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    Singapore's 'vaccinated travel lanes' spark a surge in flight searches, says Expedia

    Singapore’s new “vaccinated travel lanes” sparked a flurry of flight inquiries as international travel measures ease.
    Expedia Group saw searches for Seoul, Vancouver, Frankfurt and London more than double in the city-state following the announcement of new quarantine-free travel rules.
    Expedia’s managing director for Asia, Choo Pin Ang, said the travel company expects an uptick among traditional travel hotspots, such as Japan and Australia, as more VTLs are launched.

    Singapore’s new “vaccinated travel lanes” sparked a flurry of flight inquiries as residents of the city-state seek to take advantage of easing international travel measures.
    Searches for cities within Singapore’s so-called VTLs doubled — and in some cases almost tripled, according to Expedia Group data. It came after government officials announced the opening of new quarantine-free travel lanes to countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

    Easing international travel

    Last week, Singapore announced quarantine-free travel with Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. starting Oct. 19 — as well as South Korea from Nov. 15. Among the conditions are that travelers must be vaccinated and must take Covid-19 tests to ensure they are not infected before entry into the country.
    The announcement marked a substantial expansion to the island nation’s VTL program, which currently includes Germany and Brunei.
    Following the news, search interest among Singapore residents increased, week-on-week to:

    Seoul, South Korea — 180%
    Vancouver, Canada — 160%
    Frankfurt, Germany — 130%
    London, United Kingdom — 120%
    Los Angeles, United States — 80%

    Expedia’s managing director for Asia said the searches mark a shift in consumer demand for international travel. In August, Singapore’s most searched cities were regional hotspots, such as Japan, Hong Kong, Maldives and Taiwan.

    Visitors walk through a terminal of Singapore Changi Airport on Dec. 7, 2020.
    Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images

    “The VTLs have definitely had an impact in terms of how people think about travel, where they’re looking to travel, and how they plan their travel,” Choo Pin Ang told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” Tuesday.

    However, he added that he expects more traditional travel destinations to increase in popularity as further easing is announced. Already, Singapore-based searches for year-end travel to both VTL and non-VTL destinations tripled from June to October.

    I don’t think we’re going to go back towards regressive lockdown and people not being able to travel

    Amit Saberwal
    Founder and CEO, Reddoorz

    That spells good news for the battered travel industry. As of Wednesday, Singapore Airlines’ share price was up more than 9% on the week while shares of SATS — which provides ground and in-flight catering services at Singapore Changi Airport — increased around 5%.
    “Happy days are here again,” Amit Saberwal, founder and CEO of Southeast Asian budget hotel chain RedDoorz, told CNBC Wednesday. “Even though they are early days, I don’t think we’re going to go back towards regressive lockdown and people not being able to travel… I think it’s our moment to shine again.”

    Headwinds remain

    More quarantine-free travel lanes, including some in Asia-Pacific, are expected in the coming months, according to Singapore officials.
    Australia, New Zealand and Japan are likely to be included, as well as some “closer to home” countries in Southeast Asia, said Ang.
    Thailand on Monday announced plans to lift quarantine restrictions for vaccinated travelers from low-risk countries, including Singapore, from November.
    “What will really determine whether VTLs can work is the strong economic ties between Singapore and these countries, vaccination rates, and how much headway the countries have made in mitigating Covid,” he said.
    Still, headwinds remain. With travel restrictions evolving and daily VTL arrivals into Singapore currently capped at 3,000, Ang said travelers should “be nimble” by making flexible bookings and purchasing Covid-inclusive travel insurance before departing.
    — Shubhangi Goel contributed to this report.

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    China trade surplus with the U.S. rises to monthly record in September

    Imports in U.S. dollar terms rose 17.6% last month from a year ago to $240 billion. That’s less than the 20% estimated by analysts polled by Reuters.
    China’s trade surplus with the U.S. rose to a monthly record of $42 billion — exports surged by about 30% from a year ago, while imports climbed by just under 17%. The U.S. remained China’s largest trade partner on a single-country basis.
    Chinese imports of coal and natural gas surged, while that of soybeans and crude oil fell.
    China’s exports in U.S. dollar terms surged 28.1% year-on-year in September to $305.74 billion, beating the 21% growth figure expected by the Reuters poll.

