Confusion after White House makes changes to work visas

Good morning and welcome back to the start of the working week. Here’s what we have for you today:

• Confusion surrounding new work visa charges

• Murdochs in talks to buy TikTok’s US operations

• Hedge fund industry’s new pay model

• And why work themes dominate TV dramas

Shares of Indian IT service companies are the latest to be hit by the disruption caused by the Trump administration’s abrupt changes to visa rules for workers in the US. Here’s the latest.

What are the changes? Late on Friday the US president signed a proclamation introducing a $100,000 application fee for the H-1B foreign worker visa. This led to chaos at airports on Saturday as workers hurried to return to the US. The White House later clarified that the changes would only apply to new applicants starting from the next visa lottery in February, not current H-1B holders. Earlier today shares in Indian IT services companies like Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys declined. Indian citizens account for more than 70 per cent of H-1B visa holders in the US.

Why it matters: More than 141,000 new H-1B visas were issued last year and 400,000 in total, according to figures from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Silicon Valley relies heavily on the visas to hire engineers, scientists and coders from overseas, with roughly two-thirds of 2023 recipients of the visa working in the IT industry, according to USCIS. The non-immigrant visa is also widely used by specialist industries including accountancy firms and healthcare companies. If the number of applications continues at the same level with the new fee of $100,000 apiece, American companies would be on the hook for $14bn each year, according to FT calculations. The White House said the move was designed to encourage companies to hire American workers.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

• UNGA: The UK, Canada and Australia formally recognised Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. The move was fiercely opposed by Israel and the US.

• Central banks: US Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran speaks at a seminar at the Economic Club of New York. Presidents of the regional banks will address a range of events.

• Israel: Markets will be closed for the Rosh Hashana Eve, the Jewish New Year’s Eve.

Five more top stories

1. Donald Trump hailed Charlie Kirk as a “martyr” at a memorial service in Arizona, attended by 100,000 people, to remember the conservative activist whose assassination sent shockwaves across the political divide. The vice-president and other senior members of Trump’s cabinet were among dozens of Republican politicians, conservative media figures and evangelical leaders in attendance at the service lasting more than five hours.

2. Conservative media billionaire Rupert Murdoch and personal computer pioneer Michael Dell are expected to be part of a buyer group to extricate TikTok from Chinese ownership, according to Trump. The US president said that Murdoch and his son Lachlan would “probably” be in an investor group buying shares in TikTok which is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance. Here’s more on the deal which has yet to be agreed.

3. Pfizer is closing in on a potential $7.3bn takeover of anti-obesity drug developer Metsera in what would be the biggest deal yet by a large pharmaceutical group trying to gain a foothold in the lucrative weight-loss drug market. The acquisition could be announced as early as today, providing it does not hit any last-minute snags, said people close to the talks.

4. Kim Jong Un has opened the door to dialogue with Donald Trump, on condition that the US drops its demand that North Korea relinquish its nuclear weapons. In a speech before North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament yesterday, Kim said there was “no reason” for the sides not to hold talks if Washington “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearisation”.

5. French business leaders have billed the left’s proposal for a new tax on the super-rich as “insane” and “communist”, as the Socialist party pressures Emmanuel Macron’s new prime minister to ensure the rich pay their fair share in efforts to narrow the public deficit. LVMH chief Bernard Arnault said the push amounted to a “clearly stated desire to destroy the French economy”. More on remarks from other executives.

Today’s Big Read

The traditional “2 and 20” hedge fund fee model is being challenged in the era of giant multi-managers. Portfolio managers at companies like Citadel, Millennium and Point72 keep a far higher proportion of what they make and investors pay more of the costs. The FT spoke to recruiters, executives and portfolio managers in the industry and based on those conversations is able to illustrate how a trader is paid up to $100mn

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

Chinese tech stocks have massively outperformed their Nasdaq counterparts this year. The Hang Seng Tech index of the 30 biggest Hong Kong-listed technology companies has soared 41 per cent year to date, compared with a 17 per cent gain in the Nasdaq, as mainland China’s largest tech groups attain the same investor appeal traditionally reserved for their US rivals. The rally, which began after DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence breakthrough at the beginning of the year, has accelerated since the start of the month.

Take a break from the news . . . 

The Studio, Hacks, Severance and Slow Horses were all recognised with Emmy awards last week. We are in the era of Peak Workplace TV, writes Emma Jacobs, as she explores the reasons behind pervasiveness of workplace dramas on our screens.