FEI Weekly

December 6, 2018

Huawei's CFO arrested, Bill Gates's holiday reading list, and Marriott's CFO on the cost of their data breach.

Huawei CFO Arrested in Canada

Business Insider

Canadian authorities have arrested Chinese tech and telecoms giant Huawei's CFO, Wanzhou Meng. US officials have been investigating Huawei over alleged violations of the country's sanctions on Iran and are seeking to extradite Meng.

Marriott CFO Says It's Too Soon to Estimate Cost of Data Breach

Bloomberg

It’s too soon for Marriott to estimate the cost of the massive cyber breach that the company disclosed last week, and other companies that have suffered big attacks are imperfect proxies, said CFO Leeny Oberg. The company could face $200 million in fines and litigation expenses, and could spend about $1 per customer notifying victims and providing free data monitoring services. The company’s legal liability could be even higher.

Ted Baker Employees Fed Up With Unwanted Hugs

Daily Beast

In an open letter addressed to the Board of Directors, workers at the London-based fashion chain Ted Baker allege that the “positive things about working at Ted Baker” are “often overshadowed by the ‘hugging’ and inappropriate touching and comments.’” Reps for Ted Baker wrote that "Hugs have become part of Ted Baker’s culture, but are absolutely not insisted upon.”

Companies Expect to Spend Millions on Lease Accounting

Accounting Today

According to a new survey, companies are expanding their budgets to accommodate the new lease accounting standard, turning to interim solutions, temporary employees and outside consultants, with many of them expecting to spend millions of dollars on the effort. Almost half the companies polled by EY anticipate a cost between $1 million and $5 million to implement the changes for the new leases standard.

Bill Gates's Holiday Reading List Has This Important Theme

Fast Company

Gates’s top five fireplace reads for 2018 recently went live on GatesNotes and there’s a broader narrative that runs among them: Learning can’t happen without realizing that everyone (including you) has biases that affect where you’re seeking out knowledge or how you make decisions. Picks include "Educated" by Tara Westover, "Army of None" by Paul Scharre, and "The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness" by Andy Puddicombe.