 3.6 million after the lat was removed from circulation. In 1960, Soviet authorities reportedly sold silver lats coins to foreign numismatists for 28 DEM around the same time the Soviet Bank started purchasing gold and silver coins of historical currencies. The ℒ︁𝓈 5 coin could be sold for 60 kopeks.
Modern usage
The image of the maiden featured on the reverse of the coin was used in the design of the modern Ls 500 banknote. It is also used as a watermark for all lats banknotes.
Commemorative
The Bank of Latvia has issued two collector coins featuring the imagery of the ℒ︁𝓈 5 coin. The first was struck in 2003 as part of the international series The Smallest Gold Coins of the World. The second was struck in 2012 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the bank. The Bank of Latvia worked with the British Royal Mint, which minted the original coins, to recreate the coin using electrotypes used in minting the original coins.
Latvian Euro coins
In 2004, after a nationwide idea contest, the design was selected for the national side of Latvian Euro coins, and approved as a design for both the 1 and 2 Euro coins issued by Latvia. The edge of the 2 Euro coin features an inscription similar to the one on the edge of the 5 lats coin.
See also
|
Tongwei Company
|
[
"1992 establishments in China",
"2004 initial public offerings",
"Companies based in Chengdu",
"Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange",
"Solar energy companies of China",
"Companies in the CSI 100 Index",
"1992 in Chengdu"
] | 920 | 9,039 |
Tongwei Company (Tongwei; ) is a publicly listed Chinese energy and agricultural company headquartered in Chengdu.
The company is engaged in photovoltaics (PV) manufacturing as well as in the agriculture and animal husbandry business of selling livestock feed. It is the largest producer of high-purity polysilicon and solar cells in the world.
In 1992, Liu Hanyuan founded the company originally as Tongwei Feed Co., Ltd, an aquatic feed company. His success in the field rewarded him with political appointments where he became a member of the China Democratic National Construction Association and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
On 16 February 2004, Tongwei held its initial public offering becoming a listed company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Although the company achieved success in the feed business, the profit margins shrank as competition increased and forced the company to increase its scale to stay competitive.
Liu saw the opportunities when the Chinese government was cracking down on pollution and was looking into clean energy. In 2006, Tongwei entered into the PV industry and in 2007 acquired a factory producing polyvinyl chloride, a raw material for polysilicon production. It encountered a lot of challenges during its early period into the industry as it had little experience and also was in a difficult economy due to the 2008 financial crisis. In addition at the time most Chinese PV companies were not competitive in the global market and relied on government subsidiaries.
Tongwei was a latecomer to the PV industry in China. Rather than compete directly with its leaders, Tongwei pursued a unique "aquatic fishing plus PV energy which combined its agriculture business with its energy business. PV power stations were placed over aquaculture ponds to generate electricity while farmers harvested at lower costs with higher efficiency. The model could be applied to China's rural areas which were seen as helping the government achieve its goal of Targeted Poverty Alleviation.
In 2013, Tongwei acquired LDK Solar Hi-Tech (Hefei) Co, a solar cell and module manufacturing unit from LDK Solar Co. The acquisition meant Tongwei could now manufacture solar cells and modules using its own polysilicon.
In 2019, Liu stepped down as Chairman of Tongwei although he still maintains significant control of the company. He was succeeded by his daughter, Liu Shuqi.
In August 2020, Tongwei's polysilicon-focused subsidiary, Yongxiang Co was forced to close its 20,000 tonne plant in Leshan due to a flood warning. This accounted for one quarter of Tongwei's annual polysilicon production capacity.
In June 2023, Maxeon Solar Technologies filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Tongwei concerning its shingled solar cell panel technology.
In August 2023, Tongwei made its debut on the Fortune Global 500 list where it was ranked 476th.
In December 2023, Tongwei stated it planned to invest $3.9 billion into a massive factory based in Ordos City in Inner Mongolia. The expansion plan came as the industry saw price wars and decreasing profitability.
See also
Solar power in China
Photovoltaics
Polycrystalline silicon
|
List of largest companies in Canada
|
[
"Lists of largest private companies by country",
"Lists of companies of Canada",
"Economy of Canada"
] | 1,719 | 13,751 |
This article lists the largest companies in Canada by their revenue, net profit, and total assets, according to notable business sources including Fortune, Forbes, and Wealth Awesome. These rankings highlight Canadian companies across various industries including banking, retail, and energy.
2024 Wealth Awesome List
Wealth Awesome published a list of the largest Canadian companies by revenue, based on data for the most recent fiscal year. Below is a selection of the top companies from the list.
RankTickerCompanyRevenue (CAD)(Last 12 months)IndustryExchange1BNBrookfield Corporation97,664,999,424Financial servicesTSX2ATDAlimentation Couche-Tard Inc.71,917,797,376Consumer Discretionary Distribution & RetailTSX3WNGeorge Weston Limited60,933,001,216Consumer staplesTSX4LLoblaw Companies Limited60,596,998,144Consumer staplesTSX5RYRoyal Bank of Canada56,507,998,208BankingTSX6CVECenovus Energy Inc.55,665,000,448EnergyTSX7TDToronto-Dominion Bank52,309,000,192BankingTSX8IMOImperial Oil Ltd51,819,999,232EnergyTSX9SUSuncor Energy Inc.50,967,998,464EnergyTSX10ENBEnbridge Inc.48,554,000,384EnergyTSX
2023 Fortune list
This list displays all Canadian companies in the Fortune Global 500, which ranks the world's largest companies by annual revenue. The figures below are given in millions of US dollars and are for the fiscal year 2022. Also listed are the headquarters location, net profit, number of employees worldwide and industry sector of each company.
RankFortune 500rankNameIndustryRevenue(USD millions)Profits(USD millions)EmployeesHeadquarters1117Brookfield Asset ManagementFinance92,7692,056202,500Toronto2214Alimentation Couche-TardRetail62,8102,683122,000Laval3270Royal Bank of CanadaBanking52,06212,26591,427Montreal4277Cenovus EnergyOil and Gas51,4064,9565,998Calgary5294Toronto-Dominion BankBanking48,70013,53594,945Toronto6327Suncor EnergyOil and Gas44,9286,97516,558Calgary7336George Weston LimitedRetail43,8381,396221,285Toronto8365EnbridgeOil and Gas40,9642,30812,050Calgary9392NutrienAgriculture37,8847,66024,700Saskatoon10394Magna InternationalAutomotive parts37,840592158,000Aurora11399Power Corporation of CanadaFinance37,4191,51037,300Montreal12415ScotiabankBanking36,3907,70190,979Toronto13433Bank of MontrealBanking34,73010,51346,722Montreal14471Canadian Natural ResourcesOil and Gas32,5038,40410,035Calgary
2019 Forbes list
This list is based on the Forbes Global 2000, which ranks the world's 2,000 largest publicly traded companies. The Forbes list takes into account a multitude of factors, including the revenue, net profit, total assets and market value of each company; each factor is given a weighted rank in terms of importance when considering the overall ranking. The location of each company's headquarters and its industry sector are also listed in the table below.The figures are in billions of US dollars and are for the year 2018. All 56 companies from Canada are listed.
RankForbes 2000 rankNameHeadquartersRevenue(billions US$)Profit(billions US$)Assets(billions US$)Value(billions US$)Industry141Royal Bank of CanadaMontreal46.39.61,040.3114.9Banking246Toronto-Dominion BankToronto42.58.71,007.0103.8Banking387ScotiabankToronto32.46.4787.567.1Banking4118Brookfield Asset ManagementToronto57.63.6256.346.0Finance5134Bank of MontrealMontreal26.24.6614.250.4Banking6166ManulifeToronto28.43.7517.836.2Insurance7174EnbridgeCalgary36.12.2122.275.3Oil and Gas8190Canadian Imperial Bank of CommerceToronto20.23.9486.036.8Banking9229Suncor EnergyCalgary29.72.565.652.6Oil and Gas10273Sun Life FinancialToronto23.42.0196.024.5Insurance11341Bell CanadaMontreal18.12.341.840.9Telecommunication12342Canadian Natural ResourcesCalgary16.22.053.937.6Oil and Gas13346TC EnergyCalgary10.32.972.443.2Oil and Gas14364Alimentation Couche-TardLaval59.72.022.233.7Retail15388Canadian National RailwayMontreal11.03.330.567.9Transportation16397Power Corporation of CanadaMontreal40.01.0326.711.4Finance17427Magna InternationalAurora40.82.325.918.3Automotive parts18501National Bank of CanadaMontreal8.41.7200.515.9Banking19566Rogers CommunicationsToronto11.61.623.426.6Telecommunication20623Teck ResourcesVancouver9.72.429.014.1Mining21625TelusVancouver10.91.224.222.4Telecommunication22674Husky EnergyCalgary17.11.126.610.9Oil and Gas23678NutrienSaskatoon19.60.045.532.3Agriculture24744George Weston LimitedToronto37.50.432.111.7Retail25766Fairfax FinancialToronto18.20.464.413.7Insurance26771Fortis Inc.St. John's6.50.939.916.1Utilities27828Canadian Pacific RailwayCalgary5.61.515.730.3Transportation28897Pembina PipelineCalgary5.81.019.519.0Oil and Gas29974CGI Inc.Montreal9.00.99.419.5IT services30985Cenovus EnergyCalgary16.1−2.226.312.4Oil and Gas311035Thomson ReutersToronto5.50.517.030.1Media321043Intact FinancialToronto8.00.520.211.6Insurance331056Onex CorporationToronto25.1−0.645.46.0Finance341072Restaurant Brands InternationalToronto5.40.620.117.1Restaurants351084Barrick GoldToronto7.3−1.622.623.2Mining361134EncanaCalgary5.51.115.310.8Oil and Gas371158Saputo Inc.Montreal10.00.67.413.3Food processing381191IA Financial GroupQuebec City8.10.545.84.2Insurance391275Waste ConnectionsVaughan4.90.512.623.3Waste management401292Bausch HealthLaval8.4−4.332.58.1Pharmaceuticals411310Bombardier Inc.Montreal16.20.225.05.0Aerospace and defense421317Metro Inc.Montreal12.20.58.09.4Retail431341EmeraHalifax4.90.623.78.9Utilities441365AlectraMississauga4.80.619.49.6Utilities451396Canadian TireToronto10.80.512.76.9Retail461480Lululemon AthleticaVancouver3.30.52.122.5Retail471578Air CanadaMontreal13.90.114.16.6Airline481586First Quantum MineralsToronto4.10.423.58.2Mining491717Empire CompanyStellarton19.00.37.16.0Conglomerate501738ShopifyOttawa1.1−0.12.324.4E-commerce511744Advanz PharmaMississauga0.51.51.80.8Pharmaceuticals521757Constellation SoftwareToronto3.10.42.918.7IT services531805Canadian UtilitiesCalgary3.40.516.07.6Utilities541940Laurentian Bank of CanadaMontreal1.40.234.41.3Banking551975GoldcorpVancouver3.0−4.217.09.4Mining561978CAPREITToronto0.50.97.95.5Real estate
See also
List of companies of Canada
List of largest public companies in Canada by profit
List of largest companies by revenue
List of the largest trading partners of Canada
Canda
*
|
Cournot competition
|
[
"Economics models",
"Eponyms in economics",
"Non-cooperative games",
"Competition (economics)",
"Oligopoly"
] | 3,511 | 28,633 |
Cournot competition is an economic model used to describe an industry structure in which companies compete on the amount of output they will produce, which they decide on independently of each other and at the same time. It is named after Antoine Augustin Cournot (1801–1877) who was inspired by observing competition in a spring water duopoly. It has the following features:
There is more than one firm and all firms produce a homogeneous product, i.e., there is no product differentiation;
Firms do not cooperate, i.e., there is no collusion;
Firms have market power, i.e., each firm's output decision affects the good's price;
The number of firms is fixed;
Firms compete in quantities rather than prices; and
The firms are economically rational and act strategically, usually seeking to maximize profit given their competitors' decisions.
An essential assumption of this model is the "not conjecture" that each firm aims to maximize profits, based on the expectation that its own output decision will not have an effect on the decisions of its rivals.
Price is a commonly known decreasing function of total output. All firms know , the total number of firms in the market, and take the output of the others as given. The market price is set at a level such that demand equals the total quantity produced by all firms.
Each firm takes the quantity set by its competitors as a given, evaluates its residual demand, and then behaves as a monopoly.
Antoine Augustin Cournot (1801–1877) first outlined his theory of competition in his 1838 volume Recherches sur les Principes Mathématiques de la Théorie des Richesses as a way of describing the competition with a market for spring water dominated by two suppliers (a duopoly). The model was one of a number that Cournot set out "explicitly and with mathematical precision" in the volume. Specifically, Cournot constructed profit functions for each firm, and then used partial differentiation to construct a function representing a firm's best response for given (exogenous) output levels of the other firm(s) in the market. He then showed that a stable equilibrium occurs where these functions intersect (i.e., the simultaneous solution of the best response functions of each firm).
The consequence of this is that in equilibrium, each firm's expectations of how other firms will act are shown to be correct; when all is revealed, no firm wants to change its output decision. This idea of stability was later taken up and built upon as a description of Nash equilibria, of which Cournot equilibria are a subset.
The legacy of the Recherches
Cournot's economic theory was little noticed until Léon Walras credited him as a forerunner. This led to an unsympathetic review of Cournot's book by Joseph Bertrand which in turn received heavy criticism. Irving Fisher found Cournot's treatment of oligopoly "brilliant and suggestive, but not free from serious objections". He arranged for a translation to be made by Nathaniel Bacon in 1897.
Reactions to this aspect of Cournot's theory have ranged from searing condemnation to half-hearted endorsement. It has received sympathy in recent years as a contribution to game theory rather than economics. James W. Friedman explains:
In current language and interpretation, Cournot postulated a particular game to represent an oligopolistic market...
The maths in Cournot's book is elementary and the presentation not difficult to follow. The account below follows Cournot's words and diagrams closely. The diagrams were presumably included as an oversized plate in the original edition, and are missing from some modern reprints.
Cournot's conceptual framework
Cournot's discussion of oligopoly draws on two theoretical advances made in earlier pages of his book. Both have passed (with some adjustment) into microeconomic theory, particularly within subfield of Industrial Organization where Cournot's assumptions can be relaxed to study various Market Structures and Industries, for example, the Stackelberg Competition model. Cournot's discussion of monopoly influenced later writers such as Edward Chamberlin and Joan Robinson during the 1930s revival of interest in imperfect competition.
The 'Law of Demand' or 'of Sales'
Cournot was wary of psychological notions of demand, defining it simply as the amount sold of a particular good (helped along by the fact that the French word débit, meaning 'sales quantity', has the same initial letter as demande, meaning 'demand' ). He formalised it mathematically as follows:
We will regard the sales quantity or annual demand , for any commodity, to be a function of its price.
It follows that his demand curves do some of the work of modern supply curves, since producers who are able to limit the amount sold have an influence on Cournot's demand curve.
Cournot remarks that the demand curve will usually be a decreasing function of price, and that the total value of the good sold is , which will generally increase to a maximum and then decline towards 0. The condition for a maximum is that the derivative of , i.e., , should be 0 (where is the derivative of ).
Cournot's duopoly theory
Monopoly and duopoly
Cournot insists that each duopolist seeks independently to maximize profits, and this restriction is essential, since Cournot tells us that if they came to an understanding between each other so as each to obtain the maximum possible revenue, then completely different results would be obtained, indistinguishable from the consumer's point of view from those entailed by monopoly.
Cournot's price model
Cournot presents a mathematically correct analysis of the equilibrium condition corresponding to a certain logically consistent model of duopolist behaviour. However his model is not stated and is not particularly natural (Shapiro remarked that observed practice constituted a "natural objection to the Cournot quantity model"), and "his words and the mathematics do not quite match".
His model can be grasped more easily if we slightly embellish it. Suppose that there are two owners of mineral water springs, each able to produce unlimited quantities at zero price. Suppose that instead of selling water to the public they offer it to a middle man. Each proprietor notifies the middle man of the quantity he or she intends to produce. The middle man finds the market-clearing price, which is determined by the demand function and the aggregate supply. He or she sells the water at this price, passing the proceeds back to the proprietors.
The consumer demand for mineral water at price is denoted by ; the inverse of is written and the market-clearing price is given by , where and is the amount supplied by proprietor .
Each proprietor is assumed to know the amount being supplied by his or her rival, and to adjust his or her own supply in the light of it to maximize his or her profits. The position of equilibrium is one in which neither proprietor is inclined to adjust the quantity supplied.
It needs mental contortions to imagine the same market behaviour arising without a middle man.
Interpretative difficulties
A feature of Cournot's model is that a single price applies to both proprietors. He justified this assumption by saying that "dès lors le prix est nécessairement le même pour l'un et l'autre propriétaire". de Bornier expands on this by saying that "the obvious conclusion that only a single price can exist at a given moment" follows from "an essential assumption concerning his model, [namely] product homogeneity".
Later on Cournot writes that a proprietor can adjust his supply "en modifiant correctement le prix". Again, this is nonsense: it is impossible for a single price to be simultaneously under the control of two suppliers. If there is a single price, then it must be determined by the market as a consequence of the proprietors' decisions on matters under their individual control.
Cournot's account threw his English translator (Nathaniel Bacon) so completely off-balance that his words were corrected to "properly adjusting his price". Edgeworth regarded equality of price in Cournot as "a particular condition, not... abstractly necessary in cases of imperfect competition". Jean Magnan de Bornier says that in Cournot's theory "each owner will use price as a variable to control quantity" without saying how one price can govern two quantities. A. J. Nichol claimed that Cournot's theory makes no sense unless "prices are directly determined by buyers". Shapiro, perhaps in despair, remarked that "the actual process of price formation in Cournot's theory is somewhat mysterious".
Collusion
Cournot's duopolists are not true profit-maximizers. Either supplier could increase his or her profits by cutting out the middle man and cornering the market by marginally undercutting his or her rival; thus the middle man can be seen as a mechanism for restricting competition.
Finding the Cournot duopoly equilibrium
Example 1
Cournot's model of competition is typically presented for the case of a duopoly market structure; the following example provides a straightforward analysis of the Cournot model for the case of Duopoly. Therefore, suppose we have a market consisting of only two firms which we will call firm 1 and firm 2. For simplicity, we assume each firm faces the same marginal cost. That is, for a given firm 's output quantity, denoted where , firm 's cost of producing units of output is given by , where is the marginal cost.
This assumption tells us that both firms face the same cost-per-unit produced. Therefore, as each firm's profit is equal to its revenues minus costs, where revenue equals the number of units produced multiplied by the market price, we can denote the profit functions for firm 1 and firm 2 as follows:
In the above profit functions we have price as a function of total output which we denote as and for two firms we must have . For example's sake, let us assume that price (inverse demand function) is linear and of the form . So, the inverse demand function can then be rewritten as .
Now, substituting our equation for price in place of we can write each firm's profit function as:
As firms are assumed to be profit-maximizers, the first-order conditions (F.O.C.s) for each firm are:
The F.O.C.s state that firm is producing at the profit-maximizing level of output when the marginal cost () is equal to the marginal revenue (). Intuitively, this suggests that firms will produce up to the point where it remains profitable to do so, as any further production past this point will mean that , and therefore production beyond this point results in the firm losing money for each additional unit produced. Notice that at the profit-maximizing quantity where , we must have which is why we set the above equations equal to zero.
Now that we have two equations describing the states at which each firm is producing at the profit-maximizing quantity, we can simply solve this system of equations to obtain each firm's optimal level of output, for firms 1 and 2 respectively. So, we obtain:
These functions describe each firm's optimal (profit-maximizing) quantity of output given the price firms face in the market, , the marginal cost, , and output quantity of rival firms. The functions can be thought of as describing a firm's "Best Response" to the other firm's level of output.
We can now find a Cournot-Nash Equilibrium using our "Best Response" functions above for the output quantity of firms 1 and 2. Recall that both firms face the same cost-per-unit () and price (). Therefore, using this symmetrical relationship between firms we find the equilibrium quantity by fixing . We can be sure this setup gives us the equilibrium levels as neither firm has an incentive to change their level of output as doing so will harm the firm at the benefit of their rival. Now substituting in for and solving we obtain the symmetric (same for each firm) output quantity in Equilibrium as
.
This equilibrium value describes the optimal level of output for firms 1 and 2, where each firm is producing an output quantity of . So, at equilibrium, the total market output will be .
Example 2
The revenues accruing to the two proprietors are and , i.e., and . The first proprietor maximizes profit by optimizing over the parameter under his control, giving the condition that the partial derivative of his profit with respect to should be 0, and the mirror-image reasoning applies to his or her rival. We thus get the equations:
and
.
The equlibirum position is found by solving these two equations simultaneously. This is most easily done by adding and subtracting them, turning them into:
and
, where .
Thus, we see that the two proprietors supply equal quantities, and that the total quantity sold is the root of a single nonlinear equation in .
Cournot goes further than this simple solution, investigating the stability of the equilibrium. Each of his original equations defines a relation between and which may be drawn on a graph. If the first proprietor was providing quantity , then the second proprietor would adopt quantity from the red curve to maximize his or her revenue. But then, by similar reasoning, the first proprietor will adjust his supply to to give him or her the maximum return as shown by the blue curve when is equal to . This will lead to the second proprietor adapting to the supply value , and so forth until equilibrium is reached at the point of intersection , whose coordinates are .
Since proprietors move towards the equilibrium position it follows that the equilibrium is stable, but Cournot remarks that if the red and blue curves were interchanged then this would cease to be true. He adds that it is easy to see that the corresponding diagram would be inadmissible since, for instance, it is necessarily the case that . To verify this, notice that when is 0, the two equations reduce to:
and
.
The first of these corresponds to the quantity sold when the price is zero (which is the maximum quantity the public is willing to consume), while the second states that the derivative of with respect to is 0, but is the monetary value of an aggregate sales quantity , and the turning point of this value is a maximum. Evidently, the sales quantity which maximizes monetary value is reached before the maximum possible sales quantity (which corresponds to a value of 0). So, the root of the first equation is necessarily greater than the root of the second equation.
Comparison with monopoly
We have seen that Cournot's system reduces to the equation . is functionally related to via in one direction and in the other. If we re-express this equation in terms of , it tells us that , which can be compared with the equation obtained earlier for monopoly.
If we plot another variable against , then we may draw a curve of the function . The monopoly price is the for which this curve intersects the line , while the duopoly price is given by the intersection of the curve with the steeper line . Regardless of the shape of the curve, its intersection with occurs to the left of (i.e., at a lower price than) its intersection with . Hence, prices are lower under duopoly than under monopoly, and quantities sold are accordingly higher.
Extension to oligopoly
When there are proprietors, the price equation becomes . The price can be read from the diagram from the intersection of with the curve. Hence, the price diminishes indefinitely as the number of proprietors increases. With an infinite number of proprietors, the price becomes zero; or more generally, if we allow for costs of production, the price becomes the marginal cost.
Bertrand's critique
The French mathematician Joseph Bertrand, when reviewing Walras's Théorie Mathématique de la Richesse Sociale, was drawn to Cournot's book by Walras's high praise of it. Bertrand was critical of Cournot's reasoning and assumptions, Bertrand claimed that "removing the symbols would reduce the book to just a few pages". His summary of Cournot's theory of duopoly has remained influential:
Cournot assumes that one of the proprietors will reduce his price to attract buyers to him, and that the other will in turn reduce his price even more to attract buyers back to him. They will only stop undercutting each other in this way, when either proprietor, even if the other abandoned the struggle, has nothing more to gain from reducing his price. One major objection to this is that there is no solution under this assumption, in that there is no limit to the downward movement... If Cournot's formulation conceals this obvious result, it is because he most inadvertently introduces as D and D' the two proprietors' respective outputs, and by considering them as independent variables, he assumes that should either proprietor change his output then the other proprietor's output could remain constant. It quite obviously could not.
Pareto was unimpressed by Bertrand's critique, concluding from it that Bertrand 'wrote his article without consulting the books he criticised'.
Irving Fisher outlined a model of duopoly similar to the one Bertrand had accused Cournot of analysing incorrectly:
A more natural hypothesis, and one often tacitly adopted, is that each [producer] assumes his rival's price will remain fixed, while his own price is adjusted. Under this hypothesis each would undersell the other as long as any profit remained, so that the final result would be identical with the result of unlimited competition.
Fisher seemed to regard Bertrand as having been the first to present this model, and it has since entered the literature as Bertrand competition.
See also
Aggregative game
Bertrand competition
Bertrand–Edgeworth model
Conjectural variation
Game theory
Hotelling's linear city model
Nash equilibrium
Stackelberg competition
Tacit collusion
Further reading
Holt, Charles. Games and Strategic Behavior (PDF version),
Tirole, Jean. The Theory of Industrial Organization, MIT Press, 1988.
, Chapter 6 of by Huw Dixon.
Shumpeter, Joseph, History of Economic Analysis (1954). Discusses Cournot at length.
|
Levi Strauss
|
[
"1829 births",
"1902 deaths",
"19th-century American businesspeople",
"19th-century American inventors",
"American people of German-Jewish descent",
"American manufacturing businesspeople",
"American retail company founders",
"Businesspeople from San Francisco",
"Businesspeople from New York City",
"German Jews",
"Emigrants from Bavaria to the United States",
"People from Bamberg (district)",
"People of the California Gold Rush",
"Brand founders",
"Jeans",
"Manufacturing company founders",
"Levi Strauss & Co. people",
"Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery (Colma, California)",
"Jews from California",
"Jews from New York (state)",
"19th-century American Jews"
] | 1,348 | 13,769 |
Levi Strauss ( ; born Löb Strauß, ; February 26, 1829 – September 26, 1902) was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.
Early life
Levi Strauss was born to a Jewish family in Buttenheim on February 26, 1829, in the Franconia region of the Kingdom of Bavaria in the German Confederation. He was the son of Hirsch Strauss and Hirsch’s second wife, Rebecca Strauss (née Haas).
In 1847, aged 18, Strauss travelled with his mother and two sisters to the United States to join his brothers Jonas and Louis, who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in New York City called J. Strauss Brother & Co., at 108 Liberty Street in Manhattan. After arriving in New York, Strauss worked as an itinerant peddler of goods from his brother's store: kettles, blankets and sewing goods.
Business career
Levi's sister Fanny and her husband David Stern moved to St. Louis, Missouri, while Levi went to live in Louisville, Kentucky, and sold his brothers' supplies there. Levi became an American citizen in January 1853.
The family decided to open a West Coast branch of their dry goods business in San Francisco, which was the commercial hub of the California gold rush. Levi was chosen to represent them, and he took steamships for San Francisco via Panama, where he arrived in early March 1854 and joined his sister's family.
Strauss opened his wholesale business as Levi Strauss & Co. and imported fine dry goods from his brothers in New York, including clothing, bedding, combs, purses, and handkerchiefs. He made tents and later jeans while he lived with Fanny's growing family. Tailor Jacob W. Davis of Reno, Nevada, was one of his customers; in 1871, having invented a way to strengthen work pants using rivets, he went into business with Strauss to mass produce them. The next year, Davis asked Strauss to help him apply for a patent, and the patent (one-half assigned to Levi Strauss & Co.) was issued in 1873.
Death
Levi Strauss was never married, and died on September 26, 1902 in San Francisco. His estate was worth about $30 million (equivalent to $ in ). Levi's nephew Sigmund Stern's only child, Elise Fanny Stern, married Walter A. Haas, the son of Abraham Haas, whose descendants are the current owners of Levi Strauss & Co.
Dramatizations
In 1960, the anthology series television series Death Valley Days broadcast "The Million Dollar Pants", in which Strauss travels to San Francisco and establishes his business. The episode featured a likely fictional romantic interest, Yvonne Benet. In addition, the episode portrayed a likely fictional character, Patrick Mahoney, that was substituted for Jacob W. Davis.
Legacy
Levi Strauss, a member of the Reform branch of Judaism, helped establish Congregation Emanu-El, the first Jewish synagogue in the city of San Francisco. He also gave money to several charities, including special funds for orphans. The Levi Strauss Foundation started with an 1897 donation to the University of California, Berkeley, that provided the funds for 28 scholarships.
The Levi Strauss museum in Buttenheim, Germany is located in the 1687 house where Strauss was born. There is also a visitors center at Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in San Francisco, which features historical exhibits.
In 1994, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
|
Fred Hirsch (economist)
|
[
"1978 deaths",
"Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United Kingdom",
"1931 births",
"20th-century British economists",
"Writers from Vienna",
"Jewish economists",
"Austrian Jews",
"British Jews",
"Alumni of the London School of Economics",
"Academics of the University of Warwick",
"British financial writers",
"20th-century British male writers",
"British male journalists",
"20th-century British journalists",
"The Economist people",
"Deaths from motor neuron disease in England",
"Financial Times people"
] | 859 | 6,818 |
Fred Hirsch (6 July 1931 – 10 January 1978) was an Austrian-born British economist and professor of international studies at the University of Warwick.
Biography
He was born in Vienna. In 1934, after the Austrian Civil War, his family emigrated to Britain. Hirsch graduated with first class honours from the London School of Economics in 1952 before working as a financial journalist on The Banker and The Economist (financial editor, 1963–1966). He was a senior adviser to the International Monetary Fund, from 1966 to 1972 where he worked on international monetary problems.
Afterwards he spent two years as a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, from 1972 to 1974, where he started working on his book The Social Limits to Growth (RKP, 1977), having previously written The Pound Sterling: A Polemic (V Gollancz, 1965), Money International (Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 1967), and Newspaper Money: Fleet Street and the search for the affluent reader (with David Gordon) (Hutchinson, 1975) . In 1975 he joined the University of Warwick as Professor of International Studies. A year later he developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis leading to his death on 10 January 1978.
Limits to Growth
Hirsch's most influential book concerned the inherent limits to growth, including both the concept of positional goods and what he called the 'commercialisation effect'.
Positional goods
The concept of positional goods helps explain why, as Hirsch told the New York Times, material growth can "no longer deliver what has long been promised for it - to make everyone middle-class". Positional goods are those that derive their value specifically from their scarcity - cannot be distributed more widely as the doing so would undermine their construction of high status value.
Hirsch's concept helps explains why, as economic growth improves overall quality of life at any particular level, doing "better" than how your grandparents lived does not translate automatically into doing "well", if there are as many or more people ahead of you in the economic hierarchy. For example, if you are the first in your family to get a college degree, you are doing better. But if you were at the bottom of your class at a weak school, you may find yourself less eligible for a job than your grandfather, who was only a high school graduate. "The value to me of my education - the satisfaction I derive from it - depends upon how much education the man ahead of me in the job line has."
Commercialization effect
Hirsch also highlighted the danger that the quality of a product/service was diminished as a result of supplying it commercially (something perhaps most obvious in the case of sex); market exchange – as for example with gift giving – diminishes the inherent value of the transaction by subordinating social well-being to the commodification impulse.
Michael J. Sandel has recently echoed Hirsch in challenging the belief that the commercialization process does not affect the product in question, highlighting the importance of what Hirsch called "the effect on the characteristics of a product or activity of supplying it exclusively or predominantly on commercial terms rather than on some other basis – such as informal exchange, mutual obligation, altruism or love, or feelings of service or obligation"
See also
Further reading
Williamson, J. "In Memoriam Fred Hirsch 1931 - 1978", Journal of International Economics 8 (1978), pp 579–580.
|
Benedict of York
|
[
"1189 deaths",
"12th-century English Jews",
"12th-century English people",
"Antisemitism in England",
"Economy of medieval England",
"English bankers",
"Medieval bankers",
"People from York",
"Year of birth unknown",
"Christian antisemitism in the Middle Ages",
"12th-century businesspeople"
] | 511 | 5,199 |
Benedict of York (died 1189) was a moneylender and a leading member of the 12th-century Jewish community in York, England. Benedict was considered the second-greatest moneylender in York after Josce of York. Benedict acquired several lands as a result of his activities, and debts to him were still being honoured a decade after his death.
Benedict attended the coronation of King Richard I along with Josce of York and was forcibly baptised as "William" during the subsequent attacks on the Jewry of London at Richard's coronation. Benedict was severely wounded in the attack and accepted a Christian baptism from a monk from York, Prior William of St. Mary's Abbey. Benedict recanted his Christian faith the next day when summoned before King Richard. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin of Forde, said of Benedict's recantation that "...if he will not be a Christian, let him be the devil's man". Benedict later appealed to King Richard to allow him to return to his Jewish faith, though this was against canon law.
He died in Northampton soon after his forced baptism. The chronicler Roger of Hoveden said that Benedict was buried in neither the Jewish nor Christian cemetery in Northampton following his death as a result of his recantation. Benedict's house at Spen Lane was described by William of Newbury as like "unto a royal palace in size and strength". Benedict's children and his widow were burned alive in his house during the Easter York riot in 1190.
|
Central Depository of Armenia
|
[
"Central securities depositories",
"Business organizations based in Armenia",
"Organizations established in 1996",
"Economy of Armenia"
] | 874 | 9,839 |
The Central Depository of Armenia (CDA) () is the Central Depository of Armenia, established in 1996. The CDA is one of the oldest securities market institutions in the country and is headquartered in Yerevan. The Central Bank of Armenia is the regulatory body of the CDA. The CDA is a full member of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges.
The Central Depository of Armenia was founded on 1 October 1996, it was originally called the "National Centralized Register" and was renamed to the Central Depository of Armenia in April 1999. In August 2000, the CDA became a full member of the , which includes 20 member organizations from CIS member states.
In November 2007, the Swedish exchange operator OMX and the Central Bank of Armenia concluded an agreement acquiring shares of the CDA and the Armenia Stock Exchange. In 2008, the American Nasdaq, Inc. acquired the CDA. In January 2008, negotiations were finalized and the CDA was fully owned by Nasdaq, Inc. OMX Group.
In June 2009, the CDA became a partner member of the (ANNA). In 2014, the CDA became a full member of ANNA.
In 2009, the Armenia Stock Exchange acquired full ownership of the CDA.
In December 2010, the CDA joined the SWIFT international system. In 2011, the CDA signed a cooperation agreement with the National Settlement Depository of Russia. Also in 2011, the CDA organized a joint conference between the European Central Securities Depositories Association and the International Association of Exchanges of CIS countries. It was the first joint event of the two regional stock exchanges and depositaries associations and was held in Yerevan.
In July 2016, Clearstream opened a direct link to the Armenian market, with Armenia becoming the 56th domestic market link. The company stated that this expansion was an important milestone for the Caucasus region.
In 2016, the CDA signed a cooperation agreement with the Central Depository of Belarus. In 2019, the CDA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Central Depository of Kyrgyzstan.
In 2019, the Armenia Stock Exchange and the Central depository of Armenia achieved ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification. In 2022, the Armenia Stock Exchange and the Central Depository of Armenia successfully completed the ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 recertification.
In September 2020, the International Conference of the Association of Eurasian Central Securities Depositories was held in Yerevan.
In June 2021, the Central Depository of Armenia launched the "CDA Online application", making depository services available to investors online. In August 2021, via the CDA Online application, the first shareholders' meeting and e-voting of Acba Bank took place.
In December 2021, the CDA signed a memorandum of cooperation with the .
Services
The CDA offers shareholders with register keeping services to joint stock companies, in addition to securities account opening and maintenance services to both corporate and individual clients. The CDA's primary objective is to be an efficient clearing and settlement house through the implementation of international best practices within the Armenian market and to provide cross-border financial services, acting as a gateway among regional economies.
Leadership
Vahan Stepanyan has been the Chief Executive Officer of the CDA since April 2006.
See also
Economy of Armenia
Government of Armenia
List of banks in Armenia
List of companies of Armenia
National numbering agency
Open joint-stock company
|
India Kawasaki Motors
|
[
"Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies",
"Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Pune",
"Motorcycle manufacturers of India",
"Retail companies of India",
"Indian companies established in 2010",
"2010 establishments in Maharashtra",
"Retail companies established in 2010"
] | 485 | 3,245 |
India Kawasaki Motors Private Limited (IKM) is an Indian motorcycle retailer. It was established in May 2010 in Pune, Maharashtra, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Kawasaki Motors Ltd.. for imports and sales of motorcycles. Kawasaki made a technical assistance agreement with Bajaj Auto Ltd. in 1984, and cooperated to expand production and sales of motorcycles in India. In November 2016 India Kawasaki Motors decided to break ties with Bajaj Auto Ltd. for sales and service from April 2017 and sell its motorcycles through its own network.
India Kawasaki Motors currently sells the Ninja 300, Ninja 400, Ninja 650, Ninja 1000, Z650, Z650 RS, Z900, ZH2, ZH2 SE, Versys 650, Versys 1000, Vulcan S, Ninja ZX-10R, Ninja H2, Ninja H2R and Ninja H2 Carbon are sold through Kawasaki exclusive dealerships. In the past, Kawasaki manufactured commuter bikes such as KB100, 4S Champion, KB125, Boxer, Aspire, Caliber, Wind and Eliminator jointly with Indian partner Bajaj Auto Ltd. IKM’s annual capacity currently stands at 2,500-3,000 units.
Vehicles
Sports Bikes
Ninja H2R
Ninja H2
Ninja H2 CARBON
Ninja ZX-14R
Ninja ZX-10RR
Ninja ZX-10R
Ninja ZX-6R
Ninja 1000
Ninja 1100SX
Ninja H2 SX
Ninja H2 SX SE
Ninja 650
Ninja 300
Ninja 500
Ninja ZX-4R
Ninja ZX-4RR
ZH2
ZH2 SE
Z900
Z650
Versys 1000
Versys 1100
Versys 650
Versys X-300
Cruiser Bike
Vulcan S
Eliminator 500
W175
Dirt Bikes
KLX 110
KLX 140
KX 65
KX 85
KLX 230
KLX 450R
KX 100
KX 250
KX 450F
Discontinued
Motorcycles/Sports Bikes
Kawasaki Ninja 250R
Kawasaki ER-6N 650
Kawasaki Z800
Kawasaki KB100
Kawasaki Boxer
Kawasaki Caliber
Kawasaki Caliber 115
Kawasaki Caliber Croma
Kawasaki Aspire
Kawasaki Wind 125
Kawasaki 4S Champion
Kawasaki Z250
Kawasaki KZ440
Kawasaki Ninja 400
|
Dennis Uy
|
[
"People from Davao City",
"Filipino business executives",
"Filipino company founders",
"Udenna Corporation",
"Duterte administration personnel",
"Filipino sports executives and administrators",
"1973 births",
"Living people",
"Filipino politicians of Chinese descent",
"De La Salle University alumni",
"People named in the Pandora Papers"
] | 1,691 | 15,239 |
Dennis Ang Uy (; born September 26, 1973) is a Filipino businessman, government official, and diplomat. Uy is the founder of Udenna Corporation, which has stakes in various businesses including Phoenix Petroleum.
Early life and education
Dennis Ang Uy was born and raised in Davao City to an ethnic Chinese family based in Davao, which is part of the Uys' third generation. Uy's grandparents, Ega Uy and Tao Sui Eng were ethnic Chinese who settled in Davao as merchants. They had a store which sold fishing equipment and bread while his parents ran a small business which sold copra.
He is the eldest among siblings. According to his own account, Dennis played basketball as a childhood hobby while at the same time sold school supplies and basketball cards to his classmates.
In 1993, Uy studied in De La Salle University in Manila to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Business Management degree and started to trade in the stock market. Since he had an average academic performance by his own account he decided against being a lawyer and described himself to be poor in memorization to consider pursuing a career in law.
Career
Business career
After finishing his tertiary education, Dennis Uy helped ran his family's business and interacted with older businessmen. His family's business was based in Tagum, and was involved in mining, supermarkets, car dealership among other industries. Uy worked with his family for ten years and at one point ran seven firms simultaneously. He decided to start his own business to gain independence as he felt that he did not have the freedom he aspired for himself working for his family.
He started his own business using income he gained from trading stocks while he was still in college and set up Dencio's Kamayan, a barbecue store (which shares the same name but unrelated to a Manila-based restaurant chain). He started his business portfolio independently without the aid of his family members. The barbeque chain grew to at least eight outlets before handing over the business to his sister when he decided to focus on participating in the petroleum industry. He also operated two community newspapers which served Davao City but both became defunct.
In 2002, he along his wife founded Udenna Corporation, a holdings company that would later manage his business interests in various industries. Within the same year, Phoenix Petroleum then known as the Oilink Mindanao Distribution Company was established. In 2004, the company was renamed as Davao Oil Terminal Services Corp. (DOTSCO) As part of this business, Uy set up a six million-barrel oil terminal serving businesses in the Davao region. Phoenix Petroleum adopted its name in 2006 and was listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2007 and became the first Davao City-based company to join the stock market.
He founded Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLHC) which is involved in the shipping and logistics industry, and a passenger ferry company.
In 2016, Uy's Udenna Corporation had various acquisitions. Udenna secured permission from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to develop a casino resort in Mactan, Cebu. It also entered the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry and acquired Enderun Colleges.
In November 2017, Udenna took over the development of the former Global Gateway Logistics City at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga which was later relaunched as Clark Global City. And in 2018, a consortium between Udenna's Mislatel (now called as Dito Telecommunity) and China Telecom won the government-sanctioned bidding that would allow the consortium to become the third major telecommunications provider in the Philippines challenging the duopoly of PLDT and Globe Telecom.
In 2018, he bought 70% of ownership of Conti's Bakeshop and Restaurant.
Forbes estimated Uy's 2020 net worth at $650 million, ranking him as the Philippines' 22nd-richest.
Dennis Uy's Udenna Corporation bought 100 million common shares of Atok-Big Wedge Co. Inc., where Uy is a director and vice chairman. Atok-Big Wedge Co, Inc. a listed corporation in PSE, has 20% ownership of United Kingdom-based Forum Energy Ltd. which has the right of oil exploration in SC72 in the South China Sea. Forum Energy Ltd. has an ongoing talks with China for joint oil exploration after President Duterte– a close friend of Dennis Uy– lifted the moratorium on oil exploration.
In September 2024, Uy sold Conti's Bakeshop & Restaurant and Wendy's Philippines, with his Eight8Ate Holdings Inc., to entrepreneur Crystal Jacinto.
International business connections
Uy has been the honorary consul to Kazakhstan since November 2011. and is tasked to develop the bilateral ties of the Philippines with the Central Asian nation.
Government Service career
Uy was appointed in 2016 as the Presidential Adviser on Sports Development by then President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Involvement in sports
Uy through his company Phoenix Petroleum, owns a franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team known as the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters joined the PBA in 2016 as the Phoenix Fuel Masters after buying the Barako Bull Energy franchise. He is also the team's board governor. On July 18, 2016, Uy was appointed by then-President of the Philippines and ally Rodrigo Duterte as the presidential adviser for sports.
Personal life
Dennis Uy is married to Cherylyn Chiong who is a graduate of La Salle Academy, Iligan in high school and Business and Finance from the Ateneo de Davao University with whom he has three children; two daughters and a son. He is also a close friend of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and was a major donor to Duterte's presidential campaign in 2016.
Controversies
Graft complaint against Uy and his complaints against ABS-CBN
In 2021, a graft complaint was filed before the Ombudsman against Uy, Alfonso Cusi and several others over the sale of Chevron's investment in the Malampaya project to Udenna Corporation, wherein the anomalies allegedly resulted in losses to the government. Uy later filed cyberlibel complaints against ABS-CBN Corporation, whose news organization had reported on a complaint against him, claiming that the latter's articles were libelous. The Davao City Office of the Prosecutor, in its resolution dated May 5, 2022, dismissed these complaints for lack of probable cause, saying that the articles were not defamatory.
Phoenix Petroleum smuggling case
On April 24, 2013, the Department of Justice charged Uy for alleged illegal importation of petroleum products. The charges were dismissed in 2021.
|
Jack Liangjie Xu
|
[
"Living people",
"Businesspeople from Guangdong",
"Businesspeople in information technology",
"Chinese chief technology officers",
"Chinese computer scientists",
"Chinese software engineers",
"Chinese venture capitalists",
"Cisco people",
"eBay employees",
"Engineers from Guangdong",
"NetEase people",
"Sina Corp people",
"Sun Yat-sen University alumni",
"University of California, Berkeley School of Information alumni",
"Year of birth missing (living people)"
] | 509 | 4,639 |
Jack Liangjie Xu (), more commonly known as Jack Xu in English, is a Chinese software engineer, technology executive, and venture capitalist. He is the former Co-President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SINA Corporation, the operator of Sina Weibo, the most influential social network in China.
He formerly worked as the Corporate Vice President for Cisco's Unified Communications business unit, Vice President of Engineering & Research at eBay, and CTO at NetEase.
Early life and education
Xu was born in Guangdong province of China. His father died when he was in his sophomore year of high school. He took the national college entrance examination a year early, and was accepted by Sun Yat-Sen University. After graduating with his B.A. and M.A., Xu went to the United States to pursue a PhD at the University of California Berkeley School of Information, where he was a member of Berkeley's Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) Competition team.
Career
He began his career with Excite in 1996. In 1998, he began leading the development of the Excite search engine. From 2000 to 2002, Xu served as Chief Technology Officer at NetEase in Beijing, helping William Ding to promote the NetEase listed.
In October 2002, Xu returned to Silicon Valley. He was appointed as eBay's Vice President of Engineering & Research and oversaw eBay search, listings and research labs. In 2006, Xu was inducted as an eBay Fellow.
In May 2008 CEO John Chambers recruited him as Cisco's corporate vice president.
In 2013, Xu was named to the position of chief technology officer and co-president of Sina Corporation.
In March 2015, Jack Xu and Jeff Xiong (former CTO of Tencent) launched their venture capital firm, Seven Seas Venture Partners, to invest in early-stage start-ups.
|
CARIFORUM–United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement
|
[
"2019 in Antigua and Barbuda",
"2019 in the Bahamas",
"2019 in Barbados",
"2019 in Belize",
"2019 in Dominica",
"2019 in the Dominican Republic",
"2019 in Grenada",
"2019 in Guyana",
"2019 in Jamaica",
"2019 in Saint Kitts and Nevis",
"2019 in Saint Lucia",
"2019 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines",
"2019 in Suriname",
"2019 in Trinidad and Tobago",
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"2021 in the Bahamas",
"2021 in Barbados",
"2021 in Belize",
"2021 in Dominica",
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"2021 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines",
"2021 in Suriname",
"2021 in Trinidad and Tobago",
"2021 in the United Kingdom",
"Economy of the Bahamas",
"Economy of Barbados",
"Economy of Belize",
"Economy of Dominica",
"Economy of the Dominican Republic",
"Economy of Grenada",
"Economy of Guyana",
"Economy of Jamaica",
"Economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis",
"Economy of Saint Lucia",
"Economy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines",
"Economy of Suriname",
"Economy of Trinidad and Tobago",
"Economy of the United Kingdom",
"Free trade agreements",
"Free trade agreements of the United Kingdom",
"Treaties concluded in 2019",
"Treaties entered into force in 2021",
"Treaties entered into force in 2022",
"Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda",
"Treaties of the Bahamas",
"Treaties of Barbados",
"Treaties of Belize",
"Treaties of Dominica",
"Treaties of the Dominican Republic",
"Treaties of Grenada",
"Treaties of Guyana",
"Treaties of Jamaica",
"Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis",
"Treaties of Saint Lucia",
"Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines",
"Treaties of Suriname",
"Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago",
"Treaties of the United Kingdom"
] | 1,325 | 12,981 |
The CARIFORUM–United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement is a plurilateral free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, designed to promote trade, investment, and sustainable development. It largely replicates the existing European Union–CARIFORUM States Economic Partnership Agreement framework, maintaining preferential trade access, with the CARIFORUM. The agreement is part of the UK's strategy to maintain and enhance trade relationships with developing countries following its departure from the European Union.
Backgrounds
From 29 December 2008 until 30 December 2020, trade between the CARIFORUM states and the UK was governed by the CARIFORUM–European Union Economic Partnership Agreement, while the United Kingdom was a member of the European Union.
Following Brexit, the UK sought to replicate and adapt existing EU trade agreements with third countries to ensure continuity in trade. The UK and the CARIFORUM states signed the CARIFORUM–United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement on 22 March 2019. The signing ceremony for the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement took place on 22 March 2019, in Castries, Saint Lucia. At this event, the United Kingdom and nine CARIFORUM countries formally signed the agreement. The ceremony marked a significant step in ensuring continuity of trade relations between the UK and the Caribbean following Brexit and was widely welcomed by businesses and private sector associations in the region.
Members
The agreement covers the following countries:
Suriname signed the agreement on 4 March 2021 and the agreement was provisionally applied to cover the country the following day. Haiti is also eligible to join the CARIFORUM–United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement if it signs the agreement and brings it into effect.
Economic impact
The CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) has significant economic implications for both the UK and CARIFORUM States. By granting immediate duty-free and quota-free access for CARIFORUM exports to the UK, the EPA helps preserve and potentially expand market opportunities for Caribbean producers, supporting export-led growth and regional integration. In return, CARIFORUM States commit to a gradual liberalization of tariffs on UK goods, though sensitive sectors are protected to safeguard local industries and government revenues. The agreement also covers trade in services, intellectual property, and government procurement, providing a comprehensive framework for economic cooperation.
See also
Antigua and Barbuda–United Kingdom relations
Bahamas–United Kingdom relations
Barbados–United Kingdom relations
Belize–United Kingdom relations
Economic Partnership Agreements
Foreign relations of Antigua and Barbuda
Foreign relations of the Bahamas
Foreign relations of Belize
Foreign relations of Dominica
Foreign relations of the Dominican Republic
Foreign relations of Grenada
Foreign relations of Guyana
Foreign relations of Jamaica
Foreign relations of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Foreign relations of Saint Lucia
Foreign relations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Foreign relations of Suriname
Foreign relations of Trinidad and Tobago
Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
Free trade agreements of the United Kingdom
Grenada–United Kingdom relations
Jamaica–United Kingdom relations
Saint Kitts and Nevis–United Kingdom relations
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines–United Kingdom relations
Trinidad and Tobago–United Kingdom relations
|
General Instrument
|
[
"General Instrument",
"Private equity portfolio companies",
"Defunct semiconductor companies of the United States",
"Defunct computer companies of the United States",
"Defunct computer hardware companies",
"Defunct electronics companies of the United States",
"Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq",
"1993 initial public offerings",
"1997 mergers and acquisitions",
"Electronics companies established in 1939",
"Electronics companies disestablished in 1997"
] | 2,167 | 16,959 |
General Instrument (GI) was an American electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, Pennsylvania, specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. They formed in New York City in 1923 as an electronics manufacturer. During the 1950s, the company began a series of acquisitions under the direction of Moses Shapiro. Among the more notable purchases was General Transistor in 1960, which led to GI becoming a major producer of transistors, and later, integrated circuits (ICs). By the late 1960s, the company was mostly depending on sales into the television industry, which was further bolstered by the 1967 purchase of Jerrold Electronics.
