Donald Trump’s dreams of hosting golf’s Open Championship at his Turnberry course in Scotland will not be realised until the course is logistically and commercially viable, the game’s governing body has said.
Mark Darbon, chief executive of the R&A, told Sky News Turnberry is a “challenging” venue and, despite suggestions of diplomatic pressure from London and Washington, it has no immediate plans to schedule a championship at the Ayrshire venue.
Mr Trump has made no secret of his desire to return the Open to a course he bought in 2014, with his son Eric Trump leading efforts for it to stage a first championship since 2009.
Sources close to Mr Trump’s golf interests have told Sky News the Open would be a valuable bargaining tool in the UK’s trade negotiations with the US, and the King went as far as to mention Turnberry in the invitation for a state visit hand delivered by the prime minister last month.
Mark Darbon, chief executive of the R&A
In his first broadcast interview since becoming chief executive last November, Mr Darbon said logistics and finances currently rule out a course that may have been outgrown by the demands of a modern Open.
“The area where there’s a bit of challenge is around the logistical and commercial side. The last time we were at Turnbury in 2009 we had 120,000 people there,” he said.
“These days a modern Open caters for 250,000 people-plus, and so we need the road and rail infrastructure to get our fan base there. We need hotel accommodation for the 60,000 bed nights we need to stage our championship and it’s challenging at that venue.”
Mr Darbon did not deny there was pressure to consider Turnberry, and indicated that politics, and the prospect of Mr Trump overshadowing any event, would also be a factor.
“We need to be confident that the focus will be on the sport and we need to ensure that the venue works for our requirement,” he added.
Read more: Man charged over vandalism at Trump golf course in Scotland
A man was charged over the vandalism of a golf course owned by Mr Trump last week. Pic: PA
Competition for Turnberry is likely to increase from larger, less remote facilities.
The R&A draws Open venues from a rota of courses, with Royal Portrush staging this year’s championship following a sellout return after almost 70 years in 2019. Mr Darbon confirmed Portmarnock near Dublin is being actively considered for the first-ever Open outside the UK.
Maximising income from the Open matters because the R&A, which governs the game everywhere save the US, uses the revenue to fund a grassroots game still enjoying a post-COVID boom.
Donald Trump playing golf at his Turnberry course. Pic: PA
“We work with over 140 countries around the world, and in those markets there are now more than 62 million golfers, more than ever before,” Mr Darbon said.
“Some 40-odd million are playing golf regularly on nine and 18-hole golf courses, another 20 million are playing what we would call non-traditional formats like driving ranges, adventure golf, simulator golf. So the game is actually in rude health and our job is to continue to foster that and support it over time.”
Read more from Sky News:
Could the US really become a Commonwealth member?
Trump ‘p***ed’ off’ with Putin after Zelenskyy comments
He is optimistic too that an end may be in sight for golf’s own trade war, between the US PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf league, a multi-billion dollar schism in the men’s professional game that has enriched scores of players while alienating many fans.
“There’s been too much talk about cash and not enough talk about competition and courses and all the other wonderful things that underpin our sport. So we’re optimistic for some positive change on that front. We’re not a negotiating table, but our job is to try and influence those discussions,” he said.
Mr Trump’s ambitions to host the Open at Turnberry are still unfulfilled. Pic: PA
The Open and golf’s other major championships, including next month’s Masters, have benefitted from the dispute as the only platforms for all of the best male players, and Mr Darbon says the game retains its lucrative appeal to business & sponsors.
“I think golf is maintaining its commercial appeal and I think there are a number of things that support that,” he said.
“The game has a really rich history and heritage, the values of the sport are really strong, and brands of businesses can continue to tell really rich stories about the game of golf that links to their own products and services. On top of that, golf has a genuinely global audience.”
Among them is the world’s most powerful man, his ambitions to host the Open still unfulfilled.
World
Trump ‘p***ed off’ with Putin after Zelenskyy comments – and ‘not joking’ about seeking third term
Donald Trump has said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” after Vladimir Putin criticised the credibility of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a phone call with Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News.
