U.K.-based virtual reality start-up, Improbable, has raised $502 million in one of the largest investments for a European technology business at the embryonic stage of its development. Japanese technology conglomerate, SoftBank, opted to back Improbable in a funding round which has valued the business at approximately $1 billion. “We believe that the next major phase in computing will be the emergence of large-scale virtual worlds which enrich human experience and change how we understand the re

The chief executive of one of Apple’s biggest semiconductor suppliers has insisted that smartphone technology comprises just one aspect of the business’s three-pronged efforts to boost revenues by $1 billion this year, in a bid to abate concerns that Apple could be about to begin a mass withdrawal from its partner network. “The smartphone is an important part of our business, but from a market point of view we have a huge, huge focus on smart driving and the internet of things,” STMicroelectroni

Late last year, photo sharing platform Snap rebranded itself, ditching the “chat” and positing itself to investors as a hardware company touting $130 smart Spectacles – available by vending machine, of course. But the company’s first ever earnings report, published Thursday, disappointed investors. Its augmented reality and camera glasses made just over $8 million, a drop in the ocean of its $150 million revenue. Following the news, Snap shares plummeted to roughly $17.50, their lowest since the

Dubbed the Buzzfeed of Cambodia, content on the site includes sports, fashion, music and lifestyle news — like Cambodian singer Sokun Nisa’s new outfit — all presented in local language. The name Khmerload is in fact derived from the local language, Khmer, and the trend of millennials downloading media content online. The company currently operates in both Cambodia and Myanmar, but its has designs to become the leading digital media player in Southeast Asia. “The local market is underserved,” sa

After receiving doctorates from Stanford, MQ Wang and Tony Zhang formed tech start-up Zero Zero Robotics, and based the company in Beijing. While the start-up has an office in Silicon Valley, its headquarters are in Beijing, with more offices in Shenzhen and Hangzhou. A few years ago, Wang and Zhang likely would have stayed in Silicon Valley — but not today. Global venture funding was down 23 percent last year, but fell 28 percent in Silicon Valley, according to a report by PwC and CB Insights/M

A federal judge on Thursday ordered Wal-Mart Stores Chief Executive Douglas McMillon to submit to questioning in a lawsuit by shareholders hoping to learn what he knows about suspected bribery by the world’s largest retailer in Mexico. U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in Fayetteville, Arkansas, said McMillon’s “direct and personal involvement” in matters underlying a class-action lawsuit justified requiring him to sit for a deposition by the shareholders’ lawyers. McMillon had been president of

Tiffany & Co. just got a nice upgrade from Goldman Sachs. Goldman has initiated a buy rating, up from neutral, on the shares, with a higher price target of $107. Tiffany shares closed Thursday at $92.02, so this implies an upside of more than 16 percent. High-end consumer confidence, for example, has been rising since the election, Goldman noted. Tourists are also giving Tiffany and many of its luxury retail peers a boost, the note said.

OPEC’s limited impact on oil prices since securing a landmark deal to curb oversupply shows its dwindling influence in the energy market, according to the head of commodities research at Commerzbank. “The fairly short-lived effect of production cuts on oil prices shows that OPEC’s market impact via ‘supply control’ is very limited. We have been pointing out for years that OPEC has lost its ‘pricing power’,” Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank, said in a note. “Even so, OP

Thus, while an MBA program can strengthen many important leadership skills, it won’t necessarily produce strength in all of the skills leaders need to be successful. Leaders with business degrees were strong in five of the eight leadership skills. Humanities degree-holders, as the figure above shows, were weak in financial acumen and business savvy — both of which are extremely important for business leaders. In parallel, the data is a wake-up call for MBA programs to balance hard skills with hu

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin emphasized the Trump administration’s excitement after the U.S. and China announced a series of trade measures aimed at improving the trade balance between Washington and Beijing. When asked how he planned to defend the Trump administration’s “America First” trade policies at a G-7 meeting of finance ministers in Italy, Mnuchin told CNBC, “We’re excited about U.S. trade policies and I think you probably saw last night, we made an announcement of a 100 day e

