19/08/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News with Alice Baxter

Microsoft shareholders vote today on whether to approve a $26 billion

offer to buy the social network, LinkedIn.

Live from London, that's our top story.

Linking-in to the $26 billion gamble.

Microsoft shareholders get to vote on whether they want to buy

the professional networking site Linkedin.

But will the takeover be a perfect partnership?

And offering lucrative pay packages to attract foreigners to help meet

And global markets are all fairly subdued at the end

of the trading week, with investors looking ahead to next

week and a key speech from the US Federal Reserve.

And we'll be looking back on the business week,

talking about the mixed messages coming out of the US Fed,

as the price of the black stuff hits $51 a barrel.

And how Japan's yen continues hurting Japan's economy.

All of that with our economics correspondent, Andrew Walker.

Today we want to know with China offering lucrative deals to pilots

what would tempt you to move abroad for work?

Microsoft shareholders are voting today on whether to approve

a $26 billion deal to buy the social network, LinkedIn.

Microsoft is betting heavily that LinkedIn will secure its place

in a world after Windows, but will it work?

Microsoft's best-known brands are Windows, Office and Xbox.

But consumers are turning to smartphones and tablets

and many of these products are beginning to fade.

How can LinkedIn help ensure Microsoft's future survival?

LinkedIn has about 433 million members, with 105 million using it

Crucially, 60% of usage is on mobile devices.

In buying LinkedIn, Microsoft gets a ready-made platform

to run its business on other people's computers in the cloud.

But LinkedIn has made losses for the last two years.

Earlier this year, shares fell more than 40 per cent in one day

after it unveiled gloomy annual forecasts,

but the share price rebounced following news of

Microsoft has a mixed record on big-money acquisitions.

In 2013, it bought Nokia's mobile phone unit for $7.2 billion

Then in 2011 it bought the voice-over-internet business,

It's still unclear if that has paid off yet.

Tech Journalist Adrian Mars joins me now.

OK, you are Microsoft and I am LinkedIn. I have not made any profit

for the last couple of years. I am struggling to get new users and I

have not really learned how to make money from my users. But you are

going to give me $26 billion? It is a lot of money, the biggest ever

paid for a tech buyout. And really, what they are paying is $62 per

user. They are buying address books in many cases, these detailed

profiles, potted Seve is that people profiles, potted Seve is that people

use for recruitment. -- potted CVs. The problem is that many people

using the site are not looking for jobs. Most of us gets nagging

e-mails saying that we have been endorsed for skills, or we get

harvest address books, we get invited en masse to join the thing.

Is it because we have the new CEO who some will say is trying to, and

there is a lot of credit to this man, but they have missed the boat

on a few moves in the tech world. This is the right company to help

them catch up? The idea is that it will help themselves Office. But the

fine the sales list? -- define the sales list. The idea that you can

get a potted CV of people that you are meeting with, and it can in

hands dynamics, the online see RM. Break that down. This is what

salespeople use to track leads and customers. LinkedIn have their own

product, and the big player in this is Sales force also competed to buy

LinkedIn. Hopefully that will massively boost that side of the

business, but ?26 billion is a lot of money. A lot of money. But not a

lot of money if you look at their cash pile. $92 billion. But they are

putting this down on the balance sheet as debt. It is still small

change. OK. Small change. Wrapping this up, from your point of view is

this the right move? If I had to bet on it, I think they are going to

struggle to get that cashback but that said, it is a good fit.

LinkedIn users are also Office users. The demographic is very good

it is just a lot of money. I appreciate your time. Have a great

weekend. In other news,

the US Justice Department will phase out the use of privately owned

prisons, citing safety concerns. Contracts with 13 private prisons

will be reviewed and allowed The Federal government began to rely

on private prisons in the 1990's The news site Gawker.com

will shut down next week, just days after its parent

company was purchased Gawker filed for bankruptcy

after losing a $140 brought by former wrestler

Hulk Hogan, paid for by Paypal Harley-Davidson is paying US

authorities $12 million to settle allegations its motorbikes

polluted the air at higher The motorcycle-maker said

the settlement was "a good faith compromise on areas of law

that they interpret differently". Have you ever ridden a

Harley-Davidson? Sadly, no. I could see myself on it. But no one has

ever asked me to drive one. Well, we could sort that out. Big news in

London, one of the most visited cities in the world. The Knights

Tube, we are going to hear more about it later, but it says here

that the story is that this weekend, for the first time, ground-breaking

news, we will have the tube open all night. Normally it shuts at about

midnight and people have that last-minute run to the tube. After

the people who use it will be workers but they also believe that

it is going to add about ?77 million, about $110 million to the

British economy. Because people can stay out drinking and eating. The

pubs and bars love it. I cannot wait.

In China, demand for air travel is ballooning.

Media reports say Chinese airlines need to hire almost 100 pilots

When they can't find enough pilots domestically, Chinese

Joining us from Singapore, Tim McDonald has more.

