Meta Opens Pop-Up Stores to Build Buzz for Its AI Glasses
The stores, in New York City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, have coffee stations and full-length mirrors for customers to take selfies in their Ray-Bans
- Meta has opened a 5,000-square-foot, two-story retail pop-up in New York City.
- Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses, a collaboration with EssilorLuxottica, had sold over two million units as of earlier this year.
- Meta plans to open more retail stores domestically and internationally within the next two years.
NEW YORK—If there is one thing Meta knows how to do, it is getting people to take pictures and share them with friends. That was top of mind for Matt Jacobson when he was designing the company’s new retail pop-up stores.
“We want people to take pictures. We want them to come with their friends. We don’t want them in and out of the store quickly,” Jacobson, Meta’s vice president and creative director for AI wearables, said in an interview. Meta has been on a pop-up shop spree since last year after its Ray-Ban AI glasses became a surprise hit. Jacobson helped set up stores in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Burlingame, Calif., and most recently New York City.
The latest one, which opened Friday on a busy block in Midtown Manhattan, is hard to miss. It is a 5,000-square-foot, two-story building that has been painted bright blue and adorned with an outline of Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses.
Inside the skateboarding-themed space, all of Meta’s smartglasses and virtual-reality headsets are on display. There is a station with free cookies and coffee and an engraving stand to brand the glasses cases with initials or designs.
Jacobson said he designed the space to be both Instagrammable and just somewhere people could hang out. “It wouldn’t feel right for us to build just a super clean, super efficient, selling-returning machine,” he said.
The New York pop-up is on Fifth Avenue, the Vegas one is in the Wynn hotel and the L.A. one—which is permanent—is on Melrose Avenue. “We wanted places that had great foot traffic,” Jacobson said.
The locations in L.A. and Vegas also have skateboard themes, with the decor in each customized to the city. The stores feature full-length mirrors that Jacobson says customers have been using both for trying on the glasses and for taking selfies.
The glasses became popular last year after a first version released in 2021 flopped. The glasses, made in collaboration with Italian eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica EL -0.31%decrease; red down pointing triangle, come in different styles and are equipped with a camera, microphones and AI features. As of earlier this year, Meta had sold more than two million of them.
The company doesn’t release sales figures for the glasses. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in its most recent earnings call that “strong AI glasses revenue” contributed to revenue growth in that quarter and that the company was expecting significant year-over-year growth in AI-glasses revenue in the current quarter.
At Meta’s annual developer conference in September, Zuckerberg revealed a new smartglasses product, with a built-in display that can be controlled via a wrist band. On the earnings call last month, Zuckerberg said the glasses sold out in every store within 48 hours and that demo slots had been fully booked through the end of November.
“This is an area where we’re clearly leading and have a huge opportunity ahead,” he said. “So we’re going to have to invest in increasing manufacturing and selling more of those.”
On Friday morning, a mix of customers and employees trickled into the newly opened Manhattan store. The crowd was sparse, and there was no line to enter. (Meta’s official launch party for the store is next week.)
Father and daughter Matt Lahey, 58, and Katie Gerber, 27, noticed the store while walking past and decided to pop in.
“I’m very interested in them for the language-translation part,” Lahey, who lives in Jacksonville, Fla., said. “I think that’s gonna be cool and, you know, when we travel, that’s always sort of the limiting factor when we travel internationally.”
Jacobson says the company plans to open more stores in the next two years—both domestically and internationally—and that the themes will change several times a year.
Innovations from Apple used to change the course of the world. Not so much anymore.
Consider the waifish iPhone Air, which I’d consider the coolest new product from Cupertino in years. But its sales have disappointed, and Apple plans to delay releasing next year’s version, my colleagues Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu revealed a couple days ago.
Their report came around the same time Apple tried to make much hay from the debut of another product: the iPhone Pocket, a slingy thing made in partnership with Issey Miyake, the esteemable Japanese fashion house, that nonetheless possesses all the glamour and grace of Borat’s onesie.
In a press release, Apple described the item as “beautiful” and includes a quote from Molly Anderson, the company’s vice president of industrial design,” praising the object’s “craftsmanship, simplicity, and design.” That’s quite a lot of misty-eyed solemnity for a product that’s a cross between a slingshot and a jockstrap.
