Anothai, now 48, fell in love with computers when he first encountered them on his university campus. Despite his workload as a marketing student he felt driven to learn all he could about computer programming. He even worked as a teaching assistant at computer lab. These were his first steps on a path that would take him to the vice president’s office for Asian emerging markets at Dell Technologies. After graduating with his marketing degree from Assumption University (ABAC), he lost no time in finding work a sales person for a Thai computer company, SVOA, where he stayed for three years. By that time, he made good on a plan to become an entrepreneur. He joined with a friend to set up a local brand PC company and ran the business for two years. With that taste of entrepreneurship behind him, he returned to the corporate world, joining Compaq Company in its product and marketing department. He recalls that the PC market had been dominated by local brand PCs, … [Read more...] about How geek was PROGRAMMED to succeed
Employee share ownership
Privatisation not the miracle cure
PRIVATISATION has not provided the miracle cure for the problems (especially inefficiencies) associated with the public sector. The public interest has rarely been well served by private interests taking over from the public sector. IMF research acknowledged privatisation “can lead to job losses, wage cuts and higher prices for consumers”. World Bank found huge job losses when big state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were privatised. In the US, the UK, Canada, Chile, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 1999-2004, privatisation more adversely affected women workers. IMF and World Bank safety net or compensation proposals were either too costly for the public treasury or too administratively burdensome. Diverting private capital from productive new investments to buy over state-held assets has slowed, rather than accelerated economic growth. This diverts funding from productive new … [Read more...] about Privatisation not the miracle cure
Onex signs agreement to buy WestJet in deal valued at $5B
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By Christopher Reynolds The Canadian Press Mon., May 13, 2019 Private equity firm Onex Corp. is making its long-coveted leap into aviation by signing a friendly deal to buy WestJet Airlines Ltd. in an all-cash transaction of $3.5 billion. Under the agreement announced Monday, Onex will pay $31 per share for WestJet, which will operate as a privately held company after two decades on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The price represents about a 67 per cent premium to the shares, which closed Friday at $18.52 — roughly the same price it reached the year of its initial public offering. The stock closed up nearly 60 per cent or $11.09 at $29.61 on Monday. The two companies said the deal, worth about $5 billion including debt, will be subject to a shareholder vote, likely in July, and close in the second half of 2019 or early 2020. Tawfiq Popatia, a managing director at Toronto-based Onex, expressed confidence in the airline’s trajectory, which has seen it evolve from … [Read more...] about Onex signs agreement to buy WestJet in deal valued at $5B
WeWork’s starry valuation dazzles landlords, reaffirms doubters
NEW YORK: WeWork's US$47 billion valuation as it heads toward what may be the year's largest initial public offering after ride-hailing firm Uber has made the flexible office space start-up the envy of landlords and the target of skeptics at a time when rents have barely kept pace with inflation.To commercial real estate's old guard, many of whose stock prices have gone sideways or worse for half a decade, WeWork - the main unit of recently renamed The We Company - is a disruptor leading the charge toward the shrinking of workspace with a business model unhindered by property ownership.To its doubters, WeWork is another unprofitable unicorn they question has the ability to flourish in anything other than a hot economy.It's a debate that will gather steam in the months ahead should The We Company follow through with an IPO after filing the preliminary paperwork last week. Should it take that step by year end, it would likely be the largest IPO in 2019 after Uber Technologies … [Read more...] about WeWork’s starry valuation dazzles landlords, reaffirms doubters
Uber wants to be the Uber of everything
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By Eliot Brown WSJ Fri., May 3, 2019 In Uber’s vision of the future, most people won’t own cars. Riders will hop on electric bikes and scooters for short distances, and summon cars with drivers for longer rides. Takeout dinner will become a vestige, replaced by hand-delivered meals. Garages will empty and parking lots will be ripped up and transformed into grassy parks. Eventually, robots will rule. Self-driving cars will shuttle people around the roads—and in the air—while drones will make the deliveries. Robotrucks will roam the highways. And Uber will be at the center of it all. But first, there’s the question of whether Uber will ever make any money. As Uber gets set to go public next Friday in one of the largest tech IPOs ever, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi is trying to sell Wall Street on his vision that Uber will become the dominant force in all forms of transportation. That mission is threatened by an onslaught of … [Read more...] about Uber wants to be the Uber of everything