:00:00. > :00:00.has asked for the death penalty. For the death penalty. The the 22
:00:00. > :00:05.year—old 22 year—old victim victim died from the injuries. Died from
:00:06. > :00:09.the injuries. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now
:00:09. > :00:17.for the latest financial news on World Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:21.Trending on Wall Street — Twitter tweets its plans to go public, in
:00:22. > :00:26.the most eagerly awaited share sale since Facebook. Plus, are foreign
:00:26. > :00:33.firms being unfairly targeted in China's crackdown on corporate
:00:33. > :00:49.corruption? We hear the views of one top lobbyist. Welcome to World
:00:49. > :00:50.Business Report. An exciting and fascinating an exciting and
:00:50. > :00:57.things business. Of all things fascinating an exciting and
:00:57. > :00:59.things business. Of all things business. We start with that news
:00:59. > :01:03.that has Wall Street buzzing, not to mention Silicon Valley. Late on
:01:04. > :01:07.Wednesday the social networking site Twitter announced — tweeted — on its
:01:07. > :01:15.regulators for an initial public regulators for an initial public
:01:15. > :01:20.offering or IPO. Going public, basically, to sell
:01:20. > :01:23.flotation since rival Facebook went public last year. So we don't know
:01:23. > :01:27.when it's going to happen, financial details are sketchy at the moment
:01:27. > :01:32.but this is what we do know. Twitter is very popular — it has 200 million
:01:32. > :01:34.current active users. It's still a fraction of the more than one
:01:34. > :01:40.billion people who use Facebook worldwide. Like Facebook it makes
:01:40. > :01:41.money from advertising — according to researchers Emarketer it's on
:01:41. > :01:47.track for ad revenues of track for ad revenues of over $580
:01:47. > :01:53.million dollars this year. Again, less than a third of the revenue
:01:53. > :01:58.Facebook made in the last quarter. The big question: What could it be
:01:58. > :02:05.worth? Well, last month one of its investors, GSV Capital, put a price
:02:05. > :02:09.By the time of any flotation it's By the time of any flotation it's
:02:09. > :02:14.likely to be more than that. But still a tenth of the $100 billion
:02:14. > :02:20.Facebook is valued at now. Who is going to cash in? 39—year—old Jack
:02:20. > :02:23.Dorsey, on the left, and 41—year—old Evan Williams, on the right, are
:02:23. > :02:35.co—founders of the company and the biggest individual shareholders. I
:02:35. > :02:36.Also lots of early investors Also lots of early investors
:02:36. > :02:39.including venture capital firms including venture capital firms and
:02:39. > :02:42.Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. Let's not forget the
:02:42. > :02:45.bankers, of course, Goldman Sachs is thought to be among the banks
:02:45. > :02:57.involved — sharing fees of up to $50 million. From politicians to
:02:57. > :03:07.growing social network sites so it's celebrities, millions of users tweet
:03:07. > :03:14.Thursday, it surprise many by Thursday, it surprise many by
:03:15. > :03:23.most hotly anticipated public most hotly anticipated public
:03:23. > :03:23.offering since Facebook. While Facebook shares have recovered in
:03:23. > :03:33.recent weeks, the offering described as disappointing or even
:03:33. > :03:40.disastrous. With a smaller platform, can Twitter do any better? It still
:03:40. > :03:46.has a battle to face. They have challenges in the marketplace. At
:03:46. > :03:51.the same time, over the last year, Twitter has demonstrated a strong
:03:51. > :03:57.business model. You could argue that business model. You could argue that
:03:57. > :04:01.Facebook had not at that point. Twitter did not say much about the
:04:01. > :04:06.share sale and we do not even know when it is going to happen. Now that
:04:06. > :04:11.it has filed paperwork with US regulators, it is not allowed to
:04:11. > :04:16.talk to the press. Now, back to work. Larry Magid is a technology
:04:16. > :04:26.analyst and journalist based in Palo Alto California. Great to have you
:04:26. > :04:32.with us. A value has to be put on the company. But with Twitter, it is
:04:32. > :04:39.not more of a case of what it is worth now but that potential worth?
:04:39. > :04:50.That is what IPO are about. What it is going to be worth in the near but
:04:50. > :04:56.somewhat distant future. Am I right by saying that Twitter... One of the
:04:56. > :05:03.great things with Twitter, up its sleeve is the extraordinary ability
:05:03. > :05:12.to tap mobile advertising. Something many companies still struggle with?
