Starbucks' new CEO gets deal of a lifetime

_{Leading the agenda}

 🚨 Starbucks appoint new CEO with $113 million pay package

📍 Top line: Starbucks’ new boss Brian Niccol will become one of the highest paid CEO’s in the world when he starts his role in September.

Niccol, who was poached from Chipotle, was enticed with a bumper pay package that includes a $10 million sign-on bonus, $75 million of extra stock options and up to $23 million in annual bonuses.

He will also be able to work remotely from his home in Newport Beach, California and will use the company jet to travel to go to the main Seattle HQ when required.

🌊 Turning the Tide: Niccol’s appointment was received well by the markets, with the company’s stock rising 24% in its best ever trading day. Despite the good news, Starbucks remains in an ongoing dispute with staff members as they look to unionise, with a labour agreement yet to be reached.

_Economy

🇺🇸 Global stocks surge as US expected to avoid recession

📍 Top line: Strong US retail sales have boosted hopes that the world’s largest economy will not enter into a recession.

A struggling labour market and poor consumer results left experts fearing an economic downturn in the near future. However, retail sales, powered by companies like Walmart, jumped 1% in July, the highest in 18 months, and far above the forecasted 0.3%.

📈 Market reaction: Unsurprisingly, US and global stocks rose following the positive news. The S&P 500 closed up 1.6% and the FTSE 100 up 0.8%

Elsewhere in the Economy:

🇬🇧 The UK’s economy has continued its resurgence with GDP growth of 0.6% in the second quarter of the year, the fastest of any G7 country. The services sector, particularly IT and scientific research, powered the uplift. However, the consumer-facing sector dropped by 0.1%, indicating a weaker period for physical goods purchases due to the cost of living crisis and poor weather impacting retail sales.

🏠 The proportion of first-time property buyers receiving financial support from the "Bank of Mum and Dad" has reached an 11-year high, as 57% of first-time transactions involved financial assistance from family members. According to Savills research, £9.4 billion was the total amount lent in 2023.

^Markets

_Business

 🏦 Monzo crowned Britain’s favourite bank

📍 Top line: Monzo has once again clinched the top spot in the official league table measuring customer satisfaction. The digital-only bank, founded in 2015, has dominated the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) biannual current account satisfaction ranking since August 2020, occasionally sharing the spotlight with Starling Bank, which most recently secured second place.

The results paint a clear picture: digital banks are outshining their traditional counterparts, with Chase also leading the charge in the rankings.

The CMA survey is now a crucial benchmark for banks, with results updated every six months and mandatory for display both online and in branches.

Elsewhere in Business:

✈️ Wizz Air, the budget airline, has introduced an ‘all you can fly’ subscription that offers unlimited flights for an annual fee of £428. Flights can only be booked within 72 hours, however, making the scheme most useful for frequent flyers.

🍺 Carlsberg’s CEO, Jacob Aarup-Andersen, has responded to a decline in UK sales by launching an attack on the ‘fake’ Madri beer. Madri Excepcional, which labels itself as ‘the soul of Madrid’ is brewed in Yorkshire and its recent rise in popularity, at the expense of the Danish beer giant, provoked Aarup-Andersen to question its legitimacy.

_{On this day}

In 1947: Just one day before India gained its independence from Britain, Pakistan is recognised as an independent nation.

_Tech

📱 Major security flaw discovered in Google Pixel phones

📍Top line: While promising ‘security’ as the standout feature of its products, Google has failed to tackle a major privacy flaw in its flagship phone, the Pixel.

A report from iVerify has revealed undetectable software that 'could be hijacked by attackers’ and used to take control of the phones has been automatically installed into all Pixel Android devices since 2017.

iVerify’s chief operating officer stated that the flawed software has “the potential to be a backdoor into basically any Pixel in the world”.

The discovery, and Google’s lack of response, has prompted data analytics giant Palantir to ditch Android phones entirely.

Elsewhere in Tech:

🤖 Elon Musk’s chatbot, Grok, is allowing users to create deepfake images of Biden, Trump and Harris in the lead-up to the US election. The vast majority of other image-generating AI softwares have banned prompts that mention any presidential candidates in attempts to safeguard against the spread of fake news. Already an image generated by Grok, depicting Trump firing a rifle out of a moving truck, has been viewed 400,000 times.

📦 Amazon's drone delivery service, Prime Air, has been given the green light to test operations in the UK. The online retail giant has secured approval from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to test drones beyond the visual range of human operators, setting the stage for swift package deliveries straight to customers' homes.

_{Job of the day}

📈 Investment management giant, BlackRock, are recruiting for their Corporate and Strategic Functions Analyst Programme. The two-year experience, which promises to immerse individuals in the world of financial management, is open to anyone graduating with a bachelor’s or master's degree from September 2024. Read more and apply here.

Beyond The Biz

👮 Five arrests have been made in connection with the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry. The star’s death last October was attributed to “acute effects of ketamine”. Perry’s personal assistant and two doctors are among those arrested by LA police, who stated they have uncovered a “broad underground criminal network” of drug suppliers.

🦠 The first case of mpox outside Africa has been detected in Sweden, where the country’s health agency has identified a ‘more dangerous’ strain of the disease. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. While the risk in the UK remains low, medical professionals have been placed on alert.

🎶 Taylor Swift made a triumphant return to the stage at Wembley Stadium last night, wowing fans with a breathtaking performance as she resumed her highly anticipated tour. This marked her first concert since cancelling her Vienna shows after authorities arrested two individuals suspected of plotting a terrorist attack.