Brands
McDonald’s serves up a smash with Padel tie-up
MUMBAI: McDonald’s India (West & South), operated by Westlife Foodworld, is swapping fries for forehands with a new partnership that aims to fuel India’s next sporting wave, Padel.
In collaboration with the Indian Padel Academy (IPA), McDonald’s is stepping off the menu and onto the court to boost infrastructure, coaching, and tournaments for one of the world’s fastest-growing sports.
Known for its mix of teamwork, agility, and accessibility, padel is fast finding its footing in India. This initiative marks McDonald’s next big serve in community development, extending its global tradition of supporting sports, from the Olympics to local playgrounds, into India’s grassroots scene.
“At McDonald’s India, we’ve always believed in bringing people together through shared experiences. Sport is a natural extension of that belief,” said Westlife Foodworld CEO Akshay Jatia. “Through this partnership with the Indian Padel Academy, we hope to inspire young people to dream bigger, play stronger, and grow together.”
The collaboration aims to make padel facilities more accessible to children, pairing them with top coaches and nurturing values like teamwork and discipline. “India is ready for the next chapter in padel,” added Padel Park India co-founder Nikhil Sachdev. “Together with McDonald’s, we’re building a strong and inclusive community that gives young players the chance to go global.”
Serving more than just meals, McDonald’s India continues to deliver on its promise of community and connection, this time, one rally at a time.
Brands
Google nears Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
Market cap gap narrows as Google hits $4.65 trillion, Nvidia at $4.86 trillion.
MUMBAI: In the AI gold rush, even the giants are sprinting and Google is suddenly gaining ground. Google is rapidly closing in on Nvidia in the race to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company, with the gap between the two narrowing sharply amid diverging stock momentum. The tech giant’s market capitalisation has surged to around $4.65 trillion, following a more than 140 per cent rise in its share price over the past year.
That rally has added over $2.6 trillion in value in just 12 months, including nearly $900 billion since January alone. Its stock recently hovered at $381.80, slipping marginally by 0.04 per cent, but still reflecting strong upward momentum.
Nvidia, meanwhile, continues to hold the top spot with a valuation of approximately $4.86 trillion. The chipmaker crossed the $5 trillion milestone in October last year and peaked at $5.27 trillion on 27 April. However, its shares have largely plateaued over the past six months, rising just 0.2 per cent recently to $199.99.
The contrast in trajectories is striking. While Nvidia has seen relatively flat movement, Google has gained over 36 per cent in the same six-month period. Barron’s estimates suggest that if current trends hold, the valuation gap could shrink to as little as $190 million by the time Nvidia reports its first-quarter earnings on 20 May.
Daily momentum paints a similar picture. Nvidia recorded average daily gains of about 0.66 per cent last month, compared to Google’s stronger 1.42 per cent, an edge that could prove decisive in the short term.
Driving Google’s resurgence is its aggressive push into artificial intelligence across its ecosystem, from search and YouTube to cloud computing. The company has already invested $144 billion in capital expenditure over the past two years and plans to deploy a further $490 billion over the next two.
Its cloud division is also gathering pace. Google Cloud reported an order backlog of nearly $220 billion in the latest quarter, with total backlog touching a record $462 billion, around half of which is expected to be realised within two years. The company’s entry into chip sales is also beginning to factor into its growth narrative.
The last time Google briefly topped the S&P 500 by market value was in February 2016, when it edged past Apple for just two days. This time, the stakes and the numbers are far higher.
At the heart of the contest lies a single force: artificial intelligence. As both companies pour billions into infrastructure, chips and platforms, the leaderboard is no longer just about size, it is about who can scale the future faster.
