The overhead lockers can be a point of contention between passengers on a flight.
Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
A TikTok went viral showing a woman on a Southwest Airlines plane lying in the overhead locker.
The video was viewed over 5 million times before appearing to be deleted.
It's not the first time this has happened, a flight attendant was spotted lying in an overhead locker in 2019.
A TikTok video recently went viral showing a woman lying in the overhead locker of a Southwest Airlines plane, leaving passengers baffled.
The video was viewed over 5 million times on TikTok, according to The New York Post. As of Friday morning, it appears to have been deleted from the platform.
"Southwest is wildn," the TikTok user @gmonique_123 captioned the video.
People in the comments were puzzled over the incident.
"That looks way more comfortable than the actual seats. give me a pillow and close the hatch," read one comment that The Daily Mirror reported.
"Southwest does allow you to choose your own seat," another commenter joked.
The passenger was found by a flight attendant before the plane took off from Albuquerque to Phoenix, according to ABC News.
It isn't clear how long she was in the locker, or how she got in.
Southwest Airlines didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider made outside normal working hours.
Perhaps surprisingly, it is not the first time this sort of behavior has been seen on a Southwest flight.
Back in 2019, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant was spotted lying in the overhead lockers. A passenger on the plane, Veronica Lloyd, posted a video to social media showing the bizarre moment.
"I can't get over how weird I find this," she said. "@SouthwestAir please get it together."
The flight attendant was reportedly lying on her side in the locker for 10 minutes, Lloyd told Fox News. After she came down from the bin, the rest of the flight was compeltely normal, Lloyd added.
The overhead lockers can be a point of contention between passengers on a flight looking to secure a spot for their bags.
One travel influencer laid out etiquette rules around the overhead bins and argued that a lot of people tend to get it wrong. He said that the overhead locker directly above your seat doesn't belong to you. Instead, it's a first-come, first-serve.
Another TikToker sparked debate after telling people not to put their bags in the overhead lockers over other people's seats.
Overhead locker space is a hot-button issue for passengers, so it's probably wise to avoid using it as a seat, too.
The US government is set to impose tariffs on key Chinese industries, Bloomberg reported.
That means Chinese EVs, as well as solar cells and batteries, could be hit with higher taxes.
It comes as fears grow about a wave of cheap Chinese EVs upending the US market.
President Joe Biden is taking aim at China's EV industry.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that the US government is set to impose new tariffs on a range of Chinese industries, including EVs.
Targeting key strategic sectors
Reuters reported that specific details about the value or categories of tariffs were limited, but the administration seemed to be focusing on strategic competitive and national security areas.
EVs appear under the most scrutiny, but batteries and solar cells could also be targeted under the plan. All could face higher taxes, although they reportedly won't be the broad hikes that Donald Trump has pledged if he's elected.
The decision could come as early as next week, although Bloomberg reported it could be delayed. It would mark the latest salvo in the government's attempt to protect the stuttering US EV industry from a wave of cheap Chinese exports.
Chinese EV producers such as BYD have so far largely avoided the US market due to pre-existing trade barriers, such as a 25% tariff on Chinese auto imports previously touted by President Donald Trump.
Intense competition
However, fears are rising over whether this may be about to change, with Chinese automakers increasingly looking to export their vehicles abroad as competition back home gets more intense.
The reported new tariffs do not go as far as those suggested by Trump, who has said he would introduce a tax of more than 60% on all Chinese imports if elected president in November.
According to The Wall Street Journal, they're concerned that The Line's vertical city concept will not appeal to some potential residents, given the levels of natural light likely to reach the lower levels of the parallel structures.
They will be about 1,640 feet high — not far off the World Trade Center in New York City, which is 1,776 feet. According to Neom's website, the city will have no roads or vehicles and run entirely on renewable energy.
Some have already raised questions about The Line's design.
Leonard Chan, chair of the Hong Kong Innovative Technology Development Association, cast doubt on the city's practicality after attending Neom's roadshow in China last month.
"I'll visit for fun, but I won't live there. It's like something out of SimCity," he told news agency AFP.