By teaming with Miyake, Apple is trying to tell us Steve Jobs would’ve dug an iPhone Pocket: Miyake, after all, is the company that made Jobs’ trademark black turtleneck. Somehow, though, I doubt Jobs would’ve been a big iPhone Pocket guy—at least not as modern-day Apple unveiled it.
Sure, Jobs did in 2004 release the iPod Sock, a woven cloth case for the MP3 player, but he did so with tongue pressed firmly into cheek—as you can see in his initial presentation of it. He knew it was ridiculous and didn’t try to insist otherwise. And since Jobs had recently recemented his reputation as a product genius, he had the credibility to do a jokey product—without Apple’s design sensibility getting turned into a punchline by elbow biters such as myself. Apple in 2025 isn’t in the same position.
Look, there’s a real reason why Apple shares have only managed to slightly outpace the Nasdaq’s 19% gain this year—and why the company is struggling to get any growth out of the iPhone, its flagship product. Lately, it just hasn’t displayed the ability to develop any new good ideas. As Apple makes plainly apparent on a regular basis, it instead continues to subsist on the ample amount of brand power it amassed in the Jobs era.
To be clear, though, Jobs assembled such a stockpile by knowing full well that most people don’t think their gadgets need knitted condoms, which are, obviously, a poor idea in any circumstance.
Nike CEO on Company’s Reinvention Plan
The Journal sits down with Elliott Hill to discuss his turnaround strategy
In 2024, Nike %decrease; red down pointing triangle veteran Elliott Hill became CEO as the company confronted lagging sales and a sharp drop in its stock price. One year into his tenure, Nike is showing signs of a rebound, though the turnaround isn’t complete.
The Wall Street Journal’s Inti Pacheco sat down with Hill at Nike’s Beaverton, Ore., headquarters to discuss the company’s recovery, a return to its roots and the future of the Dunk shoe.
Watch their conversation above.
He’s Called ‘Little Trump,’ and His Tactics Are Rankling White House Top Brass
Bill Pulte, head of the agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has been making big waves from his low-profile post
Bill Pulte marched into the Oval Office this summer and delivered one of his signature performances.
Pulte, who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, told the president he had identified leakers who were undermining the administration. He was carrying a “Ghostbusters”-style poster that featured pictures of administration officials and outside allies, outlined by red circles with lines through their faces, according to officials familiar with the meeting.
For many in the West Wing, it was classic Pulte: an attention-grabbing move to burrow into President Trump’s good graces by attacking the president’s perceived enemies.
Pulte, a 37-year-old heir to a home-building fortune, has emerged as one of the most polarizing figures inside and outside the Trump administration. Referred to by some as “Little Trump,” his job is to oversee mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac FMCC 3.70%increase; green up pointing triangle, which back nearly half the mortgages in the country.
Pulte has routinely made waves from that low-profile post, digging up opposition research on the president’s foes, ousting legal and ethics watchdogs who investigated the FHFA director’s conduct, and lashing out at companies in the housing world. Most recently, he has championed the idea of introducing a 50-year mortgage in the U.S.—a proposal that got a cool reception in Washington, even from many on the right.
Some administration officials have grown wary of Pulte’s unorthodox and aggressive tactics and have been gathering information on what they see as his missteps and political vulnerabilities, building on the vetting they did before he got the job, people familiar with the situation said.
Those officials believe Pulte has veered outside his lane, creating headaches for the administration. They have pushed the president to replace him, but Trump has resisted, telling confidants he appreciates Pulte’s loyalty, the people said.
Like many people in the president’s orbit, Pulte enhanced his standing via a pricey membership at Trump’s Palm Beach, Fla., resort Mar-a-Lago. The grandson of William J. Pulte, who had founded home-builder giant PulteGroup, the younger Pulte left the company’s board in 2020 after disagreements with other directors. He led a private-equity firm and focused on social media philanthropy, in which he would donate to his followers.
Pulte and his wife donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to pro-Trump groups in recent campaign cycles. After Trump’s 2024 election victory, Pulte was spotted dining at Mar-a-Lago with longtime Trump ally Roger Stone. Pulte also developed a relationship with the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., though he doesn’t consider himself to be a close friend of Pulte.
