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HANDELSBLATT
The Handelsblatt ("Commerce Paper") is a leading German-language business daily published in Düsseldorf. It was founded in 1946 and is currently owned by Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt.
How Facebook's Metaverse Could Undermine Europe's Tech Industry
Future
Carl-Johan Karlsson

How Facebook's Metaverse Could Undermine Europe's Tech Industry

Mark Zuckerberg boasted that his U.S. tech giant will begin a hiring spree in Europe to build his massive "Metaverse." Touted as an opportunity for Europe, the plans could poach precious tech talent from European tech companies.

PARIS — Facebook's decision to recruit 10,000 people across the European Union might be branded as a vote of confidence in the strength of Europe's tech industry. But some European companies, which are already struggling to fill highly-skilled roles such as software developers and data scientists, are worried that the tech giant might make it even harder to find the workers that power their businesses.

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Volkswagen's former CEO Martin Winterkorn
HANDELSBLATT

Report: Ousted Volkswagen Boss Still On Payroll

Despite officially resigning in September at the height of Volkswagen's emissions scandal, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn is still on the company's payroll and could earn millions until his contract terminates at the end of 2016, an investigation by Germany's business daily Handelsblatt and TV network ZDF reveals.

Winterkorn, 68, who pulls in an annual salary of 1.6 million euros, could qualify for more than 10 million euros in bonuses on top of that, according to the report. Volkswagen saw "no reason not to continue paying" him, Handelsblatt reported, citing sources close to the VW supervisory board.

Winterkorn stepped down soon after the scandal broke in September. In 2014, he was the highest-paid German corporate executive when he pulled in 15 million euros.