Good morning. Today we're talking about Amazon’s return to the office, the Murdoch family court case and falling US interest rates.

Big Stories

Amazon’s office return

Amazon announced a significant shift in its remote work policy, requiring all corporate employees to return to the office for five days a week starting in January 2025. It marks a reversal of the company's previous hybrid work arrangement, which allowed employees to work remotely for three days per week. The decision to mandate a full return to the office is part of Amazon's broader efforts to streamline its operations and strengthen its company culture. CEO Andy Jassy emphasised the importance of in-person collaboration and teamwork in driving productivity and innovation. This move by Amazon is likely to influence other companies in the tech industry and beyond, as it demonstrates a growing trend towards stricter return-to-office policies. As businesses continue to adapt to the post-pandemic landscape, the debate over the optimal balance between remote and in-office work is likely to intensify.

Murdoch family heads to court

A legal battle over the fate of Rupert Murdoch’s empire began last week as the media mogul seeks to change the rules of his family trust to put his oldest son in complete control. The trust that holds the family’s assets - and thereby control of News Corp and Fox News - is currently set up to give Rupert’s eldest four children equal stakes upon his death. He wants to change it to make his son Lachlan the sole beneficiary. That’s because Lachlan reportedly has the same right-wing views as his father, while the others have differing ideologies (Rupert’s younger son, James, recently endorsed Kamala Harris). Murdoch’s argument hinges on the claim that giving control to his other children would change the ideological lean of his media companies, which would hurt their value. On average, right-wing channel Fox gets 2m viewers per night, substantially more than the left-leaning CNN and MSNBC. Despite the best efforts of several media organisations to get access to the case files and the trial, the court maintains that the proceedings are a private family matter.

US rates slashed

The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by a half-percentage point - more aggressive than many expected - marking the first rate reduction since March 2020. When US inflation hit a 40-year high in 2022, the Fed swiftly increased interest rates to a two decade-high. When price rises cooled over the past year there was growing pressure for the US central bank to cut rates or else run the risk of pushing the economy into a recession. But the central bank resisted, wanting more proof that inflation had tempered. Optimism is now growing that the start of the Fed’s easing cycle will help guide the US economy toward a soft landing. News of the rate cut sent US stock market indices to all-time highs. However Chair Jerome Powell cautioned against assuming big cuts would continue and signalled borrowing costs may need to remain higher than pre-pandemic norms.

Elsewhere...

Bumper sales: Pret a Manger reported £1bn in global sales for the first time last year as the UK sandwich chain ramped up its expansion overseas.

End of an era: Plastic food storage firm Tupperware has filed for bankruptcy after years of falling popularity and financial troubles.

New leadership: Nike named a new CEO amid its efforts to reinvigorate slowing sales growth.

Changing hands: The owner of the Guardian has confirmed it is in talks to sell the Observer, the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, to Tortoise Media.

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Number of the Day

163

Age of Harland and Wolff, the builder of the Titanic, as it announced its insolvency this week. The company has struggled to keep up with new technology and funding needs.

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