Days before his inauguration in January, Trump announced Pulte as his pick to lead the FHFA. “You are the greatest President in history,” Pulte replied on X, thanking him.
Ethics complaint
In April, Pulte referred New York Attorney General Letitia James—a Democrat who became a prime target for Trump after she brought a civil fraud case against him in 2022—to the Justice Department for prosecution, accusing her of having falsified records to obtain favorable loan terms.
The tactics Pulte used in that case came under scrutiny inside Fannie. An internal complaint alleged that he improperly obtained mortgage records of James and other Democratic officials, The Wall Street Journal reported. The complaint made its way to FHFA acting inspector general Joe Allen, who ultimately sent it to federal prosecutors in Virginia, at least in part because it could be considered material information for James’s defense in the case, a person familiar with the matter said.
Allen was asked to step down from that role shortly thereafter, the Journal reported, and about a dozen members of the ethics and investigations units of Fannie were fired in recent weeks in the wake of complaints against Pulte. FHFA has disputed the Journal’s reporting on the matter, and Pulte has said the layoffs were part of efforts to rein in diversity, equity and inclusion programs. James has called the charges against her baseless and has pleaded not guilty.
Pulte has also taken aim at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom Trump has sharply criticized for his handling of interest rates, and Fed governor Lisa Cook. Days after he accused her of mortgage fraud, Trump said he would remove Cook, citing the allegations. In court filings defending her job at the Fed, Cook has denied committing mortgage fraud.
Inside the White House, Pulte’s idiosyncrasies have earned him some detractors. His penchant for carrying poster boards into meetings has become so well known that when he shows up without one, administration aides ask where his boards are, according to administration officials.
Advisers for companies who have prepped executives for meetings with Pulte have warned them that the interactions could be unusual, according to people involved in such discussions. Some compared Pulte’s tendency to go off-topic in private meetings to Trump’s.
“We have great meetings with a wide variety of constituents!” an FHFA spokesman said.
Gaining favor
Pulte has continued to cultivate relationships with Trump family members and their friends. He added Omeed Malik, a former Bank of America executive who co-founded the investment firm 1789 Capital, which counts Trump Jr. as a partner, to the board of Fannie Mae.
While Pulte has gained favor with the president, he has infuriated many of Trump’s advisers. After he kept showing up at the golf course in Virginia where Trump regularly plays, White House officials sent a message to staffers on location to watch out for him and make sure he didn’t catch the president unattended.
Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, at a dinner at a private club backed by Trump Jr., had grown so incensed by Pulte that he threatened to punch him “in the f—ing face,” according to people familiar with the incident, which Politico earlier reported. Bessent had heard that Pulte had been badmouthing him to Trump. After the blowup, Trump told Bessent and Pulte to play nice, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
Pulte’s focus on the New York attorney general has only intensified in recent months. In the dining room off the Oval Office, Pulte told Trump that Erik Siebert, then the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was blocking charges against James in his office, according to people familiar with the matter. Siebert had been under pressure to charge James but hadn’t been able to build the case, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
Pulte told Trump that Siebert had been nominated by Virginia’s two Democratic senators—Tim Kaine and Mark Warner—which angered the president, people familiar with the situation said. Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, told Trump that wasn’t true. She said the White House had picked Siebert, and the pair of Democrats agreed to support the nomination as a favor to Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Still, Trump said he didn’t want a nominee that Warner and Kaine backed, and told aides to remove him, the people familiar with the matter said. Siebert resigned after learning of plans to fire him. Many of Trump’s nominees have received Democratic support.
Trump’s new pick for the job, his former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan, secured an indictment of James in early October. Minutes after James was indicted, Pulte came into the Oval Office to boast that he and Halligan had pulled it off on their own, the people said. “This is false,” the FHFA spokesman said. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in eastern Virginia declined to comment.
The Great American Mortgage Corporation
Pulte has also caused friction over his handling of agency business. Rocket, one of the country’s largest mortgage lenders, in late March unveiled a $9.4 billion deal to buy a rival, Mr. Cooper Group. The companies didn’t anticipate issues getting it past the deal-friendly Trump administration.
But Rocket complained to the White House that Pulte, whose agency needed to sign off on the acquisition, was slow-walking the process, people familiar with the situation said.
