☕️ Former member of 1MDB board of advisors got paid RM25k/month, despite not having any meetings

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

Mariah Carey has earned more than USD 60 mil (£48 mil) in royalties from her hit song “All I Want for Christmas is You” since appearing on the album Merry Christmas in 1994. That’s an average of USD2.14 mil per year of easy income. Fun fact — 177 songs share the same title, according to the United States Copyright Office.

SoftBank Group Corp’s venture capital fund — Vision Fund — reported a loss of USD7.2 bil in the July-Sept quarter. Analysts, who were waiting for another round of shares buyback announcements, were left disappointed as there were none. SoftBank’s shares plunged as much as 12% Monday in its biggest intraday drop since the pandemic outbreak in early 2020.

2,000-year-old ring, believed to have been worn by a Celtic leader, is expected to fetch up to £30,000 at an auction. The ring dates back to 100BC, decades before the Roman invasion of Britain. The 66-year-old collector found the ring in the 1990s and kept it in a cupboard for 28 years before deciding to get it valued.

Interested to meet like-minded marketing folks? There’s an event just for you!

Underdog Marketing Conference brings marketers and business owners together to meet, get new ideas and do business. If you want to grow your business or make new connections, this is the event to go to!

And as a reader of The Coffee Break, you get RM20 off tickets with coupon code: coffeecon

Get your tickets here!

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

GE15 daily digest

• PM Ismail Sabri announced Nov 18 and 19 (Friday and Saturday) as public holidays. So, it will be a long weekend for fellow Malaysians to go out and vote. PM Ismail Sabri also said that no toll fees will be charged on highways provided by 30 concessionaires starting from 12.01 am on Nov 18 until 11.59 pm on Nov 19.

• Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has confirmed Anifah Aman’s allegation that he did offer the Parti Cinta Sabah president a ministerial position, given BN does win GE15. Previously, Anifah claimed that Zahid offered him ministership in return for not contesting in GE15.

• Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has clarified that no ‘fishy businesses’ has occurred in the military personnel’s postal voting process, stating that ballot papers had been distributed since last Monday (Nov 7).

• Covid-19 positive voters must mask on at all times during the voting process, while masking is encouraged for others to reduce the spread of the disease during the polling day. Below are the general guidelines for new and seasoned voters, courtesy of our DG Hisham.

• According to the Met Department, heavy rain is predicted in the evening in most states during polling day. So, it is advisable for voters to fulfil their responsibilities as Malaysians in the morning before the weather starts to come in the way.

Paid RM25,000 in monthly allowances as advisor despite not having any meetings

In Najib Razak’s misappropriation of RM2.28bil 1MDB fund, prosecution witness and former Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar told the court that he received RM25,000 every month, from 2013 until 2016, for being a member of the board of advisors (BOA) of 1MDB, even though no meetings were held. Prior to receiving the monthly allowances, Irwan also received a lump-sum payment of RM221,774 for his ‘services’. Based on the back of the envelope calculation, Irwan received about RM1.12mil of public funds in return for nothing. Kenyang.

Rosmah’s Birkin handbags — home sweet home, soon

The government failed to retain the possession of items raided by the police after GE14 from the infamous Pavilion Residences, ranging from 2,435 pieces of jewellery, seven watches and 29 handbags. The High Court dismissed the government’s bid to forfeit the items as the prosecution failed to link the items seized to 1MDB funds. The judge then ruled that he had made no order to whom the properties will be returned to. Last year, Putrajaya also failed to hold onto RM114mil of cash obtained from the same Pavilion Residences.

Business news updates:

1. U Mobile has inked an agreement with Time to work together in providing fibre broadband. With this new cooperation, U Mobile claimed that their fibre coverage has been expanded by 650%, leveraging Time’s existing fibre infrastructure, especially in high-rise residential areas.

2. Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd (KAB) has sealed a 20-year solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with subsidiaries of Nextgreen Global to design, construct, install, own, operate, and maintain solar PV systems on rooftops of multiple buildings at Nextgreen’s Green Technology Park in Pekan, Pahang. Cumulatively, the said PV systems have a 3,387-kilowatt peak (kWp) capacity, which can power about 330 homes per year.

