• The leaders of the UK, Germany, and France have condemned Elon Musk's comments about Europe.
• His frequent X posts have become increasingly extreme in recent days.
• It's not clear how these interventions benefit Musk, but they don't appear to be hurting him either.

Donald Trump is less than two weeks away from being sworn in as president for the second time. But, after spending hundreds of millions helping him return to the White House in an election he said would decide "the fate of Western civilization," Elon Musk is increasingly focused on European politics.

Musk has said he became outspoken on politics to "defeat the woke mind virus." Since Trump's election, he has turned his brash focus toward Europe in his frequent posts on X.

He's called for the release of a far-right agitator from prison in the UK, called the country's leader "utterly despicable," and wondered whether America should "liberate" Britain — all in the past week.

Musk has inserted himself into and fueled a political row over the UK government's handling of an inquiry into gangs who sexually exploited children. When he acquired Twitter, now called X, in 2022, he said combating images of child sexual abuse on the platform was "Priority #1."

Musk has also endorsed Germany's far-right AfD party ahead of elections there in late February. His comments have earned him rebukes from leaders across the continent.

Musk's interventions have been condemned by the leaders of Germany, France, and the UK

"Don't feed the troll," German chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday after Musk posted that "only the AfD can save Germany." On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said, "Ten years ago, who could have imagined it if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and intervene directly in elections."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the left-leaning Labour Party, hit back at Musk, without naming him, in a speech the same day, saying: "Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims — they're interested in themselves."

Musk plans to host a conversation on X with the AfD's leader this week. He earlier defended his intervention in Germany in an op-ed in Welt am Sonntag, saying he has "significant investments" there — Tesla has a factory near Berlin. (Welt am Sonntag, along with Business Insider and Politico, are owned by Axel Springer.)

But, unlike in America, his political interventions in Europe don't obviously affect those investments. Tesla stock closed at $251 on Election Day in November. It then surged as investors recognized that Musk's gamble backing Trump had paid off.

As Musk has posted about Europe in recent days, Tesla's stock has remained relatively stable, closing at $411 on Monday, suggesting that investors are paying little, if any, attention.

Musk has become particularly engrossed in UK politics

The world's richest person has been posting and reposting dozens of times a day on X. He's also boosting the reach of those he endorses to his 211 million followers.

Musk posted last week about the UK's grooming scandal, calling for Starmer to resign and be jailed for "his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain."

This was followed on Saturday by a front-page Daily Mail story headlined, "Starmer 'guilty as anyone' over grooming gangs." The comment was from a former detective and whistleblower who helped expose pedophile gangs, but Musk's posts have fueled the story and helped keep it on the front pages of arguably the UK's most influential newspaper.

On Tuesday, Politico even attributed a government response in the House of Commons regarding the scandal to Musk, saying he had "elicited some action."

Musk turned on Nigel Farage, the British politician and Trump ally

Other British newspapers, such as the Daily Telegraph, have also carried significant coverage of Musk's comments — and reported that Musk was mulling a huge donation to Nigel Farage's Reform UK party.

Farage has called Musk a "hero," but Musk said on Sunday that Farage, a member of Parliament and a friend of Trump's, should quit as leader. He appears to have turned on him after Farage didn't follow his call for far-right agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, to be freed from prison.

Yaxley-Lennon is serving a sentence for contempt of court after repeating untrue claims about a Syrian refugee, for which he was previously successfully sued for defamation.

Musk's pivot was reported across Britain's front pages on Monday, and Starmer's attack on him was headline news on Tuesday.

Some British commentators have run with Musk's comments to put pressure on the Labour government. On Monday, Piers Morgan wrote on X that Starmer "must order a full no-holds-barred national inquiry into exactly what happened in the appalling gang rape scandal," including "who was accountable for such lengthy systemic failure of justice." Morgan said Starmer should also investigate "his own role," as Starmer was the country's chief prosecutor when the scandals first emerged before he entered politics.