President Trump intervened and his chief of staff, Wiles, ordered Pulte to bless the deal, the people said. A spokesman for the Federal Housing Finance Agency said that characterization of the Rocket deal’s review is false. A person close to FHFA said the agency was doing proper diligence on a significant deal.
Rocket had a separate run-in earlier with Pulte, when Pulte suggested the firm invest in 1789 Capital, some of the people said. Rocket didn’t invest. The FHFA spokesman and an attorney for Pulte disputed this, calling it “categorically false.” A lawyer for 1789 and Malik said neither the firm nor Malik had any knowledge whatsoever of any such suggestion by Pulte.
Pulte has made an aggressive push for swift public offerings of Fannie and Freddie, a move Trump has said he would consider, and imagined a new entity called the “Great American Mortgage Corporation.” The two mortgage giants facilitate the market by bundling loans to sell to investors with a government guarantee. They have been under government control since the 2008 financial crisis, and IPOs would be complex, high-stakes transactions.
The fast timeline has been a key flashpoint in the feud between Pulte and Bessent, who has stressed a more careful approach to avoid driving up mortgage rates.
Pulte has allowed Fannie and Freddie to ramp up purchases of mortgage-backed securities as it had done before the 2008 crisis, hoping that doing so could help boost earnings ahead of a potential IPO, according to people familiar with the matter.
After the crisis, the government had ordered Fannie and Freddie to back off that strategy. Severe problems in the subprime mortgage business triggered massive losses on those securities across Wall Street.
‘Things look unsteady’
Pulte recently summoned executives from large home builders to the Commerce Department. In the meetings, he and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told executives they were part of the problem in the home-affordability crisis, people familiar with the matter said, directing them to construct more homes on empty lots and lower prices.
The meeting struck some attendees as an unusual intervention. The FHFA doesn’t have direct regulatory authority over home builders. Builders tried to explain that higher interest rates, economic uncertainty and local regulations were a drag on housing activity. Some left with the impression that those who didn’t follow the government’s requests would be punished, the people familiar with the matter said.
FHFA is “exploring all ways to increase housing affordability,” the agency spokesman said. A Commerce official said Lutnick asked home builders to come in with their best ideas on housing affordability. The official said Lutnick doesn’t believe that adding more volume to the housing market would fix affordability.
Pulte has some industry boosters, such as Mat Ishbia, CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. In a statement to the Journal this summer, Ishbia said Pulte “thinks big and different.”
Meanwhile, Pulte has remade the agency itself. He made himself chairman of the boards of Fannie and Freddie, axed directors and executives and installed new leaders, some with little to no known experience in mortgage finance.
The changes have rattled some lenders and mortgage-backed securities investors. Some stakeholders have reached out to the Treasury Department to express concerns, people familiar with the matter said.
In a statement, Pulte said mortgage-backed securities investors are “more positive than ever” about Fannie and Freddie.
Looking to reassure his members about all the changes, Mortgage Bankers Association CEO Bob Broeksmit sent them a video recently. He said that Fannie and Freddie executives had given him “assurance that things are more in control than they may appear.”
“You are not alone in thinking that from the outside, things look unsteady,” he said.
Pourquoi Euroclear, l’institution belge qui gère les actifs russes gelés en Europe, « n’exclut pas » de poursuivre l’UE en cas de confiscation
nstitution belge méconnue mais centrale du système financier, Euroclear détient notamment 193 milliards d’euros d’actifs russes, qui, gelés depuis l’invasion de l’Ukraine, attisent les convoitises. Sa directrice générale, Valérie Urbain, alerte sur la possibilité d’une confiscation qui, illégale, affaiblirait l’Europe.
Comme tout le monde, elle a découvert la proposition choc en lisant le journal. Valérie Urbain, directrice générale d’Euroclear, l’organisme de dépôt européen hébergeant les quelque 200 milliards d’euros russes gelés depuis l’invasion de l’Ukraine, n’avait pas été prévenue par Friedrich Merz. C’est donc tôt, le 25 septembre, en consultant son téléphone et en découvrant la une du Financial Times, bible de la presse financière londonienne, qu’elle a appris le plan du chancelier allemand : créer un mécanisme pour prêter 140 milliards d’euros à l’Ukraine en s’appuyant sur les avoirs russes gelés, mais sans les confisquer. La proposition est depuis au cœur d’intenses discussions que les chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement de l’Union européenne doivent trancher lors du prochain sommet du Conseil, les 18 et 19 décembre.
