Axon Enterprise
This post will briefly explore Axon Enterprises: the global leader in public safety technologies. I became interested in Axon Enterprises in the last year due to their evolving business model (subscription based) and the significant lack of competitors within the industry. Axon rose to prominence following the development of the Taser electroshock weapons. The core…
Disney & 21st Century Fox
After nearly two years of anticipation due to a range of problems including regulations and a bidding war with Comcast, Walt Disney Company completed its $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets. This post will discuss the merger between Disney & 21st Century Fox, why it was such a huge event and the ongoing…
Key Features of the Dot-Com Bubble
This post will briefly touch on three key defining features of the Dot-come bubble that have cropped up repeatedly in my reading and why they have continued to be discussed today. Due to swiftly increasing enthusiasm, the bubble entailed companies being ‘floated with no revenues, and not much of a business plan, and achieving huge…
Recent posts…
Investing in Africa
This post will briefly touch on the ongoing saga surrounding investment in Africa and particularly recent concerns about the sustainability of rising debt levels. I first became interested specifically in South Africa after reading about the leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa and his attempts to attract FDI. Zambian economist Dr Dambisa Moyo summarises why Africa’s economy…
Mark Carney’s Final Contributions as Governor
Mark Carney’s term as the Governor of the Bank of England is due to expire this March. This post will briefly explore his final thoughts and contributions as governor which have been especially relevant throughout the process of Brexit. Carney is an economist and banker who began his career at Goldman Sachs before joining the…
5G, T-Mobile & Sprint
On February 11th, the $26.5 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint was approved after a lengthy process entailing numerous reservations and antitrust criticisms from the US government. The merger has faced multiple setbacks widely due to public concerns which became particularly severe in 2019 when ten attorneys filed a suit to block the merger as…
Google’s Acquisition of Fitbit
Fitbit’s initial success has been widely acknowledged due to a variety of factors. After a successful IPO filing and NYSE listing in 2015, the brand’s diverse customer base contributed to product availability in over 100 countries worldwide through channels including ‘39,000 retail stores, retailer websites, Fitbit.com, Fitbit Premium and Fitbit Health Solutions’.[1] Fitbit’s major value…
Was the Amazon – Whole Foods Merger a Success?
On the 15th June 2017, Amazon’s purchase of organic & natural food giant Whole Foods Market was valued at $13.7 billion, $42 per share. Amazon had long-intended to enter the traditional retailing industry and the move was recognized as a game-changer due to its adverse effects on shares of rival grocers alongside a 29% skyrocket…
iRobot’s Leading Position
This post will explore leading global consumer robot company iRobot and how they have managed to maintain a leading industry position for the last 25 years. Award-winning products such as the Roomba Vacuuming and Braava family of mopping robots have contributed to achieving their principal vision of making cleaning more efficient, equipping people with time…
Embracing Robo Advisors
While my previous post on innovation within the financial industry considered the vastly differing global attitudes to FinTech broadly, this post will look specifically at Robo Advisors. Customers depend on Robo Advisors for a variety of services varying from chatbots such as Bank of America’s Erica for assistance with basic questions to large digital wealth…
What Determines Asymmetrical FinTech Adoption?
While significant innovations in FinTech such as AI, big data analytics and blockchain have surfaced rapidly, this global evolution has not been consistent with scholars frequently referencing the cluster-like nature of progression. Through consideration of trends in various countries, this post aims to explore possible explanations for the fragmentation with a specific focus on China.…
Leadership Profile: Leda Braga
I first became interested in Leda Braga after watching a recording of her lecture on data science at the ‘Women in Data Science’ conference at Stanford University in 2018. Braga has been described as ‘the most powerful female hedge fund manager in the world’.[1] After spending 14 years as Head of Systematic Trading at BlueCrest…
Russia’s Economy & Oil Prices
Russia is a particularly interesting economy to study largely due to the fact that there is very limited research in the field. This is surprising given the scale of the economy, the potential for investors and track record of major financial reforms. This post will briefly touch on one of the main topics researchers discuss…
Reaganomics & Inequality
The first year of the Reagan Administration has been widely regarded as a crucial turning moment in American economic history. While Reagan’s impact has been widely praised, recent fears surrounding rising inequality in the US have linked Reaganomics to current trends feeding the issue. This post seeks to briefly outline the major components of Reaganomics…
Leadership Profile: Stanley O’Neal
In October 2007, Merrill Lynch declared a $7.9 billion write-down due to their substantial dependence on mortgage-based collateralized debt obligations, trading partners’ loss of confidence in their solvency and a dubious ability to refinance money market obligations.[1] By September 2008, Bank of America had agreed to purchase Merrill Lynch for 0.8595 shares of Bank of…
Mississippi during The Great Depression
The Great Depression has been frequently described as ‘one of the greatest disasters in American history’ due to its disastrous impact on income, tax revenue, profits and unemployment.[1] Perhaps unsurprisingly, the adverse impacts on banks in Mississippi were relentless which becomes particularly apparent when considered in conjunction with the impact on national banks. The severity…
Introduction
Hello, welcome to my blog on Financial Institutions 1850-2020. I started this blog to consolidate my understanding of the industry. After studying history at the University of Exeter in the UK, I currently attend business school in Paris where I will shortly be graduating from my masters in International Business. While this blog is a…
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Financial Institutions 1850-2020 