The company changed markets continually. Through the 1970s they focused mostly on the off-track betting market through their purchase of American Totalisator, but this market faced significant competition in the late 1970s. At this time, GI became well known for their ICs including the CP1600 used in the Mattel Intellivision game console, the AY-3-8910 series of sound chips that were used in a huge variety of designs, and the PIC microcontrollers which remain in production . They also became increasingly active in the cable television field, emerging as the primary supplier in this market by the late 1980s. They sold off their IC division to form Microchip Technology in 1987, leaving them almost entirely dependent on the television market.
GI became a major leader in the development of high definition television. As this market began to saturate, the company split into three parts in 1997; CommScope took the cable infrastructure products, NextLevel the consumer television side, and General Semiconductor the power electronics products. NextLevel took over the GI name the next year. This new GI was purchased by Motorola in 2000, which was in turn purchased by Google who spun out the television side to ARRIS. ARRIS was then purchased by CommScope in 2018, once again bringing together all of GI's original television divisions. General Semiconductor continues to operate separately.
Moses Shapiro, father of former Monsanto head Robert B. Shapiro, was chairman from 1969 to 1975. Frank G. Hickey served as chief executive officer from 1975 to 1990, as did Donald Rumsfeld from 1990 to 1993.
Shapiro era
The company initially formed in New York City in 1923 as an electronics manufacturer.
In the 1950s, the company president Moses Shapiro began buying a variety of electronics companies, mostly from the New York area. An early purchase was F. W. Sickles Company, a radio manufacturer, which was fully merged in 1951. In April 1957 they added Radio Receptor Company, in 1959 Harris Transducer, and among their more notable purchases, closed General Transistor in 1960. Most of these were left to operate as wholly owned but independent divisions. The buying continued through the 1960s, added Signalite in 1966 and Universal Controls and American Totalisator in 1967. A more major purchase was Jerrold Electronics in December 1967, which became the company's consumer-facing brand for television-related products, mostly through their cable television products.
1970 saw a series of layoffs and downsizing as the poorly performing parts of the conglomerate began to drag down profits. As part of this, the company's interest in several cable television stations were sold off, mostly through their Jerrold division. As soon as the company's financials improved, the buying spree started anew, buying another five companies by 1975. This had turned them into a $500-million-a-year company, but left them deeply in debt.
Hickey era
Shapiro retired in 1975 and was replaced by Frank Hickey, who focused the company on its two most profitable markets, cable television and gaming. The gaming market was primarily through their purchase of American Totalisator, who ran racetrack systems. GI expanded this into off-track betting and by 1979 they supplied 90% of all the off-track systems in North America.
By 1980, Hickey had managed to sell off most of the poorly-performing divisions and company debt had been reduced from 100% of assets to 20%. The success with American Totalisator began to wane as other companies, notably Control Data and Datatrol, began to push down profits. But any losses in this market were overshadowed by the massive expansion of cable television, which quickly took over from the betting systems as the company's primary profit center. In October 1982 they won a $100 million contract to supply over 300 cable TV stations with head end systems.
Through the mid-1980s the company suffered a series of reversals. Looking for new markets, in 1986 they bought M/A-COM's cable division. M/A-COM had earlier purchased VideoCipher, who had developed the industry-standard system for scrambling and decoding satellite television signals, VideoCipher II. This product took some time to start to sell, but by 1987 they were seeing demand outstrip supply. By the end of the year they had total sales of $1.16 billion. This success was short-lived, and by 1990 they were once again operating at a loss.
Rumsfeld era
In August 1990, the company was purchased in a friendly leveraged buyout of $1.6 billion by the FLGI Holding. In October 1990, they announced that Hickey would be replaced by Donald Rumsfeld. He sold off several divisions to cut overhead. The company then began investing heavily in the emerging high definition television (HDTV) market. To continue operations they laid off large numbers of staff, mostly at the headquarters. In 1992 they demonstrated their HDTV system and won a contract for 100,000 compressors. This led Rumsfeld to launch an initial public offering in 1993, after which he left the company in August.
Breakup
The HDTV market stabilized the company for a time, but by the mid-90s other entrants were once again eroding the company's profits. In 1997 the company split into three parts, General Semiconductor (power electronics), CommScope (cable infrastructure) and NextLevel Systems (cable and satellite systems). NextLevel took over the GI name in February 1998.
The "new" GI Corporation was acquired by Motorola in January 2000 for $17 billion and became the new Broadband Communication Sector (BCS) along with an acquisition of Zenith Network Systems a few months later. After being called Connected Home Solutions, it was renamed Home and Networks Mobility in 2007. When Motorola split on January 4, 2011, this division became part of Motorola Mobility. On December 19, 2012, ARRIS announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility's Home unit (the former GI company) from Google for $2.35 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition was completed on April 17, 2013.
On November 8, 2018, CommScope announced that it would acquire ARRIS in a cash deal valued at $7.4 billion including the repayment of debt. This acquisition brings back together two of the former General Instrument companies from the 1997 split.
VideoCipher Division
General Instrument produced receivers for old C and Ku band satellites. They also produced Videocipher units as well as digital equipment. 4DTV was a system for picking up free and encrypted analog and digital satellite subscription channels. It also included an interactive guide. The product line included:
2700 Series: on screen displays, C/Ku switching, digital sound, satellite memory increases with the model number.
2600 Series: similar to 2400 except with on-screen displays.
2400/2500 Series: There were no on-screen displays: everything was controlled from the remote and front panel. Two alphanumeric displays indicated the current satellite and transponder. A GI 2000PS was needed to use a dish motor. Digital Stereo Audio was available on VideoCipher channels, C/Ku compatible. The 2400 was re-branded in the early 1990s by Rural Cable and sold with a fixed C band dish pointed at Galaxy 5.
350 Regular: simple receiver with a separate dish mover (some will have a stationary G5 satellite).
350i Super: extensive on-screen displays, 50 satellites (C or Ku with external switch), digital sound.
450i/550i/650i: extensive on-screen displays, C/Ku pre-programmed satellites, digital sound, extras.
4DTV: interactive program guide, two favorite lists, C/Ku band, many other features.
InfoCipher 1500P: an early satmodem used with one-way data services, such as X*Press X*Change.
American Totalisator Corporation/AmTote
American Totalisator was a division of General Instrument Corp. It manufactured tote boards for the horse racing industry. It is now owned by horse-track operator Magna Entertainment Corporation.
Underseas Lab (Harris ASW)
Underseas Lab, a division of General Instrument Corp., located in Westwood, Massachusetts. It invented and manufactured multibeam sonars used in ocean floor mapping. It was acquired by Channel Technologies and is now owned by L-3 Communications.
Jerrold
Jerrold was GI's original cable TV brand, active from 1948 into the early 1990s. Around 1993, GI dropped the Jerrold name from their product lines. The Jerrold brand was prominent on both addressable and non-addressable cable TV converter boxes that were used on non-cable ready sets and cable-ready sets with premium pay services. "Jerrold" is the middle name of the company's founder, Milton Jerrold Shapp, who became Pennsylvania's 40th governor in 1971. Shapp's given name was Milton Shapiro.
GI Microelectronics
GI Microelectronics was a manufacturer of LSI circuits and a pioneer in MOS technology and Electrically Alterable ROM (EAROM), with both off-the-shelf and custom circuits. GI spun the division off as Microchip Technology in 1987.
In 1980, their product catalog included:
16-bit Microprocessor: CP1600 and , a 16-bit CPU, used in the GIMINI TV-game set and in Mattel's Intellivision
8-bit Microcontroller: the PIC1650, an NMOS chip. The CMOS version of this chip is the basis of today's PIC microcontrollers.
ROM
EAROM
Telecommunications chips
Other products included the famous AY-3-8910/11/12/14 series of sound chips, the AY-3-85xx, 86xx, 87xx series of game chips and a single-chip speech synthesizer, the SP0256 Narrator. A version of the SP0256 appeared in Mattel's Intellivoice. The popular SP0256-AL2 variant came with a set of allophones built in.
In 1965, Frank Wanlass moved to General Instrument Microelectronics Division in New York. Wanlass and other GI engineers promoted four-phase logic throughout the industry. J. L. Seely, manager of MOS Operations at General Instrument Microelectronics Division, also wrote about four-phase logic in late 1967.
See also
GTE mainStreet
Morris Chang
|
Reynolds American
|
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"Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange",
"Companies based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina",
"Manufacturing companies of the United States",
"Tobacco companies of the United States",
"R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company",
"2017 mergers and acquisitions",
"British American Tobacco",
"American subsidiaries of foreign companies"
] | 1,693 | 18,725 |
Reynolds American, Inc. is an American tobacco company which is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco and is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. Its holdings include R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, American Snuff Company (formerly Conwood Company), Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, R. J. Reynolds Vapor Company, and Niconovum AB.
Reynolds American's subsidiaries manufacture and market a variety of tobacco products, including cigarettes (Newport, Camel, Pall Mall, Kent, Doral, Misty, Capri, and Natural American Spirit brands) and moist snuff (Grizzly and Kodiak brands) as well as vaporized electronic cigarettes (Vuse and Sensa brands).
In 2010, Reynolds American's operating companies sold about 28% of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. In July 2014, Reynolds American announced the purchase of Lorillard Tobacco Company in a deal valued at $27 billion. In January 2017, Reynolds American agreed to be purchased by British American Tobacco for $49.4 billion.
History
Reynolds American was formed in January 2004 and began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange as RAI in August 2004.
In July 2004, the U.S. business of British American Tobacco (Batus Inc. and Brown & Williamson) combined with that of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (R. J. Reynolds), under the "R. J. Reynolds" name. RJR and Brown & Williamson were the second and third-ranking U.S. tobacco companies prior to the combination. After combination, R. J. Reynolds became a subsidiary of Reynolds American, with BAT holding a 42% share of RAI. Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, which manufactures the additive-free Natural American Spirit brand of tobacco products, also became a subsidiary of Reynolds American at that time.
Prior to becoming RAI operating companies, both R. J. Reynolds and Santa Fe were part of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc., which traded on the New York Stock Exchange as RJR. RJR became a subsidiary of RAI in July 2004. R. J. Reynolds was established as a tobacco company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1875.
In 2006, Reynolds American expanded into the smokeless tobacco category, with the acquisition of Conwood, the second-biggest smokeless tobacco company in the United States. Conwood manufactures and markets moist and dry snuff, loose leaf, plug, and twist chewing tobaccos. At the time of the acquisition, 70% of Conwood's sales came from the growing moist-snuff segment, with the Grizzly brand showing the fastest growth. Grizzly's continued growth since 2006 has made it the best-selling brand in the moist-snuff category.
In 2008, RAI was recognized as a leader in corporate sustainability by being added to the membership in the 2008-2009 Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North American). RAI is the only U.S. tobacco company and one of 125 North American companies on the index. Selection for the Index is based on performance in a number of economic, environmental and social criteria.
The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2009 that Reynolds American intended to buy Sweden-based Niconovum AB, a maker of products such as nicotine gum, for $44.5 million.
The deal was completed in December.
Former Chairman, President and CEO of Reynolds Tobacco Daniel "Daan" Delen assumed the positions of President and CEO of Reynolds American on March 1, 2011, after former president, CEO, and chairwoman Susan Ivey announced she would retire as chairwoman November 1, 2010 and as President and CEO effective February 28, 2011.
Ivey, now known as Susan Cameron, returned as CEO in April 2014 after being elected by the board of directors.
In July 2014, Reynolds American, Inc. announced it would buy Lorillard Tobacco Company for roughly $25 billion a result of slowed sales. The deal is valued at $27.4 billion, including debt. Reynolds agreed to pay $68.88 in cash and stock for every Lorillard share and assume its debt. The deal also included the sale of the Kool, Winston, Salem, and blu brands to Imperial for $7.1 billion. The merger became official on June 12, 2015.
On September 15, 2016, the former speaker of the US House, John Boehner, joined the board of Reynolds American.
On October 21, 2016, British American Tobacco announced that it had offered to buy the remaining 57.8 percent of Reynolds American for $47 billion. In January 2017, Reynolds American agreed to a $49.4 billion deal, expected to close in the third quarter of the year after approval from both companies' boards of directors. The deal was completed July 25, 2017.
On February 25, 2020, Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the United States District for the Eastern District of Texas determined that Reynolds remained liable for its full portion of an annual $8 billion dollar settlement payment based on a settlement agreement that Reynolds reached with the State of Texas in 1998. Reynolds had previously claimed that its divestiture of several brands to Imperial had extinguished its obligation to make payments for those brands under the 1998 Settlement Agreement. Chief Judge Gilstrap disagreed in a 92-page memorandum opinion and order, finding that Reynolds' position was "oppressive, inequitable, and unreasonable" in addition to being contrary to governing law.
Reynolds American's vapor subsidiary introduced a second e-cigarette brand (alongside the existing Vuse) in July 2024 called Sensa, a zero nicotine disposable product.
|
Shirin Darasha
|
[
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"2012 deaths",
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] | 881 | 8,520 |
Shirin Framroze Darasha (27 December 1938 – 2 May 2012) headed the J.B. Petit High School For Girls as the School Principal for over three decades, from 1973 – 2007. A renowned Indian educator, playwright and feminist, she challenged many stereotypes and traditions in Indian society. She had strong views on the importance of "joy" during childhood. She was not in favour of the excessive work-load and homework fetish that continued to dominate the Indian educational scene. She took issue with the prevalent view that girls were at a disadvantage apropos of mathematics and sciences. Darasha maintained that in a nurturing environment where they were not set up to fail in comparison with boys, girls would flourish and blossom. Her creative use of drama in education was an extension of her enduring interest in the stage – as playwright, producer and director. Over the years, Darasha established herself as a distinct and passionate figure in the field of female education in India.
Early life and education
Shirin Darasha was born to a Parsi family and raised in Bombay, India.
On graduating (matriculation) from Queen Mary School, Bombay she attended St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, studying for a Bachelor's in Psychology. On completion, she studied further to earn her master's degree in psychology, also from Bombay University. To pursue further studies abroad, Shirin Darasha was awarded the Fulbright scholarship. She completed her master's degree in education from East-West Center, Hawaii.
Career as playwright
Darasha was a talented playwright who focused on themes and personalities associated with twentieth century Indian history. Her popular play "Madam Cama" was first staged in 1988. In 1990, during the Fifth World Zoroastrian Congress, a special performance of the play was included in the proceedings. The play was also televised on Doordarshan. In her plays, Darasha challenged social conventions that resulted in women being stereotyped. She was particularly caustic about matrimonial advertisements; she dealt head-on with the Indian preference for "light complexions" and made a characteristic case for how "dark skin" was beautiful. Darasha's collaborations with Pearl Padamsee in various stage productions in Mumbai were well known and widely admired.
Career as principal
After working, at Hindi Vidya Bhavan and The Bombay International School, Darasha was appointed as Principal of J.B. Petit School in 1972. She was also known for encouraging her students to be more open as her front door donned the sign "Please Do Disturb". She incorporated what she learned from the performing arts into her teachings and used the concepts of drama to instill confidence in her pupils.
Darasha was elated when her J.B. School Debate Team won the all-India Debate Competition hosted by the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; the prize was a trip for the whole debate team and for Darasha to visit the Dalai Lama at his ashram and have a private audience with him. This was particularly appropriate given Darasha's interest and identification with Buddhism.This was particularly appropriate given Darasha's interest and identification with Buddhism. In February 1988, Zoroastrian community magazine Parsiana ran an article entitled "The 'Principal' of Drama" which focused on her lifelong passion for the stage. In her interview, she declared that she did not consider herself religious, though she had Buddhist leanings.
At the age of 73, Shirin Darasha died of pulmonary fibrosis. She was cremated, and her funeral was attended by hundreds of students and teachers who had been taught, mentored and inspired by her over the decades.
|
Nancy Marion
|
[
"20th-century American economists",
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"American women economists",
"Dartmouth College faculty",
"Living people",
"Year of birth missing (living people)",
"20th-century American women",
"21st-century American women"
] | 358 | 3,293 |
Nancy Peregrim Marion is the George J. Records 1956 Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, where she conducts research in a "variety of topics in international macroeconomics, including financial crises in emerging markets, international reserve holdings in East Asia, international risk sharing, and policy volatility in developing countries."
Background and research
Marion's research focuses on International Macroeconomics and International Finance . Her research has been published in a number of top economic journals such as the Journal of International Economics. In addition to teaching undergraduate courses, she serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Review of International Economics, International Journal of Finance and Economics, and the International Economics and Economic Policy. In addition, she is a consultant for the International Monetary Fund.
Marion was the Chair of the Economics Department at Dartmouth College from 2000 to 2002. She was also the Associate Dean of Faculty for the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College from 2010 to 2015.
Education
Marion graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Oberlin College in 1971 with a B.A. in Economics and from Princeton University in 1972 with an M.P.A. in Public Policy. She graduated from Princeton University in 1977 with a Ph.D. in economics.
|
Byron Reed
|
[
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"Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska",
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"Burials at Prospect Hill Cemetery (North Omaha, Nebraska)",
"People from Darien, Wisconsin",
"19th-century American businesspeople"
] | 734 | 5,998 |
Byron Reed (March 12, 1829 – June 6, 1891) was an American pioneer real estate businessman and local politician in Omaha, Nebraska. He founded the first real estate office in the Nebraska Territory and became the foremost agent after Nebraska achieved statehood.
Biography
Reed was born in Darien, Genesee County, New York. While he was attending the Alexander Classical School, Reed's family moved to Darien, Wisconsin. At the age of 20 he took a job as a telegraph operator, working in Warren, Ohio until 1855. He also served at the Register of Deeds for Trumbull County during this time.
Reed came to Omaha in late 1855, the year the city was founded. By the early 1860s he had accumulated a variety of land holdings across the city. As Omaha became an important gateway to the West and its economy boomed, Reed became very rich and assumed a prominent position in the business and political affairs of both the city and the state. In a time when correspondents were frequently targeted, Reed was working as a correspondent of the New York Tribune and traveling throughout southern Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri to cover the Border Ruffians battles.
In March 1856 he opened an office in the old State House building in Downtown Omaha and established a real estate business. Within three years the business was incorporated, and Reed's business was regarded as successful. That year he acquired the land surrounding the Prospect Hill Cemetery, and ten years later he donated it to the City of Omaha. Reed was instrumental in the formation of the Forest Lawn Cemetery Association and brokered the turn over of Prospect Hill to it in 1885.
Throughout the rest of his life Reed was a surveyor, abstractor and land developer, creating many of the subdivisions that grew around downtown Omaha.
The company he founded in 1856 is still active in Omaha today.
Political involvement
In 1860 he was elected City Clerk in Omaha, serving until 1867. From 1861 to 1863 he served as deputy County Clerk of Douglas County, and in 1863 he was elected to a two-year term as County Clerk. Starting in 1871 he served on the Omaha City Council, acting as president in 1872.
Byron Reed Collection
Byron Reed found time to collect rare books, manuscripts, autographs and American coins, in which last field he was preeminent; according to numismatists, "Byron Reed was one of the greatest collectors of the 19th century," with a reputation as a coin collector that is "largely unrecognized." His collection of colonial and United States coinage, paper money and sutlers' tokens is thought to be one of the most complete in the United States, and his numismatic library is one of the largest in the Midwestern United States; according to experts, the library is probably the last private numismatic library formed in the 19th century to remain intact. Donated to the City of Omaha upon Reed's death, today the collection is housed at the Durham Western Heritage Museum.
See also
History of Omaha
Founding figures of Omaha, Nebraska
|
Lance Armstrong
|
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"1971 births",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"21st-century American businesspeople",
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"American drink industry businesspeople",
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"American investors",
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"American philanthropists",
"American retail chief executives",
"American sportspeople in doping cases",
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"Sportspeople banned for life",
"Sportspeople from Austin, Texas",
"Sportspeople from Plano, Texas",
"UCI Road World Champions (elite men)"
] | 16,445 | 184,129 |
Lance Edward Armstrong (né Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005, but was stripped of his titles in 2012 after an investigation into doping allegations found that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs over his career. Armstrong is banned from all sanctioned bicycling events.
At age 16, Armstrong began competing as a triathlete and was a national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. In 1992, he began his career as a professional cyclist with the Motorola team. Armstrong had success between 1993 and 1996 with the World Championship in 1993, the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, Tour DuPont in 1995 and 1996, and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including stage 8 of the 1993 Tour de France and stage 18 of the 1995 Tour de France. In 1996, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal metastatic testicular cancer. After recovering, Armstrong founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now the Livestrong Foundation) to assist other cancer survivors.
Returning to cycling in 1998, Armstrong was a member of the US Postal/Discovery team between 1998 and 2005 when he won his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong retired from racing at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009, finishing third in the 2009 Tour de France later that year. Between 2010 and 2011, he raced with Team Radio Shack, and retired for a second time in 2011.
Armstrong began to be accused of doping after winning the 1999 Tour de France, allegations that he denied for more than a decade. In 2012, a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation concluded that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs over the course of his career and called him the ringleader of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen". Armstrong professed his innocence but chose not to contest the charges, citing the potential toll on his family. He received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code, ending Armstrong's competitive cycling career. The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld USADA's decision and decided that his stripped wins would not be allocated to other riders. In January 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted his involvement in doping. In April 2018, Armstrong settled a civil lawsuit with the United States Department of Justice and agreed to pay 5 million to the U.S. government after whistleblower proceedings were commenced by Floyd Landis, a former team member.
Early life
Armstrong was born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971, at Methodist Hospital in Richardson, Texas. His mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly (née: Gayle Mooneyham), grew up in Oak Cliff. Armstrong was named after Lance Rentzel, a Dallas Cowboys wide receiver. His parents divorced in 1973 when Lance was two, and when his mother remarried Terry Keith Armstrong, Lance took his stepfather's surname. He attended Plano East Senior High School.
Career
Early career
In the 1987–1988 Tri-Fed/Texas ("Tri-Fed" was the former name of USA Triathlon), Armstrong was ranked the number-one triathlete in the 19-and-under group; second place was Chann McRae, who became a US Postal Service cycling teammate and the 2002 USPRO national champion. Armstrong's total points in 1987 as an amateur were better than those of five professionals ranked higher than he was that year. At 16, Lance Armstrong became a professional triathlete and became national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 at 18 and 19, respectively.
Motorola: 1992–96
In 1992, Armstrong turned professional with the Motorola Cycling Team, the successor of 7-Eleven team. In 1993, he won 10 one-day events and stage races, but his breakthrough victory was the World Road Race Championship held in Norway. Before his World Championships win, Armstrong took his first win at the Tour de France, in the stage from Châlons-sur-Marne to Verdun. He was 97th in the general classification when he retired after stage 12. Armstrong collected the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of Cycling: the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic, and the CoreStates USPRO national championship in Philadelphia. He is alleged by another cyclist competing in the CoreStates Road Race to have bribed that cyclist so that he would not compete with Armstrong for the win.
In 1994, Armstrong again won the Thrift Drug Classic and came second in the Tour DuPont in the United States. His successes in Europe occurred when he placed second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Clásica de San Sebastián, where just two years before, Armstrong had finished in last place at his first all-pro event in Europe. He finished the year strongly at the World Championships in Agrigento, finishing in seventh place less than a minute behind winner Luc Leblanc.
In a 2016 speech to University of Colorado, Boulder professor Roger A. Pielke Jr.'s Introduction to Sports Governance class, Armstrong stated that he began doping in "late spring of 1995".
Armstrong won the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, followed by an overall victory in the penultimate Tour DuPont and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including the stage to Limoges in the Tour de France, three days after the death of his teammate Fabio Casartelli, who crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet on the 15th stage. After winning the stage, Armstrong pointed to the sky in honor of Casartelli.
Armstrong's successes were much the same in 1996. He became the first American to win La Flèche Wallonne and again won the Tour DuPont. However, Armstrong was able to compete for only five days in the Tour de France. In the 1996 Olympic Games, he finished sixth in the time trial and twelfth in the road race. In August 1996, following the Leeds Classic, Armstrong signed a two-year, $2 million deal with the French Cofidis Cycling Team. Joining him in signing contracts with the French team were teammates Frankie Andreu and Laurent Madouas. Two months later, Armstrong was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer.
Cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery
On October 2, 1996, at the age of 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three (advanced) testicular cancer (embryonal carcinoma). The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain, and abdomen. Armstrong visited urologist Jim Reeves in Austin, Texas, for diagnosis of his symptoms, including a headache, blurred vision, coughing up blood, and a swollen testicle. The next day, Armstrong had an orchiectomy to remove the diseased testicle. When Reeves was asked in a later interview what he thought Armstrong's chances of survival were, Reeves said, "Almost none. We told Lance initially 20 to 50% chance, mainly to give him hope. But with the kind of cancer he had, with the X-rays, the blood tests, almost no hope."
After receiving a letter from Steven Wolff, an oncologist at Vanderbilt University, Armstrong went to the Indiana University medical center in Indianapolis and decided to receive the rest of his treatment there. The standard treatment for Armstrong's cancer was a "cocktail" of the drugs bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (or Platinol) (BEP). The first chemotherapy cycle that Armstrong underwent included BEP, but for the three remaining cycles, he was given an alternative, vinblastine etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (VIP), to avoid lung toxicity associated with bleomycin. Armstrong credited this with saving his cycling career. At Indiana University, Lawrence Einhorn had pioneered the use of cisplatin to treat testicular cancer. Armstrong's primary oncologist there was Craig Nichols. On October 25, his brain lesions, which were found to contain extensive necrosis, were surgically removed by Scott A. Shapiro, a professor of neurosurgery at Indiana University.
Armstrong's final chemotherapy treatment took place on December 13, 1996. In January 1997, Armstrong unexpectedly appeared at the first training camp of the Cofidis team at Lille, France, riding with his new teammates before returning to the United States. In February 1997, he was declared cancer-free. In October, Cofidis announced that his contract would not be extended, after negotiations broke down over a new deal. A former boss at Subaru Montgomery offered him a contract with the US Postal team at a salary of $200,000 a year. By January 1998, Armstrong was engaged in serious training for racing, moving to Europe with the team.
US Postal/Discovery: 1998–2005
Before his cancer treatment, Armstrong had participated in four Tour de France races, winning two stages. In 1993, he won the eighth stage and in 1995; he took stage 18 which he dedicated to teammate Fabio Casartelli who had crashed and died on stage 15. Armstrong dropped out of the 1996 Tour after the fifth stage after becoming ill, a few months before his diagnosis.
Armstrong's cycling comeback began in 1998 and he entered the 1998 edition of Paris–Nice but could not compete at such an elite level and abandoned the race. He then abandoned Europe with his fiancé and returned to Texas where he contemplated retirement. Not long after returning to the United States, Armstrong entered seclusion near Beech Mountain and Boone, North Carolina with former Tour de France rider Bob Roll as well as Chris Carmichael and trained in the Appalachian Mountains. In May 1998, Armstrong held his second charity race for cancer research in Austin, Texas: The Race for the Roses. Greg LeMond, Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly, and five time Tour champion Miguel Induráin were the most important cyclists at the event. LeMond said it was a good reason to get cyclists together, going on to say that life does not always deal the cards out equal and who knows if Armstrong will get back to the highest level, maybe he retires next year. During an interview, Armstrong said the rider he admires the most is Laurent Jalabert, saying that when he is riding well, he is the fiercest competitor in the bunch.
Armstrong then entered and won the Tour of Luxembourg. During the 1998 Vuelta a España Armstrong shocked the cycling world by finishing in the top five during one ITT, the top 10 in another and for the most part staying with the GC contenders in the mountains en route to finishing fourth overall. His credibility as a threat was confirmed when he finished fourth in both the road race and time trial at the World Championships. As a result of these efforts, Armstrong finished third in the voting for the Vélo d'Or. In 1999, he won the Tour de France, including four stages. Armstrong beat the second place rider, Alex Zülle, by 7 minutes 37 seconds. However, the absence of Jan Ullrich (injury) and Marco Pantani (drug allegations) meant Armstrong had not yet proven himself against the biggest names in the sport. Stage wins included the prologue, stage eight, an individual time trial in Metz, an Alpine stage on stage nine, and the second individual time trial on stage 19.
In 2000, Ullrich and Pantani returned to challenge Armstrong. The race began a six-year rivalry between Ullrich and Armstrong and ended in victory for Armstrong by 6 minutes 2 seconds over Ullrich. Armstrong took one stage in the 2000 Tour, the second individual time trial on stage 19. At the Summer Olympics 2000, Armstrong raced to third place in the Men's road time trial. In 2013, he was stripped of the bronze medal and third place title by the IOC after he admitted to doping. In September that year, Armstrong returned his medal to Olympic officials.
In 2001, Armstrong again took top honors at the Tour de France, beating Ullrich by 6 minutes 44 seconds. In 2002, Ullrich did not participate due to suspension, and Armstrong won by seven minutes over Joseba Beloki. During stage eleven and twelve of this Tour is when the race was won as US Postal had Vuelta champ Roberto Heras lead Armstrong up both climbs, breaking the peloton in the process. Then, when Heras' work was done, Armstrong took off to claim the stage wins only having to contend with Beloki.
The pattern returned in 2003, Armstrong taking first place and Ullrich second. Only a minute and a second separated the two at the end of the final day in Paris. U.S. Postal won the team time trial on stage 4, and on stage 9, Armstrong nearly crashed out of the Tour while defending the yellow jersey. He was less than a minute ahead of Beloki and Alexander Vinokourov was on a solo attack threatening to overtake Armstrong in the standings. While traversing the Côte de la Rochette Beloki crashed violently and hard, ending his Tour and sending him to the hospital with serious injuries. Armstrong narrowly avoided the same fate by reacting in time to avoid Beloki, but to do so he went off the road and ended up on a foot trail which led downhill through a field. He survived upright on his bike nearly to the end, at which time he picked it up and carried it the rest of the way to the road at the bottom of the hairpin turn, essentially losing no time as a result. He could have been fined or penalized for taking a shortcut, but it was deemed unintentional. Armstrong maintained a gap of only +0:21 over Vinokourov, but Ullrich was emerging as the most likely rider to overthrow Armstrong. Armstrong then took stage 15—despite having been knocked off on the ascent to Luz Ardiden, the final climb—when a spectator's bag caught his right handlebar. Ullrich waited for him, which brought Ullrich fair-play honors.
In 2004, Armstrong finished first, 6 minutes 19 seconds ahead of German Andreas Klöden. Ullrich was fourth, a further 2 minutes 31 seconds behind. Armstrong won a personal-best five individual stages, plus the team time trial. He became the first biker since Gino Bartali in 1948 to win three consecutive mountain stages; 15, 16, and 17. The individual time trial on stage 16 up Alpe d'Huez was won in style by Armstrong as he passed Ivan Basso on the way despite having set out two minutes after the Italian. He won sprint finishes from Basso in stages 13 and 15 and made up a significant gap in the last 250 m to nip Klöden at the line in stage 17. He won the final individual time trial, stage 19, to complete his personal record of stage wins.
In 2005, Armstrong was beaten by American David Zabriskie in the stage 1 time trial by two seconds, despite having passed Ullrich on the road. His Discovery Channel team won the team time trial, while Armstrong won the final individual time trial. In the mountain stages, Armstrong's lead was attacked multiple times mostly by Ivan Basso, but also by T-mobile leaders Jan Ullrich, Andreas Klöden and Alexandre Vinokourov and former teammate Levi Leipheimer. But still, the American champion handled them well, maintained his lead and, on some occasions, increased it. To complete his record-breaking feat, he crossed the line on the Champs-Élysées on July 24 to win his seventh consecutive Tour, finishing 4m 40s ahead of Basso, with Ullrich third. Another record achieved that year was that Armstrong completed the tour at the highest pace in the race's history: his average speed over the whole tour was 41.7 km/h (26 mph). In 2005, Armstrong announced he would retire after the 2005 Tour de France, citing his desire to spend more time with his family and his foundation. During his retirement, Armstrong diverted his attention away from the happenings in professional cycling; however whilst at a conference, in 2008, Armstrong saw Carlos Sastre's win on Alpe d'Huez and "felt a pang".
Comeback
Astana Pro Team: 2009
On September 9, 2008, Armstrong announced that he would return to pro cycling with the express goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France. VeloNews reported that Armstrong would race for no salary or bonuses and would post his internally tested blood results online.
Australian ABC radio reported on September 24, 2008, that Armstrong would compete in the UCI Tour Down Under through Adelaide and surrounding areas in January 2009. UCI rules say a cyclist has to be in an anti-doping program for six months before an event, but UCI allowed Armstrong to compete. He had to retire from the 2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León during the first stage after crashing in a rider pileup in Baltanás, Spain, and breaking his collarbone. Armstrong flew back to Austin, Texas, for corrective surgery, which was successful, and was back training on a bicycle within four days of his operation.
On April 10, 2009, a controversy emerged between the French anti-doping agency AFLD and Armstrong and his team manager, Johan Bruyneel, stemming from a March 17, 2009, encounter with an AFLD anti-doping official who visited Armstrong after a training ride in Beaulieu-sur-Mer. When the official arrived, Armstrong claims he asked—and was granted—permission to take a shower while Bruyneel checked the official's credentials. In late April, the AFLD cleared Armstrong of any wrongdoing. He returned to racing after his collarbone injury at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico on April 29.
On July 7, in the fourth stage of the 2009 Tour de France, Armstrong narrowly failed to win the yellow jersey after his Astana team won the team time trial. His Astana team won the 39 km lap of Montpellier but Armstrong ended up just over two tenths of a second (0.22) outside Fabian Cancellara's overall lead. Armstrong finished the 2009 Tour de France on the podium in third place. The only riders able to drop him were Andy Schleck who was able to defeat him by +1:13 and his own Astana teammate Alberto Contador, who won the Tour by more than four minutes over Schleck.
Team RadioShack: 2010–11
On July 21, 2009, Armstrong announced that he would return to the Tour de France in 2010. RadioShack was named as the main sponsor for Armstrong's 2010 team, named Team RadioShack. He made his 2010 season debut at the Tour Down Under, where Armstrong finished 25th out of the 127 riders who completed the race. He made his European season debut at the 2010 Vuelta a Murcia, finishing in seventh place overall. Armstrong was also set to compete in several classics such as the Milan–San Remo, Amstel Gold Race, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Tour of Flanders, but bouts with gastroenteritis forced his withdrawal from three of the four races.
Armstrong returned to the United States in mid-April to compete in the Tour of Gila and May's Tour of California, both as preparation for the Tour de France. However, he crashed outside Visalia early in stage 5 of the Tour of California and had to withdraw from the race. He showed fine shape after recovering from the Tour of California crash, placing second in the Tour of Switzerland and third in the Tour of Luxembourg.
On June 28, Armstrong announced via Twitter that the 2010 edition would be his final Tour de France. Armstrong put in an impressive performance in the Tour's prologue time trial, finishing fourth. Only time trial specialists were able to better Armstrong's time and he was the highest placed of the GC contenders with a young, relatively unknown rider, Geraint Thomas, finishing one second behind him and Contador four seconds slower. In all eight of Armstrong's Tours since his comeback in 1999 he always had the requisite good luck early in the Tour and never got involved in crashes or mechanicals, which could cost him serious time. In 2010 his luck ran out early as he lost serious time due to the aftermath and peloton splits caused by a crash on stage 3, and then another crash on stage 8. He rallied for the brutal Pyrenean stage 16, working as a key player in a successful break that included teammate Chris Horner. He finished his last tour in 23rd place, 39 minutes 20 seconds behind former winner Alberto Contador. He was also a key rider in helping Team RadioShack win the team competition, beating Caisse d'Epargne by 9 minutes, 15 seconds.
In October, he announced the end of his international career after the Tour Down Under in January 2011. He stated that after January 2011, he will race only in the U.S. with the Radioshack domestic team.
On February 16, 2011, Armstrong announced his retirement from competitive cycling "for good" while still facing a US federal investigation into doping allegations.
Collaboration of sponsors
Armstrong improved the support behind his well-funded teams, asking sponsors and suppliers to contribute and act as part of the team. For example, rather than having the frame, handlebars, and tires designed and developed by separate companies with little interaction, his teams adopted a Formula One relationship with sponsors and suppliers named "F-One", taking full advantage of the combined resources of several organizations working in close communication. The team, Trek, Nike, AMD, Bontrager (a Trek company), Shimano, Sram, Giro, and Oakley, collaborated for an array of products.
Doping allegations, investigation, and confession
For much of his career, Armstrong faced persistent allegations of doping. He denied all such allegations until January 2013, often claiming that he never had any positive test in the drug tests he had taken over his cycling career.
Armstrong has been criticized for his disagreements with outspoken opponents of doping such as Paul Kimmage and Christophe Bassons. Bassons was a rider for Festina at the time of the Festina affair and was widely reported by teammates as being the only rider on the team not to be taking performance-enhancing drugs. Bassons wrote a number of articles for a French newspaper during the 1999 Tour de France which made references to doping in the peloton. Subsequently, Armstrong had an altercation with Bassons during the 1999 Tour de France where Bassons said Armstrong rode up alongside on the Alpe d'Huez stage to tell him "it was a mistake to speak out the way I (Bassons) do and he (Armstrong) asked why I was doing it. I told him that I'm thinking of the next generation of riders. Then he said 'Why don't you leave, then?'".
Armstrong later confirmed the story, stating on the main evening news on TF1, a national television station: "His accusations aren't good for cycling, for his team, for me, for anybody. If he thinks cycling works like that, he's wrong and he would be better off going home." Kimmage, a professional cyclist in the 1980s who later became a sports journalist, referred to Armstrong as a "cancer in cycling". He also asked Armstrong questions in relation to his "admiration for dopers" at a press conference at the Tour of California in 2009, provoking a scathing reaction from Armstrong. This spat continued and is exemplified by Kimmage's articles in The Irish Independent.
Armstrong continued to deny the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs for four more years, describing himself as the most tested athlete in the world. From his return to cycling in the fall of 2008 through March 2009, Armstrong claimed to have submitted to 24 unannounced drug tests by various anti-doping authorities.
Working with Michele Ferrari
Armstrong was criticized for working with controversial trainer Michele Ferrari. Ferrari claimed that he was introduced to Lance by Eddy Merckx in 1995. Greg LeMond described himself as "devastated" on hearing of them working together, while Tour de France organizer Jean-Marie Leblanc said, "I am not happy the two names are mixed." Following Ferrari's later-overturned conviction for "sporting fraud" and "abuse of the medical profession", Armstrong claimed that he suspended his professional relationship with Ferrari, saying that he had "zero tolerance for anyone convicted of using or facilitating the use of performance-enhancing drugs" and denying that Ferrari had ever "suggested, prescribed or provided me with any performance-enhancing drugs".
Though Ferrari was banned from practicing medicine with cyclists by the Italian Cycling Federation, according to Italian law enforcement authorities, Armstrong met with Ferrari as late as 2010 in a country outside Italy. According to Cycling News, "USADA reveals an intimate role played by Dr. Michele Ferrari in masterminding Armstrong's Tour de France success". According to the USADA report, Armstrong paid Ferrari over $1million from 1996 to 2006, countering Armstrong's claim that he severed his professional relationship with Ferrari in 2004. The report also includes numerous eyewitness accounts of Ferrari injecting Armstrong with EPO on a number of occasions.
: 2004
In 2004, reporters Pierre Ballester and David Walsh published a book alleging Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs (). Another figure in the book, Steve Swart, claims he and other riders, including Armstrong, began using drugs in 1995 while members of the Motorola team, a claim denied by other team members.
Among the allegations in the book were claims by Armstrong's former Emma O'Reilly that a backdated prescription for cortisone had been produced in 1999 to avoid a positive test. A 1999 urine sample at the Tour de France showed traces of corticosteroid. A medical certificate showed he used an approved cream for saddle sores which contained the substance. O'Reilly said she heard team officials worrying about Armstrong's positive test for steroids during the Tour. She said: "They were in a panic, saying: 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?'".
According to O'Reilly, the solution was to obtain a pre-dated prescription for a steroid-based ointment used to treat saddle sores from one of the team's compliant doctors. O'Reilly said that she would have been aware if Armstrong had saddle sores as she would have been responsible for administering any treatment. O'Reilly said that Armstrong told her: "Now, Emma, you know enough to bring me down." O'Reilly said that she was also asked to dispose of used syringes for Armstrong and to pick up strange parcels for the team.
Allegations in the book were reprinted in The Sunday Times (UK) by deputy sports editor Alan English in June 2004. Armstrong sued for libel, and the paper settled out of court after a High Court judge in a pre-trial ruling stated that the article "meant accusation of guilt and not simply reasonable grounds to suspect". The newspaper's lawyers issued the statement: "The Sunday Times has confirmed to Mr. Armstrong that it never intended to accuse him of being guilty of taking any performance-enhancing drugs and sincerely apologized for any such impression." The same authors (Pierre Ballester and David Walsh) subsequently published L.A. Official and (The Dirty Trick), further pressing their claims that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.
On March 31, 2005, Mike Anderson filed a brief in Travis County District Court in Texas, as part of a legal battle following his termination in November 2004 as an employee of Armstrong. Anderson worked for Armstrong for two years as a personal assistant. In the brief, Anderson claimed that he discovered a box of 'androstenin' while cleaning a bathroom in Armstrong's apartment in Girona, Spain. 'Androstenin' is not on the list of banned drugs. Anderson stated in a subsequent deposition that he had no direct knowledge of Armstrong using a banned substance. Armstrong denied the claim and issued a counter-suit. The two men reached an out-of-court settlement in November 2005; the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
In November 2012, Times Newspapers republished all of Walsh's articles as well as the original "LA Confidential" article by Alan English in Lanced: The shaming of Lance Armstrong. The Times was said to be considering taking action to recoup money from Armstrong in relation to the settlement and court costs.
In December 2012 The Sunday Times filed suit against Armstrong for $1.5million. In its suit, the paper sought a return of the original settlement, plus interest and the cost of defending the original case.
In August 2013, Armstrong and The Sunday Times reached an undisclosed settlement.
Tour de France urine tests: 2005
On August 23, 2005, , a major French daily sports newspaper, reported on its front page under the headline ('The Armstrong Lie') that six urine samples taken from the cyclist during the prologue and five stages of the 1999 Tour de France, frozen and stored since at "Laboratoire national de dépistage du dopage de Châtenay-Malabry" (LNDD), had tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in recent retesting conducted as part of a research project into EPO testing methods.
Armstrong immediately replied on his website, saying, "Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism. The paper even admits in its own article that the science in question here is faulty and that I have no way to defend myself. They state: 'There will therefore be no counter-exam nor regulatory prosecutions, in a strict sense, since defendant's rights cannot be respected'. I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance enhancing drugs."
In October 2005, in response to calls from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for an independent investigation, the UCI appointed Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman to investigate the handling of urine tests by the French national anti-doping laboratory, LNDD. Vrijman was head of the Dutch anti-doping agency for ten years; since then he has worked as a defense attorney defending high-profile athletes against doping charges. Vrijman's report cleared Armstrong because of improper handling and testing. The report said tests on urine samples were conducted improperly and fell so short of scientific standards that it was "completely irresponsible" to suggest they "constitute evidence of anything".
The recommendation of the commission's report was no disciplinary action against any rider on the basis of LNDD research. It also called upon the WADA and LNDD to submit themselves to an investigation by an outside independent authority. The IOC Ethics Commission subsequently censured Dick Pound, the President of WADA and a member of the IOC, for his statements in the media that suggested wrongdoing by Armstrong. In April 2009, anti-doping expert Michael Ashenden said "the LNDD absolutely had no way of knowing athlete identity from the sample they're given. They have a number on them, but that's never linked to an athlete's name. The only group that had both the number and the athlete's name is the federation, in this case it was the UCI." He added "There was only two conceivable ways that synthetic EPO could've gotten into those samples. One, is that Lance Armstrong used EPO during the '99 Tour. The other way it could've got in the urine was if, as Lance Armstrong seems to believe, the laboratory spiked those samples. Now, that's an extraordinary claim, and there's never ever been any evidence the laboratory has ever spiked an athlete's sample, even during the Cold War, where you would've thought there was a real political motive to frame an athlete from a different country. There's never been any suggestion that it happened."
SCA Promotions case: 2005–2015
In June 2006, French newspaper reported claims by Betsy and Frankie Andreu during a deposition that Armstrong had admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs to his physician just after brain surgery in 1996. The Andreus' testimony was related to litigation between Armstrong and SCA Promotions, a Texas company attempting to withhold a $5million bonus; this was settled out of court with SCA paying Armstrong and Tailwind Sports $7.5million, to cover the $5million bonus plus interest and lawyers' fees. The testimony stated "And so the doctor asked him a few questions, not many, and then one of the questions he asked was[...] have you ever used any performance-enhancing drugs? And Lance said yes. And the doctor asked, what were they? And Lance said, growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone."
Armstrong suggested Betsy Andreu may have been confused by possible mention of his post-operative treatment, which included steroids and EPO that are taken to counteract wasting and red-blood-cell-destroying effects of intensive chemotherapy. The Andreus' allegation was not supported by any of the eight other people present, including Armstrong's doctor Craig Nichols, or his medical history. According to Greg LeMond (who has been embroiled with his own disputes with Armstrong), he (LeMond) had a recorded conversation, the transcript of which was reviewed by National Public Radio (NPR), with Stephanie McIlvain (Armstrong's contact at Oakley Inc.) in which she said of Armstrong's alleged admission, "You know, I was in that room. I heard it." However, McIlvain has contradicted LeMond's allegations on the issue and denied under oath that the incident in question ever occurred in her sworn testimony.
In July 2006, the Los Angeles Times published a story on the allegations raised in the SCA case. The report cited evidence at the trial, including the results of the LNDD test and an analysis of these results by an expert witness. From the Los Angeles Times article: "The results, Australian researcher Michael Ashenden testified in Dallas, show Armstrong's levels rising and falling, consistent with a series of injections during the Tour. Ashenden, a paid expert retained by SCA Promotions, told arbitrators that the results painted a "compelling picture" that the world's most famous cyclist "used EPO in the '99 Tour"."
Ashenden's finding were disputed by the Vrijman report, which pointed to procedural and privacy issues in dismissing the LNDD test results. The Los Angeles Times article also provided information on testimony given by Armstrong's former teammate, Swart, Andreu and his wife Betsy, and instant messaging conversation between Andreu and Jonathan Vaughters regarding blood-doping in the peloton. Vaughters signed a statement disavowing the comments and stating he had: "no personal knowledge that any team in the Tour de France, including Armstrong's Discovery team in 2005, engaged in any prohibited conduct whatsoever." Andreu signed a statement affirming the conversation took place as indicated on the instant messaging logs submitted to the court.
The SCA trial was settled out of court, and the Los Angeles Times reported: "Though no verdict or finding of facts was rendered, Armstrong called the outcome proof that the doping allegations were baseless." The Los Angeles Times article provides a review of the disputed positive EPO test, allegations and sworn testimony against Armstrong, but notes that, "They are filled with conflicting testimony, hearsay and circumstantial evidence admissible in arbitration hearings but questionable in more formal legal proceedings."
In October 2012, following the publication of the USADA reasoned decision, SCA Promotions announced its intention to recoup the monies paid to Armstrong totaling in excess of $7million. Armstrong's legal representative Tim Herman stated in June: "When SCA decided to settle the case, it settled the entire matter forever. No backs. No re-dos. No do-overs. SCA knowingly and independently waived any right to make further claims to any of the money it paid." SCA's Jeff Dorough stated that on October 30, 2012, Armstrong was sent a formal request for the return of $12million in bonuses. It is alleged that Armstrong's legal team has offered a settlement of $1million.
On February 4, 2015, the arbitration panel decided 2–1 in SCA's favor and ordered Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Corp to pay SCA $10million. The panel's decision was referred to the Texas 116th Civil District Court in Dallas on February 16, 2015, for confirmation. Panel members Richard Faulkner and Richard Chernick sided with SCA; Ted Lyon sided with Armstrong. Armstrong's attorney Tim Herman stated that the panel's ruling was contrary to Texas law and expected that the court would overturn it. The panel's decision said, in part, about Armstrong that, "Perjury must never be profitable" and "it is almost certainly the most devious sustained deception ever perpetrated in world sporting history".
On September 27, 2015, Armstrong and SCA agreed to a settlement. Armstrong issued a formal, public apology and agreed to pay SCA an undisclosed sum.
Federal investigation: 2010–2012
In a series of emails in May 2010, Floyd Landis admitted to doping and accused Armstrong and others of the same. Based on Landis' allegations, U.S. Justice Department federal prosecutors led an investigation into possible crimes conducted by Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team. The Food and Drug Administration and federal agent Jeff Novitzky were also involved in the investigation. In June 2010, Armstrong hired a criminal defense attorney to represent him in the investigation. The hiring was first reported in July when Armstrong was competing in the 2010 Tour de France.
On February 3, 2012, federal prosecutors officially dropped their criminal investigation with no charges. The closing of the case was announced "without an explanation" by U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. When Novitzky was asked to comment on it, he declined.
In February 2013, a month after Armstrong admitted to doping, the Justice Department joined Landis' whistleblower lawsuit to recover government funding given to Armstrong's cycling team.
USADA investigation and limited confession: 2011–2013
In June 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused Armstrong of doping and trafficking of drugs, based on blood samples from 2009 and 2010, and testimony from witnesses including former teammates. Further, he was accused of putting pressure on teammates to take unauthorized performance-enhancing drugs as well. In October 2012, USADA formally charged him with running a massive doping ring. It also sought to ban him from participating in sports sanctioned by WADA for life. Armstrong chose not to appeal the findings, saying it would not be worth the toll on his family. As a result, he was stripped of all of his achievements from August 1998 onward, including his seven Tour de France titles. He also received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code. As nearly all national and international sporting federations, including UCI, follow the World Anti-Doping Code, this effectively ended his competitive cycling career. The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld USADA's decision and decided that his stripped wins would not be allocated to other riders.
After years of public denials, in a January 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong reversed course and made a "limited confession" to doping. While admitting wrongdoing in the interview, he also said it was "absolutely not" true that he was doping in 2009 or 2010, and claimed that the last time he "crossed the line" was in 2005. He also denied pressuring team-mates into doping. In September 2013, he was asked by UCI's new president, Brian Cookson, to testify about his doping. Armstrong refused to testify until and unless he received complete amnesty, which Cookson said was most unlikely to happen.