Si Mme Urbain n’a pas été mise au courant, c’est pourtant elle qui détient les clés de ces actifs. Elle dirige Euroclear, institution méconnue mais essentielle du système financier. Ce dépositaire est le lieu où les banques centrales et autres grands fonds d’investissement internationaux déposent leurs titres (actions, obligations, produits financiers…). Euroclear gère ainsi 42 500 milliards d’euros de dépôts, soit quatorze fois le produit intérieur brut de la France. Pourtant, à son siège, en plein centre de Bruxelles, nulle trace de coffre-fort. Tout est dématérialisé, avec des données hébergées dans plusieurs data centers à travers le monde.
Parmi cette somme gigantesque, dont le montant ne s’affiche sur aucun écran au QG, se trouvent 193 milliards d’euros d’argent russe, dont l’essentiel, 180 milliards, appartient à la Banque centrale de Russie. Ce pactole, gelé après l’invasion de l’Ukraine en février 2022 et les premières sanctions occidentales, fait l’objet de toutes les convoitises. Jeudi 13 novembre, la présidente de la Commission européenne, Ursula von der Leyen, a réitéré son soutien au plan de M. Merz : « C’est le moyen le plus efficace de soutenir la défense et l’économie de l’Ukraine. »
Mais Mme Urbain prévient : pas question de faire main basse sur cet argent. « Le plus important pour Euroclear, c’est la crédibilité et la confiance, insiste-t-elle dès la deuxième minute de l’entretien accordé au Monde. Nous sommes un maillon essentiel qui doit rester infaillible pour la stabilité des marchés financiers. » Tout ce qui ressemble de près ou de loin à une confiscation serait illégal, avertit-elle : « Il faut être très vigilant. [Cela irait contre] le droit international de souveraineté des actifs appartenant à un Etat. La Russie pourrait ensuite engager des poursuites judiciaires. »
Dans les bureaux d’Euroclear, à Bruxelles, le 7 novembre 2025. La sécurité a été renforcée depuis la controverse autour des actifs russes. COLIN DELFOSSE POUR « LE MONDE »
Si l’Union européenne finit par adopter une solution qui ressemble à une confiscation, Mme Urbain se dit prête à répliquer sur le front judiciaire : « Il y a des lois. En fonction du cadre juridique, nous déciderons ce que nous pouvons et voulons faire. »
Envisage-t-elle des poursuites en justice contre les instances européennes si le conseil d’administration d’Euroclear estime que ses « obligations fiduciaires » sont remises en cause ? « Ce n’est pas exclu », prévient-elle, tout en reconnaissant que ses équipes n’ont pas, pour le moment, préparé de dossier. Euroclear a pourtant déjà dû renforcer depuis 2022 son équipe juridique, passée d’une dizaine à quelque 200 employés.
« Pas de précédent »
Mme Urbain, 61 ans, mariée et mère de deux enfants d’âge adulte, n’avait pas vocation à se retrouver ainsi au cœur de tractations politico-financières mondiales. Voilà plus de trois décennies que cette Belge, qui a grandi en Afrique jusqu’à ses 15 ans, travaille à Euroclear. Elle en a gravi les échelons, jusqu’à en prendre la direction, en mai 2024.
Ni M. Merz ni le président français, Emmanuel Macron, ne l’ont consultée dans cette affaire. « Je ne suis pas un chef d’Etat », dit-elle en souriant. Mais elle en a discuté avec Christine Lagarde, présidente de la Banque centrale européenne. Son monde est celui des banquiers centraux et des financiers, à l’image du siège aseptisé du groupe : moquette marron, murs beiges, bureaux crème…
La vie quotidienne de cette femme discrète, sortie de la Solvay Business School avec un diplôme d’ingénieure commerciale, a cependant basculé. Si elle ne peut pas détailler les menaces reçues, un garde du corps la suit en permanence depuis un an. Sa famille vit sous surveillance. La sécurité pour rentrer dans le QG a été renforcée. A l’extérieur, aucun panneau ne dévoile le nom de l’institution. A l’intérieur, tout invité se déplace avec un passe doublé d’un code personnalisé à présenter aux tourniquets d’un étage à l’autre. Enfin, l’entrée dans le bureau de Mme la directrice se fait après deux portes vitrées sous le contrôle d’hommes en noir, polis, mais l’œil vif.