    Aerial photo of Taicang port container terminal, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province in China, Oct. 4, 2021.
    Finn | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

    BEIJING — China reported disappointing growth in imports in September, while exports beat expectations, according to data released Wednesday by the customs agency.
    Imports in U.S. dollar terms rose 17.6% last month from a year ago to $240 billion. That’s less than the 20% estimated by analysts polled by Reuters.

    China’s sales of goods to other countries remained a bright spot for the economy. Exports in U.S. dollar terms surged 28.1% year-on-year in September to $305.74 billion, beating the 21% growth figure expected by the Reuters poll.

    China’s trade surplus with the U.S. rose to a monthly record of $42 billion — exports surged by about 30% from a year ago, while imports climbed by just under 17%. The U.S. remained China’s largest trade partner on a single-country basis.
    The volume of Chinese imports of soybeans, of which the U.S. is the largest supplier, fell 30% in September from a year ago, although the value in U.S. dollar terms rose by about 10%.

    Paying up for coal

    China’s imports of coal and related products surged 76% from a year ago in September to 32.9 million tons — the highest monthly level since December. The value of those coal imports more than tripled year-on-year to $3.91 billion.
    Prices for thermal coal, the primary fuel for electricity production, have more than doubled this year, according to futures traded on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange. A shortage of coal has forced power cuts at factories, and prompted authorities to call for more coal imports, including from Russia.

    Chinese imports of natural gas rose 21.8% year-on-year to 10.6 million tons in September, at a value that more than doubled to $5.19 billion.

    Read more about China from CNBC Pro

    However, purchases of crude oil declined by 15.2% from a year ago to 41.1 million tons last month, while the value of those imports surged by 35%. The U.S. was the largest producer of crude oil last year, and China was the top destination for U.S. exports of the commodity, accounting for 15% according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
    A breakdown of China’s coal imports by country wasn’t available as of midday Wednesday.
    Australia was once China’s largest source of imported thermal coal. But China stopped its purchases of Australian coal in late 2020 as political tensions escalated after Australia supported an investigation into how Beijing handled the coronavirus pandemic.
    Customs data Wednesday showed Chinese imports from Australia surged about 50% year-on-year to $15.04 billion in September, while exports climbed nearly 24% year-on-year to about $6 billion.

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    Wages are surging across the rich world

