The collaboration focuses on integrating MHI’s Mitsubishi Membrane Dehydration System (MMDS™) with ICM’s bioethanol process design. Together, the companies aim to increase efficiency in ethanol production by reducing energy consumption, enhancing process reliability, and supporting the industry’s efforts to lower carbon intensity.
MHI recently achieved more than 99.5 vol.% ethanol purity using its MMDS™ at a pilot plant installed at the Nagasaki Carbon Neutral Park, located within the company’s Nagasaki District Research & Innovation Center. Early pilot results indicate a significant reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional dehydration methods. Further testing and validation are planned as both companies prepare for the next phase of development and commercial implementation.
To ensure the technology’s long-term performance and integration success, MHI and ICM are planning two key validation programs: a fouling test and a demonstration test. The fouling test will assess the membrane’s durability and resistance to impurities in the ethanol stream, ensuring stable operation over time. The demonstration test will validate full-scale performance in a production environment, confirming efficiency, reliability, and seamless integration within ICM’s process design.
Ethanol dehydration is one of the most energy-intensive steps in bioethanol production. By replacing the traditional Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) method with a molecular sieve separation method, MMDS™ enables high-efficiency manufacturing while significantly reducing energy use and operational costs. Because MMDS™ enables separation in the liquid phase, the system can also be designed more compactly, reducing the equipment footprint and simplifying installation.
“Through this collaboration with MHI, we’re exploring new approaches to ethanol dehydration that can further improve efficiency and reliability in ethanol production,” said Shaun Hubler, Director of Technology Commercialization at ICM, Inc. “The pilot results are very promising, and we look forward to building on them as we move toward full commercial deployment.”
“This partnership represents an important step toward realizing MHI’s vision for carbon-neutral industrial solutions,” stated Fumitaka Miyashige, Business Manager of MMDS™ project at MHI. “Working with ICM allows us to bring this advanced separation technology to the global renewable fuels market.”
Further testing is scheduled to begin in Q2 2026, marking an important step toward the technology’s first commercial installation. Both companies view this alliance as a long-term collaboration to advance efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness of the global bioethanol industry.
About ICM, Inc. Established in 1995 and headquartered in Colwich, Kansas, with a regional office in Brazil, ICM provides innovative technologies, solutions, and services to sustain agriculture and to advance renewable energy, including ethanol and feed technologies that will increase the supply of world protein. By providing proprietary process technologies to over 110 facilities globally with a combined annual production of approximately 8.8 billion gallons of ethanol and 25 million tons of distiller grains, ICM has become a world leader in biorefining technologies. For additional information, visit icminc.com.
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.
As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.
With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) today announces the pricing of the previously announced registered public offering (the “Offering”) of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, by trusts affiliated with descendants of Leonard A. Lauder (the “Selling Stockholders”) at a price to the public of $90 per share.
The Selling Stockholders will receive all of the proceeds from the Offering. The Company is not selling any shares of Class A Common Stock in the Offering and will not receive any proceeds from the Offering. The Offering is expected to close on November 6, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Selling Stockholders intend to use the proceeds of the Offering to assist with the settlement of Leonard A. Lauder’s estate, including to satisfy certain estate obligations such as estate taxes, debts and administration expenses.
Based on shares outstanding as of October 23, 2025, following completion of the offering, members of the Lauder family will beneficially own, directly or indirectly, 82% of the outstanding voting power of the Company’s Common Stock. The Selling Stockholders and LAL Family Partners, L.P., an entity beneficially owned by descendants of Leonard A. Lauder, will be subject to a 90-day lock-up agreement with the underwriter.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as the sole underwriter of the Offering.
The Company has filed an automatically effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for the Offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement, the accompanying prospectus supplement and other documents the Company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and the Offering. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the Offering, as well as copies of the final prospectus supplement once available, may be obtained for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by email: [email protected] and [email protected].
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers, marketers and sellers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products, and is a steward of luxury and prestige brands globally. The Company’s products are sold in approximately 150 countries and territories under brand names including: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M·A·C, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, KILIAN PARIS, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, the DECIEM family of brands, including The Ordinary and NIOD, and BALMAIN Beauty.
ELC-F
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251104280861/en/
Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft, speaks at a company briefing in Redmond, Wash., on May 20, 2024. Microsoft unveiled a new category of PC that features generative artificial intelligence tools built into Windows, the company’s world-leading operating system.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
The euphoria around artificial intelligence is colliding with the limits of reality, and cracks are emerging.
