Raphael Stevens

Audi expects the war in Ukraine to cause “tremendous interference” to the global supply chain, an executive with the German luxury brand said Thursday.
Automakers have warned that the conflict is creating extreme uncertainty this year regarding vehicle production, sales and financial forecasts.
While Russia and Ukraine account for a small amount of vehicle production globally, they supply key raw materials and vehicle parts.

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DETROIT – Audi expects the war in Ukraine to cause “tremendous interference” to the global supply chain, an executive with the German luxury brand said Thursday.
The comments come as automakers globally, including Audi and its Volkswagen parent company, attempt to maintain supply chains of crucial parts such as semiconductor chips and wire harnesses that are being impacted by the war.

Automakers have warned that the conflict is creating extreme uncertainty this year regarding vehicle production, sales and financial forecasts.
“We will see tremendous interference with all the supply chains, not just the chip business, but any supply chains internationally,” Hildegard Wortmann, head of the car company’s sales and marketing, said during a media roundtable Thursday. “The consequences will be tremendous out of this on the whole supply situation.”
While Russia and Ukraine account for a small amount of vehicle production globally, they supply key raw materials for the production of semiconductor chips, which have been in short supply for more than a year now due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Ukraine also is a notable supplier of wire harnesses and other materials, largely for European automakers.

Wortmann said in addition to wire harnesses, which are used in vehicles for electrical power and communication between parts, the carmaker also sources fabrics for seats from the country.
Audi on Thursday said it was adjusting production at a Hungarian manufacturing plant due to supply chain issues, Reuters reported. Other automakers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW have announced production adjustments or cuts due to the war.

Wortmann declined to predict how the war is expected to impact the company’s sales in 2022, citing fluidity of the situation.
S&P Global Mobility, formerly known as IHS Markit, on Wednesday downgraded its 2022 and 2023 global light vehicle production forecast by 2.6 million units for both years, to 81.6 million for 2022 and 88.5 million units for 2023, due to the war.
About 45% of Ukraine-built wiring harnesses are normally exported to Germany and Poland, placing German carmakers at high exposure, according to S&P.

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The roaring stock market and crypto gains created more than a million new millionaires in the U.S. last year, according to a new report.
The number of Americans with $1 million or more in investible assets surged to a record 14.6 million in 2021, according to a report from wealth research firm the Spectrem Group.
The wealthiest Americans got richer, too, as they were able to afford to make higher-risk investments that turned into strong returns.

A man sits on the Wall street bull near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 24, 2020 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The roaring stock market and crypto gains created more than a million new millionaires in the U.S. last year, according to a new report.
The number of Americans with $1 million or more in investible assets surged to a record 14.6 million in 2021, up from 13.3 million in 2020, according to a report from wealth research firm the Spectrem Group.

The growth rate of over 10% was the strongest in years, boosted by trillions of dollars in wealth created by the stock market, crypto and other assets.
“It was the strongest year ever for millionaire creation in all segments,” said George Walper, president of Spectrem Group.
The wealth surge was strongest at the top. The number of Americans worth $25 million or more surged by 18%. There are now a record 252,000 Americans worth $25 million or more, up from 214,000 in 2020. By contrast, the number of so-called “mass affluent” investors — or those with between $100,000 and $1 million — grew by about 2%.
The stock market was by far the largest engine of wealth creation for millionaires and the wealthy in 2021. The S&P 500 gained 27% last year, while the Nasdaq was up 21%. The wealthiest 1% of Americans gained over $3 trillion in stock-market wealth in 2021, according to Federal Reserve data.
Crypto and other assets — such as NFTs, collectibles and real estate — also gained in value, adding to the wealth of the wealthy. The total market cap of crypto assets, despite wild swings in prices, gained $1.5 trillion last year to over $2.3 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

Values of private-equity and venture-capital investments also surged. Since the wealthy can afford to put more of their money in investments, especially those with the highest risks and rewards, ultra-millionaires benefitted more than the mass affluent in 2021.
“The wealthy have the greatest exposure to the broadest investments,” Walper said. “It wasn’t just traditional liquid markets that did well last year. It was also alternative investments, real-estate investments and crypto.”
The wealth gains at the top also widened the wealth gap in the U.S. The share of wealth held by the top 1% grew to a record 32% last year, according to the Fed.
Wealth experts say it’s unlikely that last year’s gains will be sustained in 2022, given soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a potential economic slowdown. Stock market declines have already started trimming the paper fortunes of investors. The Nasdaq is down 14.5% for the year, while the S&P is down 8.4%.
“Every day changes, so it’s hard to predict where the year will wind up,” Walper said. “But the first few months of 2022 have already painted a different picture than 2021.”