Malgré les pressions extérieures, Mme Urbain se garde bien de parler politique. Elle qui n’a jamais eu de lien avec la Russie se contente de rappeler que « la meilleure manière de dénouer ce dossier, c’est la paix ». En attendant, elle feint de ne pas être surprise par le plan Merz. « Depuis trois ans, on entend toutes ces personnalités politiques faire des grandes déclarations dans la presse. C’était une parmi d’autres… », tempère-t-elle, voix douce et moqueuse, mais ton vif et ferme. Les 193 milliards d’avoirs russes gelés représentent moins de 0,5 % du total des 42 500 milliards d’euros déposés. Ces derniers mois, ils mobilisent pourtant l’essentiel de son temps – « entre 30 % et 100 % », selon les jours.
La directrice d’Euroclear peut compter sur un allié clé : Bart De Wever, le premier ministre belge. Etant basée à Bruxelles, l’institution, qui est une entreprise privée, dépend pour les sanctions du ministère des finances belge. Le 23 octobre, tard dans la nuit du dernier Conseil européen, M. De Wever semblait survolté après une journée à tenir tête au reste des Vingt-Sept. « Quand vous êtes un politicien et que vous voyez un pot d’or [les actifs russes gelés], c’est irrésistible », ironisait-il.
Chef du gouvernement de la Belgique, qui doit à Euroclear sa place clé dans la finance internationale, il s’oppose au plan Merz. « Est-ce légal ? Ce n’est pas clair. (…) Il n’y a pas de précédent », note-t-il, rappelant que, même pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, les actifs des banques centrales n’avaient pas été confisqués. Or, en cas de condamnation, c’est la Belgique qui risquerait de devoir payer. « Je ne suis pas capable, et je ne veux pas, débourser 140 milliards d’euros », a prévenu M. De Wever. Il exige de chacun des Vingt-Sept de se porter garant de cette somme, au prorata de la taille de son économie. Goguenard, il a raconté la scène : « J’ai demandé à mes collègues : “Qui est prêt à signer ?” Je n’ai pas fait face à un tsunami d’enthousiasme. »
Risque de riposte financière
Dans son bureau du QG bruxellois, où la rare touche de fantaisie est sa collection de Schtroumpfs, Mme Urbain rappelle qu’avant toute chose il faudra une loi ou une décision formelle de la Commission européenne, reprise ensuite par la Belgique.
Pour convaincre, elle détaille les obligations légales d’Euroclear : « Au niveau de notre bilan, il y a un passif : Euroclear doit cette créance à la Banque centrale de Russie. Et il y a un actif : le cash déposé actuellement auprès de la Banque centrale européenne. Le pire serait que l’actif, le cash, parte [pour financer un prêt à Kiev], mais que nous, à Euroclear, restions avec le passif, le droit de restitution. Si les sanctions sont levées, la Russie peut à tout moment venir taper à notre porte et exiger le droit de restitution : qui alors nous redonnera les 140 milliards d’euros à lui reverser ? » Ce scénario n’est pas à exclure : les sanctions sont renouvelées tous les six mois, et, chaque fois, le vote dépend d’Etats réputés proches du Kremlin comme la Hongrie et la Slovaquie.
Euroclear n’est pas la seule institution à posséder l’argent gelé de la Banque centrale de Russie. Il y en a aussi au Japon, au Royaume-Uni, en Suisse et même aux Etats-Unis. Au total, près de 300 milliards de dollars (258 milliards d’euros) sont détenus. Les autres dépositaires à travers le monde se font pourtant discrets. Les Japonais ont ouvertement exclu toute confiscation. « Ces pays restent silencieux, souligne Mme Urbain. Il faut arrêter de cibler Euroclear et la Belgique. »
Depuis le début, les autorités européennes sont parfaitement conscientes du problème. Plutôt que de confisquer les actifs russes, elles se sont contentées d’utiliser les intérêts que ceux-ci génèrent (5 milliards d’euros jusqu’à présent). Sur la base de ces revenus futurs, l’Union européenne a levé un emprunt de 45 milliards d’euros pour l’Ukraine. Ce montage complexe permet de ne pas toucher aux actifs, rendant les poursuites judiciaires difficiles. Le plan Merz changerait complètement la donne.
