Quiz of the week 15–21 August

1. Which Oceanic airline reported annual losses of nearly £1bn this week?

a. Sunstate Airlines,

b. Qantas,

c. Virgin Australia,

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d. Fly Pelican

2 .Which British restaurant chain announced this week that it would be closing 73 UK outlets?

a. Pizza Express,

b. Franca Manca,

c. Yo-Sushi,

d. Tortilla

3. SpaceX completed its latest funding round this week, to the tune of $1.9bn, bringing the start-up unicorn to what overall valuation?

a. $34bn,

b. $43bn,

c. $46bn,

d. $55bn

4. Amid economic turbulence and a growing food shortage, what controversial policy has the North Korean government taken on to stem public discontent and feed its people?

a. Trading nuclear armaments for potato rations,

b. Requisitioning pet dogs to be served in restaurants,

c. Promoting a Kim Jong Un endorsed weight loss programme,

d. Asking the USA for help.

5. Just two years after reaching a market capitalisation of $1trn, which US tech giant is now valued at over $2trn?

a. Microsoft,

b. Amazon,

c. Alphabet,

d. Apple

6. Betting on a cyber-focused future, high-street giant M&S is funding an internet expansion by laying off workers; how many is it letting go?

a. 4,400,

b. 5,890,

c. 6,200,

d. 7,700

7. After a colossal clerical error at Citigroup, the investment bank has inadvertently transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to creditors of perfume giant Revlon. How much money was lost?

a. $400m,

b. $550m,

c. $620m,

d. $900m

8. After shares in Tesla Motors rose 2.8% to $1,887.09 this week, founder and 21% shareholder Elon Musk has become the fourth richest person on earth, behind Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. How much is he now worth?

a .$78bn,

b. $80bn,

c. $85bn,

d. $97bn

9. After laying off 25% of its workforce in preparation, which online accommodation booking company is predicted to make a multi-billion-dollar public offering later this year?

a. Booking.com,

b. Tripadvisor,

c. Airbnb,

d. Expedia

10 Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has recently sold one million of his company shares, adding to his already enormous wealth as the world’s richest man. What was the total value of the shares sold?

a. $1.8bn,

b. $2.4bn,

c. $2.7bn,

d. $3.2bn

Answers

1. b. Qantas. The effects of the Covid-19 lockdown on the aviation industry around the world has seen Australian airline Qantas report a near A$2bn annual loss this week, after announcing 6,000 job cuts in June this year.

2. a. Pizza Express. British restaurant business Pizza Express announced this week that it would be closing 73 out of its 454 UK outlets, with the loss of up to 1,100 jobs.

3. c. $46bn. Now taking its place as the third highest valued start-up in the world, Elon Musk’s space-tech company SpaceX is currently valued at $46 bn.

4. b. Requisitioning pet dogs to be served in restaurants. Though dog-meat restaurants have traditionally been available throughout Korea and China, North Korea’s government has recently taken to forcing wealthy pet owners to give up their “bourgeois” canines, so they can be placed into zoos or served up to eat.

5. d. Apple. Climbing to $477.67 a share on Wednesday morning, Apple Inc. hit an overall market capitalisation of $2trn, growing in value by 50% this year, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

6. d. $900m. Paying debtors over 100 times what they were owed, conglomerate investment bank Citigroup bungled $900m to various accounts crediting Revlon this week, and is yet to recoup the vast majority of the cash.

7. d. 7,700. Aiming to save over £100m a year, Marks & Spencer plans to lay off 7,700 workers in 2020, looking to move away from a “pre-corona” business model, and into the future.

8. c. $85bn. Musk is now worth $85bn, having gained an extraordinary $57bn in value this year alone.

9. c. Airbnb. Predicted by the Financial Times to have an implied valuation of $18bn, online booking company Airbnb is set to make its initial public offering in the coming months.

10. d. $3.2bn. Though it is unclear as to exactly why Bezos has chosen to sell his shares now, their liquidation earned him $3.2bn before tax, contributing to his estimated net worth of $188bn.