3. The domestic aviation industry will be more crowded as Sarawak will have its own boutique airline soon, pending a license to be issued by the transport ministry. The new unnamed airline will operate under the existing Hornbill Skyways platform and international tourists need not transit at Kuala Lumpur anymore if they want to visit Sarawak.

4. However, not all airlines are thinking of expanding as AirAsia - the aviation arm of Capital A may merge with AirAsia X (AAX). The consolidation of these two airlines may be a necessary one in order to address the PN17 statuses of both airlines. According to sources cited by The Edge, the merger will be on a non-cash basis (basically getting paid in shares), with the merged entity continuing to be listed on Bursa under the name AAX.

5. Malaysia's largest private unit trust company, Public Mutual, with a total net asset value (NAV) of RM88.7bil, has internally promoted Chiang Kang Pey as its new CEO, following the retirement of Yeoh Kim Hong, that held the top position for the last 15 years.NAV: net value of an entity and is calculated as the total value of the entity’s assets minus the total value of its liabilities, then divided by the number of outstanding shares.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Biden & Xi met ahead of the G20 summitChinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden held talks in person for the first time since the latter became president. Biden has stressed repeatedly that the US does not want conflict with Xi and wants the world’s two biggest economies to work together. Xi responded, “We need to find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward and elevate the relationship”.

One of the main topics at the G20 summit in Bali would be the Russia-Ukraine war.

Zelensky: Ukraine is “moving forward” and ready for peaceUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the liberation of Kherson is the “beginning of the end” of the war with Russia. However, Moscow insists it remains Russian territory. To recap, Kherson was captured in March, weeks after the invasion began. Ukrainian forces have continually put Russian forces under increasing pressure. Zelensky thanked NATO and other allies for their support.

An explosion in central Istanbul killed at least sixTurkey’s interior minister Suleyman Soylu believes the Kurdish militants, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), based in northern Syria, were to blame for a bombing in the heart of Istanbul. The EU and the US regard PKK as a terrorist organisation. The person suspected of having left the bomb had been arrested by police. The blast injured 81 people and claimed at least six lives, according to Turkish authorities.

Watch: The explosion and the aftermath (warning - graphic)

Singapore employers told to raise salariesThe National Wages Council (NWC), a tripartite body comprising representatives from the employers, the trade unions and the Government, has called on employers to raise salaries for employees in guidelines released yesterday. The NWC recommended that employers raise the lower-wage workers’ salaries between 5.5% and 7.5%. Singapore is again leading the way and showing how it’s done — a union between the gears of the economy instead of a top-down approach.

Meanwhile, Shopee initiates its third round of layoffs following its most recent one in September.

Shorts

1. China is mulling the use of BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine to make it available to foreigners living in the country. If the vaccine is even conditionally approved, it would be the first time a Western-developed Covid shot has been endorsed in China.BioNTech will set up its mRNA manufacturing plant in Singapore by late 2023, which also serves as the German’s company regional HQ.

2. A Revolutionary Court in Tehran issued the first death sentence to a person arrested for participating in the protests that have engulfed the country. The person had allegedly set fire to a government facility and was guilty of “enmity against God”.

3. In an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, Cristiano Ronaldo shared that he feels betrayed by Manchester United because the club’s hierarchy was trying to force him out of the club. The Portuguese forward mentioned he has “no respect” for manager Erik ten Hag because the latter doesn’t respect him. He added he had not seen an evolution in the club since Six Alex Ferguson left.

4. Left pocket out to the right pocket — SpaceX has purchased a large ad campaign on Twitter for its Starlink service, according to CNBC. The Starlink ad is expected to pop up on Twitter users’ feeds three times after opening the app when the campaign is running. The campaign will first run in Australia and then in Spain.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Streaming giants: Disney vs Netflix

2. The big business of selling chocolate