Another attendee, Plato Yip, chair of the environmental group Friends of the Earth in Hong Kong, told the outlet he worried the city would feel isolated. The concept of the mirrored city "feels like being caged inside, even though it may be very comfortable," he added.
Even architects working on The Line have questioned the feasibility of the project.
Last year, British architect Peter Cook, who is involved in the project, called the city an "amazing absurdity," adding that the proposed height was "a bit stupid and unreasonable" in comments reported by the Architects Journal.
According to the Journal's report, executives working on Neom have dismissed the $500 billion figure as unrealistically low. The first 1.5 miles of The Line alone is expected to cost more than $100 billion, two unnamed sources told the newspaper.
Neom employees expect the true cost of the mirrored city to be more than $2 trillion, per the Journal.
This week senior Saudi officials were withdrawn from the Milken conference in Los Angeles to brief Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the progress of Neom, Semafor reported.
Suleyman, the son of a taxi driver, and Hassabis, a chess child prodigy, both grew up in different parts of north London.
The pair are separated by eight years, and Hassabis had already begun a computer science degree at the University of Cambridge when he met Suleyman in the mid-1990s.
By 2010, the two had cofounded DeepMind along with fellow researcher Shane Legg. Less than four years later, Google acquired it for more than $500 million.
With Hassabis at the helm, the Google DeepMind is at the forefront of Google's AI push.
Meanwhile, Suleyman, who left Google in 2022, is heading up Microsoft's AI efforts.
From childhood friends to two of the most important players in AI, the two Londoners have found themselves on opposite sides of an increasingly tense race between Big Tech's oldest rivals.
Deep rivalry
Hassabis and Suleyman seem to view their relationship somewhat differently.
The younger cofounder spent much of his career in Hassabis's shadow — first at DeepMind and later at Google after it acquired the AI startup.
Speaking to The New York Times, Suleyman called his relationship with Hassabis "a friendly and respectful rivalry."
In a separate interview, Hassabis dismissed the idea of a rivalry with his former business partner altogether. Speaking about Suleyman, Hassabis told the newspaper: "Most of what he has learned about AI comes from working with me over all these years."
The pair spent more than nine years working together at DeepMind. During that time, Hassabis acted as the company's public face and CEO, largely leading the company's high-profile acquisition deal with Google.
Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO at the time of the acquisition, last year told Fast Company he only got to know Suleyman after spending considerable time with Hassabis.
"I didn't understand at the time how good a technologist he was because Demis sort of overwhelmed him in that sense — he was sort of in Demis's shadow," Schmidt said. "But I think in the past few years, he's emerged from that shadow."
At DeepMind, Suleyman was initially chief product officer and later head of applied AI. In 2020, he finally joined DeepMind's parent company, Google, as a vice president of AI product management and policy.
But Suleyman's attempt to step decisively out of Hassabis's shadow came when he left Google and cofounded Inflection AI in 2022.
Just two years later, Inflection was bought by Microsoft, and Suleyman was installed as the company's CEO of AI.
In a podcast interview on Greylock's website, Suleyman said he'd "really screwed up" when asked about complaints regarding his management style.
Suleyman described himself as "very demanding and pretty relentless," adding: "I think that at times that created an environment where I basically had pretty unreasonable expectations of what people were to be delivering and when, and ended up being pretty hard-charging, and that created a very rough environment for some people."
London calling
One of Suleyman's first moves as Microsoft's newly installed AI chief was to launch an AI hub in London, which is also home to Google DeepMind.
"There is an enormous pool of AI talent and expertise in the UK, and Microsoft AI plans to make a significant, long-term investment in the region as we begin hiring the best AI scientists and engineers into this new AI hub," Suleyman wrote in the announcement.
The move could prove savvy for Microsoft as major tech companies eye up Google's high-quality pool of AI talent.
Microsoft already has a presence in London, but the fact that the new hub is focused on AI and run by a DeepMind cofounder will not have escaped Hassabis' attention.
Representatives for Hassabis and Suleyman didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Kiran Ridley/Getty Images
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is courting trade and influence in Europe.
But European firms in China report dwindling confidence in their operations.
A key challenge EU businesses face is in attracting international talent to China.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is in Europe, trying to charm his way to more trade, investments, and influence in France, Serbia, and Hungary.
