Netflix’s latest bet on Korean reality series has created another runaway hit. For the last two weeks, the cooking competition "Culinary Class Wars" topped its global weekly TV chart for non-English titles. The unscripted, 12-episode show started off with 100 chefs, divided into two categories. The “white spoons” run acclaimed places, many with Michelin stars; they’re pitted against underdog chefs tagged as “black spoons.” The final two episodes were

Television Oct. 8, 2024

As global investors scrutinize South Korea’s plan to boost corporate valuations, they note a key hurdle — the prevalence of family-controlled businesses, or chaebols, which are often blamed for keeping stocks undervalued. From Samsung Electronics to Hyundai Motor, Korean conglomerates are run by members of the founding families who can wield outsized power through complex cross-shareholdings. The controversial structure and a tendency to sideline minority shareholders are among reaso

Market March 2, 2024

(Bloomberg) -- When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, companies rushed behind the Iron Curtain to plant their flag in Russian soil. Icons of capitalism, from Apple Inc. to McDonald’s Corp. to Adidas AG, went on to build profitable businesses in the ensuing years as consumers clamored for a slice of Western lifestyle. In just a few short days, those longstanding ties have unraveled. After Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, a mass corporate exodus set in, starting wi

Foreign Affairs March 13, 2022

China is considering buying or increasing stakes in Russian energy and commodities companies, such as gas giant Gazprom PJSC and aluminum producer United Co. Rusal International PJSC, according to people familiar with the matter. Beijing is in talks with its state-owned firms, including China National Petroleum Corp., China Petrochemical Corp., Aluminum Corp. of China and China Minmetals Corp., on any opportunities for potential investments in Russian companies or assets, the people said. Any d

World Business March 8, 2022

Google agreed to acquire cybersecurity company Mandiant Inc. for $5.4 billion, its second-biggest deal ever. With Mandiant, Alphabet Inc.’s Google gets more tools to protect its cloud clients by responding quickly to online threats. The company is working to recruit and support cloud customers amid stiff competition from Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. Google will purchase Mandiant for $23 a share in an all-cash deal, according to a statement on Tuesday. Following the close of the de

World Business March 8, 2022

  Volkswagen AG is preparing an initial public offering of Porsche, seeking a listing of its most profitable asset to help boost the parent’s valuation and fund the push into electric vehicles. VW’s preferred shares surged as much as 10% after the announcement Tuesday on a possible IPO outline between the carmaker and and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, a company controlled by the billionaire Porsche and Piech owner family. The tentative plan, which is estimated to value the spor

World Business Feb. 22, 2022

From Seoul to Seattle, the soaring cost of coffee beans is trickling into the cups of consumers. Some of the world’s biggest roasters and sellers of coffee are upping menu prices, having flagged that customers would be paying more as beans began to surge last year. Higher wages and other costs have also added to the rising charge for a daily cup, which is in turn increasing the inflationary pressures coursing through the global economy. Futures for arabica coffee jumped 76% in 2021, hitt

Consumer Feb. 3, 2022

Africa Finance Corp., which focuses on infrastructure across the continent, raised $400 million in a syndicated loan to bolster its balance sheet as the region seeks to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The three-year facility, the first by the development-finance institution since 2018, was 2.5 times oversubscribed and was increased from an initial target of $300 million, it said in a statement on Tuesday. While the funds mostly replaced maturing debt, the fund raising attracted new lende

Business Jan. 18, 2022

South Korea is among the world’s biggest seller of green bonds, and one of its top issuers is planning to tap the global debt market more aggressively next year to provide sustainable funds to local companies operating abroad. Export-Import Bank of Korea, the nation’s second-largest issuer of green notes, plans to sell about $12 billion to $12.5 billion of bonds offshore in 2022, compared with around $11 billion this year, said Lee Dong-hoon, the treasurer of the bank. It expects ab

Market Dec. 18, 2021

London is one of the most watched cities in the world: Its inhabitants are caught on camera about 300 times a day on average and the British capital has become a test bed for police use of live facial recognition. But the technology, which powers a multibillion-dollar market for security firms and building management, has troubling limitations. To show it up even more, a special team of human officers have, anecdotally, been doing a better job than the cameras. London’s Metropolitan Polic

Viewpoints Nov. 18, 2021

When he stunned the Glasgow climate conference by committing India to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a crucial caveat. Without the “transfer of climate finance and low-cost climate technologies,” he said, developing nations such as India would never be able to achieve their ambitious targets. That’s not an idle worry. If we have learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that the developing world cannot count on

Viewpoints Nov. 17, 2021

For decades, IT administrators have waged an endless war to protect their systems from hackers. That struggle started half a century ago with audio tapes and floppy discs the primary weapon, before faster wired and mobile communications allowed an adversary to breach a target’s network to steal credit card information or shut down oil pipelines. Take that battle 20,000 kilometers into space where satellites roam and you have the final frontier of cybersecurity. And with it come the same v

Viewpoints Nov. 8, 2021

As we collectively hurtle into the era of climate change, international relations as we’ve known them for almost four centuries will change beyond recognition. This shift is probably inevitable, and possibly even necessary. But it will also cause new conflicts, and therefore war and suffering. Since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, diplomats have -- in peacetime and war alike -- for the most part subscribed to the principle of national sovereignty. This is the idea, enshrined in the Chart

Viewpoints Nov. 8, 2021

Stablecoins have gone from an obscure corner of crypto to near the center of it. Major institutions, such as Mastercard, are now trying to create alternate payment networks based on stablecoin and crypto. I am rooting for such efforts to succeed, but in the meantime I have news for you: Stablecoins aren’t always stable. Unlike a lot of critics, however, I view fluctuating prices for stablecoins as not only acceptable but also desirable. The potential for stablecoins is obvious. Imagine i

Viewpoints Nov. 3, 2021

Too bad we as a species don’t have the luxury of worrying about just one existential threat at a time. We’re already rather busy with one -- a pandemic -- and about to talk our heads off about another -- climate change -- at the COP26 convention in Glasgow. Now we’re also reminded of a third, nuclear annihilation. This summer, China apparently tested new hypersonic missile systems -- as recently revealed by the Financial Times but officially denied by Beijing. What’s sho

Viewpoints Nov. 2, 2021