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British ferry operator P&O Ferries made 800 staff redundant and suspended sailing with immediate effect Thursday.
The company told its workers to return to ports ahead of a “major announcement” earlier Thursday, in a move likely to have caused severe disruption to travel for passengers and freight.
Amid rumors that employees are to be replaced with cheap agency staff, workers’ unions urged staff to remain onboard.

Three P&O Ferries, Spirit of Britain, Pride of Canterbury and Pride of Kent moor up in the cruise terminal at the Port of Dover in Kent as the company has suspended sailings ahead of a “major announcement” but insisted it is “not going into liquidation.”
Gareth Fuller | PA Images | Getty Images

LONDON — British ferry operator P&O Ferries on Thursday made 800 staff redundant and suspended sailing with immediate effect, saying the business was “not sustainable” in its current form.
The company told its workers to return to ports ahead of a “major announcement” earlier Thursday, in a move expected to have caused severe disruption to travel for passengers and freight.

Amid rumors that employees are to be replaced with cheaper agency staff, workers’ unions urged staff to remain onboard in what could lead to a potential stand-off. The BBC reported that some crew members were indeed defying orders and refusing to leave their ships in protest.
The matter was discussed in the British House of Commons Thursday afternoon, with Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh dubbing the event a “national scandal.”
“They were told this life changing news on a pre-recorded video. There are images circulating of what we are told are handcuffed trained security, some wearing balaclavas, marching British crew off their ships,” said Haigh.
P&O Ferries, which reportedly has almost 4,000 employees and operates over 30,000 sailings annually, has struggled to operate amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions that have hampered the travel industry over the past two years.
“As part of the process we are starting today, we are providing 800 seafarers with immediate severance notices and will be compensating them for this lack of advance notice with enhanced compensation packages,” a spokesperson for P&O said.

The firm said it had lost £100 million ($131 million) year-on-year, which had been covered by its owner Dubai ports firm DP World.

This is not sustainable. Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now.

spokesperson
P&O Ferries

“This is not sustainable,” the spokesperson said. “Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”
The company added that it was unable to run services for the coming days, advising passengers to continue to travel to ports, where they would be accommodated by other carriers.

Workers’ union ‘deeply disturbed’

British transport union RMT expressed dismay at the sudden announcement, urging the government to step in and protect P&O staff from potential replacement.
“We are deeply disturbed by growing speculation that the company are today planning to sack hundreds of UK seafarers and replace them with foreign labour,” RMT wrote in a press release on its website.
Images on Twitter appear to show coaches of replacement crew and security staff that are already in place at British ports Dover and Hull.
“We have instructed our members to remain onboard and are demanding our members across P&O’s U.K. operations are protected and that the Secretary of State intervenes to save UK seafarers from the dole queue,” it added, referring to the U.K.’s unemployment benefits system.
Unions and the government’s opposition Labour party have accused some companies of attempts to “fire and rehire” staff, a move which effectively sees them being switched from permanent workers to those on weaker contracts with lower pay.
Earlier Thursday, Labour’s Haigh called on the government to act, noting “unscrupulous employers cannot be given free rein to lay off their workforce in secure jobs and replace with agency staff.”

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Jha leads Brown University’s School of Public Health and previously headed Harvard’s Global Health Institute.
He is a well-known public commentator on how Americans should respond to health risks in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jeff Zients is leaving after serving in the role for more than a year through the delta and omicron surges.

Dr. Ashish Jha is pictured in Providence, RI on Dec. 3, 2020.
Jonathan Wiggs | Boston Globe | Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Thursday named Dr. Ashish Jha as his new Covid-19 response coordinator to succeed Jeff Zients, who served in the role through the delta and omicron surges.
Jha leads Brown University’s School of Public Health and previously headed Harvard’s Global Health Institute. He is a well-known public commentator on how Americans should respond to health risks in the pandemic.