Despite the pomp and hype over Xi's trip, European firms in China say they aren't quite convinced about their prospects in the country, according to a European Union Chamber of Commerce in China report released on Friday. Its survey of 529 respondents was conducted in January and February.
According to the business chamber's survey, just 13% view China as a top investment destination — a record low. It's also much lower than the 27% of EU firms who viewed China as a top investment destination in 2021, when the country was still in the midst of on-off pandemic lockdowns.
China's economy is in a painful transition from its reliance on lower-cost manufacturing and real estate to what Xi's administration calls the "new three" sectors of electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells.
The economic drag on business sentiment was evident from the survey results, with more than two-thirds of respondents saying that doing business in China became more difficult in 2023 — the highest proportion on record.
EU firms' China operations are 'decoupling' from their headquarters
It's not just the gloomy economy and slowing demand that are weighing on investor confidence. EU firms have also started to "decouple" their operations in China as the number of foreign nationals employed locally falls.
"There are worrying signs that some European companies are either silo-ing operations or scaling down their ambitions in China as the challenges they face start to outweigh the benefits of being here," Jens Eskelund, the chamber's president, said at a press conference, per Reuters.
More than a third of respondents face challenges attracting or retaining international talent in China, with 70% citing a lack of willingness among potential candidates to relocate as the key issue, according to the survey.
"Members report that a drop in the number of Europeans employed by their China operations has been a key factor behind the trend of decoupling between HQs and China operations, as it has led to a decrease in mutual understanding and trust," according to the report.
It also makes it increasingly difficult for the China operations of the EU firms to get approval from their headquarters.
This decoupling — which was reported by two-fifths of respondents —means local Chinese operations and their headquarters now have less understanding of on-the-ground realities — "a dynamic that is being exacerbated by the fact that more and more restrictions are being placed on access to reliable information about China's economy," per the report.
The European business chamber called for "full access to legitimate and trustworthy sources of economic data" in its report.
"Without this, many CEOs will continue to feel they simply do not have the transparency and legal certainty they need to justify to their boards that there is a need to increase — or in some cases even maintain — their investments," it added.
A record low 42% of EU companies said they plan to expand their operations in China this year.
Google is facing two monumental antitrust cases that could have massive implications for both Google and the internet writ large.
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
Google has faced numerous lawsuits over privacy, intellectual property, monopoly tactics, and more.
Google is currently battling two key antitrust cases over its search engine and advertising tactics.
Google also recently settled two class-action lawsuits concerning privacy and antitrust violations.
Google is one of the world's largest and most influential companies, and the most popular search engine by far. So it's no surprise that the search giant's rapidly evolving and boundary-pushing technology would attract litigation over the course of its 25-year history.
Google has been sued in dozens, if not hundreds of high-profile controversies over privacy, intellectual property, discrimination, advertising, and even defamation, and has racked up both wins and losses over the years.
Some of Google's most consequential legal cases have occurred in 2023 and 2024, including two major antitrust cases and several class-action lawsuits. Here's what you need to know about the biggest recent cases to land on Google's docket.
Why did the US government sue Google over antitrust violations?
The US government's battle against Google has resulted in two major antitrust cases that are both still ongoing.
One case culminated in a landmark monopoly trial in the fall of 2023, which is still awaiting a verdict. The dispute centered on whether Google has illegally abused its monopoly over the search engine industry, spending billions of dollars each year to suppress competition. The US government argued that Google's business dealings have blocked innovation in the search business to the detriment of internet users.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified in the antitrust trial in October 2023, and defended instances in which Google pushed companies like Apple and other smartphone makers into revenue-sharing agreements that would make Google the default search engine on phones and computers.
CEO Sundar Pichai was Google's star witness who testified on the company's deals with smartphone makers to make Google the default search engine.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The Google CEO even acknowledged on the stand that company executives knew that becoming the default search engine on smartphones "would lead to increased usage of our products and services."
The second major antitrust case against Google concerns its online advertising strategies, and is set to go to trial in September 2024. The US government has alleged that Google illegally abused its monopoly over the digital advertising market by acquiring its competitors and forcing website publishers to adopt Google's tools, such as Google Ads, thereby suppressing the rise of rival technologies.
