Business

CNN Launches $3.99/Month Paywall For US Readers

CNN reports: CNN, one of the most popular news websites in the world, is starting to ask some of its visitors to pay $3.99 a month for access. On Tuesday, the news organization is laying the first bricks in a so-called paywall that should, over time, help foot the bill for CNN’s journalism around the world. “Starting today, we are …

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DirecTV Agrees To Acquire Rivals Dish TV And Sling

Reuters reports: DirecTV on Monday agreed to buy EchoStar’s satellite television business that includes Dish TV, capping decades of on-and-off talks to create one of the nation’s largest pay TV distributors with a combined 20 million subscribers. The transaction comes at a time when satellite TV services DirecTV and Dish are hemorrhaging market share to competitors like Netflix and Amazon’s …

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EU Fines Meta $101 Million Over Password Storage

Ars Technica reports: Officials in Ireland have fined Meta $101 million for storing hundreds of millions of user passwords in plaintext and making them broadly available to company employees. Meta disclosed the lapse in early 2019. The company said that apps for connecting to various Meta-owned social networks had logged user passwords in plaintext and stored them in a database …

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Toyota Rebuffs Attack By Anti-LGBTQ Activist

Bloomberg News reports: Toyota Motor Corp. distanced itself from some of its LGBTQ initiatives and said it doesn’t have a quota system to boost diversity among its suppliers, after a social media attack from an anti-DEI activist. The Japanese carmaker was targeted by Robby Starbuck Thursday for sponsoring LGBTQ events and programs and offering “preferential treatment for diverse suppliers.” Toyota …

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DOJ Files Antitrust Suit Against Visa Over Debit Cards

Bloomberg News reports: The US Justice Department sued Visa Inc. Tuesday, alleging the global payments giant illegally monopolized the debit card market, in the Biden administration’s first major antitrust case in the financial services industry. Antitrust enforcers alleged in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court that Visa, which handles more than 60% of US debit transactions, entered into a …

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FL Activates Price-Gouging Hotline Ahead Of Hurricane

Florida Politics reports: With a tropical system brewing near the Gulf of Mexico, Florida has issued a state of emergency in 41 counties and has activated the state’s price gouging hotline to report bad actors taking advantage of diligent residents preparing for the storm. Under Florida law, it is illegal for retailers in the state to artificially jack up prices …

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California Sues ExxonMobil Over Plastics Pollution

The New York Times reports: The attorney general of California, Rob Bonta, sued Exxon Mobil on Monday alleging that the oil giant carried out a “decades-long campaign of deception” that overhyped the promise of recycling and spawned a plastic pollution crisis. The suit, filed in superior court in San Francisco, argued that people were more likely to buy single-use plastics …

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Cards Against Humanity Maker Sues SpaceX For $15M

NBC News reports: The maker of the party game Cards Against Humanity has sued Elon Musk’s SpaceX accusing it of trespassing on and damaging company-owned property in Texas. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Texas court, asks for $15 million to cover damages including what the company calls the destruction of natural vegetation. The dispute involves a plot of vacant land …

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Former MoviePass CEO Pleads Guilty To Fraud Scheme

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Former MoviePass chief executive Mitch Lowe has pled guilty to a securities fraud charge related to his role in swindling investors about the company’s monthly movie subscription service. Lowe on Monday entered a plea agreement in which he admitted fault for conspiring to inflate the price of MoviePass’ stock by lying about the profitability and sustainability …

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Tupperware Maker Expected To Declare Bankruptcy

Bloomberg News reports: Tupperware Brands is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this week, according to people with knowledge of the plans, following a years-long effort to revive the business amid waning demand. The home-goods brand, which has for much of a century defined food storage, is planning to enter court protection after it breached the terms of …

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Boeing’s US Factory Workers Begin Strike After Vote

Reuters reports: Boeing’s U.S. West Coast factory workers walked off the job early on Friday after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract deal, halting production of the planemaker’s strongest-selling jet as it wrestles with severe output delays and heavy debt. The workers’ first strike since 2008 comes as the planemaker is under heavy scrutiny from U.S. regulators and customers after a door …

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FDA Okays “Hearing Aid Mode” For Apple’s Air Pods

Mashable reports: Apple’s newly announced hearing aid capability is officially the first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software to be approved by the FDA. And it should be available on devices soon. The federal agency formally ushered in the tech giant’s new “Hearing Aid Feature” (or HAF, as the agency refers to it) mere days after the company’s keynote “Glowtime” event, …

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Campbell Soup Drops “Soup” From Company Name

The Guardian reports: Bosses at Campbell Soup Company, whose cans feature in one of Andy Warhol’s best-known 1960s pop artworks, have announced plans to drop “soup” from its name after more than 100 years. Its chief executive, Mark Clouse, said the decision to rename the group the Campbell’s Company was part of a shift in focus to the other snack …

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Apple Unveils New “AI-Boosted” iPhone 16 [VIDEO]

Reuters reports: Apple on Monday unveiled its artificial intelligence-boosted iPhone 16, showing off the long-awaited phone hours after Chinese rival Huawei’s tri-fold phone began racking up orders. “The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up. It marks the beginning of an exciting new era,” Chief Executive Tim Cook said at a product launch. …

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Discount Chain Big Lots Files For Bankruptcy Protection

Bloomberg Business reports: Discount retailer Big Lots Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to sell the firm’s assets and ongoing business in a court-supervised process. The Columbus, Ohio-based company said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, according to a company statement. It listed assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion in its court petition. …

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88 Corporate Leaders Sign Letter Endorsing Harris

CNBC reports: Eighty-eight current and former top executives from across corporate America have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in a new letter shared exclusively with CNBC. Among the signers are several high-profile CEOs of public companies, including Aaron Levie of Box, Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp and Michael Lynton, chairman of Snap. Other signers appear to be issuing their …

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Coors Beer Maker Is Latest To Cave To Anti-LGBTQ Push

Bloomberg News reports: Molson Coors Beverage Co. is cutting back some of its corporate diversity efforts, joining a corporate retreat hastened by an anti-DEI social media campaign. Molson Coors sent a memo to employees Tuesday saying it will stop linking executive compensation to employee representation, scrap supplier diversity goals, and no longer engage with the Human Rights Campaign’s corporate rankings. …

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HP Won’t Drop $4B Claim Against Late Tech Mogul

ABC News reports: Hewlett Packard Enterprise said Monday it won’t drop its U.K. claim for damages against the estate of British tech mogul Mike Lynch, who was killed when his superyacht sank last month. Britain’s High Court in 2022 ruled mostly in favor of the U.S. technology company, which accused Lynch and his former finance director of fraud over its …

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WaPo: Musk’s Partners In Buying X Have Lost Billions

The Washington Post reports: His and his partners’ overall stake has shed $24 billion in value — a vaporization of wealth that has little parallel outside the realm of economic or industry-specific crashes, or devastating corporate scandals. Among those shouldering the burden: Saudi and Qatari business leaders and royalty; Silicon Valley venture capital and tech investors; and Twitter co-founder and …

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Ford Becomes Latest To Cave To Anti-LGBTQ Campaign

Fortune reports: Ford is the latest company to scale back on “woke” diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives after boycott pressure from anti-DEI crusader Robby Starbuck.  The former Hollywood music video director turned conservative activist has pressured several high-profile companies, including Harley-Davidson, to abandon inclusive employment policies. Yesterday, he posted a memo on his X account from Ford CEO Jim Farley …

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