Skip to content
WCRCLeaders

Category

Business

The $111bn integration test: how Skydance will be run

Paramount has closed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery and renamed the combined group Skydance. The governance design it chose, with a chairman-CEO, a co-CEO in charge of integration, passive Gulf capital and a court-backed news-independence board, says a great deal about what the company will prioritise first.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial Desk

Détente in two-month instalments: planning for China after the Washington summit

Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington produced reciprocal tariff cuts on $30bn of goods, a new trade council and an AI dialogue. But the trade truce itself was extended by only two months, to 10 January 2027. For companies with China exposure, relief now comes in short, conditional increments.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial Desk

Is negotiated export restraint the new trade tool? The EU-China hybrid car deal

The EU and China have agreed a "shared understanding" that Brussels says could cut Chinese hybrid car exports to Europe by more than half. Neither side has published a baseline or a mechanism. For European carmakers and Chinese brands alike, the most important part of the deal is the part nobody has written down yet.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial Desk

India's first rate hike since 2023: what it means for capex and the festive season

The Reserve Bank of India has raised its policy rate for the first time since February 2023 and signalled that cuts are off the table. With growth still forecast at 7.1%, the message to companies is that money will cost more, not that the economy is slowing.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial Desk

The AI import bill: why tariffs have not shrunk the US trade deficit

The US trade deficit widened sharply in August as imports of capital goods, semiconductors and industrial supplies rose. Federal Reserve research shows why tariffs have done little to stop it: the hardware behind the AI build-out is largely exempt.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial Desk

Gulf integration as strategy: the UAE-Saudi rail and grid pact

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding to study cross-border freight rail and to trade electricity. It carries no price tag and no timetable. It does, however, show the Gulf's two largest economies treating physical integration as policy, and companies planning GCC-wide operations should read it that way.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial Desk