After USADA's report, all of Armstrong's sponsors dropped him. He reportedly lost $75million of sponsorship income in a day. On May 28, 2013, Nike announced that it would be cutting all ties to Livestrong. In the aftermath of Armstrong's fall from grace, a CNN article wrote that, "The epic downfall of cycling's star, once an idolized icon of millions around the globe, stands out in the history of professional sports." In a 2015 interview with BBC News, Armstrong stated that if it were still 1995, he would "probably do it again".
Whistleblower lawsuit: 2010–2018
In 2010, one of Armstrong's former teammates, the American Floyd Landis, whose 2006 Tour de France victory was nullified after a positive doping test, sent a series of emails to cycling officials and sponsors admitting to, and detailing, his systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs during his career. The emails also claimed that other riders and cycling officials participated in doping, including Armstrong.
Landis filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against Armstrong under the federal False Claims Act. The False Claims Act allows citizens to sue on behalf of the government alleging the government has been defrauded. The existence of the lawsuit, initially filed under seal, was first revealed by The Wall Street Journal in 2010. In the lawsuit, Landis alleged that Armstrong and team managers defrauded the US government when they accepted money from the US Postal Service. In January 2013, US Justice Department officials recommended joining the federal lawsuit aimed at clawing back money from Armstrong.
In February, the US Department of Justice joined the whistleblower lawsuit, which also accused former Postal Service team director Johan Bruyneel and Tailwind Sports, the firm that managed the US Postal Service team, of defrauding the US.
In April 2014, documents from the AIC case were filed by lawyers representing Landis in relation to the whistleblower suit. In these documents, Armstrong stated under oath that Jose "Pepi" Marti, Dr Pedro Celaya, Dr Luis Garcia del Moral and Dr Michele Ferrari had all provided him with doping products in the period up until 2005. He also named people who had transported or acted as couriers, as well as people that were aware of his doping practices. One week later, the USADA banned Bruyneel from cycling for ten years and Celaya and Marti for eight years.
In June 2014, US district judge Robert Wilkins denied Armstrong's request to dismiss the government lawsuit stating "The court denies without prejudice the defendants' motion to dismiss the government's action as time-barred."
In February 2017, the court determined that the federal government's 100million civil lawsuit against Armstrong, started by Landis, would proceed to trial. The matter was settled in April 2018 when Armstrong agreed to pay the United States Government 5million. During the proceedings it was revealed that the US Postal Service had paid 31million in sponsorship to Armstrong and Tailwind Sports between 2001 and 2004. The Department of Justice accused Armstrong of violating his contract with the USPS and committing fraud when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. It was reported that Landis would receive 1.1million as a result of his whistleblower actions.
Other lawsuits: 2010 to present
In November 2013, Armstrong settled a lawsuit with Acceptance Insurance Company (AIC). AIC had sought to recover $3million it had paid Armstrong as bonuses for winning the Tour de France from 1999 to 2001. The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum one day before Armstrong was scheduled to give a deposition under oath.
Personal life
Armstrong owns homes in Austin, Texas, and Aspen, Colorado, as well as a ranch in the Texas Hill Country.
Relationships and children
Armstrong met Kristin Richard in June 1997. They married on May 1, 1998, and had three children: a son (born October 1999) and twin daughters (born November 2001). The pregnancies were made possible through sperm Armstrong banked three years earlier, before chemotherapy and surgery. The couple divorced in 2003.
The same year that Lance and Kristin Armstrong were divorced, Lance began dating singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow. The couple announced their engagement in September 2005 and their split in February 2006.
In July 2008, Armstrong began dating Anna Hansen after meeting through Armstrong's charity work. In December 2008, Armstrong announced that Hansen was pregnant with the couple's first child. Although it was believed that Armstrong could no longer father children due to having undergone chemotherapy for testicular cancer, the child was conceived naturally. They have a son (born June 2009) and a daughter (born October 2010). They were married on August 9, 2022.
In a New York Times article, teammate George Hincapie hinted that Armstrong would run for Governor of Texas after cycling. In the July 2005 issue of Outside magazine, Armstrong hinted at running for governor, although "not in '06". Armstrong and former president George W. Bush, a Republican and fellow Texan, call themselves friends. Bush called Armstrong in France to congratulate him after his 2005 victory. In August 2005, The Times reported the President had invited Armstrong to his Prairie Chapel Ranch to go mountain biking. In a 2003 interview with The Observer, Armstrong said: "He's a personal friend, but we've all got the right not to agree with our friends."
In August 2005, Armstrong hinted he had changed his mind about politics. In an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS on August 1, 2005, Armstrong pointed out that running for governor would require the commitment that led him to retire from cycling. Also, in August 2005, Armstrong said that he was no longer considering politics:
Armstrong created a YouTube video in 2007 with former president George H. W. Bush to successfully pass Proposition 15, a US$3 billion taxpayer bond initiative which created the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
Armstrong was co-chair of a California campaign committee to pass the California Cancer Research Act, a ballot measure defeated by California voters on June 5, 2012. Had it passed, the measure was projected to generate over $500 million annually for cancer research, smoking-cessation programs and tobacco law-enforcement by levying a $1-per-pack tax on tobacco products in California.
Armstrong endorsed Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke against Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz in the 2018 election.
Outside cycling
In 1997, Armstrong founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports people affected by cancer. The foundation raises awareness of cancer and has raised more than $325 million from the sale of yellow Livestrong bracelets. During his first retirement beginning after the 2005 season, he also maintained other interests. He was the pace car driver of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 for the 2006 Indianapolis 500. In 2007, Armstrong with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Warrick Dunn, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, Alonzo Mourning, and Cal Ripken Jr. founded Athletes for Hope, a charity that helps professional athletes become involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire non-athletes to volunteer and support the community.
In August 2009, Armstrong headlined the inaugural charity ride "Pelotonia" in Columbus, Ohio, riding over 100 miles on Saturday with the large group of cyclists. He addressed the riders the Friday evening before the two-day ride and helped the ride raise millions for cancer research. Armstrong ran the 2006 New York City Marathon with two friends. He assembled a pace team of Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Hicham El Guerrouj to help him reach three hours. He finished in 2h 59m 36s, in 856th place. He said the race was extremely difficult compared to the Tour de France. The NYC Marathon had a dedicated camera on Armstrong throughout the event which, according to Armstrong, pushed him to continue through points in which he would have normally "stopped and stretched". He also helped raise $600,000 for his LiveStrong campaign during the run. Armstrong ran the 2007 NYC Marathon in 2h 46m 43s, finishing 232nd. On April 21, 2008, he ran the Boston Marathon in 2h 50m 58s, finishing in the top 500.
Armstrong made a return to triathlon in 2011 by competing in the off-road XTERRA Triathlon race series. At the Championships Armstrong led for a time before crashing out on the bike and finishing in 23rd place. The following year, in 2012, Armstrong began pursuing qualification into the 2012 Ironman World Championship. He was scheduled to next participate in Ironman France on June 24. However, the June suspension by USADA and eventual ban by WADA prohibited Armstrong from further racing Ironman branded events due to World Triathlon Corporation anti-doping policies.
In July 2011 and July 2013, Armstrong participated in the non-competitive Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.
Business and investments
Outside cycling, Armstrong is also an active businessman and investor. He owns a coffee shop called "Juan Pelota Cafe" in downtown Austin, Texas. The name is a joking reference to his testicular cancer, with the name "Juan" being considered by some a homophone for "one" and "Pelota" being the Spanish word for "ball". In the same building, Armstrong owns and operates a bike shop named "Mellow Johnny's", after another nickname of his derived from the Tour term "maillot jaune", which is French for yellow jersey, the jersey given to the leader of the general classification.
In 2001, Armstrong provided financial funding to launch Wonders & Worries, a non-profit organization in Austin, Texas, that provides counseling and support for children who have a parent with a serious or life-threatening disease.
A line of cycling clothing from Nike, 10//2, was named after the date (October 2, 1996) Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
In 2008, Armstrong bought several million dollars of stock in the American bicycle component manufacturer SRAM Corporation, and has served as their technical advisor. SRAM bought those shares back from him in preparation for a public offering. Armstrong owns a small share of Trek Bicycle Corporation.
In 2009, Armstrong invested $100,000 into venture capital firm Lowercase Capital, which subsequently bought an early stake in Uber, among other investments. In 2019, Uber achieved an IPO of $82 billion and earned Armstrong an estimated $20–$30 million. According to CNBC, Armstrong said "it saved our family".
Media
In 2017, Armstrong started a podcast named "The Move", which provided daily coverage of the Tour de France in 2018 and 2019. He also appeared—without compensation—on NBC Sports Network's live Tour de France television broadcasts. The UCI indicated the podcast and NBC appearances did not violate the terms of his ban.
Career achievements
Major results
Road
1990
8th Overall Tour of Sweden
1991
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1992
1st Overall Fitchburg Longsjo Classic
1st Stage 2
1st First Union Grand Prix
1st Stage 6 Settimana Bergamasca
1st Stage 4a Vuelta a Galicia
1st Stage 2 Trittico Premondiale
2nd Züri-Metzgete
8th Coppa Bernocchi
1993
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Kmart West Virginia Classic
1st Prologue & Stage 1
1st Overall Tour of America
1st Trofeo Laigueglia
1st Thrift Drug Classic
1st Stage 8 Tour de France
2nd Overall Tour DuPont
1st Stage 5
3rd Overall Tour of Sweden
1st Stage 3
5th Wincanton Classic
9th Overall Paris–Nice
1994
1st Thrift Drug Classic
2nd Overall Tour DuPont
1st Stage 7
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Clásica de San Sebastián
7th Overall Tour de Suisse
7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Trofeo Laigueglia
9th Züri-Metzgete
1995
1st Overall Tour DuPont
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 4, 5 (ITT) & 9
1st Overall Kmart West Virginia Classic
1st Stage 4
1st Clásica de San Sebastián
1st Stage 18 Tour de France
1st Stage 5 Paris–Nice
5th Road race, National Road Championships
6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
10th Züri-Metzgete
1996
1st Overall Tour DuPont
1st Stages 2, 3b (ITT), 5, 6 & 12 (ITT)
1st La Flèche Wallonne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
4th Overall Tour de Suisse
4th Wincanton Classic
6th Time trial, Olympic Games
8th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
9th LuK Challenge Chrono (with Sean Yates
1998
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
1st Cascade Cycling Classic
1st Sprint 56K Criterium
4th Overall Ronde van Nederland
4th Overall Vuelta a España
4th Road race, UCI Road World Road Championships
1999
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 8 (ITT), 9 & 19 (ITT)
1st Stage 4 Route du Sud
1st Stage 4 (ITT) Circuit de la Sarthe
1st RaboRonde Heerlen
2nd Amstel Gold Race
7th Overall Vuelta a Aragón
8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Prologue
2000
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stage 19 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
2nd Paris–Camembert
3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
3rd Time trial, Olympic Games
3rd Classique des Alpes
4th Grand Prix Gippingen
5th Züri-Metzgete
7th GP Miguel Induráin
2001
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 10, 11 (ITT), 13 & 18 (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de Suisse
1st Stages 1 (ITT) & 8 (ITT)
2nd Amstel Gold Race
2nd Classique des Alpes
2002
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 11, 12 & 19 (ITT)
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stage 6
1st Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
1st Profronde van Stiphout
2nd Overall Critérium International
3rd Züri-Metzgete
4th Amstel Gold Race
5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
6th San Francisco Grand Prix
8th LuK Challenge Chrono (with Floyd Landis)
2003
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 4 (TTT) & 15
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
6th LuK Challenge Chrono (with Viatcheslav Ekimov)
8th Amstel Gold Race
2004
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 4 (TTT), 13, 15, 16 (ITT), 17 & 19 (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de Georgia
1st Stages 3 & 4 (ITT)
1st Profronde van Stiphout
3rd Overall Critérium International
4th LuK Challenge Chrono (with George Hincapie)
5th Overall Volta ao Algarve
1st Stage 4 (ITT)
6th Overall Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon
1st Stage 5
2005
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 4 (TTT) & 20 (ITT)
4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Points classification
5th Overall Tour de Georgia
2009
1st Nevada City Classic
2nd Overall Tour of the Gila
3rd Overall Tour de France
1st Stage 4 (TTT)
7th Overall Tour of California
2010
2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
3rd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
7th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour19931994199519961998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010 Giro d'Italia———————————————12— Tour de France36—1111111——— 3 23/ Vuelta a España———— 4 ————————————
+ Legend—Did not competeDNFDid not finishNo.Voided result
Triathlon & Ironman
1989
2nd Bud Light U.S. Triathlon Series (USTS)–Miami (Olympic Distance)
1st National Sprint Course Triathlon
1990
1st National Sprint Course Triathlon
2011
5th XTERRA USA Championships
2012
1st Ironman 70.3 Hawaii
1st Ironman 70.3 Florida
3rd Ironman 70.3 St. Croix
7th Ironman 70.3 Texas
2nd Ironman 70.3 Panama
2nd Power of Four Mountain Bike Race
Mountain Bike
2008
1st 12 Hours of Snowmass
2nd Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race
2009
1st Colorado Pro Cross-Country Championships
1st Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race
Filmography
Road to Paris (2001), documentary
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004), cameo appearance
You, Me and Dupree (2006), cameo appearance
The Armstrong Lie (2013), documentary
Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story (2014), documentary
The Program (2015), biographical drama film
Tour de Pharmacy (2017), appearing as himself, acting as parody of an anonymous source
30 for 30: Lance (2020), documentary
Accolades
United States Olympic Committee (USOC) SportsMan of the Year (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
World's Most Outstanding Athlete Award, Jesse Owens International Trophy (2000)
Reuters Sportsman of the Year (2003)
Prince of Asturias Award in Sports (2000)
Sports Ethics Fellows by the Institute for International Sport (2003)
Mendrisio d'Or Award (1999)
Premio Coppi-Bici d'Oro Trophy by the Fausto Coppi foundation in conjunction with La Gazzetta dello Sport (1999, 2000)
Marca Legend Award by Marca, a Spanish sports daily in Madrid (2004)
ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
ESPY Award for GMC Professional Grade Play Award (2005)
ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete (2000)
ESPN/Intersport's ARETE Award for Courage in Sport (Professional Division) (1999)
ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year (1999)
Favorite Athlete award at Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (2006)
Presidential Delegation to the XIX Olympic Winter Games (2002)
Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year (2002)
VeloNews magazine's International Cyclist of the Year (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)
VeloNews magazine's North American Male Cyclist of the Year (1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005)
William Hill Sports Book of the Year: It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (2000)
Triathlon magazine's Rookie of the Year (1988)
Pace car driver for the Indianapolis 500 (2006)
An asteroid, 1994 JE9 was named 12373 Lancearmstrong in honor of him.
Six-mile Lance Armstrong Bikeway through downtown Austin, Texas, built by the city of Austin at a cost of $3.2 million.
Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award presented by the United States Sports Academy (1999)
Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards (2001)
Rescinded awards
BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year Award (2003)
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Tufts University (2006)
Key to the city of Adelaide (2012)
Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year Winner (2003)
Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year Winner (2000)
Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year Nominated (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year Nominated (2010)
Grand Prix Serge-Kampf de l'Académie des sports (France, 2004)
Légion d'honneur (France, 2005)
Vélo d'Or Award by Velo magazine in France (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)
See also
Cycling records
Doping in sport
Doping in the United States
List of doping cases in cycling
Notes and references
Notes
Further reading
|
Phoenix Property Investors
|
[
"2002 establishments in Hong Kong",
"Companies established in 2002",
"Companies of Hong Kong",
"Financial services companies established in 2002",
"Investment companies of Hong Kong",
"Private equity firms of Asia-Pacific"
] | 688 | 7,580 |
Phoenix Property Investors ("Phoenix") is a real estate investment firm headquartered in Hong Kong. In 2022, IREI ranked Phoenix as the tenth largest real estate manager in Asia based on assets under management (AUM).
Background
Phoenix was founded in 2002 by Samuel Chu and Benjamin Lee. The firm takes a value driven approach to investing in real estate in and works with institutional clients such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and insurance companies.
Phoenix has investments across 18 cities across Asia in countries such as China, Japan, Korea and Australia. While investments are predominately in North Asia, Phoenix has also been growing its investments in Southeast Asia. The firm is headquartered in Hong Kong with additional offices in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia.
In 2020, Phoenix had to restructure its financing for investments in Beijing and Shanghai due to market turndown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2022, Phoenix sued WeWork for abandoning a 10 year commitment to Tower 535 in Hong Kong. Phoenix demanded a payment of about HK$242 million (US$30.8 million) on the alleged breach of contract.
In June 2023, Phoenix and Lendlease entered a joint venture to develop a A$185 million logistics facility in Australia.
In January 2024, it was reported that for Phoenix's seventh opportunity fund, it removed mainland China from its strategy. Phoenix was responding to its investors' preference to avoid political risk associated with exposure to assets in China. However it was expected to not have a significant impact as China exposure had not exceeded 15% of the firm's AUM since 2010 and Phoenix had not invested in China for a while. In addition investors saw that there could be better risk adjusted returns from more developed markets in Asia such as Australia, Japan South Korea.
|
Don Vito (producer)
|
[
"1978 births",
"Living people",
"African-American businesspeople",
"African-American record producers",
"African-American male rappers",
"20th-century American male rappers",
"20th-century African-American people",
"African-American television personalities",
"American hip-hop record producers",
"American music managers",
"American rhythm and blues keyboardists",
"A&R people",
"Businesspeople from Atlanta",
"Businesspeople from Indiana",
"Participants in American reality television series",
"Musicians from Gary, Indiana",
"Rappers from Atlanta",
"Rappers from Indiana",
"Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)",
"Southern hip-hop musicians",
"Songwriters from Indiana",
"21st-century American rappers",
"21st-century American male musicians",
"African-American songwriters",
"21st-century African-American musicians",
"American male songwriters"
] | 1,545 | 11,661 |
Rodney "Don Vito" Richard (born July 9, 1978) is an American record producer. He is best known as the producer who collaborated with Kandi Burruss on projects portrayed on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, including Kim Zolciak's breakout single "Tardy for the Party". He also worked as a judge on The Kandi Factory airing on Bravo, and as executive producer for Burruss' weekly webisode series Kandi Koated Nights.
Biography
Don Vito was born Rodney Richard on July 9, 1978, in Gary, Indiana to Louis and Juanita Richard. While in high school, he learned the art of DJing and would perform at school dances and local house parties. After being discharged from the Marine Corps, Don Vito moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
In Atlanta, Vito was introduced to a record producer, DJ Cooley C, who gave him the opportunity to work with hip hop artists Ghetto Mafia and Kilo. He later met Ian Burke and was introduced to rapper Solé, who was signed to RedZone Entertainment. After being signed to RedZone by Tricky Stewart, he started working with Solé and artists such as Mya and Blu Cantrell. Less than four years later, Don Vito ventured out with the R&B group Cherish. In 2005, he launched Don Vito Productions, a music and video production company.
On August 21, 2013, Don Vito and his girlfriend, LaTavia Roberson, formerly of Destiny's Child, welcomed a daughter named Lyric. The pair welcomed son Londyn on September 23, 2019.
Credits
Artist Album Year Credits Karmin Hello 2012 Producer Nelly 5.0 2010 Producer, Programming Nelly 5.0 Deluxe Edition 2010 Producer, Programming Nelly 5.0 Deluxe Edition (Clean) 2010 Producer, Programming Ciara Fantasy Ride 2009 Producer Ciara Fantasy Ride Deluxe Edition 2009 Producer, Audio Production Gorilla Zoe Don't Feed Da Animals 2009 Producer Pleasure P The Introduction of Marcus Cooper 2009 Producer, Audio Production Pleasure P The Introduction of Marcus Cooper (Clean) 2009 Producer, Audio Production Pleasure P The Introduction of Marcus Cooper (Japan Bonus Track) 2009 Producer, Audio Production Hurricane Chris Unleashed 2009 Producer Hurricane Chris Unleashed (Clean) 2009 Producer Rasheeda Certified Hot Chick 2009 Producer Karina First Love 2008 Producer, Audio Producer Cherish The Truth 2008 2008 Cherish The Truth (Japan Bonus Tracks) 2008 2008 Various Artist Total Club Hits, Vol.2 2008 Producer Bow Wow & Omarion Face Off 2007 Producer, Audio Production Bow Wow & Omarion Face Off (CD/DVD) 2007 Producer, Audio Production Bow Wow & Omarion Face Off (Japan Bonus Tracks) 2007 Producer Rasheeda Dat Type of Gurl 2007 Producer Yung Joc Hustlenomics 2007 Audio Production Yung Joc Hustlenomics (Clean) 2007 Producer, Audio Production Yung Joc Hustlenomics (Bonus MVI Clean) 2007 Producer Various Artist Def Jam Sessions, Vol. 1 2007 Composer, Producer Don Vito Don Vito Presents: Crunk and Famous 2006 Executive Producer Cherish Unappreciated 2006 Producer, Mixing, Audio Production Young Quon Doin It...Movin''' || 2006 || Producer
|-
| Various Artist || Young, Fly & Flashy, Vol. 1 || 2005 || Producer, Engineer
|-
| Various Artist || Young, Fly & Flashy, Vol. 1 (Clean) || 2005 || Producer, Engineer
|-
| Nasty Nardo || Can't Stop Ballin || 2004 || Composer
|-
| Mýa || Moodring || 2003 || Producer
|-
| Mýa || Moodring (UK Bonus Tracks) || 2003 || Producer
|-
| Blu Cantrell || Bittersweet (Clean Bonus DVD) || 2003 || Producer, Drum Programming
|-
| Gangsta Boo || Enquiring Minds, Vol. 2: The Soap Opera || 2003 || Producer
|-
| Gangsta Boo || Enquiring Minds, Vol. 2: The Soap Opera (Clean) || 2003 || Producer
|-
| Psy2ko & Mic L Moodswing || Blood is Thicker Than Water || 2002 || Producer
|-
| Original Soundtrack || Bad Company (Original Soundtrack) || 2002 || Producer
|-
| Blu Cantrell || So Blu || 2001 || Keyboards, Programming
|-
| Original Soundtrack || Da New Dirty'' 2002 Producer
Artist Single Year Credits Matthew Soloman "Take That" 2012 Producer Kim Zolciak Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding (Theme Song) 2012 Producer Beanie Sigel "Dolla Signs" f/ 8ball & MJG 2012 Producer Lloyd "The One" 2011 Producer One Chance "Want It" 2011 Producer Soul Train Awards Red Carpet Theme Music 2010 Original Music Twista "Bad Girl" f/ Lloyd 2010 Producer Young Berg "Gettin' to the Money" f/ Lil Wayne 2009 Producer Kim Zolciak "Tardy for the Party" 2009 Producer Lil Scrappy "Stand Up Like a Man" f/ Lil Wayne 2008 Producer Cherish "Killa" 2008 Producer Yung Joc "Coffee Shop" 2007 Producer Bobby V. "Anonymous" f/ Timbaland 2007 Producer Cherish "Do It to It" 2006 Producer, Mixing Twista "Ain't It Man" 2004 Producer
Awards and nominations
2010, BMI, Nomination Special Background Performance Cue
2007, Songwriter Award, (Cherish - "Do It to It")
2023, Songwriter Award, (Acraze feat. Cherish - "Do It to It")
See also
"Tardy for the Party" lawsuit
|
Z-spread
|
[
"Bond valuation",
"Fixed income analysis",
"Credit risk",
"Embedded options"
] | 573 | 4,043 |
The Z-spread, ZSPRD, zero-volatility spread, or yield curve spread of a bond is the parallel shift or spread over the zero-coupon Treasury yield curve required for discounting a predetermined cash flow schedule to arrive at its present market price. The Z-spread is also widely used in the credit default swap (CDS) market as a measure of credit spread that is relatively insensitive to the particulars of specific corporate or government bonds.
Since the Z-spread uses the entire yield curve to value the individual cash flows of a bond, it provides a more realistic valuation than an interpolated yield spread based on a single point of the curve, such as the bond's final maturity date or weighted-average life. However, the Z-spread does not incorporate variability in cash flows, so a fuller valuation of an interest-rate-dependent security often requires the more realistic (and more complicated) option-adjusted spread (OAS).
Definition
The Z-spread of a bond is the number of basis points (bp, or 0.01%) that one needs to add to the Treasury yield curve (or technically to Treasury forward rates) so that the Net present value of the bond cash flows (using the adjusted yield curve) equals the market price of the bond (including accrued interest). The spread is calculated iteratively.
For a mortgage-backed security, a projected prepayment rate tends to be stated; for example, the PSA assumption for a particular MBS might equate a particular group of mortgages to an 8-year amortizing bond with 6% mortality per annum. This gives a single series of nominal cash flows as if the MBS were a riskless bond. If these payments are discounted to net present value (NPV) with a riskless zero-coupon Treasury yield curve, the sum of their values will tend to overestimate the market price of the MBS. This difference arises because the MBS market price incorporates additional factors such as liquidity and credit risk and embedded option cost.
Benchmark for CDS basis
The Z-spread is widely used as the "cash" benchmark for calculating the CDS basis. The CDS basis is commonly the CDS fee minus the Z-spread for a fixed-rate cash bond of the same issuer and maturity. For instance, if a corporation's 10-year CDS is trading at 200 bp and the Z-spread for the corporation's 10-year cash bond is 287 bp, then its 10-year CDS basis is –87 bp.
Example
Assume that on 7/1/2008:
A bond has three future cash flows: $5 on 7/1/2009; $5 on 7/1/2010; $105 on 7/1/2011.
The corresponding zero-coupon Treasury rates (compounded semi-annually) are: 4.5% for 7/1/2009; 4.7% for 7/1/2010; 5.0% for 7/1/2011.
The bond's accrued interest is 0.
The Z-spread is 50 bp.
Then the price P of this bond on 7/1/2008 is given by:
where (for simplicity) the calculation has ignored the slight difference between parallel shifts of spot rates and forward rates.
See also
Asset swap spread
I-spread
Option-adjusted spread
Yield to maturity
References
Frank J. Fabozzi, The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities, 7th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2005.
|
International trade and state security
|
[
"International trade",
"National security",
"Free trade",
"Foreign investment and international security"
] | 2,842 | 22,180 |
International economic structures range from complete autarky to complete market openness. This structure has undergone numerous changes since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The state-power theory as put into perspective by Stephen Krasner (1976), explains that the structure of international trade is determined by the interests and power of states acting to maximize their aggregate national income, social stability, political power and economic growth. Such state interests can be achieved under free trade.
The relationship between these interests and the level of openness depends upon the economic power of states. Power is dependent upon a states size and level of economic development.
Krasner contends that distributions of potential power may vary from multipolar to hegemonic; and different international trading structures are made of either of these. The key to this argument is that a hegemonic distribution of potential economic power is likely to result in an open trading system. Since states act to maximize their aggregate economic utility, maximum global welfare is achieved under free trade.
Neoclassical trade theory posits that the greater the degree of openness in the international trading system, the greater the level of aggregate economic income.
Theoretical perspectives
Robert Gilpin and Stephen Krasner are advocates of the realist tradition, which emphasizes the hegemonic system. The hegemonic system contends that there are states that are much larger and more developed than their trading partners and therefore, the costs and benefits of openness are not symmetrical for all members of the system. Krasner (1976) contends that the hegemonic state will have a preference for an open structure because it will increase its aggregate national income and power.
Realism emphasizes states' demands for power and security. Military force is therefore, the most important power resource. States must rely ultimately on their own resources and must strive to maintain their power positions in the system, even at high economic costs. For realism, the most important variables are the economic and military strength of hegemonic states; and international hostilities are mainly because of variations in the distribution of political-military capabilities between states.
Hegemonic stability
The theory of hegemonic stability by the realist school argues that dominance of one country is necessary for the existence of an open and stable international economy. The relationship between hegemony and an open, stable economy has been challenged by some scholars “As US behavior during the interwar period illustrates, the possession of superior resources by a nation does not translate automatically into great influence or beneficial outcomes for the world.”
Development policy
Realist trade encourages Import substitution industrialization (ISI) replacing imports with domestic production. Realism recognizes that trade regulations can be used to correct domestic distortions and to promote new industries.
Under realism, states possess a high degree of discretionary power to influence many variables and prices in the economy. The government influences the distribution of investment, thus protecting national industries.
International institutions
Realists with their focus on power and the struggle for survival in an anarchical world, criticize the role of international institutions that govern the world economy, such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO), EU, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Scholars argue that the influence exerted by international institutions is dependent upon the states that form part of them, and therefore international institutions have little independent impact. Accordingly, the realist school emphasizes the impact of state power over the strength of the institution per se.
The liberal tradition consists of two schools of thought on the causes of peace, one emphasizes representative government and international institutions and the other advocates global markets and economic development.
Liberalism traces back to Immanuel Kant. Kantian Liberalism posits that democracy, economic interdependence and international organizations are optimal solutions for reducing the incidence of conflict. It is not individual factors, which lead to a more peaceful world, but rather all three elements working in conjunction, which eliminates conflict.
Oneal and Russett's (2001) research design has become a standard choice of replications in studies assessing the Kantian peace triangle where democracies tend to be interdependent and members of the same International Government Organizations (IGOs). Their research is consistent with the argument that democratic peace advocates economic interdependence and a joint need to attain membership in IGOs in order to prevent the incidence of conflict. However, the empirical findings on the Kantian peace triangle as a joint force to eliminate conflict presents some limitations, as one study found that the three Kantian peace variables are less robust in explaining leaders’ conflict behavior. Keohane and Nye (2000) go further to include the lack of additional components in this theory including environmental and military measurements.
Liberals emphasize two main aspects of the benefits of trade. First, trade promotes states to work together and cooperatively, reinforcing peaceful relations among trading partners. The second benefit is based on the expected utility model of trade and conflict which emphasizes the potential economic consequences of a disruption in trade. Countries are therefore deterred from initiating conflict against a trading partner for fear of losing the welfare gains associated with trade.
Liberals argue that economic interdependence between states reduces conflict because conflict discourages commerce.
Recent cost-benefit calculations of trade take into account information as an important component in the explanation of the pacifying aspect of economic interdependence. Through open trade, states reveal their intentions and capabilities and thus “relations become more transparent and reduce uncertainty.”
Furthermore, economic interdependence makes costly signals possible. If military action did not entail loss, national leaders would not be able to communicate their capabilities and resolve. This acts as a deterrent and promotes peace between states. “Mechanisms that facilitate the transmission of credible information across international boundaries limit bargaining failure, enhancing interstate peace.”
There is some disagreement about the interdependence liberal thesis among some scholars. Kenneth Waltz, for example, argues that since "close interdependence means closeness of contact and raises the prospect of at least occasional conflict . . . the [liberal] myth of interdependence . . . asserts a false belief about the conditions that may promote peace."
Despite the scrutiny, there is a long-held position that economic interdependence has a pacifying effect on interstate relations, evidenced by research conducted by Oneal & Russett 1999 and Xiang et al. 2007.
According to the liberal view, the costly nature of conflict is central to contemporary bargaining theory.
Keohane & Nye (1987) put forth four conditions that make the use of force by large states costly:
Risks of nuclear escalation
Resistance by people in poor or weak countries
Uncertain and possibly negative effects on the achievement of economic goals
Domestic opinion opposed to the human costs of the use of force
Development policy
Liberal trade encourages export led growth (ELG), leaving traders and consumers dependent on foreign markets. Liberals argue that these actors have an incentive to avoid hostilities with their trading partners, since any disruption in commercial relations would be costly.
International institutions
International institutions are a key feature of the liberal peace, because they represent credible signals of resolve to defend member states in times of crisis, regulate state behavior, facilitate communication and create common security interests between member states.
The argument about trade and conflict
The relationship between international trade and conflict has been a source of controversy among international relations scholars. Some scholars argue that trade does not reduce conflict even though conflict reduces trade; while others report that international trade fosters a peaceful disposition among states, which are less likely to resort to armed conflict in times of crisis.
The argument that open trade inhibits conflict dates back to the classical liberal movement of free trade and world peace. This view argues that increasing interaction among traders and consumers (interdependence) promotes peace; free trade fosters a sense of international community that reduce interstate conflict and tensions. Liberals posit that free markets and economic development contribute to a reduction in interstate conflict. The contrasting contemporary view is that open trade dampens political conflict by promoting economic dependence.
Economic dependence has negative consequences for interstate conflict. Albert O. Hirschman (1945) for example, has pointed out that the “gains from trade do not accrue to states proportionately and the distribution of these gains can affect interstate power relations. Moreover, shifts in power relations are widely regarded as a potent source of military conflict.”
Economic interdependence
Economic interdependence and greater openness exposes domestic economies to the exigencies of the world market. Social instability is therefore increased by exposure to international competition. This negative force undermines the Kantian peace and remains a cause for concern in international conflict. Although this concern seems legitimate given the economic disparities between developed and developing countries, studies fail to provide comprehensive empirical evidence.
Another view at odds with liberalism is that technological innovation and industrialization increase the ability of some countries to exercise power. As trade flows and the level of interdependence increases, so do the incentives for states to take military actions to reduce their economic vulnerability.
The adverse effect of trade on state security is difficult to determine, however the more competition, the more aggressive the environment. Openness and competition increases social instability because domestic prices need to adjust to changes in international prices. Consistent with the realists view that states are essentially always in conflict, social instability and resource competition are motives for conflict and states will rely on the use of force to attain their own political goals and interests.
The role of military power
A number of international relations scholars, notably Xiang, Xu & Keteku 2007; Mearsheimer 2001, recognize the role of military power in initiating conflict, as well as the role militarily powerful countries play in international trade. One argument suggests that militarily capable countries are more likely to have the motivation to initiate armed conflict due to their awareness of their capabilities and to their confidence in achieving favorable outcomes.
A second argument suggests that power facilitates trade. Third, there are positive benefits from economic interdependence on military power. Finally, the economic stature of a country determines both the military power and level of trade of that country, hinting that economic powerful states trade more. Because powerful countries are better positioned to take advantage of the benefits resulting from international trade and to transform welfare gains into military power, they also are more likely to use force when their positions are threatened.
Similarly, Gartzke & Hewitt (2010) argue that the “extension of economic and other interests beyond national borders increases incentives to police relevant regions and exercise influence, sometimes through force.”
Unequal peace
The motives for conflict, which historically were concentrated among the powerful and their ambitious challengers, are today clustered among the poor, and between the poor and the rich (Gartzke & Hewitt (2010). Theory has prompted to inequality as a potential source of internal conflict. ”Inequalities within the same countries has increased, not through impoverishment of the masses, but because while wealth is created many people remain left behind in poverty. Thus, we have an unequal peace." Around 60 countries suffer not only from low GDP per capita but also low or negative growth. These countries tend to be caught in armed conflict among other development traps. Some argue that the evidence surrounding inequality and conflict remains inconclusive, calling for further empirical studies.
Studies show that states with the most dissimilar interests possess a motive for conflict but whether they experience conflict (or not) depends on external determinants of bargaining success or failure. These determinants include uncertainty about the balance of power, opponent's resolve as well as policy dissimilarities between competing states. Interests are important determinants of whether conflict occurs. According to Gartzke & Hewitt (2010), promoting democratic interests, or even imposing them for peace, is not likely to reduce conflict “it may even lead to a weakening of the actual determinants of liberal peace”, thereby increasing interstate tensions. Contemporary research demonstrates that promoting free markets and economic development helps mitigate conflict and promote peace
Capitalist peace
The capitalist peace thesis suggests that free markets and economic development contribute to a reduction in interstate conflict.
Research on the capitalist peace has chosen to pursue the liberal political economy school, with a particular focus on Kant's Perpetual Peace. The same set of theoretical frameworks that evolved in democratic peace research now asserts itself in the capitalist peace (Gartzke & Hewitt 2010, p. 121).
The capitalist peace sees capitalism as creating conditions to make war more costly and therefore undesirable by trading states. Traditional interpretations of the capital peace contend that development and global markets will eventually eliminate resource competition as a motive for war. This view was eventually deemed outdated, as “it became clear that needed raw materials would continue to make their way to industrial centers through free markets, rather than through mercantilist autarkies (Gartzke & Hewitt, 2010, p. 122).
The capitalist theory contends that as economies become stronger, prosperous capitalist states no longer need to threaten one another over access to inputs to production. Consequently, the security dilemma loses its relevance.
Scholars like Michael Mousseau argue that democracies are only peaceful in pairs. Other research has demonstrated that the democratic peace is even more exclusive than previously imagined, limiting the finding to developed democracies. Gartzke and Hewitt (2010) challenged this by demonstrating that it is economic development and market freedoms, rather than political liberty that result in interstate peace.
Deterrent effect of institutional ties
International Government Organizations (IGOs) are designed to promote cooperation and inhibit political disputes. Institutional ties promote the exchange of information about the economic gains and losses of participating member states, thereby reducing uncertainty about the distribution of benefits.
Regional institutions also present great influence in addressing issues beyond trade. Regional economic institutions help develop trade expectations for the future. “High economic stakes that states have in the continuation and growth of economic activity in the context of economic regionalism lead to a security community in which states develop a genuine interest in not only keeping peace with each other, but also defending their relationship against outside aggressors.” In addition to their role in dispute settlement, regional arrangements can deter aggressors from targeting institutionally connected states.
Aydin (2010) makes an important contribution to the extended deterrence literature and economic peace research through his empirical study on the deterrent effect of economic integration. This study shows that trade has a general deterrent effect on attackers when the target is economically integrated with potential defenders through regional trade institutions. When trade is conducted in an institutionalized setting it can have political implications beyond bilateral interdependence.
Research shows that economic integration decreases the opportunities to fight and enhances the opportunities to intervene in crisis. Mansfield & Pevehouse (2000, p. 776) present strong evidence that “the combination of PTA membership (preferential trading arrangements) and a high level of trade is quite likely to discourage belligerence.”
Many PTAs have become venues for addressing political disputes between participants and fostering cooperation. Observers have widely acknowledged, for example, that ASEAN has helped to manage tensions in Southeast Asia. Mercado Comun del Sur (MERCOSUR) has done likewise, improving political-military relations throughout the southern cone. (Mansfield & Pevehouse, 2000, p. 781). The reciprocal nature of this system helps guarantee that economic concessions made by one state will be repaid, rather than exploited by its counterpart.
International investment flows
Another area to add to the existing literature on economic integration is the impact of militarized conflict on foreign investment.
Bussman's (2010) contribution to the liberal notion that conflict inhibits foreign investment, complements the liberal peace arguments in conflict studies. Bussman's research shows that international conflict reduces international investment flows considerably.
Bussman contends that “as with trade, foreign investment could be an important factor in promoting peace. States might avoid violent conflict in order not to deter foreign investors.” By ensuring political stability, states can thus create an environment that is desirable to foreign investors. It is therefore, in the best interest of states to keep away from belligerent behaviour as they could potentially miss out on the welfare gains associated with foreign investment.
As a result, states that benefit from foreign direct investment flows are less likely to experience the onset of militarized conflict.
See also
International political economy
|
Health administration
|
[
"Policy",
"Health care management",
"Health economics",
"Health care reform",
"Health insurance",
"Universal health care",
"Health education",
"Public health"
] | 2,271 | 21,550 |
Health administration, healthcare administration, healthcare management, health services management or hospital management is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of public health systems, health care systems, hospitals, and hospital networks in all the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.
Terminology
Health systems management or health care systems management describes the leadership and general management of hospitals, hospital networks, and/or health care systems. In international use, the term refers to management at all levels. In the United States, management of a single institution (e.g. a hospital) is also referred to as "medical and health services management", "healthcare management", or "health administration".
Health systems management ensures that specific outcomes are attained that departments within a health facility are running smoothly that the right people are in the right jobs, that people know what is expected of them, that resources are used efficiently and that all departments are working towards a common goal for mutual development and growth.
Hospital administrators
Hospital administrators are individuals or groups of people who act as the central point of control within hospitals. These individuals may be previous or current clinicians, or individuals with other healthcare backgrounds. There are two types of administrators, generalists and specialists. Generalists are individuals who are responsible for managing or helping to manage an entire facility. Specialists are individuals who are responsible for the efficient and effective operations of a specific department such as policy analysis, finance, accounting, budgeting, human resources, or marketing.
It was reported in September 2014, that the United States spends roughly $218 billion per year on hospital's administration costs, which is equivalent to 1.43 percent of the total U.S. economy. Hospital administration has grown as a percent of the U.S. economy from .9 percent in 2000 to 1.43 percent in 2012, according to Health Affairs. In 11 countries, hospitals allocate approximately 12 percent of their budget toward administrative costs. In the United States, hospitals spend 25 percent on administrative costs.
Competencies
NCHL competencies that require to engage with credibility, creativity, and motivation in complex and dynamic health care environments.
Accountability
Achievement orientation
Change leadership
Collaboration
Communication skills
Financial skills
Impact and influence
Innovative thinking
Organizational awareness
Professionalism
Self-confidence
Strategic orientation
Talent development
Team leadership
Training and organizations
Associated qualifications
Health care management is usually studied through healthcare administration or healthcare management programs in a business school or, in some institutions, in a school of public health.
North America
Although many colleges and universities are offering a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration or human resources, a master's degree is considered the "standard credential" for most health administrators in the United States. Research and academic-based doctorate level degrees, such as the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Administration and the Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) degree, prepare health care professionals to turn their clinical or administrative experiences into opportunities to develop new knowledge and practice, teach, shape public policy and/or lead complex organizations. There are multiple recognized degree types that are considered equivalent from the perspective of professional preparation.
The Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) is the accrediting body overseeing master's-level programs in the United States and Canada on behalf of the United States Department of Education. It accredits several degree program types, including Master of Hospital Administration (MHA), Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA), Master of Business Administration in Hospital Management (MBA-HM), Master of Health Administration (MHA), Master of Public Health (MPH, MSPH, MSHPM), Master of Science (MS-HSM, MS-HA), and Master of Public Administration (MPA).(Master of Hospital Management) (MHM)
Professional organizations
There are a variety of different professional associations related to health systems management, which can be subcategorized as either personal or institutional membership groups. Personal membership groups are joined by individuals, and typically have individual skills and career development as their focus. Larger personal membership groups include the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Institutional membership groups are joined by organizations; whereas they typically focus on organizational effectiveness, and may also include data sharing agreements and other medical related or administrative practice sharing vehicles for member organizations. Prominent examples include the American Hospital Association and the University Healthsystems Consortium.
System processes
A career in healthcare administration consists of organizing, developing, and managing medical and health services. These responsibilities are carried out at hospitals, clinics, managed care companies, public health agencies, and other comparable establishments. This job involves a lot of paperwork and minimal clinical engagement. Healthcare administrators make sure to promote excellence in patient care, patient satisfaction, and relationships with their physicians. In order to do this they must make sure that their employees are willing to follow protocols and keep a positive attitude with their patients. The entire organization has a better experience when everything is organized and protocols are set into place. The dual role of physicians follows as both consumers of healthcare resources and controllers of organizational revenue with their ability to direct patients and prescribe care. This makes leader relationships with physicians fairly atypical in comparison with key stakeholder relationships in other industries. Healthcare administrators might become overworked along with physicians feeling stressed from various protocols. However, both the parties of stakeholders and patients make up the backbone of a proper healthcare administration. These administrators make sure that the doctors, insurance companies, patients, and other healthcare providers have access to the files they need to provide appropriate treatments. Multiple hierarchies of professionals, on both the clinical and administrative sides of the organization, generate special challenges for directing and coordinating the healthcare organization. A healthcare administrator has a long-term effect in improving the hospital's process operation systems. They play a vital role in the sustainability of the institution.
Funding of hospitals
Healthcare administrators are in charge of hospital finances and advocate various strategies to improve their facilities and resources. Hospitals provide funding for assets like marketing, charity events, equipment, medicine, payroll, etc. At the same time, an institution should not be all things to people; it has its own limitations. The management administration carefully manages these funds due to a spending limitation. The healthcare administrators control the expenditures that the hospital allows in order to meet profits. Sometimes hospitals are limited on what they can do for patients. Administrators that run these hospitals strive to achieve goals within their financial limitations. This study examines the causes of healthcare employment growth and workforce composition in the US and evaluates the labor market's impact on healthcare spending and health outcomes. When healthcare spending reduces, employment growth will start reducing as well. The healthcare administration is critical to the lives of the people in hospitals. It contributes to cost saving practices and making sure that the necessities are brought to the institution. Healthcare management makes sure that protocols and funds are properly organized for each department. They are responsible for keeping the healthcare industry afloat. Many hospitals host charity events and donate to them as well.
Overall goal
The fundamental goal of a hospital administrator is to create a positive work environment where patients are treated in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. The United States leads the world in high quality and advanced level healthcare. Everyone is working towards a common goal thanks to these mission statements. This improves the organization's efficiency and productivity. The mission statement establishes the organization's purpose and provides employees a sense of belonging and identity. This encourages management and stakeholders to put in more effort in order to obtain success. The ultimate purpose of health care is to help individuals regain their overall health and wellbeing.
Research
Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is a field of inquiry that studies "how societies organize themselves in achieving collective health goals, and how different actors interact in the policy and implementation processes to contribute to policy outcomes". HPSR is interdisciplinary and brings together expertise in a variety of biomedical and social sciences such as economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, public health and epidemiology.
The Commission on Health Research for Development and the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research both highlighted the urgent need for focusing research methods, funding and practice towards addressing health inequities and embracing inter-disciplinary and intersectoral thinking. These reports and other academic and activist voices linked to them argued for greater voice and participation of developing countries in defining research priorities. Since then creation of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in 2000 and that of Health Systems Global in 2012 have consolidated the practice community of HPSR.
Early hospital administrators were called patient directors or superintendents. At the time, many were nurses who had taken on administrative responsibilities. Over half of the members of the American Hospital Association were graduate nurses in 1916. Other superintendents were medical doctors, laymen and members of the clergy.
In the United States, the first degree granting program in the United States was established at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By 1927, the first two students received their degrees. The original idea is credited to Father Moulinier, associated with the Catholic Hospital Association. The first modern health systems management program was established in 1934 at the University of Chicago. At the time, programs were completed in two years – one year of formal graduate study and one year of practicing internship. In 1958, the Sloan program at Cornell University began offering a special program requiring two years of formal study, which remains the dominant structure in the United States and Canada today (see also "Academic Preparation").
Health systems management has been described as a "hidden" health profession because of the relatively low-profile role managers take in health systems, in comparison to direct-care professions such as nursing and medicine. However the visibility of the management profession within healthcare has been rising in recent years, due largely to the widespread problems developed countries are having in balancing cost, access, and quality in their hospitals and health systems.
See also
Health insurance
Health Insurance Innovations
Health Advocate
Master of Health Administration
Nosokinetics
Further reading
Jill Barr & Lesley Dowding; Leadership in Health Care, 2012; Sage Publications Ltd; .
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Hayne Leland
|
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Hayne Leland is an economist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to becoming emeritus, he was the Arno Rayner Professor of Finance at the Haas School of Business. Before joining Berkeley, Leland was an assistant professor in economics at Stanford University, and he has held visiting professorships at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Cambridge. He received his A.B. from Harvard College, followed by an M.Sc.(Econ) at the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Paris (Dauphine) in 2007.
His research in capital markets and corporate finance has received several awards, including the inaugural $100,000 Stephen A. Ross Prize in Financial Economics in 2008. In 2016, he was named "Financial Engineer of the Year" by the International Association of Quantitative Finance. Leland served as President of the American Finance Association in 1997, and has served on numerous scientific advisory boards, including those of Goldman Sachs, Wells Capital Management, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the Swiss National Science Foundation. He was an independent trustee of the mutual funds group of Barclays Global Investors (BGI), prior to BGI's acquisition by BlackRock.
Much of Leland's theoretical work has found direct applications in asset management and corporate financial structure. This includes portfolio insurance, option pricing with transactions costs, and valuation of risky corporate debt. More recently, he has worked on introducing equity-sharing contracts in financing home purchase, and structuring retirement funds to provide assured income over retirement years.
Portfolio Insurance and the 1987 Crash.
In 1979, Leland realized that then-recent work on option pricing could be applied to dynamically hedge a portfolio, resulting in a financial product termed "portfolio insurance". In conjunction with Mark Rubinstein, a Berkeley colleague and options expert, and John O'Brien, a financial industry professional, he co-founded Leland O'Brien Rubinstein Associates (LOR) in 1980 to provide portfolio protection strategies. LOR's protected asset base grew rapidly, reaching $50 billion by mid-1987 (the equivalent of almost $500 b when adjusted to the S&P 500 level in mid-2017). In 1987, Leland and his partners Rubinstein and O'Brien were co-named "Businessmen of the Year" by Fortune magazine.
The portfolio insurance strategy required that clients sell (to hedge) stocks or stock index futures as the market declined. During the crash of October 19, 1987, the drop in stock prices required LOR to sell large amounts of stock index futures, creating further downward pressure on stock prices. While portfolio insurance was not the initial cause of the crash, the Brady Commission Report examining trading that day concluded that insurance selling, roughly 15% of total stock and futures sold that day, was contributory to the magnitude of the crash. Market mechanism failures, including the failure of the SuperDot system, were also held responsible in the Brady Report.
The SuperTrust: The first U.S. ETF.
Looking for a means to provide portfolio protection without dynamic trading, LOR then developed a fund structure to allow fully collateralized portfolio protection and basket trading. LOR's SuperTrust consisted of two funds, known as SuperUnits, whose assets were S&P 500 stocks and short-term Treasury securities, respectively. To provide a basket product, shares of the SuperUnits required continuous trading when markets were open, similar to the trading of exchange-listed closed-end fund shares. But for the funds' market value to closely track the underlying portfolio value—a problem with closed-end funds whose shares often fell to discounts—fund shares also needed to be redeemable daily for cash or for underlying assets at net asset value (NAV). The SuperTrust's SuperUnits allowed smaller redemptions in cash, with larger redemptions in stock bundles. The Investment Company Act of 1940 disallows such a fund structure, i.e., with simultaneous closed-end and open-end fund properties, but it does allow the SEC to provide exemptions to the regulations when they're deemed to be in the public interest.
LOR applied for exemptive relief from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April 1989. Arguments justifying LOR's request for exemption are available at . While these arguments are now widely accepted and relief has been granted to hundreds of ETFs, the request was controversial at the time and required five amended applications and a hearing before the full Commission prior to final approval in October 1990. After some initial funding delays, LOR launched the SuperTrust with $1 billion in assets in November, 1992, with the SuperUnit shares trading on the American Stock Exchange (Amex). The SuperTrust's SuperUnits were the first U.S. exchange-traded funds that allowed daily redemption of shares at NAV. The SuperTrust's Index SuperUnit was the first S&P 500 based ETF.