    NOT LONG ago pundits obsessively checked the latest statistics on covid-19 cases. Now they are doing the same with the inflation numbers. American consumer prices rose by 5.4% in the year to September, according to figures published on October 13th, exceeding economists’ forecasts. A survey from the New York Fed released the previous day showed a small pickup in consumers’ inflation expectations. In its semi-annual report on the global economy the IMF warned that the prospects for inflation were “highly uncertain”. Soaring energy costs will push up consumer prices in the near term. Pay, too, is surging, as red-hot demand runs up against a shortage of workers. Does it stand to fuel further price rises?When covid-19 first struck, most forecasters expected bosses to slash bonuses and yearly rises, or even to cut basic pay, as they did after the global financial crisis in 2007-09. Although wage growth did slow modestly early in the pandemic, that restraint has since been abandoned. Oxford Economics, a consultancy, finds that pay in the rich world is growing at a rate well north of its pre-pandemic average. The acceleration in compensation per employee across the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, is equally arresting (see chart 1).The wage numbers have sometimes misled during the pandemic. When lockdowns were imposed poorly paid people in service jobs dropped out of the workforce, for instance, which had the effect of raising average pay as measured by statisticians. Even so, wage growth seems to have been stronger than the scale of the economic downturn alone would have suggested. Goldman Sachs, a bank, has created a “tracker” that corrects for pandemic-related distortions. Underlying wage growth, at about 2.5% across the G10 group of large economies, is as fast as it was in 2018.No wonder then that pay has become a hot topic in the corporate world. On October 6th Bank of America increased its company-wide minimum wage by 5%. Amazon now boasts of roles in transport and packaging paying $22.50 an hour in America, making left-wing activists’ demands for a federal minimum wage of $15 seem quaint. An index compiled by Goldman suggests that the share prices of American companies most exposed to rising labour costs have fallen by 4% since May, even as the broader stockmarket has risen by 7%. Even bosses in Germany, long used to acquiescent unions, now face demands to pay up.Some workers are benefiting more than others. Analysis by The Economist of British wage data by industry suggests that annual pay growth is twice as dispersed as it was before the pandemic. Wages in the accommodation and food-service sector, which is struggling to attract workers, rose by 8% in the year to July; increases in manufacturing have been more modest. In America the wages of the least-paid quartile of workers are growing 70% faster than those at the top (see chart 2).Underlying pay is rising about three times as quickly in Anglo-Saxon countries as in continental Europe. That could be because places such as America and Canada rely more on the consumer-facing industries experiencing the worst labour shortages. And France and Italy, where annual pay growth is below 1%, probably do not face the same immigration crunch as Britain, which has Brexited, or Australia and New Zealand, which have closed their borders to keep out covid-19.Only a few years ago economists were bemoaning weak wage growth. So it may seem churlish not to pop the champagne now that the opposite is happening. But pay can rise for a variety of reasons, some more benign than others. For a given level of productivity, higher wages must show up in one of two ways: as higher inflation or as a higher “labour share” of GDP.Take inflation first. Costlier staff may force bosses to raise the price of whatever they are selling. At worst, higher inflation could cancel out any rise in cash wages, leaving workers no better off than they were before (and perhaps encouraging them to seek further increases). American real wages are growing on a monthly basis but they remain lower than a year ago.Some firms seem happy to pass on a bigger wage bill to consumers. On a recent earnings call an executive at Domino’s Pizza discussed how the firm might offset wage rises (pricier margheritas might be on the way). Most S&P 500 companies are protecting margins “by passing on price increases to consumers”, says Goldman. Other firms, however, may absorb higher wages by accepting lower profits. That would change the distribution of the economic pie, raising the “labour share”, or the proportion of GDP paid to workers as wages. Our analysis suggests that the labour share in the G7 has risen by about one percentage point since the pandemic began—equivalent to $400bn or so of extra real income for households each year.What does this mean for the wider economy? A big topic of debate among economists is whether the labour share before covid-19 had been declining or not. It seems most likely that the share fell in America, so a recovery might be welcome. But an ever-rising labour share would be a worry: it would crimp companies’ profits and thus the investments that are crucial to improving long-run economic growth.There is another, happier, possibility. If productivity rises, then wage growth need not cause sustained inflation, nor push up the labour share. Instead the economic pie would grow, with more for everyone.Some evidence suggests that workers are doing more with less. Firms are investing in new technologies to meet new demands, especially from online commerce. “Hybrid” work may be more efficient than everyone being in the office all the time. Productivity statistics are even cloudier than the wage ones; but since the third quarter of 2020 output per employed person has risen in 25 of the 29 rich countries for which figures are available.The rise in wages, then, seems to reflect a number of underlying economic forces, and need not feed through entirely to inflation. But forecasting prices is just as hard as predicting covid-19 case numbers. One thing is clear: that if the pay surge endures, the consequences will be profound. ■ More

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    Boeing says employees must show proof of Covid vaccination by Dec. 8 under Biden's federal contractor rules

    Boeing is the latest federal contractor to tell staff they must show proof of vaccination under the Biden administration’s new rules.
    Staff can alternatively ask for an exemption or a disability or religious belief.
    The aircraft manufacturer has employees throughout the U.S.

    A Boeing worker in a face mask exits the Boeing Renton Factory, where the Boeing 737 MAX airliners are built in Renton, Washington on April 20, 2020.
    Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images

    Boeing said Tuesday that its roughly 125,000 U.S. employees have to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination or have an approved religious or medical exemption by Dec. 8 under President Joe Biden’s executive order for federal contractor.
    The aircraft manufacturer, which makes both commercial and military planes, is the latest federal contractor to inform its staff that it will comply with the mandate.

    The exemptions would “be based on a disability or sincerely held religious belief,” Boeing said in a statement. “Boeing will continue to carefully monitor guidance from public health agencies, and requirements from federal, state and local governments to inform our COVID-19 policies.”

