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Clearly Amanda Blanc (Lunch with the FT, Life & Arts, May 28) has proved a very capable chief executive at Aviva. However, I was dismayed with her view that the comments made at the AGM about her leadership were sexist. The comment in question was that she was “not the man for the job”, an

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Unlike some composers whose reputation takes a nosedive after their death, Vaughan Williams has benefited from our new openness towards individualism in the music of the mid-20th century. During the 1950s, he enjoyed a warm relationship with The Hallé in Manchester and

Chris Hill, chief executive of investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, finds himself in the same position as many of his most crucial customers. In the years before he retires, he would like the confidence boost of having a financial adviser review his affairs. He said the company’s data show that it is around age 48 that

It’s been the question that has long bugged publishers: how to get to grips with the potential of social media in all its bewildering expressions and platforms. The commercial rewards are obvious; how to get there, less so. This week, the literary world had a chance to learn more about the dark arts of virality

As the son of the Duchess of Cornwall and stepson to the Prince of Wales, people make assumptions about food writer and critic Tom Parker Bowles. One is that he hangs out a lot with the royal family. He doesn’t. “I’m a 47-year-old hack with two children,” he says, as if that clinches the matter.

The portmanteau of “hale” and “Leon” is meant to convey health and strength. The merged word reflects GlaxoSmithKline’s optimism about its soon-to-be demerged consumer business. On Wednesday, the pharma group published the prospectus for Haleon, which is set to become one of the 20 largest companies on the London stock market when it floats next

For over a decade, bankers in Hong Kong wanting to sell large blocks of a company’s shares have jostled for the attention of Blackpool-born businessman Simon Sadler. Sadler’s $6bn hedge fund Segantii Capital has bought into the biggest deals and generated colossal fees for banks, making it a “priority customer” on Wall Street, according to

Brussels is willing to propose tariffs on Russian oil imports as a fallback option if any EU member states refuse to implement its newly announced embargo on crude. Leaders agreed at a summit on Monday night to impose a ban on Russian seaborne oil imports, while granting a temporary exemption for Russian oil delivered via pipeline

Forceful dealmaking earned Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing the sobriquet “Superman”. The business style of second son Richard is less decisive, judging from the postponement of FWD’s Hong Kong float. The insurer also drew back from a $13bn US listing last year with mooted proceeds of $3bn. Setbacks for the Li family are reversals for

In the summer of 2015, America caught a glimpse of how its future could unfold. The US military conducted a routine exercise in the south that triggered a cascade of conspiracy theories, particularly in Texas. Some believed the manoeuvre was the precursor to a Chinese invasion; others thought it would coincide with a massive asteroid

Corporate executives have this month bought shares in their companies at a rate not seen since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in what some Wall Street analysts said was an encouraging sign for the US stock market. Between the start of the month and May 24, insider buying at S&P 500 companies has

The head of Asia-Pacific at the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock said she was confident that an exodus of foreign talent was temporary, and that the region remained attractive despite border closures, repeated lockdowns and political tensions. Rachel Lord said that during the coronavirus pandemic there had been “a lot more stress in Asia for

China has suffered its first setback in an escalating tug of war with western powers for dominance in the Pacific after it failed to win support from island countries in the region for a comprehensive partnership centred on security. At a virtual meeting with Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, on Monday, leaders from eight

Lester Piggott was a unique figure in the history of British horse racing: a turf celebrity who became as well known to the general public as he was to his own sporting audience. Most of racing’s stars struggle to achieve any widespread recognition away from the track. But Piggott, who has died at the age

The coronavirus pandemic and rising energy prices have left millions of US households in arrears on their electric and gas bills, and some are now about to lose service as moratoria on utility shut-offs expire. More than 20mn households were behind on utility payments worth $23bn at the end of February, nearly double the number

Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax on oil and gas profits is set to break records, showering the UK government with more revenues from the North Sea than at any time since fossil fuel reserves were discovered there over 50 years ago. The almost £13bn to be raised in total this year exceeds the next highest figure

Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, the construction tycoon who backed an unsuccessful campaign to unseat the management team at Italy’s Generali, has stepped down from its board a month after his re-election as director. The reasons for his departure have not been disclosed, Generali said in a statement on Friday. “The board of directors will be called

Not so long ago, Liberty Media — the company controlled by US billionaire John Malone — was pleading for patience as it tried to reinvigorate Formula One, the global car racing series. Now, though, F1 is on a hot streak after a thrilling championship duel last year between Sir Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Max

On the face of it, Geoff Dyer’s study of ageing creators in decline is a failure. Written in flabby prose, it has no discernible structure, beyond being a bucket for stray thoughts that struck him on his sofa in Los Angeles. But read another way, the book is the perfect illustration of its own theme:

Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. Russia’s blockade of the port of Odesa is preventing Ukraine from exporting vital supplies of grain to a hungry world. A failure to resolve the problem will lead to food price rises and starvation, resulting in