The Amex initially had cooperated with LOR to develop a basket product, but subsequently decided to follow their own path with the Standard and Poor's Depository Receipt (SPDR), also based on the S&P 500. Their request for exemptive relief from the SEC was filed over a year after LOR's, and approval was received two years after LOR's. Their proposal was somewhat different in structure (e.g., redemption in large stock bundles only, and no sub-shares) but cited The SuperTrust exemptive order as precedent, using many of the same arguments made previously in application by LOR.
The SPDR was launched in 1993, three months after SuperUnit shares began trading, with initial asset value just over $6 million. However, with the Amex's marketing blitz (e.g., "spiders" descending from the ceiling onto the trading floor) and campaign, the SPDR ultimately became the basket product that gained liquidity and for many years was the largest ETF. The SuperTrust, which had an initial term of 3 years, failed to gain competitive liquidity and was not rolled over after its initial term.
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Yorkshire Bank
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Yorkshire Bank was a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in England.
The Yorkshire Bank was founded in 1859 as the West Riding of Yorkshire Provident Society and Penny Savings Society but the Provident Society was soon abandoned and the Bank then traded as the West Riding of Yorkshire Penny Savings Bank. After further abbreviations, its present name was adopted in 1959.
The Bank's model was unique in that it directly owned an extensive network of penny banks, remitting funds into a Central Office. By the late nineteenth century, it was larger than any of the Trustee Savings Banks. However, the Bank faced a potential withdrawal of savings in 1911 and was acquired by a consortium of clearing banks.
The Bank was acquired by National Australia Bank (NAB) in 1990 and was merged into another NAB subsidiary, Clydesdale Bank in 2005, continuing to operate as a distinct trading division. In 2016 NAB divested its UK operations as CYBG plc which went on to acquire Virgin Money plc in 2018. Subsequently the Yorkshire Bank name was phased out with all branches rebranded as Virgin Money.
History
Formation
Colonel Edward Akroyd is regarded as the initiator of the Bank; he was a prominent Halifax industrialist, head of the family woollen firm of James Akroyd & Son, magistrate and Member of Parliament. His philanthropic work led him to the importance of savings for the working class, much as the founders of the savings banks and early penny banks had done decades before. His original intention was to establish both a provident society and a penny bank within the same institution. In May 1856, Akroyd circulated a pamphlet to prominent figures in the county, leading to a public meeting in November at the Philosophical Hall, Leeds. A committee was formed to bring into being the West Riding of Yorkshire Provident Society and Penny Savings Society, with funds raised to finance both parts. In the event, the Provident Society proved uncompetitive with the large societies and it soon closed; the Bank then traded as the West Riding of Yorkshire Penny Savings Bank.
The unique Yorkshire concept
The Yorkshire Bank was different from other savings banks. At the bottom of the savings chain stood the penny banks, doing what their name implied: accepting very small sums from the poorest local people. As their funds increased, they would be deposited with the trustee savings banks. The relationship between the penny banks and the savings banks could be close, with a savings bank acting as a receiving agency for a number of penny banks in its area. (The Glasgow Savings Bank, for instance, had 97 of these by 1870.) What Akroyd envisaged was the Yorkshire forming and owning the local penny banks, and also being the receiving agent for their surplus funds. He began a campaign "to form a great network of penny banks and provident societies in the West Riding, guaranteed by the local gentry and industrialists". Akroyd saw the advantage of a central co-ordinating body for penny banks in a wide district; this could have been found in the Trustee Savings Banks, but Akroyd distrusted them. He wanted freedom of investment of the funds, and recognised that they could not grow just from the savings of the poor: the Bank needed small traders also.
Considerable time was taken to establish the organisation. A key appointment in 1858 was of Peter Bent as accountant, later to become the Bank's first general manager. Finally, in May 1859 the Central Office was ready and the Bank registered under the Friendly Society Acts. In the first month of its existence, two branches opened: Dewsbury and Oxenhope; by the end of the year there were 24 branches, and a year later there were 128, with total deposits of £23.000. These branches opened one evening a week, usually for an hour or two, and were generally known as "evening branches". By the end of 1860 the abortive Provident Society had been abandoned and it was decided to extend the Bank coverage from the West Riding to the whole county.
Incorporation and 19th century growth
The 1863 Savings Act caused problems: the Bank was prevented from using the word "savings" in its title without being registered under the Act. Registration was not acceptable to the trustees, who did not want the restrictions it brought: e.g. on the maximum amount an individual investor could deposit (on the face of it, a strange objection from a penny bank). The Bank therefore opted for registration with the Board of Trade, but still had to drop the word "savings" from its name. By 1871, the Bank finally obtained its certificate of registration and duly changed its name to the Yorkshire Penny Bank.
In 1865, pressure of business in the Leeds branches had encouraged the Central Office to open a branch on its premises; unlike all the other branches, this opened daily. It was immediately successful: after one year, deposits were £2,000 and by 1870 they had risen to £25,000. Once the Bank had been registered, it used the Central Office branch as a model for the future branch structure. Gradually, additional daily branches were opened, starting with Bradford (1872), Halifax (1876) and Sheffield (1878). At the same time, new evening branches continued to be opened and these peaked at 955 in 1894; by then, there were 16 full branches and these more than doubled to 36 by 1900. Also from 1872, cheque books were introduced to encourage small traders to become customers and "to dispel the common view that the Bank existed only for the small savings of children and the poorer classes". Despite that encouragement to small traders, the Bank actively encouraged accounts that had grown too large to switch to commercial banks.
With time came changes in the Bank's leadership. Ackroyd resigned as President in 1879, and in 1891 Peter Bent died aged 64. He had become the first general manager in 1877 and under his guidance, deposits had risen to £5.7 million. This compared with the Glasgow Savings Bank, then the largest is the country, which had deposits "in excess of £3 million" in 1878. Bent's son-in-law Henry Sellers took over and remained general manager until 1914. He introduced a stocks and shares department to the Bank and, as a result of the Boer War, developed a network of international correspondents. By 1908, deposits had risen to £17 million.
The 1911 collapse
In 1911, the Bank's deposits of £18.5 million were supported by reserves of only £468,000. Although these deposits were repayable on demand, the funds were largely invested in fixed rate government securities, which, although liquid, fluctuated in value. The directors feared that a fall in the value of investments could threaten a run on the bank. In a rescue sponsored by the Bank of England, the Yorkshire Penny Bank was acquired by a consortium of eleven clearing banks. Additional capital of £11.5 million was injected into the Bank and further guarantees given to cover potential losses. The old Board was replaced and a new bank of the same name was formed. The eventual deficiency of £2.5 million was greater than the bank's shareholders' guarantees, and further Government guarantees were obtained.
Despite the Bank's philanthropic origins, the new shareholders required it to be profitable. The operational limits of 10 miles over the border were removed and, in another change, overdrafts were allowed. However, the inter-war years were "not distinguished by any great progress": between 1920 and 1932 deposits stood at around £29 million. In the late 1920s and early 1930s a few new branches were opened, and by 1939 deposits had grown to £39 million. However, it proved difficult to open new branches because of complaints from its shareholders that the Yorkshire was competing with their existing business. Helped by inflation, the Bank's deposits rose to £95 million in 1948, the year that Henry Ashworth became general manager. However, the Bank was still trying to combine the strengths of the local penny banks with the requirements of a modern commercial institution. There were still 677 evening branches; these were deemed out of date and by 1955 only 79 remained. Instead, Ashworth wanted to increase lending to customers; and in 1959 the word "Penny", widely thought to be off-putting to large customers, was finally dropped from the Bank's title, leaving just the simple Yorkshire Bank Ltd.
The 1952 reorganisation
Despite Ashworth's intentions, the bank's funds were still largely invested in British Government securities ("gilts"); only 4 per cent of assets were in overdrafts. As in 1911, falling gilt values again threatened a substantial deficit, and by 1952 another increase in capital was required. Midland Bank held 37.5% of the shares and did not wish to continue, selling its holding to the other members of the consortium, now down to seven. The clearing bank mergers of 1968 further reduced the number of shareholders down to four: National Westminster, Barclays, Lloyds Bank and Williams & Glyn. The shift in the asset structure continued and by 1970 overdrafts had reached £100, rising to £337 million in 1979, or 54% of assets, a far cry from the 4% of 1952.
Yorkshire Bank Ltd
In its centenary year of 1959, the bank's name changed to Yorkshire Bank Limited. During the 1970s the bank became one of the first to offer fee free banking whilst in credit, a move that took bigger rivals a decade to follow. In 1982, it adopted public limited company status.
During the miners' strike from 1984 to 1985, the bank offered miners who were mortgage holders a deferment, allowing them to postpone payments for the duration of the dispute. The strike took place in the bank's heartland and many miners were customers, having been encouraged by the National Coal Board to have their pay mandated to a bank account.
Acquisition by National Australia Bank
In 1990, the National Australia Bank Group acquired the bank from the consortium of owning banks which, after mergers and acquisitions, were the National Westminster Bank (holders of 40%), Barclays Bank (32%), Lloyds Bank (20%), and Royal Bank of Scotland (8%). The price paid was £1 billion and the bank joined National Australia Bank's other European businesses, Clydesdale Bank (Scotland) and Northern Bank (which operated in both jurisdictions in Ireland).
In May 2005, the National Australia Bank announced its intention to merge the Yorkshire Bank with the Clydesdale under one operating licence, in which the former would be a trading name of the latter. Both operate under separate identities although the Clydesdale brand is the one that has been used in further expansion into the south of England (Northern Bank was sold to Danske Bank of Denmark along with its operations in the Republic of Ireland, the National Irish Bank). At the same time 40 branches were closed, a reduction of a fifth of the Yorkshire Bank network.
In 2006 underlying profit rose 16.7 per cent to £454 million compared with a year earlier, while post-tax earnings climbed 12.8 per cent to £229 million. Total income was up 8.7 per cent at £1,193 million, while net interest income climbed 14.6 per cent to £769 million.
In April 2012, National Australia Bank completed a strategic review of its businesses in the United Kingdom and decided to scale back operations, completely stopping Commercial Property Investment lending and closing 29 Financial Solutions Centres, with the resultant loss of 1,400 jobs over three years.
In July 2013, Yorkshire Bank forgot to renew its domain name, leading to customers being unable to log onto its website for a number of days. Yorkshire Bank blamed individual ISPs saying they had not refreshed their servers. On 2 September 2014 the bank suffered more IT related issues as its systems left customers unable to make or receive payments for a period of time.
CYBG plc
National Australia Bank confirmed in October 2014 that it planned to leave the United Kingdom and was considering a number of options for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks, including a possible stock-market listing. In October 2015 NAB announced that it would float Clydesdale Bank plc, including Yorkshire Bank, on the London Stock Exchange in February 2016 through an initial public offering, with an aim of raising £2 billion.
Clydesdale Bank plc's newly formed holding company CYBG plc began conditional trading on the LSE and the Australian Securities Exchange on 3 February 2016, and began trading unconditionally from 8 February 2016.
Transition to Virgin Money
In June 2018 CYBG plc announced it would acquire Virgin Money for £1.7 billion in an all-stock deal. Almost one in six employees were expected to lose their jobs in the takeover, which would result in retail customers being migrated to the Virgin Money brand over three years.
In June 2019 CYBG plc announced its plans to consolidate its businesses under the Virgin Money brand. B and Yorkshire Bank, which exist as trading divisions of Clydesdale Bank plc, would begin to use the Virgin Money name in early 2020 and Clydesdale Bank to use the new name between late 2020 and early 2021. In September 2019 Yorkshire Bank confirmed it would be leaving its Leeds headquarters, with two hundred employees being relocated to the bank's flagship branch on Briggate. In preparation for rebranding, the existing Virgin Money plc was merged into the existing Clydesdale Bank plc on 21 October 2019.
See also
List of banks in the United Kingdom
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History of the salt tax in British India
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[
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Taxation of salt has occurred in India since the earliest times. However, this tax was greatly increased when the British East India Company began to establish its rule over provinces in India. In 1835, special taxes were imposed on Indian salt to facilitate its import. This paid huge dividends for the traders of the British East India Company. When the Crown took over the administration of India from the Company in 1858, the taxes were not revoked.
The stringent salt taxes imposed by the British were vehemently condemned by the Indian public. In 1885, at the first session of the Indian National Congress in Bombay, a prominent Congress Leader, S. A. Saminatha Iyer, raised the issue of the salt tax. There were further protests throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries culminating in Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha in 1930. This satyagraha was followed by other satyagrahas in other parts of the country.
After the arrest of Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu led the satyagrahis to Dharasana Salt works in Gujarat and was arrested by the police officers. C. Rajagopalachari broke the Salt Laws at Vedaranyam, in Madras Province in the same year. Thousands courted arrest and were imprisoned in large numbers. The administration eventually relented and invited Mahatma Gandhi to England to attend the Second Round Table Conference. Gandhi's Dandi March got wide news coverage and proved to be a turning point in the history of India's independence movement.
The salt tax continued to remain in effect and was repealed only when Jawaharlal Nehru became the prime minister of the interim government in 1946. After independence, a salt tax was later re-introduced in India via the Salt Cess Act, 1953, before being scrapped and succeeded by the Goods and Services Tax in 2017, which does not tax salt. In Pakistan, table salt is currently taxed but iodised salt is not.
Taxation of salt
An early mention of salt taxation is found in Guanzi, a book written in China BCE, which proposes various methods for its implementation. The recommendations of Guanzi became the official salt policy of early Chinese Emperors. At one point, salt taxes constituted over one-half of China's revenues and contributed to the construction of the Great Wall of China.
Salt was also important in the ancient Roman Empire. The first of the great Roman roads, the Via Salaria, or Salt Road, was built for transporting salt. However, unlike the Chinese, Romans did not monopolize salt.
In Britain, there are references to salt taxes in the Domesday Book but they had died out before patents were given in Tudor times. Reintroduced in 1641 in the Commonwealth period there was such outcry that they were withdrawn on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and not reinstated till 1693 under William III, with duty set at two shillings a bushel on foreign salt, one shilling on native salt with exemption for fishery salt. In 1696 the tax was doubled and remained in force till abolished in 1825. There were probably 600 full-time officials employed in the collection of the taxes.
Taxation of salt in India
Salt-producing areas in India
Salt has been produced all along the Rann of Kutch on the west coast of India for the past 5,000 years. The Rann of Kutch is an extensive marshland that is cut off from the rest of the Indian subcontinent during monsoons when the seas inundate the low-lying areas. However, when the seawater evaporates during summer, it leaves behind a crust of salt which accumulates as salt pans. This salt is collected by laborers called malangas.
On the east coast, salt could be obtained extensively along the coast of Odisha. The salt produced by the salt pans called khalaris in Oriya is of the finest quality in all India. There has always been a demand for Odisha salt in Bengal. When the British took over the administration of Bengal, they too felt its need and traded for salt. Gradually they monopolized Odisha salt all over Bengal. To check smuggling and illegal transportation, they sent armies into Odisha, resulting in the conquest of Odisha in 1803.
Taxation of salt before British rule
Salt is a commodity that had been taxed in India ever since the time of the Mauryas. Taxes on salt have been prevalent even during the time of Chandragupta Maurya. The Arthashastra, which describes the different duties of the people, says that a special officer called lavananadhyaksa was appointed to collect the salt tax. Taxes were also imposed on imported salt. However, they accounted for 25 percent of the total value of the salt.
In Bengal, there was a salt tax in force during the era of the Mughal Empire, which was 5% for Hindus and 5% for Muslims.
Taxation of salt by the British East India Company
In 1759, two years after its victory at the Battle of Plassey, the British East India Company came into possession of land near Calcutta where there were salt works. Utilizing this opportunity to make money, they doubled the land rent and imposed transit charges on the transportation of salt.
In 1764, following the victory at the Battle of Buxar, the British began to control all the revenues of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Robert Clive, who returned as governor in 1765, made the sale of tobacco, betel nut, and salt (apart from other accessories and essential spices and condiments), the monopoly of the senior officers of the British East India Company. Contracts were given to deliver salt to depots, and merchants were required to buy from these depots.
The outrage was expressed by the authorities in England who declared:
Clive responded by offering the company per annum from the profits made.
However, the authorities in England were stubborn, and due to the pressure they exerted, the monopoly of tobacco and betel nut was stopped on 1 September 1767, followed by the annulment of the salt monopoly on 7 October 1768.
In 1772, the governor-general, Warren Hastings, brought the salt trade once again under the company's control. The salt works were leased out to farmers who agreed to deliver salt at a fixed rate to the company and sold the leases to the highest bidders. Corruption dealt a severe blow to the company and the revenue from salt trade fell to 80,000 rupees by 1780. This, along with the exploitation of the malangas or salt workers by their landlords, forced Hastings to introduce a new system for controlling the salt trade in India.
In 1780 Hastings brought the salt trade once again under government control, dividing the infrastructure into agencies, each under the control of an agent and governed by a controller. This system persisted, with minor modifications, until India's independence in 1947. Under this new system, the malangas sold the salt to the agents at a particular price, initially fixed at 2 rupees a Maund with a tax of 1.1 to 1.5 rupees a maund. This new system was a success, and in 1781–82, the salt revenue was 2,960,130 rupees. The company received salt revenue of 6,257,750 rupees in 1784–85.
From 1788 onwards, the company began selling salt wholesalers by auction. As a result, the British East India Company increased the tax to 3.25 rupees a maund, and the wholesale price of salt increased from 1.25 to about 4 rupees a maund. This was an exorbitant rate that few could afford.
In 1804, the British monopolized salt in the newly conquered state of Orissa. In return, they advanced money to the malangas against future salt production, resulting in the malangas becoming debtors to the British, virtually becoming economic slaves. The Orissa zamindars, who had earlier controlled the local salt trade, were alarmed at the sudden loss of income and tried to persuade the malanga not to work for the British, but to no avail.
In the early 19th century, to make the salt tax more profitable and reduce smuggling, the East India Company established customs checkpoints throughout Bengal. G. H. Smith established a "customs line", which was the boundary across which salt transportation involved payment of high customs duties. In the 1840s a thorn fence was erected along the western frontiers of Bengal province to prevent salt smuggling. Eventually, after 1857, the thorn fence grew to be 2,500 miles long.
Taxation of salt by the British authorities
The taxation laws introduced by the British East India Company were in vogue during the ninety years of British Raj which followed the demise of the company. The construction of a fence to prevent smuggling of salt, which was commenced during the company's rule, was completed during this period. Sources indicate that by 1858, British India derived 10% of its revenues from its monopoly of salt. However, by the end of the century, the tax on salt had been considerably reduced. In 1880, income from salt amounted to 7 million pounds.
In 1900 and 1905, India was one of the largest producers of salt in the world, with a yield of 1,021,426 metric tons and 1,212,600 metric tonnes respectively.
In 1923, under the viceroyalty of Lord Reading, a bill was passed doubling the salt tax. However, another proposal made in 1927 was subsequently vetoed. It was one of Finance Member Basil Blackett's first deeds when producing his first budget in February 1923.
+ Annual tax revenueYear Rs (million) £ (million) 1929–30 67 5.025 1930–31 68 5.1 1931–32 87 6.525 1932–33 102 7.65
Salt laws
The first laws to regulate the salt tax were made by the British East India Company.
In 1835, the government appointed a salt commission to review the existing salt tax. It recommended that Indian salt should be taxed to enable the sale of imported English salt. Consequently, salt was imported from Liverpool, resulting in an increase in salt rates. Subsequently, the government set up a monopoly on the manufacture of salt by the Salt Act. Production of salt was made an offense punishable with six months' imprisonment. The committee also recommended that Indian salt be sold in maunds of 100. However, they were sold in much lesser quantities. In 1888, the salt tax was enhanced by Lord Dufferin as a temporary measure. Cheshire salt imported from the United Kingdom was available at a much cheaper rate. However, Cheshire salt was of inferior quality compared to India's salt. India's salt imports reached metric tons by 1851.
In 1878, a uniform salt tax policy was adopted for the whole of India, both British India as well as the princely states. Both production, as well as possession of salt, were made unlawful by this policy. The salt tax, which was one rupee and thirteen annas per maund in Bombay, Madras, the Central Provinces, and the princely states of South India, was increased to two rupees and eight annas and decreased from three rupees and four annas in Bengal and Assam to two rupees and fourteen annas, and from three rupees to two rupees and eight annas in North India.
Section 39 of the Bombay Salt Act, which was the same as Section 16-17 of the Indian Salt Act, empowered a salt-revenue official to break into places where salt was being illegally manufactured and seize the illegal salt being manufactured. Section 50 of the Bombay Salt Act prohibited the shipping of salt overseas.
The India Salt Act of 1882 included regulations enforcing a government monopoly on the collection and manufacture of salt. Salt could be manufactured and handled only at official government salt depots, with a tax of Rs 1-4-0 on each maund (82 pounds).
In 1944 the Central Legislative Assembly passed the Excises and Salt Act (Act No. I of 1944), which, though modified in India and Pakistan, remain in force in Bangladesh.
A new salt tax was introduced to the Republic of India, via the Salt Cess, 1953, which received the assent of the president on 26 December 1953, and was brought into force on 2 January 1954:
Early protests against the British salt tax
Since the introduction of the first taxes on salt by the British East India Company, the laws were subjected to fervent criticism. The Chamber of Commerce in Bristol was one of the first to submit a petition opposing the salt tax:
The salt tax was criticized at a public meeting at Cuttack in February 1888. In the first session of the Indian National Congress held in 1885 in Bombay, a prominent Congress member, S. A. Saminatha Iyer pleaded against the tax:
At the Allahabad session of the Indian National Congress in 1888, Narayan Vishnu, a delegate from Poona vehemently opposed the Indian Salt Act. A resolution was passed wherein the delegates present declared 'That this Congress do put on record its disapproval of the recent enhancement of the salt tax as involving a perceptible increase to the burden of the poorer classes, as also the 'partial adoption, in a time of peace and plenty, of the only financial reserve of the Empire.' The 1892 session at Allahabad concluded thus: '... We do not know when the tax will be reduced. So that there is every necessity for our repeating this prayer in the interests of the masses, and we earnestly hope that it will be granted before long'. A similar sort of protest was also issued at the Congress session at Ahmedabad.
The salt tax was also protested by eminent people like Dadabhai Naoroji. On 14 August 1894, he thundered in the House of Commons:
In 1895, George Hamilton stated at a session of the House of Commons that:
When the salt tax was doubled in the year 1923, it was sharply criticized in a report by the Taxation Enquiry Committee which was published two years later. This raise also evoked sharp reactions from Indian nationalists. In 1929, Pandit Nilakantha Das demanded the repeal of the salt tax in the Imperial Legislature but his pleas fell on deaf ears. In 1930, Orissa was close to open rebellion.
Mahatma Gandhi and the salt tax
Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi had written his first article on the salt tax in 1891 in the periodical The Vegetarian. While in South Africa, he wrote in The Indian Opinion:
In 1909, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in his Hind Swaraj from South Africa, urging the British administration to abolish the salt tax.
Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March
At the historic Lahore session of the Indian National Congress on 31 December 1929 in which Purna Swaraj was declared, a passing reference was made to the infamous and oppressive salt law and resolved that a way should be found to oppose it. In the first week of March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi wrote to Lord Irwin apprising him of the prevailing social, economic and political conditions in the country.
On 12 March 1930, Gandhi embarked on a satyagraha with 78 followers from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi on the Arabian Sea coast. This march, known as the Dandi March, was sensationalized by the international press; film clippings and pictures of Mahatma Gandhi were relayed to distant corners of the world. Gandhi reached Dandi on 5 April 1930. After his morning bhajan, he waded in to the sea shore and picked up a handful of salt, proclaiming that with the handful of salt he was proclaiming the end of the British Empire. The police arrived and arrested thousands of national leaders including Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi's bold defiance of the salt law encouraged other Indians to break the law as well.
Other salt satyagrahas
Soon after the conclusion of the Salt satyagraha at Dandi, Gandhi intended to lead a pack of satyagrahis to the Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat, but was arrested by the police. A few days later, Congress leader Abbas Tyabji was also arrested. So the mantle fell upon Sarojini Naidu to lead the marchers at Dharasana. They marched to Dharasana, where they were stopped by a detachment of police. The non-violent satyagrahis confronted the police and were beaten. American journalist Webb Miller, who witnessed the gruesome scene, counted around 320 bodies. His reporting on the violence at the Dharasana Salt Works was later credited for helping turn world opinion against British colonial rule of India.
In April 1930, Congress leader Chakravarti Rajagopalachari led a salt satyagraha in Vedaranyam, Madras province. The satyagrahis reached Vedaranyam on the east coast of India on 28 April, where they prepared salt illegally on 30 April.
Aftermath
The British authorities turned deaf ears to the massive protests against the salt tax which rocked India during the early 1930s. The Dandi March was only partially successful. Though it forced the British rulers to come to the discussion table, the salt tax continued. It was only on 6 April 1946 that Mahatma Gandhi made a formal request to Sir Archibald Rowlands, the finance member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, to remove the oppressive salt tax. Rowlands formally issued an order abolishing the salt tax, but the order was vetoed by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell. The salt tax continued in force until March 1947, when it was abolished by the Interim Government of India headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, by the then-Finance Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.
A modified salt tax was later introduced, to the Republic of India, via the Salt Cess Act, 1953, which received the assent of the President on 26 December 1953, and was brought into force on 2 January 1954. The tax, applied at a rate of 14 paise per 40 kg of salt produced, was criticised for its low collections, with the government spending twice as much to collect the tax as it earned from it. This was replaced in 2017 by the Goods and Services Tax overhaul, which officially places salt in the 0% taxation category.
In Pakistan, raw table salt is taxed while iodised salt is not, which has been criticised by salt manufacturers as they need to pay tax on the salt that they later iodise and sell tax-free.
See also
Gabelle – French salt tax
Further reading
Kurlansky, Mark. (2002). Salt: A world history. (pp. 333–354, "Salt and the Great Soul"). New York: Penguin Books.
British salt tax in India
British salt tax in India
|
Davidi Kitai
|
[
"Belgian poker players",
"1979 births",
"Living people",
"World Series of Poker bracelet winners",
"World Poker Tour winners",
"European Poker Tour winners"
] | 981 | 8,699 |
Davidi Kitai (born 28 September 1979) is a Belgian professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event for $244,583, becoming the first Belgian to win a WSOP bracelet. He also has won 2 other bracelets and has an EPT title and a WPT title, along with numerous other big scores and titles.
In February 2011, Kitai won his second big title in the WPT Celebrity Invitational event, earning $100,000.
At the 2012 European Poker Tour in Berlin, Kitai won his first EPT title earning €712,000 in the €5,000 Main Event. In the heads-up phase Kitai was trailing Andrew Chen but his infamous hero all-in call with K♣5♣ on a
2♣Q♣8♡-4♠-5♢ board gave him a considerable lead over Chen as he went on to win the match.
He became one of only ten players to win poker's Triple Crown, joining other players like Gavin Griffin, Bertrand Grospellier, Jake Cody, and Roland De Wolfe. Poker's Triple Crown consists of winning a WSOP bracelet as well as main event titles on the WPT and EPT. There was some debate on the legitimacy of his Triple Crown achievement since his WPT win was the Celebrity Invitational event, thus not being an open event and arguments that this charity event had a weakened field. The WPT eventually officially stated that they recognise the Invitational as an official WPT main event.
Kitai won his second bracelet at the 2013 World Series of Poker in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event, defeating Cary Katz heads-up and earning $224,560. His third bracelet came in the $3,000 6-Max Event of the 2014 WSOP, where he had to get past Gordon Vayo heads-up to complete his WSOP hattrick while bagging $508,640.
Kitai won the 25K Super High Roller of the PartyPoker Millions Barcelona 2018 for €700,000. In November 2020 Kitai won the Super MILLION$ $10,300 Main Event on GGPoker for $726,839, defeating a final table with other top players like Niklas Åstedt, David Yan, Mike Watson, Aleks Ponakovs and Eelis Parssinen.
On 7 January 2015, Kitai was ranked #2 on the Global poker index, which ranks the top live tournament players in the world
His total live tournament winnings exceed $10,000,000.
World Series of Poker bracelets
Year Event Prize Money 2008 $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em $244,583 2013 $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em $224,560 2014 $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six Handed $508,640
Online Poker
Although he mainly plays live tournaments, Kitai has some impressive online scores as well. He plays under the screen name “legrouzin” on PokerStars, where he won hundreds of thousands of dollars in MTT cashes.
In November 2020, he took down the $10,300 Super MILLION$ Main Event for $726,839 on Natural8-GGNetwork.
Personal life
It was Davidi Kitai's childhood dream to become a professional football player. He played on an amateur level for low-tier clubs in Belgium until he was 20.
He then graduated in Economics and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 22.
Later on, he tried to open a running online and retail store in Brussels, Belgium, unsuccessfully.
|
Boubyan Bank
|
[
"Banks established in 2004",
"Kuwaiti companies established in 2004",
"Companies listed on the Boursa Kuwait",
"Islamic banks of Kuwait"
] | 773 | 6,655 |
Boubyan Bank is an Islamic Bank in Kuwait established in 2004. Boubyan Bank has a paid up capital exceeding 196.5 million Kuwaitis dinars (equivalent to approximately 700 million US dollars).
Boubyan Bank is one of the emerging banks in Kuwait and GCC, with the National Bank of Kuwait as the major shareholder, which is ranked among the largest 300 banks worldwide.
Boubyan Bank provides a variety of banking services to individuals, private business and corporate customers. The main activities of Boubyan Bank include accepting deposits, establishing investment funds, and trading in real estate. The bank deals with all types of Islamic transactions, including:
Mudaraba
Investment agency agreement
Murabaha
Lease
Boubyan Bank Subsidiaries
Subsidiaries and Associates:
Boubyan Group includes the following subsidies and associates by end of 2013:
Boubyan Takaful – Kuwait (with ownership of 67.63%)
Boubyan Capital – Kuwait (with ownership of 99.55%)
Saudi Projects Holding Group – Kuwait (with ownership of 25%)
Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME) – UK (with ownership of 25.62%)
Bank Syariah Muamalat Indonesia – Indonesia (with ownership of 22%)
Ijarah Indonesia Finance Company – Indonesia (with ownership of 33.33%)
United Capital Bank – Sudan (with ownership of 21.67%)
Board of directors
+Board of DirectorsNameRoleYear of JoiningAbdulaziz Abdullah Al-ShayaChairman2009Adel Abdul Wahab Al-MajedVice-Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer2009Adnan Abdullah Al-OthmanDirector (Non-Executive)2016Fahad Ahmad Al-FouzanDirector (Non-Executive)2020Hazim Ali Al-MutairiDirector (Non-Executive)2010Mohamed Yousef Al-SaqerDirector (Non-Executive)2019Waleed Mishari Al-HamadDirector (Non-Executive)2010Waleed Ibrahim Al-AsfourDirector (Non-Executive)2019Waleed Abdullah Al-HoutiDirector (Non-Executive)2019Syed Imran Azhar AliDirector (Independent)2021Waleed Humoud Al-AyadhiDirector (Independent)2021
Executive Management
+Executive ManagementNameRoleYear of JoiningAdel Abdul Wahab Al-MajedVice-Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer2009Abdullah Abdulkareem Al-TuwaijriChief Executive Officer - Consumer, Private, and Digital Banking2011Abdul-Salam Mohammed Al-SalehChief Executive Officer - Corporate Banking, Financial Control, Treasury and Legal Affairs2012Waleed Khalid Al-YaqoutGroup General Manager - Administration Group2010Adel Abdullah Al-HammadGroup General Manager - Human Resources Group2006Abdullah Ahmed Al-MehriChief Operating Officer2019Ashraf Abdallah SewilamGroup General Manager - Corporate Banking Group2013Abdul Rahman Hamza MansourChief Internal Audit - Internal Audit Group2006Mohamed Ibrahim IsmailGroup General Manager - Financial Control Group2005Majed FanousChief Risk Officer – Risk Management Group2018Adel Rashed Al-MutairiTreasurer - Treasury Group2015
Shariah Committee
Shariah Committee:
Boubyan Bank has a Shariah Committee which monitors and approves its activities and transactions, and comprises:
+Shariah CommitteeNameRoleSheikh Dr. Abdulaziz Khalifa Al-QasarChairmanSheikh Dr. Esame Khalaf Al-EneziMemberSheikh Dr. Mohammed Awad Al-FuzaieMemberSheikh Dr. Ali Ibrahim Al-RashidMember
|
Meera Sanyal
|
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"Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election",
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Meera Sanyal (née Hiranandani; 15 October 1961 – 11 January 2019) was an Indian banker and politician. She was CEO and chair of the Royal Bank of Scotland in India. The daughter of a highly decorated Naval officer, Vice Admiral Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani, she was involved in banking for over 30 years before stepping down from RBS to stand as the Aam Aadmi Party candidate in South Mumbai in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which she lost. She had earlier contested as an independent candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai South constituency.
She was on the board of Pradan, an Indian NGO that works to empower women through entrepreneurship and on the international board of Right to Play. She was also on the boards of Jai Hind College and the Indian Liberal Group. She was a member of various national committees at the CII and FICCI. She was the former chairperson of the Indian Advisory Board of AIESEC, the world's largest student organisation. On 11 January 2019, Sanyal died of cancer.
Early life
Sanyal was born in 1961 to Indian Navy officer, Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani, and his wife, Banu Hiranandani; a Sindhi family who migrated from Sindh to India at the time of the Partition of India. Her father was the mastermind of Operation Trident, the crippling Naval attack on Karachi, Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Sanyal graduated in commerce (B.Com.) from Sydenham college Bombay in 1982 with an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, in 1983. She attended the six-week Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2006. She was a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (UK).
Professional and public life
After a 30-year banking career, Sanyal stepped down from her position as CEO and chairperson of Royal Bank of Scotland India, in 2013, to focus on public service. During her time at the bank, she mentored the MicroFinance program, which financed over 650,000 women in rural India. She also chaired the bank's Foundation, providing livelihood assistance to 75,000 women-led households in threatened ecosystems. Her banking career was distinguished both in India and overseas. She was the head of Corporate Finance and later the COO for ABN AMRO in Asia. She also started and led the global BPO and ITes for ABN AMRO / RBS in India.
Sanyal was a board member of Pradan, a member of the International Board of Right To Play, a global NGO. She was also a board member of LiberalsIndia for Good Governance – the Indian Liberal Group, and was on the supervisory board of Jaihind College. She was a member of various National Committees of both FICCI and CII. In 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, invited her as the sole Indian representative on her International Council on Women's Business Leadership.
She was invited to speak at global seminars including:
Climate Summit in Copenhagen
Swedish Agency for Economic & Regional Growth
Women of the Future summit in the UK
Asian Institute of Finance, Kuala Lumpur
Nikkei Summit for Asian Women Leaders, Tokyo
Global Competitiveness Summit, Seoul, Korea
Political life
Sanyal stood in 2009 as an independent candidate for the Lok Sabha elections in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks but lost the election. Along with her husband, she campaigned and raised funds for the AAP in the 2013 Delhi elections. She was a member of AAP's National Committee on Economic Policy.
In May 2014, Sanyal contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai South constituency, as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate. She lost, receiving 5.2% of the vote cast in South Mumbai constituency, trailing at fourth position behind Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena candidate, winner), Milind Deora (INC candidate) and Bala Nandgaokar (MNS candidate).
Death
On 11 January 2019, Sanyal died due to cancer after two years of treatment.
|
David S. Taylor
|
[
"1958 births",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"21st-century American businesspeople",
"American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies",
"Living people",
"Procter & Gamble people",
"Delta Air Lines people",
"Duke University trustees",
"Businesspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina",
"Duke University Pratt School of Engineering alumni"
] | 724 | 7,134 |
David Scott Taylor (born April 20, 1958) is an American business executive who is the chairman of Delta Air Lines. He served as the executive chairman of Procter & Gamble from 2021 to 2022, having previously been chairman, president and CEO.
Early life
David Taylor was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, and graduated from Duke University in 1980 with a B.S. in electrical engineering.
Career
Upon graduation, he joined Procter & Gamble as a production manager. Taylor spent the first decade of his career in P&G's Product Supply organization, where he managed production and operations at a number of plants, eventually managing P&G's manufacturing plant in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania. This experience gave him hands-on understanding of manufacturing, logistics, engineering, and supply chain operations.
In the early 1990s, Taylor was transferred to the brand management department, his first assignment being Pampers—P&G's largest brand. Since then, he has held leadership roles spanning a number of P&G businesses, including Baby Care, Hair Care, Family Care, and Home Care in which he expanded businesses across North America, Western Europe, and Asia. He also led P&G's Greater China hair care business for nearly four years.
Taylor was group president of P&G's Beauty Sector and P&G's Grooming and Health Care Sector which included the brands of Crest, Oral-B, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Olay, SK-II, Gillette, Fusion, Mach 3, and Vicks.
According to The Economist, as CEO, Taylor is “thought to be moving P&G in the right direction (albeit too slowly for investors’ taste).”
In January 2019, Taylor said in Switzerland: "The world would be a better place if my board of directors on down is represented by 50% of the women. We sell our products to more than 50% of the women." The Wall Street Journal noted the company's board of directors has more than twice as many men as it does women.
In August 2019, Taylor was appointed a member of the Delta Air Lines board of directors. He currently serves as Chairman of the board.
Outside interests
Earlier in his career, Taylor was vice chair of the Greater China Quality Brand Protection Committee, a collaboration between top companies and the Chinese government. He has been a director of P&G's joint venture with Clorox. Taylor was on the board of directors for Feeding America for eight years, including two years as board chair. He continues to be a member of the Cincinnati Freestore Foodbank. In addition, Taylor is a member of the board of visitors at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
|
Paris Hilton
|
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"Paris Hilton",
"1981 births",
"21st-century American actresses",
"21st-century American businesspeople",
"21st-century American singers",
"21st-century American women singers",
"21st-century American women writers",
"Actresses from Los Angeles",
"American DJs",
"American autobiographers",
"American women DJs",
"American women pop singers",
"American film actresses",
"American hip-hop singers",
"21st-century American memoirists",
"American people convicted of drug offenses",
"American people of English descent",
"American people of German descent",
"American people of Irish descent",
"American people of Italian descent",
"American people of Norwegian descent",
"American people of Scottish descent",
"American prisoners and detainees",
"American socialites",
"American television actresses",
"American women in electronic music",
"American women memoirists",
"American women philanthropists",
"American women television personalities",
"Businesspeople from Los Angeles",
"Cash Money Records artists",
"Dwight School alumni",
"Hilton family",
"Convent of the Sacred Heart (NYC) alumni",
"Female models from New York (state)",
"Living people",
"Participants in American reality television series",
"Participants in Bulgarian reality television series",
"People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder",
"Philanthropists from California",
"Philanthropists from New York (state)",
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"Socialites from New York City",
"Television personalities from New York City",
"Warner Records artists",
"American women autobiographers",
"Writers from Los Angeles",
"21st-century American businesswomen",
"American children's rights activists"
] | 21,449 | 240,791 |
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Born in New York City and raised there and Los Angeles, she is a great-granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton. She first attracted tabloid attention in the late 1990s for her presence in New York City's social scene, ventured into fashion modeling in 2000, and was proclaimed "New York's leading It Girl" in 2001. The reality television series The Simple Life (2003–2007), in which she co-starred with her friend Nicole Richie, and a leaked 2003 sex tape with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, later released as 1 Night in Paris (2004), catapulted her to global fame.
Hilton's media ventures have included the reality television series Paris Hilton's My New BFF (2008–2009), The World According to Paris (2011), Hollywood Love Story (2018), Cooking with Paris (2021), and Paris in Love (2021–2023); the documentaries Paris, Not France (2008), The American Meme (2018), and This Is Paris (2020); the books Confessions of an Heiress (2004), Your Heiress Diary (2005), and Paris: The Memoir (2023); as well as the podcast I am Paris (2021–present). She has pursued acting in the films House of Wax (2005) and Repo! the Genetic Opera (2008), and singing with a line of standalone singles and the studio albums Paris (2006) and Infinite Icon (2024). She has also performed as a disc jockey since 2012.
A polarizing and ubiquitous public figure, Hilton is said to have influenced the revival of the "famous for being famous" phenomenon throughout the 2000s. Critics indeed suggest that she exemplifies the celebutante—a household name through inherited wealth and lavish lifestyle. Forbes included her in its Celebrity 100 in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and ranked her as the most "overexposed" celebrity in 2006 and 2008. Hilton has parlayed her media fame into numerous business endeavors. Under her company, she has produced content for broadcast media, launched a variety of product lines, and opened several boutiques worldwide, as well as an urban beach club in the Philippines. Her perfume line alone has brought in over US$2.5 billion in revenue, .
Early life
Hilton was born on February 17, 1981, in New York City to Richard Hilton, a businessman, and Kathy Hilton, a socialite and former child actress. She is the oldest of four children, with a sister named Nicky, and two brothers, Barron and Conrad. On their father's side, the four are great-grandchildren of Conrad Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels, and grandchildren of Barron Hilton. Their maternal aunts are television personalities Kim and Kyle Richards. The siblings have Norwegian, German, Italian, English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. The family followed the Catholic faith.
Hilton moved frequently in her youth, living in Beverly Hills, the Hamptons, and a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. Her relatives have described her as "very much a tomboy" who dreamed about becoming a veterinarian. Her mother recalled her saving money to buy monkeys, snakes, and goats, and once leaving "the snake out the cage [...] at the Waldorf". Hilton was raised in a very "sheltered, conservative" atmosphere; her parents were particularly strict and she was not allowed to date, wear make-up or certain types of clothes, or go to school dances. Her mother enrolled her in etiquette classes with the idea of introducing her as a debutante, which Hilton was at first reluctant to do, as she did not find it to be "real" or "natural". She described it as "very proper, very prim, almost like a Stepford wife". The family's social circle included figures such as Lionel Richie, Donald Trump, and Michael Jackson.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Hilton attended the Buckley School and St. Paul the Apostle School, finishing elementary school in 1995. Her freshman year of high school (1995–96) was spent at the Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California. In 1996, Hilton and her family left California for New York City and she joined the Dwight School. At 15, she attended classes at Professional Children's School. She skated and played ice hockey while in high school.
In New York City, Hilton had a rebellious youth, regularly skipping classes and sneaking out to parties. On this period, Kathy remarked: "Let's put it this way—it got very out of control and I was scared for her. And my husband was very scared for her. And, you know, those nightclubs go on all night." Her parents eventually sent her, then 16, to a series of boarding schools for emotionally troubled teens, including Provo Canyon School, where Hilton says that she was mentally, physically and sexually abused by the staff. In her documentary This Is Paris, Hilton and other former students from Provo Canyon School recall the abuses they faced, including solitary confinement, forced medication, restraint, battery and strangulation. She attended Provo for 11 months and was released in early 1999, around the time she turned 18. She then attended the Dwight School before dropping out a few months later. "She knew no one at [Dwight]", said her mother in an interview, while a classmate described her as "sort of more sophisticated. She was different from everybody else". She later earned a GED certification.
Career
Social scene and modeling (1996–2002)
With mother Kathy and sister Nicky, Hilton modeled as a child at charity events, graced the May 4, 1988, cover of the weekly magazine Beverly Hills 213, and made an uncredited appearance in the fantasy film Wishman (1992).
After relocating to NYC in 1996, Hilton developed a reputation as a socialite through appearances at nightclubs and high-profile events. She has recalled getting offers to show up in nightclubs as early as she was 16, when she obtained a counterfeited identity document in order to gain access to events. Her antics and late-night persona soon started attracting the spotlight from local tabloids. After becoming familiar with Paris and Nicky's social circle, Jason Binn, publisher of Hamptons magazine, stated: "They're little stars. They've become names. To them it's like a job. I believe they wake up every morning and say, 'O.K., where am I supposed to be tonight?'."
That lifestyle conflicted with her family's conservative background and proved too "rebellious" for the young Paris, whose parents sent her to a series of boarding schools until she turned 18. Hilton resumed public appearances shortly afterwards, and attended the NYC premiere of Cruel Intentions in March 1999 with Nicky. A New Yorker profile by Bob Morris, published in October that year, described her and her sister as "the littlest socialites in town [...] Without even a smile, they can breeze past the velvet ropes at Moomba or get a seat at Le Bilboquet". Businessman George J. Maloof Jr., for instance, flew Hilton in his private jet and paid her to attend the Palms Casino Resort opening in Las Vegas in November 2001.
Inspired by designers Patricia Field and Betsey Johnson, Hilton decided to pursue modeling, signing with Donald Trump's agency, T Management, at age 19. She modeled for Catherine Malandrino and Marc Bouwer, and posed alongside Nicky for David LaChapelle in a shoot that was featured in the September 2000 issue of Vanity Fair. On her persona, LaChapelle stated: "Paris had a charisma back then that you couldn't take your eyes off. She would giggle and laugh and be effervescent and take up a room". By 2001, Hilton had become "one of the biggest stars, off and on the catwalk", at New York Fashion Week, graced an advertising campaign for Italian label Iceberg, and appeared on magazines such as Vogue and FHM.
In addition to modeling, Hilton ventured into screen acting, playing an ill-fated character in the independent teen thriller Sweetie Pie (2000), and filming a cameo appearance as herself in the comedy Zoolander (2001), with Ben Stiller. In 2002, she appeared in Vincent Gallo's "Honey Bunny" video, played a "strung-out supermodel" in the five-minute short QIK2JDG, and starred as a socialite in the straight-to-DVD horror film Nine Lives.
International stardom (2003–2007)
Hilton's breakout came in 2003, when she starred with her childhood friend and socialite counterpart Nicole Richie in the Fox reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. The show was initially pitched to both Paris and Nicky Hilton. Paris was convinced to come on board; however, Nicky, being somewhat shy to the limelight at the time, opted out. The series premiered on December 2, 2003, shortly after the leak of Hilton's sex tape, and was a ratings success. Its first episode attracted 13 million viewers, increasing Fox's adult 18–49 rating by 79 percent. The high viewership was attributed to the exposure Hilton received for the homemade tape, while she became known for her onscreen dumb blonde persona.
By 2004, Hilton had taken on a number of supporting and guest-starring roles in feature films and scripted television series such as Raising Helen and The O.C., signed on to appear in a series of advertisement campaigns for Guess, released an autobiography co-written by Merle Ginsberg, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, which was seventh on The New York Times Best Seller list, and introduced a lifestyle brand (with a purse collection for the Japanese label Samantha Thavasa, a jewelry line sold on Amazon.com, as well as a perfume line in collaboration with Parlux Fragrances). Originally planned for a limited release, high demand for her first fragrance choked supplies but led to increased availability by December 2004. Its introduction was followed by a 47-percent increase in Parlux sales, primarily of the Hilton-branded perfume. After this success, Parlux has released numerous perfumes under her name, including fragrances for men.
In February 2005, Hilton hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live, with Keane as the musical guest, and in May, the slasher film House of Wax—her first major film role—was released in theaters, to mixed reviews. Writing for View London, Matthew Turner remarked that Hilton "does better than you might expect", while TV Guide called her "talentless". Her role earned her the Teen Choice Award for Best Scream, the 2005 Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress, and a nomination for Best Frightened Performance at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. House of Wax grossed over US$70 million worldwide. In May 2005, Carl's Jr. aired a television advertisement, promoting its Spicy Burger product, which featured Hilton in a provocative swimsuit soaping up a Bentley automobile. By November 2005, she had published her second book, Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to Me.
The Simple Life was canceled by Fox in 2005 after three seasons following a dispute between Hilton and Richie. Neither Richie nor Hilton spoke publicly about their split, although it was speculated that they fell out after Richie showed one of Hilton's homemade sex tapes to a group of their friends. They reconciled in October 2006. After The Simple Life was cancelled, other networks (NBC, The WB, VH1 and MTV) were interested in obtaining the rights for new seasons of the show. On November 28, 2005, E! announced that it had picked up The Simple Life, ordering the production of a fourth season and obtaining the rights to repeat the first three seasons. Shooting for the new season began on February 27, 2006. The fourth-season premiere of the show was a ratings success for its new network.
Hilton released her self-titled debut album, Paris, on August 22, 2006. The album reached number six on the Billboard 200, and sold over 600,000 copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Stars Are Blind", found global success. It was played on more than 125 pop stations in the United States, and reached the top ten in 17 countries. Critical reception was generally mixed, but AllMusic called the album "more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson".
In 2006, Hilton top-billed as vain, dumb blonde characters in the comedy films Bottoms Up and National Lampoon's Pledge This!, both of which received DVD releases in North America. Australia's Urban Cinefile described Bottoms Up as a "crass, low-brow comedy" with "little merit" except for "some Paris Hilton curiosity value". She reportedly snubbed the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Pledge This! to protest the addition of several nude scenes, which resulted in Worldwide Entertainment Group suing Hilton in August 2008, at the Miami District Court, alleging that she did not fulfill her contractual agreement to provide "reasonable promotion and publicity" for the film, despite receiving a US$1 million fee for the role. Hilton licensed her name to Gameloft for their 2006 mobile video game Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest.
The Simple Life finished its run with its fifth season, which debuted on May 28, 2007, and ended on August 5, 2007. That year, Hilton introduced her DreamCatchers line of hair extensions with Hair Tech International, signed a licensing agreement with Antebi for a signature footwear line (Paris Hilton Footwear, featuring stilettos, platforms, flats, wedges and a sports collection), and launched a line of tops, dresses, coats and jeans at the Kitson Boutique in Los Angeles. She also posed nude (covered with gold paint) to promote "Rich Prosecco", a canned version of the Italian sparkling wine, traveling to Germany to appear in advertisements for the wine, and modeled for 2 B Free.
Screen and business ventures (2008–2011)
The romantic comedy The Hottie and the Nottie (2008), in which Hilton starred, was a critical and commercial failure. She appeared in the My Name Is Earl episode "I Won't Die with a Little Help from My Friends". A documentary about Hilton, Paris, Not France, was screened at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. The gothic rock musical Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) featured Hilton as Amber Sweet, the surgery and painkiller-addicted daughter of a biotech magnate. After screening at San Diego Comic-Con, the film received a limited release. Horror.com described it as "by far Hilton's best role", but Jam! Movies called her a "hopeless twit as an actress". At the 29th Razzie Awards, she won as Worst Actress for The Hottie and the Nottie and as Worst Supporting Actress for Repo!.
Hilton starred in an MTV reality series, Paris Hilton's My New BFF, about her search for a new best friend, which premiered on September 30, 2008. The series was a hit and topped all other cable shows in its time slot. That year, she also appeared in two viral Funny or Die videos, Paris Hilton Responds to McCain and Paris Hilton Gets Presidential with Martin Sheen, and, inspired by her love for dogs, created a canine apparel line, Little Lily by Paris Hilton.
