Business

Bloomberg Law reports: The US Justice Department and eight states sued Alphabet Inc.’s Google, calling for the break up of the search giant’s ad-technology business over alleged illegal monopolization of the digital advertising market. “Google abuses its monopoly power to disadvantage website publishers and advertisers who dare to use competing ad tech products in a search for higher quality, or …

Via press release from Business Wire: Amazon today announced RxPass, a new Prime membership benefit from Amazon Pharmacy that offers patients affordable access to commonly prescribed generic medications that treat more than 80 common health conditions. With RxPass, Prime members can receive all of their eligible medications for one flat, low monthly fee of $5, and have them delivered free …

Reuters reports: Once the stuff of science fiction, lab-grown meat could become reality in some restaurants in the United States as early as this year. Executives at cultivated meat companies are optimistic that meat grown in massive steel vats could be on the menu within months after one company won the go-ahead from a key regulator. Cultivated meat is derived …

Reuters reports: Elon Musk, Tesla Inc’s chief executive, told a jury on Friday investors do not always react to his Twitter messages as he expected in a trial over his 2018 interest in taking the electric carmaker private, which shareholders allege cost them millions in trading losses. Musk’s testimony began with questions about his use of Twitter, the social media …

CNBC reports: The Federal Trade Commission on Friday asked that notorious “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli be held in contempt of court for forming a new drug company in violation of a judge’s ban on the convicted fraudster from working in the pharmaceuticals industry. Shkreli, who was released from prison last year, in February was banned “for life from directly or indirectly participating in any manner in the …

TechCrunch reports: In a financial filing on Thursday, T-Mobile revealed that a hacker accessed a trove of personal data belonging to 37 million customers. The telecom giant said that the “bad actor” started stealing the data, which includes “name, billing address, email, phone number, date of birth, T-Mobile account number and information such as the number of lines on the …

Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk oversaw the creation of a 2016 video that exaggerated the abilities of Tesla Inc.’s driver-assistance system Autopilot, even dictating the opening text that claimed the company’s car drove itself, according to internal emails viewed by Bloomberg. Musk wrote to Tesla’s Autopilot team after 2 a.m. California time in October 2016 to emphasize the importance of …

USA Today reports: On the heels of Amazon beginning its latest round of layoffs that cut thousands of jobs, the e-retailer announced it plans to shut down its charity donation program. The online retailer and cloud computing giant donates a percentage of eligible purchases on the site to the shoppers’ chosen charity organization through the program AmazonSmile, launched a decade ago. Amazon said it has donated at least $449 …

Charleston’s NPR affiliate reports: In a press conference Wednesday morning, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office has reached a settlement with the national pharmaceutical chain Walgreens for $83 million. “Today, we’re announcing that the state of West Virginia is settling for $83 million for its claims against Walgreens. We have signed the agreement and we have sent …

USA Today reports: The founder of the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested early Wednesday in Miami in connection with a vast money laundering operation, accused of transmitting more than $700 million in illicit funds in the past four years. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national, oversaw a major “high-tech financial hub that catered to …

NBC News reports: Bankrupt crypto firm FTX said on Tuesday that $415 million worth of crypto was hacked from the exchange’s accounts, representing a sizeable portion of the identified assets the company is trying to recover. In a presentation titled “Maximizing FTX Recoveries,” lawyers and advisors for FTX debtors updated the total liquid assets identified for recovery, and said they’re valued at …

CNN Business reports: Party City filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday after years of losses and weak sales. The largest party goods and Halloween specialty retail chain in the United States said in a regulatory filing that it reached an agreement with debtholders to cut its $1.7 billion debt load. The company said it secured $150 million in financing that will …

Reuters reports: A 2016 video that Tesla used to promote its self-driving technology was staged to show capabilities like stopping at a red light and accelerating at a green light that the system did not have, according to testimony by a senior engineer. The video, which remains archived on Tesla’s website, was released in October 2016 and promoted on Twitter …

The Daily Beast reports: Twitter’s revenue on Tuesday was down 40 percent year over year as the company continues its free-fall three months into Elon Musk’s takeover, according to Zoë Schiffer, a reporter for Platformer. Musk may also be staring down the barrel of a massive interest payment on the $13 billion in debt he took on to buy the …

The Verge reports: The Federal Elections Commission dismissed a Republican-led complaint that Google’s filters in Gmail unfairly send GOP fundraising emails to spam folders at a higher rate than those from Democrats. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the FEC’s dismissal on Tuesday, citing a commission letter to Google earlier this month saying that it “found no …

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports: Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to halt plans for a $3.5 billion Ford Motor Co. battery plant over his concerns about Chinese influence cost one of the poorest areas of Virginia a reported 2,500 jobs with potential for more. If Ford finalized the project, the plant would have gone in the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry …

Reuters reports: The West’s top energy firms are expected to rake in a combined record profit of $200 billion from a turbulent 2022 marked by huge volatility in oil and gas prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with buoyant earnings likely to roll through 2023. Flush with cash, BP Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and TotalEnergies also delivered shareholders unprecedented returns …

The Associated Press reports: Elon Musk claimed in a August 7, 2018 tweet that he had lined up the financing to pay for a $72 billion buyout of Tesla, which he then amplified with a follow-up statement that made a deal seem imminent. But the buyout never materialized and now Musk will have to explain his actions under oath in …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Friday rejected Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s bid to move or delay a trial over a misleading tweet about a potential buyout of the electric automaker, setting the stage for the mercurial billionaire to be thrust into a legal drama amid the turmoil of his Twitter takeover. Musk’s attorneys last week asked Chen …

Axios reports: The company overnight “dramatically” cut prices of its Model 3 and Model Y in the U.S. by a weighted average of about $10,000, or 16%, according to Evercore ISI analysts. Tesla has experienced a sharp drop in its stock price over the last several months as Musk’s Twitter management led to criticism of his leadership — and as …