Self-made billionaires including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk made huge profits during the Covid-19 pandemic but a new report shows there’s no beating family money when it comes to getting – and staying – really, really rich.

Ten of the US’s richest families, including the Walmart family and the dynasties behind industries including candy and cosmetics, also saw their assets balloon over the pandemic, with a shared increase in their combined net worth of over $136bn in 14 months, according to a report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) published on Wednesday.

What’s AstraZeneca’s strategy in Covid treatments? In the short term, there is no confusion: the company will continue pumping out vaccine doses, will keep signing partnerships and will try to ignore churlishness in Brussels.

The long term, though, is another matter. Being big in vaccines was never part of chief executive Pascal Soriot’s grand plan for AstraZeneca, so there’s a decision to be made about what to do with an operation that has been built almost by accident during a global emergency.

The picture became slightly less clear on Tuesday as a Covid-19 antibody treatment, entirely separate from the vaccine, suffered a setback in clinical trials when it didn’t hit its main targets. Studies will continue, and there are some grounds to think the treatment could still be useful if given early to unvaccinated adults who have been exposed to the virus. But the nagging question remains: what’s the long-term vision?

Unlike Pfizer and Moderna, AstraZeneca...

Your editorial (14 June) states, as if it were fact, that my late husband, Jeremy Heywood, “was also a key figure in the Greensill drama”. Instead, this is a sweeping, all too convenient fiction.

There was no “drama” in relation to Lex Greensill until many years after he ceased to hold any role in government and also some considerable time after my husband’s death in 2018. When Mr Greensill worked as a government adviser, he did so exploring the potential for supply chain finance – in which he had recognised expertise – to increase the share of government business going to small and medium-sized enterprises, a political priority at the time. His engagement was confirmed through signed letters of appointment and resulted in the pharmacy early payment scheme, which has been described in parliament as “a life-saver” for thousands of small businesses.

It was my husband’s job to explore new ways for government to achieve its policy objectives. In 2012 Mr Greensill...

It is billed as good for British consumers and good for business, and the first of many post-Brexit trade deals. But while hailed as a “new dawn” by Boris Johnson, the prime minister’s trade treaty with Australia has few economic benefits.

Ministers hope consumers will have more choice on the supermarket shelves, a Brexit boost in the first entirely new trade deal since leaving the EU. Tariffs will be cut on Australian products such as Jacob’s Creek and Hardys wines, as well as on beef, lamb, swimwear and confectionary. However, by the government’s own admission, the savings add up to £34m a year – little more than a pound each per household.

ExxonMobil expects to lose a third board seat to an activist hedge fund, Engine No 1, adding to the pressure on one of the world’s largest oil companies to introduce a more effective climate transition plan.

The Texas-based producer announced late on Wednesday that lawyers counting shareholder votes had found a third director nomination was secured by Engine No 1, which argued Exxon had not done enough to prepare for the global shift from fossil fuels.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

The oil price has hit a new two-year high, with demand increasing as economies emerge from lockdown, and producers keep supplies curbed.

Brent crude has hit its highest level since May 2019 this morning, hitting $71.99 per barrel, having settled at a two-year high overnight. It’s now more than recovered from its slump early in the pandemic:

G7 finance ministers are expected to agree on support for a global minimum corporation tax rate on Friday as part of talks being held in London between the group of wealthy nations.

The potential landmark tax reform comes as governments around the world grapple with record levels of public borrowing incurred during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, the US focused minds by threatening to impose punitive tariffs on exports from the UK and five other countries in retaliation for digital services taxes recently imposed on US corporates. The Biden proposals are intended to replace these unilateral moves by creating international agreements that capture the vast profits made by the likes of Apple and Microsoft in Europe and elsewhere.

Any deal would follow years of false starts in attempts to ensure that multinationals and the giant tech companies pay their fair share of taxes. The reforms would limit how big companies can shift profits to low-tax...

Allegations of exploitative working practices at one of the UK’s largest delivery firms are to be considered by an influential parliamentary committee after Hermes couriers claimed they had been told to accept pay cuts or lose their delivery rounds.

The allegation is one of a series referred to the business, energy and industrial strategy committee by the shadow secretary of state for employment rights, Andy McDonald, who spoke to several Hermes couriers and depot managers after the Guardian revealed many had felt compelled to do unpaid work during the pandemic.

McDonald said his office had heard claims the firm told some couriers their rates per delivery were to be cut – and that their livelihoods depended on them accepting because other couriers would simply be given their rounds if they refused.