As a result of the American version's success, Paris Hilton's British Best Friend debuted on ITV2 in England on January 29, 2009, the second season of Paris Hilton's My New BFF premiered on June 2, and Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF was internationally broadcast on MTV in April 2011. She guest-starred in the fifth episode of Supernaturals fifth season, which aired on October 8, 2009. In 2009, Hilton also released a sunglasses line and a range of hair products that included shampoos, conditioners and vitamins. She won the Female Celebrity Fragrance of the Year Award at the 2009 Fifi Awards.
In February 2010, Hilton participated in an advertising campaign for the Brazilian beer Devassa Bem Loura, whose slogan roughly translates into English as "very blonde bitch". As part of the campaign, she rode the brewery's float in the Rio Carnival. The critically acclaimed documentary Teenage Paparazzo, in which Hilton appeared, aired on HBO on September 27. She had her first voice-over role in the ABC made-for-television film The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation. The film aired on November 28, 2010 and attracted a respectable 2.611 million viewership. That year, Hilton launched a footwear line in Las Vegas and her motorcycle racing team in Spain. Her driver, Maverick Viñales, won the final race and finished third overall in the 2011 125cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship.
On June 1, 2011, Hilton returned to reality television in Oxygen's The World According to Paris. Focused on her daily life, the series bought in lackluster ratings amid a controversial promotional campaign, which was attributed to her then-fading popularity in North America. Alessandra Stanley, for The New York Times, described her as an "attractive woman with proven talent for marketing and self-promotion, though as a reality heroine she seems a little passé [...] it's hard to see how she can recapture the kind of audience she enjoyed in her heyday—even by streaming her premiere live on Facebook".
In 2011, Hilton modeled for Triton during Brazil Fashion Week and for Andre Tan during Ukraine Fashion Week, and continued her endorsement and retail endeavors, introducing a mobile application, which became available for iPhone and iPod touch, and footwear collections in Mexico City and Istanbul. Beginning in 2011, Hilton opened several boutiques selling her products in Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Peru, Colombia, and Chile.
Deejaying and singing (2012–2019)
On June 28, 2012, at Brazil's Pop Music Festival, Hilton made her debut as a DJ, which attracted negative responses from DJs Deadmau5, Samantha Ronson, and Afrojack. In 2012, she received US$1 million to star in a music video for Korean singer Kim Jang-hoon and US$2 million to appear alongside Arda Turan in a commercial for Turkish fashion label DeFacto, modeled for designers Shane and Falguni Peacock at India Fashion Week, and launched a line of sunglasses in Shanghai.
After appearing in the music video for Rich Gang's song "Tapout" (2013), alongside Lil Wayne, Christina Milian and Nicki Minaj, it was announced that Hilton had signed with Cash Money Records. Under the label, she released three standalone singles—"Good Time" (2013), featuring rapper Lil Wayne, "Come Alive" (2014), and High Off My Love" (2015), featuring Birdman—to moderate commercial success. "Good Time" and "High Off My Love" reached the top 20 and top 5 on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs and Dance Club Songs charts, respectively.
During August 2013, Hilton was a DJ at Amnesia's weekly "Foam and Diamonds" parties on Ibiza. The positive reaction from critics and audiences led to her contract's renewal for the subsequent four years. In November, Hilton won the Best Breakthrough DJ award at the NRJ DJ Awards. In 2013, Hilton appeared in four episodes of the Danish version of Paradise Hotel, for which she was paid US$300,000, and briefly played herself in Sofia Coppola's film The Bling Ring. In addition to appearing in the film, she loaned Coppola her house for two weeks of shooting.
In January 2014, Hilton became a resident DJ at Harrah's Atlantic City's "The Pool After Dark". In March, she unveiled her first real estate project, the Paris Beach Club, in collaboration with Century Properties Group, Inc., at the Azure Urban Resort Residences in Parañaque, the Philippines. In July, she made a cameo appearance in another Carl's Jr. commercial, paying homage to the one in which she starred in 2005. To further her career as a DJ, Hilton embarked on a summer and fall tour consisting of 13 shows in Spain, France, Portugal, South Korea, Colombia and New Jersey. By November 2014, Hilton was the highest-paid female DJ and won as Best Female DJ at the NJR DJ Awards. In December, she performed as a DJ at W Hotel's Art Basel parties in Miami.
In March 2015, Animoca Brands, a mobile game developer from Hong Kong, announced that they had secured a license from Hilton to use her name and likeness to produce mobile games and themes. In June, she performed at Summerfest in Milwaukee in front of 50,000 concert-goers. An online campaign to get her thrown off the bill achieved over 7,000 votes. In 2016, Hilton teamed up with Lidl for a hair care collection.
Between 2017 and 2019, Hilton appeared in the music videos for "Senza Pagare" by Fedez, "Sorry Not Sorry" by Demi Lovato, "I Don't Want It at All" by Kim Petras, "Lil One" by Young Thug and Birdman, and "Flowers" by Gabi DeMartino. During the same period, she frequently served as a runway model for Christian Cowan and The Blonds during New York Fashion Week, and for Philipp Plein during Milan Fashion Week. For April Fools' Day 2017, she starred in a SodaStream's advertisement campaign, promoting NanoDrop, a fictitious sparkling-water product. In June 2017, she launched footwear and home decor lines in Mexico City.
In 2018, Hilton was described as "the centerpiece" of two projects about social media and various personalities' online presence. The documentary The American Meme premiered on Netflix in December 2018, after screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 93 rating based on 28 reviews. It was written and directed by Bert Marcus, and she was one of the executive producers. She also hosted Hollywood Love Story, a six-episode series that aired on Viceland. That year, Hilton modeled Kanye West's Yeezy Season 6 collection, and released "I Need You" as a digital download on Valentine's Day, which peaked at number 32 on the Dance Club Songs Billboard chart, and launched a 70-piece collection with Boohoo.com, her skincare line, a five-nail polishes line with Nail and Bone, as well as a clothing collection in Mexico.
In 2019, Hilton modeled for Philipp Plein's Plein Sport campaign, was a special guest in the twelfth episode of Germany's Next Topmodels 14th cycle, and collaborated with Belgian production duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike on "B.F.A. (Best Friend's Ass)", and with vocalist MATTN on "Lone Wolves". "B.F.A" peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart, and at number 25 on Belgium's Ultratop chart, while "Lone Wolves" peaked at 59 on Ultratop. In July 2019, she performed as a DJ in Tomorrowland.
Resurgence (2020–present)
This Is Paris (2020), a YouTube Originals documentary directed by Alexandra Dean, focuses on her personal and professional trajectory. In the film, Hilton revealed her experiences with emotional, verbal and physical abuse while attending a series of boarding schools as a teenager. Unprepared to disclose that information, she trusted Dean's approach and found the process of filming to be a healing space for her. She served as a producer but did not have artistic authority over the production. It received over 16 million views in its first month of release and was deemed a successful "rebranding" of her image.
Between 2020 and 2024, Hilton appeared in advertisement campaigns for Skims, Valentino, Lanvin, Uber Eats, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Klarna, Marc Jacobs, Taco Bell, Grey Goose, NBCUniversal's coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics, MSCHF–Crocs' Big Yellow Boots, Living Proof, and WOW Vegas. With Klarna, she opened a pop-up store which ran from February 23 to 24, 2023 in Los Angeles.
In 2020, Hilton served as a guest judge in the premiere episode of James Charles's YouTube series Instant Influencer, produced and starred in Ramez Silyan's short film Sorry, modeled at Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2, and released a merchandise collection, as well as a single with Lodato, "I Blame You". In 2021, Hilton, who founded Paris Hilton Entertainment in 2006, renamed the company 11:11 Media. That year, she created London Audio, in partnership with iHeartMedia, and Slivington Manor Entertainment, with an overall deal at Warner Bros. Unscripted Television.
Her podcast I am Paris debuted on February 22, 2021, offering personal content and conversations with her family, friends, and other celebrities. It served as the flagship of several programs produced by Hilton's company, London Audio, and iHeartMedia. The other podcasts were Trapped In Treatment (2022–2023), hosted by Caroline Cole and Rebecca Mellinger, and History of the World's Greatest Nightclubs (2023), hosted by Ultra Naté.
Beginning in 2021, Hilton launched several NFT collections, including one with designer Blake Kathryn, which raked in US$1.5 million. She introduced ParisWorld on Roblox in 2021 and on The Sandbox in 2022. On June 8, 2022, it was announced that she had created a fund for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to support the acquisition of digital art by female artists. She also became an investor in a number of wellness and digital-orientated companies.
Netflix released Cooking with Paris on August 4, 2021. It was a six-part reality series which she hosted and co-produced. It received lukewarm reviews from critics, who considered it a "fun but pointless" production, and briefly entered Netflix's daily Top 10 rankings. Her next reality series, Peacock's Paris in Love (2021–present), soon followed, premiering on November 11, the day she married Carter Reum. For both Cooking with Paris and Paris in Love, Hilton won the Best Reality Return at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
In 2022, Hilton released a tracksuits line, a sunglasses collection with Quay Australia, and a housewares collection on Amazon. She voiced herself in four episodes of the YouTube animated web series Rainbow High, and modeled for Versace at Milan Fashion Week. That year, she performed "Stars Are Blind", alongside Christina Aguilera and Mya, at the Los Angeles Pride festival, as well as with Miley Cyrus and Sia, on NBC's Miley's New Year's Eve Party.
On December 30, 2022, Hilton released an updated version of the song, "Stars Are Blind (Paris' Version)", exclusively to Amazon Music, which was followed by another version featuring vocals by Kim Petras on June 2, 2023. She featured in Petras' single "All She Wants", from her sophomore studio album Problématique (2023).
Hilton played the host of a reality dating series in the horror film Alone At Night, which was released on January 20, 2023, by Vertical Entertainment. Her third book, Paris: The Memoir, was published on March 14, 2023, by Harper Collins. She described it as a continuation of "this whole path of self-discovery" that started with her 2020 documentary. It debuted at number three on the New York Times Best Sellers list, in the combined print and e-book nonfiction section, selling 13,640 print copies. By October 2023, the book had sold 46,637 print copies in the United States.
Hilton launched Parisland on The Sandbox in February 2023, and Slivingland on Roblox in August 2023. By February 2024, Slivingland had been visited by over 3.4 million users and reportedly "drove a staggering US$60 million in earned media ad equivalency" on Roblox. In 2023, she held her first concert at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, recorded the single "Hot One", collaborated with Steve Aoki on "Lighter", modeled for Mugler at Paris Fashion Week, released a cookware collection with Walmart, and performed as a disc jockey at Tomorrowland.
Activism
As a public figure, Hilton has been a guest at fundraising events, children's hospitals, and orphanages. She has been involved with the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and is listed on the "First Families" of the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, which means she has donated US$100,000 or more to the hospital. In 2008, a room at the hospital was named in her honor, and for her charitable efforts, Starlight and the American Humane Association have awarded Hilton the 2011 Heart of Gold Award, and the 2014 National Humanitarian Award, respectively.
In 2011, Hilton supported the LGBT rights organization NOH8, and participated at the American Red Cross run to benefit relief effort in Japan, hosted by actor Josh Duhamel in Santa Monica, CA. In 2015, she raised US$100,000 for children with disabilities in Ibiza. In 2017, she donated 50 of her personal items to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Starlight Children's Foundation, and visited San Gregorio Atlapulco, Mexico, where she handed out food and clothes to the affected families following the 2017 Central Mexico earthquake, donated merchandise and a sum of US$350,000 to help rebuild seven homes that were affected.
In October 2018, Hilton hosted Rock The Runway, an event benefitting Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and The Sasha Project LA. 20 percent of the proceeds from her 2018 five-nail polishes line with Nail and Bone goes to Animal Haven, a New York-based non-profit rescue group. In June 2019, Hilton was part of the annual, all-female Cash & Rocket auto rally, which took place across Europe and raised money for Sumbandila, The Helen Bamber Foundation and Dream for Future Africa Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hilton performed a DJ set at the virtual music festival #TrillerFest, to drive donations for No Kid Hungry and Music Cares, and a portion of the proceeds from her merchandise collection went to Frontline Foods and local restaurants feeding frontline workers.
The release of the documentary This is Paris (2020), in which Hilton spoke about the abuse she endured as a teen in a series of boarding schools such as Provo Canyon School, prompted an increase of interest on #BreakingCodeSilence, a viral movement organized by people who were sent in their youth to a "network of privately owned, powerfully punitive, and often wilderness-based therapy programs, residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, group homes, boot camps, and faith-based academies". On October 9, 2020, she held a rally outside Provo Canyon School in Utah in protest of alleged abuse and programs for troubled teens.
On February 8, 2021, Hilton appeared before the Utah State Legislature to testify on behalf of a proposed measure that would require more government oversight of youth residential treatment centers and require them to document when they use restraints. During her testimony, Hilton said that she had been emotionally and physically abused during her 11-month stay at Provo Canyon School when she was 17. She accused staffers at Provo School of beating her, subjecting her to strip searches, force-feeding her medication, watching her shower, and sending her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment. On March 2, the Utah Legislature approved the bill, known as SB127. On October 20, Hilton held a press conference at the United States Capitol, with lawmakers Ro Khanna and Jeff Merkley, to advocate for the introduction of the Accountability for Congregate Care Act, which would establish a bill of rights with protections for children in such facilities. In 2022, she appeared before the United States House Committee on Ways and Means to testify on behalf of measures to improve child welfare in the United States.
In 2023, Hilton joined both Democratic and Republican members of Congress in backing the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which aims to "provide greater oversight and data transparency for institutional youth treatment programs and will help identify and prevent institutional child abuse". The bipartisan bill passed both chambers of Congress during the last months of the 118th United States Congress and will be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Public image
Reception
A particularly polarizing figure since rising to fame, Hilton has often been the subject of harsh criticism. Writing for The New York Times in 2003, John Leland opined: "In a ravenous celebrity culture, Ms. Hilton's rise shows how far celebrity itself has been devalued".
A 2006 poll conducted by the Associated Press and AOL concluded that Hilton was the second-Worst Celebrity Role Model, behind Britney Spears. According to a June 2007 Gallup poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) felt very unsympathetic toward her, and a November 2007 online survey of children conducted by E-Poll Market Research ranked her among the most unfriendly celebrities among children. The 2007 Guinness World Records named her the world's "most overrated celebrity", and Forbes ranked her as the most "overexposed" in 2006 and 2008. The latter stated in 2008 that "65% of the U.S. population would use the term 'overexposed' to describe Hilton [...] To put that in perspective, most celebrities average between 3% and 7% on the E-Poll celebrity index during the peak of their careers". In the Forbes list, she also ranked second, fifth and eight in 2007, 2012, and 2014 respectively. A 2011 Ipsos poll concluded that she was the most unpopular celebrity with Americans (with 60 percent of respondents viewing her unfavorably).
Despite the noticeable public disapproval, Hilton was among the most popular searches on various search engines (such as Google, AOL and Lycos) between 2004 and 2008. In 2004, she was named one of the "10 Most Fascinating People", according to Barbara Walters' annual primetime special ("Paris' Most Shocking Moments"). Forbes included her in its Celebrity 100, which ranks the highest-paid celebrities, in 2004, 2005, and 2006. She ranked 59th, 23rd, 34th, and 35th in FHMs 100 Sexiest Women poll in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2012, respectively, and was 20th and 38th, respectively, on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list in 2005 and 2006. She has been included among the "50 Most Popular Women on the Web" by Google in 2010, the "100 Hottest Women of All Time" by Men's Health in 2011, the "50 Most Influential People in the NFT Industry" by Fortune in 2021, and the "40 Most Powerful Women on Reality TV" by Variety in 2023.
The nature and extent of her fame is often questioned by critics, as she is not considered an artist nor performer. Blair Soden of ABC News noted: "She's made a lot of money with a hodgepodge of traditional celebrity revenue. But what she's best at is being Paris Hilton". Writers indeed suggest that Hilton epitomizes the celebutante: a celebrity for no particularly identifiable reason other than inherited wealth and lavish lifestyle. Cait Munro of Refinery29 asserted: "Paris Hilton is an icon not just of the 2000s, but of a certain widely held image of what inherited wealth, undeserved fame, and American excess looks like".
Much of her image has centered on her "party girl-heiress archetype" as well as her blonde hair and the stereotypes associated with it, especially stupidity, naïveté, sexual availability and artificiality. The development of that character stemmed from the initial success of The Simple Life and her desire to embody "the ultimate brand based on [...] the right everything for a formula that far exceeded anybody else at that time", according to Jason Moore, her former manager. He stated: "She was the ultimate package that corporate America would want to make for itself as a marketing tool, but it was already made for them. They say to be a famous person, people want to be you or [sleep with you], and she encompassed both of those".
Fashion and language are two contributing factors to Hilton's star image. Known for her long bleached blonde hair, valley girl accent, and use of blue colored contact lenses over her naturally brown eyes, she developed her personal aesthetic through mainly pink attire, Juicy Couture tracksuits, rhinestones, trucker hats, oversized sunglasses, and the "accessory dog". She mimed "high-fashion poses learned from drag queens" and created what was described as the "Paris talk". For instance, she often uses one-liners and a breathy, childish voice in television shows and interviews. Among the designer accessories she was regularly seen with was the Dior Saddle bag, which gained popularity in the early 2000s and was frequently cited as an It bag, with Hilton among the public figures credited with its rise in popularity.
Her dim-witted blonde persona, a carefully crafted act, found significant credence among the general public, which she has described as an obstacle in her career. She once remarked: "People assume before they meet me that I'm a really ditzy dumb blonde. That's the one thing that kind of annoys me sometimes. They just think because of the reality show that's who I really am. But that was just a character that I created. I didn't realize what a huge success [it would be...] With everything that's happening, though, with my business, I think people can understand that you couldn't possibly get this far being a dumb blonde".
Catchphrases
"That's hot", "loves it" and "sliving" are Hilton's catchphrases. All three are registered as trademarks for products, like clothing apparel, electronic devices, and alcoholic beverages.
On September 6, 2007, Hilton filed an injunction lawsuit against Hallmark Cards Inc., titled Hilton v. Hallmark Cards, in U.S. District Court over the unlawful use of her picture and catchphrase "That's hot" on a greeting card. The card is titled "Paris's First Day as a Waitress" with a photograph of Hilton's face on a cartoon of a waitress serving a plate of food, with a dialogue bubble saying "Don't touch that, it's hot" (which had a registered trademark on February 13, 2007). Hilton's attorney Brent Blakely said that the infringement damages would be based on profits from the greeting cards. Julie O'Dell said that Hallmark used the card as parody, protected under fair use law. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reviewed the case and "denied Hallmark's motion to dismiss". Hilton and Hallmark Cards Inc. later settled out of court.
Media presence
A subject of press and public attention due to her extravagant Hollywood lifestyle, Hilton's media exploits started in the late 1990s, when she became a fixture in NYC's late-night circuit. A combination of what has been described as "vulgar Trump-era exhibitionism and Girls Gone Wild antics" led publications such as Hamptons, The New Yorker, and particularly The New York Post, to often feature Hilton in their social columns.
After her pictorial by David LaChapelle and September 2000 article for Vanity Fair, Hilton was hailed as "New York's leading It Girl", whose fame was beginning to "extend beyond the [local] tabloids", by The Guardian in February 2001. The scandal involving her sex tape, which arose shortly before the December 2003 premiere of The Simple Life, ultimately catapulted her into global fame and made her an overnight subject of media frenzy, paparazzi attention and public scrutiny. The sudden and unusual interest on her life led Entertainment Weekly to write that, "[w]e in the media have become Paris-ites". Similarly, CNN.com described her presence as a "staple of the daily news cycles" that became "impossible to escape". In an effort to "rehabilite her public image" and "capitalise" on the increased curiosity following the release of her sex tape, Hilton started to promote herself through different forms of mass media such as advertising, publishing and broadcasting.
Throughout the 2000s, a decade widely associated with her heyday, Hilton's media ubiquity fed the then-booming online gossip industry and cemented her "It Girl" status. The exposure nurtured an "ambivalent" but symbiotic relationship between Hilton and the press, from which both parties benefited. On different occasions, she has complained about the way she was treated by the media in her twenties, particularly about their narrative on her and constant presence in her proximity, whereas at other times she sought their attention and hand information to reporters herself. Moreover, she regularly planned public occurrences, described as "pseudo-events", with the purpose of being photographed and reported on.
Sheeraz Hasan, who founded Hollywood.TV and briefly served as her media consultant, stated: "I built the foundation of one of the biggest paparazzi companies in the world on the back of Paris Hilton. I had over 100 guys in Los Angeles [...] all of them making a living off" Hilton. Emerging media outlets often received criticism for having a personality cult around figures such as Hilton, but TMZ founder Harvey Levin attributed their coverage on her to how it helped draw a high viewership to the website. Perez Hilton, on his part, purports to have befriended Hilton, who became the source of his stage name and frequent subject of his posts. It has been noted, for example, that he rarely reports on stories or rumors casting her in a negative or unflattering light, and that, unlike most gossip blogs, he often acknowledges and praises her positive achievements. In August 2006, YouTube promoted her eponymous debut album as part of its first targeted advertising launch.
The media's over-saturation on Hilton had reached a peak in 2007 amid her much-publicized legal problems. She became the fifth most heavily covered story of the week of June 4 in North America. According to Pew Research Center, roughly a third of Americans (34%) followed news about Hilton very or fairly closely, with public interest in her surpassing that in the 2008 presidential campaign, The G8 summit, and talks between George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin. As a response, the Associated Press attempted to not mention her for the week of February 19, 2007, Mika Brzezinski refused to read a report about Hilton's release from jail on the June 26, 2007, broadcast of Morning Joe, and Us Weekly published its first "100% Paris-Free" issue on June 29, 2007.
Despite the institution of a reporting ban on Hilton, Forbes ranked her as the most "overexposed" celebrity a second time in 2008. A television campaign ad by the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign, in which McCain compared Barack Obama to celebrities such as Hilton and Britney Spears, prompted a direct response from her through a Funny or Die video entitled Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad, which was viewed by more than seven million people in two days and received worldwide press coverage as well as written and verbal responses from both campaigns.
By December 2009, Hilton's presence in mass media had reportedly started to wane and become less noteworthy. That month, CNN.com published a story asking, "Why has Paris Hilton disappeared?", in which her absence from daily news circles was attributed to an over-saturated public and a new collective interest on other celebrities. In subsequent years, she remained in the media spotlight, albeit was noted to have "somewhat receded from view".
Hilton developed an online and social media presence and, as of 2021, reached over 60 million users across her social platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. In March 2012, an experiment conducted by The Next Web concluded that Hilton generated less traffic than actor Charlie Sheen on Twitter, but she has trended on the platform on several occasions. In 2020, according to a Deadline report, there were over 257 million views on videos mentioning her name on social media and her catchphrase "That's Hot" resulted in more than 4.8 billion impressions on TikTok. TikTok videos tagged with her name had collectively received more than 2 billion views, as of 2022. To date, her YouTube channel has accumulated over 250 million views.
Throughout her career, Hilton has graced the covers of numerous international magazines, including US' Ocean Drive, FHM, Maxim, Elle, Nylon, Variety, and Paper; UK's Elle, Es Magazine and Gay Times; France and Turkey's Vogue; Spain's Vanity Fair; and New Zealand's Remix. She interviewed singer Kim Petras for the Summer 2018 issue of Paper as well as rapper Saweetie for the Summer 2021 issue of Wonderland. She wrote a profile on Britney Spears for the 2021 Time 100 listicle.
Cultural influence
It has been said that Hilton's rise to fame, coinciding with society's increased fixation on celebrity and the internet becoming a more accessible medium, facilitated the insurgency of an unprecedented type of celebrity—which was initially promoted by reality television and has since intensified with the posterior growth of social media—whose displays of its private life became an unusual focus of public interest, and therefore, their own source of income.
In 2018, Lili Anolik, of Vanity Fair, observed that Hilton "instinctively grasped that the great cultural contribution of the movies was movie stars", and further said that since "anybody with a phone was now a potential cineaste" and "true movie stars require[d] raw presence, not refined acting skills", she needed "only ever perform herself, or, rather, 'herself'[:] a gorgeous blonde ditz, the modern-day Monroe". In 2020, Los Angeles Times editor Lindzi Scharf regarded her as "the woman who will likely go down in history for putting the 'i' in influencer". GQs Carrie Battan had previously called her "the figure who set off Hollywood 2.0's Big Bang, the effects of which continue to radiate through the industry today. Hilton, the one who made it possible to be famous for doing nothing, was so sought-after in the [...] 2000s that you couldn't get her to walk to her mailbox without giving her a check". Bert Marcus, the director of the documentary The American Meme (2018), echoed that sentiment, remarking that she "paved the way for creating a brand and a celebrity out of being herself and she turned it into a phenomenon," while Instagram celebrity and entrepreneur The Fat Jew, who was one of the subjects in the aforementioned documentary, credited her for "inventing the way the world thinks about influence".
Hilton made part of the early-2000s popularization of reality television into mainstream pop culture. Vice, in a 2015 profile, noted that after The Simple Life premiered in 2003, "cable channels began programming reality television shows. MTV's second golden age consisted of The Hills; Andy Cohen reinvented Bravo with a repertoire of The Real Housewives, and TLC started teaching Americans about Dance Moms and Honey Boo Boo". Dazed once considered that every "[reality] star who cashes in after the series by collaborating with brands is essentially selling a sort of post-Hilton aspirational glamour". The Kardashian family, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Tila Tequila, Danielle Staub, Alexa Chung, Brittny Gastineau, and Snooki are some of the personalities who are said to have followed in her footsteps. Kim Kardashian acknowledged Hilton for "giving" her a career, while Tana Mongeau stated that the media personality "paved the way for me. A girl like me who is literally famous for nothing—Paris Hilton taught us how to make that a business, you know what I mean".
Hilton's influence on fashion, tabloid journalism, and Hollywood throughout the 2000s led her to be considered an American pop culture icon. The height of her fame contributed to the growth of what The New York Times described as a "misogynist" and intrusive celebrity culture, monopolized by tabloids and paparazzi. For instance, a paparazzi photograph of her, at that time, could range from US$8,000 to US$1 million, celebrity-focused newspapers and media agencies (e.g. TMZ and Hollywood.TV) attributed part of their large viewership to their coverage on Hilton, and a network of gossip blogs such as PerezHilton.com emerged after she rose to fame. The clothing style that defined her image in her heyday—tracksuits, rhinestones, trucker hats and "the accessory dog"—became a popular fashion trend and helped popularize brands such as Juicy Couture and Von Dutch. The Julien Macdonald dress Hilton wore for her 21st birthday has been recreated numerous times, while a 2011 report from The Kennel Club associated her with "the upsurge of popularity" in "so-called handbag dogs". People magazine wrote in a March 2017 article: "For millennials, Paris Hilton has always been and will always be a living legend. The socialite has come to perfectly define not only the millennial fashion aesthetic, but also a bygone era of celebrity where social media was nonexistent, as were stylists, and getting papped while partying was simply de rigueur" (to get "papped" is to be followed and photographed by paparazzi).
Hilton has been discussed by journalists and scholars interested in the role of celebrities and their influence through the media. Feminist theorist Camille Paglia described her as a "groundbreaking" figure in Hollywood, while in her book The Bling Ring, an account on the group of thieves who robbed Hilton's house, Nancy Jo Sales positioned her as a "celebrity symbol of how destructive individualism ruled the 2000s". Jej Perfekcyjność, a Polish sociologist and queer activist, created and organised a yearly event known as International Paris Hilton Day, which took place in Warsaw since 2006, on the first Sunday of May. However, the celebration was cancelled in 2010, following a plane crash near Smolensk, and was permanently discontinued in 2013, due to controversial comments made by Hilton the previous year. On August 29, 2006, the mayor of Las Vegas proclaimed the day "Paris Hilton Day" and gave Hilton a key to the city. Her quote, "Dress cute wherever you go; life is too short to blend in", was added to The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations in September 2009.
In popular culture
Hilton has had two popular television characters loosely based on her real-life persona: London Tipton from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005–2008) and Caroline Channing in 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017). The World of Warcraft massively multiplayer online role-playing game has featured a character named Haris Pilton, labeled a "socialite", since the release of The Burning Crusade expansion on January 15, 2007. She is the source for the name of the celebrity gossip blog PerezHilton.com.
Hilton has been parodied in the music videos for Pink's "Stupid Girls" (2006), and Falling in Reverse's "I'm Not a Vampire" (2011), the South Park episode "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" (2004), The Simpsons episode "Homerazzi" (2007), and the Hollywood films White Chicks (2004), Date Movie (2006), Epic Movie (2007), and Meet the Spartans (2008). She has been dramatised in the television film Paparazzi Princess: The Paris Hilton Story (2008), by Amber Hay, who had spoofed Hilton in a viral 2007 YouTube video titled "Paris in Jail", and in the Lifetime biographical drama Britney Ever After (2017), by Jillian Walchuck. In the second, ninth and thirteenth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, she has been portrayed by Raven, Trinity the Tuck and Gottmik respectively. Comedians Breven Angaelica Warren (E! mock television series) and Maya Rudolph (SNL), and television personalities Tyra Banks (The Tyra Banks Show) and Matt Lauer (The Today Show) are among the figures who have spoofed Hilton's public persona.
In 2005, Madame Tussauds unveiled Hilton's wax figure to coincide with the release of House of Wax. In 2006, she became a target of the street artist Banksy, when 500 copies of her album in 48 record shops across the United Kingdom were replaced with his own alternative version. His rework of the album featured remixes produced by himself and Danger Mouse. The track list contained satire song titles such as "Why Am I Famous?", "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?". He also changed the cover sleeve and booklet to display pictures of the singer topless. In 2017, she was one of the subjects of an art exhibit called "Nicole Richie's 2007 Memorial Day BBQ", which was unveiled at Brooklyn's THNK 1994 Museum. In The Good Place episode "The Brainy Bunch" (2018), an American-themed restaurant includes a wall art featuring an alternative Mount Rushmore formed by Hilton, David Hasselhoff, Judge Judy, and Hulk Hogan. She has also been a subject of other media depictions such as print biographies, documentaries and television specials.
Personal life
Throughout Hilton's adulthood, numerous aspects of her personal life—particularly, her uninhibited and extravagant jet set lifestyle, her extensive list of friendships, relationships and romantic associations with other high-profile figures, heavy partying, and reported instances of inappropriate behavior—have drawn a large amount of media attention and public disapproval.
Hilton is known for her love of small dogs, and has had a female Chihuahua named Tinkerbell among many other pets. Hilton was frequently seen carrying Tinkerbell (dubbed an "accessory dog") at social events and functions, and in all five seasons of television reality show The Simple Life. In April 2015, it was reported that Tinkerbell had died at age 14. In one of her properties, Hilton had a 300-square-foot house with air conditioning, heating, and designer furniture built for her pets at an estimated cost of US$325,000.
Hilton resides in Beverly Hills, and owns a house in Mulholland Estates, an oceanfront property in Malibu, as well as a penthouse in Manhattan. On January 8, 2025, Hilton reported her home in Malibu had been destroyed by the Palisades Fire.
Relationships and family
In 2000, a then-19-year-old Hilton drew attention from tabloids when she and Leonardo DiCaprio were seen together on the NYC late-night circuit. That led to one of her first magazine profiles, with Vanity Fair, in which she denied that they were involved. She dated actor Edward Furlong in 2000, and poker player Rick Salomon, with whom she filmed her sex tape, in 2001. She was engaged to fashion model Jason Shaw from 2002 to 2003. They have reportedly remained friends since their split. She had a seven-month relationship with singer Nick Carter in 2004; Carter opened up about their relationship in his 2013 autobiography. "Paris was the worst person in the world for me to hook up with," he wrote. "[She] fed my worst impulses as far as partying."
Hilton started dating Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis in December 2004, and they became engaged seven months later. In November 2005, they called the wedding off. She next had a relationship with another Greek heir, Stavros Niarchos, whom she dated on and off between December 2005 and March 2007. Hilton dated Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden from February until November 2008. An on-and-off relationship with The Hills star Doug Reinhardt followed, but they broke up definitively in April 2010, when she became concerned that he was using her to further his career. She next had a one-year relationship with Las Vegas nightclub owner Cy Waits. She dated Spanish model River Viiperi between 2012 and 2014, and businessman Thomas Gross between 2015 and 2016. Actor Chris Zylka proposed to her in January 2018, during a vacation in Aspen, after one year of dating. They called off their engagement in November 2018.
In December 2019, Hilton started a relationship with businessman Carter Reum. After becoming engaged on February 13, 2021, Hilton and Reum were married in Los Angeles on November 11. They have a son and a daughter born via surrogacy in January and November 2023, respectively.
Sex tape
In 2003, a sex tape featuring Hilton and then-boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked onto the Internet shortly before the premiere of The Simple Life. Salomon filed a lawsuit against the company that distributed the tape, and against the Hilton family, whom he accused of tarnishing his reputation by suggesting that he had exploited Hilton. Hilton later sued the company that released the tape, Kahatani Ltd., for US$30 million for violation of privacy and emotional distress.
Under the title 1 Night in Paris, Salomon began distributing the tape himself in April 2004 through the adult film company Red Light District Video. In July 2004, Salomon dropped his lawsuit against the Hilton family after Paris Hilton's privacy lawsuit was thrown out of court. Salomon and Red Light District Video agreed to pay Hilton US$400,000 plus a percentage of the tape's sale profit. In 2013, Hilton claimed she never made money off her sex tape: "[I] never made a dollar. I make enough money in nice ways. My fragrance [line] makes enough, I don't need to worry about that."
Legal issues
On September 7, 2006, Hilton was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, with a blood alcohol content of 0.08%. In November 2006, Hilton's driver's license was suspended, and on January 22, 2007, she pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge. Her sentence was 36 months' probation and fines totaling about US$1,500. On February 27, 2007, she was stopped for driving with a suspended license, and she signed an agreement that she was not permitted to drive. The next month, she was caught driving 70 mph in a 35 mph zone without headlights at night with a suspended license. Prosecutors in the office of the Los Angeles City Attorney charged that these infractions and her failure to enroll in a court-ordered alcohol-education program violated her probation. On May 4, 2007, Hilton was sentenced by Judge Michael T. Sauer to 45 days in jail for the probation violation. She planned to appeal the sentence, supporting an online petition (created on May 5 by Joshua Morales) asking California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a pardon. Hilton changed lawyers and dropped her plans to appeal.
Hilton was required to begin her jail term on June 5, 2007, and entered the Century Regional Detention Facility (a women's prison in Lynwood, California) after attending the 2007 MTV Movie Awards on June 3, 2007. On June 7, 2007, Los Angeles County Sheriff, Lee Baca signed an order resentencing Hilton to 40 days of home confinement with an electronic monitoring device due to an unspecified medical condition. Baca said, "My message to those who don't like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice." He added, "The special treatment, in a sense, appears to be because of her celebrity status ... She got more time in jail." Judge Michael Sauer summoned her to reappear in court the following morning (June 8), since her original sentence specified imprisonment: "No work furlough. No work release. No electronic monitoring." At the hearing, Sauer declined a briefing in chambers by Hilton's attorney on her medical condition and sent her back to jail to serve the original 45-day sentence. When she heard the decision, Hilton shouted "It's not right!" Screaming, she asked to hug her mother. Hilton was moved to the medical wing of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, and returned to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood on June 13. Hilton was released from jail on Tuesday, June 26, 2007.
Hilton was influenced by minister Marty Angelo in jail, referring to a "new beginning" in an interview with talk-show host Larry King on June 28, 2007 (two days after her release) and quoting from Angelo's autobiography (Once Life Matters: A New Beginning). On June 9, Angelo unsuccessfully petitioned Sauer to let him serve the remainder of Hilton's sentence if the judge would release her to an alternative treatment program. Hilton told King during the interview that she had taken Adderall for ADHD since childhood.
On July 2, 2010, Hilton was accused of smoking marijuana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup game between Brazil and the Netherlands. Although she was escorted from the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium by local police, the case was later dismissed. Her publicist, Dawn Miller, said: "I can confirm that the incident was a complete misunderstanding and it was actually another person in the group who did it". Two weeks later, Hilton was detained and released after she was caught with cannabis at Corsica's Figari Sud-Corse Airport.
On August 27, 2010, Hilton was arrested by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of cocaine possession in Las Vegas and her boyfriend, Cy Waits, was charged with driving under the influence. Hilton and Waits were booked into the Clark County jail, where Hilton was kept handcuffed on a booking room bench, fingerprinted, photographed and released on her own recognizance. Hilton's defense initially claimed that the handbag (containing 0.8 g of cocaine) was not hers. She later claimed personal items (including cash and credit cards) from the bag, acknowledging that it was hers. To avoid a felony conviction, Hilton pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors on September 17, 2010. Under the terms of the plea bargain she was sentenced to one year of probation, 200 hours of community service, a US$2,000 fine and the completion of a drug-abuse treatment program on September 20. Clark County District Attorney David Roger said, "If she was arrested for anything besides a minor traffic violation she will spend a year in jail. There will be no discussion. The court will have no discretion."
On September 21, 2010, on their way to a Tokyo press conference to promote fashion and fragrance lines, Hilton and her sister Nicky were stopped by immigration officers at Narita Airport because of Hilton's drug-possession conviction the previous day. Under Japan's strict drug laws, travelers convicted of a drug crime are usually denied entry into the country. Airport officials questioned Hilton "for hours", and she and Nicky were detained overnight at the airport hotel. On September 22, Japanese authorities denied Hilton entry, and she was deported back to the United States. Other stops on their Asian promotional tour were canceled due to Indonesia and Malaysia's anti-drug laws.
Bling Ring
Between 2008 and 2009, Hilton's house was burgled several times by the Bling Ring, a group of fashion-motivated thieves. She was the group's first and main celebrity target, with a majority of the stolen property belonging to her. They reportedly burgled Hilton's residence seven times. It was not until nearly US$2 million were stolen in jewellery, clothing, cash, and other items from Hilton that she made a report. She allowed Sofia Coppola to shoot some scenes for The Bling Ring (2013) at her house.
Stalking and other incidents
On January 22, 2007, her private life became public on ParisExposed.com, a website with images of personal documents, video and other material allegedly obtained when the contents of a storage locker rented by Hilton were auctioned in lieu of a US$208 payment. The website, which charged for online access to the material, had 1.2 million visitors in just over 40 hours. Among its contents were medications, diaries, photographs, contracts, love letters and a video shot by Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild, in which Hilton repeats racist and homophobic slurs. Hilton obtained a temporary injunction against ParisExposed.com which shut down the website.
In August 2010, Nathan Lee Parada was arrested after security men spotted him wielding two knives outside Hilton's house. He was found guilty on one felony count of attempted first-degree residential burglary and was sentenced to two years in state prison. In October 2010, James Rainford bicycled past guards at the entrance to her gated community, went to her house, and began pounding on her door. He was arrested and earned three years' probation, along with a restraining order from Hilton. In April 2011, Rainford was arrested a second time for attacking her boyfriend Cy Waits outside Van Nuys Superior Court, where Hilton was headed to testify against Nathan Lee Parada, and he was arrested again in July outside her Malibu, California, beach house. He was charged with two felony stalking counts and three misdemeanor counts of disobeying a court order, but a judge found him to be "mentally incompetent to stand trial" and he was sent to a state mental hospital.
On September 20, 2012, an audio of what was perceived as homophobic comments made by Hilton, leaked onto the Internet. Following the backlash caused, she issued an apology through GLAAD.
In November 2013, an "obsessed fan", flew a plane over Malibu with two banners, one of which read, "Can't Get Paris Whitney Hilton Out of My Mind." The other read, "Mr. & Mrs. Hilton, may I court your daughter Paris?". The same person reportedly posed as a flower deliveryman to gain access to her gated community, where he left her a classic Cadillac, in 2015. In October 2014, Lukas Redanz, a man who was completely covered with tattoos of Hilton and appeared to be "extremely drunk", was arrested after he reportedly went to her gated community "to see her". In December 2014, Hilton filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department after receiving anti-Semitic messages on social media from a man who believed she was Jewish; he threatened to rape and kill her.
Between 2015 and 2017, Hilton was the target of an identity theft scheme by Paytsar Bkhchadzhyan, a woman who used Hilton's credit cards to book a party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel worth around $53,000. She also pretended to be Hilton in emails to her employees, convincing them to transfer $106,000 to her account, and hacked her sister Nicky and father Rick Hilton in an attempt to gain passwords to various other accounts. She also stole nude photos of Hilton from her iCloud account. Bkhchadzhyan was arrested in 2017 for bank fraud conspiracy, and was later sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution.
Wealth
According to Forbes, Hilton earned about US$2 million between 2003 and 2004, US$6.5 million between 2004 and 2005, US$7 million between 2005 and 2006, and US$8 million between 2008 and 2009. By 2011, CNN.com reported Hilton's annual earnings to be over US$10 million.
In December 2007, Hilton's grandfather Barron Hilton pledged 97 percent of his estate (the Hilton family fortune) to a charitable organization founded by her great-grandfather Conrad Hilton: the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. As a result, his grandchildren's inheritance was reduced. An immediate pledge of US$1.2 billion (proceeds from the sale of Hilton Hotels Corporation) was made, with a further US$1.1 billion due after his death. Barron cited the actions of his father, Conrad Hilton, as the motivation for his pledge. Conrad had also left the majority of his estate to the foundation, and Barron contested his father's will to regain a sizable amount of Hilton company stock in a settlement.
Much of Hilton's wealth comes from numerous endorsements, as well as her retail business, which includes numerous product lines and stores, and has generated sales of over US$4 billion. Her regular fees for both DJing and personal appearances in parties and events have been reported to be between US$250,000 and US$1 million. In 2009, for instance, Hilton, 50 Cent and Lenny Kravitz received US$4 million for the 51st-birthday party of Ed Hardy founder Christian Audigier, and in 2014, she earned US$2.7 million for four nights' work—US$347,000 an hour—as part of her two-month residence in Ibiza.
Paris (2006)
Infinite Icon (2024)
Awards and nominations
Year Association Category Work Result Ref. 2004 Teen Choice Awards Choice Reality Television Star – Female The Simple Life 2004 Teen Choice Awards Choice Television Personality – Female 2004 DanceStar USA Awards Celebrity DJ of the Year 2005 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Scream Scene House of Wax 2005 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Breakout Performance – Female 2005 Teen Choice Awards Choice Television Personality – Female 2005 Teen Choice Awards Choice Crossover Artist 2006 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Supporting Actress House of Wax 2006 Golden Raspberry Awards Most Tiresome Tabloid Targets 2006 Teen Choice Awards Choice Reality Television Star – Female The Simple Life 2006 MTV Movie Awards Best Frightened Performance House of Wax 2006 Billboard Music Awards Top Hot Dance Club Play Artist 2007 Teen Choice Awards Choice Reality Television Star – Female The Simple Life 2007 Teen Choice Awards Choice OMG! Moment 2008 Harvard Lampoon Woman of the Year 2009 FiFi Awards Female Celebrity Fragrance of the Year 2009 Fox Reality Awards Innovator of the Year Award 2009 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actress The Hottie and the Nottie 2009 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Screen Couple 2009 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Supporting Actress Repo! The Genetic Opera 2009 Teen Choice Awards Choice Reality Television Star – Female Paris Hilton's My New BFF 2009 Teen Choice Awards Choice Summer Television Star – Female 2010 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actress of the Decade Various roles 2011 Starlight Children's Foundation Heart of Gold Award 2013 NRJ DJ Awards Best Breakthrough DJ 2014 American Humane Association National Humanitarian Award 2014 NRJ DJ Awards Best Female DJ 2017 Hollywood Beauty Awards Fragrance of the Year Gold Rush 2021 Footwear News Achievement Awards Icon Award 2022 Daily Front Row Awards Fashion Entrepreneur Award 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Reality Return Cooking with Paris Paris in Love
|
Cristina Garmendia
|
[
"1962 births",
"Autonomous University of Madrid alumni",
"Living people",
"Women government ministers of Spain",
"Directors of CaixaBank",
"University of Seville alumni",
"People from San Sebastián",
"Businesspeople from the Basque Country (autonomous community)",
"Spanish biologists",
"Spanish business executives"
] | 1,446 | 11,605 |
Cristina Garmendia y Mendizábal (born 1962 in San Sebastián) is a Spanish biologist and businesswoman. With no previous political career, she was appointed as Minister of Science and Innovation in April 2008 by the President of the Government of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
With a PhD in biology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, before her election as a minister, she was the president of the Inbiomed Foundation and the Spanish Society of Bio enterprises. In 2000, she founded Genetrix, a biotechnology company and in 2008 YSIOS, a venture capital firm, specialized in health and biotechnology. She was also a member of the board of the Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations (CEOE). After her term was over, Garmendia has taken up again her management side as member of YSIOS.
She is a shareholder of Genetrix, and a member of scientific or advisory boards for many organizations, such as the Women for Africa Foundation. and the Colombian Government's Productive Transformation Program International Advisory Board. She is also an active board member of a number of Spanish companies, branch organizations and a top business school.
Early life and education
Garmendia was born in 1962 in San Sebastián (Basque Country). At age 18 she studied biology at the University of Seville, where she graduated specializing in genetics. Subsequently, she moved to Madrid, where she has lived since the 1980s. In Madrid she combined her PhD in the CSIC from the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, and her experience as assistant professor in the department of genetics and molecular biology in the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She received her PhD from the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid under the guidance of Professor Margarita Salas. She completed her education with an Executive MBA program at IESE, University of Navarra.
Business career, 1992–2008
As a result of the MBA, Garmendia linked her Biology experience within the management activity. In 1992, as vice president and CFO, she was in charge on various responsibilities related to business development of Grupo Amasua, dedicated to the fishing industry. She held that position until 2001.
In 2000 she founded Genetrix together with Carlos Martínez and Antonio Bernad, Professors of the CSIC. Today Genetrix is involved in the development of biomedical technology and drugs. Genetrix was the first private firm that resulted from an investigation of the National Center of Biotechnology. Researchers of the department of immunology and oncology (DIO) of this center joined their research experience for this private initiative as a way to further develop their results of their investigations. The work of Garmendia was pioneer in that field as it helped lay the foundations in the Spanish biotechnology industry, transferring research outputs to the private sector. Garmendia has held positions of CEO, managing director of Genetrix, and in parallel, also promoted other business projects like Cellerix, Biotherapix, Sensia, Imbiosis, Biobide, BioAlma and Coretherapix. After many corporate operations and mergers, the Genetrix Corporation has many stock holdings in Xpol, Biobide, Corotherapix, Axontherapix, Fenix Biotech and Tigenix. Since 2012 X-Pol quotes in Germany after the agreement with the German quoted SYGNIS.
In 1997 she restarted Inbiomed, a research foundation that holds the first adult stem cells bank in Spain, and the venture capital YSIOS Capital Partners in 2008, where they successfully raised a €69 million fund, specialized in Biotech and Health. In March 2005, Dr. Garmendia was elected president of the Spanish Bioindustry Association (Asebio), association of enterprises of the bio sector; subsequently, in 2006, she was invited to join the board of the Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations (CEOE), a position that she held until 2008 when she is appointed Minister of Science and Innovation of Spain.
Because of her entrepreneurial spirit in the field of Biotech and biomedicine, she was awarded with the 2006 "Fermín de la Sierra" prize of the Escuela de Organización Industrial, EOI. And in 2008 she was awarded the "Tambor de Oro", maximum distinction from her native city, which is given to those who promote the image of San Sebastian. This price came to recognize the work of Mrs. Garmendia creating a pool of Biotech firm in the Technological Park of San Sebastian and her work in the field of innovation.
Political career, 2008–2011
On April 11, 2008, the president of the Spanish Government, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, elected Garmendia as holder of a new ministry, Minister of Science and Innovation, which was going to be created during the IX term of office.
The Ministry of Science and Innovation for the first time drew together all the Government's capacities and bodies to promote R&D, including Public Research Bodies, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI). The Ministry was created with the mandate to fully harness the economic potential the scientific capacity of the country —Spain established itself as the 9th scientific power in 2010.
During her time as Minister, many ambitious programs were launched. One of them was The National Innovation Strategy or the Severo Ochoa, aimed to subsidize in an extraordinary way the best Spanish research centers. Another program passed during her time in office was the Law for Science, Technology and innovation which for the first time raised innovation to the level of law insisting on the mechanism of transfer knowledge between the public and private sectors. Although it contained reforms heavily demanded by the scientific community, like the creation of the Research State Agency and the replacement of a contract of employment instead of scholarship, the law received a lot of criticism from some scientists. In terms of public investment in R&D, 2008– 2009 were years of growth with high increases in budgets, while the period between 2010 and 2011 were years of reduction and budget freeze with consequent criticism from the scientific community. In terms of great infrastructures, during term of office of Mrs. Garmendia new infrastructures where inaugurated —the Gran Telescopio Canarias (a 10.4m telescope with a segmented primary mirror in the island of La Palma), the Spanish National Center of Human Evolution (Burgos) and the Synchrotron Light Source in Cerdanyola del Vallès. The Minister of Science and Innovation was the first and only political role of Cristina Garmendia, who is not a member the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. After the end of her Ministry, Dr. Garmendia returned to her entrepreneurial activities in the private sector.
Return to the private sector, 2012
After the 2011 elections, Garmendia left her post as Minister of Science and Innovation on December 21, 2011, and returned to her business activities in the private sector. During 2012 Garmendia becomes board member at Everis, adviser of YSIOS and shareholder of Genetrix. Roles that she performed along with her job of advisor to diverse public and private entities. Among the noteworthy private activities, Garmendia is a member of the Professional Council of ESADE, Board of Trustees of the University Antonio de Nebrija and the University of Seville, Advisory Council of the Association Madrid Network. and member of the Council of Pelayo, an insurance company. Among the public activities she works with the Government of Colombia, as part of an international advisory board of president Santos. In addition, Garmendia has taken up her interest in promoting the creation of new base technology firms. Therefore, in May 2012, with Andreu Buenafuente and a group of Business Angels, she invested in the website Bananity. The firm closed it first firm round with €400,000 of capital.
She became member of the board of directors of CaixaBank in June 2019.
Other activities
Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group
|
IFRS 4
|
[
"International Financial Reporting Standards",
"Derivatives (finance)",
"Actuarial science",
"Insurance"
] | 607 | 5,797 |
IFRS 4 is an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) providing guidance for the accounting of insurance contracts. The standard was issued in March 2004, and was amended in 2005 to clarify that the standard covers most financial guarantee contracts. Paragraph 35 of IFRS also applies the standard to financial instruments with discretionary participation features.
