Us. And we will sit down with japans central bank governor. He will be joining us later. King abdullah of saudi arabia has died at the age of 90 after being admitted to the hospital with a lung infection. He became ruler of the Worlds Largest oil producer in 2005. He will be succeeded by his half weather, prince salman, who is 79. He used the oil wealth to oversee a fivefold increase in the size of the arab Worlds Largest economy. President expressed his condolences to the saudi royal family, calling abdullah a ruler who took a bold stand. The price of Oil Futures Rose in the wake of the announcement of his death. Of his death. In the new came will face an immediate foreignpolicy challenge in neighboring yemen as the president there has resigned after shiite rebels have seized a palace in the p the rebels failed to honor an agreement to withdraw from the palace. In his letter of resignation, he says the country had reached a dead end. Lets get to elliott gotkine. Good morning. News that King Abdullah has died. He ruled the arab worlds biggest economy, the biggest oil exporter for 10 years. He served for two decades after his halfbrother suffered a stroke in 1995. He was one of the worlds richest and most powerful men. He was 90 years old. He did suffer a lung infection recently, which led to him being hospitalized. And you get to that age with that kind of illness, he and is probably not going to be too far away. That does not make it any less shocking. Particularly saudis particularly for saudis. The funeral will be held later today. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to be among those attending. He does face this immediate foreignpolicy challenge across the board of it the border. Yes. Yemen has been unstable for a number of years. They lost their previous ruler as part of this arab spring, if he was like. Those rebels have been advancing on the capital for a while. The president says the country has come to a dead end. Some of it has spilled over, from time to time, into saudi arabia. The saudis are seeking to ensure that that does not happen and that there is stability in this part of the region. That is something that came king salman is going to have to deal with. Thank you very much. Elliott gotkine reporting there. Were going to doubt most to davos. Lee catching li kashing is said to be near a deal with o2. Together, hutchison s network and o2 would have over 31 million surprised subscribers. Lets get over to fran and g uy. Thank you so much. We have survived the weather and the parties. We are doing good. We are excited because today, we will be talking about china. We will be talking to the Japanese Central bank of the we have plenty of exclusive interviews. We are now joined by the publicis ceo, one of the veterans of davos. That is a compliment. I do not know why he is off the he is off. [laughter] thank you so much for joining us. This davos feels quite difficult because it seems that we do not know where we are heading. People are not optimistic. They are not pessimistic either. It is a little bit of a wait and see mode. There are more questions than answers, which makes investors worried. You concern that europe, despite the qe we saw yesterday, is in a difficult place . What europe is in a difficult situation. The fact that president draghi has made the decision regarding the buyback of the debt is something which is definitely good but this will not solve the fundamental issues of many of the countries. We need to do a lot of very deep reforms that have been longawaited. And we need to create the conditions to recreate jobs in europe. The situation of the jobs in europe and unemployment is such that this is a cancer for our countries. There is a lot to be done to we are not yet their there is a lot to be done. We are not yet there. We need Structural Reforms. Are you think the leaders will take advantage of the window that has been granted . The euro is heading lower. We have also gotten into a window of lower oil prices. It seems there is a window of opportunity. Do you get a sense that that will be used . That is a key question. You have two options. One is a relief. We do not need to do that and we do not need to do these typical reforms. Growth will take care of our issues. The other option, which i hope will be the option is to say ok, we have an incredible situation. All of the planets are aligned. Now it is the right time to take the right decision. You need strong leaders. Do we have them . I hope so. Is that your main concern . When you look at politics, there is a danger that there are extreme parties. You have this qe. At the same time elliptically it is very uncertain. Does that make you further away from europe . As a businessman, how do you deal with this . I do not have to deal with that. I have nothing to do and there is nothing i can do as a businessman to participate. The solution between the parties , the key question is, are people courageous enough to say, ok, maybe i was elected, and i will do what is right for my country. We need some people to say, what ever are the issues, whatever are the political parties, whatever the far right is doing, i will stick to my objective which is to put my country in order to grow for the future. Growth through reforms. I do not we can achieve Sustainable Growth without doing some reforms. I may be wrong. I am not an economist. I am just a businessperson. When you look at what is making growth, it is clear that when you have more than 50 of the revenue generated and 5 Million People out of a job in a country for more than 50 of the population cannot get a job and you have one third of the youth cannot get a job, this is a huge problem. The only way to solve the problem is to do some very important Structural Reforms. I do not see any other solution. Can you give me a sense of the difference that exists now