    The Chicago-based company has aircraft production facilities in Washington state and South Carolina and major operations throughout the U.S., including in California, Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama.
    Airlines American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines are also federal contractors and recently told their staff that they too would comply with the order and that all employees must be vaccinated or be approved by the airline for an exemption.
    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday issued an executive order banning companies in the state from mandating vaccines to any workers who object to the inoculation for medical, religious or personal reasons, including prior recovery from Covid.
    Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines and Dallas-based Southwest said Tuesday they are reviewing the order, but said they still expect to adhere to the federal mandate.

    American said: “We believe the federal vaccine mandate supersedes any conflicting state laws, and this does not change anything for American.”
    Southwest said that “according to the President’s Executive Order, federal action supersedes any state mandate or law, and we would be expected to comply with the President’s Order to remain compliant as a federal contractor.”

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    FDA approves Vuse vaping products for sale, marking a first for the e-cigarette industry

    The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it will allow a unit of British American Tobacco to keep selling its Vuse Solo e-cigarettes in the United States.
    The decision marks the first time the agency has approved an e-cigarette brand for sale in the U.S.
    However, the approval doesn’t include some of the flavored products submitted by R.J. Reynolds Vapor.
    The agency’s decision seems to suggest that the FDA is concerned about flavored vaping products, which have been favored by teen users.

    Demonstrator vapes during a consumer advocate groups and vape storeowners rally outside of the White House to protest the proposed vaping flavor ban in Washington DC on November 9, 2019.
    Jose Luis Magana | AFP | Getty Images

    The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it will allow a unit of British American Tobacco to keep selling its Vuse Solo e-cigarettes in the United States.
    The decision is part of the agency’s broader review of the vaping industry, following years of pressure from politicians and public health groups to regulate the segment as strictly as other tobacco products.

    The decision marks the first time the agency has approved an e-cigarette brand for sale in the U.S. However, the approval doesn’t include some of the flavored products submitted by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. under the Vuse Solo brand.
    “The manufacturer’s data demonstrates its tobacco-flavored products could benefit addicted adult smokers who switch to these products – either completely or with a significant reduction in cigarette consumption – by reducing their exposure to harmful chemicals,” said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, in a statement announcing its decision.
    The FDA gained the power to regulate new tobacco products in 2009. Over the last decade, thousands of e-cigarettes appeared on store shelves without any approval from the agency, which allowed the sale of those products as it phased in standards for the burgeoning industry.
    E-cigarettes deliver nicotine to users by vaporizing liquid in cartridges or pods. Nicotine is the ingredient that makes tobacco addictive, and it may have other negative health effects. However, e-cigarette manufacturers have argued that their products can deliver nicotine to addicted adult smokers without the health risks that come along with burning tobacco.
    The FDA is in the process of reviewing roughly 6.5 million applications from about 500 companies and has yet to rule on all of these products. Tens of thousands of applications have been denied from smaller players like JD Nova Group and Great American Vapes, particularly for flavored vaping products.

    A decision is still pending for the brand Juul, which at one time had dominated the market. Juul had sold fruity flavors like mango, but suspended the sale of these products in October 2019. It currently sells a tobacco and menthol flavor. (Marlboro owner Altria owns a 35% stake in Juul.)
    In its decision Tuesday, the FDA said it was aware that 10% of high school students who used e-cigarettes named Vuse as their usual brand in the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
    In 2019, federal data found that more than 1-in-4 high school students had used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days, up from 11.7% just two years prior. By last year, that number fell to 19.6% of high school students amid greater regulatory scrutiny and the coronavirus pandemic.
    “The agency takes these data very seriously and considered risks to youth when reviewing these products,” it said. However, it believes the data suggests that many teen e-cigarette users begin with products flavored like candy, fruit or mint.
    “These data reinforce the FDA’s decision to authorize the tobacco-flavored products because these products are less appealing to youth and authorizing these products may be beneficial for adult combusted cigarette users,” it said.
    The approval of Vuse Solo was met with criticism by anti-tobacco groups. The American Lung Association said it was “dismayed” by the FDA’s decision.
    In a statement, the group said youth vaping is still at critical levels. “Completely removing high-nicotine products like Vuse from the market and ending the sale of all flavored e-cigarettes products, including menthol, is the clear path to ending the youth vaping epidemic,” the ALA said.

