@FTLex

Lex is the FT's agenda-setting daily column on business and finance. Premium FT subscribers can sign up to our popular twice weekly newsletter Best of Lex ⬇️

 London, New York, Hong Kong
ft.com/lex
Joined February 2009
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851Media
Junk borrowers are stuck between a $2tn rock and a hard place ft.trib.al/dn5fFQO

Junk borrowers are stuck between a $2tn rock and a hard place

Huge supply means investors can afford to be picky, driving costs even higher for the most risky borrowers

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Billionaire benevolence is booming, but it comes with strings ft.trib.al/MUZFcIw

Billionaire benevolence is booming, but it comes with strings

Generating goodwill is helpful in building data centres and developing bots with minimum governmental intervention

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1,057
Tobacco taxes work — even when they give smugglers a windfall ft.trib.al/s1ov1kv

Tobacco taxes work — even when they give smugglers a windfall

Fiscal income has dwindled as smokers quit but the link between tax rates and illicit activity is not clear-cut

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874
Why the UK should greenlight both Jackdaw and Rosebank ft.trib.al/TZe3HH7

Why the UK should greenlight both Jackdaw and Rosebank

The real problem, for those concerned about the climate, isn’t that oil and gas might become too cheap, but that renewables remain too expensive

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Is Zuckerberg being greedy? Let shareholders decide ft.trib.al/4ohJQ8l

Is Mark Zuckerberg being greedy? Let shareholders decide

If the billionaire founder cares what people think, he should persuade his fellow investors to back his vision

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1,021
Steve Cohen takes Hertz for a defensive spin ft.trib.al/3j1AbeN

Steve Cohen takes Hertz for a defensive spin

The hedge fund boss is taking a punt on just a part of the heavily indebted car rental company

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Barclays stands out from the crowd for the wrong reasons ft.trib.al/2LdIoK5

Barclays stands out from the crowd for the wrong reasons

By trying to do everything, the bank risks pleasing nobody

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China’s drugmakers move into the big league ft.trib.al/6CBN2Yn

China’s drugmakers move into the big league

Foreign pharma groups are now paying to access innovation developed locally

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Tesla-SpaceX: a huge corporate constellation with Musk at its centre ft.trib.al/A4JeMvz

Tesla-SpaceX: a huge corporate constellation with Musk at its centre

A merger of Elon Musk’s listed companies has some logic, but other shareholders might end up with less influence than they have today

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Don’t underestimate Netflix’s power to flip the script ft.trib.al/EGuNfMI

Don’t underestimate Netflix’s power to flip the script

Focusing on making more Oscar winners would double down on territory YouTube has struggled to conquer

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To replace Starlink, Europe will have to reawaken its animal spirits ft.trib.al/t8VIafY

To replace Starlink, Europe will have to reawaken its animal spirits

Even splurging on homegrown options won’t, by itself, solve the problem in a reasonable length of time

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Why globetrotting retail banks are back in fashion ft.trib.al/rRpn6PV

Why globetrotting retail banks are back in fashion

The fear is that it’s those who stay at home, rather than those who venture abroad, who will end up lifelong losers

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872
Microsoft gives data centre hopefuls a pre-IPO reality check ft.trib.al/H1awxP5

Microsoft gives data centre hopefuls a pre-IPO reality check

The US tech giant calling time on its Nscale deal exposes faultlines running through this fast-growing area of the AI sector

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BYD is playing the long game in Japan ft.trib.al/RsgDaxB

BYD is playing the long game in Japan

There are signs that the company is customising its offering to the Japanese market

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Indonesia’s market is dysfunctional, not uninvestable ft.trib.al/QcWMRSv

Indonesia’s market is dysfunctional, not uninvestable

Banks are decent investments based on their growth and profitability

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1,317
Why we just can’t quit the site formerly known as Twitter ft.trib.al/1ZmBci3

Why we just can’t quit the site formerly known as Twitter

By some measures Elon Musk’s $44bn purchase of the platform now called X has already paid for itself

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1,136
This earnings season, what CEOs say matters more than what they’ve done ft.trib.al/OQ8H2Zx

This earnings season, what CEOs say matters more than what they’ve done

Bosses who start shaping their narrative now will have a head start on a bumpy year

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Starlink spectrum deal piles Elon Musk’s plate ever higher ft.trib.al/YrVW6ZA

Starlink spectrum deal piles Elon Musk’s plate ever higher

Move may be part of a bigger plan but it spells even more capital expenditure at a company already spending beyond its means

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Why law firms should resist the lure of the AI spin-off ft.trib.al/RExV0tD

Why law firms should resist the lure of the AI spin-off

A carve-out could raise capital, but it’s a crowded sector and valuations don’t accord with the sector’s lack of profitability

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Monte dei Paschi should try the ‘just say maybe’ bid defence ft.trib.al/2sWUBZm

Monte dei Paschi should try the ‘just say maybe’ bid defence 

Even a much-weakened MPS could try to argue that it deserves a better deal

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