Businessweek September30, 2019
IN BRIEF
By Benedikt Kammel○ After 178 years, U.K.
travel company Thomas
Cook announced the
liquidation of its business.
The move left more than
150,000 tourists stranded
at their holiday destinations,
forcing the government
toinitiatethebiggest
repatriationmissionin
peacetimeBritain.○ A bad week for bosses:
Three prominent corporations lost
their CEOs.① Adam
Neumann
will depart
WeWork
following a tumultuous
fewweeksthatsawthe
co-workingcompany’s
hopesfora lucrative
IPOsavagedbyinvestor
opposition.Ina move
designedtosalvage
thestocklisting,
Neumannwillassume
theroleofnonexecutive
chairman. 16erwas granted a two-
monthlicense to operate
in London. This gives the
company a limited window
to show regulators in one
of its key markets that it’s
improved governance such
as ensuring drivers have
appropriate insurance and
training. 19○ Germanprosecutors
chargedVolkswagenCEO
HerbertDiesswithmarket
manipulation,accusing
himandtwoothersenior
managersofdelaying
disclosureofthediesel
scandalin 2015.Asa result,
investorswerecaughtoff
guardwhentherevelation
causedthestocktotank.
VWcalledtheallegations
groundless.○ Credit Suisse
sought to contain
a growing scandal
over its shadowing
of former star
banker Iqbal Khan.○ U.K. Prime
Minister Boris
Johnson suffered
a devastating
legal defeat.○ Swedishenvironmentalactivist
GretaThunberg,16,deliveredan
impassionedaddressattheUnited
NationsclimatesummitonSept.23,
scoldingworldleadersformaking
hollowpromisesandobsessingonly
abouteconomicgrowth.A security firm was tasked with
following Khan around Zurich after
he’d defected to crosstown rival
UBS, taking photos of people he met.
The affair has shaken the reputation
for quiet professionalism that
Switzerland and its wealth managers
have long enjoyed.The country’s Supreme Court ruled
that his suspension of Parliament was
unlawful, a decision that complicates
his plan to pull the U.K. out of the
European Union by Oct. 31 without
a deal. Johnson said that though he
disagreed with the court’s ruling, he’d
respect it—but still pursue Brexit. 30○ Googlewona courtbattlein theEUoverdemandstomakesomesearchengineresultsdisappearglobally.○ FacebookplanstobuystartupCTRL-Labs,whosesoftwareletspeoplecontrola digitalavatarusingonlytheirthoughts.○ TheheadofDanskeBank’sEstonianunit,whowentmissingonSept.24,wasfounddeada daylater,accordingtopolice.
○ First,Mattelmadea curvierBarbie;nowchildrenwillgettodecidethegenderofitsnewCreatableWorlddolls.○“Thereleaseofthenotesofthecall
bytheWhiteHouseconfirmsthatthe
presidentengagedinbehaviorthat
underminestheintegrityofour
elections,thedignityoftheofficehe
holds,andournationalsecurity.”
HouseSpeakerNancyPelosionSept.25,respondingtoa roughtranscriptofTrump’sJuly 25 callwithUkrainianPresident
VolodymyrZelenskiy.In thecall,heurgedZelenskiytoinvestigateformerVicePresidentJoeBiden.Pelosiannounceda formal
impeachmentinquirythedaybefore.② Kevin
Burns will be
replaced at
Juul Labs by
K.C. Crosthwaite, the
strategychiefofAltria,
whichownsa 35%stake
in thevapingcompany.
Altriaalsosaidthatit’s
endedtalkstoreunite
withPhilipMorris,but
thatthetwocompanies
wouldjointlyfocuson
IQOS,anothersmoke-
freetechnology.③ Devin
Wenig, who’s
led EBay
since it split
with PayPal in 2015, is
leavingthewebauction
pioneer,whichhas
beenunderincreasing
pressurefromactivist
investorPaulSinger
tospinoffsomeof
itsbusinesses.Scott
Schenkel,thechief
financialofficer,willtake
overasinterimhead.4
THUNBERG: YANA PASKOVA/REUTERS. NEUMANN: JB LACROIX/GETTY IMAGES. BURNS: YOUTUBE. WENIG: JACOB KEPLER/BLOOMBERGUbBl erg