Category: 3. Business

Some of the US’s lowest-paying large firms increased their CEOs’ compensation by an average of almost 35% over five years, according to new research. Their workers’ salaries did not keep up.

As executive remuneration ballooned, the average CEO-to-worker pay gap across the 100 companies in the S&P 500 with lowest median worker pay – dubbed the Low-Wage 100 by the Institute for Policy Studies – widened by 12.9% between 2019 and 2024, from 560 to 1 to 632 to 1.

“Median pay increased only modestly, whereas CEO pay really skyrocketed,” said Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, and author of the report.

Between 2019 to 2024, CEO pay at these companies increased by 34.7%, unadjusted for inflation, compared with a 16.3% increase in these firms’ average median worker pay during the same period – short of inflation, which came to 22.6% over the same period.

By last year, average CEO compensation in the Low-Wage 100 stood at $17.2m. Average median worker pay was $35,570.

Of the 100 firms, median worker pay fell at 22 between 2019 and 2024. Ulta Beauty reported a 46% drop in median worker pay to $11,078 as the company significantly expanded its part-time workforce.

Starbucks’ CEO pay was the largest gap in 2024, with its CEO, Brian Niccol, receiving total compensation worth $95.8m, 6,666 times as much as the company’s $14,674 median pay.

“It’s a stunning message for Starbucks management to send to their workers who’ve organized unions at 570 stores in recent years, and they’re still waiting for the company to negotiate a contract. It says a lot about who they really value at that company and who they don’t,” said Anderson.

Starbucks did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the report.

The IPS report cites a June roundtable hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US markets regulator, on executive compensation disclosure requirements, where Drew Hambly, investment director at CalPers, the largest public pension fund in the US, described the negative impacts overcompensation of executives has on low-wage workforces.

“I do want our boards to think more about the bottom 50% of people who work for them,” Hambly said. “Because when I go into a business, I’m probably interacting with a lower-wage worker. And if you’re going to drive value over time, that’s the face of your company.”

In recent years US families have struggled with high costs for groceries and housing, and layoffs have been on the rise. “In the midst of all of this, CEOs are focused on making themselves even richer, instead of thinking about the welfare of their employees or even the long-term growth of their company,” said Anderson. “I think if they continue on this path, it’s going to be a trend that is bad, not just for workers, but for these companies and our economy as a whole.”

Between 2019 to 2024, Low-Wage 100 firms spent $644bn on stock buybacks. More than half spent more on buybacks than on capital improvements at their firms.

Lowe’s spent $46.6bn on stock buybacks: $28,456 per each of the retailer’s 273,000 employees, according to the report. Home Depot ranked second in stock buybacks during this period, spending $37.9bn.

The report also noted 32 billionaires owe their wealth to Low-Wage 100 corporations, including eight billionaires from Walmart, four from Estee Lauder and three from DoorDash.

As policy solutions, the report highlighted support for a tax hike on corporations that pay their CEO at least 50 times more what they pay employees. It also urged policymakers to increase taxes on stock buybacks.

Ulta Beauty, Lowe’s and Home Depot did not respond to requests for comment.

You can find an overview of the program at: https://www.volkswagen.de/de/marke-und-erlebnis/iaa2025.html.

Two years ago, Volkswagen entered into a dialog with visitors to the IAA MOBILITY with its urban world of experience. In a few weeks, it will be that time again: The company will present new vehicles and innovative technologies, and will invite visitors to a variety of events in the city center of Munich.

Martin Sander, Volkswagen Board Member for Sales, Marketing and After Sales: “With our appearance at the Open Space, we are showing what Volkswagen stands for – today and tomorrow. It stands for innovative mobility, emotional products and a clear commitment to our customers. For us, the IAA MOBILITY is more than just a trade fair – it is a stage on which we make it possible to experience Volkswagen’s vision of mobility for everyone. The Open Space illustrates how we are shaping the future – accessible, diverse and at the center of life.”

The Volkswagen stand at the Open Space will focus on the vehicles: A fully electric compact SUV will have its world premiere at Odeonsplatz. The concept vehicle will offer a glimpse of a new member of the electric ID. family from Volkswagen. Its production version will complete the Electric Urban Car Family of the Brand Group Core, i.e. the merger of the Volkswagen Group’s volume brands. “The IAA show car completes Volkswagen’s entry-level mobility for Europe – fully electric and highly efficient. The show car sets standards within its class in terms of design, quality, operation and space. It is a concrete preview of an affordable electric vehicle in the T-Cross class. The car will be on the market as early as next year,” says Kai Grünitz, Board Member for Technical Development at the Volkswagen brand.

