When will Groupon’s other insiders take responsibility?
Groupon. Getty Images
Andrew Mason should have been fired as chief executive of Groupon a long time ago. The other pair of insiders that control Groupon should also take responsibility for the disaster of the online coupon company.
Mr Mason’s departure leaves his partners Eric Lefkofsy and Brad Keywell firmly in charge, since they control a majority of the voting shares. Never was the principle of buyer beware more apposite than in Groupon’s dual voting structure. Read more
Why a dunce’s cap for bankers doesn’t fit
As politicians, members of the European Parliament are justifiably proud of the bonus cap they have agreed to impose on bankers. They seem to have found a politically expedient, legally watertight, electorally popular way to use their limited powers to whack high finance where it hurts. That doesn’t mean that the measure, if confirmed, won’t have potentially grave consequences.
It will increase banks’ fixed costs, weaken the link between pay and performance, accelerate the inevitable drift of financial know-how and power from Europe to Asia, and instantly conjure up a thousand more complex, lawyer-driven alternative compensation structures to get round the rules. Read more
Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s new chief executive, has caused consternation by insisting that employees who have worked from home must in future come to the office. Her critics have pointed out that home workers are as productive, if not more so, as those in cubicles. Read more
When Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop booked the Grand Tarabya hotel in Istanbul for the group’s annual leadership meeting at the end of January, he planned a spectacular finale. As the meeting of 200 senior executives drew to a close, musicians introduced themselves into the room, playing Ravel’s Bolero, until the whole orchestra was present for the climactic bars. Read more
And the Oscar goes to … crowd-funded films
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine won Oscar for best documentary short. Getty Images
This Oscars had many surprises, including the winner of the best actress award tripping over her dress on the way to collect it. But one interesting innovation was that for the first time, an Oscar went to a crowd-funded film.
Inocente, winner of the best short documentary award, was funded through Kickstarter, the crowd-funding platform on which creative projects solicit donations. The film raised $52,527 in this way.
Inocente was one of three Kickstarter-funded films nominated for Oscars this year, all in the low-cost short film categories. Read more
Audit firms, and other ancient corporate relics
What strikes me about the findings of the UK Competition Commission’s inquiry into the audit market is that in a world of ever more rapid change, a company’s relationship with its auditor is now often the oldest fixture in the boardroom.
Think about it. The commission says 31 per cent of blue-chip FTSE 100 companies have had the same auditor – almost invariably one of the “Big Four” – for 20 years or more. During that period, on average, most companies will have changed their chief executive at least four times, their non-executive board members (assuming replacement at the nine-year mark, when they lose their independence according to UK guidelines) twice, and their computer systems probably five or six times. Read more
The curious absence of Sony’s PlayStation 4
Video game designer Mark Cerny talks about the new platform of the Playstation 4. Getty Images
Perhaps there is a method to the madness but I find Sony’s so-called launch of the PlayStation 4 without producing the games console peculiar.
Its executives revealed all kinds of technical details about the new console in New York on Wednesday evening, but did not unveil the thing itself. As the New York Times reported the event:
The console itself was never shown during the two-hour presentation. No release date was given, although before the Christmas holidays is a good possibility. No price was mentioned.
If I were a mastermind seeking to undermine the City of London, I would shift Germany’s financial centre from Frankfurt to Berlin, just as the country moved its political capital from Bonn in the 1990s. Then it would be part of a cosmopolitan city where foreign bankers and lawyers might actually want to live. Read more
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John Gapper is an associate editor and the chief business commentator of the FT.
He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. He is co-author, with Nicholas Denton, of 'All That Glitters', an account of the collapse of Barings in 1995.
Andrew Hill is an associate editor and the management editor of the FT. He is a former City editor, financial editor, comment and analysis editor, New York bureau chief, foreign news editor and correspondent in Brussels and Milan.
Why is reverse sexism okay? RT 'Women are better in advertising': Sir Martin Sorrell http://t.co/0pBmpZxHap
When will Groupon’s other insiders take responsibility? | Business blog | http://t.co/lZ4x055y84 http://t.co/gyi25Bd0Wt Just been offered £60 per item to insert links to compensation lawyers on my FT blog. The "sponsored content" bandwagon rolls on. Surprised how many commenters on my blog on bonus caps think it wd be good to weaken link between pay & performance: http://t.co/i9nNemDF2Z
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