Last night, tech giants like AMD smashed expectations on AI chip demand, and Palantir reported another quarter of strong growth. Yet the Nasdaq fell, revealing Wall Street's playlist is stuck on one track: AI mania.
Palantir — the poster child of that obsession — plunged nearly 8% despite its blowout quarter, while Oracle dropped almost 4%. Even AI darlings Nvidia and Amazon pulled back.
The message? It's AI or nothing — and that tunnel vision is flashing warning signs.
Some CEOs are warning of a market correction, others of an inevitable mismatch between revenues and the massive capital expenditure needed to power AI. One CEO even told CNBC that stocks are in a correction, even if the S&P 500 hasn't reflected it.
Perhaps it's time investors step off the hype train and look at the broader market — even the strongest empires fall when they start believing their own legend.
What you need to know today
AMD beats estimates. AMD that exceeded Wall Street expectations but provided margin guidance in line with estimates. Both revenue and net income exceeded expectations. Despite this, the stock slipped in extended trading.
IBM layoffs. The company told CNBC Tuesday that it will lay off "a low single-digit percentage of our global workforce," adding that IBM anticipates that its U.S. employment will remain flat year over year. IBM employed 270,000 people at the end of 2024, and a 1% cut to headcount would represent the loss of 2,700 jobs.
Musk's trillion-dollar pay package opposed. Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund said it will vote against Elon Musk's trillion-dollar pay package at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting this week, rebelling against management guidance and threats from Musk to step down if the deal is rejected.
Tech drags U.S. markets. All three major U.S. indexes fell on Tuesday, as tech stocks lost ground. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged more than 2%, while the S&P500 declined 1.17% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.53%.
[PRO]Stocks in correction? CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management Josh Brown said Tuesday the stock market is going through a correction, even if the indexes have yet to reflect it.
And finally...
President and CEO of Saudi's Aramco, Amin H. Nasser, speaks during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 29, 2024.
Hamad I Mohammed | Reuters
Aramco CEO says Saudi Arabia's cheap energy will turn kingdom into a global AI data center leader
Saudi Arabia will capitalize on its abundant supply of cheap natural gas and renewables to transform the kingdom into a global leader in artificial intelligence, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told CNBC in an interview.
Aramco, the world's largest oil company, disclosed in late October that it plans acquire a significant minority stake in the new artificial intelligence company Humain. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, PIF, is the majority owner of Humain, which launched in May.
"Here, if you want renewable, you will find the lowest cost renewable," Nasser said. "If you want gas, you will find the lowest cost gas. Energy is available and land is also available to build all these things."
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) today announces the pricing of the previously announced registered public offering (the “Offering”) of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, by trusts affiliated with descendants of Leonard A. Lauder (the “Selling Stockholders”) at a price to the public of $90 per share.
The Selling Stockholders will receive all of the proceeds from the Offering. The Company is not selling any shares of Class A Common Stock in the Offering and will not receive any proceeds from the Offering. The Offering is expected to close on November 6, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Selling Stockholders intend to use the proceeds of the Offering to assist with the settlement of Leonard A. Lauder’s estate, including to satisfy certain estate obligations such as estate taxes, debts and administration expenses.
Based on shares outstanding as of October 23, 2025, following completion of the offering, members of the Lauder family will beneficially own, directly or indirectly, 82% of the outstanding voting power of the Company’s Common Stock. The Selling Stockholders and LAL Family Partners, L.P., an entity beneficially owned by descendants of Leonard A. Lauder, will be subject to a 90-day lock-up agreement with the underwriter.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as the sole underwriter of the Offering.
The Company has filed an automatically effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for the Offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement, the accompanying prospectus supplement and other documents the Company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and the Offering. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the Offering, as well as copies of the final prospectus supplement once available, may be obtained for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by email: [email protected] and [email protected].
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers, marketers and sellers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products, and is a steward of luxury and prestige brands globally. The Company’s products are sold in approximately 150 countries and territories under brand names including: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M·A·C, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, KILIAN PARIS, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, the DECIEM family of brands, including The Ordinary and NIOD, and BALMAIN Beauty.
ELC-F
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251104280861/en/
BEIJING, Nov. 4 — This year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE), scheduled to run from Nov. 5 to 10, is the first important economic event that China hosts after the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It once again demonstrates China’s determination to promote high-standard opening up and shared development with the rest of the world.
In the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) adopted at the session concluded in late October, China reaffirmed its commitment to continuing to expand opening up at the institutional level, safeguarding the multilateral trading system, and promoting broader international economic flows. “We should draw momentum from opening up to propel reform and development, and share opportunities with the rest of the world and promote common development,” according to the recommendations.