between how the consumer in the United States feels and spends and the consumer in europe . It seems like they are almost two planets at the moment. The consumer in the u. S. Has been always very positive about consumption. With some weak moments. It is a trend which has always been positive in the u. S. When they have to take a decision, they take a tough decision, brutal sometimes, and they go back to work pretty quickly. In europe, we believe that our population cannot accept something which is too tough, so we go slowly. The impacts of the reforms are not big enough. People are concerned for the future. They see that there are lots of problems so they are saving instead of spending. On top of this, when you look at what is forming the pessimism it is all about the way the leaders are taking them to the future. Today, it is hard to say that the consumer the citizens of europe, feel comfortable about where the leaders are taking them for the future. Talk to us a little bit about business in china. We have quite a big presence in davos with premier li and jack ma of alibaba. How difficult and important is it for you to continue your relationship with alibaba . It can singlehandedly change all of our lives. It is extremely important. Even in their recent slowdown of their growth in china it is important to be in china. We continue to invest. And it is difficult. For cultural reasons and also because competition is fierce. As soon as there is a slowdown, the impact is very strong. We need to invest, obviously. Jack markell has jack ma has done a fantastic job. I consider him one of the key people of the future. The same happened with the news, michael bloomberg. He is part of this handful of people who have transformed the industry. What he is doing with alibaba in china is very impressive. We are truly proud to do that and we believe that we are just at the beginning of dramatic changes in the way people in china buy products. The key question regarding alibaba is not so much about china it is here. Can they take their model globally . It is difficult. It is difficult because they have something which is very chineselike. The mindset is tailormade for the chinese and it is working extremely well. It is an economic success. They will have to think differently. They want to use their system for the u. S. Or europe. We only have 10 seconds. Who is the one person you would like to have a nightcap with . A politician or a big ceo. I would love to have jack ma. Politician, i would go to sleep. Thank you so much. Really nice. We have plenty of big hitters coming up throughout the day here in davos. For now, back to you. Thank you very much. He is a big fan of alibaba. Jack ma in davos. Didnt soros say yesterday that he is the ceo that most ceos want to meet . Yes. You can join in the conversation on twitter. Plenty from that interview with Maurice Leavitt levy. We will take a short break and see you in a couple of minutes. Time for todays company news. Jamie dimon has received his first cash bonus in three years. He is getting a 7. 4 million cash reward for 2014 on top of 11 million of stock rewards and a one point 5 million salary. His previous bonuses were limited to stock after he was criticized after the handling of a trading debacle in 2012. Lloyd blankfein reportedly made 24 million last year. Continuing the theme, tim cook saw his total pay package more than double to 9. 2 million last year. Apple has grown since it unveiled its larger iphones and slimmer ive has last year ipads last year. The companys market cap was sent towards 700 billion, a milestone that no u. S. Company has reached. Bayern munich generated more than a fifth of germanys revenue in germanys football the last year. The german champions pulled in 529 Million Euros in sales compared with the 2. 5 billion euros made by all teams. Speculation the European CentralBank President revealed his plan to reignite the economy yesterday. Under his 1. 1 trillion euro qe program, the ecb will buy 60 billion euros of assets, including sovereign debt every month until september 2016. The announcement pushed european stocks higher with all major indices closing up over 1 . It also sent the euro to an 11year low against the dollar. All eyes are now turning to sundays elections in greece. Their government must decide on extending a Bailout Program that expires next month. New polls show a lead for the leftist cerise a syriza party. Investors and creditors are being spooked by the implications of a potential victory. Now lets see how the world has been reacting to Mario Draghis historic easing decision. Lets go live to doubles to davos, where Jonathan Carroll has been catching up with the great and the good. It went eerily quiet at 2 30 local time when that News Conference started with mario draghi. The overwhelming consensus is that the ecb really delivered. I think also, the consensus is one, it is necessary, but two, is it going to be sufficient . I think this is welcome action from the ecb. Action from a central bank is necessary, but not sufficient or a european recovery. We want to see this accompanied by clear plans to make the European Union more competitive, to back business, to create jobs and make sure Public Finance is in order. We have those ingredients in the u. K. And that is why our plan is delivering a strong economic recovery. We want to see those ingredients in place for the whole european continent. You have a weakening euro. You have an aggressive stimulative policy by the ecb. It is going to lead to a more positive europe. We are not addressing some of the major structural issues. I would call this this is going to give europe more time to hopefully fix itself. This type of approach that mario draghi is using should have been employed much earlier in the financial crisis, which would have gotten europe on a similar kind of platform