The SPD, Greens and FDP have not yet finally formed a government, but it is enough for changes to the law. Today they want to adjust the Covid plans with their majority in the Bundestag, for example with test specifications at the workplace, in buses, trains and nursing homes. The CDU / CSU, which is still in the government, but in fact already in the opposition (sometimes even to itself), none of this is enough. She announces resistance in the Federal Council.
On this Thursday, however, the old “Corona regime” will meet again, that somewhat diffuse Prime Minister’s Conference with the Federal Chancellor, “16 plus” so to speak. It should be decided that …
- all citizens are invited to “booster” at least six months after the previous vaccination;
- a pro-vaccination campaign is spurred by increased payments to doctors and test centers;
- all visitors and employees in nursing and old people’s homes present a daily test; Vaccinated employees only have to provide evidence three times a week;
- the 3G principle applies at work as well as in trains and buses;
- Access to events (leisure, culture, sport), restaurants or hotels is only available to vaccinated or convalescent people (2G).
In view of the high Corona numbers, Chancellor Angela Merkel, like last year, calls for a “national effort”. One can only hope – because of possible collateral damage – that this does not mean that bookshops, restaurants, theaters, cinemas and schools have closed again. Germany does not want to lock again and then hand over the key.
US President Joe Biden takes on Big Oil. He does not accept “that hard-working Americans pay more for gasoline because of anti-consumer and potentially illegal behavior.” The two largest oil and gas multinationals in the USA are about to double their net profits compared to the pre-Corona year 2019 and have also announced plans for billion-dollar share buybacks and dividend payments.
And so, in a letter to Lina Khan, head of the FTC supervisory authority, Biden demands that she investigate and stop the possibly illegal practices. The “inexplicably large gap between the price of raw gasoline and the average price at the gas station” that Biden sees is not all that inexplicable, however. The larger the oligopoly, the smaller the inhibition to abuse power.
When it comes to taxes, the German Football Association (DFB) is prone to disruptions of both large and small kinds. Prosecution by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor has been going on for almost a year. It checks whether the association has correctly taxed benefits in kind from the long-term sponsor Adidas. Yesterday, according to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the prosecutors investigated the sporting goods manufacturer in Herzogenaurach, which is so cooperative that one cannot speak of a “raid”.
There is a suspicion that the DFB made improper information in tax returns from 2015 to November 2020. This involves booking benefits in kind in the form of jerseys, shoes and balls. Even earlier, the DFB admitted that it had made an additional payment of approximately 3.5 million euros “purely as a precaution” and “on the basis of a maximum consideration”. The DFB national team may again win brilliantly, the association management team remains a rumble group.
Do you know Karl-Heinz Streibich well? The résumé of the studied communications engineer shows iconic names of modern capitalism: the universities of Stanford and Harvard, the corporations Dow Chemical, ITT and Daimler. After all, he was CEO of Software AG from 2003 to 2018 – and was then on so many councils, advisory boards and supervisory boards that the 69-year-old now appears at the top of our list of the most powerful supervisors of German companies. In addition to his homeland Software AG, the man is mandated by Deutsche Telekom, Siemens Healthineers and Munich Re as the herald of the new digital age.
Former Deutsche Bahn and BASF board member Margret Suckale is the only woman in the top ten in sixth place. The trained communications engineer Streibich was CEO of Software AG from 2003 to 2018. Photo: BASF SE, Software AG
By the way, the most powerful supervisory board member is now ex-BASF board member Margret Suckale, 65, who also has four control posts: Telekom, Heidelberg Cement, DWS, Infineon. Her secret of success is the constant participation in the specialist committees of the bodies: “I can only recommend this to every woman.”
The word “Dieselgate” first appeared six years ago. The scandal surrounding manipulated exhaust gas devices, which was revealed at VW at the time, has since cost heavy fines, a number of jobs and a lot of reputation. One car company after the other got hit, now it is the turn of the supplier Continental: In the Hanoverian property of the Schaeffler family they surprisingly exchanged their chief financial officer.
In an extraordinary meeting, the Supervisory Board accepted the termination of the Management Board contract with Wolfgang Schäfer with immediate effect. The changes are, according to his employer, in connection with investigations by the Hanover public prosecutor’s office “on the use of illegal defeat devices in diesel engines and deficits in the ongoing investigation at Continental”. CEO Nikolai Setzer, 50, is taking over the Schäfer departments for the time being. It is considered to be a “nail eater”, which is certainly better than a “piston eater”.
“Oldies but goldies” say the tried and tested rock stars and sell the rights catalogs of their songs. Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young and Paul Simon added millions of dollars to their private accounts. Now the heirs of the artist David Bowie, who died in 2016 and who was once “Ziggy Stardust”, are negotiating the sale of their music rights for $ 200 million; the matter is well advanced.
The listed Warner Music Group of Russian-born investor Leonard Blavatnik (“DAZN”) only explains that they have organized $ 535 million in debt capital for “potential acquisitions of music assets”. Such rights have become very attractive again due to streaming services like Spotify – also for private equity giants like KKR, Apollo or Blackstone, who are pushing billions into business. And so we sing one last time with the genius Bowie: “Who knows? / Not me / We never lost control / You’re face to face / With the man who sold the world. “
And then there is top investor Cathie Wood, whose rock star image is slowly falling apart. The days when she successfully bet on Tesla, Square, Netflix or Salesforce and reported a return of 150 percent with her fund Ark Innovation seem far away. Now he is five percent in the red. Investors are withdrawing money and shortsellers are betting heavily against Woods funds. There are some smaller loss-making tech companies that are currently being punished on the stock exchanges. There is now even an Anti-Ark ETF.
However, the attacked financier remains confident. The interaction of artificial intelligence, self-driving cars and new battery technologies could create a twelve trillion dollar market in ten years. You wish her the best, but think of comedian Peter Sellers: “A modern optimist is a person who is constantly denied by events.”
I wish you a stimulating day with many optimists around.
I warmly greet you
you
Hans-Jürgen Jakobs
Senior editor
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