The tick of a clock may be his business but Thierry Stern, boss of Patek Philippe, is happy to take his time ensuring the luxury watchmaker sticks to its traditional values.
Dell, the world's number three PC maker, reported Thursday a 79% profit plunge for the first quarter of the year -- to just $130 million -- owing to a slump in desktop and laptop sales, so-called "end-user computing" products. Quarterly operating income for the division fell 65% year on year.
Most of the conversation at FutureCast focused upon the benefits of the connected car. But for all the unquestionable upsides of networked transportation, there was one issue that darkened the horizon for some of the event's participants. That issue was privacy.
Is it really possible that our century long love affair with the automobile is coming to an end?
Women are less ready to compromise their ethics in pursuit of success at work, a recent study has suggested.
As Angelina Jolie announces in a New York Times op-ed that she has undergone a preventative double mastectomy, CNN takes a look at the reasons why we love the actor, director and humanitarian.
A "sweetheart" tax deal between HM Revenue & Customs and Goldman Sachs which let the investment bank off paying interest was lawful, the High Court has ruled.
Amazon received nearly as much in government grants as it paid in UK tax in 2012, according to new figures likely to stoke the tax controversy surrounding the online retailer which made sales to British customers of £4.26bn in 2012.
The decision to grant permanent observer status to China and five other nations by the Arctic Council meeting in Sweden Wednesday reflects the heightened interest by some of the world's most powerful economies in an area rich in oil, gas, minerals, fish and new transport possibilities.
HSBC, Europe's largest bank by market capitalization, will lay off 14,000 employees around the world to save $2 billion to $3 billion by 2016, the company announced Wednesday.
Does the best transport technology come from outside the U.S.? That was the question pondered at the FutureCast event last month. Guests from around the world were invited to guarantee that the conversation would not be too Silicon Valley centric.
Quick question: Who is the world's third biggest smartphone maker?
The Bank of England has become more optimistic about both recovery prospects and inflation in its last set of quarterly forecasts before Sir Mervyn King, the governor, retires.
Africa's only formal ball manufacturer, Alive & Kicking, uses Africa's passion for football to create jobs and raise health awareness.
Does the future of transportation really mean the end of driving?
The "rich man's club" of Europe faces economic decay as it struggles to absorb the "poor people" of eastern and southern Europe, according to economic experts on the troubled region.
Buoyed by the runaway success of "Gangnam Style," the South Korean company behind music sensation Psy is taking on what has been a tricky market for international record labels to crack -- China.
Romania president, Traian Basescu, aims to guide Constanta Harbor on his country's Black Sea coast towards a new era of prosperity.
France is preparing to tax smartphones, tablets and all other internet-linked devices to help fund the production of French art, films and music.
Hong Kong is facing an acute shortage of one the engines of its dynamic economy -- cheap domestic help.
A young US engineer found dead in his Singapore flat last year had accessed several websites on suicide and depression, a lawyer for the city state told an official inquiry into his death.
More than ten thousand private messages sent between users of Bloomberg's financial terminals have leaked online, undermining the company's attempts to restore faith in its ability to keep client data confidential as it scrambles to allay clients' privacy concerns.
Transportation is on the cusp of being radically transformed by the digital revolution. From self-driving cars to intelligent public transit systems, the future of 21st-century transportation is being mapped out right now in Silicon Valley.
As regulations tighten in Europe and the world's wealth moves to Asia, Singapore is tipped to overtake Switzerland to become the largest global offshore wealth center in terms of assets by 2020, according to London research firm, WealthInsight.
A senior official in China's economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, has become the latest target of Beijing's crackdown on excess and corruption.
"King" Alex Ferguson is quitting Manchester United but the football team's $3.17 billion brand will survive, according to experts.
Japan seems to be seeing some splendid days.
India has long been cited as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but it hasn't always been the most hospitable place for business travelers.
The volume of Hong Kong property sales fell 60% compared with last year in a sign that recent government policies are cooling one of the world's most expensive real estate markets.
It did not happen when the top job opened up at the International Monetary Fund: Christine Lagarde of France won out over candidates such as Mexico's Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens, who put up a good fight.
Arwa Al-Hujaili has become Saudi Arabia's first female lawyer.
Sony reported its first full-year net profit in five years on Thursday and said it expected earnings to grow by a further 16 per cent this year, helped by restructuring efforts and a weaker yen.
The global talent war is heating up as baby boomers begin their mass exodus from the workforce. But a new report reveals employers are not prepared for the new generation of emotionally intelligent, ethnically diverse workers.
Thinking of having a baby? You may want to consider moving to Finland -- the best place in the world to be a mother, according to Save the Children's 14th Mothers' Index.
