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An American businessman whose firm invested in several European soccer clubs that struggled under its ownership has been indicted in New York on charges of financial wrongdoing in an alleged $500 million fraud scheme. Josh Wander was a co-founder of Miami-based 777 Partners that owned stakes in an Australian airline, plus soccer clubs Hertha Berlin in Germany, Genoa in Italy, Standard Liege in Belgium, and Vasco da Gama in Brazil. The 777 story became a cautionary tale in the global soccer trend of multi-club ownership investors taking stakes in several clubs in different countries. European soccer body UEFA has identified the trend as a threat to the integrity of games and the player trading industry worth more than $10 billion each year. As alleged, Wander used his investment firm, 777 Partners, to cheat private lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by pledging assets that his firm did not own, falsifying bank statements and making other material misrepresentations about 777s financial condition, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. The indictment charging Wander with wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit those crimes was unsealed Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. Most of the charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years. Wanders lawyer, Jordan Estes, told The Associated Press on Friday that Wander looks forward to setting the record straight. This is a business dispute dressed up as a criminal case, Estes said in a written statement. Wander and 777 had failed last year in targeting their biggest capture in soccer, nine-time English champion Everton, amid increasing scrutiny of the business and a lawsuit in New York from a London-based investor. Reporting about 777s soccer interests, led by Norwegian soccer magazine Josimar, intensified even before Wander was elected to a board seat at the influential European Club Association, a network of hundreds of teams that shapes the Champions League and other competitions. Wanders firm had moved heavily into soccer in 2021, buying stakes in financially distressed clubs recovering from playing in empty stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic. The former chief financial officer at 777, Damien Alfalla, is cooperating with the government, the FBI said, and made a guilty plea this week. The women and men of the SDNY and our law enforcement partners will continue to work tirelessly to protect our investors and our markets, Clayton said. Another 777 executive, Steven Pasko, also is targeted in a civil law court filing Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It wasn’t immediately clear who is representing Pasko.
Category:
E-Commerce
Between July and September, electric vehicle sales in the U.S. hit a record high. Americans bought more than 430,000 EVs, up 40% from the previous quarter, as they race to qualify for federal tax credits before they expire. That EV boom wasnt just limited to the U.S., though: Global EV sales hit an all-time high of 2.1 million in September. Two-thirds of those sales were in China, the worlds largest EV market. And yet, theres still talk of an EV retreat, both in the U.S. and abroad. Automakers have expressed concerns about their EV profits, and policymakers in Canada and the European Union are pausing, or adjusting, their EV mandates. Theres an inherent duality of the market moment were in, says Corey Cantor, research director of the Zero Emissions Transportation Association. On the one hand, EV sales are higher than they have ever been, and yet automakers still remain concerned. Heres why, and whats going on in the electric vehicle landscape. EV rush before tax credits expired EVs counted for nearly 11% of total vehicle sales in the U.S. between July and September. Thats a big increase from the same time period last year, when their share was 8.6%, according to Cox Automotive, which recently released data about the countrys third quarter EV sales. That jump wasnt a surpriseit was expected, experts say. Americans were rushing to buy EVs before the federal tax credits expired on September 30. The tax credits, part of President Bidens Inflation Reduction Act, offered up to $7,500 back for Americans who bought a new EV, if the cars they purchased met certain conditions. There was also a credit of up to $4,000 available for used EVs. President Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated those tax credits, killing what analysts say was a key catalyst for EV adoption. EVs are still seen as a premium purchase; in August, the average EV cost more than $57,000, according to Cox$9,000 more than a similar gas car. Concerns about future growth Not every automaker benefited from all those third quarter EV sales, either. Cox Automotive notes that Mercedes-Benz EV sales in that time period were mostly flat year-over-year, and Toyota and Nissan sold fewer EVs during that boom than they did in the third quarter of 2024. Despite the backlash Tesla has been dealing with throughout 2025, that carmaker actually saw an 8% sales increase year-over-year, but its share of total EV sales has fallen. Tesla once made up 49% of all EV sales in the third quarter of 2024, but its share this past quarter was 41%. Volkswagen, General Motors, Honda, and Hyundai had notable increases in their EV sales. Volkswagen and GMs sales were more than double the levels one year ago. But those automakers still have concerns. This week, GM said it was taking a $1.6 billion hit from changing its EV rollout in the U.S. It changed its rollout in part because of Trumps elimination of the tax credits, and his move to loosen emissions regulations. These policies make the future far less certain for automakers. Federal policies could tighten again in a couple of years or remain the same, Cantor says. The federal policy pathway is far less clear moving forward than it was a year ago. One thing experts do expect is that U.S. EV sales will slump after this quarter, because that surge to purchase before the tax credits expired pulled forward sales that would have been spread out over more time. Cox Automotive forecasts that EV sales will drop notably in Q4 and through the early months of 2026. EV struggles worldwide Changing U.S. policies arent only affecting the EV sales outlook here. Trumps tariffs are also adding costs for automakers in international markets, like Canada and across the European Union. The EU recently said it would review its 2035 target for cutting car emissions to zero. A policy note published before those talks highlighted challenges for the European car industry, including higher tariffs on shipments to the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported, as well as low profit margins for EVs and the growth of cheaper Chinese offerings. China has been dominating the EV market, not just in its own country but worldwide, in part because it offers extremely affordable EVssome priced as low as $10,000. But that could make the market oversaturated. While Chinese EV sales are increasing, that growth is happening more and more at the expense of profitability, the Wall Street Journal notes; more than 110 EV brands operated there in 2023, and they likely wont all last. Hope for the future Even before Trumps policies, there was talk of an EV sales slump in 2024. Thats because while sales were increasing, the rate at which they were growing sloweda common issue for all new technologies as they vie for mainstream appeal. Early adopters drive that beginning growth, and then the industry has to figure out how to attract everyone else. Now, changing federal policies are making that next step even more difficult. But EV experts still have hope. We’d expect the impact of these policy changes to be most acute during the forthcoming year, Cantor says. Overall, the global move towards electric vehicles continues. The International Energy Agency said in May that it expects one in four cars sold worldwide this year to be electric. Cox Automotive says EV sales are the future, too. Cx Automotive continues to believe that over the long termthe next 10 years or moresales of vehicles powered solely by internal combustion engines will continue to decline, the company wrote in its Q3 EV sales report. Electrified vehicleshybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure EVsare the future. We might not get to that future as fast as EV advocates hoped, though. Biden set a goal for EVs to make up 50% of all vehicle sales by 2030. Cox now says EV sales can hit 25% by then. So growth will be slower, but certainly moving out of the niche category, Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox, wrote in September. And though the future of U.S. federal policy is up in the air, experts still say innovations will advance to help the EV market. Continued innovation in battery technology, improved transparency in battery health and expanding infrastructure give reason for optimism, Valdez Streaty wrote. The road ahead wil be challenging, but progress will continue.
Category:
E-Commerce
If theres any doubt whether people are willing to pay $900 for a premium credit card, just look at the latest quarterly results for American Express: The credit card issuer reported Friday that it beat third-quarter earnings estimates and raised its full-year outlook. Its been a month since American Express refreshed its Platinum line of credit cards, raising the annual fee by $200 to $895, and that change is already paying dividends. The company has seen strong demand for these cards and more than 500,000 people have requested the New York-based issuers new pocket mirror card. The initial customer demand and engagement exceeded our expectations, with new U.S. Platinum account acquisitions doubling compared to pre-refresh levels, Stephen J. Squeri, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. American Express reported that revenue rose 11% from a year ago to a record $18.4 billion in the third quarter, driven largely by a 9% increase in card member spending. Earnings per share came in at $4.14, higher than the consensus of analyst estimates. American Express Platinum cardholdersboth individuals and businessesaccount for about $530 billion in annual billings, according to the company, and the recent refresh has helped drive additional revenue. In the first three weeks since the card refresh, the company reported a 45% increase in new high-yield savings accounts from these members and record-high bookings on Amex travel. RACE FOR PREMIUM MARKET Squeri said the successful relaunch of Platinum cards reinforces our leadership in the premium space. Indeed, the race for the premium credit card market has heated up in recent years as issuers have raced to one-up each other with a wide variety of cardholder benefits. JPMorgan Chase bumped up the annual fee on its Sapphire Reserve card from $550 to $795 in June, promising even more perks at this higher rate, and American Express followed with its fee increase in September. Offering these types of perks comes at a cost: American Express has paid $13.6 billion in card member rewards year-to-date, a 12% increase from the same period in 2024. Thats more than double the amount of another expense: Salaries and employee benefits. But nabbing the premium market is clearly a priority for issuers, even if a majority of cardholders arent willing to fork over $800 to $900 for the privilege of using a credit card. Consumers who pay more than $500 in annual credit card fees spend nearly three times more each month than those with lower-fee cards, according to figures from J.D. Power. MARKET REACTION And thanks partly to the successful relaunch of its Platinum cards, American Express also announced Friday that it has raised its full-year guidance for both revenue growth and earnings. It now expects a 10% increase in revenue, up from 9% previously, and a $0.30 boost to earnings per share, to a total of $15.50. Stock market investors rewarded the better-than-expected earnings report: Shares of American Express surged more than 6% by mid-day Friday. The stock is up nearly 16% this year, and has outperformed the S&P 500.
Category:
E-Commerce
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