Google has denied any wrongdoing in both cases. The search giant argued during its 2023 trial that Google dominates the search business because it's superior to its rivals, not because of its business dealings. Google has similarly denied the claims in the advertising-related monopoly case, saying its acquisitions were legal and actually enable innovative new advertising technologies, and that the federal government's lawsuit could undo years of industry progress.
What happens if Google loses its antitrust cases?
It's unclear who will win the antitrust case on Google's search engine. Judge Amit Mehta will be the one to decide the outcome, rather than a jury, and Mehta vigorously questioned both sides during closing arguments in May 2024.
If Google loses the lawsuit, Mehta is expected to take some sort of action that would boost competition in the search-engine business. Google could face consequences like fines, orders to adjust its business practices, or even a total ban on its contracts to make Google the default search engine.
Both antitrust cases carry potentially massive implications for internet users — Google could face sanctions that alter its operations so dramatically that it loses its ubiquity in the search and advertising industries, paving the way for new companies and technologies to flourish.
Google's antitrust cases will also likely influence the outcomes of other antitrust lawsuits the US government has filed against major tech companies. Currently, Amazon, Apple, and Meta all face similar antitrust lawsuits against their business practices that could threaten their market dominance.
What to know about Google's class-action settlements and who can claim money
Google has been the subject of two major class-action lawsuits that were resolved or nearing resolution in late 2023 and 2024.
One of the most hotly anticipated resolutions was that of a class-action case involving personal data collected from 136 million Google Chrome users. The lawsuit accused Google of tracking the internet activity of users who had switched to Google's "incognito" setting.
As part of a settlement agreement, Google said it would delete the search data collected from those 136 million users, which Google said was merely "old personal technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization."
Lawyers initially sought a $5 billion payout for consumers, but anyone expecting to receive a chunk of that money will need to sue Google individually to receive any damages. The settlement agreement for the class-action case did not include any monetary damages to be paid out by Google.
Google settled a class-action antitrust case involving the Google Play Store for $700 million.
SOPA Images/Getty Images
Google does, however, have to pay out roughly $700 million as part of a separate class-action case involving the Google Play Store. Attorneys general from five states accused Google of using monopoly tactics to box out competitors to the Google Play Store and limited users' ability to download Android apps from other app stores.
An estimated 102 million consumers were affected between August 16, 2016, and September 30, 2023, and are entitled to compensation of at least $2, the settlement agreement stipulated. Consumers who are eligible for the Google settlement don't need to submit any sort of claim to get that money, however. Consumers will receive automatic payments through PayPal or Venmo.
Google's battle over Europe's "right to be forgotten" laws
Google lost a landmark "right to be forgotten" case in 2014, but won a victory in 2019 when an EU court said the ruling was limited only to the European Union.
picture alliance/Getty Images
One of Google's biggest legal battles in the 2010s concerned the European Court of Justice's "right to be forgotten" ruling and whether Google was responsible for personal data that appears in its search results. Google lost its case in 2014, and the EU court ruled that individuals have the right to remove information about themselves from search engine results.
Under the ruling, Google must respond to legitimate requests from individuals to delist webpages from its search results.Larry Page, one of Google's founders and a former CEO, spoke out vehemently against the EU court's "right to be forgotten" ruling at the time, warning that repressive foreign governments could abuse the ruling.
However, in 2019, Google won a "right to be forgotten" victory in a subsequent EU court ruling, which stipulated that Google only has to delist content from search results in Europe, and the "right to be forgotten" does not apply globally.
Recent research has suggested that Google and Microsoft together have received some 150,000 "right to be forgotten" requests to delist search results each year since the EU court's ruling in 2014. The vast majority of the links targeted for delisting were from Facebook, X, and YouTube.
A woman lived inside the rooftop sign of a Michigan grocery store for about a year, police say.
Contractors working at the store found the woman, the Midland PD said.
She'd decorated the space with a mini desk, flooring, pantry, and houseplant.
A woman spent about a year living inside the rooftop sign of a grocery store in Midland, Michigan, police say.