Au-delà de l’aspect légal, Mme Urbain alerte des risques pour l’ensemble de la zone euro. En cas de confiscation, les régimes autoritaires de la planète ayant déposé leur argent à Euroclear risquent de s’inquiéter. C’était d’ailleurs l’impartialité de l’institution bruxelloise qui, précisément, avait convaincu les fonds russes de passer par elle pour leurs investissements. « Je rencontre beaucoup de clients, d’autorités. Je peux vous dire que la question de la confiscation des avoirs russes alarme énormément de gens », raconte Mme Urbain, en partance pour un énième voyage à Singapour pour une conférence internationale. « Nos interlocuteurs chinois et arabes nous le disent : ils scrutent avec intérêt comment ça évolue. Jusqu’à maintenant, on a fait très attention à ne pas effriter cette confiance. Ils l’apprécient », poursuit-elle.
Si cette crédibilité venait à s’émousser, les conséquences pourraient vite se faire sentir par ricochet en Europe même. « Il y aura moins d’investissements dans la zone euro de la part de ces investisseurs globaux. Cela affectera donc tous les besoins de financements que l’Europe a en termes de défense, de transition verte, de transformations digitales », craint Mme Urbain.
Outre la menace légale et le risque réputationnel, l’Europe fait face à un troisième risque : la riposte financière des autorités russes. Elles ont gelé « entre 20 milliards et 40 milliards d’euros » possédés par des clients d’Euroclear se trouvant sur le compte du dépositaire central russe. Plus d’une centaine de procès sont en cours à Moscou avec, à terme, la menace de la saisie de ces sommes. Pour le moment, le Kremlin s’avère prudent : les jugements n’ont pas été exécutés, et l’argent dort sur les comptes. Mais, en cas de mise en œuvre du plan Merz, il pourrait aller plus loin.
« Je reçois des appels de gens : si vous saisissez les avoirs russes, ils vont saisir mon usine, ils vont saisir mes fonds gelés [en Russie] », témoigne le premier ministre belge. Les confiscations risquent donc d’aller dans les deux sens. Autant de nœuds gordiens que les Vingt-Sept devront trancher à leur prochain sommet. Sous l’œil de Moscou et… de Valérie Urbain.
Euroclear, le coffre-fort des coffres-forts
Inconnu du grand public, Euroclear est un morceau essentiel de la « tuyauterie » financière mondiale. Cette entreprise belge de 6 000 employés est l’endroit où les grandes banques, les banques centrales ou encore les fonds d’investissement déposent leurs titres financiers. Il peut s’agir d’obligations, d’actions, de produits financiers… Concrètement, lors d’une transaction, par exemple, lors de l’échange d’une action en Bourse, Euroclear est l’institution qui s’assure que le vendeur reçoive l’argent et que l’acheteur perçoive le titre de propriété de l’action. A Euroclear, il n’y a donc pas d’argent liquide ni de lingots d’or, mais simplement le « papier » prouvant la détention des titres. Au total, l’entreprise assure le dépôt de 42 500 milliards d’euros de titres et réalise 330 millions de transactions par an. Aujourd’hui, tout est dématérialisé, mais, au début des années 2010, il existait encore des coffres où s’entassait cette documentation. Chaque pays dispose d’un dépositaire central, mais Euroclear possède ceux de six pays européens (Belgique, France, Royaume-Uni, Finlande, Pays-Bas, Suède) et gère celui d’Irlande. L’entreprise s’est développée de Belgique parce que le droit de propriété y est parmi les plus stricts.
Toto Wolff in talks to sell Mercedes F1 stake to CrowdStrike chief
Team principal in advanced negotiations over 5% stake that would set record valuation for a Formula 1 team
Mercedes Formula 1 chief executive Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his stake to CrowdStrike’s George Kurtz, in a deal that would give the F1 team a record $6bn valuation and underscore the sport’s commercial success under US ownership.
