THE GLOBE INVEST

Venus Williams sits in a conference room , surrounded by branding executives and healthy snacks. And the room is starting to get a little chatty. People aren’t focusing on the task at hand. “Shall we continue?” Williams says softly. Most of what Williams says is spoken softly, with a quiet authority, and it’s effective. The assembled people snap back to  attention  like a rubber band. A conference room may not be where tennis fans picture Venus Williams. But it’s a setting where she’s increasingly at home. It is mid-September, about two weeks after Williams lost in the semifinals of the U.S. Open to Sloane Stephens. What follows the loss has been a whirlwind, full of  business meetings  for her growing portfolio of outside concerns, which she fits in between training sessions and preparations for the fall Asian season of the women’s tennis tour. Today’s is about  EleVen by Venus Williams , her athleisure company, which sells workout gear that Willi...

Despite much speculation, the ascension of a new president in Cuba is unlikely to usher in holistic economic change as the country’s political apparatus will surely impede wholesale reform Miguel Diáz-Canel's appointment as president caused speculation that the liberalization of Cuba's economy may be imminent, but, despite promising signs, real change remains a distant prospect   For the first time since New Year’s Day 1959, the head of state of the Caribbean island nation of Cuba is someone outside the Castro family. The  appointment  of Miguel Díaz-Canel to the presidency has fueled speculation about the future of the country and its economy. The past 10 years have already shown a degree of willingness within the Cuban establishment to implement some much-needed economic reforms, and new leadership provokes questions about a possible acceleration of the reform process. Even if Díaz-Canel had lofty reform ambitions, it would be difficult for him to single-han...