Brennon Warren, the public relations officer at Midland Police Department, told Business Insider that the woman was found on April 23 by contractors who discovered an extension cord on the roof. Police determined she had been living there for about a year, he said.
Warren confirmed to BI that the woman was 34 and had a job. She'd decked out the space with a mini desk, flooring, pantry, and houseplant, he said.
Per ABC News, Warren said the woman also had a Keurig coffee maker, a printer, and a computer.
"She was homeless," he added. "It's a story that makes you scratch your head, just somebody living up in a sign."
Warren told BI that it was unclear how the woman accessed the roof. However, he said that once on the roof she was able to enter the inside of the sign using a 3'x4' access door.
He added that the woman had refused an offer for contact information for housing assistance in the area and that police didn't know where she had been living since she left the roof.
"I've never seen anything like this before in my career," he told the publication.
Little is known about the woman, including what led her to living on the rooftop.
The Michigan Homeless Policy Council estimated that in 2022, about 32,589 homeless people lived in the state, an 8% increase on the previous year, which it attributed to an "uncertain housing market" and the winding down of pandemic-related programs.
Family Fare is owned by SpartanNash and has 80 stores, mainly in Michigan.
A spokesperson for Family Fare said the company was "proud" of its associates for responding to the situation "with the utmost compassion and professionalism.
"Ensuring there is ample safe, affordable housing continues to be a widespread issue nationwide that our community needs to partner in solving," they added.
Jeff Bezos (left) advised Adam Neumann recently to speak last in meetings.
Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images; Shahar Azran/Getty Images
Jeff Bezos recently advised Adam Neumann to speak last in meetings.
Neumann said he's evolving his leadership approach in his apartment company, Flow.
Bezos' "speak last" strategy is supported by organizational psychologists like Adam Grant.
Jeff Bezos recently gave Adam Neumann some unsolicited advice: Speak last in meetings, a leadership style espoused by a leading organizational psychologist.
Neumann said Bezos came up to him with the recommendation after the WeWork cofounder spoke at an event.
"I was so happy he wanted to give me any type of advice," Neumann said on stage at Thursday's Bloomberg Tech Summit in San Francisco.
He said he's evolving as a leader at Flow, his apartment company.
"I have investors around the table who are not only comfortable pushing back, I think they like it," Neumann said on Thursday. Flow's main backer is famed venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, while WeWork's primary investor is Japanese titan SoftBank.
At WeWork, Neumann was famous for his eccentric leadership style. His alcohol-fueled executive meetings could stretch well into the night, Business Insider previously reported. He often talked about superpowers — including with former BI editors in a 2019 interview — and about the importance of authenticity.
"The way you build a relationship is authenticity, with really connecting to the person. And listening," Neumann told BI in 2019.
Bezos, meanwhile, is known for much more corporate leadership, including tightly orchestrated meetings. On a December podcast with Lex Fridman, he highlighted the importance of leaders holding back. Bezos said he aims for a culture that allows junior staff to overrule their senior counterparts when data supports their thinking.
Bezos recommended that the most junior person participates in a meeting first, and then the meeting flows in order of ascending seniority.
"I know from experience that if I speak first, even very strong-willed, highly-intelligent, high-judgment participants in that meeting will wonder, 'Well if Jeff thinks that, I came in this meeting thinking one thing, but maybe I'm not right,'" Bezos said on the podcast.
Bezos' strategy isn't new — organizational psychologists like Adam Grant, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, have long championed the idea.
If you want to fight conformity in meetings and hear everyone's original ideas, have the leader speak last.#WorkHuman
It was a pleasing end to the trading week this Friday for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and most ASX shares.
After taking a dip yesterday, the ASX 200 was back to firing on all cylinders today. By the end of trade, the index had risen by a happy 0.35%, leaving it at 7,749 points as we head into the weekend.
This pleasant end to the week follows an equally bullish night of trade over in the United States last night.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) was in fine form, shooting up 0.85% overnight.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) didn’t far quite as well, but still banked a solid rise of 0.27%.
But getting back to the local markets, let’s check out how the different ASX sectors dealt with today’s broad-market optimism.
