What is Elon Musk up to? Not for the first time that’s the question on the minds of Twitter executives, global investors and many of his 92 million followers, after the world’s richest man announced, in a tweet, naturally, that his purchase of the social media platform is “temporarily on hold”. The impact was instant,
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Billionaire Elon Musk has said his Twitter deal is “temporarily on hold” over the company’s spam and fake user accounts. Mr Musk, who last week secured $7bn from new investors for his $44bn takeover, tweeted: “Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users.”
Be in no doubt, today’s GDP figures are bad news indeed. Bad news as they show the economy is shrinking sooner than expected, down 0.1% in March. But bad news too, in terms of what it heralds for the rest of the year. All the signs and predictions were already that the worst is set
The UK economy contracted by 0.1% in March, as surging inflation took a toll on demand to offset the boost that had been expected from the end of COVID restrictions. The monthly figure compares to no growth in February and 0.7% growth in January, while the quarterly figure (between January and March) showed a growth
Chelsea FC is close to unveiling a £20m-a-year sponsorship deal with a fast-growing cryptocurrency group – despite a temporary ban on the club striking lucrative new partnerships while it operates under government supervision. Sky News can reveal that the Blues have agreed a shirt-sleeve contract with WhaleFin, a digital asset platform owned by Singapore-based Amber
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is set to buy Twitter, has said he would reverse the platform’s “foolish” ban on former US president Donald Trump if his acquisition goes through. The tech tycoon said: “Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots or spam, scam accounts. I do think it
Households are being urged to get their finances in the best shape possible amid increasing evidence of increased stress over the growing cost of living crisis – now said to be the main concern for people across the UK. A debt advice charity told Sky News it was helping thousands of new clients navigate problem
Millions of households in the UK are facing an unprecedented £700-a-year increase in energy bills after the price cap rose by 54% in April. Another sharp increase is expected in October. But in some other countries, households are paying far less for the cost of heating their homes. Where are energy bills lower? Canada and
The soaring cost of living has seen consumers “put the brakes” on their shopping habits, new figures show. The latest retail monitoring from BRC-KPMG revealed sales dipped in April after a sharp downturn in consumer confidence. And separate figures from Barclaycard showed credit card spending on retail and eating out slowed last month as people
Cryptocurrencies and US tech stocks were taking a hammering on Monday night amid a continuing flight from risk as a toxic cocktail of worries for the global economy grip investors. Values for so-called growth assets have been falling particularly sharply since the day after the US Central Bank raised interest rates last week by 0.5%
Morrisons has triumphed in the battle to gain control of McColl’s Retail Group, one of Britain’s biggest convenience store chains, after a last-gasp offer to buy out its syndicate of bank lenders. Sky News can reveal that the supermarket giant saw off eleventh-hour competition from EG Group, the petrol station operator, with an offer that
Morrisons has tabled a last-gasp bid to wrest McColl’s Retail Group from the clutches of its Asda-owning rivals just hours before administrators are formally appointed to oversee its sale. Sky News can reveal that Morrisons has lodged an improved offer with McColl’s lenders that would see them repaid immediately in full, satisfying their principal demand.
Plans to revive struggling town centres will form a key part of the Queen’s Speech next week as the prime minister tries to move on after his party’s poor local election performance. Boris Johnson will say on Tuesday that he wants to rid high streets of derelict shopfronts and restore “neighbourhood pride”, with councils given
Two companies behind large swathes of London’s West End are in advanced talks about a £3.5bn merger that would unite world-famous tourist destinations, including Covent Garden and Chinatown under common ownership. Sky News has learnt that Capital & Counties Properties – also known as Capco – and Shaftesbury are in detailed discussions about an all-share
A consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital has signed a purchase agreement to buy Chelsea Football Club. Chelsea confirmed that terms had been agreed for the new ownership group led by Mr Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss to acquire the club in a
The billionaire brothers behind one of Britain’s biggest fuel retailing empires are close to sealing a last-ditch swoop on McColl’s Retail Group that could lead to thousands of job losses. Sky News has learnt that EG Group was putting the finishing touches on Friday to a takeover of McColl’s through a pre-pack administration that would
The supermarket giant Morrisons has proposed a last-ditch rescue deal for McColl’s Retail Group that would preserve the majority of its 16,000-strong workforce. Sky News has learnt that Morrisons tabled a proposal on Thursday evening that would see the convenience store chain’s lenders being taken on in full and its pension scheme protected. The proposal
The Bank of England has raised the base rate of interest to 1% – the fourth consecutive increase as it continues to move against surging inflation – despite issuing a warning about a recession ahead. The Bank forecast that the UK economy will shrink later this year in the face of double-digit inflation and an
The Bank of England is expected to increase its base interest rate to the highest level in 13 years in a bid to tackle inflation. It is predicted to rise to 1% amid soaring food, energy and fuel prices that saw inflation hit a 30-year high of 7% in March. The base rate is the
The American private equity firm financing the preferred bid to buy Chelsea Football Club will take a reduced stake in the Blues under a restructured deal that it wants to finalise within days. Sky News has learnt that Clearlake Capital is expected to own approximately 60% of Chelsea’s shares if the consortium spearheaded by Todd