Musk launches poll for “edit” function on Twitter after share purchase
Tesla boss Elon Musk, here at the opening of the new Gigafactory near Berlin on March 22, secured a 9.2 percent stake in the short message service Twitter and drove the share price up.
(dpa) After his large-scale entry into Twitter, tech billionaire Elon Musk is taking up an old demand from many users: the ability to subsequently change tweets. Users can comment on whether they want an edit button in a Twitter poll set up by Musk. After the first hours on Tuesday night, approval was around 75 percent.
The non-representative survey has no direct consequences, but the freshly acquired participation of 9.2 percent automatically ensures Musk a better hearing with Twitter management. Twitter never responded to years of demands for an editing option.
The boss of the electric car manufacturer Tesla has so far kept a low profile about what he wants to achieve by joining the short message service. The fact that the stake was reported to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the form “13G” also means that Musk is not seeking any active influence on Twitter’s business policy or a seat on the board of directors, at least for the time being. In such cases he would have had to fill out the more detailed “13D” form. Nevertheless, Twitter shares jumped a good 27 percent on Monday.
Twitter boss Parag Agrawal allowed himself a subtle tip against his new largest shareholder. Agrawal retweeted Musk’s poll, saying, “The ramifications of this poll will be significant. Please vote carefully.” With this sentence, Musk asked Twitter users a few days ago for their opinion on freedom of speech at the service before announcing his entry.
Survey: Every tenth person in Germany has saved energy since the Ukraine war
(dpa) According to a survey, every tenth person in Germany has started to reduce their energy consumption since the start of the Ukraine war. This was the result of a survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency between April 1st and 4th among more than 2000 people in Germany. Almost every fifth person (19 percent) has saved more energy than before since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February. According to their own statements, only 12 percent of the participants still do not limit their energy consumption, at least not consciously.
Energy prices have been driving inflation for months. Because of the war in Ukraine and ongoing Russian threats, the federal government is preparing for a significant deterioration in gas supplies in Germany in particular. At the end of March, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) called on consumers and companies to save energy – but security of supply is still guaranteed.
Three quarters of those surveyed (76 percent) stated at the beginning of April that they were primarily reducing their energy consumption in order to save money themselves. According to their own statements, 24 percent consume less in order to prepare for the fact that Germany may not be able to get any more gas or oil from Russia in the future. 12 percent see their austerity measures as a personal political protest against Russia. When asked for reasons, the participants could tick several possible answers.
A particularly large number of respondents make savings when it comes to heating and the consumption of hot water and electricity (68 percent each). In addition, the self-imposed cost-cutting measures are also having an impact on people’s mobility behavior. 12 percent stated that they no longer drive a car at all. 44 percent drive less and a third (33 percent) drive more slowly. Multiple entries were also possible here.
Several parties and environmental organizations have been calling for a speed limit on German autobahns for a long time, so that driving more slowly consumes less fuel.
When asked about the biggest hurdles when saving energy, just over half (51 percent) of those surveyed stated that they found it above all personally uncomfortable – for example because they freeze when the heating is turned down or actually prefer the car to the would have taken the train. 28 percent find it difficult to even figure out how best to save energy. 20 percent stated that the restriction complicates the exercise of their profession – for example by a longer commute by bike.
According to informed circles, Advent and Centerbridge are considering a new bid for Aareal
(Bloomberg) Advent International and Centerbridge Partners are apparently considering a revised offer just a few weeks after their failed takeover of Aareal Bank AG. The private equity firms are examining an offer that values Aareal at around EUR 33 per share or EUR 2 billion in total, according to News Bloomberg from informed circles. The previous offer was 31 euros per share or around 1.9 billion euros.
This time, however, Advent and Centerbridge are trying to form an alliance with the largest shareholders of the Wiesbaden real estate financier. This also includes the hedge fund Petrus Advisers, which holds around 18% through shares and derivatives. He had rejected the previous offer and thus made a significant contribution to the fact that the minimum acceptance threshold of 60% at the time was not reached.
According to the circles, Advent and Centerbridge are on the verge of securing a more than 20% stake in Aareal Bank from the largest shareholders. According to reports, the minimum acceptance threshold for the possible new offer should be lower. The new offer could be published this week.
Representatives from Aareal, Advent, Centerbridge and Petrus declined to comment. The bank’s shares rose more than 8% on Monday, closing at their highest level in more than two years.
Petrus and another activist hedge fund called Teleios Capital rejected the initial bid for Aareal Bank on the grounds that it was too low. You suspect that the software subsidiary Aareon has enormous values that need to be raised.
In February, when the annual figures were presented, Aareal CEO Jochen Klösges revealed that, in addition to Advent and Centerbridge, a second consortium had also approached the bank and expressed its interest. However, this group did not offer more money and finally withdrew the offer.
VW with a clear sales dampener on the US car market
(dpa) In view of a persistent shortage of chips and global supply chain problems in the auto industry, Volkswagen struggled in the US market at the beginning of the year. According to a statement on Monday, VW sold almost 65,000 new cars there in the first quarter – that was 28.5 percent fewer than a year ago. Sales in the USA had already fallen significantly in the last quarter of 2021.
In the most recent quarter, VW had to accept heavy losses in almost all important models. The SUVs Tiguan and Atlas, which are actually popular in the USA – from which the balance sheet had benefited greatly in the previous year – posted similarly strong declines as the Jetta and Passat. Sales of the electric model ID.4 increased by 481 percent. With 2755 units, however, they contributed little to the overall result.
The Volkswagen subsidiaries Audi and Porsche had already presented weak sales figures for the American market on Friday. After a strong result in the same period of the previous year, Porsche recorded a drop of almost a quarter to 13,042 vehicles. At Audi, US sales even fell by 35 percent to 35,505 vehicles in the three months to the end of March. The rival BMW, on the other hand, achieved a sales increase of 3.2 percent to 73,714 new vehicles for its regular brand.