Winners and losers
There were far more smiles than frowns on the market today.
The worst performer was industrial shares though. The S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) gave up an early lead to finish 0.14% lower by the conclusion of trading this Friday.
Also out in the cold were consumer staples stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) ended up dipping by 0.13%.
Tech shares were another mildly sore spot, as you can see from the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ)’s 0.07% slide.
Mining stocks round out the red list. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) slipped by 0.06% over the day.
But that’s it for the losers. Turning to the winners, ASX energy shares came out on top this Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) were on fire, leaping 1.87% higher.
In second place, we had the gold sector. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) vaulted 1.75% upwards by the close of trade.
Financial stocks were hot, too, with the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) banking a nice gain of 0.69%.
Communications shares were also in demand. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) dialled in a 0.65% rise.
Healthcare stocks were revised today as well. The S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ) got a 0.41% shot in the arm from investors.
Consumer discretionary shares got an invite to the ASX party, with the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) swelling 0.12%.
Our final winner was the utilities space, evidenced by the S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ)’s 0.09% uptick.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
Today’s hottest stock on the index was mortgage insurance provider Helia Group Ltd (ASX: HLI). Helia shares had a great day, rocketing up 5.95% to $3.92.
Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.
Wondering where you should invest $1,000 right now?
When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for over ten years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*
Scott just revealed what he believes could be the ‘five best ASX stocks’ for investors to buy right now. We believe these stocks are trading at attractive prices and Scott thinks they could be great buys right now…
Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
It’s been a pleasant Friday for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and most ASX 200 shares today. At the close of trading, the ASX 200 had gained 0.35% and was back above 7,740 points. But let’s talk about what went on with the ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD) share price.
Resmed shares performed slightly better than the broader market. The ASX 200 healthcare stock closed 0.43% higher at $32.34 after rising even higher this morning to $32.71 a share, a gain worth just over 1.5% at the time.
This green day for Resmed came despite some potentially difficult news for investors to digest.
Remember, Resmed is a dual-listed share and has a home both on the ASX and the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ResMed Inc (NYSE: RMD). The company’s base is also in America, in the Californian city of San Diego.
This SEC filing shows that Farrell disposed of 14,683 Resmed shares on 7 May (US time) this week.
These sales were executed at an average share price of US$216.50. That means Farrell would have bagged a cool US$3,178,815, which is approximately $4.81 million in our local currency.
There was no explanation given for these Resmed share sales. However, the plot thickens when we examine another two transactions reported on the same day.
Why has the ResMed CEO been selling shares?
The filing also shows that Farrell acquired 14,683 shares on 7 May. So Farrell has apparently bought and then sold $4.81 million worth of Resmed shares on the same day.
Well, not quite. The acquisition price of these shares was listed as US$84.98 â a far cry from the US$216.50 selling price. This implies that these shares were converted from options that the CEO possessed.
It appears that Farrell’s options were exercised and converted into ordinary Resmed shares, which were promptly sold.
Should investors be worried?
Well, that’s up to them. All investors like to see their company’s management teams align themselves financially with investors as much as possible. That means owning as many shares as they can. When CEOs and other senior management figures sell out of said shares, it can cause some understandable consternation.
However, it must also be remembered that most managers tend to try to follow the rules of good wealth management, which most would agree includes at least somewhat diversifying one’s wealth. Unless you’re Warren Buffett, having most of your net worth tied up in one stock investment is rarely a good idea.
This might be a case of Farrell doing just that when it comes to Resmed shares. Perhaps the CEO has a large tax bill coming up or wants to buy a new house.
Before investors follow Farrell and sell out of their shares (which doesn’t appear to be happening anyway, judging by the recent share price performance), keep in mind that Farrell still owns a significant chunk of the company.
The SEC filing shows that the CEO retains 440,752 Resmed shares (presumably the NYSE-listed stock) even after this week’s sale. Those would have a value of US$95.57 million today.
Wondering where you should invest $1,000 right now?
When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for over ten years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*
Scott just revealed what he believes could be the ‘five best ASX stocks’ for investors to buy right now. We believe these stocks are trading at attractive prices and Scott thinks they could be great buys right now…
Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
