The story began, as so often, with a falling out.
On the one hand Mr Money -
Asoka Wöhrmann
, buddy of
Deutsche Bank
boss
Christian Sewing
and head of the fund subsidiary
DWS
for three years
.
On the other hand, Ms Green -
Desiree Fixler
, who was DWS's head of sustainability for a short time.
Only a few months after the former investment banker started her job there, the dispute between him and her escalated - and culminated in Fixler's accusation: DWS was doing "greenwashing"; the way you invest your customers' money is not as sustainable as you pretend. DWS denies this. But the scandal that the top manager, who has since been fired, triggered with it, is causing horror throughout the entire financial world.
Because green investment products are the hottest thing right now.
ESG investments are booming, in Germany alone they have almost tripled in five years.
Now the whistleblower's confessions reveal how easy it is for banks to sell fairly ordinary companies to investors as particularly sustainable ones.
The DWS share price has collapsed, the supervisory authorities in Germany and the USA are alarmed - and for Deutsche Bank (it is known to hold almost 80 percent of DWS shares), at least one issue is its reputation.
My colleague Katharina Slodczyk tells the story of the genesis and consequences of the fund scandal, peppered with internal details.
The whole thing, at the same time the cover story of our new magazine, is adorned with this beautiful photo montage:
The economic news of the day:
The German auto industry is opening its tech alliances, as we have researched exclusively. For example, the digital map service
Here
, which
Nokia
acquired
for billions a few years ago
, is to go public via Spac. The owners
Audi
,
BMW
and
Daimler
pushed for lower costs for a long time, and additional investors such as
Intel
or the suppliers
Bosch
and
Conti
did not help. Now they are releasing Here into freedom - and at least financially speculating on a highly profitable business.
And movement also
comes into play
with the second major alliance, the
Ionity
charging station
network
.
A total of 750 million euros should flow into the company in order to finally be able to make the necessary investments.
The US investor
Blackrock
, who alone is pumping half a billion into Ionity, is to
lead the capital
round.
The
German Telekom
plans, meanwhile, an austerity program.
As is well known, the group is groaning under a gigantic debt burden, wants to buy additional shares in the highly profitable subsidiary T-Mobile US at the same time and is to expand the fiber optic network at home with billions.
For CEO
Tim Höttges
, that means lower costs.
A total of 3000 jobs are to be cut, especially those of senior executives.
In the US, a spectacular deal in the offing: The financial services provider
Paypal
apparently plans to take over the social media platform
Pinterest
.
With a hefty premium on the share price, PayPal is said to value the service at a proud $ 45 billion.
And another billion sum from the USA, which makes an impression, at least in the global auto industry.
The electric car manufacturer
Tesla
presented the figures for the third quarter.
While other automakers shut down production or close factories because of the chip crisis, Tesla reported a surprisingly high $ 13.8 billion in sales - and a net profit of around $ 1.6 billion.
Another record quarter.
What else was on our mind:
The pipes are under the Baltic Sea, gas is in, now someone just needs to turn the tap on - the
Nord Stream 2
pipeline
could alleviate Europe's acute gas crisis.
The billion-dollar project is still facing months of drama.
Politicians argue, on both sides of the Atlantic, across Europe and also in Berlin.
So what's next for the pipeline?
And then this:
Donald Trump
is planning a comeback.
As is well known, Twitter and Co have banned the ex-president from their platforms.
Now he wants to build his own social media network, as he announced.
For invited guests.
The relevant company is established, a SPAC's IPO in the pipeline and the name also is already clear:
"Truth Social"
My recommendation for the evening:
The Munich company
Flixmobility
announced the takeover of the US icon
Greyhound
this Thursday
.
The Germans want to buy the US market leader for less than 150 million euros - and thus become the undisputed number one for intercity bus trips in America.
In the long term, however, the three founders to work
André Schwämmlein
on the very large business in the home: the long-distance rail traffic.
My colleague Philipp Alvares has researched
how they
attack
their favorite opponents from
Deutsche Bahn
and what exactly they are up to: The attack plans of the green founders
Stay confident. Sincerely, your Lukas Heiny