Eight years since its inception, the CIIE has stood as a vital gateway for foreign companies to tap new partnership opportunities with China, linking international enterprises with China’s super-sized market.
The 8th CIIE features the largest exhibition space in its history and brings together a record 4,108 enterprises from 138 countries and regions. American companies have ranked the first in terms of exhibition space for seven consecutive years. These have reflected the international community’s enduring confidence in China’s economy.
For businesses that have set their sights on China’s growth opportunities, the CIIE is an unmissable event. Some 461 new products, new technologies and new services will be introduced at this year’s expo, covering humanoid robots, digital consumption, silver economy and low-altitude economy. It will provide rich opportunities to share the fruits of innovation and access China’s expanding consumer market.
Through attending the CIIE, foreign companies can gain more knowledge about China’s market development, consumption trends and habits. More importantly, they are able to meet their Chinese partners and consumers face to face, which facilitates exchanges and the discovery of cooperation opportunities.
Notably, this year’s expo expands the dedicated section for products from African countries with diplomatic ties to China, allowing their businesses to fully leverage zero-tariff policies.
The CIIE has been successfully held for seven consecutive years, with a cumulative intended transaction volume exceeding 500 billion U.S. dollars, helping enterprises across the globe tide over market fluctuations.
China’s gross domestic product grew 5.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters. With a solid foundation, strong resilience and vast potential, the Chinese economy will continue to serve as a powerhouse of the global economy, as it continues its pursuit of high-quality development.
Throughout these years, China’s sincerity in sharing development opportunities has been plain for all to see. Looking into the future, China is ready to work with all parties to further contribute to shared prosperity.
Lily JamaliNorth America Technology Correspondent, San Francisco
Getty Images
Ahead of Tesla’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday there’s been one key message the electric car-maker has been hammering home to shareholders: the boss is worth $1tn.
It has taken out digital ads to make the case for Elon Musk’s proposed bumper pay package, while Votetesla.com features a video of board chair Robyn Denholm and director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson praising him, as triumphant music crescendos in the background.
It’s not clear that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet though, meaning the AGM in Austin, Texas is set to become a referendum on Musk himself, after a rightward political turn which has made him one of the most polarising chief executives in recent memory.
Musk himself has taken to X – which he owns – to raise the stakes higher still, saying the fate of Tesla “could affect the future of civilization.”
He’s also used his social media megaphone to amplify some of the deal’s high-profile backers, including Dell Technologies’ Michael Dell, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, and his brother, Kimbal, who sits on the Tesla board.
“There is no one remotely close to my brother,” Kimbal said, extolling his sibling’s leadership qualities.
“Thanks bro ❤️,” Musk replied.
Not everyone agrees.
For some, the focus on Musk and the soap opera around his pay is symptomatic of how the car firm – which has seen sales slide – has lost its way under his leadership.
“What’s amazing to me is a company struggling to sell cars spends money on advertising to sell a pay package,” said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management.
Mr Gerber has pared back his Tesla holdings in recent years – and turned up his criticism of the direction it’s heading in.
“[Tesla] needs to change the focus of the company back to its core – to selling EVs again,” he said.
The trillion dollar man
The deal Tesla wants shareholders to back is not a salary of a one followed by twelve zeroes.
Instead, it sets Musk the target of raising Tesla’s market value to $8.5tn, from $1.4tn at the time of writing.
He would also have to oversee a massive boom in the company’s self-driving “Robotaxi” cars, getting a million of them into commercial operation – no small deal given their underwhelming launch.
Do that, among meeting other benchmarks, and Musk would be given 423.7 million new shares, which would be worth nearly $1tn if the target valuation is reached.
Tesla did not respond to the BBC’s requests for comment about its strategy to garner support from shareholders.
Of course, this is not the first pay controversy Musk and Tesla have become embroiled in.
Previously, Tesla got shareholders to twice ratify a pay package for Mr Musk that was worth tens of billions of dollars if he achieved a tenfold increase in Tesla’s market value.
He met that milestone but, in 2024, a Delaware judge rejected the deal on the grounds that Tesla’s board members were too personally and financially enmeshed with the company’s boss.
The Delaware Supreme Court is reviewing that decision – even as deliberations continue over this even larger pay package.
“The strategy is more of the same from Tesla, which is not to say that this is normal. Nothing about Tesla is normal,” Dorothy Lund, a professor at Columbia Law School told BBC News.
“They’re not a poster child for good corporate governance.”
Professor Lund said get-out-the-vote campaigns like this sometimes take place when a company is worried, for example. about an activist shareholder forcing significant changes to how it operates, such as who is on its board of directors.