Shortly after its world premiere, the all-new T-Roc will also be on show for the first time at the Open Space. Another highlight will be the ID.3 GTX FIRE+ICE^{, designed in collaboration with the performance sportswear brand BOGNER FIRE+ICE. The limited special edition can be experienced in Munich together with its predecessor, the legendary Golf II Fire and Ice from the 1990s, which now enjoys cult status among fans. Following its world premiere at the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring, the exclusive anniversary model Golf GTI EDITION 50 – the most powerful production GTI to date with 239 kW (325 PS) – will also be making a guest appearance at the IAA MOBILITY 2025.}

With interactive stations and digital presentations, each vehicle world invites you to discover new things and resonate emotionally with the brand. This concept includes the GTI History Wall, a racing simulator and the option to create personal AI moments. Visitors young and old can get to know the adventure areas in a playful way during a discovery rally. The Future Materials Lab offers a glimpse into the future: Here, experts from the Volkswagen Materials Laboratory and Design will provide information on recyclable and innovative materials.

There will also be a varied, free stage program and a wide range of culinary delights – including the legendary Volkswagen Currywurst and free Melitta coffee in the open air. Concerts with artists such as Armi Warning and Pa Sheehy will take place on stage. There will also be keynote speeches on topics such as “Professional sport and mobility” and expert talks, including one with music legend Peter Maffay. You can view the detailed program schedule here: https://www.volkswagen.de/de/marke-und-erlebnis/iaa2025.html.

All contact and communication points in the Open Space are designed to be as barrier-free as possible. Easy access is ensured by a floor guidance system, tactile floor plans, stair lifts, ramps and furniture that can be driven under. All information is easily accessible thanks to Braille and easy-to-read contrast writing, self-explanatory pictograms and the support of a sign language interpreter for the stage program.

Donald Trump has made several unusual moves to elongate the era of coal, such as giving the industry exemptions from pollution rules. But the gambit to keep one Michigan coal-fired power station running has been extraordinary – by forcing it to remain open even against the wishes of its operator.

The hulking JH Campbell power plant, which since 1962 has sat a few hundred yards from the sand dunes at the edge of Lake Michigan, was just eight days away from a long-planned closure in May when Trump’s Department of Energy issued an emergency order that it remain open for a further 90 days.

On Wednesday, the administration intervened again to extend this order even further, prolonging the lifetime of the coal plant another 90 days, meaning it will keep running until November – six months after it was due to close.

The move, taken under emergency powers more normally used during wartime or in the wake of disaster, has stunned local residents and the plant’s operator, Consumers Energy. “My family had a countdown for it closing, we couldn’t wait,” said Mark Oppenhuizen, who has lived in the shadow of the plant for 30 years and suspects its pollution worsened his wife’s lung disease.

“I was flabbergasted when the administration said they had stopped it shutting down,” he said. “Why are they inserting themselves into a decision a company has made? Just because politically you don’t like it? It’s all so dumb.”

The 23 May order and the latest edict, by the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, both warn that the regional grid would be strained by the closure of JH Campbell with local homes and businesses at risk of “curtailments or outages, presenting a risk to public health and safety” without it.

But Miso, the grid operator for Michigan and 14 other states, has stressed it has had “adequate resources to meet peak demand this summer” without JH Campbell and Consumers Energy had already set about making plans for life after its last remaining coal plant.

“What’s remarkable is that this is the first time the energy secretary has used these powers without being asked to do so by the market operator or power plant operator,” said Timothy Fox, an energy analyst at ClearView. “It shows the Trump administration is prepared to take muscular actions to keep its preferred power sources online.”

Wright – whose department has bizarrely taken to tweeting pictures of lumps of coal with the words “She’s an icon. She’s a legend” – has said the US “has got to stop closing coal plants” to help boost electricity generation to meet demand that is escalating due to the growth of artificial intelligence.

The administration has also issued a separate emergency declaration to keep open a gas plant in Pennsylvania, although it has sought to kill off wind and solar projects, which Trump has called “ugly” and “disgusting”.

The president, who solicited and received major donations from coal, oil and gas interests during his election campaign, has signed an executive order aimed at reviving what he calls “beautiful, clean coal” and took the remarkable step of asking fossil fuel companies to email requests to be exempt from pollution laws, again under emergency powers.

