Forbes released its annual ranking of the world’s wealthiest individuals. Leading the list is Elon Musk, whose fortune reached a record $839 billion. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin hold second and third places. The top 20 includes entrepreneurs from the US, China, India, and Europe, with total billionaire wealth reaching $20.1 trillion.

A Russian court has fined Google an astronomical amount — $1.4 quintillion. This exceeds the entire global GDP and is worth more than all the money in the world.

The 41st General Assembly of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) was held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. A delegation from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, led by First Deputy Chairman Davronbek Kurbanov, took part in the meeting.

Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI has lost two co-founders in just two days, adding to a broader wave of departures as the company moves toward a major merger with SpaceX and faces regulatory scrutiny.

Apple reported record revenue and profit for Q1 of fiscal 2026, which ended December 27, 2025, surpassing analysts’ expectations. Quarterly revenue rose 16% to a record $143.76 billion, with net income up nearly 16% to $42.1 billion. Adjusted earnings per share reached $2.84, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $138.48 billion and $2.67 per share.

Elon Musk is in talks to merge SpaceX with his artificial intelligence startup xAI ahead of the space company’s planned initial public offering in 2026, according to Reuters. If completed, the deal would bring rockets, the Starlink satellite network, social platform X and the Grok AI chatbot under one corporate umbrella.

As part of the business program of his official visit to Japan, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the heads of leading companies, financial institutions, and business associations of the country.

Uzbekistan has taken one of its most significant deregulation steps by abolishing more than 1,600 mandatory requirements, easing conditions for businesses and individual entrepreneurs.

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has become the first person in history to surpass a net worth of $600 billion, according to Forbes. The milestone follows a sharp increase in SpaceX’s valuation ahead of its planned IPO.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree introducing new mechanisms of tax regulation that will come into force on 1 January 2026. The reforms aim to increase transparency in business operations and strengthen tax compliance across the corporate sector.

Sustainable Fitch has assigned SOCAR its first ESG rating, giving the company an overall score of 3 and highlighting the maturity of its environmental, social and governance practices.

On February 11–12, 2026, Tashkent will host the fourth international Move Real Estate Summit — a key platform for discussing Uzbekistan’s growing real estate market, investment climate, and global architectural trends.

Apple CEO Tim Cook may step down after more than a decade leading the company, Bloomberg reported, citing journalist Mark Gurman.

OpenAI has become the world's most expensive private company. Its value is now estimated at $500 billion - more than Elon Musk's SpaceX and China's ByteDance.

TBC Bank Group has announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in OLX Uzbekistan, the country’s leading online classifieds platform. The deal, one of the largest M&A transactions in Uzbekistan in recent decades, marks a major step in expanding TBC’s digital ecosystem.

Over the past year, the number of companies with Chinese capital in Uzbekistan has increased by 1.5 times, with 58 more added in July — a record growth despite an overall decline in foreign investor activity. The United States entered the top 10 for the first time in a year.

TASS Vision, a startup developing smart cameras for the retail sector, has successfully closed a €1.3 million funding round and is preparing for large-scale expansion. The Czech fund Purple Ventures became the first Central European investor to back a startup from Uzbekistan.

The American technology company Nvidia became the world's first company whose market capitalization exceeded $4 trillion. This historic achievement came after shares rose by 2.8% to $164.42 per paper immediately after the opening of trading in New York.

Bill Gates stated that he would allocate most of his wealth, which could reach $200 billion by 2045, to the development of healthcare and education in Africa. He announced this during his speech in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Centrum Air announced the replenishment of its fleet with a new Airbus A320neo aircraft with registration number UK32075. This is already the ninth aircraft in the fleet and the fourth representative of the Neo family, designed with an emphasis on environmental friendliness and fuel efficiency.

If Google is forced to sell Chrome browser due to an antitrust lawsuit, its new owner could become OpenAI. The company has already announced its readiness to consider the purchase - to create a "best product."

According to the State Statistics Committee, as of April 1, 2025, the number of business entities involved in advertising and market analysis has grown by 5.3%, reaching 1,691.

The State Tax Committee (STC) of Uzbekistan conducted an audit of the activities of the Russian online retailer Wildberries operating in the country. The audit covered the period from 2022 to 2024 and revealed non-compliance with tax legislation.

China's electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has made its largest stock offering in Hong Kong in the last four years, attracting $5.6 billion. But the most unexpected news was BYD's statement about cooperation with Tesla.

A large-scale program to support youth business has been launched in Uzbekistan. Within the framework of the new "Yoshlar biznesi" initiative, 350 thousand young people will be able to receive financial, educational, and investment support within three years.

In Uzbekistan, the system of financial support for low-income families is changing. Instead of subsidies, interest-free loans will now be provided for starting a business. This decision is enshrined in a new presidential decree aimed at developing entrepreneurship among socially vulnerable groups.

A consortium led by Musk is offering a record sum for control of OpenAI, escalating the conflict with Sam Altman. If the deal goes through, Musk's xAI could merge with the ChatGPT developer, potentially influencing its commercial future.

The cryptocurrency market has experienced the largest decline in the history of digital assets. On Monday, February 3, Bitcoin's value dropped to $94,051, losing more than $10,000 in just three days. The total losses of the crypto market amounted to a record $240 billion.

One of the world’s largest online retailers, eBay, has registered to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) in Uzbekistan. According to the international news agency Kazinform, alongside eBay, other foreign internet companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Google, Apple, Zoom, and others have also registered with the specialized tax authority for foreign companies.

French engineering company Alstom, a global leader in railway transport manufacturing, is exploring opportunities to expand its presence in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

In 2024, Tesla’s sales in China increased by 8.8%, reaching over 657,000 vehicles, marking a record high. This growth highlights Tesla as a company that achieved stable growth in China despite intense competition. Tesla's factory in China not only saw significant growth in the domestic market but also in exports to Europe and other regions, although global deliveries decreased by 1.1% over the year.

To effectively establish the export of Uzbekistan-grown saffron to Germany, negotiations were held between representatives of Uzbekistan’s BMB Holding and Germany’s Breitzmann Edelmetalle & Diamanten.

A meeting took place at the headquarters of “BMB HOLDING” with Gao Weixua, founder of China’s “VOSTOSUN GROUP UC” company. The focus of the meeting was the export of Uzbek saffron to the Chinese market.

Telegram Wallet is set to open its official office in Uzbekistan. This was revealed through a job posting for a regional office manager.

This amounts to approximately 17,000 employees. The news was shared by the company's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, who stated that the cuts will affect executives, managers, and regular employees.

The U.S. Department of Justice is considering the possibility of breaking up Google, reports The Verge. Government lawyers have proposed measures to address Google’s market dominance and restore competition.

It's no secret that in recent years, women have become more attentive to their health and appearance. This has naturally increased the demand for products in this area. However, most cosmetic products in the Uzbekistan market are imported.

Mercedes-Benz shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange have plunged by 8.4%, hitting their lowest level in four years, according to Bloomberg. The sharp drop is attributed to declining sales in the Chinese market.

In the Sharof Rashidov district of Jizzakh, the opening of the “BMB Agro Plus” enterprise marks a significant milestone in Uzbekistan’s agricultural processing sector. The project focuses on processing the country’s fruits and vegetables using modern technologies and preparing them for export.

Mark Zuckerberg, head of Meta, has revealed that the U.S. government pressured the company to censor content related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. Zuckerberg expressed regret that Meta complied with these demands. During the pandemic, Facebook, owned by Meta, removed over 20 million pieces of content deemed to be misinformation.