that the u. S. Has been on. Whether it is too late or not, the debate has been how effective this package could be. On top of that, we talk about the issue of time. The Monetary Policy is here now. Got to have the Structural Reforms on the other side. At best, this is going to buy some time. Mario draghi has done his bit. Now everybody else has got to do theirs. The magic word is reforms. The first act of this weeks european drama took place in frankfurt. The second act is looking to unfold this weekend in athens. It is also connected to the first act. A said they would not be buying greek bonds until july the they want to sort out that Bailout Program. The deadline now is march. I caught up with a man at the top of the eurogroup. The question for him is whoever wins the election, you have got to negotiate with them. What are you going to do . Are you going to be more accommodating . There is very little support for a debt haircut. The support for the greeks is making the debts more sustainable and bearable. Giving them more time to repay the loans. Making it more bearable, we have done that already. That would be possible to look at once again. But actually reducing the value of the loans, taking a haircut, i do not think that is going to go anywhere. There are a couple of carrots here. On the one side, you have Monetary Policy. You negotiate with us you continue that Bailout Program continue to do what we say, we will buy your bonds in july. On the other side, he was saying we can make it more bearable, maybe extend securities and reduce Interest Rates. Remember the concern over the greek elections a couple of months ago . I think that dissipated somewhat in the short term. Without Bond Buying Program and i think the debate is on here in davos. Jonathan ferrell with a wrap john farrell ferro with reaction. Thank you. John dawson is in hong kong. Good morning, john. The markets china up by almost 2 . Off of those highs now. Australia is closed. The shanghai, is it the shanghai composite did raise but the rally has eased off. The concern is, have they analyzed and thought about this afternoon september . If they do not have inflation back it will go on and on and on. Ok, john. Thanks a lot. John dawson live in hong kong. Lets talk about the Telecom Sector in the u. K. The consolidation trend continues with the news that li kashing of hutchison went whampoa is in talks to buy o2. Caroline, good morning. Second time, lucky. It was known that o2 was trying to sell itself to bt earlier. These telecom deals keep on rolling in and this time, it looks as though Hutchison Whampoa is going to potentially be the lucky buyer of o2 which is owned by telefonica in spain. A huge deal for a huge company. It will be the biggest mobile player in the united kingdom. 31 million subscribers. Hutchison whampoa and o2 teaming together. 10. 20 5 billion pounds is what 10. 25 billion pounds is what the deal could be. We heard from the finance director of Hutchison Whampoa. Perhaps all of that cash would not be stopped up by Hutchison Whampoa. For telefonica, it is about reducing their debt. They piled up the debt and went on spending sprees. They spent more than 17 billion pounds. They need to lower that equity. Tying up with each other. Deals and the speculation caps on flowing. In the last day or so, we had sky the biggest tv provider in the united kingdom, paid tv program provider, was looking to strike wholesale deals or perhaps do a deal with vodafone. But would vodafone buy virgin media or Liberty Global . The deals could be endless. It is about being able to have tv mobile, landline, and broadband together. Li kashing coming over here and stepping up assets. Coming up, policy change and the price of oil. The effect of the death of King Abdullah in saudi arabia. That is next. Time for your Foreign Exchange check. I thought we would have a look at the euro against the dollar. In light of the announcements from mario draghi. The euro down by 2 . The lowest level against the dollar cents december 18 since december 18, 2003. It has fallen 6 versus the dollar permit 7 in the last 12 months against the u. S. Currency. Analysts forecast it will end at 1. 15. That could shift after they moved by the ec be. Ecb. Revising their forecast to 1. 15. Still, a minority predicting the euro will fall to parody as parity. Brown brothers harriman are some of the only analysts that agree the Exchange Rate will fall to that level by the end of next year. One group says the euro may achieve parity. Will the forecasts change in light of what happened yesterday . Time will tell. There is zero against the Dollar Bureau against the dollar. The election in greece is in its final stretch. The next government must decide against extending the Bailout Program. Voters have been attracted to their opposition to the bailout well creditors have been spooked by the locations of the potential victory. The president of yemen and his government has quit after shiite rebels seized his palace. In a resignation letter, the president said the country had reached a dead end with tribal leaders refusing to take orders from the capital. Munson unrest have seen the growth of al qaeda and concern in neighboring saudi arabia. Saudi arabias King Abdullah has died. His brother salman has succeeded him on the throne. Oil prices jumped after the announcement. Lets go more on the death of abdullah. What does this mean for the price of oil . It jumped but it is still below 50 per barrel. The price will move on the uncertainty of what is next that perhaps the oil minister has been in place for 20 years. He is really the one calling the shots when it comes to Oil Production in saudi arabia. He is the one that engineered the policies behind this. Saudi arabia feels and he feels saudi arabia has gotten burned by cutting production, giving up market share. There was one mom