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Gulf delegations join global business leaders for IMF and World Bank spring meetings amid economic turmoil

The stock market rout and trade tensions are dampening the mood. The IMF downgraded its global growth forecast for the year, while the WTO expects goods trade to grow just 0.2%.
People listen to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva (not pictured) deliver remarks on the global economy, ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in April 2025.Leah Millis/Reuters

China’s trade war playbook is coming into focus

Beijing’s strategy is evolving: In recent days, China has wielded non-tariff weapons to put pressure on American companies specifically.
Cranes and containers are pictured at the Yantian port in Shenzhen.Tingshu Wang/Reuters

‘You’ve got to test and learn on AI’: 4 questions for Publicis Sapient’s Nigel Vaz

The digital consulting CEO says the wait-and-see approach holds back companies from innovation.
Nigel VazPublicis Sapient

‘Focus on what we can control’: Otis CEO Judy Marks on finding growth during uncertainty

The former engineer is overhauling the world’s largest elevator group to withstand tariffs, a China slowdown, and its industry’s biggest change in 170 years.
Judy Marks of Otis Zhang Xiangyi/China News Service/VCG

Activist seeks CEO change at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

The $20 billion server-maker has struggled to gain investor approval and market share under CEO Antonio Neri.
Signs for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. cover the facade of the New York Stock Exchange.Brendan McDermid/File Photo/Reuters

Activist Robby Starbuck plans lobbying arm to make the anti-DEI revolution stick

Corporate America’s most potent adversary is planning a lobbying group for “long-term corporate oversight” of companies’ diversity policies “to ensure that this never happens again.”
Robby Starbuck appears as a guest during a taping of “Candace” Hosted By Candace Owens on August 2, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee.Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

White House plans to target university investments

White House officials plan to examine university endowment efforts as part of a multi-front pressure campaign on elite colleges.

Trump says tariffs will boost US manufacturers, but many are not so sure

Businesses with large production footprints in the US are increasingly warning of budget cuts and layoffs.

Watch: Semafor’s World Economy Summit Spring 2025

Welcome to the virtual broadcast of the World Economy Summit 2025 — twelve sessions over three days dedicated to advancing dialogues that catalyze global growth and fortify resilience in an uncertain, shifting global economy.

Analysis: A stocks rout became a bonds rout. Is private credit next?

President Donald Trump’s tariff shock moved from the stock market to the bond market. The question now is whether it stays there.

Universities have a problem that isn’t Donald Trump — their own investments

Elite institutions made big private equity bets in simpler times, but now face a potential cash crunch thanks to the Trump administration’s threats.

Fed resists pressure to rescue Treasury market

The White House wants the Federal Reserve to let banks load up on Treasury bonds, a move that could steady an unnerved market for US debt. But the Fed isn’t in a hurry.

Lighthizer expects Japan to link tariffs, steel deal

Trump’s first-term trade czar, who remains influential on tariff policy, told a Wall Street investor crowd that Japan is a “great” partner.

How Bloomberg — and ‘Bloomberg’ — drove markets and headlines

The finance data and media company has tried fruitlessly to find the owner of the “Walter Bloomberg” account, which coasts off Bloomberg’s name for clicks. But in 2025, someone like “Walter” can shake Wall Street.

Middle East investors maintain private equity allocations

The long-term asset class is showing resilience in 2025 with investors saying they plan to maintain or only modestly adjust their allocations.

‘Let the bad news travel as fast as the good news’: 5 questions for Elanco Animal Health’s Jeff Simmons

He sees growth coming from AI-powered innovation, the world’s growing love of dogs, and the Make America Healthy Again agenda.

‘Our stuff works and it saves money’: How Booz Allen is racing to escape the wrath of DOGE

The argument from CEO Horacio Rozanski: What DOGE sees as the problem can be its solution.

US inflation slows in March, but tariffs likely to raise prices

The consumer price index was lower than expected in March, but analysts say Donald Trump’s tariffs are set to raise inflation.