THE AGENDA The Hedgehog
Our nocturnal news-sniff er reports from the eateries, galleries, offi ces and hotels of London. Edited by Alec Marsh
Apple of his ire
Having been ‘outed’ by The Wall Street Journal as an artist in 2015, former T-Mobile USA and Vodafone Europe CEO Philipp Humm gave up the C-suite to pursue his art career. But half a decade on – and despite classical training at London’s Fine Art Studio and the Florence Academy of Art – it’s clear that corporations, and the people who run them, remain fi rmly on his mind. In his latest collection of work, some of which is on show at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, Humm has taken aim at the giants of tech – Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates et al – in an exhibition entitled Faust, inspired by Goethe’s tale. ‘Having worked in high tech, I am an insider and understand the moral shortcomings of its leaders,’ says Humm, who is clear that the likes of Jobs and Zuckerberg are modern-day geniuses – but also fl awed. His wider collection includes a fi lm, The
Last Faust, with Steven Berkoff (playing a character that is ‘more like a Weinstein than a Steve Jobs’) and a portrait (pictured) of a man in Jobs’s signature black jumper, whose hands encircle a globe. In real life Jobs could be ‘unpleasant,’ says Humm.
Golden age?
‘This, too, shall pass,’ as the Stoics used to say. But modern-day market- watchers are beginning to doubt this received wisdom – at least when it comes to infl ation. That the current spell of high infl ation in the UK will soon end has been a mantra of
Talking to Spirits by Philipp Humm
the newish governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey. But not everyone believes him. One seasoned City slicker tells Hedgehog, therefore, to keep an eye on gold. It has historically been an effective hedge against infl ation, but the more relevant point may be whether it can protect investors from a loss of confi dence in ‘the narrative’. The danger, adds this Deepthroat of derivatives, is that people stop believing infl ation is ‘temporary’, or ‘start believing that Andrew Bailey is talking out of both sides of his mouth – and the back of his neck at the same time. That’s when you could expect to see gold pick up, because faith in central banks’ ability to control the situation is perceived to be weakening.’
Debit card!
With a CV that includes The Thick of It and In the Loop, Jesse Armstrong, the British showrunner of HBO series Succession, doesn’t miss a trick. In the third series of the show, embattled octogenarian media mogul Logan Roy (played by Brian Cox) fi nds himself embroiled in both a corporate governance scandal and a battle royal to control his empire. He is also revealed to be a customer of Credit Suisse… Cue sotto voce laughs. The bank, of course, has been rebuked by Swiss regulators for spying on its own staff and has even garnered an amusing moniker – Debit Suisse – following the high-profi le Archegos default and the collapse of Greensill Capital both in March last year.
BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES
DANIELE MAH
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