Jha, in a Twitter post, cautioned that the pandemic is not over and the U.S. needs to prepare for future variants and surges by keeping schools and workplaces safe.
New Covid infections in the U.S. have plunged more than 90% since the peak of an unprecedented omicron surge in January, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations are down 89% from the omicron peak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, infections are rising again in major European nations, such as the U.K. and Germany, and China is battling its worst outbreak since 2020.

Zients has led the White House Covid response team for 14 months and has held countless public briefings on the changing state of pandemic. Biden praised Zients’ work in a statement, noting that most adults have become fully vaccinated during his tenure. More than 75% of adults in the U.S. have received two doses of a vaccine, according to CDC data.
“The progress that he and his team have made is stunning and even more important consequential. Lives have been saved,” Biden said in a statement

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Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:

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Rowing-machine maker Hydrow has landed another $55 million in funding to fuel its growth amid a shakeout in the at-home fitness industry.
The Series D round brings Hydrow’s total funding to date to more than $255 million.
The fresh financing comes as Peloton, perhaps the most recognized connected fitness maker in the world, is slashing thousands of jobs and cutting costs.

A Hydrow rowing machine.
Source: Hydrow

Hydrow, maker of a $2,500 connected rowing machine, said Thursday it has landed another $55 million in funding to fuel its growth while the at-home fitness industry undergoes a shakeout as consumers return to gyms after two years of Covid-related lockdowns and restrictions.
The Series D round brings its total funding to date to more than $255 million, the company said.

The fresh financing for Hydrow comes as Peloton, perhaps the most recognized connected fitness maker in the world, is slashing thousands of jobs and cutting costs across the business after growing too quickly during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Under new Chief Executive Barry McCarthy, Peloton is looking to reset to align its operations with the slower levels of growth that it will see as consumers leave their homes and head back to gyms.
Peloton shares are down nearly 80% in the past 12 months, trading below their IPO price of $29, which has cast a cloud over the rest of the industry, particularly players such as Hydrow in the private market that have been looking to go public.
According to Hydrow founder and CEO Bruce Smith, however, there is still massive room for growth, in spite of the headwinds that Peloton and the industry are facing. He said the overall penetration in connected fitness relative to the total addressable market remains under 10% today.
“The work that we’ve done around total market penetration — it’s just super clear that the pandemic accelerated penetration for a little bit, but we don’t see any change in the long-term trends,” said Smith, in a recent phone interview. “Actually, the pandemic is going to continue to accelerate demand because nobody is going back to the office five days a week. It’s the same for fitness.”
“People are absolutely going back to the gym,” Smith said. “We support that, and we’re going to be in your gym in your apartment building. And your home. And that hybrid experience is the new normal going forward.”

Last June, Bloomberg reported that Hydrow was exploring pursing an initial public offering, or merging with a special purpose acquisition company, at a valuation of more than $1 billion. Peloton’s market cap, for comparison, has tumbled to a little more than $7.9 billion, from a high of roughly $50 billion in early 2021.
Hydrow declined to comment on its current valuation or its plans to take the business public. Smith, though, said that hitting the public markets is still in the cards.
“A key part of getting ready to be a public company is that ability to forecast … that’s really what rewards your valuation, and we are focused on that,” he said. “Every time somebody learns about rowing, they choose Hydrow.”
Peloton is said to be working on its own rowing machine as it develops new products to grow sales, which could pull some future demand away from Hydrow. Other rowing machine makers include iFit Health and Fitness’ NordicTrack division, CityRow and Ergatta.
Hydrow doesn’t disclose its financials since it’s not a publicly traded business, but it said its revenue grew three times 2020 levels in 2021. It also said it counts more than 200,000 users today.
People who already own a Hydrow rowing machine can pay an additional $38 per month to access the company’s live and on-demand classes. Hydrow also offers a digital-only membership for $19.99 per month.
Data shows just how much more cardio equipment consumers scooped up during the pandemic compared with pre-Covid levels, as many sought to recreate some sort of gym experience at home.
Sales of cardio equipment — including treadmills, stationary bikes, rowing machines, steppers and ellipticals — totaled $1.5 billion in the United States in 2021, growing 95% from 2019 levels but falling 4% from 2020 levels. That’s according to data tracked by The NPD Group. Treadmill sales, however, did grow 5% in 2021 compared with 2020, NPD said.
Hydrow said it will use the fresh financing to help with marketing expenses and bigger brand building, as well as product innovation.
The Series D round was led by Massachusetts-based private equity firm Constitution Capital, along with investments from L Catterton, RX3 Growth Partners, Liberty Street, Activant Capital and Sandbridge Capital.
“The fact that Hydrow’s growth continued to accelerate as consumers were able to go back to the gym and fitness studios underscores the tailwinds driving connected fitness in general, and Hydrow specifically,” said Michael Farello, managing partner at L Catterton.

