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Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has scored a decisive victory in a shareholder vote over his $1tn pay package, winning his second record stock award in as many years and putting the billionaire’s control of the electric-vehicle maker beyond doubt. The 12-step package requires Mr. Musk to expand Tesla’s stock market valuation to $8.5tn from around $1.4tn, while hitting a variety of other goals, such as selling 1m robots with humanlike qualities, and 10m paid subscriptions to the company's self-driving software. “What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,” Mr. Musk said, after thanking shareholders for their support. Already the world's richest person, his net worth has eclipsed $450bn according to Altrata, a wealth-intelligence company, and is more than $100bn ahead of Jeff Bezos in second place. 

 

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Under Armour has announced that chief financial officer David Bergman is to step down, and will be replaced by Samsonite CFO Reza Taleghani, with effect from February 2026. The news came alongside details of a second-quarter loss of $18.8m, or four cents per share, down from a profit of $170.4m a year prior. Revenues dropped 5% to $1.3bn. 

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimates that the U.S. jobless rate rose to 4.36% in October, its highest level in four years, from 4.35% in September. "The October 2025 reference week (October 12th through October 18th) for the BLS survey used to estimate the unemployment rate overlapped with the federal government shutdown that began in early October," the Chicago Fed said. "This special factor is likely to be only partially reflected in the October 2025 Final release of the Chicago Fed Labor Market Indicators. The Congressional Budget Office expects that as many as 750,000 federal government workers have been furloughed during the government shutdown, representing up to 0.4 percent of the civilian labor force (as of August 2025 data)."

 

Reuters

Starbucks workers are preparing to strike on November 13th, coinciding with the company's Red Cup Day, unless a contract agreement is reached. The union, Starbucks Workers United, indicated that workers in at least 25 cities plan to participate, with more locations potentially joining if progress is not made. Barista Lupe Gutierrez emphasized the importance of standing up, saying: “We’re not going to stop because we’re scared.” Currently, around 550 of Starbucks' 10,000 U.S. stores are unionized. Starbucks has expressed disappointment over the strike plans, asserting that it already offers competitive pay and benefits. Chief partner officer Sara Kelly noted that the union's proposals, including a 65% pay increase, are not serious. Jasmine Leli, a barista and strike captain, highlighted the disparity in pay, commenting: “Our fight is about actually making Starbucks jobs the best jobs in retail.”

 

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Reuters

Bank of Canada is to lay off 225 staff to help meet a 15% budget cut and as the bank moves to align with a government-wide spending review announced in prime minister Mark Carney’s first budget since taking office. The cuts will take place “over the next few months” and be completed by June, the bank said.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

President Donald Trump has appointed Andrea Lucas as chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a move that signals a vote of confidence for her efforts to stamp out diversity programs and prioritize religious rights in the workplace. Trump elevated Lucas to acting chair of the agency in January and concurrently fired two Democratic commissioners, clearing the way to establish a Republican majority. Lauren Khouri, senior director of workplace equality at the National Women's Law Center, said: “Andrea Lucas was handpicked by Trump to lead the EEOC and his mission of weaponizing the agency to attack hardworking people across the country . . . Lucas has a history of abandoning workers at every turn and leaving them without protection, including women workers, transgender and nonbinary workers, and workers of color."

 

U.S. News

Comcast is reportedly exploring a bid for Warner Bros Discovery's studio and streaming operations, having hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to assist in the evaluation process. The company has gained access to crucial financial data to aid in making a potential offer, while Warner Bros Discovery has received multiple unsolicited bids, indicating significant interest in the media sector. Despite concerns about regulatory hurdles, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh remains optimistic, asserting that “more things are viable than maybe some of the public commentary that’s out there.”

 

Reuters

Private capital group Aquarian Holdings will pay $70 a share in cash for Brighthouse Financial, in a deal to take private one of the largest remaining independent U.S. life insurers.

 

Financial Times

Google is in early discussions to deepen its investment in Anthropic. The new round of funding could value Anthropic at more than $350bn.  Anthropic and its main rival, OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, are in a multitrillion-dollar race to dominate the models that power AI. 

 

Business Insider

Epic Games, the developer of the hit title Fortnite, has reached a "comprehensive settlement" with Google, potentially concluding a five-year legal battle over the Google Play Store for Android apps. The agreement, filed in a San Francisco federal court, aims to enhance competition on the Android platform. Epic chief executive Tim Sweeney described the settlement as an “awesome proposal.” The specific terms remain sealed and require approval from U.S. District Judge James Donato. The settlement follows a ruling that deemed Google's Android app store an illegal monopoly. The agreement also proposes to reduce in-app transaction fees to between 9% and 20%.

 

US News and World Report

Peloton saw its shares rise as much as 12% on Thursday, after beating expectations with a second consecutive profitable quarter. The first quarter ended September 30th brought net income of $13.9m, or three cents per share, up from a loss of $900,000 a year earlier and ahead of the two cents expected on Wall Street. Total sales declined 6% to $551m, but beat estimates of $542.8m. Total members were 5.9 million, down 6% year-over-year and 2% from last quarter. Paid app subscribers, which allows users to access the platform without needing equipment, dropped 8% year-over-year to 542,000. 

 

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Washington Post

The month-end close, traditionally a rigid accounting ritual, is being challenged as outdated. Modern technology has rendered the old batch-processing constraints obsolete, allowing for real-time updates and automated reconciliations. The 2025 AICPA Survey on Continuous Finance highlights that firms adopting automated reconciliation have seen a 60%-70% reduction in manual workload. The shift enables finance teams to maintain current books rather than scrambling at month-end. Continuous close models allow for daily reconciliations and immediate exception handling, transforming the close into a more efficient process. As a result, the focus shifts from retrospective confirmation to real-time monitoring, making the work more actionable and valuable. Transitioning to this model doesn't require a complete overhaul but rather a strategic automation of key processes.

 

Accounting Today

Public backing for extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits remains robust, with a recent KFF poll indicating that 74% of U.S. adults support the continuation of these subsidies, although this is slightly down from 78% in September. These credits, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, have significantly increased health insurance enrollment to 24m since 2021. Without an extension, enrollees could face an average premium hike of 114%. The poll also revealed a decline in Republican support for the credits, dropping to 50% from 59%. Democrats and independents largely favor the extension, 94% and 76% respectively. As the government shutdown continues, Democrats insist that any funding package must include the ACA subsidies.

 

Reuters

The IFRS Foundation, responsible for global accounting and sustainability reporting standards, is facing significant financial challenges. Michel Madelain, managing director, announced that the foundation could lose £5m ($6.5m) in fiscal year 2025, following a previous loss of £1.6m. To address these issues, Madelain has initiated a cost-cutting program and emphasized the need for stable, long-term funding sources, moving away from reliance on voluntary donations. He explained: "the foundation needed to replace voluntary donations from government and private sources with stable, long-term funding arrangements."

 

Bloomberg Tax

Eighteen people have been arrested in Germany and a number of other countries in connection with an alleged international online fraud and money laundering network. The network made fraudulent charges for online subscriptions at bogus websites, precipitating more than €300m ($345m) in damages, according to Germany's Federal Criminal Police (BKA) and public prosecutors in the western German city of Koblenz. Some employees at four major German payment providers are accused of collaborating with the network.

 

Financial Times

RTE

The Louvre has spent too much on new artworks and not enough on security in recent years, France’s state auditor has said. Pierre Moscovici, the head of the French Court of Auditors, France's highest audit institution, said in a highly critical report on Thursday that last month's heist was a "deafening wake-up call" for museum security, which had been moving at a "woefully inadequate pace." 

 

France 24

Financial Times