The dastardly Mr Deedes
Financial Times journalists remain in dispute over their chief executive John Ridding’s £510,000 pay rise last year, taking his earnings to £2.55m. Although Ridding, 52, returned £280,000, the paper’s union wants any increases he’s received over the past two years used to fund employee pay rises. They also demand to see a full and transparent set of the FT’s global accounts. Industrial action remains a strong possibility. There the matter rests at present.
Investment giant Blackrock’s betterthan-expected third quarter results reveal it has over $6.4trillion of assets under management. Staggering. Especially when you consider Japan’s GDP is a comparatively trifling $4.9 trillion.
The decision by HSBC’s John Flint et al to withdraw from Saudi Arabia’s ‘Davos in the Desert’ following journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance is understandable. But weren’t lily-livered claims from World Bank president Jim Yong Kim and Ford chairman Bill Ford that they were no longer attending due to ‘scheduling conflicts’ simply beyond the pale?
BBC studios chief Tim Davie must be tempted by the Premier League chief executive job, for which Sky News says he’s a strong contender. Not only could the former Pepsi man, 51, earn far more than his £400,000 salary but he’s slipped in the pecking order to succeed director general Lord Hall, 67, whose sell-by date has surely long expired. Outgoing BT boss Gavin Patterson was linked to the Premier League post but I’m advised Gav, 50, feels he has another FTSE 100 job in his locker.
Bloomberg declares matronly fashion tycoon Miuccia Prada ‘the most powerful woman in luxury since Coco Chanel’. Signora Prada, 69, is a barrel of contradictions. Worth an estimated £2.1bn, she joined the Communist party during her heady youth and would distribute leaflets draped top-to-toe in Yves Saint Laurent.
Goldman Sachs boss David Solomons’ DJing skills are ‘quite rough’, an unnamed professional disc spinner informs eFinancialCareers, adding sourly: ‘Don’t expect to see him headlining [music festival] Coachella any time soon.’ Oh please, as if house music fans are discerning. Sultana-brained heiress Paris Hilton hasn’t a whiff of musical talent but still commands £600,000 a set.
mrdeedes@dailymail.co.uk