Global Markets Rattled by Tech Outage, Corporate Upheaval and Labour Data as Musk Eyes Tesla-SpaceX Merger

Oct 21 –

A Google Cloud outage that knocked UK courts and major banks offline, a landmark Indian stock market listing, a potential mega-merger between two of Elon Musk's companies, and a surprise drop in British unemployment headlined a turbulent day in global business on Tuesday and Wednesday, with corporate and economic developments spanning multiple continents.

A power fault at Google's London-based Cloud computing operations disrupted services across its "europe-west2-b zone," leaving millions of customers unable to access or move money at banks including Lloyds, HSBC and Revolut, according to The Guardian. UK court hearings were also stalled by the outage. Google attributed the failure to a "power event," and services were later restored for most users, The Guardian reported. The disruption underscored the growing vulnerability of critical public infrastructure to centralised cloud computing failures.

On the corporate front, Elon Musk said special committees within Tesla and SpaceX have been formed to examine a possible merger between the two companies, according to BBC News. The announcement raised immediate questions about the governance and valuation implications of combining a publicly listed electric vehicle manufacturer with a privately held aerospace firm. Separately, betting company Paddy Power announced it would cut 1,400 jobs, blaming tax increases on online casino and sports betting introduced in last year's budget, BBC News reported. Meanwhile, NatWest drew criticism from unions after announcing that employees would be required to attend the office at least two days a week beginning in February, BBC News said.

In India, billionaire Mukesh Ambani launched what could be the country's biggest-ever initial public offering, with Mumbai-based Jio Platforms targeting a valuation of 10.3 trillion rupees, equivalent to roughly 81 billion pounds, when it begins trading on Wednesday, The Guardian reported. The telecoms company, which is backed by Meta Platforms and Google, is seeking to raise up to 302 billion rupees, or approximately 2.4 billion pounds, despite a broader stock market downturn. Ambani is India's second-richest man, according to The Guardian.

In the United Kingdom, official data showed the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 4.7 percent, prompting a rally in sterling, which gained half a cent against the US dollar to reach $1.3352, The Guardian reported. Analysts noted the figures gave the Bank of England more room to respond to inflationary pressures. However, the Office for National Statistics cautioned that small firms were scaling back hiring, citing rising labour costs as a key factor, according to BBC News. Separately, the UK government was expected to make a long-awaited announcement Wednesday morning regarding the controversial Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea, BBC News reported.

The confluence of events painted a picture of a global business environment navigating simultaneous pressures from technological fragility, shifting labour markets, energy policy decisions and high-stakes corporate restructuring.