So far, 71 coal plants, along with dozens of other chemical, copper smelting and other polluting facilities, have received “pollution passes” from the Trump administration according to a tally by the Environmental Defense Fund, allowing greater emissions of airborne toxins linked to an array of health problems. Coal is, despite Trump’s claims, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels and the leading source of planet-heating pollution.

Trump has launched a “political takeover of the electricity grid” to favor fossil fuels, according to Caroline Reiser, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The result of this will be higher electricity bills, more pollution in our communities and a worsening climate crisis,” she added.

In Michigan, the cost of keeping JH Campbell open is set to be steep. Consumers Energy initially estimated its closure would save ratepayers $600m by 2040 as it shifts to cheaper, cleaner energy sources such as solar and wind.

Reversing this decision costs $1m a day in operating costs, an imposition that midwest residents will have to meet through their bills. It is understood the company privately told outside groups it fears the administration could keep adding 90-day emergency orders for the entire remainder of Trump’s term.

“Consumers Energy continues to comply with the [Department of Energy] order and will do so as long as it is in effect,” a company spokesperson said. “We are pursuing recovery of the costs of running the Campbell plant in a proceeding currently before [the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission]. Timely cost recovery is essential.”

Should the Trump administration go further and force all of the US fossil fuel plants set to retire by 2028 to continue operating, it will cost American ratepayers as much as $6bn a year in extra bills, a new report by a coalition of green groups has found.

This would almost certainly be met by legal action – Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general, has already filed a lawsuit arguing the “arbitrary and illegal order” to extend JH Campbell’s lifespan will unfairly heap costs upon households in the state.

Trump’s efforts may bear some fruit, with US coal production expected to tick up slightly this year, although the longer-term trend for coal is one of decline amid cheaper gas and renewables. “The administration may slow the retirement trend although they are unlikely to stop it,” said ClearView’s Fox. “The economics don’t change but the administration could be a savior for these plants at least while Donald Trump is in office.”

For those living next to and downwind of coal plants, there is a cost to be paid that isn’t just monetary. Tiny soot particles from burned coal can bury themselves deep into the lungs, causing potentially deadly respiratory and heart problems.

The closure of such plants can lift this burden dramatically – a recent study found that in the month after a coal facility was closed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2016, the number of childhood asthma visits to local hospitals declined by 41% and then continued to fall by about 4% each month.

The study shows “the closure of a major industrial pollution source can lead to immediate and lasting improvements in the lung health of the those who live nearby”, said Wuyue Yu, research co-author and postdoctoral fellow at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

For those living in the township of Port Sheldon, a mostly bucolic setting on the shore of the vast Lake Michigan, a pollution-free future beckoned once JH Campbell had been scheduled to close, with lofty plans for new parkland, housing and a battery plant touted for the site.

Now there is uncertainty. Last week, a few dozen residents and activists held a protest event next to the sprawling plant, which hummed and whirred in the summer heat, one 650ft chimney puncturing the horizon, another, smaller flue striped red and white, like a candy cane.

Dozens of train cars full of coal, hastily procured after the plant’s supply was used up ahead of a closure that has been scheduled for four years, backed up in the sunshine. When burned in the huge 1.5GW plant, this coal emits about 7.7m tons of carbon dioxide a year.

“Trump is just trying to keep the money coming into coal companies as long as he can, I suppose,” said David Hoekema, who has lived a couple of miles from the plant since 2006 and has had to clean coal dust from his windows. Trump easily won this county, called Ottawa, in last year’s election, but Hoekema said even his staunchest conservative neighbors don’t want the coal plant.

“I’ve not met anyone along the lake shore who says, ‘Oh yeah, let’s keep this open’ – even the conservative Republicans are concerned about their health,” he said. “Republican ideology says local control is best but the Trump administration is saying, ‘We don’t care what the hell states do, we will impose our order on them.’ I know there’s a lot of competition, but this would have to be one of their craziest decisions.”

The Department of Energy did not respond to questions about its plan for JH Campbell once its latest extension expires. The battle over the coal plant’s future has taken place to a backdrop of a scorching summer in Michigan, one of its hottest on record, with algal blooms sprouting in its lakes, both symptoms of an unfolding climate crisis.

“The talk in neighborhoods has been how hot it’s been this summer – my kid was prepared to be outside every day and it’s been so hot so often it’s been irresponsible to do that,” said Stephen Wooden, a Democratic state lawmaker who added that Michigan residents are also “pissed off” about increasing power bills.

“We’re seeing the impacts of climate change daily, it is impacting our state,” Wooden said. “And this is being caused by the continuation of outdated, expensive fossil fuels that Donald Trump wants to prop up.”