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    Tesla invites more drivers to ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ program — read the email here

    Tesla sent invitations to some drivers for its new experimental driver assistance software, dubbed Full Self-Driving Beta 10.2, which includes early access to features like “autosteer on city streets.”
    To get access to FSD Beta in general, drivers must own Tesla vehicles with newer hardware, and must purchase or subscribe to the premium FSD package, which costs $10,000 up front in the U.S. or $199 a month.
    The company’s driver assistance software doesn’t make its cars autonomous, and has drawn criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board.

    People look at a Tesla Model Y car at a Tesla showroom in Beijing on January 5, 2021.
    Wang Zhao | AFP | Getty Images

    Tesla released a new version of its experimental driver assistance software, which it has dubbed Full Self-Driving Beta 10.2, according to an email the company sent to eligible car owners on Monday.
    FSD Beta provides early access to new features that Tesla is still working on, such as “autosteer on city streets,” which enables drivers to navigate around complex urban environments without moving the steering wheel with their own hands.

    The prototype technology, like Tesla’s standard driver assistance system, Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving premium driver assistance package, doesn’t actually make Tesla vehicles autonomous.
    In an email to customers inviting them to download the newest beta, Tesla warned, “Full Self-Driving is in limited early access Beta and must be used with additional caution. It may do the wrong thing and at the worst time, so you must always keep your hands on the wheel and pay extra attention to the road.”
    In 2019, Tesla raised $2.7 billion from sales of stock and convertible bonds after telling shareholders that autonomy would lift the company to a $500 billion market cap. The company also claimed that Tesla vehicles would increase in value as self-driving capabilities are added through software updates, making them worth up to $250,000 within three years.

    Tesla’s market cap surpassed $500 billion late last year, but the company has yet to deliver a driverless vehicle.
    Meanwhile, its current driver assistance systems have drawn scrutiny from auto critics, probes by federal and state authorities and a legal rebuke in Germany.

    The National Transportation Safety Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are both investigating Tesla to see if the company’s driver assistance features contributed to or caused crashes, including some with fatalities. Other accidents involved Tesla cars, with Autopilot features engaged, smashing into parked first responder vehicles on the side of the road.
    NTSB has specifically called out Tesla’s FSD Beta program for exploiting a lack of federal regulation and conducting testing on public roads that could pose a risk to drivers, other motorists, passengers or pedestrians.
    The latest release of FSD Beta arrived a few days later than Tesla CEO Elon Musk originally planned. On Oct, 9, Musk wrote the following on Twitter, “A few last minute concerns about this build. Release likely on Sunday or Monday. Sorry for the delay.” He did not specify the nature of Tesla’s concerns about the technology.

    Who gets it?

    To get access to the FSD Beta program, drivers must own Tesla vehicles with newer hardware, and must purchase or subscribe to the premium FSD package, which costs $10,000 up front in the U.S., or $199 a month. The company revealed earlier this year that it had about 2,000 users of FSD Beta.
    To determine who should get access to the latest 10.2 version of FSD Beta, Tesla used an insurance calculator that it created to give drivers a “safety score.” Those who scored 100 out of 100 possible points in a week of driving at least 100 miles were sent invitations to download and start testing the new FSD Beta.

    Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., arrives at court during the SolarCity trial in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., on Tuesday, July 13, 2021.
    Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    During the Tesla 2021 annual shareholder meeting last week, an attendee asked Musk his safety score.
    He said he didn’t know, and added:
    “By the way, our safety score calculation is obviously imperfect. That’s why we try to emphasize very much that it is beta, if not alpha in safety score calculation. So, it’s going to get a lot of changes – yes, expect it to improve in its accuracy substantially over time. This is really just – it’s a very early stage algorithm.”
    This week’s FSD Beta update was also pushed to some of the company’s existing FSD Beta users who had gained access before the company introduced safety scores.
    In the past, when Tesla invited owners to participate in its FSD Beta Early Access Program, the company included stark admonitions to keep their experiences of the system private.
    In an agreement that Tesla sent to drivers earlier this year for FSD Beta access, the company asked them to “keep your experiences in the program confidential” and not to “share any information about this program with the public” including by taking screenshots, creating blog posts, or posting to social media sites.
    Tesla named Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube as sites where owners should not share info about their use of FSD Beta, according to a copy of the full agreement obtained by CNBC.
    Vice previously reported on the confidentiality requirements.
    In that same agreement, Tesla also specified that participating owners should not use their cars for Uber, Lyft, Turo, Scoop and other ride- or vehicle-sharing services while enrolled. And Tesla warned users that downloading FSD Beta would mean they may not be able to revert to prior versions of their FSD software.
    This week, Tesla appears to have skipped the lengthy legal agreement. Here’s what Tesla told some drivers when it invited them to the latest beta:
    To: Undisclosed Recipients
    Subj: Tesla | Full Self-Driving (Beta V10.2)
    Date: October 11, 2021
    Hello,
    We will be pushing FSD Beta version 10.2 (2021.32.25) to your vehicle shortly!
    Full Self-Driving is in limited early access Beta and must be used with additional caution. It may do the wrong thing and at the worst time, so you must always keep your hands on the wheel and pay extra attention to the road.
    Do not become complacent. When Full Self-Driving Beta is enabled, your vehicle will make lane changes off highway, select forks to follow your navigation route, navigate around other vehicles and objects, and make left and right turns. Use Full Self-Driving Beta only if you will pay constant attention to the road, and be prepared to act immediately, especially around blind corners, crossing intersections and in narrow driving situations.
    Every driver is responsible for remaining alert and active when using Autopilot and must be prepared to take action at any time.
    As part of receiving FSD Beta, your vehicle has automatically opted into VIN associated telemetry sharing with Tesla, including Autopilot usage data, images and/or video. If you wish to be removed from the limited early access FSD Beta please email [redacted]
    Your vehicle is running on Tesla Vision! Note that Tesla Vision also includes some temporary limitations, as noted below:
    Follow distance is limited to 2-7.
    Autopilot top speed is 80 mph.
    How to provide feedback:
    Press the Video Record button the top bar UI to send an Autopilot Snapshot video clip.
    Clips are automatically sent to the engineering team. You will not be able to view the clip.
    You can email your feedback to [redacted]
    In your email please include date, time, location and if you took an Autopilot Snapshot. This helps us investigate issues, and better understand your feedback.
    Thanks,
    The Tesla Team
    WATCH: Analyst’s rating on Tesla is due to concerns over valuation and competition

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    Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner dies, days after stepping down for health reasons

    Toymaker Hasbro announced Tuesday that its CEO, Brian Goldner, has died, just two days after he took medical leave.
    Goldner, 58, had been serving as chief executive officer since 2008.
    He joined the business in 2000 and became chairman of Hasbro’s board in 2015.

    Brian Goldner CEO of Hasbro
    Adam Jeffery | CNBC

    Toymaker Hasbro announced Tuesday that its longtime chief executive, Brian Goldner, has died, just two days after he took medical leave.
    Goldner, 58, had been serving as CEO since 2008. He joined the business in 2000 and became chairman of Hasbro’s board in 2015. Goldner also served as a director on the ViacomCBS board.

    Rich Stoddart, most recently the lead independent director of Hasbro’s board, was appointed as interim CEO when Goldner took medical leave.
    “Since joining the company more than two decades ago, Brian has been the heart and soul of Hasbro,” Stoddart said in a statement. “As a charismatic and passionate leader in both the play and entertainment industries, Brian’s work brought joy and laughter to children and families around the world.”
    In August 2020, Goldner disclosed that he had been undergoing continued medical treatment for cancer since 2014.
    While at Hasbro, he successfully grew the business beyond toys and games, into television, movies and digital gaming. Goldner’s tenure was marked by a focus on leveraging the company’s brands across entertainment.
    “Under Mr. Goldner’s guidance, Hasbro has evolved from a manufacturing company to a manager of a robust portfolio of over 1,700 brands,” Stephanie Wissink, analyst at Jefferies, wrote in a research note published Sunday.