IFRS 4 was intended to provide limited improvements to accounting for insurance contracts until the IASB completed the second, more comprehensive phase of its insurance accounting project. The replacement standard, IFRS 17 was issued in May 2017 and will become effective on January 1, 2023, supplanting IFRS 4 at that time.
Provisions
Generally, IFRS 4 permitted companies to continue previous accounting practices for insurance contracts, but did enhance the disclosure requirements. IFRS 4 defines an insurance contract as a "contract under which one party (the insurer) accepts significant insurance risk from another party (the policyholder) by agreeing to compensate the policyholder if a specified uncertain future event (the insured event) adversely affects the policyholder." The standard provides definitions to distinguish "insurance risk" from "financial risk." IFRS 4 exempts insurance companies from certain other IFRS standards, including IAS 8 on changes in accounting policies, until phase II is complete, but IFRS 4 does introduce its own requirements for changes in accounting policies.
Among the accounting requirements IFRS 4 introduced are a requirement to test that insurance liabilities are adequate and that reinsurance assets are not impaired. It also prohibits setting up a liability for insurance claims that have not been incurred. Although insurance contracts are subject to the requirements of IFRS 9 that embedded derivatives within other contracts be measured separately at fair value, IFRS 4 makes a limited exception for embedded derivatives that meet the definition of an insurance contract. Such embedded derivatives within insurance contracts do not need to be measured separately.
Criticism
6 of the 14 IASB board members dissented from issuing IFRS 4. Board members James J. Leisenring, Mary E. Barth, Robert P. Garnett, Gilbert Gélard and John T. Smith dissented because they disagreed with the temporary exemption from the accounting policy changes of IAS 8. Leisenring, Barth, Garnett and Smith further objected to the certain practices permitted by IFRS 4 related to the accounting for assets backing insurance companies, including "shadow accounting." Leisenring, Barth and Smith also objected to the inclusion of financial instruments with discretionary participation features within IFRS 4 rather than within the accounting guidance for financial instruments (which at the time was IAS 39), and Smith raised other objections as well, including the exception to separately measure embedded derivatives that meet the definition of insurance. Board member Tatsumi Yamada dissented separately because he did not believe that IFRS 4 appropriately addressed mismatches between the accounting for insurance contracts and the assets backing the insurance contracts.
Leisenring continued to criticize IFRS 4 after its issue, including a statement that "IFRS 4 is a gift of the IASB to the insurance community that keeps on giving."
IFRS 04
|
Nava Ashraf
|
[
"Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni",
"Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni",
"Behavioral economists",
"Canadian development economists",
"21st-century Canadian economists",
"Canadian women economists",
"Living people",
"Year of birth missing (living people)",
"Fellows of the European Economic Association",
"Fellows of the British Academy"
] | 863 | 8,064 |
Nava Ashraf, is a Canadian economist and academic. She is Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, as well as research director of the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship. Her research interests include development economics, behavioral economics, and family economics.
Biography
Ashraf earned a B.A. in economics from Stanford University in 1998, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 2003 and 2005, respectively. After her studies, she began working at Harvard Business School in the Negotiation, Organizations and Markets Unit as assistant professor (2005–10) and later as associate professor (2010–16). Since 2016 Ashraf has been a professor at the London School of Economics. Ashraf maintains affiliations with the CEPR, J-PAL, and BREAD, in particular as research director of the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship and co-director of the psychology and economics programme within the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD). She is also an editor of Economica and a referee for numerous academic journals in economics.
She is a Fellow of the European Economic Association.
Research
Ashraf's research focuses on development economics, behavioral economics, and family economics. Findings of her research include:
Commitment savings accounts (i.e. accounts that restrict access to savings for a pre-specified period) may be attractive to women (but not men) displaying hyperbolic discounting and are partly effective in increasing their saving rates (with Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin);
Spouses' contributions to their household's income depend on which spouse controls the household's saving and spending and on whether information about spouses' incomes is private;
Most of the (surprisingly small) variance in trust between trust games and dictator games played in Russia, South Africa, and the United States can be explained by reciprocity expectations, with a smaller role for unconditional kindness, while variance in trustworthiness is mainly explained by unconditional kindness (with Iris Bohnet and Nikita Piankov);
Women (in Zambia) who are given concealable contraceptives in their husbands' presence are 19% less likely to seek family planning services, 25% less likely to use the contraceptives, and 17% more likely to give birth (with Erica Field and Jean Lee);
Higher prices may stimulate the use of health products, e.g. home water purification solutions, in developing countries due to a screening effect (only households that expect to use the product frequently buy it) but probably not because of psychological sunk cost effects (with James Berry and Jesse M. Shapiro).
Awards
Rising Star in Global Health (by Grand Challenges Canada and the Gates Foundation: 2012
TIAA-CREF Paul. A Samuelson Award Certificate of Excellence (for Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence from a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines with Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin): 2006
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for Service: 2003
Order of British Columbia: 1995
In 2024, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.
|
Nariman Behravesh
|
[
"21st-century American economists",
"American economics writers",
"American financial commentators",
"American male non-fiction writers",
"American Zoroastrians",
"Business commentators",
"Economists from Massachusetts",
"International finance economists",
"Iranian emigrants to the United States",
"Iranian Zoroastrians",
"Macroeconomists",
"University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni",
"Writers about globalization",
"Writers from Massachusetts",
"Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni",
"People from Lexington, Massachusetts",
"Year of birth missing (living people)",
"Living people"
] | 979 | 9,641 |
Nariman Behravesh is Chief Economist at the consulting firm IHS Markit, and author of Spin-Free Economics: A No-Nonsense, Nonpartisan Guide to Today's Global Economic Debates (McGraw Hill).
Directing the economic forecasting process at IHS Markit, Behravesh is responsible for developing the economic outlook and risk analysis for the United States, Europe, Japan, China, and other emerging markets. He oversees the work of over 400 professionals located in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa who cover economic, financial, and political developments in 200 countries.
Behravesh is quoted in the media on such topics as the outlook for the US and global economies, exchange rates, the budget deficit, the trade deficit, globalization, country risk, and sovereign debt crises.
Early life
A native of Iran and the son of an Iranian father and an English mother, Behravesh grew up in the Middle East and Europe and is fluent in Italian, French, Persian, and Turkish. He obtained his BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earned his master's and Ph.D. in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978, studying with Nobel Prize winner and econometrics pioneer Lawrence Klein, founder of WEFA (Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates).
Behravesh and his wife, Ann, an attorney, live in Lexington, Massachusetts, and have three children and two grandchildren.
Behravesh serves as the Chief Economist at IHS Inc. Before joining IHS, he was Chief Economist and Executive Vice President of Global Insight, Inc. (now an IHS company). Prior to that, he was Chief International Economist for Standard & Poor's.
He also held a number of other positions, including president and CEO of Oxford Economics U.S.A. and Group Senior Vice President of WEFA. Early in his career, Behravesh worked as a principal analyst at the Congressional Budget Office and as a senior economist at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve. He has been covering the global economy for over 40 years.
Behravesh has been a featured speaker at global conferences, including IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates CERA Week and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In 2018 he was honored with the Lawrence R. Klein Award from Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business. Economics professor Dennis Hoffman said that Behravesh "had the most accurate projections of all the Blue Chip contributors for inflation and unemployment over the entire period, and was consistently solid on GDP. His average forecast error was remarkably low, among the best we have seen in the 30-plus years of the award."
Media appearances
Behravesh appears on national radio and television programs, including BBC World Business Report, NBC Nightly News, CNN Headline News, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (PBS), Your World with Neil Cavuto (Fox News), CNBC's Closing Bell, Bloomberg TV's World Financial Report, and All Things Considered on National Public Radio. He is cited in business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, USA Today, Investor's Business Daily, Business Week, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, and U.S. News & World Report. Behravesh was the host of the PBS television series, "Inside the Global Economy".
Behravesh is a "Bloomberg Best", and ranked as one of Bloomberg's Top 10 economists in 2009 and 2010. MarketWatch named IHS Global Insight "Forecaster of the Year" in 2009, and bestowed the company several Forecaster of the Month accolades since. He and his team ranked first on the 2004 USA Today ranking of economic forecasters, and on Reuters' 2004 survey of major currency exchange rate forecasters. In 2008, he was ranked #2 by USA Today. On The Wall Street Journal'''s annual ranking of US forecasters, Behravesh was ranked #3 (out of 56) for 2006, and he was the only forecaster to place in the top six for 2003, 2004, and 2006.
Publications
Behravesh is the author of Spin-Free Economics: A No-Nonsense, Nonpartisan Guide to Today's Global Economic Debates (McGraw Hill). He has authored articles in European Affairs and Credit Week, co-authored two books -Economics U$A and Microcomputers, Corporate Planning and Decision Support Systems, and was a contributing author to a book on scenario analysis, entitled Learning From the Future. His op-ed pieces have appeared in the Financial Times, Newsweek International, London Times, and the Boston Globe.
See alsoEconomics U$A''
|
David Amsel Meyer
|
[
"18th-century Danish businesspeople",
"19th-century Danish businesspeople",
"Businesspeople from Copenhagen",
"18th-century Danish Jews",
"19th-century Danish Jews"
] | 296 | 2,372 |
David Amsel Meyer (19 September 1755 – 30 August 1813) was a Danish businessman and financial advisor to the Danish government. In 1780, he became the first Jewish member of Grosserer-Societetet.
Early life and education
Meyer was born on 19 September 1755 in Copenhagen, the son of merchant Amsel Jacob Meyer (Hausen) (c. 1728–98) and Brendel Meyer (died 1763). His father was after the mother's death married to Hitzelia Meyer (c. 1746–1819). The family lived at Gammel Strand 44. Meyer received a very poor education but showed an unusual gift for mercantile business. With substantial credits from relatives in Altona and Amsterdam, he was quickly able to establish a thriving wholesale business. It was overseas trade and exchange transactions that were his speciality. In 1780, after considerable opposition, he was the first Jew to acquire citizenship as a wholesale merchant (grosserer) in Copenhagen. In 1793, together with his nephew, he formed the large trading house Meyer & Trier. After the turn of the century, he started to act as a financial advisor to the Danish government.
Meyer owned the property at Frederiksholms Kanal 5 as well as the La Fontaine House in Gentofte north of the city.
Personal life
In April 1776 in Altona, Meyer married Jacobine (Jochebed) Meyer (c. 1754–1843). She was the daughter of financier Israel Jacob Meyer (died 1802) and his first wife, Edel Minden (died 1782). He was the maternal uncle of businessman Ernst Meyer (1797–1861).
Further reading
Levin Nathanson, Michael:
|
Charles Joseph George
|
[
"Businesspeople from Lagos",
"Yoruba slaves",
"Yoruba politicians",
"19th-century Nigerian businesspeople",
"History of Lagos",
"Saro people",
"Yoruba businesspeople",
"Politicians from Lagos",
"Nigerian Methodists",
"1906 deaths",
"People from colonial Nigeria",
"Year of birth uncertain",
"19th-century Methodists",
"Founders of Nigerian schools and colleges",
"19th-century slaves"
] | 800 | 7,326 |
Charles Joseph George (before 1881 – 1906) was a successful Saro trader who was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of the Lagos Colony from 1886 onwards.
Church leader
Charles Joseph George was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He was of Egba origin, a Lagos trader and a prominent Wesleyan. The Anglican C.M.S. Grammar School, Lagos had been established in 1859 by Rev. T.B. Macaulay. On 13 January 1874, leaders of the Methodist community, including C.J. George, met to discuss founding a similar school for members of their communion. After a fund-raising drive, the Methodist Boys' School building was opened in June 1877. On 17 February 1881, George was one of the community leaders who laid the foundation stone for the Wesley Church at Olowogbowo, in the west of Lagos Island.
Legislative Council member
As a leader of the indigenous business community, C.J. George was appointed an unofficial member of the Legislative Council by Governor Alfred Moloney when Lagos Colony was separated from the Gold Coast in 1886.
The new legislative council was composed of four official and three unofficial members. Moloney nominated two Africans as unofficial representatives, the other being James Johnson.
The British had arranged to pay Dosunmu, the Oba of Lagos an annual grant of £1,000 for his lifetime, after which they would assume full sovereignty of the colony. When Dosunmu died in 1884, Africans led by James Johnson and supported by George demanded a reasonable payment for his son, Oyekan. This was agreed by the administration, but only reluctantly.
In August 1896, C.J. George and G.W. Neville, both merchants and both unofficial members of the Legislative Council, presented a petition urging construction of the railway terminus on Lagos Island rather than at Iddo, and also asking for the railway to be extended to Abeokuta. George was the leader of the delegation making this request, and described its many commercial advantages.
In 1903 there was a crisis over the payment of the tolls that were collected from traders by native rulers, although Europeans were exempted. The alternative was to replace the tolls by a subsidy. Governor William MacGregor requested views from C.J. George, Christopher Sapara Williams and Obadiah Johnson as indigenous opinion leaders. All were in favor of retaining the tolls to avoid upsetting the rulers.
In 1903 the government of the colony prepared a Newspaper Ordinance ostensibly designed to prevent libels being published. George, Williams and Johnson, the three Nigerian council members, all objected on the grounds that the ordinance would inhibit freedom of the press. George said "any obstacle in the way of publication of newspapers in this colony means throwing Lagos back to its position forty or fifty years ago". Despite these objections, the ordinance was passed into law.
George was reappointed to the Legislative Council in April 1904.
He retained his position on the Council until his death in 1906.
|
Asue Ighodalo
|
[
"Living people",
"20th-century Nigerian lawyers",
"University of Ibadan alumni",
"King's College, Lagos alumni",
"21st-century Nigerian businesspeople",
"Alumni of London Business School",
"Corporate lawyers",
"Nigerian chairpersons of corporations",
"Nigerian Law School alumni",
"Year of birth missing (living people)",
"21st-century Nigerian lawyers"
] | 1,201 | 11,971 |
Asuerinme Ighodalo is a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He is from Okaigben, Ewohimi, Esan South East LGA, Edo State, Nigeria. He is a candidate in the 2024 Edo State governorship election. He is, alongside Femi Olubanwo, a founding partner of the law firm Banwo-and-Ighodalo, a corporate and commercial law practice in Nigeria, specializing in advising major corporations on Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Energy & Natural Resources, Mergers & Acquisitions, Banking & Securitization and Project Finance. He was the chairman of Sterling Bank, a director at the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), and chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
Early years
Asue Ighodalo is a product of King's College, Lagos. He obtained B.Sc degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan in 1981, an LL.B from the London School of Economics and Political Science (1984) and a B.L from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos (1985).
Later career
Upon graduation from Nigerian Law School, Lagos, Ighodalo worked as an Associate in the law firm of Chris Ogunbanjo & Co between 1985 and 1991, and in 1991 he set up Banwo & Ighodalo, in partnership with Femi Olubanwo. The firm is consistently ranked as a leading Nigerian law firm in the areas of Capital Markets, Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions. Ighodalo's core areas of practice include Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Energy; Natural Resources, Mergers; Acquisitions, Banking, Securitization and Project Finance.
In 2014, Ighodalo successfully advised Zenith Bank Plc in connection with a US$500 million eurobond issuance and Diamond Bank Plc in connection with a US$200 million eurobond issuance respectively.
He resigned from all corporate positions he held to aspire to become the governor of Edo State.
On February 22, 2024, Ighodalo emerged as the People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the 2024 Edo State governorship election. However, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja nullified election on the ground that 378 delegates who were to vote during primary election were unlawfully denied their rights to vote.
His candidacy was eventually upheld by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which confirmed Ighodalo as the legitimately nominated governorship candidate of the PDP in Edo State, and dismissed the lawsuit challenging his nomination.
He lost the election to the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, but has challenged the election results in the courts on the basis of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
Publications and works
Ighodalo has presented several papers on capital markets issues both within and outside Nigeria, and also authored many articles in leading law publications. He sometimes lectures on corporate governance, directors' duties and responsibilities, and entrepreneurship at the Institute of Directors, Lagos Business School and FATE Foundation entrepreneurial training sessions, respectively.
Boards, memberships and awards
Ighodalo was the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Sterling Bank Plc, Dangote Flour Mills Plc and The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). He also sat on the boards of other public and private companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a statutory body including Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the FATE Foundation (an NGO committed to the development of entrepreneurs in Nigeria).
Ighodalo became the Chairman of Sterling Bank in August 2014. He is a member of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and is a past chairman of The NBA – Section on Business Law (NBA SBL) . He is also a member of Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), USA, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, International Bar Association (IBA), Nigerian Maritime Law Association, Commercial Law & Taxation Committee of the Lagos Chamber Of Commerce & Industry, London School of Economics Lawyers' Group and Associate Member Chartered Institute of Taxation.
Family
Ighodalo is married to Ifeyinwa, and they have two daughters, Omoehi and Ayomide.
He is the elder brother of Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, senior pastor of Trinity House, Lagos.
|
Hedge fund industry in China
|
[
"Industry in China",
"Finance in China",
"Hedge fund firms in China"
] | 297 | 3,827 |
The hedge fund industry in China was established in the early 1990s, and has so far undergone four stages: infancy, formation, rapid expansion, and adjustment and standardization.
Categories
Currently hedge funds in China fall into two categories. One is those companies backed up by the government, including brokers managing pooled property, trust and investment companies' trust and investment projects, and investment companies managing their own capital. The other is private hedge funds. Under the name of "Investment Consulting Company" or "Investment Management Company", they provide management for pooled property.
Share of GDP
Data showed that hedge funds account for 0.6% of the GDP in the US, 0.35% in Europe, 0.2% in Asia, while only 0.1% in China. It is expected that China's GDP would quadruple in 10 years time and hedge funds would be about 0.4% of the country's GDP. In this case, China's hedge funds would expand 12-fold, and place China second in the world for hedge fund investments.
Examples
Examples of notable private hedge funds include Greenwoods Asset Management, Perseverance Asset Management and Pinpoint Asset Management. The largest quantitative funds in China include High-Flyer, Ubiquant, Lingjun Investment, Minghong Investment and Yanfu Investments.
See also
Asset Management Association of China
Commodity trading in China
Banking in China
Financial services in China
China Venture Capital Association
|
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
|
[
"New York (state) government departments",
"Taxation in New York (state)",
"US state tax agencies",
"1927 establishments in New York (state)",
"Government agencies established in 1927",
"Subnational finance ministries"
] | 649 | 4,871 |
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (NYSDTF) is the department of the New York state government responsible for taxation and revenue, including handling all tax forms and publications, and dispersing tax revenue to other agencies and counties within New York State. The department also has a law enforcement division, the New York State Office of Tax Enforcement. Its regulations are compiled in title 20 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.
It is headquartered in Building 8/8A at the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus in Albany.
During the September 11 attacks, the department had offices on the 86th and 87th floors of the World Trade Center's South Tower. On the 86th floor, five of eight employees in the revenue crimes bureau died. On the 87th floor, the mediation services bureau lost six of seven employees. Of the estimated 20 people on the 87th floor, nine were lost, including two of three senior staff.
The tax department was formally created on January 1, 1927, but the first signs of the department date to 1859. The original intent was to find a way (a mathematical formula) to distribute tax revenue to individual counties in New York State.
In 2025, the FBI asked Citibank to freeze accounts of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Enforcement
The New York State Office of Tax Enforcement (OTE) is the law enforcement entity of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) that conducts criminal and civil investigations. The office is divided into two bureaus, the Petroleum, Alcohol and Tobacco Bureau (PATB) and the Revenue Crimes Bureau (RCB) that was recently renamed the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
See also
New York City Department of Finance
|
Trade Me
|
[
"Online auction websites of New Zealand",
"Internet properties established in 1999",
"Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange",
"Companies listed on the New Zealand Exchange",
"2006 mergers and acquisitions",
"2011 initial public offerings",
"2019 mergers and acquisitions",
"Fairfax Media",
"Apax Partners companies",
"New Zealand companies established in 1999",
"Animal trade"
] | 4,786 | 38,736 |
Trade Me is New Zealand's largest online auction and classifieds website. Managed by Trade Me Ltd., the site was founded in 1999 by New Zealand entrepreneur Sam Morgan, who sold it to Fairfax in 2006 for NZ$700 million. Trade Me was publicly listed as a separate entity on 13 December 2011 under the ticker "TME". In May 2019, Trade Me was acquired by private equity firm Apax Partners for NZ$2.56 billion. Trade Me Ltd also operates several sister websites including FindSomeone and Holiday Houses.
, Trade Me's website was the fifth most visited in New Zealand and was ranked 2,711th globally according to Alexa Internet. In a country with a population of million, the Trade Me site has, , 5 million active members. , an average of 690,000 people visit the site each day.
Participating traders primarily use New Zealand's banking system to settle payments, although Trade Me offers sellers the ability to accept credit card payments via Trade Me's own instant payment service, Ping (formerly Pay Now). Australian sellers must have a New Zealand bank account, while sellers from other countries are not allowed on the site without special approval.
Trade Me shares many features with other online auction websites, such as eBay. Some of these features include "Buy Now" and "Auto bidding". Sellers may choose to block the large proportion of members not "authenticated" from bidding. Only "authenticated" members can ask sellers questions. Members can become "authenticated" by using a credit/debit card on-site or depositing some money in their Trade Me account.
Only one membership per private person is allowed. Membership is for life, is never deleted and will be only partially deactivated if a member "closes" their membership by giving three days notice in writing to Trade Me. Member profile, bidding history and "feedback received" pages are then hidden and can be reactivated by ex-members at a later date on request. All ex-members empty member "items for sale" pages and all the "feedback sent" posted on other members pages is not hidden.
Origins and early development
Sam Morgan founded Trade Me in 1999, constructing the site while working full-time for Deloitte as a technology consultant. Within Deloitte, Morgan worked on Internet projects and supply-chain issues.
During this time he witnessed the successes of online businesses like eBay and Yahoo, as well as the disasters of the dot-com bubble.
According to Trade Me legend,
Morgan, then 23 years old, decided to found the Trade Me site when, despite searching online, he could not find a secondhand heater for his flat in Wellington. The Trade & Exchange site had a heater for sale, but held back listings for a week before publishing them online, and by the time Morgan made contact with the heater's owner, the item in question had already sold.
Morgan describes the initial designing and building of Trade Me thus:
"Some time later we were in a backpackers in Sydney and got evicted because it was overbooked. We went up to some backwater because it was the only accommodation we could find. Anyway, there was nothing to do, so that night I started drawing a data model. So it sort of started there really. Then when I came back to Wellington I literally sat on the couch and built the site on a laptop over a five- or six-week period."
The site went online in March 1999 after Morgan pulled together as much funding as he could. It gained 155 members in its first week on the Internet.
In its early stages Morgan humorously listed Trade Me for sale on eBay with a $1 million buy-now price. Though eBay withdrew Morgan's auction, the prank sparked some interest among New Zealanders who realised the potential of online trading.
Trade Me developed slowly initially, because its founder had little funding to pay for the costs of hosting and of expanding the site. In addition, Trade Me initially offered a completely free service for both buyers and sellers, a strategy for expanding its member base at the cost of short-term revenue. With little money and time available to work on the site, Morgan made the critical decision to sell almost half of his new company to his former Deloitte colleagues, bringing him around $75,000.
By August 1999 membership had risen to 3,500, and Morgan could dedicate most of his time and funding to the site. The early strategy for Trade Me involved simply increasing its user base and encouraging members to refer their friends to the site. Trade Me launched the Safe Trader escrow service about this time.
Growth and expansion
In its early years Trade Me continued to struggle, slowly increasing its user base, but facing financial challenges. The site initially used web banners, but falling prices for advertising made web-banner revenue insufficient to cover expenses. Trade Me then introduced fees for auction services: first for features such as bold titles; then in September 2000 it introduced "success fees". This action proved the turning point for Trade Me, saving the site from potential financial disaster. Much of the success to come was based around the 'Trade Me Manifesto', a series of ten values for keeping the site fast and the company technology focused.
eBay tried to enter the New Zealand market in 2001, but had little success. Trade Me has remained the major Internet-auction site in New Zealand, with both international and smaller national competitors gaining relatively little market penetration. Morgan commented on eBay's attempt to penetrate the New Zealand market in an interview:
"...I think there are big cultural issues there that are just not well understood. For example the Americans think that everyone has a zip code [...] they were a little late in and then they launched in US dollars."
Morgan took time off from the stress of running the booming Trade Me site in September 2001, and went to the United Kingdom to manage an IT team in London. When he returned to his role at Trade Me the site had become profitable, with a membership of 100,000 and growing. By April 2005, this number reached one million.
In August 2003, Trade Me went live with Trade Me Motors and Trade Me Property followed in 2005 along with Trade Me Jobs in 2006.
New Zealand's Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50 rated Trade Me the fastest-growing NZ technology company in 2005.
Fairfax subsidiary, 2006–2012
On 6 March 2006, the Australian media company Fairfax acquired Trade Me in a deal worth NZ$700 million, with an additional NZ$50 million payable if the organisation met earnings targets over the next two years. (Those targets were met.) Sam Morgan and other executives remained with Trade Me.
Since the Fairfax purchase, Trade Me has continued to stand alone, with the former Fairfax NZ sites Jobstuff and Propertystuff being discontinued in favour of the Trade Me offerings.
In December 2012, Fairfax announced it was looking to sell off its stake in Trade Me in order to pay off debts. The sale was confirmed on 17 December. Its first profit report following the sale exceeded expectations, at NZ$37.4 million in the second half of 2012.
Apax Partners, 2018–present
In December 2018, Trade Me accepted a NZ$2.56 billion takeover bid from the British investment company Apax Partners, marking the biggest private equity deal in New Zealand's history. This acquisition deal was finalised in May 2019.
On 3 June 2025, Trade Me acquired a 50 percent stake in media company Stuff's Stuff Digital division, which consists of the Stuff.co.nz website and evening news bulletin ThreeNews. In addition, Stuff's property section will be rebranded as Trade Me Property, with listings, advertisements and some content shared across both platforms.
Trade Me has increased its scope over time, and offers a wide range of listing possibilities. Customers can list the following items and positions on Trade Me:
General items
Motors: cars, motorbikes and boats
Property
Jobs
Rental property
Flatmates wanted
Antiques & Collectables
Pets And Animals
Community and related sites
Trade Me sites include:
Trade Me – the main Trade Me auction site
– a matchmaking/dating site
– booking holiday homes/baches – rental accommodation
– vehicle licence plate lookup and basic facts site
Discontinued sites
The online map site smaps, which provided access to New Zealand street maps, was closed in December 2008, leaving the niche to sites like Google Maps
Old Friends – finding old school friends and workmates – discontinued in January 2016
SafeTrader – escrow service for Trade Me auctions - discontinued in July 2017
As a fairly open marketplace which is recognised globally, Trade Me experiences the same problems (such as fraudsters), and users need to exercise vigilance. In 2007, Trade Me set up a dedicated Trust & Safety team who monitor the site seven days a week to keep its members safe.
"Members can report listings that may be in breach of the Terms and Conditions" via the "Community Watch" (CW) badge, sited at the bottom of every listing. Contact with staff can also be made via the '' link at the bottom of every page. Social media can also be used to contact Trade Me.
To minimise payment problems and reduce fraud, Trade Me restricted membership to residents of New Zealand and Australia in 2005. This affected around 20,000 international members. However, in September 2013 Trade Me announced that it had "opened up its borders" and now has "a few internationally based sellers trading on the site," but that "only international sellers who meet our requirements for selling from overseas are allowed to do so."
Trade Me's terms and conditions restrict membership to persons over eighteen years of age, as any user under the age of eighteen can not negotiate a legally binding contract. Prior to 2005 Trade Me did not restrict underage users, even allowing them to enter in their correct birthdates upon sign-up. In June 2005 Fair Go, a television programme devoted to consumer affairs, approached Trade Me Limited regarding this issue and featured the matter on a broadcast episode. In response to this, Trade Me Limited sent all the users who registered their date of birth as under eighteen an e-mail asking them to check and update their details if incorrect. Trade Me no longer allows users to register if they enter a birth date indicating their age as under eighteen, but people under eighteen may simply represent themselves as older when they join.
Clashes with rivals
In 2006, Trade Me laid a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the advertising of its largest property market competitor, Realestate.co.nz. According to the complaint, Realestate.co.nz, (run jointly by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) and Property Page Ltd) had misled consumers with their advertisements with their slogan: "the only place with every place". Trade Me stated that it had properties listed on the Trade Me website that Realestate.co.nz did not have. Trade Me also detailed other reasons why Realestate.co.nz had allegedly breached the ASA's code of ethics and comparative advertising. The ASA upheld parts of the complaint.
On 6 November 2008, Lixtor accused Trade Me of using bullying tactics. Trade Me said Lixtor was just trying to draw media attention.
On 20 November 2008, a community newspaper The Aucklander also reported that Trade Me's lawyers asked Lixtor to remove their "Terms and Conditions"
On 3 February 2009, in the wake of the emerging New Zealand copyright law Section 92a, New Zealand Creative Freedom Foundation published an article. It was stated that Lixtor vs. Trade Me case is a good example of how the new section 92a in the New Zealand copyright law could be "misused" if passed.
Clashes with software developers
Various software developers have received legal threats after developing third-party software which interfaces with the Trade Me website.
On 19 August 2006 the New Zealand Listener published an article, "Bidding War" on one such developer. The developer, Ciaran Riddell, created a piece of software, AuctionBar, which used a technique known as screen scraping. The software allowed for more detailed searches for goods on sale as well as bids and updates via text-messaging and a tool known as a "sniper", which acted as an automated bidding tool.
Trade Me have since amended the "Terms and Conditions" of the Trade Me website which now specifies "You may not use a robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Website or information featured on it for any purpose" under s4.1(c).
On 7 May 2007, Trade Me released a Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget to run in the Windows Sidebar. This gadget, available on the Trade Me site, became the first sanctioned application to work with Trade Me. As the Vista Gadget requires an XML Feed, the gadget caused further discussion in the developer community about why TradeMe did not have an API. It also led to other creations by the developer community on top of Vista Gadget.
Trade Me has now released an official API.
Notable auctions
Most popular auctions
As of July 2013, the most popular auctions were as follows:
Rank Views Closed Item 1 1.1m 3 June 2006 Wellington Hurricanes player Tana Umaga hit teammate Chris Masoe with a Roxy handbag at the "Jolly Poacher" bar in Christchurch after Masoe got into an altercation with a patron. The owner of the bag auctioned it via TradeMe for $22,750, generating a large media story and over 1 million page views before the auction closed. 2 1m 10 July 2013 A printer which was stated to be faulty and 'possessed' was listed by nickftward to be on sale. He used quite a lot of humour and sarcasm to describe it, which made the auction more fun. His description:
"Words cannot express how much I hate this printer. It never works when I need it to - it's like it knows when I have to urgently print something. It randomly decides if it wants to work wirelessly or not. And scanning wirelessly? Forget about it! When you first turn it on it will play an endless symphony of sounds that are simply there to fool you into thinking that it might actually do what it's designed to do. Don't be fooled. This thing is evil incarnate." The winner of the auction was kornholio, with a winning bid of $280 ($1 Reserve Price) 3 810,802 18 June 2009 Mike Whittaker (mikew4) listed his old Kelvinator washing machine under the title 'Scary Washing Machine' due to its behaviour when washing. He created a fictional story about how it sucked his shoes, pants, iron and wife into a vortex, beyond which, there are dinosaurs. The pictures he drew of the supposed dinosaurs are being sold as fundraisers for NZ charities. T-shirt company 'MrVintage' has created its own Scary Washing Machine Range of men's and women's T-shirts. The washing machine eventually sold for $5,160. 4 459,420 1 August 2012 The implosion of Radio Network House on 5 August 2012 was New Zealand's first ever controlled building demolition by explosives. Like most other buildings in the Christchurch Central City, Radio Network House was damaged beyond repair in the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The right to push the button for the implosion was put up for auction and became the auction with the third highest page views ever. The winning bid was for $26,000 and the consortium of demolition contractors let the Child Cancer Foundation nominate a six-year-old boy from Queenstown. 5 355,889 20 January 2012 YOUR Tattoo on my Bum!! 6 384,705 24 May 2009 Buy a Tractor and get a 20-acre farm for free. Southland couple Allan & Shelly Holland have ensured that whoever bought their tractor got a little extra to boot.
The International 574 was just a regular old tractor – bucket, back blade, red – but it did come with one rather unusual added feature: a farm,
the 8.1h block in the Catlins was an added bonus for whoever wins the tractor auction.
7 316,350 7 March 2011 Landscape Rocks for Sale in ChCh (following the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, there was no shortage of rocks, as whole cliffs had collapsed) 8 292,184 6 May 2010 Folden 2010 9 276,094 8 January 2009 Jesus Christ Pita Bread 10 258,775 9 January 2012 Two days in the studio and advice from Neil Finn
Other popular auctions
A "comfort hug", auctioned in April 2005 to promote love and good feelings. The auction received considerable media attention.
In late 2005, a member offered a "time machine" for sale through auction (or swap for an "anti gravity machine"), with the highest bid reaching $300,000,000,001,999. The seller withdrew the auction shortly before its close time. News of the auction reached some New Zealand newspapers, which ran a story on it. This auction used to hold the record for the highest number of questions asked and answered.
In 2006 a user attempted to auction the Optus B1 satellite following a malfunction. The opening price started at NZ$200,000,000. Trade Me withdrew the auction after 231,908-page views.
In May 2006 a member tried to sell Australia, using humorous descriptions of the country. The auction drew over 100 questions, and had more than 11,000 views. The country achieved a bid of $200,045,400, with a reserve price of 50 cents. In the end however, Trade Me administrators withdrew the auction. One News (a broadcast television programme) ran a report on this auction.
Also in May 2006 a member tried to sell his leg, which had been amputated a year earlier as a result of diabetes. Trade Me withdrew the auction within hours and swiftly added "Body Parts" to the "Prohibited Items" list.
In June 2006 Lisa Lewis streaked across the field at the All Blacks game against Ireland held at Waikato Stadium. Days later the bikini Lewis had worn ended up for auction. The winning bid of $4,010 later proved not genuine
In October 2007 Lisa-Marie Corlet stumbled across a pebble with markings allegedly resembling the Virgin Mary. A first auction completed, but the bids later proved invalid. Corlet went on a nationwide television programme, Campbell Live, to announce she would not accept anything less than NZ$78,662,500,000 as she believes that someone would very much treasure the item. She said she was non-religious and offered this as the reason why she chose to on-sell the pebble. It was one of the most highly viewed auctions on Trade Me, with over 100,000 views, but the pebble failed to sell.
On 17 November 2008 Lixtor attempted to auction their auction site following dispute with Trade Me over copyright-infringement allegations. The opening price started at NZ$100,000,000. Trade Me withdrew the auction after a few hours.
February 2010: The Trade Me user rhorne listed a lemon; with the letters "XT" printed vividly upon it; for sale with a humorous description. This was designed to mock the XT Mobile Network due to its intermittent outages (which caused significant inconvenience to customers and delayed emergency service responses) and other flaws. There were some suggestions made on the auction that the proceeds should be donated to charity, however the seller made it clear that was not his intention. The auction sold for $1,155.
In February 2012, Labour MP Trevor Mallard was accused of ticket scalping on Trade Me when he sold four tickets to the Homegrown music festival for a $246 profit. The MP had in 2006 initiated legislation, the Major Events Management Act 2007, prohibiting ticket scalping for major events (although Homegrown wasn't classified as a "major event" so wasn't covered). He later offered to refund the money he received for the tickets.
In 2019, one of the last single-use plastic bags from Pak n' Save was sold just before the law changed to ban them. The auction had considerable media attention and was the fourth most viewed listing of the year, selling for $52.
A bag of Covid-free air was the most viewed auction of 2020. The seller listed the bag to commemorate a negative Covid test during the pandemic. The listing fetched 210,086 views.
Note: Withdrawn auctions become unviewable after 60 days and bid histories after 45.
Notable people
Sam Morgan, founder
Gareth Morgan, investor
See also
Internet in New Zealand
Further reading
Two how-to books about Trade Me have been published:
Trade Me Success Secrets : How To Buy Better & Sell More Profitably on New Zealand's Most Popular Auction Site by Michael Carney, Activity Press, 2005, 294 pp.
Trade Me : your ultimate guide by Juha Saarinen (foreword by Sam Morgan), Penguin 2005, 179 pp.
Insider Michael (MOD) O'Donnell has published a comprehensive book on the rise of Trade Me:
"Trade Me: The inside Story" by Michael O'Donnell, Phantom House Books, 2010 220 pp.
|
SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co.
|
[
"Ernst & Young",
"Companies based in Makati",
"International management consulting firms",
"Accounting firms",
"Financial services companies of the Philippines",
"Philippine companies established in 1946",
"Financial services companies established in 1946"
] | 1,040 | 8,057 |
SyCip Gorres Velayo & Company (branded as SGV & Company) is a Philippine multidisciplinary professional services firm.
As of 2014, SGV & Company has employed over 3,000 professionals from various disciplines, including Certified Public Accountants, legal professionals, economists, human resource professionals, engineers, statisticians, financial analysts, and other business and technical experts.
Since 1996, it has been the only ISO 9002-certified professional services firm in the country and became a member firm of Ernst & Young International on June 6, 2002.
History
Early years
SyCip, Gorres, Velayo, and Company was founded in 1946 by Washington SyCip in Manila, providing services to businesses recovering from the Second World War. SyCip's childhood friend, Alfredo M. Velayo, and Vicente O. José, an accountant with experience in tax work, were taken in as partners in 1947 to form SyCip, Velayo, José & Company. The firm managed their first overseas assignment the following year.
Growth
The firm embarked on its first overseas engagement by working out a merger with Henry Hunter Bayne & Co. (HHB), which started its practice in the then-American controlled Philippine Islands in 1906. In 1953, Thomas Farnell, a senior partner of HHB, decided to return to the United States and sell his firm to Filipino accountants Arsenio Reyes and Ramón J. Gorres. After a series of negotiations between the two and SyCip, the firms merged to form SyCip, Gorres, Velayo & Company.
In 1958, SGV & Company assumed the practice of British firm Fleming & Williamson, which was rated the second-largest accounting firm in the Philippines, and expanded further by establishing offices in Bacolod and Davao.
In the 1960s, the SGV Group was established and it began correspondent relations with some of the leading western firms, among them Arthur Andersen & Co.; Ernst & Ernst; Haskins & Sells; and Ernst & Young. SGV partnered with Taiwanese public accounting firm, T.N. Soong & Co in 1964 through a technical cooperation agreement amidst the economic boom in Taiwan.
In the 1970s the SGV Group gained accreditation from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
In 1985, SGV & Company became a member firm of Arthur Andersen & Co., S.C., one of the largest professional service organisations in the world. A year later, the firm opened its Manila Offshore Systems Development Center, with assistance from Andersen Consulting, and has provided computer software services to foreign clients through Andersen Consulting's global marketing network and resources.
Secession
In 1988 senior partner Benjamin Punongbayan left SGV with banker José Araullo to form Punongbayan & Araullo. Mario Mananghaya, another SGV partner, went on to establish former KPMG member, Laya Mananghaya & Company, later sold to a consortium owned by former SGV chairman Cesar Purisima in 2007, having grown the firm to the second or third biggest accounting firm in the country.
Victorias Milling Corporation
In 2000, the country's local accountant's professional body reprimanded SGV, then an Andersen affiliate in the Philippines, in relation to its audit with Victorias Milling Company. SGV withdrew audit reports worth three years after it was found out that it certified them without checking, which were later determined to be fraudulent.
Ernst & Young affiliation
SGV distanced itself from Arthur Andersen in 2002, after the latter became involved in the Enron scandal. SGV & Company became a member practice of Ernst & Young on September 1, 2002. Previously the Ernst & Young affiliate in the country was Punongbayan & Araullo.
SGV 14
In 2008, a group dubbed as the SGV 14 led by then Vice Chairman Roman Felipe Reyes disputed the integration of SGV's local operations with Ernst & Young's international operation arguing the move was against the constitution since the local accounting industry is restricted to Filipinos. Reyes' group with Chairman David Balangue ousted by Cirilo Noel who became chairman in 2009. The SGV 14 settled for a "withdrawal package" agreement which include a non-compete clause baring them from working with SGV's competitors for several years. Reyes and 11 others of the group later established Reyes Tacandong & Co. which became an affiliate of RSM International.
2010s
As of 2010, SGV is headquartered in Makati, about ten branches across the Philippines. As of December 2016, SGV & Company remains the biggest accounting firm in the Philippines, auditing about half of 304 publicly listed companies in the Philippine Stock Exchange. SGV has been receiving stiff competition from rival firms, KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co., Reyes Tacandong & Co., Isla Lipana & Co., and Navarro Amper & Co. all established by former partners of the SGV.
|
Henrique De Castro
|
[
"Living people",
"Date of birth missing (living people)",
"1960s births",
"Yahoo! employees",
"American chief operating officers",
"Google employees",
"Target Corporation people",
"Portuguese business executives",
"Portuguese corporate directors",
"McKinsey & Company people",
"University of Lisbon alumni",
"21st-century American businesspeople",
"21st-century Portuguese businesspeople",
"Members of the Board of Directors of the Banco Santander"
] | 777 | 7,056 |
Henrique De Castro is a business executive who is currently a board director at Banco Santander S.A (BMAD: SAN), Fiserv. Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) and Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT). He was a board director of First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC) from 2017 until its merger with Fiserv. Inc.
Education
De Castro received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Science from the Instituto Superior de Gestão in Lisbon, Portugal, which he attended from 1985 to 1990. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland He is fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Career
De Castro is a native of Portugal. He began his career at Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) in corporate project finance and private equity.
De Castro later served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He was also the Sales & Business Development Director for Dell Western Europe Region, where he managed sales and operations across nine countries.
De Castro was director of sales and business development at Dell from 2004 to 2006. He joined Google in July 2006, managing media, sales and platforms for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). In April 2009, he became director and later vice-president and president of Google's media, mobile and platforms organization, with responsibility for $5 billion in annual business, including TV Ads, YouTube Ads, Google Display Network, Mobile Ads, AdMob, AdExchange and DoubleClick. He led the team to launch operations in 50+ countries, hired over 1,000 people, and acquired and integrated Google's two largest acquisitions.
From March to November 2012, De Castro was president of Google's worldwide Partner Business Solutions group, where he was responsible for advertising platforms and services for Google's publisher and commerce partners.
Yahoo Inc.
De Castro was appointed chief operating officer of Yahoo in November 2012 by its new CEO Marissa Mayer. He was Mayer's "first major hire to be her No. 2" and was the highest paid COO in the country.
As COO, de Castro was responsible for strategic and operational management of Yahoo's sales, media, business development and operations worldwide, with an annual budget of $5 billion.
He was later fired in 2013 just 15 months later by Marissa Mayer, having made $50 million during his time there, and was given a $58 million severance package.
Board memberships
In February 2019, De Castro was publicly announced as a newly elected board of directors member by Banco Santander S.A., a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 Market Index and one of the 20 largest banks in the World.
In July 2017, De Castro was elected to the board of directors of First Data Corporation, the global leader in payment solutions serving over 6 million merchants.
De Castro was elected to the board of directors of Minneapolis-based retailer Target Corporation in March 2013, a position he currently holds.
De Castro was a board director of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), an industry association that comprises 500+ leading media and technology companies, and sets the agenda to educate marketers, agencies, media companies and regulators on Interactive Advertising.
|
Serge Latouche
|
[
"Living people",
"Academic staff of Paris-Sud University",
"Non-fiction environmental writers",
"French environmentalists",
"Degrowth advocates",
"Ecological economists",
"People associated with criticism of economic growth",
"Writers from Vannes",
"French economists",
"Anti-consumerists",
"Anti-globalization writers",
"Writers about globalization",
"1940 births",
"Environmental philosophers"
] | 726 | 6,596 |
Serge Latouche (; ; born 12 January 1940) is a French emeritus professor of economics at the University of Paris-Sud. He holds a degree in political sciences, philosophy and economy.
Work
Latouche is a specialist in north–south economic and cultural relations, and in the epistemology of the social sciences. He has developed a critical theory towards economic orthodoxy. He denounces economism, utilitarianism in social sciences, consumer society and the notion of sustainable development. He particularly criticizes the notions of economic efficiency and economic rationalism. He is one of the thinkers and most renowned partisans of the degrowth theory. Latouche has also published in the Revue du Mauss, a French anti-utilitarian journal.
Publications
Books
Faut-il refuser le développement?: Essai sur l'anti-économique du Tiers-monde (Presses universitaires de France, 1986)
La planète des naufragés: Essai sur l'après-développement (La Découverte, 1991)
In the Wake of the Affluent Society: An Exploration of Post-Development (Zed Books, London, 1993).
The Westernization of the World: Significance, Scope and Limits of the Drive Towards Global Uniformity (Polity Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1996).
L'Autre Afrique: Entre don et marché (Albin Michel, 1998).
La Déraison de la raison économique: de l'efficacité au principe de précaution (Albin Michel, 2001).
Justice sans limites: Le défi de l'éthique dans une économie mondialisée (Fayard, 2003).
Décoloniser l'imaginaire : La Pensée créative contre l'économie de l'absurde (Parangon, 2003).
Survivre au développement : De la décolonisation de l'imaginaire économique à la construction d'une société alternative (Mille et Une Nuits, 2004).
La Mégamachine : Raison technoscientifique, raison économique et mythe du progrès, (2004).
L'invention de l'économie, (2005).
Le pari de la décroissance, (2006).
Petit traité de la décroissance sereine, (Mille et Une Nuits, 2007). English translation: Latouche, S. (2010). Farewell to Growth (David Macey, Trans.). Polity Press.
Sortir de la sociedad de consumo, (Les Liens qui Libèrent, 2010). Spanish translation: Latouche, S. (2012). Salir de la sociedad de consumo: Voces y vías del decrecimiento (First Spanish edition). Ocataedro.
Vers une société d'abondance frugale, (Mille et Une Nuits, 2011). Spanish translation: Latouche, S. (2012). La sociedad de la abundancia frugal: Contrasentidos y controversias del decrecimiento. Icaria.
Contributions to other books
De-growth, Inequality and Poverty in Paolo Ventura, Enrique Calderon, Michela Tiboni, "Sustainable development Policies for Minor Deprived Urban Communities", Milano, McGraw-Hill, 2011. pages 71–79 .
"Paradoxical Growth", Chapter 12 in The Post-Development Reader, ed. by Majid Rahnema & Victoria Bawtree (Zed Books, London, 1997).
Articles
, Le Monde diplomatique (December 2003).
, Le Monde diplomatique (December 2004).
, The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy, Vol.1, No. 3 (May 2005).
, Institut d'études économiques et sociales pour la décroissance soutenable (Institute for Economic and Social Studies for Sustainable Degrowth) (Paris, January 2006).
, Le Monde diplomatique (January 2006).
The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy Vol. 3, No. 1 (January 2007).
|
Jeff Blau
|
[
"Living people",
"1968 births",
"University of Michigan alumni",
"Wharton School alumni",
"American businesspeople in real estate",
"American company founders",
"21st-century American businesspeople",
"American Zionists"
] | 1,096 | 10,533 |
Jeff Blau is an American businessman and chief executive officer of Related Companies.
Early life and education
Blau was born and raised in Bayside, Queens, spending the first nine years of his life there before later moving to Woodbury, Long Island.
Starting at an early age, he spent summers working on job sites with his father, a builder and contractor, which sparked his love of real estate and development.
Blau attended and graduated from the University of Michigan. While in school, Blau teamed up with a local contractor to buy single-family homes in Ann Arbor and subdivide them into student apartments.
Blau signed up for a graduate-level real estate development class during his junior year. His professor introduced Blau to Stephen M. Ross when Ross delivered an address at a conference.
After Blau graduated from Michigan in 1990, Ross offered him a job at Related Companies. By that time, the market had crashed, leading Blau to attend the MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1990 to 1992, where he earned a Master in Business Administration in 1992. Blau commuted from New York to Philadelphia, taking classes while continuing to work at Related Companies.
Career
In 1994, Blau was project manager of the joint-purchase, along with Apollo Real Estate, of the Tribeca Tower, converting it to an 80/20 building.
Blau was appointed as President of Related Companies in 2000. By then, he had been involved in 25 deals exceeding $2 billion, with another almost $3 billion worth of property under construction.
In 2001, he was included in Crain 40 Under 40 Class of 2001.
Blau closed a deal to develop the Coliseum site at Columbus Circle by convincing Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons to sign on as an anchor tenant.
Since 2012, with more than $15 billion in residential, mixed use and retail assets under management, Ross named Blau has been CEO of Related Companies, as well as a partner at the company.
Since being named CEO, Blau has overseen projects worth over $60 billion. He is most known for spearheading the development and opening of Hudson Yards. Originally a different developer had won the bid to develop the Yards, but backed out in 2008; Related immediately got back involved, with Blau saying he “essentially moved into the office and didn’t leave until the deal got done.” Currently, Blau is working on the company’s efforts to develop the Western Rail Yards, with Related proposing to build a 3 million-square-foot resort tower and 1,700 room hotel.
Blau also is chairman and founding partner of energyRe, a company developing clean energy projects.
Civic and philanthropic activities
Blau and his wife Lisa established the Blau Family Foundation in 2014, which provides grants to organizations that focus on education, health, arts and culture.
Blau founded the holding company Bikeshare Holdings LLC, which operates the Citi Bike sharing system in New York, in 2014.
The University of Michigan named a five story building after Blau in 2016. Jeff T. Blau Hall is part of a $135 million construction project on the Ann Arbor campus.
In 2020, he and Lisa launched the Jeff and Lisa Blau Adolescent Consultation Center for Resilience and Treatment at Mount Sinai, where he is a trustee. Known as The Blau Center, it will be a clinical and research platform to increase understanding of psychiatric illness, particularly schizophrenia.
In 2020, he was named as part of Crain's New Influential List of 25 Leaders Reshaping New York.
Blau is on the Board of Directors of the Central Park Conservancy, the Partnership for New York City, and The Real Estate Roundtable. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Urban Land Institute.
In 2023, Blau signed a statement from the Anti-Defamation League titled "Urge the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Anti-Israel & Anti-Zionist Student Groups". The letter accuses Students for Justice in Palestine of "glorifying Hamas' atrocities" and declares Zionism to be "a fundamental component of Jewish identity".
