Jonathan Guilford
Reuters Top News
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Jonathan:
Elizabeth Warren leads cavalry into deal battles
Reinforcements are arriving in the trustbusting fight. The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday sued to block JetBlue Airways’ $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines , and it may yet be joined by colleagues at the Department of Transportation. It would be the third curious regulatory intervention in recent weeks, each encouraged by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. The cases speak to… → Read More
Tesla prepares for its next production hell
Elon Musk wants to address every “investor in Earth.” The boss of electric-vehicle leader Tesla kicked off its first-ever shareholder day Wednesday with a sweeping case for transitioning the planet to clean energy. Buried within the rambling presentation was a simpler goal: a cheap car. Making one is plenty ambitious, requiring radical cost cuts. Getting there will be a tough drive with an… → Read More
Scrap-car deal battle is a heaping mess
When is a merger worth it? For shareholders, when it gets the buyer something it couldn’t get otherwise. Unfortunately for investors in industrial equipment purveyor Ritchie Bros Auctioneers , that’s not entirely the case in its $7 billion deal with salvage-yard operator IAA . → Read More
Buyout barons reach deep into their bags of tricks
Debt necessity is proving to be the mother of private equity invention. With the cheap borrowing that fueled record-breaking years of leveraged buyouts gone, firms are digging deeper into their bags of tricks. Some methods involve unhealthier short-term thinking, but others are repeatable and sustainable, at least for a while – assuming frozen loan markets thaw before long. → Read More
Carlyle's new boss will be virtuoso second fiddle
Carlyle needs a chief executive who will run things – not one who will radically change things. That’s the best way of interpreting the private equity firm’s appointment of former Goldman Sachs banker Harvey Schwartz on Monday. → Read More
America isn’t quitting gas guzzlers yet
Internal-combustion engines aren’t fossils yet. Despite tit-for-tat discounts on electric vehicles, Detroit carmakers General Motors and Ford Motor reaped a combined $19.4 billion in increased profit in 2022 by jacking up prices on, mainly, internal-combustion cars. America’s love affair with gasoline isn’t over. → Read More
Jeff Smith makes for a substitute Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett has his aw-shucks act down pat. And the Sage of Omaha has monetized that image to great effect, sweeping into situations to support companies in a tight spot with his cash and his implicit seal of approval while getting a plum deal that no other shareholder could land. With markets sagging and deals drawing opposition, such imprimaturs have a value - and at Ritchie Bros… → Read More
Tesla’s price war can only go so far
Tesla boss Elon Musk has introduced big discounts to car prices, a potential sign of panic amid weakening demand — or an opportunistic move to kneecap rivals. The $450 billion car company’s industry-leading profit margins give it plenty of ammo. But as a global downturn looms, it might not be enough to sate his goal of world domination. → Read More
EU is stuck playing catch-up with Amazon and Apple
LONDON (Jan 5): Europe’s antitrust tsar Margrethe Vestager appears to be clocking up some victories over technology groups like Amazon.com and Apple. But dig into the detail of the behemoths’ possible concessions, and it’s clear that they’re giving away very little. → Read More
EU is stuck playing catch-up with Amazon and Apple
Europe’s antitrust tsar Margrethe Vestager appears to be clocking up some victories over technology groups like Amazon.com and Apple . But dig into the detail of the behemoths’ possible concessions, and it’s clear that they’re giving away very little. → Read More
Breakingviews: Tesla merges into slower lane
NEW YORK (Jan 4): Tesla made its name — and its once-US$1 trillion valuation — by proving skeptics of its manufacturing prowess wrong. The question now is whether there’s enough demand to keep boss Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle assembly line busy. Though it is growing sales at a decent clip, a widening gap between the number of cars Tesla makes and delivers to customers is a fresh sign that the… → Read More
Breakingviews: Automakers won’t go back to normal
NEW YORK (Jan 4): For US automakers, 2023 is all about trying to stay in their lane. Covid-19-era supply squeezes sent car prices soaring, adding US$7 billion to operating profit at General Motors in 2021 alone. As supplies normalise, they’ll do everything they can to keep production tight. Their problem is that the Federal Reserve and international competitors are backseat driving. → Read More
Automakers won’t go back to normal
For U.S. automakers, 2023 is all about trying to stay in their lane. Covid-19-era supply squeezes sent car prices soaring, adding $7 billion to operating profit at General Motors in 2021 alone. As supplies normalize, they’ll do everything they can to keep production tight. Their problem is that the Federal Reserve and international competitors are backseat driving. → Read More
Activists will be no-holds-barred in 2023: podcast
As once-hot companies lost market value, investors did lots of wrestling with management in 2022. Even more is to come, according to Lazard’s Chris Couvelier, who joins The Exchange to explain how corporate giants’ strategic woes and tempting cash piles will shape activism in the new year. → Read More
Private lending will grow up by slimming down
Private credit has grown into a $1.3 trillion mountain over the last decade. Now the industry, led by giants like Ares Capital and Blackstone , faces a reckoning. The onetime savior of debt-hungry buyout firms isn’t going away, but it’s going to emerge noticeably leaner. → Read More
Buyout barons will court the panicking masses
Private-asset managers have a ferociously hungry growth machine to keep running. Since they’ve already scoured traditional funding sources like pension funds and insurers, they’ll make a priority of tapping wealthy individuals in 2023. → Read More
Blackstone gets a slap from efficient markets
Private markets seemed, for a while, the perfect antidote to the weirdness of public markets. Companies like Blackstone , Apollo Global Management and KKR offered investors the chance to buy assets that, because they weren’t publicly traded, didn’t swing wildly around in value when listed stocks, bonds and funds did. But that valuation anchor risks turning into a pair of concrete shoes. → Read More
Blackstone’s BREIT slump looks nasty but not fatal
Investors knocked around $8 billion off Blackstone’s market capitalization on Thursday after it said investors were fleeing a flagship real estate fund. That’s hardly the making of a crisis. But it’s a nasty black eye for the $125 billion Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust, one of the private-equity giant’s star earners. → Read More
Musk’s Apple fight could be his Twitter legacy
Elon Musk doesn’t just want to force changes at Twitter. The social network’s new owner is now targeting Apple , the smartphone giant he has vowed to eclipse in market value. Musk isn’t the first to complain that Apple acts as a gatekeeper for companies distributing apps through its platforms. But his social-media megaphone makes him a powerful foe. Putting pressure on Apple’s business model… → Read More
Musk needs a third of America to pay for Twitter
Elon Musk's drive to increase Twitter’s follower count isn't a nice-to-have - it's a must-have. The social media company’s new boss says it’s losing over $4 million a day — but that’s before accounting for revenue that has evaporated from recent advertiser pullback. Squeezed by sky-high interest payments, even steep cost-cuts leave a big hole to fill if Twitter doesn't grow into its debt. → Read More