Disney says it will name CEO Bob Iger’s second successor in 2026

Walt Disney said it would announce another replacement for CEO Bob Iger in early 2026 and named a veteran of Morgan Stanley as board chair on Monday, for the first time announcing a timetable for succession at the storied media and entertainment company.James Gorman will step down as executive chair of Morgan Stanley at the end of 2024 and take on the position at Disney in January. He had served as CEO of the Wall Street bank for 14 years and is credited with transforming it into a wealth management powerhouse.Iger stepped down as CEO of Disney in 2020 after 15 years there, serving as executive chair for another year. However, in late 2022, Disney’s board dismissed Iger’s appointed successor, Bob Chapek, and requested Iger return

UK interest rates to fall to 2.75% by next autumn, Goldman Sachs predicts

Interest rates are on course to fall to 2.75% by next autumn after the Bank of England reduces the cost of borrowing at each of its nine next meetings, a leading investment bank has predicted.Economists at Goldman Sachs said that, according to their assessment of the long-term level of interest rates consistent with achieving the government’s 2% inflation target, markets were underestimating the likely extent of the action by Threadneedle Street’s nine-strong monetary policy committee (MPC).“Our findings suggest that Bank rate remains notably restrictive and – together with rapidly falling inflation and dovish MPC commentary – reinforces our view that the Bank of England will ultimately lower rates more than priced,” the US lender said in a research note.“We remain comfortable with our forecast for consecutive 0

TikTok owner sacks intern for allegedly sabotaging AI project

The owner of TikTok has sacked an intern for allegedly sabotaging an internal artificial intelligence project.ByteDance said it had dismissed the person in August after they “maliciously interfered” with the training of artificial intelligence (AI) models used in a research project.Thanks to the video-sharing app TikTok and its Chinese counterpart, Douyin, which rank among the world’s most popular mobile apps, ByteDance has risen to become one of the world’s most important social media companies.Like other big players in the tech sector, ByteDance has raced to embrace generative AI. Its Doubao chatbot earlier this year took over from the competitor Baidu’s Ernie in the race to produce a Chinese rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Musk pledges $1m each day in apparent bid to galvanize Republican voters

Elon Musk said on Saturday that America Pac, the Donald Trump-allied political action committee he founded, will give $1m every day until the presidential election to someone who signs his petition that appears to be a way to incentivize Republicans in battleground states to register to vote.“We are going to be awarding $1m randomly to people who have signed the petition,” Musk said at a town hall event in Pennsylvania. “One of the challenges we’re having is how do we get the public to know about this petition because the legacy media won’t report on it.”“I figured, so how do we get people to know about it? I think this news will really fly. So every day between now and the election we will be awarding $1m, starting tonight,” Musk said, before presenting an oversized lottery-style check to the first winner of the prize draw

RFU warned schools crisis risks rugby becoming a ‘declining minority sport’

The Rugby Football Union has been warned it is facing an existential crisis and has been urged to make radical changes in schools rugby to avoid becoming a “declining ­minority sport” that could weaken Steve Borthwick’s England side amid a damaging decline in participation.According to an independently chaired review commissioned by the RFU, “rugby is not winning” in the schools marketplace because of “changing attitudes and values ­coupled with greater risk aversion in the part of society”. The review, entitled Changing the Game: the Future of Schools Rugby in England, also highlights fears over head injuries and an image problem of a sport for “posh white boys” as reasons behind the decline in participation numbers.In response the RFU has ­commit­ted to the rollout over the next four years of a non-contact form of the sport called T1 Rugby, while the review also recommends ­introducing a third “reduced contact” variant of the game alongside the traditional model to ease parents’ fears over injuries and break down perceived barriers to entry into the sport.“In the schools ‘marketplace’, rugby is not winning,” the report, led by Sir Jon Coles, chief executive of national schools group United ­Learning, read

England turn to sixth captain of 2024 as Livingstone steps in for injured Buttler

Liam Livingstone will become the sixth man to captain England this year, taking the reins for the one-day international series against West Indies, after yet another setback for Jos Buttler in his return from a calf injury.Buttler, 34, has not played senior cricket since England’s failed defence of the T20 World Cup in June and the problem – a calf strain first picked up while running on the beach during a family holiday – is now proving a concern for the medical staff because of repeated relapses.Originally expected to return for the white-ball series at home against Australia in September, Buttler was forced to watch from the sidelines after reinjuring the muscle during rehabilitation. A second setback occurred while running last week, ruling Buttler out of three ODIs in the Caribbean that begin in Antigua on 31 October, and leaving him battling to be ready for the five-match Twenty20 international series that follows.Michael Pepper, the Essex wicketkeeper-batter, has been named as Buttler’s replacement in the ODIs, with Livingstone now confirmed to be leading that team