“[But] never in my life have I seen something like that happen in the context of a compensation decision,” Professor Lund said.
And unlike the vote on that earlier compensation package, Elon and Kimbal Musk will both get to vote as they push to reach the majority threshold required to seal the deal.
Mr Musk is already the world’s richest man, becoming the first known half-trillionaire earlier this year.
Getty Images
Anti-Musk and Tesla protests have happened in cities across the US
A polarising figure
Tesla’s argument in support of the pay package rests on the idea that Musk might leave the company if shareholders don’t follow the board’s recommendation and approve the pay package.
It says it can’t afford to lose him, and that he “singularly possesses the leadership characteristics necessary to… realize its long-term mission”.
In the video posted to votetesla.com, Ms Wilson-Thompson said the board undertook a seven month process using legal and compensation experts to devise the compensation deal.
On last month’s earnings call, Musk minimised the focus on the payout, saying the real issue was ensuring he had adequate control in order to properly steer Tesla.
But – aside from the question of whether Musk, with his preoccupations with autonomous cars and humanoid robots, is the setting the right course – there is also the matter of whether championing the boss is the board’s job.
“The role of a board is to have fiduciary responsibility to shareholders and not to be advocating for a CEO,” said Yale School of the Environment’s Matthew Kotchen, an economics professor who co-authored a recent study attempting to quantify damage Mr Musk has done to Tesla of late.
It’s clear a number of key decision-makers are unpersuaded the deal represents value for money.
Proxy advisers Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which advise asset managers on how to vote on major corporate proposals, have recommended investors reject the pay package, saying it’s excessive and would dilute shareholder value.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest national wealth fund, has followed suit, as has the largest public pension fund in the US, CalPERS.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has urged investors to also reject directors up for re-election to the board, saying they’ve failed “to provide independent oversight and accountability.”
As some institutions balk, that might leave Mr Musk more reliant on Tesla’s unusually large volume of retail investors – who tend to support him – to get his wish.
It all means, in the words of Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, that Thursday’s vote is set to be one of “most important events” in Tesla’s history – with a “distinct possibility” the pay package won’t pass.
It doesn’t help Musk’s cause that protesters continue to organise anti-Tesla rallies, months after his controversial turn as US President Donald Trump’s government efficiency tsar crashed and burned in May.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that Elon Musk, in the very near term, shakes off the damage that he’s done to this brand,” said Mr Kotchen.
Others though would say Musk’s extraordinary track record of entrepreneurship would make it unwise to bet against him, even when the sum being staked is as dizzyingly high as $1tn.
“It’s hard to deny that Elon Musk’s larger-than-life personality has helped drive more interest and awareness for his organisation than almost any other corporate leader in the modern era,” said Edmunds’ head of insights Jessica Caldwell.
“He’s become a more polarizing figure over time, but there’s still a belief in his ability to deliver on bold, unconventional ideas,” she added.
The trillion dollar question now is – do Tesla shareholders agree?
Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 3 2025.
NYSE
Dow futures rose slightly Tuesday night, while futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid, as investors continue to grapple with where megacap tech stocks head from here.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 36 points, or nearly 0.1%. S&P 500 futures fell almost 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures tumbled nearly 0.4%.
Wall Street is coming off a losing session for the major averages. The S&P 500 declined 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 251 points, or 0.5%.
That comes after Palantir dropped about 8%, even after besting expectations for the third quarter, as investors worried that valuations for the software company — and the broader AI theme — have gotten untenable. After all, Palantir is trading at more than 200 times forward earnings.
Yet many investors remain optimistic that the long-term trend is still favorable for tech stocks, even if there is a near-term pullback, given the strength of spending in AI infrastructure.
“I don’t think that this is concerning today,” Liz Young Thomas, head of investment strategy at SoFi, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday. “I do think that as far as we’ve gotten, this extended, is concerning eventually, but I still think that we’re going to run into year end.”
“I still think the chase is on. I still think the large cap love affair is on. And that’s probably not going to change over the longer term period,” she continued. “But today, I think we were looking for an excuse.”
On the economic front, investors will continue to seek clarity using alternative data in lieu of government reports. On Wednesday, the ADP private payrolls report is set to be released. Weekly mortgage applications and ISM services data are also on deck.
Earnings season continues with McDonald’s reporting Wednesday before the open. Of the 360 S&P 500 companies that have reported thus far, roughly 82% have beaten expectations, according to FactSet data. The S&P 500 is set to post a blended growth rate of more than 12%.
