How does motorcycle racing affect your pension?

The owner of Formula One is looking to diversify its portfolio of ‘vroom vroom sports’ (as we like to call them).

What happened: Liberty Media is in late-stage discussions to buy Dorna Sports — the owner of MotoGP, the world’s top motorcycle road racing league — for a cool €4 billion. 

Canada takes a work trip to Vietnam

Canada is hoping to take its relationship with Vietnam to the next level. 

What happened: Canada sent its largest-ever delegation — including the trade minister and hundreds of Canadian business people — to set up some coffee chats in Vietnam this week as it looks to strengthen trade ties with one of the fastest-growing Southeast Asian economies.

It’s SBF sentencing day

Place your bets, folks. Will the fallen crypto wunderkind spend his life behind bars or have a brief stop-over in the big house? 

Driving the news: Sam Bankman-Fried will be sentenced today following his conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors have asked that he get 40 to 50 years, his attorneys have argued for 6.5 years at most, and he could theoretically get over 100.

Feds will take a closer look at foreign tech investments

The government revealed what recent changes to the law regulating foreign investments in Canadian companies will mean for investors: more paperwork.

Turning pigs into organ donors

A lot of people are waiting for life-saving organ donations, especially kidneys. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, nearly 1,800 kidneys were transplanted in 2022, but 2,813 people were still on waiting lists and 117 died before getting one.

Class is in session for Spotify

The tuition for Spotify University could be the latest way the streamer gets as much money as it can from its users.

Marineland stays in hot water

Marineland’s marketing team might’ve forgotten to consult the animals before deciding to stick with the famous “Everyone loves Marineland” jingle.

Driving the news: Marineland has denied claims that it’s closing down, despite a tumultuous month that has included animal cruelty charges and reports of two more dead whales, bringing the park’s tally of whale deaths to a gut-wrenching 17 since 2019. 

Ontario tries to balance spending and saving

Provincial governments. They’re just like us. They tell themselves they're gonna rein in spending and then go, “Hmmm, maybe next year.” 

What happened: Canada’s most populous province tabled its budget for 2024-25. Like most provinces, it put balanced books on the back burner in favour of higher spending, planning to operate on a $9.8 billion deficit this fiscal year, which is more than triple last year’s deficit. 

Cocoa prices are going cuckoo

Warning: the Easter Bunny might be dropping off fewer chocolate eggs than usual this year. 

Driving the news: Over the past year, cocoa futures have surged 250% as suppliers grapple with a historic shortage. After breaking a record high last month, prices have passed US$10,000 per metric tonne, a number that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago. 

Air passenger rights head to Supreme Court

Canada’s top court is hearing a case about an oh-so-common travel nightmare: flight cancellations. 

What happened: Members of the airline industry are appealing Canada’s air passenger protection rules in the Supreme Court, arguing that the feds don’t have the right to impose rules on foreign carriers and that compensation amounts go beyond passengers’ losses. 

The Port of Vancouver had a record-breaking year

The Port of Vancouver: It’s huge, it’s salty, it’s not very efficient, and it can teach us a thing or two about the state of Canada’s economy. 

What happened: A record volume of cargo moved through the Port of Vancouver last year, with ships carrying 150.4 million tonnes of stuff. The port saw elevated levels of shipments for really heavy things, like commodities and vehicles (some of which were maaaybe stolen). 

Spotify wants you to watch and learn

There could be a new category for your Spotify Wrapped this year: number of new skills and concepts mastered. 

What happened: Spotify has launched a pilot in the U.K. offering video learning courses to users, available both on mobile and on desktop. The classes fall into four wide-ranging buckets: “make music,” “learn business,” “healthy living,” and (vaguest of all) “get creative.”

Supersonic travel makes a comeback with Boom test flight

We’re one step closer to being able to fly from Vancouver to Tokyo in 6 hours — barely enough time to get through two in-flight movies (or one recent Scorcese flick).

What happened: Boom, an aviation startup building supersonic commercial jets, completed the first test flight of its prototype aircraft, the XB-1. 

Ottawa braces for potential Trump trade tax

A drastic Donald Trump campaign promise has got the feds in a frenzy (and no, it’s not about building a really big border wall). 

Driving the news: Over a dozen Canadian diplomats spent last week in Washington meeting with U.S. lawmakers to discuss the implications of a potential Donald Trump presidency. 

William Huggins on Canada’s productivity problem

 This week, we’re revisiting an older episode of Free Lunch by The Peak where William Huggins from the DeGroote School of Business breaks down everything about productivity.  

What to do this weekend

Trump’s legal costs pile up

Donald Trump claims he has almost “$500 million in cash” at his disposal, which sounds like a lot until you realize what the guy is forking over in legal fees. 

What happened: Yesterday, investors approved a plan to take Trump’s struggling social media business public next week, which would unlock a potential US$3 billion windfall for the former U.S. president as he looks to drum up cash to cover his massive legal costs. 

Young Canadians are not OK

Money can’t buy happiness. But enough of it can buy you a home, which we’re slowly learning is pretty much the same thing. 

What happened: This year’s rankings of the world’s happiest countries revealed that while Canada is still one of the happiest in the world — ranking 15th overall — the happiness gap between younger and older populations is the widest seen in every country on the list.

Reddit’s IPO was a success. Now what?

Before we get too far into it, let’s answer a burning question: Yes, someone dressed as Reddit’s alien mascot rang the NYSE’s opening bell on Thursday.

Explain It Like I'm Five: Retail media

What is retail media?

It’s when retailers use their customers’ purchase data to target ads across the internet. If you buy peanut butter, your grocery store might start hitting you with peanut butter ads when you visit websites, social media platforms, and even while watching TV.