:05:12. > :05:23.The Bible is key for Twitter and mobile
:05:23. > :05:39.The Bible is key for Twitter and they are in a key position. —— they
:05:39. > :05:47.are —— the mobile. Is key. Is there a danger that the current people who
:05:47. > :05:51.tweet at the moment that they kind of like the way it is. Sure, we all
:05:51. > :05:55.love it the way it was and we are already starting to see ads on
:05:55. > :05:56.Twitter but the bottomline is that somebody has to pay the bill.
:05:56. > :06:02.Started this company did not do it Started this company did not do it
:06:02. > :06:08.as a charity. I am not too worried about the privacy. Twitter is public
:06:08. > :06:13.anyway. But it is one thing to treaty your views to your friends
:06:14. > :06:21.but another to be treated at by advertisers. I think it will annoy
:06:21. > :06:27.people but that is how it is. Do you think Twitter can learn something
:06:27. > :06:35.from Facebook's IPO? To be frank, it was a disastrous year? I think
:06:35. > :06:40.Facebook overpriced its IPO. They valued the company to high that
:06:40. > :06:47.moment in time. The technical glitch on the NASDAQ. Twitter will be more
:06:47. > :06:58.realistic. And exchange will be able to handle the
:06:58. > :06:59.traffic. Thank you very much. Are foreign companies being unfairly
:06:59. > :07:05.victimised in China's crackdown victimised in China's crackdown on
:07:05. > :07:06.corruption? That's the view of a senior public relations consultant
:07:06. > :07:10.advising top multinationals in advising top
:07:10. > :07:13.China. Jim McGregor of APCO has been China. Jim McGregor of APCO has been
:07:13. > :07:17.Economic Forum in Dalian, Economic Forum in Dalian,
:07:17. > :07:21.come against the backdrop of a come against the backdrop of a
:07:21. > :07:23.Chinese police investigation into alleged bribery by several large
:07:23. > :07:31.Western companies including the British drugs maker GlaxoSmithKline
:07:31. > :07:37.seems to be going on. A new seems to
:07:37. > :07:39.leadership came into office and had leadership came into office and had
:07:39. > :07:47.a corruption problem and economic problems and the launch and a lot of
:07:48. > :07:58.changes. in anticorruption is to show people
:07:58. > :08:06.they are on your side. They are going after companies, industries,
:08:06. > :08:08.that affect the consumer. The effect on foreign companies, on the other
:08:08. > :08:21.hand, is worrisome because they do hand, is worrisome because they do
:08:21. > :08:27.not know what is hitting them. Tell me about the methods? It has reached
:08:27. > :08:32.back into the toolbox it knows and that is shaming and ordering people
:08:32. > :08:39.to confess that they have done wrong so that you'll penalties can be
:08:39. > :08:42.minimised. They are treating foreign companies like they have treated
:08:42. > :08:45.thereat own and this is the way thereat own and this is the way the
:08:45. > :08:53.party works. It sounds like party works. It sounds like a
:08:53. > :08:59.political strategy? These are the tools of the party knows. These are
:08:59. > :09:06.tools which are more comfortable to the party than a court of law. They
:09:06. > :09:11.are telling foreign companies to behave themselves to remember they
:09:11. > :09:16.are in charge. The next step may be more reform and opening, more
:09:16. > :09:22.chances for foreign business, but they have already told them to
:09:22. > :09:30.remember who is in charge. Despite big Western companies complaining,
:09:30. > :09:35.a Chinese company? We have seen that a Chinese company? We have seen that
:09:35. > :09:38.this week. The latest, Sino a Chinese company? We have seen that
:09:38. > :09:46.Bio—pharmaceutical, of having one of its subsidiaries
:09:46. > :09:47.paid for illegal of having one of its subsidiaries
:09:47. > :10:03.doctors. The firm says it allegations. Sino Bio—pharmaceutical
:10:03. > :10:13.shares plunged 25% to a half p low before recovering before trading was
:10:13. > :10:17.suspended yesterday. The subsidiary in question is a 60% owned by Sino
:10:18. > :10:24.Bio—pharmaceutical. According to the allegations, it takes a doctors to
:10:24. > :10:38.travel and this could be considered a bribe. Other companies have been
:10:38. > :10:49.investigated. It shows that it is not just the Western firms but
:10:49. > :10:51.the time I have. I will be back to the time I have. I will be back to