Greta Thunberg was arrested yesterday, though only briefly. That’s OK though because the global business elite still have three more days in Davos to come up with a way to stop that meddling kid (she is actually 20 years old) pointing out that flying a private jet to discuss how to tackle climate change is like riding a horse to a PETA convention.

The lowdown

• 🧑‍💻 Microsoft to lay off 11,000 employees continuing a trend in the tech sector.

• 🪑 Disney pushes back against activist investor Nelson Peltz saying he has “no track record” in big media.

• ☠️ Online used car retailer Carvana adopts ‘poison pill’ to protect its tax losses.

Featured Stories

PwC quits as Evergrande auditor

Heavily indebted Chinese property developer Evergrande announced that PwC resigned as its auditor ($) due to differences in views on financial statements under investigation by Hong Kong regulators.

The resignation casts further doubt on Evergrande's fate. The developer has $300 billion in liabilities and has repeatedly missed deadlines to provide a restructuring plan, following a default in late 2021.

The rapid expansion of China’s property sector was driven by the mass migration of people from the countryside to the cities. It is now experiencing a downturn in the sector as the cheap money used to drive growth comes back to bite.

This is not a first. As more Chinese developers default and delay financial results, international auditors are resigning ($). The resignation of an auditor is generally a red flag and not the kind that the Chinese Communist Party likes to see people waving.

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The content we're consuming today

• FT: The awkward tax conversations Davos needs to have ($).

• Reuters: Explainer: How does Japan's yield curve control work?

Off-balance sheet items

• In an early win for Disney’s new/old CEO Bob Iger, the Chinese Communist Party is allowing Marvel movies back into its cinemas. Just in time too because Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania looks worthy of five stars (which is another flag reference).

The bottom line