Mr Trump said the Russian president’s recent comments, calling for a transitional government to be put in place in Ukraine in a move that could effectively push out Mr Zelenskyy, were “not going in the right direction”.
He told NBC’s Kirsten Welker: “If I feel we’re in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin said yesterday that – you know, when Putin started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right direction.”
It is a rare move by Mr Trump to criticise Mr Putin, whom he has generally spoken positively about during discussions to end the war in Ukraine.
Last month, he also released a barrage of critical comments about Mr Zelenskyy’s leadership, calling him a “dictator” and making unfounded claims that he had “poor approval” ratings in Ukraine.
The president added that if Russia is unable to make a deal on “stopping bloodshed in Ukraine” – and Mr Trump felt that Moscow was to blame – then he would put secondary tariffs on “all oil coming out of Russia”.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States. There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil,” he said.
Mr Trump said Mr Putin knows he is angry, but added that he has “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly… if he does the right thing”.
He said he plans to speak with the Russian president again this week.
In the wide-ranging interview with NBC, Mr Trump also discussed:
• The possibility of seeking a third term in office;
• Imposing secondary tariffs on Iran;
• Not ruling out military rule to annex Greenland;
• Confirmed no one will be fired over Signal group chat blunder.
👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈
‘Not joking’ about seeking a third term
When asked if he will seek to stay in the White House for a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, Mr Trump told NBC: “A lot of people want me to do it.”
He added: “I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration. I’m focused on the current.”
The president said he liked working, and would be interested in staying in the role for another four years after his second term comes to an end in 2028.
“I’m not joking,” he said, when asked to clarify. “But I’m not – it is far too early to think about it.”
Mr Trump said one method in which a third term could be possible is by Vice President JD Vance running for office and then handing the responsibility over to him. He refused to share details on other methods he claims exist.
Trump at the White House on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Threatening Iran with bombing and tariffs
Mr Trump said if Tehran did not make a deal with the US to ensure it did not develop a nuclear weapon, there could be bombing and secondary tariffs.
The tariffs would affect buyers of the country’s goods. It comes after he signed an executive order last week authorising such tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran had rejected direct negotiations with the US, but left open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Marjorie Taylor Greene lashing out at Sky’s Martha Kelner
No one will be fired over Signal group chat blunder
Addressing the national security blunder, which saw a journalist mistakenly added to a Signal chat group discussing planned strikes on Yemen, Mr Trump confirmed no one will be fired.
It was revealed this week that national security adviser Michael Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat with senior members of the Trump administration who were discussing plans to strike Houthi militants earlier this month.
Read more from Sky News:
Could the US really become a Commonwealth member?
JD Vance felt the cold in Greenland – and it wasn’t just the weather
The president said he doesn’t fire people “because of fake news and because of witch hunts”, adding that he still had confidence in Mr Waltz and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who was also in the Signal chat.
Military option to annex Greenland not off the table
Mr Trump also discussed his commitment to annexing Greenland – a semi-autonomous territory which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark – and said that using military force was “not off the table”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Why does the US want Greenland?
“We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%,” the president said. He added: “[There’s a] good possibility that we could do it without military force. [But] I don’t take anything off the table.”
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen responded to Mr Trump’s comments by reiterating that the US will not take control of the Arctic territory, and that it “controls its own future”.
Technology
After 20 years at the helm, Klarna’s CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski is about to face his biggest test yet
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, speaking at a fintech event in London on Monday, April 4, 2022.
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg via Getty Images
LONDON — After 20 years in the role as Klarna’s CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski is about to face his toughest test yet as the financial technology firm prepares for its blockbuster debut in New York.
Siemiatkowski, 43, co-founded Klarna in 2005 with fellow Swedish entrepreneurs Niklas Adalberth and Victor Jacobsson with the aim of taking on traditional banks and credit card firms with a more user-friendly online payments experience.
