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Praised: Pershing Square boss Bill Ackman
Warren Buffett, the 93-year-old Oracle of Omaha, was surrounded by the usual hordes of supporters at the annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway fund, also known as “Woodstock for capitalists.”
But another wise man who attended the event at the stadium was also praised: Bill Ackman, the head of the New York-based FTSE 100 Pershing Square investment fund.
Observers say private and institutional investors were “bullying” Ackman, once described by Vanity Fair magazine as “tall, athletic, handsome with cerulean eyes.”
It appears the Berkshire Hathaway crowd was thanking Ackman for her stance on several fronts, including her pro-Israel stance, her questioning of male athletes competing in women’s events, and her defense of free speech on U.S. college campuses. Joined.
Ackman’s lucidly argued posts on X are, for many, the voice of sanity and a good reason to invest in Pershing Square.
Another Molding tirade on the way?
THG founder and boss Matt Molding is notorious for ranting about how tech companies are treated in the city.
Among the targets of their ire are short sellers: hedge funds that bet that a company’s stock price will fall and, if it does, they will make money.
Whispers notes that short positions against THG have risen to a one-year high.
There could be another rant on the way, perhaps?
Bad timing for TSB branch closures
There is never a good time to announce branch closures.
But Spanish-owned TSB surely could have picked a better day to announce it would close 36 more bank branches.
It came as MPs grilled top brass at the city’s watchdog over access to cash and banking centres.
Therese Coffey, a member of the Treasury Select Committee, lamented the fact that the Felixstowe branch in her Suffolk coast constituency was disappearing.
Not to be outdone, committee chair Harriett Baldwin noted that TSB was also abandoning the last branch in Tenbury Wells in its West Worcestershire bailiwick.
Oh darling.
Reduced immigration could hit Duolingo’s revenue
Listening to Duolingo, you probably think about how you’re still thinking about brushing up on your rusty French before the summer holidays with the help of the language learning app.
But a growing area for companies listed in the United States is offering English language tests. Duolingo says they are accepted by a large number of schools and governments.
But hidden in its results, it says that a country’s “political decision to limit or reduce immigration, particularly immigration of international students,” could affect this revenue stream.
With this debate raging in the UK, Whispers wonders if Duolingo faces an uphill battle.
Contributors: Anne Ashworth and Patrick Tooher
