Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
British Gas boss’s pay jumps 29% as households hit with higher bills
Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of British Gas, is set to receive a 29% pay boost to his basic salary – taking his fixed pay above £1million as households brace for higher bills.
The pay increase, which comes into force on April 1, will arrive on the same day that energy price rises take average consumer energy bills to £1,849 a year.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, said Mr O’Shea was underpaid on his current salary of £855,000 compared with other FTSE 100 chief executives. He will now be paid £1.1million to take into account the company’s growth and complexity.
Tesla’s woes make short sellers $16billion
Short sellers have reaped more than $16billion in paper profits from the steep drop in Tesla’s share price over the past three months.
Shares in the electric car company run by Elon Musk have halved in value since a closing high in mid December, wiping about $700billion off its market value in New York and about $100billion from the tycoon’s fortune.
Hedge funds have profited from the sudden reversal in Tesla’s share price by positioning themselves for declines in the stock.
Under-22s to be excluded from incapacity benefits
Under-22s with long-term illnesses or disabilities will no longer be able to claim a health top-up on universal credit under government plans.
It was one of the measures announced by Work Secretary Liz Kendall in a shake-up of the benefits system she said would cut UK's growing welfare bill.
Some 66,000 18 to 21-year-olds are currently claiming the benefit and the money saved by stopping it will be reinvested into training for young people, the government has said.
Google agrees to pay $28m in racial bias lawsuit
Google has agreed to pay $28million (£21.5million) to settle a lawsuit that claimed white and Asian employees were given better pay and career opportunities than workers from other ethnic backgrounds, a law firm representing claimants says.
The technology giant confirmed it had "reached a resolution" but rejected the allegations made against it.
The case filed in 2021 by former Google employee, Ana Cantu, said workers from Hispanic, Latino, Native American and other backgrounds started on lower salaries and job levels than their white and Asian counterparts.