The price of 24 karat gold witnessed an increase of Rs. 2,000 per tola on Thursday and was sold at Rs. 357,200 against its sale at Rs. 355,200 on the previous trading day, All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewelers Association reported.

The prices of 10 grams of 24 karat also increased by Rs. 1,715 to Rs. 306,241 from Rs. 304,526, whereas the price of 10 grams of 22 Karat went up by Rs. 1,573to Rs. 280,731 from Rs. 279,158.

The rates of per tola and ten-gram silver increased by Rs. 78 and Rs. 67, and were traded at Rs. 4,013 and Rs. 3,440, respectively.

The price of gold in the international market decreased by $20 to $3,345 from $3,325, whereas silver increased by $0.78 to $37.80 from $37.02, the Association reported.

Vattenfall has decided to proceed with the American company GE Vernova and the British Rolls-Royce SMR in the process of selecting a final supplier for new nuclear reactors. Both companies produce so-called modular reactors. Given the conditions at the current reactor site on the Värö Peninsula, these suppliers are considered to have the best prerequisites to deliver within a reasonable timeframe and budget. The process to enable new nuclear power is now continuing.

“This is another step on the way towards the first Swedish nuclear power construction in over 40 years. Our goal is a successful project on the Värö Peninsula, and by that we mean that there are prerequisites to begin operations within a reasonable timeframe and budget at the site available to us. A successful project also lays the foundation for further nuclear developments. We are already looking at the next step to build additional reactors where Ringhals 1 and 2 are currently located,” says Anna Borg, CEO and President, Vattenfall.

The Värö Peninsula, where the Ringhals nuclear power plant is located, is considered the best location to bring new nuclear power into operation in Sweden as quickly as possible. Here, there is capacity in the electricity grid, nuclear competence, and a high demand for electricity in the region. At the same time, the site has limitations in terms of space and infrastructure.

The selected suppliers offer modular reactors, SMRs, with proven technology and simplified designs that have integrated learnings from previous nuclear projects worldwide. Both use fuel for which Vattenfall has established supply chains.

“We have conducted a very thorough evaluation of the suppliers and reactors. It is very gratifying that we now can, after a process that began with 75 potential suppliers, go from four to two. Building a series of smaller units brings clear cost advantages; they require less space, need significantly fewer personnel, and leads to more manageable logistics. This also increases the ability during the construction phase to find, house, and transport staff, reducing the risk of increased costs,” says Desirée Comstedt, Vice President and Head of New Nuclear at Vattenfall.

Vattenfall is planning a project with either five BWRX-300 (GE Vernova) or three Rolls-Royce SMR reactors, which will provide a total output of around 1,500 MW. By comparison, a 500 MW SMR has the same capacity as the first large-scale reactor in Oskarshamn.

New Swedish nuclear power will require collaboration among many stakeholders. The industry consortium Industrikraft is an initiative involving 17 leading Swedish industrial companies with which Vattenfall has had a close dialogue from the start.

“The process of constructing new nuclear reactors has taken a significant step forward, and there is now a clear and viable project on the Värö Peninsula. Industrikraft welcomes this development and will work together with Vattenfall to create the conditions for the planned joint investment in the project company. It is also crucial that there are long-term stable political conditions”, says Tom Erixon, Chair of Industrikraft.  

The process to enable new nuclear power continues. An application for state risk-sharing will be submitted and a final supplier selected. Vattenfall is already looking at the next step to build additional 1000 MW where Ringhals 1 and 2 are currently located. Final investment decisions will be made later in the process.

Vattenfall will present more information about the background to the decision at a press seminar in Swedish at the press centre at Ringhals nuclear power plant on Thursday, 21 August at 15:30 CEST with Anna Borg, CEO and President and Desirée Comstedt, Vice President and Head of New Nuclear. The press seminar will be broadcasted live here.

At 17:00 CEST the same day, an English-language audiocast will also be held, where journalists and analysts can ask questions to Anna Borg and Desirée Comstedt.
Link audiocast

To join by telephone, please dial one of the numbers a few minutes before the broadcast starts.
Telephone conference ID: 718 235 124#
Germany: +49 69 667781690
Netherlands: +31 20 258 8526
UK: +44 20 3321 5273

For more information, please contact: 
Natalie Sial Berkman, Director Media Relations Sweden, natalie.sialberkman@vattenfall.com  
Vattenfall’s Press Office, +46 8 739 50 10, press@vattenfall.com   

BANGKOK — China has been expanding use of digital currencies as it promotes wider use of its yuan, or renminbi, to reflect its status as the world’s second-largest economy and challenge the overwhelming sway of the U.S. dollar in international trade and finance.

