A FEW YEARS ago SoftBank rewrote the rules of venture capital (VC). The Japanese tech conglomerate was handing out cash left and right to startup founders. Leading venture capitalists held conferences to...
HYBRID WORKING may be the future but that raises the question of how it will actually be organised. Will companies let their employees choose which days they come in to the office,...
FROM CUISINE to carmaking, the Japanese way is meticulous. Yet with just over a month to go, the Tokyo Olympics remain anything but. Thanks to covid-19, and Japan’s sluggish vaccinations, it is...
TWENTY YEARS ago Leonard Lauder, the heir to the Estée Lauder beauty empire, observed that during economic downturns consumers liked to sweeten belt-tightening with small indulgences. He called it the “lipstick effect”,...
THE ADANI GROUP underpins swathes of India’s economy. The family-controlled conglomerate’s businesses include airports, energy and natural resources, among other critical infrastructure. Its founder, Gautam Adani, is the world’s 14th richest man,...
EVERY DAY, from 8am to 10pm, Son Masayoshi sits in his mansion in Tokyo doing what entertains him like nothing else: sizing up technology entrepreneurs and handing out money. Working from home...
Listen to this storyYour browser does not support the <audio> element.BUYOUT SHOPS are neck-deep in dry powder. Earlier this year the world’s private-equity firms were sitting on $1.9trn in unspent capital. This...
FOR 27 YEARS Concorde epitomised jet-setting glamour. Yet its elegant delta wings came with the ear-splitting noise of thirsty military-derived engines; champagne was served in a cramped cabin with small seats; and...