Wilbur Ross: I have a new boss who’s very demanding things get done on time 3 Hours Ago | 02:45Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Friday the new U.S. trade deals with China include a promise to allow Chinese banks greater access in America. In addition to paving the way for U.S. beef imports to China and Chinese chicken imports to the United States, Ross said the agreements with Beijing lay the groundwork for treating Chinese banks the same way as the U.S. treats other foreign banks. “C

I don’t think it will get too much out of hand,” Hang Lung Chairman Ronnie Chan told CNBC’s “Managing Asia.” “At the end of the day, I don’t see U.S. and China relations go out of whack. Hang Lung is one of Hong Kong’s biggest real estate developers, with commercial and residential properties in Hong Kong and the mainland. Chan, whose father founded Hang Lung in 1960, is known for being one of the more outspoken businessmen in Hong Kong. “There will be ups and downs like everybody else, but that

Nicole Kushner Meyer, Jared’s sister, appeared at marketing events last weekend in Beijing and Shanghai in an effort to raise $150 million from Chinese investors through the controversial EB-5 visa-for-investment program. “No one from Kushner Companies will be in China this weekend,” James Yolles, spokesman for the firm, said. Kushner Companies earlier this week apologized for Meyer having mentioned Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, in discussing the project. The company s

German insurance group Allianz on Friday reported rising investment inflows at bond fund manager Pimco and stuck to its operating profit target for 2017. Pimco attracted net investment inflows of 21 billion euros ($22.83 billion) in the first quarter, its strongest quarterly net inflows since the first quarter of 2013. Pimco’s strong performance marks the third consecutive quarter of net inflows for the bond fund powerhouse, and mirrors a strong start to the year seen by rivals including BlackRo

Consumer prices rebounded moderately in April as energy prices climbed back up after a sharp decline in March. The Labor Department says consumer prices rose 0.2 percent after a 0.3 percent drop in March, which was the biggest fall in more than two years. Energy prices rose 1.1 percent after tumbling 3.2 percent the previous month. Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 0.1 percent. The Federal Reserve tries to manage the economy so that annual increases in

Americans stepped up their spending at auto dealers, hardware stores and e-commerce outlets as retail sales rebounded from two sluggish months. The Commerce Department says retail sales increased 0.4 percent in April from March. Sales ticked up just 0.1 percent in March and fell in February. Sales at department stores fell 0.2 percent. Yet a category that includes online retailers reported sales growth of 1.4 percent, the strongest of any group.

Thieves are looking for easy money, said T.J. Horan, vice president of fraud for FICO, the credit scoring company. The speed of wire and electronic transfers makes bank and brokerage accounts a more appealing target, especially as security advances in other areas — like chip and pin technology on debit and credit cards. “Fraudsters tend to move to points where it’s easier to get access to funds,” he said. In a 2013 white paper, Guardian Analytics noted there is an “endless” number of ways transf

New batteries that can charge smartphones fully in just five minutes may be ready to launch as soon as next year, a company claims. The company has similar technology that it says can charge an electric car battery just as fast. “Taking risks with battery technology can bite you,” CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood told the BBC. Both of those technologies take about an hour to charge a smartphone battery. Also, StoreDot’s original prototype, which CNBC covered in 2014, was supposed to charge a smartph

“I don’t wake up at night worrying about deficits,” said Howard Lober, chairman of Douglas Elliman. Lorber’s comment came during a discussion on “Squawk Box” of what changes the Trump administration could make to spur economic growth, including tax reform. With tax reform, he argued, the U.S. deficit will then take care of itself. But according to a recent CNBC All-America Survey, reducing deficits ranks higher than cutting business taxes in the list of the public’s priorities. And when asked to

He and his wife Michelle both had to take out loans to fund their educations, and the couple had “barely finished” paying them off by 2005, when he was 44 and she was 41. The President told an audience in Buffalo, NY:Michelle and I, we’re only where we are today because scholarships and student loans gave us a shot at a great education. And we know a little bit about trying to pay back student loans, too, because we didn’t come from a wealthy family. And even though we got good jobs, we barely f