Major international hotel chains are increasingly rolling out thousands of new rooms in Africa's capital cities and commercial urban centers.
Beyonce has built a global brand around being one of the biggest names in pop and she works hard to keep it that way.
The Bank of China has stopped doing business with a large North Korean bank, falling into line with a US-led sanctions push to restrict funding for Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
Italian explorer Marco Polo spent 17 years working in the court of Kublai Khan's China, but today most foreigners seeking to live and work in the country aren't looking for the same time-invested cultural exchange.
Jamie Dimon's prospects of holding on to his chairmanship of JPMorgan Chase darkened on Tuesday as a second shareholder advisory group recommended he be stripped of the role.
A failed 75% wealth tax on top earners, unemployment at a 16-year high and the lowest approval rating for a president in modern French history; this is the wreckage from Francois Hollande's first year in office.
Microsoft is preparing to reverse course over key elements of its Windows 8 operating system, marking one of the most prominent admissions of failure for a new mass-market consumer product since Coca-Cola's New Coke fiasco nearly 30 years ago.
Google is on the verge of unveiling an à la carte subscription service for some of YouTube's specialist video channels, to finance a broader range of content and add a second revenue stream to the digital video market leader.
The first shareholder question to Warren Buffett on Saturday morning was gentle, but with a mild preamble of complaint.
Bollywood films are known for their upbeat finales, but the industry behind them also has plenty to celebrate. India's Hindi-language film business marks its centenary this month, while a new feature toasting the nation's cinematic heritage, Bombay Talkies, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last week.
Backed into a corner and desperate; That's the view of some economists watching the European Central Bank's latest attempts to curtail the euro bloc's recession.
Britain's government lifted a ban on the divisive process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, allowing companies to continue exploring shale gas reserves.
The government is proposing to bribe communities with cheaper energy bills in exchange for dropping opposition to local fracking projects as part of plans to push ahead with shale-gas extraction.
In these days of austerity, thin profit margins, low competitiveness and high unemployment, we often hear of companies braving the economic storm with innovation and ingenuity.
"Iron Man 3" has set a new box office record in China, taking 130 million yuan ($21 million) on its opening day.
The future has arrived and it will be run by our devices. CNN presents a scrollable interactive explaining "The Internet of Things."
A social media campaign is calling for Denise Scott Brown to be recognized as a Pritzker Prize laureate 22 years after being passed over for the award.
South African marketers are hiring people to go into communities and directly recommend products to consumers by word of mouth.
Enrico Letta, prime minister of Italy's new coalition government, has put Europe on guard that Rome will seek stronger moves towards political union and pro-growth policies during his talks in Berlin, Paris and Brussels this week.
Under chairman Jiang Jianqing, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China raked in $38.5bn in net profits last year, making it the world's most profitable bank. For his efforts, Mr Jiang was paid $185,000, less than 1 per cent of the overall package awarded to Lloyd Blankfein, chairman of Goldman Sachs.
The Huffington Post is planting its flag in Germany, striking a partnership with Burda's Tomorrow Focus to bring its mix of news, blogging and social commenting to readers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Lisbon is to take court action against JPMorgan and Spain's Banco Santander over what it says were "toxic" derivatives sold to public sector companies.
As Croatia prepares to enter the 27-nation European Union, the country's Prime Minister says Italy must return to being the "powerhouse of Europe."
Richard Branson's 1986 record-breaking speedboat has been found in a Spanish boatyard. Now the impressive vessel is being restored to its former glory.
Aged 31, with a vast business empire, Ugandan Ashish Thakkar is now set to go into space with the Virgin Galactic program.
Chatting casually over a pot of tea in the sleepy village of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, Nick Leeson remarks on his time spent in a maximum security prison in Germany in 1995: "That was the one time I contemplated suicide."
Signs of weakness clouded the world economic outlook on Tuesday after a leading business survey indicated the contraction in eurozone manufacturing activity gathered pace this month, while industrial expansion also slowed in the US and China.
Huawei has given up its quest to conquer the market for telecom network equipment in the US, where the Chinese company's sales efforts have been repeatedly blocked by security fears.
Leading Women has won the silver award in the Social Media category at the inaugural WAN-IFRA European Digital Media Awards last Monday night.
The Australian central bank plans to invest about 5 per cent of its foreign reserves in Chinese government bonds, in the latest move to build closer economic ties between the two countries.
Baby formula, pigs, soybeans, oil and iron ore -- a seemingly disparate grouping -- have one thing in common. These commodities are all in high demand from an insatiable and growing China.
