Exploring Citigroup's Restructuring, WeWork's Bankruptcy, and a Potential Global Crisis | Weekly Business Briefs with Martin Perdomo

Get your front row ticket to the shifting landscape of the business world this week! We're going under the hood of Citigroup's restructuring plan that could result in a massive 10% job cut. Wondering how that might impact you? Stay tuned. We're also pulling back the curtain on WeWork's bankruptcy filing, which is shaking up the office space industry. But that's not all. We're delving into Jamie Diamond's alarming warning about a potential global crisis, and trust us, you won't want to miss this conversation.

As we steer the conversation into the second half, we're putting the spotlight on the brewing tensions in the Middle East and its potential to plunge the world into a crisis we haven't seen since World War II. We're rolling up our sleeves and getting deep into what this could mean for you and the global economy. So whether you're a seasoned investor or just curious about the state of the world economy, join us for this eye-opening exploration. We promise an episode filled with thought-provoking discussions, critical insights, and a comprehensive look at the current state of financial markets.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Citigroup Job Cuts, WeWork Bankruptcy
• 8:01 Middle East Conflict

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Citigroup considering at least a 10% in job cut in major businesses, wework once valued at $47 billion files for bankruptcy and Jamie Dimon warns conflict in the Middle East could trigger the most serious global crisis since World War II. These are the top three headlines and this week's weekly business brief. First up Citigroup managers and consultants working on CEO Jane Frazier's reorganization have discussed job cuts of at least 10% in several major businesses. According to Reuters on Monday, the bank has warned of job cuts as part of the sweeping overhaul it unveiled in September, but has said it will estimate the scale of layoffs and cost savings in the current quarter. The reorganization, known internally as Project Bora Bora, according to CNBC, is intended to give Frazier more direct control as she seeks to simplify the Wall Street giant and boost its stock price. The discussions are at the early stage and the number of people asked could change, cnbc said, adding that the lender had hired Boston Consulting Group for the plan. Frazier's push to eliminate regional manager, co-heads and others with overlapping role would translate into job cuts beyond 10% for executives, the report said last month. Citigroup said it would cut management layers from 13 to 8. In the top layers of leadership, 15% of functional roles were reduced and 60 committees were eliminated, it said. The bank's global headcount has stayed at 240,000 this year. It disclosed in its latest quarterly supplement last month.

Speaker 1: 1:47

Now, if you don't think this is the banking crisis pushed by the feds, then I don't know what world you're living in. We've had rates gone through the roof. The lenders are scared to lend, they're technically frozen on lending, real estate has stopped. Credit card default is starting to creep up. So this makes sense that this is happening here in the banking sector, and this is one of the big one, guys. So last week, jamie Diamond said he was going to sell about a million shares. This week, we're seeing that Citibank is wanting to now cut 10% of their workforce. Guys, that's a big number. So I'm starting to see a pattern here. Sbb earlier this year went out of business and a couple of other banks. There's a pattern here within the banking sector. Let's see where this is going to play out, and it's not looking good right now for the money supply people, the people that supply the economy with money, which are the bankers.

Speaker 1: 2:47

Next up Office Sharing Company we work files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey federal court on Monday, reported by CNBC. We work said that it had entered into agreements with the vast majority of its secured note holders and it had intended to trim non-operational leases. The Bank of the Sea filing is limited to WeWork's location in the US and Canada, the company said in its press release. We work reported liabilities ranging from 10 billion to 50 billion, according to an initial filing. I am deeply grateful for the support of our financial stakeholders as we work together to strengthen our capital structure and expedite this process through the restructuring support agreement. We work CEO David Talley said in a press release we remain committed to investing in our products, services and world-class teams of employees to support our community.

Speaker 1: 3:44

Wework has suffered one of the most spectacular corporate collapse in recent US history over the past few years, valued in 2019 at $47 billion in a round led by Myosie Sun Softbank, the company tried and failed to go public five years ago. The COVID pandemic caused further pain as many companies abruptly ended their leases and economic slump that followed even more clients to close their doors. So this is an interesting concept if you are not familiar with WeWork. Wework is a company that buys or leases these big office buildings and then they sub-lease or lease share workspace. But when the pandemic hit and people started working from home, there was a big dip in a çünkü beiden in demand for these spaces, so they're hurting. I personally can attest for that. I personally have an office space that I stop lease to to other companies, and in recent and past years, prior to COVID, I couldn't keep those things open. I would put them on Craigslist or Facebook and within a week I'd have it leased up. It's all inclusive for $350, private office, private everything. And now it takes us months to rent one of those little office suites, and so I personally can attest to the pain, and so I can imagine for them at a big scale, having these big spaces and these big buildings, how this can happen to them.

Speaker 1: 5:24

Lastly, conflicts in Europe and the Middle East risk triggering the most serious global crisis since the Second World War. Jamie Diamond has warned. According to the insider, the JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO said in an interview with UK Sunday Times that Russia's invasions of Ukraine and Israel's war with Hamas has made the world more scary and unpredictable. Here in the US, we continue to have strong economy, he told the outlet, likely referring to the country's surging GDP growth and resilient job market. We still have a lot of fiscal and monetary stimulus in the system, but these geopolitical matters are very serious, arguably the most serious since 1938, diamond added, referring to the year Nazi Germany annexed parts of Tieskala Vaskia and stepped up its persecution of the Jewish people.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Financial markets have largely shrugged off the conflict in the Middle East. One month after Hamas' strike on Israel. The S&P gauge of US stock has climbed 1% since October 7th, with investors feared by the idea that Federal Reserve probably won't raise interest rates Again. The MCI World Index, which tracks global equity, msci excuse me, msci Global World Index, which tracks global equities, is also up in around 1% over the same period. Meanwhile, brent and West Texas intermediate oil prices briefly flair up after the Hamas' attack on the fear that major producers Iran major producer Iran could become embroiled in a broader conflict, but the two benchmarks have since slid back to pre-war levels.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Diamond, who heads the US largest bank, said it would be futile to worry about markets when the world is on the brink of such a grave crisis. Agreed, sometimes we think here in the US and if you're listening to me and you're outside of the country but here in the US we tend to not think about these things, and sometimes these things are out of sight, out of mind. It's not in our backyard. These things affect us and they will affect us. When the world's largest banker is saying that this, it could have a grave danger, we should be taking massive precautions and we should be paying attention to this. I believe that we need to be watching this and paying attention to this.

Speaker 1: 8:01

So what do you think about the potential for the Middle East conflict to cost the most serious global crisis since World War II? That's serious. I'd like to get your thoughts on that. Share your thoughts down in the comments below and let's discuss. And this has been your weekly business brief. I'll see you guys next week and remember to like and subscribe to the channel to keep up with the latest business update. Peace out.