This is my favourite story. I love this. I have some pilots in the

family. But go to China, some reports suggest that they are

offering 50% more than you could earn as a pilot in the US? It is

quite incredible and I am beginning to think I picked the wrong line of

work. It might be a gold rush for pilots. Some of the salaries we are

hearing about in range of 300,000 plus. China's airlines are taking

off, there are 55 more than there were just a few years ago, a massive

increase accounting for a huge number of orders. There are even

beginning to build their own planes. But pilots need time to train and

there are not enough of them. Having them means that one airline might

need to pay more than the next and competition forces the salaries

higher. One wonder if wage competition might be forced up

elsewhere, perhaps further afield, but pilots are a mobile group with

options about where they live. Maybe salaries not everything. Perhaps an

offer in western China looks good at the price is right but many have

other options. Staying in Asia. Most stock benchmarks

drifted lower on Friday thanks to some profit-taking

and investors hunkering down ahead of a key speech

by the Fed chief next week - although Japanese shares rose

as the yen weakened. But gains were limited as many

stayed cautious before next week's global meeting of central

bankers in Jackson Hole, Investors are looking for clues

about a US rate hike. Meanwhile here in Europe -

stocks have opened with a similarly soggy start, with Britain's FTSE 100

and Germany's DAX and France's CAC And Samira Hussain has the details

about what's ahead Starting Friday the financial world

will be watching as IEX or investor exchange, launches the first stage

of its transition to a full-fledged stock exchange, with the promise of

slow trading speeds to provide what the company says will be fair

trading for all investors. Cosmetics maker Estee Lauder will be reporting

that the demand for its products from Clinique has been slowing. The

company has been trying to attract younger customers but other Estee

Lauder brands have been doing well, especially in international markets.

And also reporting Friday, Dear, the world's biggest agricultural

equipment manufacturer. Global recession and weak demand has slowed

sales. Joining us is Jeremy Cook,

Chief Economist at World First. Happy Friday. Can we look at the UK

economy, everybody wondering whether Brexit will cause demise. But the

figures on inflation and retail. Inflation, unemployment and retail

numbers. If you did not know Brexit had occurred, you would look at this

month and go, that's not bad. The retail numbers for July, the UK

consumer is a hardy beast. It takes a lot to turn us away from a shop.

But the devaluation of the pound, which has dropped significantly

since Brexit, and a lot of tourists are still coming. But that is a

positive Brexit story. The pound drops, tourists come in and

everything is 12% cheaper. Watches and jewellery went through the roof.

Exactly. They are coming over here and a Swiss watch or a piece of

British jewellery, it is a little cheaper. There is a benefit to

having a devalued currency, and we may be seeing that in the retail

sector right now. And interestingly, when we compare how robust those

retail figures were in the UK, largely thanks to that 12% drop, and

the warmer weather, if we compare that to retail figures in the US...

US data, it has been quite good in the summer. But the US consumer

seems to be taking a pause. We saw a lot of car sales, auto sales as they

call it over there. In July, it tends to be the end of the product

line, the new Sheppey is released in August. The new pick-ups and things

like that. Dealers are trying to cut prices, trying to get rid of stock.

But if you buy a car in a month, you're not buying much else. We are

expecting a bounce back. You're going to stick around and take us

through the papers. Japan and the US interest rates coming up and we will

look back at a busy week. This is Business Live. Don't go away.

When we think of the post-Brexit economy, the first topic

According to a new survey, trade surged in the months

before the EU vote only to falter in the immediate

Adam Marshall is acting director general

of the British Chambers of Commerce, the body behind the survey.

Adam joins us now from the BBC Newsroom.

Welcome. Happy Friday. Take us through this. What is the picture?

A lot of companies in the UK were fulfilling orders with their clients

in the immediate run-up to the summer and the EU referendum. Orders

and sales in general are pretty static. A lot of companies tried to

get those orders sorted and get them through and to their clients but not

necessarily taking too many on. Because of course, and, we don't yet

know what sort of trade deals we are going to be able to produce in a

post-Brexit reality, do we? That's absolutely right. We still don't

have the economic data we need to take a definitive view on how trade

is going between the EU and these global markets in the wake of the

referendum. You have to remember that trade happens between

businesses. Whether we have free trade agreements or not. Just as

much depends on the animal spirits of British businesses as it does on

those formal negotiations between governments. There are lots of

different models available on the table. The base case scenarios would

be to go with World Trade Organisation rules. If that were to

be the case are you still optimistic about what the future could hold for

trading relations? You have to be optimistic in business because if

you are not, you are likely to be dead, so you have to seize

opportunities where they exist. What we are saying to the UK Government

is that British businesses we speak to in every corner of the UK want

the best possible terms of trade both with the EU and markets around

the world for the future. That doesn't necessarily mean signing up

to some pre-existing model, it means figuring out what we need and

negotiating with partners over time. What would you say is the key

concern when negotiating trade deals in ten seconds? Key concern:

receptive audience overseas. But I think we'll have one. Still got more

on the London night chewed. Victoria and Central lines. Very exciting.

You're watching Business Live - our top story Microsoft

shareholders are voting today on whether to approve

a $26 billion deal to buy the social network, LinkedIn.

A quick look at how markets are faring.

Got off to a soggy and flat start, taking their cue from Asia.