Today, Klarna is synonymous with “buy now, pay later” — a method of payment that allows people to buy things and either defer payment until the end of the month or pay off their purchases over a series of equal, interest-free monthly installments.
But while Siemiatkowski has grown Klarna into a fintech powerhouse, his entrepreneurial journey hasn’t been without its challenges — from facing rising competition from rivals such as PayPal, Affirm and Block‘s Afterpay, to an 85% valuation plunge.
Nevertheless, Siemiatkowski hasn’t taken those challenges lying down and the outspoken co-founder isn’t shy to challenge criticisms in the run up to an IPO that could value it at $15 billion.
‘Crazy enough’
In October 2024, CNBC met with Siamiatkowski during a visit the Swedish entrepreneur made to London. For a businessman who’s faced a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs over his two-year CEO tenure, Klarna’s chief has a calm air to him.
“Independently of all the cycles and everything we’ve gone through with the company, at any point in time I ask myself, do I still think that Klarna can become the next Google in size, that we can become a hundreds of billions dollar market company, or a trillion dollars,” Siemiatkowski told CNBC. “I still am crazy enough to think that’s achievable.”
Once a pandemic-era darling valued at $46 billion in a SoftBank-led funding round, Klarna saw its valuation plummet 85% in 2022 to $6.7 billion as rising inflation and interest rates dented investor sentiment on high-growth technology firms.
But the firm has attempted to rebuild that eroded value in the years that have followed.
Klarna makes money predominantly from fees it charges merchants for providing its payment services, in addition to income from interest-bearing financing plans and advertising revenue.
Financials disclosed in its IPO filing show that Klarna reported revenue of $2.8 billion last year, up 24% year-over-year, and a net profit of $21 million — up from a net loss of $244 million in 2023.
Bullish on AI
After the launch of OpenAI’s generative AI ChatGPT in November 2022, Siemiatkowski quickly pivoted Klarna’s focus to embracing the technology, and especially in a way that could slash costs and enhance the firm’s profitability.
However, Siemiatkowski’s strategy and his comments on AI have also attracted controversy.
Klarna imposed a freeze on hiring in 2023 as it looked to tighten costs. The following year, the company said that its AI chatbot was doing the work of 700 full-time customer service jobs.
Klarna’s CEO then said in August that his company was able to reduce its overall workforce to 3,800 from 5,000 thanks in part to its application of AI in areas such as marketing and customer service.
“By simply not hiring … the company is kind of becoming smaller and smaller,” he told Reuters news agency, adding that jobs were disappearing due to attrition rather than layoffs.
Asked by CNBC about his views on AI and the upset they have caused, Siemiatkowski suggested he was “done apologizing,” echoing comments from Mark Zuckerberg about the Meta CEO’s “20-year mistake” of taking responsibility for issues for which he believed his company wasn’t to blame.
Doubling down, Siemiatkowski added that AI “already today can do a lot of the jobs that people do — but I don’t want to be one of the tech leaders that stands on a stage and says, ‘Don’t worry about it, there’s going to be new jobs,’ because I don’t know what those new jobs are.”
“I just want to be transparent and honest with what I think is happening, and I’d rather be open about that, because I know what these people, the tech leaders are saying when they’re not on public stages, and they’re not saying the exact same things,” he told CNBC in October.
An outspoken CEO
Siemiatkowski is no stranger to defending his company in response to criticisms, especially when challenged over Klarna’s business model of offering short-term financing for all kinds of things from clothing to online takeout.
Last week, Klarna announced a tie-up with DoorDash to offer its flexible payment options on the U.S. food delivery app. However, the move was met with backlash from internet users, who said it risks saddling struggling consumers with more debt.
One X user posted a meme showing personal finance pundit Dave Ramsey with the caption, “what do you mean you have $11k in ‘doordash debt’.”
Siemiatkowski took to X to defend the move, saying that Klarna “offers many payment methods” including the ability to pay in full instantly or defer payment until the end of the month in addition to monthly installments.