He urged the committee’s chair, the Labour MP Darren Jones, to investigate further once MPs have had a chance to consider the evidence.

In a letter...

For decades, anthropologists have been telling us that it’s often the informal, unplanned interactions and rituals that matter most in any work environment. So how much are we missing by giving them up?

Power companies run by billionaire friends Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have chosen Wyoming to launch the first Natrium nuclear reactor project on the site of a retiring coal plant.

TerraPower, founded by Gates about 15 years ago, and power company PacifiCorp, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, said on Wednesday that the exact site of the Natrium reactor demonstration plant was expected to be announced by the end of the year.

Snaps of David Beckham in expensive cars were a tabloid staple during the footballer’s days as a star player, but now his interest has taken a surprising turn: bin lorries.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder has taken a 10% stake in Lunaz, a Silverstone-based company that electrifies classic cars from Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and Range Rover. Now it hopes to take the same engineering logic and apply it to refuse trucks and other specialist commercial vehicles, giving them a new lease of life in the transition away from fossil fuels.

The company is part of a small but growing trend of the new battery economy: ripping out polluting engines and installing batteries and electric motors with zero exhaust emissions.

The attraction for Beckham became clear during a Guardian test drive on Wednesday afternoon alongside the famous Silverstone race track in the well-upholstered back of a 1961 Rolls-Royce Phantom. Electric motors may lack the engine...

The UK has moved a step closer to strengthening trade links with Asia-Pacific nations after the 11 members of the region’s overarching trade treaty have agreed to start negotiations for Britain’s entry.

Joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, an alliance of Pacific Ocean countries which spans a market of 500 million people, is a central plank of UK trade minister Liz Truss’s plan to refocus Britain’s trade relationships following Britain’s exit from the EU.

Its existing members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Truss has already begun direct trade talks with Australia and is hopeful that a broader agreement within the region would quickly follow. The UK also believes a deal will act as a counterweight to China – which it accuses of undermining trade and distorting markets with state subsidies.

However, the Australia talks...

When the government reacted to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 with unprecedented rescue funds, ministers were urged to attach strings before the money disappeared out the door.

The strings would have forced employers to adopt policies they had resisted for years, most obviously cutting carbon emissions and promoting a healthier environment.

An obvious target of a Treasury financial rescue mission that also sought to achieve such goals would have been the oil, coal and gas industries.

However, the UK’s finance ministry was clear from the moment it began dishing out grants and cheap loans that there was not time to draw up schemes that could successfully direct firms to do the right thing.

A report by the development charity Tearfund, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Overseas Development Institute shows the impact of the Treasury’s failure, and of other country’s finance ministries, to extract commitments to be...

Elon Musk has once again proved his ability to move markets with a casual aside about internet culture, as a comment about the viral “Baby Shark” YouTube video sparked a surge in the share price of a South Korean company.

In response to a clip posted by the official Twitter account of the animated comedy series South Park about viral internet memes battling each other, the Tesla boss tweeted to his 56.3 million followers: “Baby Shark crushes all! ”

Covid-19 policies risk leaving psychological and socioeconomic scars on millions of young people across Europe, with far-reaching consequences for them and society, a wide-ranging Guardian project has revealed.

Teenagers and young adults expressed profound anxiety about their future and accused governments of failing them as 15 months of lockdowns destabilised their mental wellbeing, education and job prospects.

“Our whole generation has just been pushed aside as a problem to deal with later,” a 17-year-old in the north of England responded. From Germany, a 21-year-old wrote: “We are the lowest priority.” And in France, a 21-year-old said he counted himself part of “a sacrificed generation”.

Although the least likely group to become ill from coronavirus, Generation Z has been hit disproportionately by the biggest educational disruption in modern history, a surge in unemployment and the psychological effects of lockdown isolation. Young workers are also...

Airlines are overlooking the mental health and wellbeing of pilots and other aviation workers in their scramble to get planes flying again, according to researchers.

Many aviation workers experienced anxiety, stress and depression during Covid-19 lockdowns, but they report feeling discouraged from acknowledging problems or seeking help, creating potential safety hazards and health problems.

The warning this week from the Lived Experience and Wellbeing Project – a Trinity College Dublin hub that studies aviation worker wellbeing and the impact on performance and flight safety – came as airlines across the world increase flights and start rehiring pilots and crew.

A total of 1,841 flights were scheduled from UK airports to France, Spain, Italy and Greece for the two weeks from 17 May, a rise of more than 300% compared with the previous fortnight. Airlines in the US inaugurated hundreds of new routes last week.

Aviation workers will welcome the...

Lockdown reading has helped the Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury to its third profit upgrade of the year after a 22% surge in annual pre-tax profits.

The company said people had “rediscovered the joy of reading” during the coronavirus pandemic, pushing its sales 14% higher to £185m in the 12 months to the end of February.

Bloomsbury performed significantly better than the wider UK publishing market, which recorded a 2% rise in sales during 2020, according to data from the Publishers Association.

The publisher said fantasy, escapism, social inclusion and cookery all sold well during the pandemic.

New bestsellers included two books by the American fantasy author Sarah J Maas about female warriors, including A Court of Silver Flames, as well as the fantasy novel Piranesi by the British author Susanna Clarke.

Other bestsellers included Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, and Humankind by Rutger...

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

The UK has moved a step closer to joining a major Pacific regional trade bloc as it tries to forge closer trade links with the Asia-Pacific region after its exit from the European Union.

Earlier today, the 11 members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, agreed to start negotiations for Britain’s entry into the regional free trade agreement.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s minister in charge of TPP negotiations, told reporters that a virtual meeting of the TPP Commission agreed to allow the U.K. to begin the process to join.

Bloomberg calls it a “potential boost for the country’s trade following Brexit”, adding:

I was a victim of identity theft and £40,000 was stolen from my HSBC cash Isa. But, nearly a year on, I’m no nearer to getting a refund. The money had been transferred in seven £5,000 payments to a new HSBC current account which, unbeknown to me, had been set up in my name. I reported it to HSBC and a day later another £5,000 was transferred.

Whoever set up the new account closed it and the £40,000 disappeared with it. I was told that an investigation would take six weeks, but it’s been 10 months of continual chasing from me. Each time I’m told that since the money was transferred into an account in my name there’s no problem, and I have to explain from scratch. I am 70 and these savings are vital now I am retired.YK, London

You have been dismally let down by HSBC. The bank should have secured your Isa and frozen the compromised current account as soon as you’d reported the fraud. It failed to keep in touch during its investigations – and, seemingly, to keep...

A record jump in manufacturing activity in the UK, the US and the eurozone lifted stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic on Tuesday.

Pent-up demand after a year of stop-start activity due to the coronavirus outbreak pushed factory order books to fresh highs in May, adding to previous growth records set in April, according to a bellwether survey of factory owners.

Oil prices surged, with Brent crude surpassing $70 a barrel for the first time since March, while US crude hit its highest price in two years. The broad-based recovery increased demand for precious metals such as silver, used in environmentally friendly electric cars and solar panels.

A ransomware attack against the world’s largest meatpacking company that has disrupted meat production in North America and Australia originated from a criminal organization probably based in Russia, the White House was informed on Tuesday.

The attack on Brazil’s JBS caused its Australian operations to shut down on Monday and has stopped livestock slaughter at its plants in several US states.

The ransomware attack follows one last month on Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States, that crippled fuel delivery for several days in the US south-east.

When house prices started to rise in the summer of 2020 there was an easy explanation. Potential buyers, it was said, had been deterred by the tough lockdown imposed when the Covid crisis began and so there was a burst of pent-up demand as restrictions were eased.

When property inflation continued during the autumn and winter it was put down to Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday for all properties up to £500,000. But pent-up demand no longer looks a convincing reason for the house price inflation of 10.9% reported by the Nationwide building society and anyone trying to take advantage of the chancellor’s tax break would have needed to have had an offer accepted before now.

The stamp duty holiday becomes less generous at the end of this month and ends altogether at the end of September, but the Nationwide thinks the housing market will continue humming along for some time yet and it is almost certainly right.

Three big factors are currently supporting the...

Work to introduce driverless tube trains has been demanded by ministers as part of an emergency funding agreement for Transport for London, with the government injecting just over £1bn to help the capital recover from the pandemic.

TfL will be obliged to produce business cases for driverless trains on the Piccadilly and Waterloo and City lines in return for the latest funding, which also comes with a requirement to make £300m of annual cuts and slash pensions.

The mayor, Sadiq Khan, said the short-term settlement was a “sticking plaster” and that he had reluctantly agreed to the conditions. However, he promised to fight any further moves to introduce driverless trains, which he said would cost billions of pounds and be a “gross misuse of taxpayers’ money”.

The settlement is designed to provide financial support until 11 December and will take total government support to TfL since March 2020 to more than £4bn.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps,...