Personal life
Blau has three children. His primary residence is in New York City.
|
Robert Lewandowski
|
[
"1988 births",
"Living people",
"People from Warsaw West County",
"Footballers from Warsaw",
"Polish men's footballers",
"Men's association football forwards",
"Legia Warsaw II players",
"Znicz Pruszków players",
"Lech Poznań players",
"Borussia Dortmund players",
"FC Bayern Munich footballers",
"FC Barcelona players",
"III liga players",
"II liga players",
"I liga players",
"Ekstraklasa players",
"Bundesliga players",
"La Liga players",
"UEFA Champions League–winning players",
"UEFA Champions League top scorers",
"Pichichi Trophy winners",
"Kicker-Torjägerkanone Award winners",
"Poland men's youth international footballers",
"Poland men's under-21 international footballers",
"Poland men's international footballers",
"UEFA Euro 2012 players",
"UEFA Euro 2016 players",
"2018 FIFA World Cup players",
"UEFA Euro 2020 players",
"2022 FIFA World Cup players",
"UEFA Euro 2024 players",
"FIFA Men's Century Club",
"Polish expatriate men's footballers",
"Expatriate men's footballers in Germany",
"Expatriate men's footballers in Spain",
"Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany",
"Polish expatriate sportspeople in Spain",
"Polish philanthropists",
"Businesspeople from Warsaw",
"Charity fundraisers (people)",
"Private equity and venture capital investors",
"UNICEF goodwill ambassadors",
"Polish Roman Catholics",
"FIFA World Player of the Year winners",
"The Best FIFA Men's Player winners",
"UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award winners",
"Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta",
"21st-century Polish sportsmen"
] | 23,697 | 281,306 |
Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Barcelona. He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Lewandowski won the Best FIFA Men's Player Award in 2020 and 2021. Further awards include the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award in 2020, the IFFHS World's Best Player in 2020 and 2021, the European Golden Shoe for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, and the Gerd Müller Trophy in 2021 and 2022. He was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 2021. He is one of only five players to have scored 100 goals with three different clubs.
Beginning his career in the third and second tiers of Polish football with Znicz Pruszków, Lewandowski moved to top-flight Lech Poznań, helping the team win the 2009–10 Ekstraklasa. In 2010, he transferred to Borussia Dortmund, where he won two consecutive Bundesliga titles and the league's top goalscorer award. In 2013, he also featured with Dortmund in the 2013 UEFA Champions League final. Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Lewandowski agreed to join Dortmund's domestic rivals, Bayern Munich, on a free transfer. In Munich, he won the Bundesliga title in all of his eight seasons at the club and was integral in their Champions League win in 2019–20 as part of a treble. Lewandowski left Bayern as one of the most successful players in Bundesliga and Bayern history, being named the VDV Bundesliga Player of the Season a record five times and winning the Bundesliga Top Scorer Award in a joint-record seven seasons, among other records.
In 2022, Lewandowski moved to Barcelona, where he won the Supercopa de España, the La Liga title and the Pichichi Trophy in his debut season. This made him the joint-record holder for most top scorer awards in Europe's top five leagues with eight. In his third season in Spain, he had his most prolific campaign for Barcelona as they attained a domestic treble of the La Liga title, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa de España.
A full international for Poland since 2008, and its captain from 2014 to 2025, Lewandowski has earned over 150 caps, and was a member of their team at the UEFA European Championship in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024, and the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022. With 85 international goals, Lewandowski is the all-time top scorer for Poland and the third overall men's international goalscorer in Europe, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (138) and Romelu Lukaku (89). Lewandowski has been named the Polish Footballer of the Year a record twelve times and the Polish Sports Personality of the Year three times.
Club career
Early career
Lewandowski was born in Warsaw and grew up in Leszno, Warsaw West County. He took his first steps in football as an unregistered player for the local club, Partyzant Leszno. In 1997, he joined MKS Varsovia Warsaw, where as a teen he played for seven years. The following year he moved to fourth tier side Delta Warsaw, where he finally managed to play in the first team, scoring four goals at the end of the season.
In , Lewandowski was the Polish third division's top goalscorer with 15 goals, helping Znicz Pruszków win the promotion. The next season, he was the top scorer in the Polish second highest division with 21 goals.
Lech Poznań
In June 2008, Lech Poznań signed Lewandowski from Znicz for 1.5 million PLN. (398,670 Dollars, or 350,055 Euros) Earlier that month, Lewandowski's agent Cezary Kucharski offered him to his former team Sporting Gijón, which had been promoted to the La Liga, Spain's first division, after ten years in the Segunda División. However, Gijón rejected him.
He debuted for Lech on 17 July 2008 as a substitute in the first qualifying first leg match of the UEFA Cup versus Khazar Lankaran from Azerbaijan, in which he scored the only goal of the evening in the 75th minute at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium. During his Ekstraklasa debut in the first game of the season, in a match against GKS Bełchatów, he scored a heel flick goal just four minutes after coming into the game late second half. In his first season in the Polish top division, he was second in the goal-scoring charts. Lewandowski finished the season with 18 goals in 42 matches. He also scored in a 1–1 away draw against Wisła Kraków in the 2009 Polish Super Cup on 27 July, and converted his attempt in the won penalty shoot-out. The next season, he became the top scorer with 18 goals and helped his team win the 2009–10 championship.
English coach, Sam Allardyce, said that Lewandowski was about to join Premier League club Blackburn Rovers in 2010, but the volcanic ash clouds caused by the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull which suspended all flights in and out of the UK, in addition to other financial worries, prevented the potential transfer. Moreover, Lewandowski was also about to join Italian club Genoa, before president Enrico Preziosi decided to cancel the transfer.
Borussia Dortmund
2010–2012: League and cup double
Following press speculation that Lewandowski might move to one of a number of clubs, he joined Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in June 2010, signing a four-year contract with the German club for a fee reported to be worth around €4.5 million. On 19 September, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga to make it 3–0 in the Revierderby against Schalke 04; the game ended 3–1.
In the 2011–12 Bundesliga campaign, Lewandowski profited from an injury to Lucas Barrios and he was elevated to an ever-present position in the starting XI until the winter break. The striker responded by finding the net two times in Dortmund's 3–0 DFB-Pokal first round victory over Sandhausen. Lewandowski opened his league account in a 2–0 win over Nürnberg on 20 August 2011 by providing the finishing touch from a Mario Götze cross. On 1 October, Lewandowski netted a hat-trick and provided an assist in the club's 4–0 victory over Augsburg, following a disappointing 0–3 loss to Marseille in the UEFA Champions League group stage. He later scored his first Champions League goal in a 1–3 away defeat to Olympiacos on 19 October. Dortmund climbed into second place in the Bundesliga with a comfortable 5–0 victory over Köln on 22 October, with Lewandowski finding the net either side of half-time. Dortmund travelled to Freiburg on 17 December and Lewandowski struck twice and provided an assist for Kevin Großkreutz, as Dortmund eased to a 4–1 triumph, scoring his first hat-trick in Bundesliga. Due to his strong performances, he was named Footballer of the Year in Poland.
Following the winter break, on 22 January 2012, Dortmund thrashed Hamburg 5–1 to move level on points with leaders Bayern Munich; Lewandowski netted twice and added an assist for Jakub Błaszczykowski in the rout. He scored in a 1–0 home win over Bayern Munich on 11 April. The result gave Dortmund a six-point cushion over their title rivals with only four games left to play. On 21 April, Lewandowski provided the assist for Shinji Kagawa's 59th-minute goal as Dortmund won 2–0 over Borussia Mönchengladbach to seal their second straight title. In the final Bundesliga game of the campaign, Lewandowski scored two first-half goals as Dortmund beat Freiburg 4–0 and celebrated lifting the title.
Lewandowski finished the year as the third top goal scorer with 22 goals, none from the penalty spot, and six assists.
On 12 May, in the final game of the season for Dortmund, he scored a hat-trick in the DFB-Pokal Final, a 5–2 win over Bayern Munich, to earn the club its first domestic double. Lewandowski finished as the DFB-Pokal's top goalscorer, with seven goals from six games.
2012–2014: Champions League runner-up and league top goalscorer
On 12 August 2012, Lewandowski began the 2012–13 season by scoring in the 1–2 2012 DFL-Supercup defeat to Bayern Munich. He made his first appearance of the 2012–13 Bundesliga campaign in Dortmund's 2–1 victory over Werder Bremen on the opening day of the season.
He netted his first goal in a 3–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on 15 September 2012, extending Dortmund's run to 31 games unbeaten and moved the club into third in the Bundesliga. Three days later, in the club's first Champions League game of the season, Lewandowski scored an 87th-minute winner to defeat Ajax, 1–0. He set club's new record of the longest scoring streak, having scored in 12 consecutive league games, surpassing Friedhelm Konietzka's record from 1964–65 season. On 9 February 2013, he opened the scoring in a home match against Hamburg, but was sent off in the 31st minute for a foul on Per Ciljan Skjelbred and Dortmund lost 4–1.
According to Borussia Dortmund director Michael Zorc, speaking in February 2013, Lewandowski would not be renewing his contract with the club, and would leave either in the summer of 2013 or after the 2013–14 season. He finished season with 24 league goals, one goal short of the Bundesliga's top scorer, Bayer Leverkusen's Stefan Kießling.
On 27 February 2013, Lewandowski played in his side's 1–0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the 2012–13 DFB-Pokal quarter final. On 24 April, Lewandowski became the first player to score four goals in a Champions League semi-final as Borussia Dortmund defeated Spanish champions Real Madrid 4–1 in the first leg at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park. On 25 May, he played in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final in which Borussia Dortmund were defeated 1–2 by Bayern Munich.
On 27 July 2013, Lewandowski won the 2013 DFL-Supercup with Dortmund, 4–2, against Bayern Munich. He scored his first goal of the season in Dortmund's 4–0 win over Augsburg in the club's opening Bundesliga match on 10 August. On 1 November, he scored his only hat-trick of the season in a 6–1 Bundesliga win against Stuttgart.
On 25 February 2014, Lewandowski scored twice in the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Zenit Saint Petersburg, becoming Dortmund's overall top scorer in European competition, surpassing Stéphane Chapuisat's 16 goals.
He scored his 100th goal for the club on his 182nd appearance, as Dortmund defeated VfL Wolfsburg 2–0 in the semi-finals of the 2013–14 DFB-Pokal on 15 April, and revealed a shirt with the number 100 during celebration.
Lewandowski ended the 2013–14 season as the top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 20 goals, which earned him the . He also scored six goals in the Champions League, as Dortmund reached the quarter-finals. During the second leg of the round of 16 match between Borussia Dortmund and Zenit, Lewandowski received a second yellow card, which resulted in his suspension for the first leg of the quarter-final against Real Madrid.
Lewandowski played his final match for Dortmund in the 2014 DFB-Pokal Final against Bayern Munich on 17 May. Head coach Jürgen Klopp had excused him from some training ahead of the final due to injury concerns; although Lewandowski played all 120 minutes of the final, Dortmund lost, 0–2. He finished the season with 28 goals in 48 matches.
Bayern Munich
In November 2013, Lewandowski confirmed he would sign a pre-contractual agreement for Borussia Dortmund's rivals Bayern Munich, which officially happened on 4 January 2014, when he signed a five-year contract beginning at the start of the 2014–15 season. Lewandowski was officially presented as a Bayern Munich player on 9 July 2014.
2014–2015: Third Bundesliga title
Pre-season started on 9 July 2014 at which time he was presented. He made his pre–season debut against MSV Duisburg on 21 July, scoring a goal in the process. On 6 August, he opened the scoring as Bayern contested the 2014 MLS All-Star Game at the Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, eventually losing 1–2.
He made his competitive debut for his new club in a 0–2 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the 2014 DFL-Supercup on 13 August 2014, and scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against Schalke 04 in his second league match on 30 August. On 21 October, Lewandowski scored his first Champions League goal for Bayern Munich in a 7–1 away win against Roma. On 1 November, in his first league match against Dortmund, Lewandowski scored in a 2–1 win which put Bayern four points clear at the top of the table while leaving his former club in a relegation play-off place. In his third match of the season against Dortmund on 4 April 2015, Lewandowski scored in the 36th minute in a 1–0 win, after Dortmund's goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller "parried" Thomas Müller's shot.
On 21 February 2015, Lewandowski scored twice in Bayern's 6–0 win away at Paderborn, his second goal of the game was his 10th of the league season. He scored twice in the first half on 21 April as Bayern overturned a deficit from the first leg to defeat Porto 7–4 on aggregate and advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Five days later, after VfL Wolfsburg lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern won the Bundesliga title. He scored again on 28 April, opening a 1–1 draw in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against Dortmund, but was later involved in a mid-air collision with Mitchell Langerak in the 116th minute of extra time. The game ended in Bayern's elimination via a penalty shoot-out (0–2), and, unusually, none of the four attempts were converted by the Munich side, at their own stadium. Although Lewandowski stayed until the end of the match, he didn't participate in the shootout; and tests later confirmed that he had fractured jaw and nose bone, and had a concussion, ruling him out for approximately one week. On 12 May, playing in a protective mask, he curled in at the 59th minute in his team's 3–2 home victory against eventual winners Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal second leg, albeit they were eliminated by an aggregate score of 3–5. With 17 goals in 31 games, Lewandowski was joint-second highest scorer of the Bundesliga season alongside teammate Arjen Robben, behind Eintracht Frankfurt's Alexander Meier. He finished the season with 25 goals in 49 appearances.
2015–2017: Domestic success, Torjägerkanone, and 100 Bayern goals
Lewandowski's second season began with the 2015 DFL-Supercup on 1 August, with Bayern losing in a penalty shootout away to VfL Wolfsburg; he had been substituted in the 72nd minute for Rafinha. Eight days later in the DFB-Pokal first round match, he scored the last goal in a 3–1 win against Oberliga Baden-Württemberg club Nöttingen. On 14 August, in the opening match of the new Bundesliga season, he scored the second goal of a 5–0 win over Hamburg.
On 22 September 2015, Lewandowski set a Bundesliga record by coming on as a substitute with Bayern trailing 0–1 to Wolfsburg and scoring five goals in 8 minutes and 59 seconds, the fastest by any player in Bundesliga history, to take a 5–1 lead. He also set Bundesliga records for the fastest hat-trick (three goals in four minutes), and most goals scored by a substitute (five). Lewandowski's five goals in nine minutes was also the fastest in any major European football league since Opta began keeping records, and it ended Wolfsburg's 14-match unbeaten run. He was awarded four certificates by Guinness World Records for this feat.
Four days later, he scored twice in a 3–0 win at Mainz, the first goal being his 100th Bundesliga goal on his 168th appearance, a league record for a foreign player. He also reached 10 goals in the opening 7 matches with this brace, a feat only achieved before by Gerd Müller. On 29 September, he scored a Champions League hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Dinamo Zagreb, putting him on ten goals in three games in a week. He added two in a 5–1 rout of Dortmund five days later, to total 12 goals in his last four appearances. On 24 October, Lewandowski scored in a 4–0 home win over Köln, a result which made Bayern the first Bundesliga team ever to win all 10 of their opening games of a season. The victory in Cologne was also Bayern's 1,000th win in the Bundesliga. On 11 January 2016, he achieved fourth place at the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or awards.
On 19 March 2016, Lewandowski scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Köln to bring his league total up to 25 goals; a new personal best. He had scored 24 goals for Borussia Dortmund during the 2012–13 season. He also started Bayern's comeback with a 73rd-minute header in the second leg of the round of 16 on 16 March, after trailing 0–2 home to Juventus, which Munich eventually won 4–2 after extra time, and 6–4 on aggregate. His goal against Atlético Madrid on 3 May in the second leg of Bayern's Champions League semifinal exit saw him end the season's competition with nine goals.
On 7 May 2016, Lewandowski scored both goals for Bayern in a 2–1 win at Ingolstadt to confirm the Bavarian club as champions of Germany for the fourth consecutive season. A week later, he scored his 30th goal of the season in Bayern's final league match of the season at home to Hannover 96. This made him the first foreign player to score 30 goals in the Bundesliga, the first player since Dieter Müller in 1976–77, and secured him the Torjägerkanone for the second time in three seasons. He finished the season with 42 goals in 51 matches.
The 2016–17 season started with Bayern winning the 2016 DFL-Supercup on 14 August. Five days later, Bayern defeated Carl Zeiss Jena 5–0 in the DFB-Pokal first round, with the help of Lewandowski's hat-trick during the first half and assist to Arturo Vidal in the 72nd minute. He opened the 2016–17 Bundesliga season with another hat-trick in a 6–0 victory against Werder Bremen. On 13 December, Lewandowski signed a new contract with Bayern, keeping him at the club until 2021.
On 11 March 2017, Lewandowski reached 100 goals for Bayern in his 137th appearance for the club, scoring twice in a 3–0 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. He finished the season with 42 goals in 47 matches.
2017–2019: Consecutive Golden Boots and all-time foreign Bundesliga goalscorer
The season began with Bayern Munich winning the 2017 DFL-Supercup against Borussia Dortmund, in which Lewandowski scored the opening goal for the Bavarians by controlling a low cross from Joshua Kimmich to cancel out Christian Pulisic's opener. The match ended 2–2 after extra time. Lewandowski, again, scored the first penalty of the shootout as Bayern eventually won 5–4.
Lewandowski started from where he left in the last season and once again was the top scorer in the early stages of the 2017–18 Bundesliga. On 13 December, in the league fixture against Köln, he scored the only goal of the game, to reach Bundesliga's top ten goalscorers of all time. A couple of months later, on Matchday 22, Lewandowski again found the back of the net against Schalke 04 at the Allianz Arena to equal the record of scoring in 11 successive home games in a single season, a record also held by then Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes. He continued his goal scoring form by netting a hat-trick against Hamburg as the runaway leaders won 6–0, while he also missed a kick from the spot which would have been his fourth goal of the day. This was his first penalty missed for Bayern in the Bundesliga, nevertheless he scored the second spot kick to complete his hat-trick.
On 11 February 2018, he was voted Poland's Footballer of the Year for the seventh time in a row. On 22 February, he fired his long-time agent, Cezary Kucharski. Lewandowski hired renowned dealmaker Pini Zahavi as his new agent; the hiring of Zahavi was rumoured to be the start of Lewandowski trying to seal a summer move to Real Madrid. On 24 February, he played his 250th Bundesliga game against Hertha Berlin. On 19 May, Lewandowski scored Bayern's only goal in a 3–1 defeat in the DFB-Pokal Final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Lewandowski finished the league as the Bundesliga's top goalscorer with 29 goals. This was the third time he won the Torjägerkanone award. He finished the season with 41 goals in 48 matches in all competitions.
On 1 August, after a summer of transfer speculation, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, confirmed in an interview that Lewandowski would not be allowed to leave Bayern at any price, saying "the top quality we have at Bayern Munich will stay here. With Robert, we clearly want to send a signal to people within and outside the club: Bayern Munich are completely different to other clubs who get weak when certain sums are mentioned" On 12 August, Lewandowski recorded the first ever hat-trick in the DFL-Supercup in a 0–5 away victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2018 edition as Bayern Munich went on to win the title for the record seventh time. He also became the all-time top scorer in the German Supercup history.
On 27 November, Lewandowski became the third-fastest player to score 50 goals (after Lionel Messi and Ruud van Nistelrooy) in the Champions League, when he scored two goals in a 5–1 group stage home win over Benfica. It took Lewandowski just 77 Champions League matches to reach the milestone. He finished as the top scorer in the Champions League group stage with eight goals in six matches. On 9 February 2019, Lewandowski scored in a 3–1 win over Schalke 04 and became the first player to score 100 competitive goals at the Allianz Arena. His goal was also his 119th league goal for Bayern Munich, which saw him draw level with Roland Wohlfarth as the club's third-highest goalscorer of all-time.
He surpassed Wohlfarth the following month after scoring a brace in a 5–1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, with his second goal also seeing him equal Claudio Pizarro's record of 195 league goals for the most Bundesliga goals by a foreign player. In his very next fixture, he broke Pizarro's record by scoring twice in a 6–0 win over Wolfsburg. On 6 April, in the 100th Bundesliga meeting between Bayern Munich and Dortmund, Lewandowski scored twice in a 5–0 win, with his first goal taking him to 200 goals in the league.
Lewandowski ended the league campaign as the Bundesliga's top goalscorer with 22 goals for the fourth time. On 25 May, he scored a brace as Bayern won against Leipzig 3–0 in the 2019 DFB-Pokal Final. With his goals, he became the all-time top scorer in the DFB-Pokal finals with six, surpassing Gerd Müller on five. Lewandowski finished the season with 40 goals in 47 matches in all competitions, reaching the 40-goal landmark for the fourth consecutive season, also winning his second domestic double with Bayern.
2019–2020: Treble, Best FIFA Men's Player, and UEFA Men's Player of the Year
On 12 August, Lewandowski scored his first goal of the season when Bayern defeated Energie Cottbus 3–1 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Four days later, he scored two goals in the 2019–20 Bundesliga opener against Hertha BSC. With his goals, Lewandowski set a Bundesliga record for scoring a goal in the season opener for the fifth year in a row. He then scored a hat-trick against Schalke at the Veltins Arena on 24 August, as the Reds won 3–0. On 29 August, Lewandowski extended his contract at Bayern until 2023. Lewandowski scored his 200th goal for Bayern in a 3–0 win against Serbian club Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on 18 September. Later that month, after scoring his tenth goal of the campaign during a 3–2 win over Paderborn, he became the first player in Bundesliga history to achieve double figures for goals scored after the first six match rounds. Lewandowski then became the first player in Bundesliga history to score in each of the opening nine, ten and eleven matches of a season, surpassing the record of eight set by former Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. On 26 November, Lewandowski scored 4 goals in under 15 minutes as Bayern defeated Red Star Belgrade 6–0 in their reverse fixture and clinched first place in their Champions League group, setting a new record for fastest time to score four goals in a Champions League match. He also became only the second player ever to score four goals in multiple Champions League matches.
On 25 February 2020, Lewandowski equalled Cristiano Ronaldo's record of nine away goals in a season in Europe's top club competition. He did so by scoring a goal in a 3–0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (he also assisted Serge Gnabry twice in that match). On 10 August, Lewandowski scored a brace and provided two assists in a 4–1 win over Chelsea in the return leg. On 14 August, he assisted and scored in Bayern's 8–2 decimation of Barcelona in the quarter-finals. Lewandowski scored another goal, to be 15 goals in total, in his ninth consecutive Champions League match in Bavarian's semifinal 3–0 win against Lyon. His European scoring streak ended when he failed to score a goal in the Champions League final match against Paris Saint-Germain on 23 August; nevertheless, Bayern defeated PSG 1–0, giving Lewandowski his first Champions League title. He also became the second player ever to win the European treble while being the top scorer in all three competitions, repeating Johan Cruyff's achievement with Ajax from the 1971–72 season. However, Lewandowski was the first to do so as the sole top scorer in all three competitions.
2020–2021: Ballon d'Or Striker of the Year and European Golden Shoe
On 18 September, in an 8–0 win over Schalke 04, in which Lewandowski scored a penalty, he provided a rabona assist to Thomas Müller, which was praised as the best of the season. On 24 September, Lewandowski assisted Leon Goretzka's opener in 2–1 victory over 2019–20 UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla in the 2020 UEFA Super Cup in Budapest. 6 days later, he played in Bayern's 3–2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the 2020 DFL-Supercup, to win their fifth trophy of the year. On 4 October, he scored all four goals in a 4–3 win against Hertha BSC. On 24 October, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt, to become the first player in Bundesliga to score ten goals in only five matches. On 16 December, he scored a brace against Wolfsburg to be the third player to pass the 250-goal mark in Bundesliga, after Gerd Müller and Klaus Fischer. After winning the treble with Bayern Munich and his performances in the tournaments, he was named The Best FIFA Men's Player 2020 on 17 December, becoming the first Polish player to win the award. The cancellation of the 2020 Ballon d'Or was met with extensive criticism, as most news and sports organisations believed Lewandowski was the front-runner and should have won the award.
On 17 January 2021, Lewandowski became the first player in Bundesliga history to score 21 goals after just 16 games – a new Hinrunde record, beating Gerd Müller's 20 goals during the 1968–69 season. On 8 February, he scored a brace in a 2–0 win over Al Ahly in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals. On 11 February, he won the FIFA Club World Cup 2020 with the club after 1–0 win against Mexican top-flight club Tigres in the final, as Bayern became the second club ever (after Barcelona in 2009) to win the sextuple. He was also involved in Benjamin Pavard's winning goal, and was named player of the tournament. On 23 February, Lewandowski opened the score in a 4–1 win against Lazio in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, reaching his 72nd Champions League goal and surpassing Raúl as the third highest goalscorer in the competition's history. On 6 March, he scored his 12th Bundesliga hat-trick in a 4–2 win over his former club Borussia Dortmund, to reach 31 goals in 23 matches. On 13 March, he scored a goal in a 3–1 away win over Werder Bremen, hence he became the joint-second on the all-time Bundesliga scoring list with 268 goals along with Klaus Fischer. On 20 March, he surpassed Fischer, as he scored a perfect hat-trick in the first half of a 4–0 win over VfB Stuttgart.
On 28 March, Lewandoski scored two goals in a 3–0 home win against Andorra in a World Cup qualification match, and also damaged ligaments in his right knee (he was taken off after 63 minutes); he missed both Champions League quarter-final matches against Paris Saint-Germain, in which Bayern Munich lost on away goals rule after a 3–3 draw on aggregate. On 24 April, he returned after almost a month on the sidelines in a 1–2 defeat to Mainz, where he scored in added time. On 8 May, he scored his 14th Bundesliga hat-trick in a 6–0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. On 22 May, he broke Gerd Müller's record of 40 goals in the 1971–72 season with a 90th-minute goal in Bayern's 5–2 win over Augsburg to reach his 41st goal on the final day of the season. He also managed to win his first European Golden Shoe award. Lewandowski finished the season with 48 goals in 40 matches in all competitions, reaching at least the 40-goal landmark for the sixth time.
2021–2022: Final season with Bayern and second European Golden Shoe
Lewandowski kicked off his 2021–22 Bundesliga season with a volley-shot equaliser in a 1–1 opening fixture draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 13 August, making him the first player to score in seven consecutive Bundesliga opening games. He also scored a brace and backheeled to Thomas Müller in a 3–1 away win against Dortmund in the 2021 DFL-Supercup on 17 August. The match was preceded by a moment of silence for Gerd Müller, who died two days earlier. On 28 August, he scored his 15th Bundesliga hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Hertha Berlin, setting a new club and German record for the most consecutive appearances in all competitions with a goal at 16, surpassing the previous record of 15 held by Gerd Müller from 1969 to 1970. In addition, he managed to reach more than 300 goals with Bayern Munich in all competitions. On 18 September, Lewandowski scored in his 13th consecutive Bundesliga home match against VfL Bochum, surpassing the previous league record of 12 held by Gerd Müller (October 1969 to April 1970) and Jupp Heynckes (June 1972 to February 1973). He ended the streak for most consecutive appearances in all competitions with a goal at 19, the new all-time German record.
On 21 November, Lewandowski scored a hat-trick against Benfica in a Champions League group stage match, becoming the fastest player to 80 UCL goals, in 100 appearances, edging past the previous record of Lionel Messi. On 23 November, he opened the score with a bicycle kick in a 2–1 away win against Dynamo Kyiv in a Champions League group stage match, thereby becoming the first player to score in nine consecutive games in two separate seasons of the competition. Midway through the season, Lewandowski finished second in the 2021 Ballon d'Or award, behind Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain and received the Striker of the Year award by the France Football magazine. On 17 December, Lewandowski set the Bundesliga record for most goals in a calendar year with his 43rd goal. He became the second player, after Cristiano Ronaldo, to be the top goalscorer for club and country as a player playing in Europe for three consecutive years.
On 15 January 2022, Lewandowski scored his 16th hat-trick and 300th Bundesliga goal in a 4–0 away win over Köln. On 8 March, Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in a 7–1 win over Red Bull Salzburg in the second leg of Champions League round of 16. Coming inside the first 23 minutes of the match, Lewandowski's hat-trick becomes the earliest ever scored by a player from the start of a Champions League match. Taking just 11 minutes from first goal to last, Lewandowski's three-goal extravaganza against Salzburg also ranks as the quickest hat-trick ever scored in the knockout phases of the Champions League. With these goals he took himself beyond the 40-goal mark in all competitions for the seventh consecutive season. With the hat-trick, he also became the fastest player to 85 UCL goals, again edging past Lionel Messi's previous record. He also joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi as the only three players to have ten or more goals in three or more UCL campaigns, and joined Messi as the only two players who have scored a first half hat trick in a UCL knockout game. However, Lewandowski finished the league with 35 goals as top scorer for the fifth consecutive season and seventh outright, equaling the record of Gerd Müller. He also broke the Bundesliga record for most away goals in a single season with 19 goals. In addition, he won his second European Golden Shoe award for the second consecutive season.
On 30 May 2022, Lewandowski stated his desire to leave Bayern Munich, saying "My story with Bayern has come to an end, I cannot imagine further good cooperation... I hope they will not stop me (from leaving) just because they can. A transfer is the best solution for everyone."
Transfer
At Bayern Munich, Lewandowski established himself as one of the best players of his generation. On 16 July 2022, Barcelona confirmed they had reached an agreement with Bayern Munich for Lewandowski's transfer. Three days later, Lewandowski signed a four-year contract for a fee of €45 million, potentially rising to €50 million with add-ons. The contract included a release clause set at €500 million. Lewandowski became the most expensive Polish player in history and Bayern Munich's most expensive sale of all time. Lewandowski was formally unveiled in front of 50,000 fans on 5 August at the Camp Nou, and was handed the number 9 shirt, previously worn by Memphis Depay, and was officially registered on 12 August, amid speculation that the club could not register him as they were over the league's salary cap limit, due to their financial difficulties.
2022–23: La Liga title and Pichichi Trophy
On 13 August, he made his competitive debut for the club in 0–0 draw against Rayo Vallecano in the league. On 21 August, he scored his first competitive goals for Blaugrana, netting a brace in a 4–1 victory over Real Sociedad on 21 August, followed by another brace against Real Valladolid in a 4–0 victory on 28 August. On 7 September, in his first game as a Barcelona player in Champions League, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 victory over Viktoria Plzeň, becoming the first player in history to score a Champions League hat-trick for three different clubs. On 11 September, he scored his sixth league goal of the season in his fifth league match for Barcelona, in their 4–0 win over Cádiz, setting the record for most goals in the first five La Liga games of the season in the 21st century, and eventually registered eleven goal contributions including nine goals and two assists in seven matches, after scoring the only goal of an away win over Mallorca on 1 October.
On 12 October, Lewandowski scored a brace in Barcelona's Champions League fixture against Inter Milan, with his last-minute equalizer securing a 3–3 home draw for the Blaugrana at Camp Nou. Despite scoring five goals in the competition, his goals were not able to help Barcelona, as they finished third in the group stage which put them in the Europa League knockout round play-offs for the second consecutive season. On 8 November, Lewandowski was sent off for the second time in his club career for a foul on David García, later receiving a three-game ban, as Barcelona won 2–1 against Osasuna. However, Lewandowski participated in the 1–1 tie against rivals Espanyol on 31 December after his ban was suspended by a court in Madrid, but still ended up serving the disqualification, as Spain's sports court upheld the punishment, missing the league matches against Atlético Madrid, Girona and Getafe.
On 16 January 2023, he scored the second goal in the 2023 Supercopa de España final, as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3–1 in El Clásico, winning his first title with the club. On 14 May, he scored two goals as Barcelona defeated Espanyol 4–2, confirming them as La Liga champions. He was the first Barcelona player to score more than 30 goals across all competitions in his debut season since Ronaldo Nazário in 1996–97. By the end of the 2022–23 La Liga season, Lewandowski won his first Pichichi Trophy with 23 goals in 34 matches, becoming the first player in top 5 European leagues to get top scorer award in six consecutive seasons. Lewandowski also tied Lionel Messi for most top scorer awards in top 5 European leagues with eight.
2023–24: La Liga runner-up
On 19 September 2023, Lewandowski scored once in Barcelona's 5–0 home win over Antwerp in the first matchday of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League to bring his UEFA competitions tally to 100 goals, becoming only the third player to reach such a milestone after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He also became the oldest player, at 35 years and 29 days, to score for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, surpassing Gerard Piqué's previous record. On 23 September, he scored a brace to help Barcelona overturn a two-goal deficit in a 3–2 home victory against Celta Vigo, becoming the best scorer in first 50 matches for the club in 21st century, with 35 goals, surpassing the record previously held by Samuel Eto'o.
On 17 February 2024, Lewandowski secured a win for Barcelona in a 2–1 victory over Celta Vigo by converting a retaken 97th-minute penalty. He became the most successful footballer in terms of the number of goals scored (407) over the past decade in the top five major European football leagues.
On 22 February, he scored his 93rd Champions League goal in a 1–1 draw against Napoli. Then on 12 March, Lewandowski scored the final goal in a 3–1 win in the home leg, knocking out Napoli with a 4–2 aggregate score. On 17 March, he was a key player in Barcelona's 3–0 win over Atlético Madrid having been involved in all three goals. He scored one goal and produced two assists helping his side move to the second spot in the La Liga table. On 29 April, he scored his first La Liga hat-trick to help his team get a 4–2 win against Valencia.
2024–25: Domestic double and 100 Barcelona goals
On 17 August 2024, Lewandowski scored two goals in a 2–1 victory against Valencia. It was the first match of the La Liga season for Barcelona and the first game with former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick in charge as the coach. On 22 September, Lewandowski scored two goals in a 5–1 victory against Villarreal. On 25 September, he scored the winning goal in Barcelona's 1–0 victory over Getafe. This was Lewandowski's 49th goal scored in La Liga beating Jan Urban's record as the top scoring Polish player in La Liga history. On 6 October, he scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 victory over Alavés. On 20 October, Lewandowski scored two goals in a 5–1 victory against Sevilla, in the process, he overtook Gerd Müller's record and became the third highest scorer in the history of the five major European football leagues with 366 goals in total.
On 23 October, Lewandowski scored the second goal in a 4–1 thrashing of his former club Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but did not celebrate out of respect for Bayern. Then on 26 October 2024, Lewandowski scored the first and second goal in Barcelona's 4–0 away demolition of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. He was subsequently chosen La Liga Player of the Month, his third such achievement. On 23 November, he scored against Celta Vigo in a match, which concluded in a 2–2 draw. By scoring this goal, Lewandowski recorded his 14th consecutive season in which he scored at least 20 goals for club, surpassing Lionel Messi's record. Three days later, Lewandowski made history by netting a brace in Barcelona's 3–0 win over Brest, his first goal in the match being his 100th Champions League goal. He became only the third player to pass the 100-goal mark in the Champions League. On 7 December, he netted a goal in a 2–2 draw against Real Betis. By scoring the goal, Lewandowski reached 16 goals in his first 16 La Liga matches, equalling a record achieved by Messi during the 2018–19 season.
On 9 April 2025, Lewandowski surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo as the player with the most goals past the age of thirty-five in the Champions League, 14. He reached this feat against former club Borussia Dortmund after scoring a brace in a 4–0 victory over the German side. Those goal involvements also led him to his 99th Barcelona goal, and becoming the Man of the Match. He reached his 100th and 101st goals with the club in a 3–0 away win over Athletic Bilbao on the final matchday of the season.
International career
2007–2013: Youth level and early international career
Lewandowski began his international career with Poland under-19 in 2007. He would also make three appearances for Poland's U21 team, in friendly matches against England, Belarus and Finland.
His debut for the senior national team came on 10 September 2008, three weeks after his 20th birthday, against San Marino where he came on as a substitute and scored a goal in a 2–0 away win in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. Only Włodzimierz Lubański scored a goal on his debut for the national team at a younger age than Lewandowski, having been 16 at the time. Lewandowski scored another qualifying goal against the same team on 1 April 2009, in a 10–0 victory.
Playing in Warsaw in the opening match of the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament against Greece, Lewandowski scored the first goal of the competition after an assist from then Dortmund teammate Jakub Błaszczykowski and was named Man of the Match. He played in all three games for Poland in the tournament, as the co-hosts crashed out of the group stage with two points earned.
2013–2017: Assuming captaincy
Lewandowski scored two penalties in the 5–0 win against San Marino on 26 March 2013 during the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, his first match as captain. Later on in the campaign, on 6 September, he scored the equaliser against Montenegro in a 1–1 home draw. Poland did not qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
On 7 September 2014, in Poland's first UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier, away against Gibraltar, Lewandowski scored his first international hat-trick, netting four goals in a 7–0 win. On 13 June 2015, he scored another hat-trick in Poland's 4–0 defeat of Georgia, with the three goals scored within the space of four minutes. On 8 October, he scored twice in a 2–2 draw away to Scotland, opening and equalising with the last kick of the game to eliminate the hosts. Three days later he headed the winner in a 2–1 victory against the Republic of Ireland, qualifying Poland for the tournament finals in France. Lewandowski ended the campaign with 13 goals, a joint European Championships qualifying record with David Healy's tally for Northern Ireland in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying.
At UEFA Euro 2016 in France, Lewandowski did not have a shot on target until the last-16 match against Switzerland in Saint-Étienne. Following the 1–1 draw, he scored his team's first attempt in the penalty shootout victory that sent them to the quarter-finals for the first time. In the 100th second of the quarter-final against Portugal at the Stade Vélodrome, he finished Kamil Grosicki's cross to open another 1–1 draw, and again scored in the shootout although the Poles lost. At the time of Poland's exit, Lewandowski had suffered more fouls than any other player in the tournament.
2017–2025: All-time Poland top scorer, retirement
On 5 October 2017, Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 victory against Armenia to take his tally to 50 goals for Poland, surpassing the previous record of 48 goals set by Włodzimierz Lubański to become the all-time top scorer for Poland. On 8 October, Lewandowski scored a goal in a 4–2 victory against Montenegro, taking his tally to 51 goals for Poland. He finished the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with a total of 16 goals, a record for a European World Cup qualification.
Lewandowski was called up to the 23-man Polish squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Lewandowski played every minute in all three matches against Senegal, Colombia, and Japan. He did not score any goals and Poland failed to qualify for the knockout phase.
On 19 June 2021, in Poland's second group stage match of UEFA Euro 2020 against Spain, Lewandowski scored the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw. He became the first Polish player to score in three consecutive European Championships. On 23 June, he scored a brace in a 3–2 defeat against Sweden, but Poland finished last in their group and were knocked out in the group stage.
Lewandowski was selected for the national squad ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. During the first match against Mexico, he missed a penalty. However, in the second match against Saudi Arabia, Lewandowski scored his first FIFA World Cup goal Poland 2–0. He scored his second World Cup goal on a penalty in a 3–1 loss against France in the round of 16.
In June 2024, Lewandowski was named in the final 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. In Poland's third group stage game, he converted a penalty kick to equalize in a 1–1 draw against France, but Poland exited the tournament after finishing at the bottom of their group.
Lewandowski was not called up for two June 2025 matches against Moldova and Finland, citing exhaustion after the end of the club season. On 8 June, following the decision of head coach Michał Probierz to name Piotr Zieliński new captain of the Poland national team, Lewandowski announced he would not play for the national team as long as Probierz was the manager. Following Lewandowski's remarks and Poland's defeat against Finland in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Probierz resigned.
Style of play
Lewandowski was widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world in his prime, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest centre-forwards of his generation. An accurate and efficient finisher with his head and both feet, Lewandowski is a prolific goalscorer, which has led him to be dubbed Lewangoalski. A well-rounded forward, he is said to possess almost all the necessary qualities of a traditional number nine: height, strength, balance, pace, intelligent movement and proficiency with both feet. Although he primarily operates as a goal-poacher in the penalty area, due to his positional sense, ability to shoot first time, strength in the air, and powerful shot with either foot, his excellent technical skills, quick feet, proficient dribbling, vision, and physique also enable him to hold up the ball with his back to goal and either bring his teammates into play, or win fouls for his team in useful positions. Despite often functioning as a lone-centre forward or as an out-and-out striker, he has also stood out for his work-rate and defensive contribution off the ball, and is capable of dropping into deeper roles on the pitch, in order to create space for teammates with his movement, or surprise defenders by making late and sudden attacking runs into the area. He became more of a team player as his career progressed, having been criticised by pundits earlier in his career for his perceived selfishness.
Lewandowski is an accurate penalty taker and has repeatedly shown coolness and composure on the spot; he is also capable of scoring from long range, and has been known to take free kicks. In addition to his playing ability, Lewandowski has also been praised for his outstanding work-ethic, fitness, mentality, and discipline, both on the pitch and in training, by pundits, players and managers; his disciplined approach to training and fitness has led to him being nicknamed "The Body".
Outside football
Personal life
Lewandowski's father gave him the name Robert to make it easier for him when moving abroad as a professional footballer. Lewandowski's father, Krzysztof (died in 2005), was a Polish judo champion, and also played football for Hutnik Warsaw in the second division. His mother, Iwona, is a former volleyball player for AZS Warsaw and later vice-president of Partyzant Leszno. His sister, Milena, also plays volleyball and has represented the U21 national team.
His wife, Anna Lewandowska (née Stachurska), won the bronze medal at the 2009 Karate World Cup. They married on 22 June 2013 in the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Serock. They have two children, born in 2017 and 2020.
Lewandowski is a practising Catholic. He met Pope Francis in October 2014, when Bayern Munich visited Vatican City following a 7–1 win over Roma in the UEFA Champions League.
In October 2017, the day after scoring to help Poland qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Lewandowski finished his Bachelor of Physical Education (BPhEd) with coaching and management at the Academy of Sport Education in Warsaw, concluding a decade of studies.
In addition to his native Polish, Lewandowski also speaks English and German.
Lewandowski is a fan of tennis and paddle tennis. He practiced playing tennis with Ana Ivanovic, the wife of his friend Bastian Schweinsteiger and knows personally Novak Djokovic. He attended his matches in Qatar and United Arab Emirates. In 2022, he personally congratulated Iga Świątek on winning the 2022 Roland Garros. He also plays golf and is interested in motor sports, including Formula One. In 2017 and 2022 as Aston Martin special guest, he attended the Monaco Grand Prix. In 2023, he visited the paddock of Scuderia Ferrari during the Spanish Grand Prix.
Philanthropy and business
Lewandowski and his wife, Anna, have supported, donated and raised money for various charitable organisations and for children throughout their career, including Children's Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw, for which they've raised more than PLN 150,000 during Anna's birthday party on 25 August 2018. Lewandowski also donated PLN 100,000 for the treatment of Cyprian Gaweł, a three-year-old boy from Hel; and helps raising funds for the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity each year, donating his personal items or private meetings that are sold at online auctions.
In March 2014, he was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In June the same year, he visited a refugee camp in Zaatari, Jordan, and took part in the "Voice of the Children" campaign in which he appealed for support of children affected by humanitarian crises.
In 2018, he and his wife donated PLN 500,000 to Children's Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw.
In March 2020, Lewandowski and his wife, Anna, donated €1 million during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January 2022, he won a charity auction in which he paid PLN 280,000 for Dawid Tomala's Olympic gold medal. The funds were used to finance the operation of a seriously ill boy. Lewandowski subsequently returned the medal to Tomala.
In February 2022, Lewandowski condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and showed his solidarity with the Ukrainian people by wearing a blue and yellow armband during a Bundesliga match. The armband was later auctioned for PLN 27,000 and the money was used to purchase humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Beside philanthropy, Lewandowski also invests primarily in startups, e-commerce, and websites, mainly through Protos Venture Capital, a company of which he is a shareholder. He also owns Stor9_, an agency specialising in marketing communications. In 2022, Lewandowski and his wife Anna's net worth was estimated at PLN 625 million (US$140 million), making them claim the 89th place on the "List of 100 Richest Poles" compiled by the Wprost magazine.
Sponsorship and media appearances
Since 2011 until 2018, he had a sponsorship contract with Gillette and appeared in numerous advertising campaigns of the brand. In 2020, the contract was renewed. In 2013, Lewandowski signed a sponsorship deal with Nike. He also collaborated and appeared in advertisements of Panasonic, T-Mobile Polska, Coca-Cola, Head & Shoulders and 4F.
In 2016, a mobile game Lewandowski: Euro Star 2016 was released on Android and iOS platforms.
In March 2022, Lewandowski cancelled his sponsorship deal with Chinese telecom company Huawei after the company's reported support to Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Lewandowski had signed on as the global ambassador for Huawei, after agreeing to a partnership in November 2015.
Lewandowski featured on the cover of the Polish edition of EA Sports' FIFA 15 video game, alongside Lionel Messi. Lewandowski's "X" goal celebration—arms crossed and index fingers pointing up—has appeared in EA Sports' FIFA series since FIFA 18.
In 2022, Lewandowski was the most popular Pole on social media. His accounts on Instagram, YouTube and Tik Tok were followed by over 62 million people. In 2023, he was the subject of a documentary film entitled Lewandowski − Nieznany (Lewandowski − Unknown), which premiered on 28 March and is available on Amazon Prime.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsDelta WarsawIV liga17420——194Legia Warsaw II2005–06III liga13212——144Znicz II Pruszków2006–07Klasa A4800——48Znicz Pruszków2006–07III liga271552——32172007–08II liga322120——3421Total593672——6638Lech Poznań2008–09Ekstraklasa301462124—48202009–10Ekstraklasa28181042113421Total583272166118241Borussia Dortmund2010–11Bundesliga3382081—4392011–12Bundesliga342267611047302012–13Bundesliga31244113101149362013–14Bundesliga33205296104828Total131741710361831187103Bayern Munich2014–15Bundesliga3117521261049252015–16Bundesliga3230631291051422016–17Bundesliga333045981047432017–18Bundesliga3029661151148412018–19Bundesliga332257881347402019–20Bundesliga31345610151047552020–21Bundesliga294110654240482021–22Bundesliga3435101013124650Total25323833297869118375344Barcelona2022–23La Liga342332762246332023–24La Liga351932932249262024–25La Liga34273313112152422025–26La Liga0000000000Total1036997292065147101Career total63846376521591132115894643
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsPoland2008422009121201013620111142012102201310320146520157112016128201769201811420191062020422021121120221042023842024102202521Total15885
Honours
Znicz Pruszków
III liga, group I: 2006–07
Lech Poznań
Ekstraklasa: 2009–10
Polish Cup: 2008–09
Polish Super Cup: 2009
Borussia Dortmund
Bundesliga: 2010–11, 2011–12
DFB-Pokal: 2011–12
DFL-Supercup: 2013
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2012–13
Bayern Munich
Bundesliga: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
DFB-Pokal: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20
DFL-Supercup: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021
UEFA Champions League: 2019–20
UEFA Super Cup: 2020
FIFA Club World Cup: 2020
Barcelona
La Liga: 2022–23, 2024–25
Copa del Rey: 2024–25
Supercopa de España: 2023, 2025
Individual
Ballon d'Or Striker of the Year / Gerd Müller Trophy: 2021, 2022
European Golden Shoe: 2020–21, 2021–22
The Best FIFA Men's Player: 2020, 2021
FIFA FIFPro World 11: 2020, 2021
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2020
IFFHS World's Best Man Player: 2020, 2021
IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer: 2020, 2021
IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer: 2015, 2021
IFFHS World's Best Top Division Goal Scorer: 2021
IFFHS Men's World Team: 2020, 2021
IFFHS World Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
IFFHS UEFA Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
UEFA Men's Player of the Year: 2019–20
UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season: 2019–20
UEFA Champions League top goalscorer: 2019–20
UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2019–20
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20, 2020–21
UEFA Team of the Year: 2019, 2020
UEFA Euro qualifying Best Player: 2016
Laureus World Sports Awards – Exceptional Achievement Award (2022)
Golden Foot: 2022
ESM Team of the Year: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
ESPN Striker of the Year: 2020, 2021–22
AIPS European Sportsman of the Year: 2020
European Sportsperson of the Year: 2020
World Soccer Player of the Year: 2020, 2021
FourFourTwo Player of the Year: 2020, 2021
Tuttosport Golden Player: 2020, 2021
The Guardian Best Footballer in the World: 2020, 2021
Goal 50: 2019–20
Dongqiudi Player of the Year: 2020
Globe Soccer Best Player of the Year: 2020
Globe Soccer Fans' Player of the Year: 2021
Globe Soccer Maradona Award: 2021
Guinness World Record (x4): 2015
Ekstraklasa Player of the Season: 2009–10
Ekstraklasa Player of the Year: 2009
Ekstraklasa top goalscorer: 2009–10
Ekstraklasa Goal of the Season: 2008–09
II liga top goalscorer: 2007–08
III liga, group I top goalscorer: 2006–07
Polish Footballer of the Year: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024
Polish Sports Personality of the Year: 2015, 2020, 2021
Polish Young Player of the Year: 2008
Polish Football Association National Team of the Century: 1919–2019
VDV Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21
VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2016–17, 2019–20
Bundesliga Goal of the Month: March 2019, August 2019, May 2021
Bundesliga top goalscorer: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22
Bundesliga Fantasy Team of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Bundesliga Player of the Month: August 2019, October 2020
Footballer of the Year in Germany: 2020, 2021
kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
DFB-Pokal top goalscorer: 2011–12, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
Lech Poznań All-time XI
Znicz Pruszków Best Player in the History
Bayern Munich Player of the Season: 2015–16, 2019–20, 2020–21
Pichichi Trophy: 2022–23
La Liga Team of the Season: 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25
La Liga Player of the Month: October 2022, February 2024, October 2024
Orders
Order of Polonia Restituta, Commander's Cross: 2021
Order of the Smile: 2022
See also
List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances
List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
List of men's footballers with the most official appearances
List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals
List of UEFA Champions League top scorers
Bundesliga records and statistics
List of Bundesliga top scorers
List of foreign La Liga players
List of Polish people
|
American School (economics)
|
[
"Economic history of the United States",
"Economic ideologies",
"Schools of economic thought",
"Capitalism"
] | 6,357 | 52,001 |
The American School, also known as the National System, represents three different yet related constructs in politics, policy and philosophy. The policy existed from the 1790s to the 1970s, waxing and waning in actual degrees and details of implementation. Historian Michael Lind describes it as a coherent applied economic philosophy with logical and conceptual relationships with other economic ideas.
It is the macroeconomic philosophy that dominated United States national policies from the time of the American Civil War until the mid-20th century. Closely related to mercantilism, it can be seen as contrary to classical economics. It consisted of these three core policies:
Protecting industry through selective high tariffs (especially 1861–1932).
Government investments in infrastructure creating targeted internal improvements (especially in transportation).
A national bank with policies that promote the growth of productive enterprises rather than speculation.
