Adidas ends dispute with Kanye West

📍 Top line: Adidas has officially ended its legal dispute with Kanye West over his antisemitic comments made in 2022, which had abruptly halted their profitable "Yeezy" partnership. While the collection was initially discontinued, Adidas has continued selling remaining Yeezy stock and plans to complete the sale by the end of 2024, with profits supporting anti-discrimination efforts.

Key Details:

• Settlement Reached: Adidas and Kanye West have agreed to end all legal proceedings, with no financial exchange or outstanding issues between the two parties, according to Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden.

• Adidas' Financial Impact: Discontinuing the Yeezy line left Adidas with roughly £840 million in unsold stock. Yeezy products are being sold in limited releases, with proceeds donated to anti-discrimination NGOs, including Adidas's own foundation.

• Past Tensions Resolved: Adidas noted that while past issues were "many," both sides decided to "move on" from the conflict. Gulden confirmed that "no-one owes anything to anybody anymore."

• The Yeezy Brand's Legacy: Despite the controversy, Yeezy sneakers have maintained demand, thriving in the resale market with prices reaching hundreds to thousands of pounds.

• 2022 Controversy Recap: Adidas ended its partnership with Kanye West after he made antisemitic remarks on social media, in interviews, and in an appearance on InfoWars, where he expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler. Adidas condemned the comments at the time as "unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous."

Rest is History hosts’ earnings revealed

📍Top line: Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, hosts of the acclaimed podcast The Rest is History, are reportedly earning close to £1 million each annually, fuelled by millions of downloads and thousands of paying subscribers.

Key points:

• Massive Audience: The Rest is History receives around 11 million downloads each month, along with 1.2 million YouTube views and 45,000 paying subscribers.

• Earnings: With advertising revenue and subscriptions, the hosts make approximately £77,000 per month, or nearly £1 million each annually.

• Celebrity Endorsements: The podcast has celebrity fans, including Nick Cave and Tom Hanks, the latter of whom appeared as a guest. Its popularity is particularly strong among listeners under 40.

• Expansion: Beyond audio, The Rest is History has branched into books, merchandise, and live shows, including a sold-out performance at the Royal Albert Hall and an upcoming U.S. tour.

• The Rest is Politics Success: Hosted by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, The Rest is Politics is another hit from Goalhanger, with the hosts reportedly earning over £100,000 each month. The show’s popularity has led to live tours at major venues, including London’s O2.

Elsewhere in business:

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will scale back its overseas investments to prioritise domestic spending, marking a strategic shift as the kingdom seeks to diversify its economy beyond oil. This move ends a decade-long spree of high-profile global investments by the PIF, which has backed companies including Uber, Newcastle United FC, and SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

🍔 McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski issued an apology to U.S. customers following an E. coli outbreak tied to the chain's Quarter Pounders, acknowledging the health issue has compounded challenges the fast-food giant faces with flagging sales. 

French sugar tax proposal sparks uproar

📍 Top line: The French government is divided over a proposed sugar tax on sweets, biscuits, and other high-sugar processed foods, aimed at curbing rising obesity rates. The proposal has sparked intense debate in France, where national pride is closely tied to a sense of gastronomic superiority that many feel is now under threat.

Key Points:

• Obesity Concerns: French obesity rates have more than doubled since 1997, now affecting 17.4% of the population, with 30% of children exceeding recommended sugar intake.

• Government Division: Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq supports the tax, while Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard warns it will hinder French food industry competitiveness.

• Revenue Goals: Prime Minister Michel Barnier has not taken a stance, though analysts suggest he may favor the tax to help reduce France's growing budget deficit, currently projected at 6.2% of GDP.

• Existing Sugar Tax: France already taxes sugary drinks, albeit at a lower rate than the UK, where similar levies have reportedly improved public health by influencing consumption habits.

Elsewhere in the economy:

💷 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to present Labour's first Budget in 14 years, cautioning that it will include "difficult decisions." The Budget is expected to feature tax increases and spending cuts totaling £40 billion. Reeves will deliver her statement at 12:30 GMT, following Prime Minister's Questions.

🏠 Mortgage approvals in September reached their highest level since August 2022, just before the market disruption caused by Liz Truss's mini-budget. While the Bank of England’s base rate remained at 5%, the average interest rate on new mortgages stood slightly lower at 4.76% in September, while rates on existing mortgages edged up to 3.74%.

Healthcare giant Roche has opened applications for its 2025 Product Development Quality Internship. Successful applicants will contribute to the design and implementation of quality assurance strategies alongside assisting in the delivery of new data science solutions. The three-month scheme is open to both recent graduates and undergraduates studying a medically related degree. Apply now here.

TikTok founder becomes China’s richest person

📍Top line: TikTok’s rise to global popularity has propelled Zhang Yiming, co-founder of ByteDance (TikTok's parent company), to the top of China’s wealth rankings. Zhang’s fortune, now at £38 billion, rose by 43% over the last year.

Key points:

• TikTok's Success Amid Challenges: TikTok’s growth has driven ByteDance’s profits up by 60% despite concerns in some countries about its connections to China. The US plans to ban TikTok by January 2025 unless ByteDance divests its ownership.

• Hurun China Rich List: Zhang is the 18th individual to top the Chinese wealth rankings in 26 years, a stark contrast to the US, which has seen only four major wealth leaders in the same period.

• Shrinking Rich List: China's rich list has shrunk for the third consecutive year, with the number of wealthy individuals dropping by 12% to under 1,100, down 25% from its peak in 2021.

China’s rich list reflects an economy in transition, with tech still powering some fortunes while other sectors face growing competition and regulatory pressures.

Elsewhere in tech:

📱 World leaders, including the presidents of France, the United States, and Russia, are at potential risk due to the public sharing habits of their security personnel on the fitness app Strava. Officers from the US Secret Service, French security for Emmanuel Macron, and Russian bodyguards for President Putin are reportedly sharing geolocated data from their running and cycling activities through the app.

💲 Alphabet, Google’s parent company, exceeded Wall Street's expectations in the third quarter, as net profit jumped 33.6% to $26.3 billion. The success has been attributed the growth to Alphabet’s ongoing commitment to innovation and investment in AI. Alphabet is the first of the major tech giants to report this week, with earnings from Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple expected soon.

🇬🇧 Ministry of Defence (MoD) civil servants now outnumber service members in the Royal Navy and RAF combined. The MoD reported 63,702 civilian employees as of April, surpassing the 57,260 trained personnel in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and RAF altogether. At the same time, the British Army has reached a historic low of 72,510 trained members—the smallest since the Napoleonic era.

🎃 Leading dental surgeons have recommended giving children stickers or playdough instead of sweets this Halloween to help protect their teeth. The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) advised that children avoid lollipops and sticky sweets, which are known to increase the risk of tooth decay.

🌕 NASA has pinpointed nine potential landing sites for next year’s historic Artemis mission—the first crewed moon landing in over 50 years. Targeting the moon’s uncharted south pole, these spots may hold preserved resources like water. “Safety and science opportunities drive our choices,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist.