Business
Doug Lebda dies: LendingTree CEO and founder pases away in ATV accident; company shares drop by 4% – The Times of India
Doug Lebda, the 55-year-old founder and CEO of LendingTree, has died in a tragic all-terrain vehicle accident at his family’s farm in North Carolina. The online lending platform confirmed his death on Sunday and said the company was mourning the sudden loss of its leader.“Doug was a visionary leader whose relentless drive, innovation and passion transformed the financial services landscape, touching the lives of millions of consumers,” the board of directors said in a statement. “His passion will continue to inspire us as we move forward together.”Following his death, the company has appointed Scott Peyree, its chief operating officer and president, as CEO with immediate effect. Steve Ozonian, who serves as lead independent director, will take over Lebda’s position as chairman of the board.News of his passing hit the markets, with LendingTree’s shares falling more than 4% in afternoon trading on Monday, AP reported.Lebda launched LendingTree in 1996 after struggling to get his first mortgage, aiming to make loan shopping easier for consumers. The platform went national two years later and became a public company in 2000. It was later bought by IAC/InterActiveCorp before becoming independent again in 2008. Over the years, LendingTree expanded its services to help users compare options for mortgages, credit cards, insurance and more, and also acquired brands like CompareCards and Value Penguin.Beyond his work at LendingTree, Lebda co-founded Tykoon in 2010, a financial platform designed for children and families. Earlier in his career, he worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers as an auditor and consultant, according to AP.“All of my ideas come from my own experiences and problems,” he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview in 2012.He is survived by his wife, Megan, and their three daughters: Rachel, Abby and Sophia. In her statement, Megan described him as “an amazing man with a heart so big it seemed to have room for everyone he met.”“Our hearts are broken, but we are also deeply grateful for the love and support that has poured in from across the world,” she said.
Business
JPMorgan’s $1.5 trillion plan: CEO Jamie Dimon plans to hire more experts; ‘just give us a call’ – The Times of India
JPMorgan is hiring as part of its ambitious $1.5 trillion US “resiliency” plan, CEO Jamie Dimon announced on Monday.The bank is looking for financial specialists in defence, energy, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing to help build an investment team. This team will deploy $10 billion in capital before the bank involves its bankers.“If you think you’re the right person, just give us a call,” Dimon told reporters, inviting interested professionals to join the initiative. He added that the bank wants to hire a “top-notch investment team” to invest the $10 billion in companies that can give the US an edge over its competitors.“We’re very focused on people,” the CEO said, as quoted by Business Insider.The plan, called the security and resiliency Initiative, aims to strengthen US security, innovation, and infrastructure using private sector funding rather than relying on government agencies. To achieve this, JPMorgan will prioritise hiring experts in four key areas: defence and aerospace, frontier technologies like AI and quantum computing, energy independence, and advanced manufacturing and supply chains.The hirings are a part of a wider initiative worth $1.5 trillion. As part of the 10-year plan, the bank will invest up to $10 billion in companies across defence, energy, manufacturing, and emerging technologies.To fulfil the mission requirements, the bank is set to hire more experts. These include bankers, investment professionals and others. An external advisory council, including public- and private-sector leaders, will provide guidance. Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset and wealth management, and Doug Petno, Co-CEO of commercial and investment banking, will oversee the programme. Both are also considered potential successors to Dimon.JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the initiative is entirely a bank-led effort and not driven by the Trump administration. “This is a JPMorgan initiative…100% commercial,” he told journalists, responding to repeated questions about government involvement, as quoted by Reuters.Dimon noted that the US has become too reliant on foreign sources of critical minerals and essential products, which are vital for national security.“America needs more speed and investment,” he added, calling for policy reforms to tackle regulatory delays and workforce challenges.While the programme is commercial, JPMorgan is working closely with the US government. The bank helped structure a deal with rare earths mining firm MP Materials and has held numerous calls and visits to Washington to explore similar opportunities. Andrew Castaldo, co-head of mid-cap mergers and acquisitions, said the bank has had “no less than 100 calls with clients” to discuss the MP transaction and other sectors.Four key areas of investmentThe bank’s strategy focuses on four main sectors: supply chain and manufacturing, defence and aerospace, energy independence, and frontier technologies. Within these areas, 27 sub-sectors have been identified, including shipbuilding, nuclear energy, nanomaterials, and secure communications. Both middle-market companies and large corporations will be eligible for investment.
Liv McMahonTechnology reporter
Getty ImagesThousands of Vodafone customers across the UK have reported its services are down.
Downdetector, which monitors web outages, showed more than 130,000 people had flagged problems affecting their Vodafone broadband or mobile network on Monday afternoon.
According to its website, the firm has more than 18 million customers in the UK, including nearly 700,000 home broadband customers.
In an updated statement on Monday evening, Vodafone apologised to customers and said its network was “recovering”.
“This afternoon the Vodafone network had an issue affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services,” a company spokesperson said.
“2G voice calls and SMS messaging were unaffected and the network is now recovering.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this caused our customers.”
It comes after people on social media said they were struggling to access Vodafone customer service operators, amid ongoing issues affecting mobile data and broadband.
Many also said they have had difficulty accessing the company’s website and app, which typically allow people to view the status of its network services.
Customers have also taken to social media to complain of “complete outages” in their area.
The issues appear to have begun for customers shortly after 15:00 BST.
Internet monitor Netblocks said in a post on X that live network data showed Vodafone was experiencing “a national outage” impacting both broadband and mobile data.
Some customers expressed being doubly frustrated by not being able to access their Wi-Fi or mobile data.
“Sort it out soon please,” wrote one frustrated X user – who said they were having to use a coffee shop’s Wi-Fi to access online services, without the means to do so using their mobile data or broadband.
Another said they were self-employed and could not work because of the outage, adding: “Never regretted more having my mobile and broadband on the same network.”
The issues are also understood to have impacted some Vodafone shops.
BBC News‘Dropped off the internet’
The issues affecting Vodafone services have also impacted customers of other telecoms firms that use its network.
Downdetector saw a similar spike in reports on Monday afternoon from users of the mobile network Voxi, which is owned by Vodafone.
Lebara, which piggy-backs off Vodafone’s network, has also been affected by the company’s outage.
“Outages have been reported across multiple networks across broadband and mobile services,” said Sabrina Hoque, telecoms expert at Uswitch.
These, she added, can be “a really frustrating experience for customers, especially when it’s not clear how long it could last”.
Vodafone has not yet said how long it expects its outage to last – though its website since appears to have come back online.
Cloudflare Radar, which tracks and displays patterns in global internet traffic, said in a post on Bluesky earlier it had “effectively dropped off the internet, with traffic dropping to zero”.
The company has also not said what caused the issue affecting its networks.
“Incidents like this are often caused by a technical fault or configuration error rather than a major cyber-attack, so until more details are confirmed it’s best not to speculate,” said Daniel Card, a cyber expert with BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
“Having teams capable of diagnosing and responding rapidly to network failures is key to maintaining public trust and keeping the UK’s digital infrastructure running smoothly.”
Additional reporting by Ewan Somerville.
BP has said it expects to be boosted by higher oil and gas production for the third quarter but warned of weak oil trading.
It told investors on Tuesday that upstream production is now expected to be higher between July and September, compared with the previous three months.
This incorporates its oil production and operations, as well as gas production and low carbon energy coming in higher.
BP previously said upstream production would come in lower quarter-on-quarter.
The updated guidance came as average Brent crude oil prices edged higher over the third quarter.
However, BP flagged that its “oil trading result is expected to be weak” in the third quarter while gas trading was set to be “average”.
Net debt at the end of the third quarter is expected to be broadly flat compared with the end of the second quarter at around 26 billion US dollars (£19.6 billion).
The energy giant recently revealed a major cost-cutting drive, with thousands of roles to be axed as it comes under pressure to boost profits.
Chief executive Murray Auchincloss has pledged that the FTSE 100 firm would do “better for its investors” and said there was “much more to do” under its current three-year plan.
The business earlier this year unveiled a new growth strategy focused on extracting more oil and gas, pivoting away from a focus on green energy and heavily reducing spending on renewables.
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