News in brief: Moulton ends talks on Albemarle deal, M&C makes £65m Chelsea hotel buy, Twitter’s Dorsey joins Disney board

(L-R) Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey, Christopher Isaac 'Biz' Stone, Evan Williams and Twitter CEO Richard 'Dick' Costolo pose for a photo on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 7, 2013 in New York. Twitter hit Wall Street with a bang on Thursday, as an investor frenzy quickly sent shares surging after the public share offering for the fast-growing social network. In the first exchanges, Twitter vaulted 80.7 percent to $47, a day after the initial public offering (IPO) at $26 per share. While some analysts cautioned about the fast-changing nature of social media, the debut led to a stampede for Twitter shares. AFP PHOTO/EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty Images

24 December 2013

Pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond, which put itself up for sale after it started melting down its gold reserves to raise emergency cash, today admitted Jon Moulton’s corporate turnaround firm Better Capital had walked away from an acquisition But it added that it was still in “discussions with a number of interested parties”.

M&C makes £65m Chelsea hotel buy

Hotels group Millennium & Copthorne today spent £65 million buying the five-star Wyndham Grand in Chelsea Harbour.

Formerly known as The Conrad London, the hotel has 154 suites and four penthouses, and borders the Thames. The lease lasts 98 years. M&C chairman Kwek Leng Beng said: “This property will fit very efficiently into our existing portfolio of London properties.”

Twitter’s Dorsey joins Disney board

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey today became the latest Silicon Valley star to join Disney’s board.

Dorsey, 37, sent the first tweet in March 2006 and has been chairman since 2008 before founding mobile payment firm Square, where he is currently chief executive. Dorsey follows the late Steve Jobs and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg on to the Disney board.