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In 2020, at age 24, I quit my job as an engineer to focus on my travel blogging side hustle. That turned out to be the best career decision I’ve ever made.
My blog, Packs Light, brought in over $170,000 in gross income last year, thanks to sponsored social media posts, blog articles and B2B marketing consultations.

But my success didn’t come easy. When Packs Light started out, it was just a hobby, and I had no idea how to create content that would grow readership and attract clients. I had to find mentors, ask questions and embrace failures.
The good news is that I can now pass on advice to people who want to turn their side hustle into a profitable full-time business. While you can’t possibly anticipate every single thing that will happen in your journey, knowing the hurdles you’ll inevitable face can help you stay motivated and mentally prepared.
Here are four things I wish I knew earlier:

1. At first, you’ll take on roles you didn’t even know existed

The key to success is to be a self-starter and continuous learner. If you’re serious about building a business, you must be willing to take on as many roles as you have to.
As a content creator and marketing consultant, I’ve worn all the hats you can think of — a writer, photographer, graphic designer, copywriter, accountant and marketing. I also had to teach myself how to do all these things.

I regularly applied to business grants and pitch competitions. And to save money by not hiring a web designer, I launched the Packs Light website on my own.
Doing all that work and working a full-time job was exhausting. But I’m glad I did, because you can’t begin to delegate tasks until you have a solid understanding of how every aspect of your business works.

2. Invest in building a team

Once your business starts growing fast, don’t operate with the mentality of trying to do everything yourself. Plan ahead and strategize how you’ll build your team.
Today, I have a personal assistant, blog manager, management agency, and an entire group of contractors. But I wish I knew sooner that growing a team is a key ingredient to creating a sustainable business and work environment.
In “The Big Leap,” psychologist Gay Hendricks says there are four zones of work:

The Zone of Incompetence, where you’re doing things you’re not good at, and therefore wasting time.
The Zone of Competence, where you’re getting the job done, but no better than the next person.
The Zone of Excellence, where you’re doing things you enjoy and are better at than most people.
The Zone of Genius, where you’re doing things that you’re intuitively amazing at, and that only you can do.

Time is the most precious resource. And Hendricks says that in order to see the best business results, entrepreneurs should spend as much time in The Zone of Genius as much as possible. Growing a team as soon as possible allows you to outsource the work you aren’t good at and focus on the tasks where you shine.

3. Not everyone will be happy for you

When I shared that I’d brought in $170,000 in my blog’s first year of full-time business, I got a lot of congratulatory messages. But some were less supportive.
People online said I was wasting my engineering degree, while others suggested I had just gotten lucky with my success.
Now, when I face criticism for my business or my entrepreneurial lifestyle, I don’t allow myself to feel down. I watch Brené Brown’s Netflix show, “A Call to Courage.” In it, she quotes Theodore Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”
Don’t take criticism from people who aren’t willing to bet on themselves and take a risk to pursue their passions in life.

4. Don’t let money be your primary drive

Having a six-figure year as a small business will mean different things to different people. It might mean breaking out of the five-figure bracket the first time, but it can also mean teetering on $1 million.
Money milestones are fun, but at the end of the day, they are arbitrary. It’s more satisfying to be able to say “I’m financially free” or “I’m doing what I love every day” or “I’m making an impact.”
Enjoy the milestone, but don’t get caught up in the race to your next dollar figure. To be successful, you have to remember your “why” and keep going. The financial success will eventually follow.
Gabby Beckford is a digital nomad, travel blogger, content creator and TEDx speaker. She educates and empowers young people to seek risk, seize opportunity and see the world through her website, Packs Light. Follow her on Instagram and TikTok.
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