Let's get the inside track on the economic week

with our business correspondent, Andrew Walker.

You're a bit of everything, aren't you? That's why we love him. Lots to

talk about. Starting with the Fed and this clear as mud thing. One

official who is a permanent voter on the American central bank came out

and hinted, hey, there might be a rate rise by September, then we had

the minutes from the last thing coming out. Showing that one member,

Mr George, thought there should have been a rate rise at that meeting.

She was looking at inflation towards the Fed target of 2%. Strong job

games, reasonable economic growth. All that lead to take the view they

should have taken the next step in this process of getting back towards

more than that normal levels of rates. She was in a minority, in

fact she was completely on her own. The other is thinking inflation is

getting up a bit but got a way to go before it hits the target. Certainly

there is no question that September rise is not to be out altogether.

But most people think later. If you look at the estimates, maybe

December is the time you to say there is better than evens chance

would happen. But how many times have we seen that timetable pushed

further and further back. Some were saying seeing the dollar edging up

ever so slightly, punting for a rate rise come September. At the same

time, edging up the dollar takes some of the edge off inflation. So

in a way contributes to an environment in which the Fed might

be more reluctant to raise rates. Of course then there is all the

aggressive monetary policy loosening that's been taking place in the UK,

Japan, the Eurozone. All that can at least have the potential to feed

into the strength of the dollar. And thereby make the Fed inflation

problem more persistent. Can we move on and do this? I want to talk about

oil. There we go, there is the question. Will oil exporters strike

a deal in Algeria? This is about the sideline meeting of a meeting and

oil is at 51 bucks a barrel. It's not even a proper, formal Opec

meeting where we would be hanging on their every word to hear about a

production cut. What's this sideline meeting of a meeting? There had been

hints there is more chance of them come into that kind of agreement to

freeze production at whatever level applies at the time. Remember back

in April there was a meeting in Doha where Russia and Opec were expected

to have some chance of coming to a deal. It all fell apart, partly, it

seems, because of the intervention of the deputy Saudi Crown Prince who

did not want a deal that did not involve Iran. Iran has increased

production rather a lot and there it is thought to be a chance they are

willing to come on board. But it would be a freeze of production at a

higher level. I'm hearing it is not higher level. I'm hearing it is not

the black stuff, but that, it is the stuff we all use. The kerosene.

There are very strong stocks around of finished, refined oil products.

And that does mean it will take a long time before any production

freeze on the crude side would feed through into a decisive increase in

the price of oil. Still on oil watch. I want to ask quickly about

Japan, exports falling for the tenth month in a run despite the stall in

the end. Despite the fact the bank of Japan has been throwing all kinds

of things, not directly at the exchange rate, but certainly hoping

the end would weaken. Yet it's something like 20% up against the

dollar. So it's a real problem. When you look at their domestic economy,

consumer spending in the latest figures did rise, but barely.

Business spending was down. Fascinating, investors love the yen,

that's why it goes up in value, right? People by end. It's a safe

haven. We are going to wrap it up, mate. Have a good weekend.

London may have the world's oldest underground network -

but finally the tube will run all night - but only at weekends.

The frantic dash for the last tube has been part of many

But this weekend - a new Night Tube changes all of that.

While some may be nostalgic - it comes as welcome

relief for others - as Josephine McDermott found out.

The last traveller heads for home and the city shuts its eyes.

Midnight stations remember the bustle of the mid-day rush.

Stations across the underground slam shut on Friday and Saturday nights.

These days, one of those last travellers is Lucas,

who often runs for the last Tube when he finishes his shift

When I get the last tube, it is a bit lively.

People are coming home from work or the pub or whatever.

There is usually a decent amount of people rushing to get it,

Missing the last Tube can mean a longer journey home

I took the last one so I am very happy but I am very tired.

But with the new 24-hour service, the weekend last Tube dash

This story caught a lot of us by surprise, Volvo will make these

driverless cars, Uber will buy them, joint deal worth 300 million bucks.

Uber got into the autonomous car market last year. Many have been

dancing around the subject for years, Google have been talking

about it, Apple have been talking about a car or a driverless car.

Soon in Pittsburgh instead of going on to app and getting a car you will

be able to a driverless car. You will have two Uber engineers in the

front to make sure it does not go off the rails. Or off the road. And

it's free for the trial? Are people ready for this? Pittsburgh, if you

are watching, are you ready? I think it's great. From an economist 's

point of view we have to look at the other side and say, what does this

do for the jobs market. We've seen a lot of moves in what they call the

gig economy, people getting a gig here, bartending, food delivery,

Uber driving, what does it mean for these people going forward with

white that was in the Washington Street Journal, that story.

Can we move the times and this headline here? It's about what are

you worth, right? The office for National statistics has done this

survey about what you're worth. Criterion on how much everyone is

worth. It looks at the value of people's qualifications, health,

personalities, I don't know how you measure that. Whatever. Measuring

the total potential future earnings of everyone, boil it down, you are

worth ?135,000. Which is about $200,000. So that is your worth. On

that note, have a great weekend. See you soon, goodbye.