Musk's interventions in the US benefited him materially. The analyst Dan Ives called Trump's reelection a "home run" for Tesla, with the stock rising the day after the election. Having the new president's ear will likely help Musk secure policies favorable to his companies. There is no obvious corollary in Europe, leaving many wondering how this is benefiting him.

But the past few days also suggest Musk has little to lose by continuing to post whatever he likes on X.

• President Joe Biden blocked the $14 billion takeover of US Steel by a Japanese rival.
• The deal would create "risk for our national security and our critical supply chains," the president said.
• President-elect Trump had also expressed opposition to the Nippon Steel deal.

Shares in US Steel fell on Friday after President Joe Biden blocked a $14 billion takeover by Nippon Steel.

In a statement, Biden said a committee of national security and trade experts had found that the deal would leave one of "America's largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains."

The veto would mean America has a "strong, domestically owned and operated steel industry that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad."

In a joint statement, the two companies said they were dismayed by Biden's decision. They called it a "clear violation of due process and the law" concerning the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which had reviewed the transaction.

"The President's statement and Order do not present any credible evidence of a national security issue, making clear that this was a political decision. Following President Biden's decision, we are left with no choice but to take all appropriate action to protect our legal rights," the statement added.

Nippon Steel would be liable for a $565 million penalty to US Steel if the deal collapsed, Reuters reported.

The Japanese industry minister, Yoji Muto, said Biden's move was "difficult to comprehend and regrettable" in comments reported by the news agency.

However, the decision was welcomed by the leader of the United Steelworkers union, which had vigorously opposed the takeover of America's second-largest steelmaker.

Biden's move had been widely expected. Bloomberg reported in mid-December that the president would block Nippon's takeover bid on national security grounds.

President-elect Trump said in a Truth Social post earlier last month that he was "totally against" the deal.

US Steel shares were at $30.66 in lunchtime trading, down 6% and bringing the decline over the past 12 months to more than 35%. The company is now valued at $6.9 billion.

• Omnicom is taking over the Interpublic Group to create the world's largest ad-agency business.
• The deal is expected to generate annual cost savings of $750 million.
• John Wren will remain CEO of Omnicom, while his counterpart Philippe Krakowsky will be co-COO.

Omnicom is taking over Interpublic Group in a deal expected to create the world's biggest advertising and marketing agency business, the US advertising company said on Monday.

The two had been in third and fourth place in the highly competitive ad-agency sector, but a combined entity would eclipse both London-based WPP and France's Publicis in terms of expected revenue and market capitalization.

Advertising industry insiders said the deal underscores the disruption faced by agency holding companies. Agencies face the dilemma of helping clients leverage tech while at the same time risking being displaced by AI and automation.

Industry insiders said the new company's added scale could bring benefits like the leverage to strike better deals with tech and media companies. It could also allow them to combine some offerings and eliminate duplicative roles. However, some industry insiders warned that merging the two companies could be highly disruptive in the short term, which could prompt their rivals to try to poach clients and key staffers.

Investors will receive 0.344 Omnicom shares for each IPG share they own. Omnicom shareholders will own 60.6% of the combined group. The deal is expected to generate annual cost savings of $750 million.

Omnicom was valued at about $20 billion at Friday's close. Its shares fell around 4% in early morning trading after the deal was officially confirmed. IPG was worth $10.9 billion at Friday's close, and its stock jumped by around 12% on Monday morning. The shares of competitor ad companies WPP and Publicis Groupe were also up following the Omnicom-IPG news.

The new Omnicom will have more than 100,000 staffers and offer services across media, precision marketing, customer relationship management, data, digital commerce, advertising, healthcare, public relations, and branding.

"Now is the perfect time to bring together our technologies, capabilities, talent and geographic footprints to bring clients superior, data-driven outcomes," John Wren, Omnicom CEO said in a statement on Monday.

Philippe Krakowsky, IPG's CEO, said the two companies had "highly complementary offerings, geographic presence, and cultures."