The American School's key elements were promoted by John Quincy Adams and his National Republican Party, Henry Clay and the Whig Party and Abraham Lincoln through the early Republican Party which embraced, implemented and maintained this economic system.
The American School of economics represented the legacy of Alexander Hamilton, who in his Report on Manufactures, argued that the U.S. could not become fully independent until it was self-sufficient in all necessary economic products. Hamilton rooted this economic system, in part, in the successive regimes of Colbert's France and Elizabeth I's England, while rejecting the harsher aspects of mercantilism, such as seeking colonies for markets. As later defined by Senator Henry Clay who became known as the Father of the American System because of his impassioned support thereof, the American System was to unify the nation north to south, east to west, and city to farmer.
Frank Bourgin's 1989 study of the Constitutional Convention shows that direct government involvement in the economy was intended by the Founders. The goal, most forcefully articulated by Hamilton, was to ensure that dearly won political independence was not lost by being economically and financially dependent on the powers and princes of Europe. The creation of a strong central government able to promote science, invention, industry and commerce, was seen as an essential means of promoting the general welfare and making the economy of the United States strong enough for them to determine their own destiny.
Jefferson and Madison strongly opposed Hamilton's program, but were forced to implement it by the exigencies of the embargo, begun in December 1807 under the Non-Intercourse Act, and the War of 1812 against Britain.
A number of programs by the federal government undertaken in the period prior to the Civil War gave shape and substance to the American School. These programs included the establishment of the Patent Office in 1802, the creation of the Survey of the Coast (later renamed the United States Coast Survey and then the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey) in 1807 and other measures to improve river and harbor navigation created by the 1824 Rivers and Harbors Act.
Other developments included the various Army expeditions to the west, beginning with Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery in 1804 and continuing into the 1870s (see for example, the careers of Major Stephen Harriman Long and Major General John C. Frémont), almost always under the direction of an officer from the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, and which provided crucial information for the overland pioneers that followed (see, for example, the career of Brigadier General Randolph B. Marcy), the assignment of Army Engineer officers to assist or direct the surveying and construction of the early railroads and canals, and the establishment of the First Bank of the United States and Second Bank of the United States as well as various protectionist measures such as the Tariff of 1828.
Leading proponents were economists Friedrich List (1789–1846) and Henry Carey (1793–1879). List was a leading 19th Century German and American economist who called it the "National System" and developed it further in his book The National System of Political Economy Carey called this a Harmony of Interests in his book by the same name, a harmony between labor and management, and as well a harmony between agriculture, manufacturing, and merchants.
The name "American System" was coined by Clay to distinguish it, as a school of thought, from the competing theory of economics at the time, the "British System" represented by Adam Smith in his work Wealth of Nations.
Central policies
The American School included three cardinal policy points:
Support industry: the advocacy of protectionism, and opposition to free trade – particularly for the protection of "infant industries" and those facing import competition from abroad. Examples: Tariff Act of 1789, Tariff Act of 1816 and Morrill Tariff.
Create physical infrastructure: government finance of internal improvements to speed commerce and develop industry. This involved the regulation of privately held infrastructure, to ensure that it meets the nation's needs. Examples: Cumberland Road and Union Pacific Railroad.
Create financial infrastructure: a government sponsored National Bank to issue currency and encourage commerce. This involved the use of sovereign powers for the regulation of credit to encourage the development of the economy, and to deter speculation. Examples: First Bank of the United States, Second Bank of the United States, and National Banking Act.
Henry C. Carey, a leading American economist and adviser to Abraham Lincoln, in his book Harmony of Interests, displays two additional points of this American School economic philosophy that distinguishes it from the systems of Adam Smith or Karl Marx:
Government support for the development of science and public education through a public 'common' school system and investments in creative research through grants and subsidies.
Rejection of class struggle, in favor of the "Harmony of Interests" between: owners and workers, farmers and manufacturers, the wealthy class and the working class.
In a passage from his book, The Harmony of Interests, Carey wrote concerning the difference between the American System and British System of economics:
Two systems are before the world; ... One looks to increasing the necessity for commerce; the other to increasing the power to maintain it. One looks to underworking the Hindoo, and sinking the rest of the world to his level; the other to raising the standard of man throughout the world to our level. One looks to pauperism, ignorance, depopulation, and barbarism; the other to increasing wealth, comfort, intelligence, combination of action, and civilization. One looks towards universal war; the other towards universal peace. One is the English system; the other we may be proud to call the American system, for it is the only one ever devised the tendency of which was that of elevating while equalizing the condition of man throughout the world.
In the Civil War, a shortage of specie led to the issue of such a fiat currency, called United States Notes, or "greenbacks". Towards the end of the Civil War in March 1865, Henry C. Carey, Lincoln's economic advisor, published a series of letters to the Speaker of the House entitled "The Way to Outdo England Without Fighting Her." Carey called for the continuance of the greenback policy even after the War, while also raising the reserve requirements of the banks to 50%. This would have allowed the US to develop its economy independent of foreign capital (primarily British gold). Carey wrote:
The most serious move in the retrograde direction is that one we find in the determination to prohibit the further issue of [United States Notes] ... To what have we been indebted for [the increased economic activity]? To protection and the " greenbacks"! What is it that we are now laboring to destroy? Protection and the Greenback! Let us continue on in the direction in which we now are moving, and we shall see ... not a re-establishment of the Union, but a complete and final disruption of it.
Carey's plans did not come to fruition as Lincoln was assassinated the next month and new President Andrew Johnson supported the gold standard, and by 1879 the U.S. was fully back on the gold standard.
The "American System" was the name given by Henry Clay in a speech before Congress advocating an economic program based on the economic philosophy derived from Alexander Hamilton's economic theories. Clay's policies called for a high tariff to support internal improvements such as road-building, and a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and to form a national currency as Hamilton had advocated as Secretary of the Treasury.
Clay first used the term "American System" in 1824, although he had been working for its specifics for many years previously. Portions of the American System were enacted by Congress. The Second Bank of the United States was rechartered in 1816 for 20 years. High tariffs were maintained from the days of Hamilton until 1832. However, the national system of internal improvements was never adequately funded; the failure to do so was due in part to sectional jealousies and constitutional scruples about such expenditures.
Clay's plan became the leading tenet of the National Republican Party of John Quincy Adams and the Whig Party of himself and Daniel Webster.
The "American System" was supported by New England and the Mid-Atlantic, which had a large manufacturing base. It protected their new factories from foreign competition.
The South opposed the "American System" because its plantation owners were heavily reliant on production of cotton for export, and the American System produced lower demand for their cotton and created higher costs for manufactured goods. After 1828 the United States kept tariffs low until the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1861.
Executive opposition to the American System by the Jacksonians
Opposition to the economic nationalism embodied by Henry Clay's American System came primarily from the Democratic Party of Andrew Jackson, Martin van Buren, and James K. Polk. These three presidents styled themselves as the peoples' politicians, seeking to protect both the agrarian frontier culture and the strength of the Union. Jackson in particular, the founder of the movement, held an unflinching commitment to what he viewed as the sanctity of the majority opinion. In his first annual message to Congress, Jackson proclaimed that "the first principle of our system [is] that the majority govern". This ideology governed Jackson's actions throughout his presidency, and heavily influenced his protégé Martin van Buren as well as the final Jacksonian president, James K. Polk.
This commitment to the majority and to the voiceless came in direct conflict with many elements of the American System. The Jacksonian presidents saw key tenets of the American System, including the support for the Second Bank of the United States and advocacy of protectionist tariffs, as serving moneyed or special interests rather than the majority of Americans. The Jacksonians opposed other elements of Clay's ideology, including support for internal infrastructural improvements, on the grounds that they represented governmental overstretch as well. Several key events, legislative conflicts, and presidential vetoes shaped the substantive opposition to the American System.
Second Bank of the United States and the Bank War
The first and most well-known battle between Jacksonians and Clay focused on the struggle over renewing the charter of the Second Bank of the United States. In Andrew Jackson's first annual message to Congress in 1829, he declared that "[b]oth the constitutionality and the expediency of the law creating this bank are well questioned by a large portion of our fellow-citizens, and it must be admitted by all that it has failed in the great end of establishing a uniform and sound currency". He further attacked the proponents of renewing the bank's charter, scathingly referring to the "stockholders" seeking a renewal of their "privileges".
This rhetoric, portraying the supporters of the bank as privileged individuals, and claiming the opposition of "a large portion of our fellow-citizens" crystallizes Jackson's majoritarian distaste for the special interest serving economic nationalism embodied in the American System. Jackson's Secretary of the Treasury Roger B. Taney effectively summed up Jackson's opposition to the Second Bank of the United States: ""It is a fixed principle of our political institutions to guard against the unnecessary accumulation of power over persons and property in any hands. And no hands are less worthy to be trusted with it than those of a moneyed corporation".
The two sides of the debate became even more starkly defined as a result of the actions of Second Bank President Nicholas Biddle and Henry Clay himself. Upon hearing of Jackson's distaste for his bank, Biddle immediately set about opening new branches of the bank in key political districts in hopes of manipulating Congressional opinion. Although this action indeed helped acquire the votes necessary to pass the bill in Congress, it enraged Jackson. Jackson saw this manipulation as clear evidence of the penchant of a national bank to serve private, non-majoritarian interests.
Henry Clay's American System supported the necessity for central institutions to "take an activist role in shaping and advancing the nation's economic development". The bank thus fit well into Clay's worldview, and he took advantage of Biddle's manipulation in order to pass the renewal bill through Congress, despite expecting Jackson's inevitable veto. Clay hoped that when Jackson vetoed the bill, it would more clearly differentiate the two sides of the debate which Clay then sought to use to his advantage in running for president. With battle lines set, Jackson's majoritarian opposition to the Second Bank of the United States helped him be elected to a second term.
Tariff question
The question of protective tariffs championed by the American System proved one of the trickiest for Jacksonian presidents. Tariffs disproportionately benefited the industrial interests of the North while causing injury to the import-dependent agrarian South and West. As a result, the issue proved extremely divisive to the nation's unity, something Jacksonian presidents sought to protect at all costs. The Jacksonian presidents, particularly the southern-born Jackson, had to be extremely cautious when lowering tariffs in order to maintain their support in the North.
However, the tariffs indeed represented an economic nationalism that primarily benefited the Northern States, while increasing the cost of European imports in the South. This ran strongly contrary to Jacksonian ideals. In the end, despite Northern objections, both President Jackson and President Polk lowered tariffs. Jackson reformed the Tariff of 1828 (also known as the Tariff of Abominations) by radically reducing rates in the Tariff of 1832. This helped stave off the Southern nullification crisis, in which Southern states refused to enact the tariff, and threatened secession if faced with governmental coercion.
The bill that reduced the Tariff of 1828 was co-authored by Henry Clay in a desperate attempt to maintain national unity. Polk, on the other hand, in his characteristically efficient way, managed to push through significant tariff reductions in the first 18 months of his term.
Opposition to government-financed internal improvements
The final bastion of Jacksonian opposition to Clay's American System existed in relation to the use of government funds to conduct internal improvements. The Jacksonian presidents feared that government funding of such projects as roads and canals exceeded the mandate of the federal government and should not be undertaken. Van Buren believed very strongly that "[t]he central government, unlike the states", had no obligation to provide relief or promote the general welfare.
This stance kept faith with the tenets of Jeffersonian republicanism, notably its agrarianism and strict constructionism, to which van Buren was heir". As heir to the legacy of Van Buren and Jackson, Polk was similarly hostile to internal improvement programs, and used his presidential veto to prevent such projects from reaching fruition.
Implementation
An extra session of congress was called in the summer of 1841 for a restoration of the American system. When the tariff question came up again in 1842, the compromise of 1833 was overthrown, and the protective system placed in the ascendant.
Due to the dominance of the then Democratic Party of Van Buren, Polk, and Buchanan the American School was not embraced as the economic philosophy of the United States until the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who, with a series of laws during the American Civil War, was able to fully implement what Hamilton, Clay, List, and Carey theorized, wrote about, and advocated.
As soon as Lincoln took office, the old Whig coalition finally controlled the entire government. It immediately tripled the average tariff, began to subsidize the construction of a transcontinental railroad in California even though a desperate war was being waged, and on February 25, 1862, the Legal Tender Act empowered the secretary of the treasury to issue paper money ('greenbacks') that were not immediately redeemable in gold or silver.
The United States continued these policies throughout the later half of the 19th century.
President Ulysses S Grant acknowledged the perceived efficacy of tariff protection in reference to Britain's success during the Industrial Revolution, when tariff rates on manufactures peaked at 57%:
For centuries England has relied on protection, has carried it to extremes and has obtained satisfactory results from it. There is no doubt that it is to this system that it owes its present strength.
President William McKinley (1897–1901) stated at the time:
The American System was important in the election politics for and against Grover Cleveland, the first Democrat elected after the Civil War, who, by reducing tariffs protecting American industries in 1893, began rolling back federal involvement in economic affairs, a process that became dominant by the 1920s and continued until Herbert Hoover's attempts to deal with the worsening Great Depression.
Evolution
As the United States entered the 20th century, the American School was the policy of the United States under such names as American Policy, economic nationalism, National System, Protective System, Protection Policy, and protectionism, which alludes only to the tariff policy of this system of economics.
This continued until 1913 when the administration of Woodrow Wilson initiated his The New Freedom policy that replaced the National Bank System with the Federal Reserve System, and lowered tariffs to revenue-only levels with the Underwood Tariff.
The election of Warren G. Harding and the Republican Party in 1920 represented a partial return to the American School through restoration of high tariffs. A subsequent further return was enacted as President Herbert Hoover responded to the 1929 crash and the subsequent bank failures and unemployment by signing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which some economists considered to have deepened the Great Depression, while others disagree.
The New Deal continued infrastructure improvements through the numerous public works projects of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as well as the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); brought massive reform to the banking system of the Federal Reserve while investing in various ways in industry to stimulate production and control speculation; but abandoned protective tariffs while embracing moderate tariff protection (revenue based 20–30% the normal tariff under this) through reciprocity, choosing to subsidize industry as a replacement. At the close of World War II, the United States now dominant in manufacturing with little competition, the era of free trade had begun.
In 1973, when the "Kennedy" Round concluded under President Richard Nixon, who cut U.S. tariffs to all time lows, the New Deal orientation towards reciprocity and subsidy ended, which moved the United States further in the free market direction, and away from its American School economic system.
Other nations
Friedrich List's influence among developing nations has been considerable. Japan has followed his model. It has also been argued that Deng Xiaoping's post-Mao policies were inspired by List as well as recent policies in India.
See also
American System (economic plan)
Protectionism in the United States
Henry Charles Carey
Anders Chydenius
Daniel Raymond
Friedrich List
Economic history of the United States
Import substitution industrialization, a key feature of the American System adopted in much of the Third World during the 20th century
Johann Heinrich von Thünen
Lincoln's expansion of the federal government's economic role
National Policy, a similar economic plan used by Canada circa 1867–1920s
William Petty
Report on Manufactures
First Report on the Public Credit
Second Report on Public Credit
Report on a Plan for the Further Support of Public Credit
General:
History of economic thought
Economic nationalism
Historical school of economics
Modern books
Batra, Ravi, Dr., The Myth of Free Trade: The pooring of America (1993)
Boritt, Gabor S., Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream (1994)
Bourgin, Frank, The Great Challenge: The Myth of Laissez-Faire in the Early Republic (George Braziller Inc., 1989; Harper & Row, 1990)
Buchanan, Patrick J., The Great Betrayal (1998)
Chang, Ha-Joon, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (Bloomsbury; 2008)
Croly, Herbert, The Promise of American Life (2005 reprint)
Curry, Leonard P., Blueprint for Modern America: Nonmilitary Legislation of the First Civil War Congress (1968)
Dobbs, Lou, Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed is Shipping American Jobs Overseas (2004)
Dorfman, Joseph, The Economic Mind in American Civilization, 1606–1865 (1947) vol 2
Dorfman, Joseph, The Economic Mind in American Civilization, 1865–1918 (1949) vol 3
Dupree, A. Hunter, Science in the Federal Government: A History of Policies and Activities to 1940 (Harvard University Press, 1957; Harper & Row, 1964)
Foner, Eric,
Faux, Jeff, The Global Class War (2006)
Frith, Mathew A., "" (2024)
Frith, Mathew A., "" History of Economics Review (2024)
Gardner, Stephen H., Comparative Economic Systems (1988)
Gill, William J., Trade Wars Against America: A History of United States Trade and Monetary Policy (1990)
Goetzmann, William H., Army Exploration in the American West 1803–1863 (Yale University Press, 1959; University of Nebraska Press, 1979)
Goodrich, Carter, (Greenwood Press, 1960)
Goodrich, Carter, "American Development Policy: the Case of Internal Improvements," Journal of Economic History, 16 (1956), 449–60. in JSTOR
Goodrich, Carter, "National Planning of Internal Improvements," Political Science Quarterly, 63 (1948), 16–44. in JSTOR
Hofstadter, Richard, "The Tariff Issue on the Eve of the Civil War," American Historical Review, 64 (October 1938): 50–55, shows Northern business had little interest in tariff in 1860, except for Pennsylvania which demanded high tariff on iron products
Howe, Daniel Walker, The Political Culture of the American Whigs (University of Chicago Press, 1979)
Hudson, Michael, America's Protectionist Takeoff 1815–1914 (2010).
Jenks, Leland Hamilton, "Railroads as a Force in American Development," Journal of Economic History, 4 (1944), 1–20. in JSTOR
John Lauritz Larson, Internal Improvement: National Public Works and the Promise of Popular Government in the Early United States (2001)
Johnson, E.A.J., The Foundations of American Economic Freedom: Government and Enterprise in the Age of Washington (University of Minnesota Press, 1973)
Lively, Robert A., "The American System, a Review Article," Business History Review, XXIX (March, 1955), 81–96. Recommended starting point.
Lauchtenburg, William E., Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal 1932–40 (1963)
Lind, Michael, Hamilton's Republic: Readings in the American Democratic Nationalist Tradition (1997)
Lind, Michael, What Lincoln Believed: The Values and Convictions of America's Greatest President (2004)
Mazzucato, Mariana, The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths (Anthem Press, 2013)
Paludan, Philip S, The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (1994)
Richardson, Heather Cox, The Greatest Nation of the Earth: Republican Economic Policies during the Civil War (1997)
Remini, Robert V., Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union. New York: W. W. Norton Co., 1991
Roosevelt, Theodore, The New Nationalism (1961 reprint)
Stanwood, Edward, American Tariff Controversies in the Nineteenth Century (1903; reprint 1974), 2 vols., favors protectionism
Older books
W. Cunningham, The Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement (London, 1904)
G. B. Curtiss, Protection and Prosperity; and W. H. Dawson, Protection in Germany (London, 1904)
Alexander Hamilton, Report on the Subject of Manufactures, communicated to the House of Representatives, 5 December 1791
F. Bowen, American Political Economy (New York, 1875)
J. B. Byles, Sophisms of Free Trade (London, 1903); G. Byng, Protection (London, 1901)
H. C. Carey, Principles of Social Science (3 vols., Philadelphia, 1858–59), Harmony of Interests Agricultural, Manufacturing and Commercial (Philadelphia, 1873)
H. M. Hoyt, Protection v. Free Trade, the scientific validity and economic operation of defensive duties in the United States (New York, 1886)
Friedrich List, Outlines of American Political Economy (1980 reprint)
Friedrich List, National System of Political Economy (1994 reprint)
A. M. Low, Protection in the United States (London, 1904); H. 0. Meredith, Protection in France (London, 1904)
S. N. Patten, Economic Basis of Protection (Philadelphia, 1890)
Ugo Rabbeno, American Commercial Policy (London, 1895)
Ellis H. Roberts, Government Revenue, especially the American System, an argument for industrial freedom against the fallacies of free trade (Boston, 1884)
R. E. Thompson, Protection to Home Industries (New York, 1886)
E. E. Williams, The Case for Protection (London, 1899)
J. P. Young, Protection and Progress: a Study of the Economic Bases of the American Protective System (Chicago, 1900)
Clay, Henry. The Papers of Henry Clay, 1797–1852. Edited by James Hopkins
|
Jonah Shacknai
|
[
"1957 births",
"21st-century American businesspeople",
"American corporate directors",
"Living people",
"American pharmaceutical industry businesspeople",
"Colgate University alumni",
"Georgetown University Law Center alumni"
] | 1,003 | 10,390 |
Jonah Shacknai (born 1957) is an American pharmaceutical executive. He was the founder of Illustris Pharmaceuticals and was the founder, chairman and CEO of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation. He also served as chief aide to the US House of Representatives' committee for health policy.
In 2011, one of his children, Max, was severely injured in what was ruled an accident. Max died in the hospital soon afterwards. Two days later, Jonah's girlfriend Rebecca Zahau was found dead at Shacknai's home. She was ruled to have committed suicide, although Shacknai's brother Adam was found responsible in a 2018 civil suit ruling that was later vacated.
Career
Shacknai earned a BS from Colgate University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
From 1977 until the end of 1982 Shacknai worked as the Chief Aide to the committee on health policy in the US House of Representatives. He also served on the Commission on the Federal Drug Approval Process and the National Council on Drugs.
Shacknai was a member of the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Council and on the US-Israel Science and Technology Commission.
He was a senior partner at the law firm Royer, Shacknai and Mehle from 1982 until 1988. The firm represented multinational pharmaceutical companies, medical device makers and four major industry trade associations.
Shacknai founded Medicis Pharmaceuticals in 1988. In 2012 he left his positions as CEO and chairman when Valeant Pharmaceuticals purchased Medicis for $2.6 billion.
Personal life
Shacknai has been married three times, and is the father of five children. One of his children, Max, was injured in July 2011, two days before Shacknai's then-girlfriend Rebecca Zahau died. Max died in the hospital soon afterwards. San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore announced on September 2, 2011, that Zahau's death was a suicide while the younger Shacknai's death had been ruled an accident, and that neither was the result of foul play. Members of Zahau's family disputed this finding and filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Jonah Shacknai's brother Adam. The jury in that civil trial found Adam Shacknai responsible for Zahau's death and granted her family a $5 million judgment for loss of love and companionship as well as an additional $167,000 for the loss of financial support Zahau would have provided her mother and siblings. In February 2019, Adam Shacknai appealed the judgment with the defense arguing procedural errors and juror misconduct. Prior to final arguments being presented to the judge, Shacknai's insurance company and the Zahau family reached a settlement of $600,000 resulting in the civil case being dismissed with prejudice, and vacating the original $5 million judgment.
Shacknai hired public relations firm Sitrick and Company to represent him the week after Zahau's death. In response to media inquiries, a Sitrick and Company employee stated that he had hired the firm to handle his large volume of incoming calls in the days after the deaths, to give him time to grieve and make arrangements for the funerals.
|
Wegelin & Co.
|
[
"Banks established in 1741",
"2013 disestablishments in Switzerland",
"Banks disestablished in 2013",
"Defunct banks of Switzerland",
"Companies based in St. Gallen (city)",
"Swiss companies disestablished in 2013"
] | 1,730 | 15,607 |
Wegelin & Co. is a private bank that was located in St. Gallen in the Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, and specialized in private banking and asset management.
Founded by Caspar Zyli in 1741, the company was renamed Wegelin & Co. in 1893. The bank's legal name changed multiple times by incorporating the names of the senior personally liable partners. As of 2013, the bank's name was Wegelin & Co. Privatbankiers, Gesellschafter Bruderer, Hummler, Tolle & Co. At the time of its closing, it was the oldest bank in Switzerland and the 13th oldest in the world.
The bank was founded as a partnership by a linen-cloth merchant by the name of Caspar Zyli (1717–1758), and was originally named Leinentuchhandel und Speditionshandlung ("Linen trade and freight forwarder"). The company provided banking services from the beginning. In 1798 Zyli's son acquired the Nothveststein building. In 1860 Zyli's nephew Emil Wegelin-Wild became a partner. He concentrated the firm's activities on asset management. In 1893, the firm was converted to a Kommanditgesellschaft and changed its name to the current one, which originated from Emil Wegelin-Wild.
In the 1990s, the bank underwent a management buyout orchestrated by one of its managing partners, Konrad Hummler. Eight partners controlled 80% of the bank, while the Wegelin family owned the other 20%. This management structure was for the most part maintained until the bank closed.
By 2003 the firm was privately owned by five people, and remained private as of January 2012. The bank grew from a small bank with only 30 employees in 1990 to 700 employees and 13 offices as of 2011. New offices were opened in Zürich (1998), Lugano (2000), Bern (2002), Basel, Geneva and Locarno (all 2007), Chur (2009), Lucerne (2010), Winterthur (2011) and other cities. As of 2013, the personally liable partners were Otto Bruderer, Konrad Hummler, Steffen Tolle, Michele Moor, Christian Raubach and Christian Hafner.
Organization
All of the offices and branches of Wegelin & Co. are located in Switzerland, and the bank is headquartered in St. Gallen. Until its 2012 restructuring, the bank employed about 700 staff and had offices in Basel, Bern, Chiasso, Chur, Geneva, Lausanne, Locarno, Lugano, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, Winterthur and Zurich. Many employees came from the local University of St. Gallen, which has a good relationship with the bank. The bank managed client assets of over CHF 24 billion (figures dated to January 2012), and according to another source was also managing CHF 3 billion in pensions and moneys of private clients.
In 2008 the firm was listed as an organisation whose size and manner of organisation suited the description of "boutique personal wealth management". The firm was relatively small, and accordingly operated within a specialized niche market.
Court case
Between 2002 and 2010, Wegelin & Co. assisted citizens of the United States in evading taxes on assets totalling over $1.2 billion. In early 2012, Wegelin & Co. transferred all its non-US activities, clients, and assets, and almost its entire staff, to its subsidiary Notenstein Privatbank. Notenstein Privatbank was subsequently sold to the Raiffeisen banking group.
In January 2013, the reduced Wegelin pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a New York court to assisting more than 100 American citizens to hide $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service over a 10-year period. Although the bank's practice is legal under Swiss law, the bank agreed to pay $57.8 million (£36m; €44m, or about 5% of the $1.2 billion) in fines to US authorities. At about the same time that the plea agreement was announced, Wegelin & Co. declared that it would close. The Notenstein Privatbank continues to operate from the former Wegelin & Co. headquarters with its former 700 employees. Wegelin agreed to pay $57.8 million to the United States in restitution and fines. Otto Bruderer, a managing partner at the bank, said in court that "Wegelin was aware that this conduct was wrong."
American courts convicted Wegelin & Co. of money-laundering and tax evasion, and accordingly the bank's correspondent account held by UBS AG in Connecticut was fined $16 million by the federal courts. The bank argued that it only had branches in Switzerland, not the United States, and was, therefore subject only to Swiss law. In January 2013, Wegelin & Co. admitted to allowing more than 100 American citizens to hide approximately $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service for almost 10 years. The bank agreed to pay $57.8m (£36m; 44m euros) in fines to US authorities: a restitution of $20 million, asset forfeiture of $15.8 million, and $22.05 million in other fines.
In the New York court, the bank's representatives said the bank's practice was legal under Swiss law and common practice in Swiss banking, but admitted that their US customers violated US law.
After pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes, the bank announced that it would close permanently. It was the first non-American bank to plead guilty to tax evasion charges in the United States.
Although it paid millions in fines, a lawyer involved in previous prosecutions of Swiss banks noted, "It is unclear whether the bank was required to turn over American client names who held secret Swiss bank accounts."
Anthony Michael Sabino, professor at St. John's University's Peter J. Tobin College of Business noted, "Big banks have always been deemed off-limits for criminal prosecution. [The Wegelin case] teaches a lesson to small and mid-sized players but in sad contrast it sends the wrong message to big banks. That they can hide money, be caught, pay a fine and go back to business as usual."
Restructuring
According to Reuters, "At the end of [January 2012], 270-year-old Wegelin said it had moved most of its employees, along with clients and assets of 21 billion Swiss francs, to Notenstein Privatbank," just a week prior to being inculpated, on 3 February 2012.
Thus, the bank managed to transfer most of its business activities and employees—all non US related—to a legally different entity, Notenstein Privatbank, established by Wegelin & Co. as a subsidiary in 1968, but legally distinct. This subsidiary was also based in the same Nothveststein building, as the Wegelin & Co.'s employees were. The Notenstein Privatbank continues to operate from the former Wegelin & Co. headquarters with Wegelin's former 700 employees. Also, while under a different name and legal identity, the bank's business continues with little impact.
After the transfer of the bulk of its activities including about 700 employees to Notenstein Privatbank, Wegelin & Co. only had 15 remaining employees as of February 2012.
The bank was reinstated in 2025 as private equity for kingdom of switzerland
See also
Libor scandal
|
Pat Higgins (businessman)
|
[
"1930s births",
"Living people",
"Businesspeople from Christchurch",
"People from Palmerston North",
"New Zealand businesspeople",
"New Zealand philanthropists",
"Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit",
"Businesspeople awarded knighthoods"
] | 631 | 5,834 |
Sir Daniel Patrick Higgins (born ) is a New Zealand businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman of the Palmerston North-based construction firm, Higgins Group, until it was sold to Fletcher Building in 2016.
Early life and family
Higgins was born in Christchurch in about 1938, the son of Phyllis and Irish-born Dan Higgins. The family moved to Palmerston North in 1947, where Dan Higgins founded what became the Higgins Group in 1951. Pat Higgins married his wife, Jennifer Kay Johnson, in about 1962, and the couple went on to have four children.
Career
After leaving school, Higgins gained experience working with the family company's road crews, before moving to work in the management side of the business, and rising to become company chairman. The company grew to employ over 1700 staff, and was sold to Fletcher Building in 2016 for $315 million.
Philanthropy
Higgins began donating to community groups, sporting bodies and charities in the Manawatū in the 1980s. In 2016, it was reported that Higgins and the Higgins Group supported over 100 organisations annually. Groups that have received significant support include the Manawatū Cancer Society, Arohanui Hospice, the Manawatū Turbos rugby union team, and Manfeild Park. For many years, Higgins and EziBuy founder Gerard Gillispie gave $25,000 annually to the Manawatū rugby academy, and Higgins contributed $250,000 to the 2009 "Save the Turbos" campaign.
Honours and awards
In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Higgins was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business and the community. He was promoted to Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to philanthropy and the community, in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours.
In 2007, Higgins was named Manawatū sports personality of the year, and in 2012 he was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.
Later life
Higgins' wife, Kay, Lady Higgins, died in November 2012.
|
Wally Amos
|
[
"1936 births",
"2024 deaths",
"20th-century African-American businesspeople",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"21st-century African-American businesspeople",
"21st-century American businesspeople",
"African-American non-fiction writers",
"African-American United States Air Force personnel",
"American food company founders",
"American male non-fiction writers",
"American self-help writers",
"Businesspeople from Honolulu",
"Deaths from dementia in Hawaii",
"Military personnel from Florida",
"United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War"
] | 2,205 | 25,421 |
Wallace Amos Jr. (July 1, 1936 – August 13, 2024) was an American writer and businessman. He was the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and was the host of the adult reading program Learn to Read.
Early life and education
Amos was born July 1, 1936, to Wallace and Ruby Amos. He was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, until he was 12 years old. When his parents divorced, he moved to New York City with his aunt, where he enrolled at the Food Trades Vocational High School. He showed his interest in cooking at a young age. It was from his aunt Della Bryant, who would bake cookies for him, that Amos later developed his chocolate chip cookie recipe. Amos dropped out of high school to join the United States Air Force.
He served at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, from 1954 until 1957. He earned his high school equivalency diploma before being honorably discharged from the military.
Career
Returning to New York City, Amos took classes to become a secretary and took a mailroom clerk job with the William Morris Agency. Eventually, he became the agency's first African American talent agent. He signed Simon & Garfunkel and headed the agency's rock 'n' roll department. Amos attracted clients by sending them chocolate chip cookies along with an invitation to visit him. The musicians he represented included The Temptations and Marvin Gaye.
In 1975, a friend suggested to Amos that he set up a store to sell his cookies. In March of that year, the first Famous Amos cookie store opened in Los Angeles, California. He started the business with the help of a $25,000 loan from Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy. The company began to expand, and eventually, Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies could be found on supermarket shelves across the United States. He became such a known figure culturally that he appeared as himself in the Taxi episode "Latka's Cookies", in 1981. Thanks in part to the success of his cookie company, he was hired to deliver speeches. He wrote several books, many of which have a self-help theme, including The Cookie Never Crumbles and The Power in You.
In 1979, Amos's long-time friend and publicist John Rosica introduced him to Literacy Volunteers of America. Amos advocated literacy and helped thousands of adults learn to read. In 1987, he also hosted a television series designed to teach others how to read, entitled Learn to Read, produced by Kentucky Educational Television and WXYZ-TV.
In 1986, Amos was awarded the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award by President Ronald Reagan at the White House Conference on Small Business.
Due to financial troubles, Amos was forced to sell the Famous Amos Company in 1988. Because the name "Famous Amos" was trademarked by his former company, he had to use Uncle Noname's Cookie Company as his new company's name. A Famous Amos distributor at the time, Lou Avignone, heard Amos on a local radio talk show and contacted Amos with the idea for starting a new business. In 1994, the two became partners and subsequently launched Uncle Noname Gourmet Muffins. The company focused on fat-free, nutritious muffins. Uncle Noname became Uncle Wally's Muffin Company in 1999. The muffins were sold in more than 3,500 stores nationwide.
In 2014, an article in Fortune magazine lauded "The cookie comeback of 'Famous' Wally Amos" as Amos brought back his handmade cookies under a new name, The Cookie Kahuna. These cookies were marketed in a store in Hawaii, where Amos was based. They come in the flavors original chocolate chip, chocolate chip with pecans, and butterscotch with macadamia nuts. Amos appeared on the reality television show Shark Tank in October 2016, pitching Cookie Kahuna, but failed to get a deal. The business folded in 2018.
In 2019, Amos was called "the king of cookies" by NBC affiliate KSNV in Las Vegas.
In 2020, Content Media Group released a documentary on the life of Wally Amos, The Great Cookie Comeback: reBaking Wally Amos. The film was directed by Jeff MacIntyre.
Personal life
Amos was married four times, most recently to Carol Williams. He had four children: Michael Amos, Gregory Amos, Sarah Amos, and musician Shawn Amos. Amos lived in Hawaii from 1977 until 2018, and was again living in the state at the time of his death. He also lived in Columbia, South Carolina, where he was working on Aunt Della's Cookies until 2018.
Amos died due to complications from dementia at his home in Honolulu on August 13, 2024, at the age of 88.
Print Books
Filmography
YearNameTypeRoleNotes1980The JeffersonsTelevision sitcomMan #1Season 7, episode 31981TaxiTelevision sitcomHimselfEpisode: "Latka's Cookies"1987Learn to ReadEducational TV seriesHost1987TraxxMovieHimself1988Another Page Educational TV series Host2001BiographyTelevision documentaryHimselfEpisode: "Famous Wally Amos: The Cookie King".2012The OfficeTelevision sitcomHimselfEpisode: "Tallahassee"2016Shark TankTelevision reality showHimselfAmos appeared in the October 6, 2016 episode, seeking $50,000 funding for 20% equity of his company "Cookie Kahuna". The Sharks all passed on the opportunity.2018The Great Cookie Comeback: Re-Baking Wally AmosDocumentary filmHimselfReleased in February 2020, a documentary film on the life of Wally Amos, released by Content Media Group.
|
Credit union
|
[
"Credit unions",
"Cooperative banking",
"Social economy",
"Community building",
"Financial services"
] | 3,808 | 32,287 |
A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (cheque accounts), credit cards, credit, share term certificates (certificates of deposit), and online banking. Normally, only a member of a credit union may deposit or borrow money. In several African countries, credit unions are commonly referred to as SACCOs (savings and credit co-operatives).
Worldwide, credit union systems vary significantly in their total assets and average institution asset size, ranging from volunteer operations with a handful of members to institutions with hundreds of thousands of members and assets worth billions of US dollars. In 2018, the number of members in credit unions worldwide was 375 million, with over 100 million members having been added since 2016.
In 2006, 23.6% of mortgages from commercial banks were subprime lending, compared to only 3.6% of those from credit unions, and banks were two and a half times more likely to fail during the crisis. American credit unions more than doubled lending to small businesses between 2008 and 2016, from $30 billion to $60 billion, while lending to small businesses overall during the same period declined by around $100 billion. In the US, public trust in credit unions stands at 60%, compared to 30% for big banks. Furthermore, small businesses are 80% more likely to be satisfied by a credit union than with a big bank.
"Natural-person credit unions" (also called "retail credit unions" or "consumer credit unions") serve individuals, as distinguished from "corporate credit unions", which serve other credit unions.
Differences from other financial institutions
Credit unions differ from banks and other financial institutions in that those who have accounts in the credit union are its members and owners, and they elect their board of directors in a one-person-one-vote system, regardless of the amount they might have invested. Credit unions see themselves as different from mainstream banks, with a mission to be community-oriented and to "serve people, not profit".
Surveys of customers at banks and credit unions have consistently shown significantly higher customer satisfaction rates with the quality of service at credit unions. Credit unions have historically claimed to provide superior member service and to be committed to helping members improve their financial situation. In the context of financial inclusion, credit unions claim to provide a broader range of loan and savings products at a much cheaper cost to their members than do most microfinance institutions.
Credit unions differ from modern microfinance. Particularly, members' control over financial resources is the distinguishing feature between the cooperative model and modern microfinance. The current dominant model of microfinance, whether it is provided by not-for-profit or for-profit institutions, places the control over financial resources and their allocation in the hands of a small number of microfinance providers that benefit from the highly profitable sector.
Not-for-profit status
In the credit union context, "not-for-profit" must be distinguished from a charity. Credit unions are "not-for-profit" because their purpose is to serve their members rather than to maximize profits, so unlike charities, credit unions do not rely on donations and are financial institutions that must make what is, in economic terms, a small profit (i.e., in non-profit accounting terms, a "surplus") to remain in existence. According to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a credit union's revenues (from loans and investments) must exceed its operating expenses and dividends (interest paid on deposits) in order to maintain capital and solvency.
In the United States, credit unions incorporated and operating under a state credit union law are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(14)(A). Federal credit unions organized and operated in accordance with the Federal Credit Union Act are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(1).
Global presence
According to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), at the end of 2018 there were 85,400 credit unions in 118 countries. Collectively they served 274.2 million members and oversaw US$2.19 trillion in assets. WOCCU does not include data from cooperative banks, so, for example, some countries generally seen as the pioneers of credit unionism, such as Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy, are not always included in their data. The European Association of Co-operative Banks reported 38 million members in those four countries at the end of 2010.
The countries with the most credit union activity are highly diverse. According to WOCCU, the countries with the greatest number of credit union members were the United States (101 million), India (20 million), Canada (10 million), Brazil (6.0 million), South Korea (5.7 million), Philippines (5.4 million), Kenya and Mexico (5.1 million each), Ecuador (4.8 million), Australia (4.5 million), Thailand (4.1 million), Colombia (3.6 million), and Ireland (3.3 million).
The countries with the highest percentage of credit union members in the economically active population were Barbados (82%), Ireland (75%), Grenada (72%), Trinidad & Tobago (68%), Belize and St. Lucia (67% each), St. Kitts & Nevis (58%), Jamaica (53% each), Antigua and Barbuda (49%), the United States (48%), Ecuador (47%), and Canada (43%). Several African and Latin American countries also had high credit union membership rates, as did Australia and South Korea. The average percentage for all countries considered in the report was 8.2%. Credit unions were launched in Poland in 1992; there were 2,000 credit union branches there with 2.2 million members. From 1996 to 2016, credit unions in Costa Rica almost tripled their share of the financial market (they grew from 3.7% of the market share to 9.9%), and grew faster than private-sector banks or state-owned banks in Costa Rica, after financial reforms in that country.
"Spolok Gazdovský" (The Association of Administrators or The Association of Farmers), founded in 1845 by Samuel Jurkovič, was the first cooperative financial institution in Europe. The cooperative provided a cheap loan from funds generated by regular savings for members of the cooperative. Members of the cooperative had to commit to a moral life and had to plant two trees in a public place every year. Despite the short duration of its existence, until 1851, it thus formed the basis of the cooperative movement in Slovakia. Slovak national thinker Ľudovít Štúr said about the association: "We would very much like such excellent constitutions to be established throughout our region. They would help to rescue people from evil and misery. A beautiful, great idea, a beautiful excellent constitution!"
Modern credit union history dates from 1852, when Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch consolidated the learning from two pilot projects, one in Eilenburg and the other in Delitzsch in the Kingdom of Saxony into what are generally recognized as the first credit unions in the world. He went on to develop a highly successful urban credit union system. In 1864, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen founded the first rural credit union in Heddesdorf (now part of Neuwied) in Germany. By the time of Raiffeisen's death in 1888, credit unions had spread to Italy, France, the Netherlands, England, Austria, and other nations.
The first credit union in North America, the Caisse Populaire de Lévis in Quebec, Canada, began operations on 23 January 1901 with a 10-cent deposit. Founder Alphonse Desjardins, a reporter in the Canadian parliament, was moved to take up his mission in 1897 when he learned of a Montrealer who had been ordered by the court to pay nearly Can$5,000 in interest on a loan of $150 from a moneylender. Drawing extensively on European precedents, Desjardins developed a unique parish-based model for Quebec: the caisse populaire.
In the United States, St. Mary's Bank Credit Union of Manchester, New Hampshire, was the first credit union. Assisted by a personal visit from Desjardins, St. Mary's was founded by French-speaking immigrants to Manchester from Quebec on 24 November 1908. Several Little Canadas throughout New England formed similar credit unions, often out of necessity, as Anglo-American banks frequently rejected Franco-American loans. America's Credit Union Museum now occupies the location of the home from which St. Mary's Bank Credit Union first operated. In November 1910 the Woman's Educational and Industrial Union set up the Industrial Credit Union, modeled on the Desjardins credit unions it was the first non-faith-based community credit union serving all people in the greater Boston area. The oldest statewide credit union in the United States was established in 1913. The St. Mary's Bank Credit Union serves any resident of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
After being promoted by the Catholic Church in the 1940s to assist the poor in Latin America, credit unions expanded rapidly during the 1950s and 1960s, especially in Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Peru. The Regional Confederation of Latin American Credit Unions (COLAC) was formed and with funding by the Inter-American Development Bank credit unions in the regions grew rapidly throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s. By 1988 COLAC credit unions represented four million members across 17 countries with a loan portfolio of circa US$0.5 billion. However, from the late 1970s onwards many Latin American credit unions struggled with inflation, stagnating membership, and serious loan recovery problems. In the 1980s donor agencies such as USAID attempted to rehabilitate Latin American credit unions by providing technical assistance and focusing credit unions' efforts on mobilising deposits from the local population. In 1987, the Latin American debt crisis caused bank runs on credit unions. Significant withdrawals and high default rates caused liquidity problems for many credit unions in the region.
Stability and risks
Credit unions and banks in most jurisdictions are legally required to maintain a reserve requirement of assets to liabilities. If a credit union or traditional bank is unable to maintain positive cash flow and/or is forced to declare insolvency, its assets are distributed to creditors (including depositors) in order of seniority according to bankruptcy law. If the total deposits exceed the assets remaining after more senior creditors are paid, all depositors will lose some or all of their initial deposits. However, many jurisdictions have deposit insurance that promises to reimburse members for funds lost up to a certain threshold, such as the National Credit Union Administration’s Share Insurance Fund or the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Credit unions as such provide service only to individual consumers. Corporate credit unions (also known as central credit unions in Canada) provide service to credit unions, with operational support, funds clearing tasks, and product and service delivery.
Leagues and associations
Credit unions often form cooperatives among themselves to provide services to members. A credit union service organization (CUSO) is generally a for-profit subsidiary of one or more credit unions formed for this purpose. For example, CO-OP Financial Services, the largest credit-union-owned interbank network in the United States, provides an ATM network and shared branching services to credit unions. Other examples of cooperatives among credit unions include credit counselling services as well as insurance and investment services.
State credit union leagues can partner with outside organizations to promote initiatives for credit unions or customers. For example, the Indiana Credit Union League sponsors an initiative called "Ignite", which is used to encourage innovation in the credit union industry, with the Filene Research Institute.
The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is a national trade association for both state- and federally chartered credit unions located in the United States. The National Credit Union Foundation is the primary charitable arm of the United States' credit union movement and an affiliate of CUNA.
The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) is a national trade association for all state and federally-chartered credit unions. Based outside of Washington, D.C., NAFCU's mission is to provide all credit unions with federal advocacy, compliance assistance, and education.
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is both a trade association for credit unions worldwide and a development agency. The WOCCU's mission is to "assist its members and potential members to organize, expand, improve and integrate credit unions and related institutions as effective instruments for the economic and social development of all people".
EverythingCU.com is an online community of credit union professionals.
Deposit insurance
In the United States, federal credit unions are chartered and overseen by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which also provides deposit insurance similar to the manner in which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides deposit insurance to banks. State-chartered credit unions are overseen by the state's financial regulatory agency and may, but are not required to, obtain deposit insurance. Because of problems with bank failures in the past, no state provides deposit insurance and as such there are two primary sources for depository insurance – the NCUA and American Share Insurance (ASI), a private insurer based in Ohio.
In Canada, the majority of credit unions and caisses populaires are provincially incorporated and deposit insurance is provided by a provincial Crown corporation. For example, in Ontario up to 250,000 of eligible deposits in credit unions are insured by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Federal credit unions, such as the UNI Financial Cooperation caisse in New Brunswick, are incorporated under federal charters and are members of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.
See also
Bond of association
Consumers' cooperative
Cooperative banking
Capital market
Community federal credit union
Deposit account
Democratic member control (cooperatives)
History of credit unions
Humanomics
Labour Bank
Credit unions in Canada
Credit unions in the United Kingdom
Credit unions in the United States
Further reading
Ian MacPherson. Hands Around the Globe: A History of the International Credit Union Movement and the Role and Development of the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. Horsdal & Schubart Publishers Ltd, 1999.
F.W. Raiffeisen. The Credit Unions. Trans. by Konrad Engelmann. The Raiffeisen Printing and Publishing Company, Neuwid on the Rhine, Germany, 1970.
Fountain, Wendell. The Credit Union World. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2007.
|
Niels Carlsen
|
[
"1734 births",
"1809 deaths",
"People from Frogn",
"Norwegian philanthropists",
"Merchants from Denmark–Norway",
"Norwegian businesspeople in timber",
"Norwegian businesspeople in shipping",
"Norwegian bankers",
"Landowners from Denmark–Norway",
"18th-century Norwegian businesspeople",
"19th-century Norwegian businesspeople",
"18th-century philanthropists"
] | 480 | 4,192 |
Niels Carlsen (8 January 1734 – 3 May 1809) was a Norwegian timber merchant, landowner, shipowner and banker. Carlsen was one of the biggest ship owners in Norway of his time.
Career
Carlsen was born in Drøbak in Akershus, Norway. He was the son of Jacob Carlsen (ca. 1685-1749) and Maria Jørgensdatter Frost. His father had married the widow of his employer and took over the trading business. Drøbak had a favorable location situated on east side of Drøbak Sound, at the narrowest part of the Oslo Fjord. It was near the capital, had good anchoring and mooring facilities and a protective harbor.
Niels Carlsen and his half brothers Christian went into their father's business and expanded it. The brothers were shipowners, forest owners, traded in both imports and exports and took part in the financing operations that came with the profession. Carlsen bought up forest lands on both sides of the bay, floated the logs into circulation plots which he had acquired along Drøbak Sound, operated a sawmill and built bulwark against the sea to facilitate the loading of ships. He owned a large part of the property along the seafront as well as the small islands where Oscarsborg Fortress is now situated. With these acquisition, he initiated the operation of a ferry landing, plus guest house and coaching inn.
Carlsen married Martha Zachariassen (1743–1821), the daughter of Zacharias Simonsen Wesseltoft (1701-1777), a wealthy merchant and shipowner in Skien. She and her family contributed to the further development of Carlsen's business and to the development of Drøbak. Carlsen and his wife donated funds for a wooden cruciform church, hospital and school. Drøbak Church (Drøbak kirke) was fully furnished and was inaugurated in 1776. Facing the church is the building which was dedicated as a hospital and hostel for poor widows in 1793. A bust of Carlsen, made by Arne Vinje Gunnerud, is located between Drøbak Church and the old Drøbak Hospital.
|
Universal basic income in Japan
|
[
"Universal basic income by country and region",
"Economy of Japan",
"Politics of Japan",
"Social security in Japan",
"Welfare in Japan"
] | 720 | 7,182 |
Universal basic income refers to a social welfare system where all citizens or residents of a country receive an unconditional lump sum income, meaning an income that is not based on need (i.e., it is not means-tested). The proposal has been debated in a number of countries in recent years, including Japan.
According to of Mejiro University, the growing debate is understandable, as social exclusion, precarity in the labor market and poverty have increased in recent decades. Indeed, the state welfare system in Japan developed quite late and is still considerably less generous than in Europe, with the state playing a much smaller role in welfare provision and families, local communities and corporations play a larger role. In response to the combined effects of automation and job uncertainty, three political parties support universal basic income: Nippon Ishin no Kai, Reiwa Shinsengumi and Greens Japan. Japanese academics arguing for basic income include of Doshisha University and of Nihon Fukushi University. Ronald Dore, a British sociologist specializing in the Japanese welfare state, has also been engaged in the basic income debate for many years, arguing for its implementation. The main organization promoting basic income in Japan is BIEN Japan, which is part of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN).
History (year by year)
2002: The first basic income-book in Japanese, "Welfare Society and Social Security Reform: New horizon of Basic Income", is published.
2008: The Japanese Association for Feminist Economics have its yearly meeting, with basic income as the theme.
2009: The Democratic Party organize a meeting where 40 MP takes part. New Party Nippon includes basic income in their manifest.
2012: Greens Japan (Japanese Green party) is endorsing basic income from its start.
2014: Basic Income in Japan, by Yannick Vanderborght and Toru Yamamori, is the first book in English entirely devoted to the possibility for basic income in Japan.
2015: Tomoyuki Taira, former MP, gives a BI-lecture in Tokyo on March 10.
2016: A symposium on basic income and artificiell intelligens is arranged by "The Robotic Center".
2017: Japanese media coverage intensifies. This includes national TV showing a short program about UBI, based on a news editor's visit to Finland and includes an interview with basic income expert Toru Yamamori.
2019: The political party Reiwa Shinsengumi is established, which supports a basic income of ¥30,000 per person per month whenever inflation is below 2%.
2022: The political party, Nippon Ishin no Kai, announces its support for the introduction of a universal basic income of ¥60,000 per month, with additional supplements for non-coupled elderly
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