However, restrictions on access to Chinese financial markets and limits on convertibility of the yuan, or “people’s money,” are big obstacles blocking its global use.

Still, Hong Kong already has stablecoin regulations and some Chinese experts are pushing for regulations to prepare for a possible stablecoin pegged to the yuan.

Officials at the People’s Bank of China and State Council Information Office in Beijing did not immediately respond to requests for comment on a Reuters report that the State Council, or Cabinet, is preparing to issue a plan for internationalizing the yuan that might include a yuan stablecoin.

In the U.S., President Donald Trump has made cryptofriendly policies a priority for his administration. He signed a law, the GENIUS Act, last month regulating stablecoins.

Stablecoins are digital currencies whose value is linked to a specific currency such as the U.S. dollar. They can be used as a substitute in situations where currency transactions might be difficult or costly. They are different from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in that their only purpose is to be a means of payment, not an investment meant to be traded to gain value.

Dollar stablecoins are typically bought and sold for $1 each. They are based on a reserve equal to their value, but are issued by private institutions, not central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Stablecoins are not Digital Central Bank Currencies, which are digital versions of currencies issued by central banks. They are based on blockchain-based distributed ledgers. They are “stable” in the sense that their value is anchored to the currency they are based on.

Critics of stablecoins say that since they are essentially a proxy for ordinary currencies that can bypass banking systems and safeguards set up to manage traditional financial transactions they may be most useful for illegal purposes.

China launched its own digital yuan, the e-CNY issued by its central bank, on a trial basis in 2019, and McDonalds was an early participant in that project. Chinese regulators have banned mining, trading and other dealings in private, decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin, while encouraging use of the digital yuan.

The nearly universal use of electronic payments has facilitated use of the e-CNY in the Chinese mainland, with some cities using it to pay wages of civil servants. State media reported that as of July 2024, there were 7.3 trillion yuan worth of transactions using the currency in areas where it is being used on a trial basis.

China has also been promoting use of e-CNY in Africa, as it expands business dealings on the continent.

But e-CNY are not stablecoins. Experts say regulations are needed to safely manage use of stablecoins and to ensure they could be used smoothly with bank accounts and payment systems.

Hong Kong, a former British colony that has its own financial markets, currency and partly autonomous legal system, enacted a stablecoin law that took effect on Aug. 1.

Aimed at attracting wealthy investors who want to use digital currencies and other financial products, it requires that a stablecoin linked to the Hong Kong dollar must be equal to the Hong Kong dollar reserves for that digital currency.

As a global duty-free port and financial hub, Hong Kong has often served as a base for trying out paths toward liberalizing Chinese financial markets. But new regulations specifically governing yuan stablecoin would be needed if such a digital currency were issued for use in Hong Kong, Liu Xiaochun, deputy director of the Shanghai Institute of New Finance, recently wrote in a report on the Chinese financial website Yicai.com.

China’s currency is not freely convertible in world financial markets and its stringent controls on foreign exchange are the biggest hindrance toward making the yuan a global currency, experts say.

According to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, as of June, the yuan was the sixth most active currency for global payments by value, with a share of 2.88%. Its use peaked in July 2024 at about 4.7%.

It’s used more often in trade financing, where it accounts for nearly 6% of such dealings, according to that report.

The lion’s share of yuan transactions take place in Hong Kong.

The U.S. dollar’s share as a global payment currency was over 47% as of June, followed by the euro, the British pound, the Canadian dollar and the Japanese yen, the report said.

___

AP Researcher Shihuan Chen contributed from Beijing.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has formally declared 1LINK (Private) Limited a Designated Payment System, marking a major step in enhancing Pakistan’s digital financial infrastructure. The designation was made under Section 4(1) of the Payment Systems & Electronic Funds Transfer Act, 2007.

According to an official notification issued by the central bank today, the decision takes effect immediately.

With this move, the SBP has further strengthened oversight of the country’s payment ecosystem, recognizing 1LINK’s role as Pakistan’s only interbank network operator. The platform facilitates ATM withdrawals, bill payments, interbank fund transfers, and a wide range of digital financial services used by millions nationwide.

Industry experts believe the recognition of 1LINK as a Designated Payment System will help improve security, reliability, and consumer trust in electronic transactions. It also aligns with SBP’s broader agenda of promoting a secure, inclusive, and modern payment infrastructure across the country.