Wren will remain CEO of Omnicom, while Krakowsky and current Omnicom COO Daryl Simm will be copresidents and co-COOs of Omnicom. Three members of the IPG board, including Krakowsky, will join the Omnicom board.

• Volkswagen is committed to China despite a "ruinous" domestic EV price war, its brand chief says.
• Thomas Schäfer says VW wants to remain the biggest international automaker in the country.
• He made the comments in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag, BI's sister outlet.

Volkswagen remains firmly committed to China despite a "ruinous" EV price war by domestic rivals that has hit overseas automakers hard, its boss said.

Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the VW brand, said the "price war for electric cars cannot go on forever" in China and that the German group wants to remain the largest international automaker in the world's largest auto market.

Schäfer made the comments in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag, the German newspaper that is part of the Axel Springer group along with Business Insider.

Chinese car makers such as BYD have proved stiff competition for foreign players like VW by offering a wider selection of more affordable, better-equipped EVs.

Last month, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said China's EV market was unsustainable because a large number of manufacturers kept driving prices "lower and lower" to win sales.

VW has three joint ventures in China, producing more than 4 million vehicles annually. VW group sales in China fell by 12% in the first nine months of this year amid the rising popularity of models made by domestic manufacturers.

Rival German automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz have also suffered stuttering sales in China this year.

Like other foreign automakers, profits from China had helped VW balance financial difficulties in other markets. Schäfer said it was now "high time to address" this situation.

The VW group, which also owns marques such as Audi, Porsche, and Seat, has told unions that it plans to close factories in Germany for the first time and significantly reduce its workforce in Europe.

Schäfer said VW's production capacity in Europe was too high compared with market demand and the company had to move to a "stable economic footing."

"Any solution must reduce both overcapacity and costs. We can't just stick a plaster on it," he said.

Labor costs at its German factories were "twice as high" as in other parts of Europe and needed to "fall drastically," Schäfer said.

"Our plants in Spain, the Czech Republic, Portugal, and Slovakia have worked very intensively on their costs for years and have significantly lower wage and salary levels."

He outlined VW's plans to address its financial situation by the end of 2026 and launch eight new models, including affordable entry-level EVs the following year.

"The goal is to have three cars in the top 10 best-selling vehicles in Europe" and remain the continent's biggest automaker, Schäfer said.

Toyota maintained its top spot in the world for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, selling 11.2 million vehicles globally — about 2 million more than the VW group.

Asked about Donald Trump's plans to cancel EV subsidies and impose steep tariffs on imports, Schäfer said, "We worked sensibly with President Trump and his administration in the last term of office.

"We will do that again. We are well located in the USA and Mexico and are building a huge battery factory in Canada. With Scout, the group is reviving a legendary US brand. You certainly can't blame us for not investing there."

The prospect of higher trade barriers underlines the importance of having the right strategy, the executive added.

"We build cars in China for China; the same is happening in Europe and North America. Of course, this does not reduce development costs. But we are gaining resilience and can also serve the local demands of our customers even better," Schäfer said.

"It is a huge opportunity for us to be located as a manufacturer on all continents and thus be able to scale our large volumes across the regions."

• Nvidia beat forecasts again in its third-quarter results on Wednesday.
• CEO Jensen Huang said more Blackwell chips will be delivered this quarter than previously estimated.
• One analyst says some investors are concerned about a possible slowdown in future growth.

Nvidia delivered another strong set of quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, beating estimates. Here's what analysts are saying about the world's most valuable company.

Wedbush analysts, including Dan Ives, issued another typically bullish note on Thursday:

"In another earnings performance for the ages Nvidia delivered a $2 billion top-line beat with $35 billion of sales showing a $5 billion sequential increase driven by flagship data center sales. We would characterize results as another earnings press release from Nvidia that should be framed and hung in the Louvre given these eye popping results and unprecedented growth from the Godfather of AI Jensen and Nvidia.

"The LeBron of chip releases, next generation Blackwell appears to ramping even faster than expected with NO overheating issues and appears to be on a massive demand trajectory ahead of the Street that our Wedbush Global Tech Team is tracking very closely throughout the Asia supply chain."

