Good morning dear readers,
Do you still remember when the world’s airports stood still, the planes stayed on the ground and the airlines feared for their existence because of the pandemic? An image that now seems to come from a distant dream in view of the fully occupied holiday planes. Apparently Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr feels the same way.
According to research by our aviation experts he and his board of directors should receive bonus payments in the millions for the years 2021 and 2022. An allowance that, according to Handelsblatt information, probably not everyone in the company agreed with.
It is particularly piquant that the airline with the crane had received around nine billion euros in state aid to make it through the Corona period economically.
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Actually an exclusion criterion for lavish performance bonuses for the executive floor. In addition, the airline had reduced its workforce by around 30,000 jobs during the crisis years. So far, however, it is unclear whether Spohr’s variable remuneration will actually be legally contestable. A spokesman for the company said the payments are a “long-term bonus” that should not be paid out until 2025, if everything goes smoothly by then.
Lufthansa boss Spohr had given up a large part of his salary during the crisis years. “Only” around 1.6 million euros remained for 2021. Whether illegal or not, the events at Germany’s largest airline make me think of a popular youth culture video. In it, a young man asks the same question I ask myself in the case of Lufthansa bonuses: “I don’t know Digga, does it have to?
There are more diplomatic ways to describe your former employer than the word “cancer.” But Oliver Bellenhaus is not just any ex-employee in any random company.
He is currently a key witness in the process of one of the most spectacular cases of fraud in German economic history: the Wirecard scandal. It is clear so far that several billion euros that the group allegedly owned were not where they should be. The court is currently trying to determine who is responsible.
And as the former Wirecard governor of Dubai, Bellenhaus needs to speak. During his interrogation yesterday, he said: “It was a hoax from the start.”
Who is the man who could put his former boss, Wirecard CEO Markus Braun, in prison for many years now? The research of our investigative team traces Bellenhaus’ path from Franconia via Dubai to the Stadelheim correctional facility. The portrait of May is my current reading recommendation for friends of cultivated economic crime.
In Brussels, the EU member states agreed on a new cap for the gas price. The limit is now significantly lower than originally intended by the EU Commission.
The decision states that the price will be reduced if it has been above the value of 180 euros per megawatt hour for three working days and at the same time 35 euros above the world market price for LPG.
The effect of the instrument is disputed, however, because there are fears that the new gas price cap will reduce the incentive to supply energy to Europe. Then the gas would be cheap, but at some point it would no longer be available.
In the event of such an “ill-considered effect”, the commission can therefore remove the cover again – to stay with the imagery. Our Brussels correspondent’s office has summarized all the details of the decision.
“When the Postman Rings Twice” is not only a suspenseful thriller from the 1980s, but also describes a scenario of pure relief on Germany’s front doors these days. Because many people are still waiting for the Christmas gifts they ordered online.
According to an evaluation by the consulting company Accenture, the packages from the Internet often take significantly longer than promised. The shipping giant Amazon in particular disappointed with the test orders with delivery times of up to seven days. In order not to raise false hopes, many companies no longer give any delivery times at all. Accenture retail expert Sven Kromer states: “For most retailers, the delivery time remains a gamble”.
The Bundeswehr does not seem to be able to meet the minimum requirements for a functioning army – such as flying helicopters, floating ships or firing rifles – for a long time. Now there are also difficulties with the latest tank model Puma.
A total of 18 problem Pumas have apparently failed during operations on training and shooting ranges. Actually, the new tanks should modernize the troops and replace the previous Marder model from the 1970s.
But where the new technology fails, the old one has to hold its own. The Bundeswehr is now traveling to the NATO spearhead, in which Germany is to assume a leading role from next year, with the almost 50-year-old martens.
What is extremely questionable in terms of security policy also has economic consequences: For the time being, the Bundeswehr no longer wants to order any new Puma models from the manufacturer Rheinmetall. The shares of the recently flourishing armaments group therefore collapsed significantly yesterday.
And then there is Twitter boss Elon Musk, whose resignation I am impatiently awaiting these hours. Eventually, Musk had his own social media channel vote on whether or not to continue running the company. More than 57 percent of those surveyed spoke out in favor of the self-proclaimed “techno king” retiring.
Whether Musk really dares to disempower himself remains uncertain. He can’t quite get out of the Twitter number anyway – after all, the shop now belongs to him.
Have a good day and don’t make any purchasing decisions you later regret.
Greetings to you,
your
Teresa Stiens
Editor of the Handelsblatt
PS: Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil demands that companies hire more older workers. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to increase the proportion of those who work until retirement age. What do you think really helps against the shortage of skilled workers? And what are your plans: Do you want to retire earlier? Why or why not? Write us your opinion in five sentences [email protected]. We will publish selected articles with attribution on Thursday in print and online.
