The logo of Amazon is seen at the company's logistics centre in Bretigny-sur-Orge, near Paris, France, November 28, 2025.
Image: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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From boardroom shakeups and billion-dollar bets to the latest tech breakthroughs rewriting the rules, The Company Brief is your front-row seat to the stories moving markets and mindsets.
We cut through the noise so you can stay ahead of the curve, one bold business move at a time.
Stocks tumble on bets Kevin Warsh is Trump's Fed pick
Stocks slumped while the dollar and bond yields shot up on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he has firmed his choice for a new Federal Reserve boss, with reports zeroing in on Kevin Warsh as the likely pick. While Warsh, a former Fed Governor, is seen as an advocate of lower interest rates, he is also considered to be one of the less radical choices among the various names that have been raised and perhaps more cautious on heavy monetary stimulus than others. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan tumbled as much as 1.3%, extending the previous day's declines with the biggest one-day slump of the past month.S&P 500 e-mini futures slid 0.4%, Nasdaq e-mini futures were off 0.5%, and precious metals plunged after Reuters reported Warsh visited the White House for a meeting with Trump on Thursday, citing a source familiar with the matter. Bloomberg News also reported that the Trump administration is preparing to nominate Warsh as the next Fed chair.
SpaceX in merger talks with other Musk companies ahead of IPO
SpaceX is exploring deals with other companies helmed by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, leaving investors working through permutations between space, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence to analyse which combination makes the most sense. The rocket maker is in discussions to merge with xAI ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for this year, Reuters reported on Thursday. The combination would bring Musk’s rockets, Starlink satellites, X social media platform and Grok chatbot under one roof, according to a person briefed on the matter and two regulatory filings. SpaceX is also considering a merger with Musk's electric vehicle maker Tesla, Bloomberg reported.
Amazon in talks to invest as much as $50 billion in OpenAI
Amazon is in talks to invest dozens of billions in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, and the figure could be as high as $50 billion, a source told Reuters on Thursday. The discussion is still in the early stages, and the final numbers have not been finalised, the source said. Big Tech companies and investors such as SoftBank Group Corp are racing to forge partnerships with OpenAI, which is spending heavily on data centres, betting that closer ties with the artificial-intelligence startup would give them a competitive edge in the AI race. OpenAI is looking to raise up to $100 billion in funding, valuing it at about $830 billion, Reuters reported on Tuesday. SoftBank Group is in talks to invest as much as an additional $30 billion in the startup. OpenAI, which signed a $10 billion computing deal with Nvidia challenger Cerebras earlier this month, is laying the groundwork for an IPO that could value it at up to $1 trillion, Reuters has also reported.
Food basket costs rise month-on-month despite annual decline: PMBEJD
South African households faced renewed pressure in January as the cost of basic food items increased month-on-month, despite a modest year-on-year decline, according to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group’s (PMBEJD) January 2026 Household Affordability Index. The index, released on Thursday, shows that the average cost of the Household Food Basket rose by R67.99, or 1.3%, from R5 333.45 in December 2025 to R5 401.44 in January 2026. On an annual basis, however, the basket was R32.26 cheaper than a year earlier, representing a 0.6% decrease from R5 433.70 in January 2025.