“DoorDash offers many products beyond food!” Klarna’s boss said on X in response to the criticisms. “I know we are most famous for pay in 4. But you can use a credit card at DoorDash as well.”
In 2022, the outspoken entrepreneur stressed his company was “superior” to credit cards and “extremely recession-proof” after the firm laid off 10% of its workforce.
As Klarna approaches its stock market debut, investors will likely be scrutinizing his track record and whether he’s still the right person to lead the company longer term.
Lena Hackelöer, CEO of Stockholm-based fintech startup Brite Payments, is someone who’s worked under Siemiatkowski’s leadership, having worked for the company for seven years between 2010 and 2017 in various marketing functions.
She expressed admiration for the Klarna co-founder — and pushed back on suggestions that leadership mismanaged the business during the pandemic era.
“I never thought that they had mismanaged, which is somehow how it was reported,” Hackelöer told CNBC in a November interview. “I think that they were just very much focusing on growth — because that was the direction that investors were giving.”
Rollercoaster ride
Siemiatkowski admits the journey of building Klarna hasn’t always been rosy.
Asked about the biggest challenge he’s ever faced as CEO, Siemiatkowski said that, for him, laying off 10% of Klarna’s workforce in 2022 was the toughest thing he’s ever had to do.
“That was very difficult because I didn’t predict that investor sentiment would shift that fast and people would go from valuing companies like ours so high and then to something so low,” he said.
“That’s obviously very difficult because, then you realize like, ‘OK, s—, I’m going to have to make a change. It’s not going to be sustainable to continue, and I need to protect the consumers, who are stakeholders in the company, the employees, the investors — I need to [do] what’s right for all of my constituents,” Siemiatkowski continued.
Klarna is synonymous with the “buy now, pay later” trend of making a purchase and deferring payment until the end of the month or paying over interest-free monthly installments.
Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty Images
“But unfortunately, it’s going to affect the smaller group, which happened to be about 10% of our employees.”
Like other tech firms, Klarna grew significantly over the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, the firm grew its gross merchandise volume or the total value of all sales processed through its platform, by 46% year-over-year, to $53 billion.
I think anyone who is a little bit sane, that’s not something you take light hearted, right? It’s a tough decision. It makes you cry. I’ve cried.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski
CEO, Klarna
The company also onboarded hundreds of new employees to capitalize and expand on the opportunity it saw from government lockdowns’ impact on consumer behavior and the broader acceleration of e-commerce adoption at that time.
“I think anyone who is a little bit sane, that’s not something you take lighthearted, right?” Klarna’s CEO said, referring to the layoffs. “It’s a tough decision. It makes you cry. I’ve cried.”
However, Siemiatkowski stood by his decision to lay off workers: “I felt like I had an obligation to my constituents, everyone, all of these stakeholders, the company, and I think it was a necessary decision at that point in time.”
The road to IPO
Now, Klarna’s CEO faces his biggest test yet — taking the business he co-founded two decades ago public.
“IPOs are risky for companies as share prices can fluctuate quickly,” Nalin Patel, director of EMEA private capital research at PitchBook, told CNBC via email. “They can be costly and lengthy to arrange with investment banks too.”
Klarna earlier this month filed its prospectus to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The company hasn’t yet set a date for when it will go public, nor has it priced shares.
If it succeeds, the outcome could catapult the net worth of Siemiatkowski and other shareholders including Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake, Mubadala Investment Company, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Sequoia is Klarna’s single-largest shareholder with a 22% stake. Siemiatkowski is the second-largest, owning 7% of the business.
A positive IPO outcome would also lift the value of Klarna employees’ stakes, and potentially boost morale after a turbulent few years for the company.
“It’s a balance between finding a fair value for existing investors looking to cash out and new investors seeking a stake in Klarna at a fair price. Overvaluing the company could lead to its valuation falling in the future. While undervaluing it may mean money has been left on the table for those exiting,” Patel said.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway