Business

NBC News reports: In summer 2019, a new Facebook user named Carol Smith signed up for the platform, describing herself as a politically conservative mother from Wilmington, North Carolina. Smith’s account indicated an interest in politics, parenting and Christianity and followed a few of her favorite brands, including Fox News and then-President Donald Trump. Though Smith had never expressed interest …

Market Watch reports: PayPal Holdings Inc.’s quest to become a “super-app” may be kicking into a new gear following reports that the company has held acquisition talks with Pinterest Inc. The financial-technology company has been expanding beyond payments and into other areas of financial services and commerce, driven by a revamp of its app to emphasize features like crypto purchasing …

The Verge reports: Facebook is planning to change its company name next week to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The coming name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk about at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th, but could unveil sooner, is meant to signal …

The Associated Press reports: TikTok, an app best known for dancing videos with 1 billion users worldwide, has also become a shopping phenomenon. National chains, hoping to get TikTok’s mostly young users into its stores, are setting up TikTok sections, reminiscent of “As Seen On TV” stores that sold products hawked on infomercials. At Barnes & Noble, tables display signs …

CBS News reports: McDonald’s will offer its first vegetarian option in the U.S. next month, taking its new McPlant meatless burger for a test drive on U.S. menus, the fast-food giant announced Thursday. “Eight McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. will be testing the McPlant for a limited time starting Nov. 3 while supplies last,” McDonald’s said in the announcement. The …

Australia’s The Age reports: An anti-vaccination baggage handler at Melbourne Airport is being blamed for passing on COVID-19 to at least seven colleagues and forcing more than 50 workers into enforced two-week isolation. The Virgin Australia baggage handler came to work while sick in late September, said industry sources who are not authorised to speak publicly. They said he had …

The New York Times reports: President Biden will announce on Wednesday that the Port of Los Angeles will begin operating around the clock as his administration struggles to relieve growing backlogs in the global supply chains that deliver critical goods to the United States. Product shortages have frustrated American consumers and businesses and contributed to rising prices that are hurting …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Walgreens will close five more San Francisco stores, a company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday, citing ongoing organized retail crime as the reason. “Organized retail crime continues to be a challenge facing retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to that,” said Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso. “Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued …

Bloomberg News reports: American Airlines Group Inc., the biggest U.S. airline, and No. 4 Southwest Airlines Co. will follow President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring that employees be vaccinated against Covid-19, defying an order from the Texas governor blocking such actions. The decisions Tuesday set up an immediate challenge to Republican Governor Greg Abbott by two of the state’s largest corporations. …

The New York Post reports: Elon Musk has come through on his promise to send Jeff Bezos a silver medal now that the Tesla CEO has surpassed the Amazon founder to become the world’s richest person. Musk couldn’t help himself from chiming in on Twitter after Bezos posted a message about overcoming adversity. Shortly after midnight, Musk responded with a …

CNN Business reports: The long weekend got a bit longer for Southwest customers after the airline canceled more than 2,000 flights Friday through Sunday. The world’s largest low-cost carrier canceled three of every 10 departures it had scheduled on Sunday and the disruption continued into Monday, a federal holiday, with 337 flights — or about one in 10 — canceled …

Crain’s Chicago Business reports: Allstate Corp. plans to sell its headquarters building, marking the U.S. finance industry’s firmest endorsement yet of the desire to offer hybrid work after the pandemic. With many employees choosing to work remotely, the insurance giant will sell its offices in Northbrook, according to an emailed statement Friday. The complex in a Chicago suburb has several …

USA Today reports: Stranded Southwest passengers across the country are struggling with a second day of mass flight cancellations by the nation’s largest domestic airline. Southwest has canceled 1,006 Sunday flights as of 11 a.m. ET, according to flight tracker FlightAware. That’s 27% of the the airline’s scheduled flights and the highest of any U.S. airline by a wide margin. …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Friday that his company’s move to Texas was, in part, inspired by a California lawmaker’s incendiary tweet to him. The tweet in question? “F—k Elon Musk,” from progressive California Assemblywoman Lorena S. Gonzalez. Musk’s confirmation came in response to a fawning Tesla blog post, claiming that “Musk selflessly tried to …

TechCrunch reports: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would be moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas, a city that has recently seen a flood of tech companies and remote workers. Musk announced the news at the 2021 Tesla, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which took place at the Tesla Austin gigafactory, rather than in the …

CNN Business reports: Two years after launching the Impossible Whopper, Burger King is testing out Impossible nuggets. Starting on October 11, Burger King restaurants in Des Moines, Iowa, Boston, Massachusetts and Miami, Florida will serve eight-piece plant-based nuggets made by Impossible Foods for a limited time. The product will be prepared in oil used for meat and cheese products, Burger …

The New York Times reports: Los Angeles will require most people to provide proof of full coronavirus vaccination to enter a range of indoor businesses, including restaurants, gyms, museums, movie theaters and salons, in one of the nation’s strictest vaccine rules. The new law, which was approved by the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday, will allow people with medical …

The Associated Press reports: Tesla Inc. must pay nearly $137 million to a Black former worker who said he suffered racial abuse at the electric carmaker’s San Francisco Bay Area factory. The jury in San Francisco agreed that Owen Diaz was subjected to racial harassment and a hostile work environment. Diaz alleged in a lawsuit that he was harassed and …

The Associated Press reports: Southwest Airlines on Monday became the latest U.S. airline to require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Southwest has 54,000 employees. The Dallas-based company said its workers must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 in order to remain at the airline. Employees can seek approval to skip the shots due to medical or religious reasons. …

CNN Business reports: The Facebook whistleblower who released tens of thousands of pages of internal research and documents indicating the company was aware of various problems caused by its apps, including Instagram’s potential “toxic” effect on teen girls, is set to testify at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old former Facebook product manager who worked on civic …