Kurtz is in talks over taking a stake of about 5 per cent in the Mercedes F1 team, said two people with knowledge of the matter. The co-founder and chief executive of the cyber security company is known for his love of car racing, having competed in hundreds of races.
CrowdStrike and Mercedes F1 are long-standing commercial partners, with the former’s logo featuring prominently on the team’s cars and driver race suits.
CrowdStrike was approached for comment. Mercedes F1 and Wolff declined to comment.
The deal under discussion would involve Wolff bringing Kurtz into the holding company that owns his 33 per cent stake in the Mercedes F1 team, said a person with knowledge of the matter.
It would result in the outside investor taking a stake of about 5 per cent in the team, the person said. Wolff would remain as chief executive and team principal.
Mercedes F1 said: “The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners [Mercedes-Benz, Toto and Ineos] are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1.”
Wolff, German carmaker Mercedes-Benz and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals company Ineos each own a third of the team.
Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix, the company that operates the F1 team, reported revenues of £636mn in 2024, up from £546mn the previous year. Pre-tax profit rose from £115mn to £163mn in the same timeframe. The company proposed a final dividend for the year of £125mn.
The deal for Wolff’s stake would represent a significant increase in valuation since January 2022, when Ineos paid £208mn for its 33 per cent stake. The potential stake sale was first reported by Sportico without identifying the buyer.
A $6bn valuation would set a high-water mark for an F1 team.
In September the Middle Eastern backers of McLaren Racing — Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Abu Dhabi investment group CYVN Holdings — took full ownership of the team in a deal valuing it at more than £3bn. That valuation was more than five times the £560mn ascribed to McLaren in a December 2020 fundraising.
Motor racing teams have soared in value since John Malone’s Liberty Media took over F1 in 2017 and successfully attracted a new generation of fans.
Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive was a global hit, particularly in the US, and catapulted Wolff and other F1 chiefs into the spotlight.
Since joining Mercedes in 2013, Wolff has led the team to seven drivers’ championships and eight constructors’ titles. Sir Lewis Hamilton delivered the team’s success on the track for much of Wolff’s reign, but the British driver departed for Italian rival Ferrari this year after the Mercedes car was beset with problems.
Mercedes sits second in this season’s constructors’ championship, which has already been won by McLaren with three races remaining. Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli sit fourth and seventh in the drivers’ standings respectively.
Wolff was among the executive producers on F1 The Movie, which was released by Apple earlier this year and grossed more than $630mn at the box office.
Germany risks squandering a golden opportunity
Chancellor’s plans for investment and reform may be more of a short-term boost than a fix to underlying problems
Welcome back. Germany risks squandering its chance to use a public investment splurge to raise productivity and growth potential unless it makes “significant improvements”. That was the damning assessment this week of the German Council of Economic Experts. It said under current plans half of the borrowing that is supposed to go on additional investment will instead be spent on government consumption.
The council’s report conveyed a widely shared appraisal among economists and business figures that the coalition government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz is not doing enough — either through its €500bn special investment fund for infrastructure and decarbonisation or its reform plans — to revive long-term Germany’s flatlining economy.
The importance to Europe of Germany’s success in upgrading its growth model cannot be overstated. Only Germany has the fiscal firepower to invest its way out of trouble, with investment also buying political space for structural reforms. Failure would only further fuel the rise of the anti-EU far right. I’m at ben.hall@ft.com.
Strengths become vulnerabilities
The German economy is stuck in its longest period of stagnation since the second world war. Even with the government turning on the spending taps, the economy will only grow by 0.9 per cent, according to the council’s projection which is well below the consensus forecast. The recovery will be even weaker if the investment fund is slow to disburse or if it just pushes up inflation, especially in construction.
The economy is being weighed down by US protectionism and cheap Chinese competition. As my colleagues in the FT’s Frankfurt bureau reported in this excellent analysis, there is no end in sight to Germany’s industrial recession. The strengths that underpinned the German manufacturing powerhouse for decades have become vulnerabilities. The fact that Germany has since the beginning of this year run a trade deficit in capitals goods — a sector where German engineers once reigned supreme — with China for the first time is hugely telling. (For more on Germany’s “China shock” see this note from Deutsche Bank).