Europe may have hit the political limits of how far it can go with austerity-led economic policies because of the growing opposition in the eurozone's recession-hit periphery, the European Commission's president said on Monday.
Cherie Blair, the UK's former first lady, spoke with CNN about her commitment to eradicating injustice for women and her illustrious legal career.
Most Japanese treat Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new economic program, dubbed "Abenomics," with a heavy dose of skepticism.
Twitter has taken a big step on to traditional media turf by signing its biggest advertising deal with one of the world's leading ad-buyers, according to people familiar with the matter.
Lufthansa passengers face huge disruption to travel plans on Monday after the German airline cancelled almost all its flights in Europe because of a staff strike.
The legal battle being fought by former Egypt president Hosni Mubarak under charges including being complicit in the killing of protestors will sustain a climate of uncertainty for the country's president Mohamed Morsy.
In the outlying slums of Cairo, people "drown in oceans of garbage" and are forced to live with the stench of polluted air, says Mahmoud Gamal, 26, a marketing executive living in Cairo, Egypt's capital.
The world's leading economies set an objective on Saturday to boost growth and jobs at the end of a weekend of high-level meetings, but undermined their ambitions with sharply differing views of the necessary policies.
The hottest way to present your resume currently involves just 140 characters and a lot of hype. Twitter resumes -- or "twesumes" -- have been touted as the best way for social media-savvy types to snag a dream job.
It's a well known part of Hong Kong urban lore that an apartment where a violent death took place can often be bought for as much as 10-30 per cent off the market price.
Cyprus has unveiled plans to sell casino licences and build a natural gas storage facility in a bid to kick-start a recovery following a banking collapse and a €23.5bn bailout by international lenders.
When Francis Crick and James Watson revealed the DNA double helix to the world, in a paper published in Nature 60 years ago next week, scientific glory was on their minds. Making a fortune, for themselves or others, was not.
Singapore might be one of the world's tiniest nations, but its small stature hasn't stopped it becoming one of East Asia's most powerful trading hubs.
As Portugal battles to repay its bailout, one of the country's airline executives has warned of the dangers of uncertainty in a region desperate to regain its economic footing.
Security threats from mobile malware are on the rise and nearly 95% of targets operate on the Android operating system, according to a new report from NQ Mobile.
George Osborne is to go toe-to-toe with the International Monetary Fund next month in a battle over the credibility of his Plan A on austerity for the UK, amid signs that incoming Bank of England governor Mark Carney will be a key ally in his fight.
Give your anxious, negative colleagues a chance, and they just might surprise you.
Irish homeowners applying for debt writedowns will have to give up satellite television, foreign holidays and private school educations for their children under a strict new insolvency law introduced to tackle the country's debt crisis.
Japan has posted its narrowest trade deficit for nine months, helped by a big rise in the value of shipments to the US, which has toppled China as Japan's number one export destination.
For the majority of people in the West banking is as easy as walking to a local branch or ATM, or logging into their account from a computer. But for millions in developing countries, even having a bank account is out of reach. In India, at least, that could be about to change.
Not long after the European parliament cast doubt on the future of the EU's key policy to confront global warming, José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, huddled with his climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, in the VIP lounge at Strasbourg airport.
Women have long dominated the heated gender debate. For workplace gender equality to succeed, men need to speak up too, says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.
A senior Chinese auditor has warned that local government debt is "out of control" and could spark a bigger financial crisis than the US housing market crash.
Tesco's full-year pre-tax profit more than halved -- the worst performance in the company's history -- after £2.4bn of writedowns following its decision to exit the US and its UK-driven profit warning last year.
We live in a three-speed economic world, according to the International Monetary Fund. Nations that enjoy the fastest growth include China, India and other emerging countries. Moving at a moderate pace are the United States, finally seeing the light at the end of the 2008 financial crisis tunnel, and Japan, riding a resurgence thanks to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vow for a 2% inflation target. But economic growth across most of Europe is still growing at a crawl.
The intellectual case for fiscal austerity came under attack on Tuesday as two of the world's best-known economists were accused of sloppy statistics.
With gold prices officially in a bear market, investors must ask themselves if this is the time to buy?
Gold prices have suffered their sharpest fall since the 1980s, heightening fears among investors that the precious metal's decade-long bull run has ended.
Google is bowing for the first time to legally binding constraints on how it presents search results, according to a draft agreement with the EU's top competition authority.
World military spending last year fell for the first time in 14 years, with the US share of the global total slipping below 40 per cent.
The world's top commodities traders have pocketed nearly $250bn over the last decade, making the individuals and families that control the largely privately-owned sector big beneficiaries of the rise of China and other emerging countries.
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