    He served as executive producer on 2007’s “Transformers,” a film that was credited with broadening Hasbro into a character-based multimedia company. He went on to produce more than a dozen titles across movies and TV including three G.I. Joe films and a My Little Pony feature.
    Most recently, in 2019, he pioneered Hasbro’s $3.8 billion acquisition of Entertainment One, the Toronto-based studio known for “Peppa Pig” and “PJ Masks.”
    “During periods of extreme volatility in the toy industry, Mr. Goldner has stayed the course and motivated the global team to press forward toward higher growth, higher margins, and stronger capital returns,” Wissink wrote.
    Since taking the reins in May 2008, Goldner helped boost Hasbro’s stock more than 155% from $34.43 per share to $88.05 a share.
    Goldner and his wife, Barbara, were also active in the local Rhode Island community in which Hasbro is located. After the death of their son Brandon from an overdose, the pair sought legislative and community-based solutions to the growing opioid crisis. In addition to his wife, Goldner is survived by a daughter.
    Read the full press release from Hasbro here.
    WATCH: Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner’s CNBC appearance, July 26, 2021

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    Southwest CEO says he never wanted a Covid vaccine mandate but Biden forced his hand

    “I’ve never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate. I’m not in favor of that,” Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC on Tuesday.
    However, Kelly said, the Dallas-based carrier is complying with federal rules put in place by the Biden administration.
    “The objective here, obviously, is to improve health and safety, not for people to lose their jobs,” he said.

    Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC on Tuesday he believes businesses should not impose Covid vaccine mandates on their employees, but he said his company is doing so to comply with federal rules put in place by the Biden administration.
    “I’ve never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate. I’m not in favor of that. Never have been,” Kelly said in an interview on “Squawk on the Street.” “But the executive order from President Biden mandates that all federal employees and then all federal contractors, which covers all the major airlines, have to have a [vaccine] mandate … in place by Dec. 8, so we’re working through that.”

    Southwest said last week that its 56,000 employees needed to be vaccinated against Covid by Dec. 8 in order to keep working at the airline under the federal mandate. Southwest’s announcement came a few days after other carriers — including American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways — informed employees about the need to adhere to federal vaccine rules.
    In August, before the Biden administration’s action, United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines instituted Covid vaccine requirements for their staffs. United said earlier this month that more than 96% of its 67,000 U.S. employees have shared proof of vaccination after its late September deadline.
    Southwest started to offer incentives such as extra pay to spur uptake of the coronavirus vaccine in mid-September, following in the footsteps of other carriers such as Delta Air Lines, American and United.
    Delta later said that starting Nov. 1 unvaccinated workers would have to pay an extra $200 per month for company health insurance.
    Kelly noted Southwest’s efforts to encourage employees to receive a Covid shot, adding that individuals also are able to apply for religious and medical exemptions.

    “My goal, obviously, is that no one loses their job. The objective here, obviously, is to improve health and safety, not for people to lose their jobs,” said Kelly, who’s retiring in February and handing the reins to three-decade Southwest veteran Bob Jordan.
    Kelly’s comments Tuesday come as Southwest faces heat for widespread flight cancellations in recent days and Monday’s sharp decline in the company’s stock price.
    There were signs that Southwest’s operations were improving Tuesday, as 87 flights, or just 2% of its schedule, were canceled. Its shares closed up about 1%.
    From Saturday through Monday Southwest scrapped about 2,200 flights, with more than half that number on Sunday alone.
    According to Southwest, the cancellations can be traced to bad weather and issues with air traffic control in Florida. That caused planes and crews to be in the wrong position, escalating into more pervasive problems. In August, the airline reduced its schedule in hopes of fixing operational struggles over the summer that regularly led to dozens of cancellations.
    In the past couple of days, the company pushed back on speculation that the recent disruptions were related to workers calling out sick as a way to protest its decision to institute a Covid vaccine requirement.
    Kelly also denied that was the case in Tuesday’s CNBC interview: “We have some very strong views on that topic, but that’s not what was at issue with Southwest over the weekend.”
    Kelly has repeatedly urged his staff to get vaccinated. “[But] I do not believe it is up to me, as CEO of a company, to mandate to people that they get vaccinated,” he said in an employee message last month. “That’s my personal philosophy and my personal belief.”
    — CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.

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