Konstantin Oldenburger at CMC Markets said Nvidia had exceeded forecasts again, but some question marks remained.

"What stuck in people's minds was the possibility of a slowdown in future growth. The gross margin, which previously only knew one direction — up — to a whopping 75% of revenue, is expected to fall to 'only' 73% in the current quarter.

"Even if the competition can only dream of such figures, investors, who have been accustomed to success, now fear an end to Nvidia's growth story. Whether the fear is justified will become clear when the new chip generation Blackwell is delivered in the coming months," he wrote.

Deutsche Bank analysts said the results drew a "tepid reaction" because its guidance "failed to match some of the loftiest expectations."

They wrote in a note that third-quarter sales came in at $35.1 billion, above the $33.2 billion estimate. However, the fourth-quarter sales guidance was $37.5 billion "was 'only' a touch above the average analyst estimate of $37.1 billion."

"Overall it was deemed to be a slightly underwhelming outcome," they added.

Dan Coatsworth at AJ Bell said Nvidia had again posted blockbuster growth. "What's troubled investors this time was a quarter-on-quarter decline in gross margins, with guidance for them to fall further in the coming quarter, and weaker than expected forward guidance for revenue.

"Investors have enjoyed stellar share price gains from Nvidia over the past two years and that's made them think it is invincible. In reality, a small decline in margins is not a reason to panic, particularly when they are still over 70% which many companies could only dream of. Nvidia is confident margins will rebound as production volumes ramp up for its Blackwell chips."

HSBC analysts wrote in a note that they expect "significant" earnings upside for the 2026 financial year despite gross margin pressure.

Stephen Yiu, who manages the $1.4 billion London-based Blue Whale growth fund, invested 10% of the fund — the limit for any one stock. He told Bloomberg TV he wished he could have bought more Nvidia stock because he's so bullish on AI infrastructure.

"We need to believe in how AI is going to change the world in terms of our day-to-day," he said. "Nvidia remains the center of that AI transformation."

• Ford is cutting 4,000 jobs in Europe after "significant losses" in its passenger vehicle operations.
• The company also cited rising competition and weaker-than-expected demand for EVs.
• Ford CFO John Lawler called for joint industry action in a letter to the German government.

Ford said it would cut 4,000 jobs in Europe by the end of 2027 amid rising competition and weaker-than-expected demand for EVs.

The job cuts will mostly affect Germany and the UK after the company suffered "significant losses" in its passenger vehicle operations, it said in a statement Wednesday.

Ford also said it would impose additional short-time working days at its Cologne plant in the first three months of 2025.

Dave Johnston, Ford's European vice president for transformation and partnerships, said: "It is critical to take difficult but decisive action to ensure Ford's future competitiveness in Europe."

The company said the global auto industry faced significant disruption as it shifted to EVs. Automakers had to cope with "significant competitive and economic headwinds" in Europe and a "misalignment between CO2 regulations and consumer demand for electrified vehicles," it said.

The company said its chief financial officer, John Lawler, had written to the German government calling for joint action to improve market conditions and ensure the industry's success.

"What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility, such as public investments in charging infrastructure, meaningful incentives to help consumers make the shift to electrified vehicles, improving cost competitiveness for manufacturers, and greater flexibility in meeting CO2 compliance targets," Lawler said.

Last month, Ford said it would pause production of the F-150 Lightning pickup in Detroit for seven weeks and cut managers' bonuses in the latest cost-cutting moves amid sudden changes in the US electric vehicle market.

The news comes after General Motors announced 1,000 layoffs Friday. The company said it had "to optimize for speed and excellence," which meant "operating with efficiency, ensuring we have the right team structure and focusing on our top priorities," AP reported.

Earlier this month, Japanese automaker Nissan announced 9,000 layoffs and a 20% cut in global production amid falling sales in the US and China.

Stellantis, the owner of Jeep and Dodge, has announced rounds of layoffs in 2024.