Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Altman’s return

The hope over at OpenAI is that everything will be getting back to normal in time for Thanksgiving. Following four days of drama that’s reverberated from Silicon Valley to Wall Street and back, it’s possible that Sam Altman might end up right where he started. The dismissed OpenAI chief executive, the company’s interim CEO and members of the board have started negotiations aimed at Altman’s possible reinstatement. The talks also involve some of OpenAI’s investors, many of whom are pushing for Altman’s return. —David E. Rovella

Binance Holdings and CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to charges of anti-money laundering and violating US sanctions under a sweeping deal with the Justice Department designed to keep the company in business. Binance is to pay more than $4 billion in penalties while Zhao agreed to step down and pay $50 million. “Binance became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in part because of the crimes it committed,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “Now it’s paying one of the largest corporate penalties in US history.”

The latest inflation report, showing that price increases continued to slow in October, suggests the US might get the “immaculate disinflation” that everyone is hoping for, Allison Schrager writes in Bloomberg Opinion. The sunnier view has a lot going for it—not only from the decline in actual inflation but also from the decline in expectations of future inflation. But Schrager writes that, if you take a closer look, it’s clear some measures of expectations haven’t improved that much.

Apple is facing allegations by a federal labor board over the exclusion of unionized retail workers from a benefits rise last year. A National Labor Relations Board regional director lodged a complaint Tuesday based on claims the tech giant violated labor laws by refusing to give enhanced benefits to unionized workers at an Apple store in Towson, Maryland.

Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure to achieve a deal to free Israeli hostages, is close to a deal with Hamas that will include a temporary ceasefire. US President Joe Biden said Tuesday the chances of it being completed are “very good.” But the prime minister made clear that, despite international pressure to end his invasion of the Gaza Strip, war will resume when any ceasefire ends. The six-week conflict triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks has reportedly killed more than 15,000 people.

Palestinians search for casualties in the crater of a building destroyed by an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Nov. 18 Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg

Senior officials in Germany’s ruling coalition meeting in Berlin this week were under no illusion about the magnitude of the task they face after last week’s shock budget ruling by the nation’s top court. The judges called into question hundreds of billions of euros of financing in special funds—some of them decades old—that are not part of the regular federal budget. The house, said one German official, “is in flames.”

The gains in Chinese developers’ bonds and stocks Tuesday are at risk of becoming yet another false dawn as investors seem unconvinced that Beijing’s latest funding plan for 50 real estate firms can help turnaround the property sector. The country’s real estate crisis has been weighing on the economy for months, and some investors are doubtful about a speedy resolution.

When restaurateur Seven Song decided to go on a birthday trip from Beijing to Shanghai, her first travel outside the capital since the pandemic, she didn’t hesitate about taking the train over flying. The reasons were simple: high-speed rail is cheaper, more convenient, comfortable, and ultimately faster. Many others in China agree: The country’s vast rail network has become increasingly sophisticated with high-speed trains whizzing between cities at speeds topping 200 mph.

A high-speed train in Jiangsu province Source: AFP/Getty Images

• India is closer to a deal with Tesla to import EVs and set up a plant.
• Nvidia reports a growth surge, but it’s not enough for investors.
• Soft landing or rough touchdown? Watch the rich on Black Friday.
• Seats become sneakers in Emirates’ $2 billion A380 jet retrofit.
• Ken Griffin is in talks to buy stakes in the Miami Dolphins and F1.
• Sonos readies $400-plus headphones to rival Apple and Bose.
• New Hampshire man with no car leaves his town millions of dollars.

While the fortunes of real estate tycoons across the globe plummet, Kushal Pal “KP” Singh—a billionaire who helped reshape the suburbs of New Delhi—is bucking the trend. The wealth of the 92-year-old businessman, whose family controls India’s largest publicly traded real estate company, has increased by $5.5 billion this year, the most among the world’s real estate billionaires tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Kushal Pal Singh  Photographer: Ramesh Pathania/Mint/Getty Images

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The Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference on Nov. 29 in New York brings together finance, government and business leaders from across various sectors to discuss advancements in their fields and how they are sustaining their leadership going forward. This year marks the eleventh anniversary of our Canada-focused event, and continues the tradition of providing timely, actionable insights and strategies for a global audience of leaders and decision-makers. Register here.