Download the app and get the day’s most important stories.
Download the app and get the day’s most important stories.
Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank confirmed on Sunday they were in talks about a merger, prompting labor union concerns about possible job losses and questions from analysts about the merits of a combination. Germany’s two largest banks issued short statements following separate meetings of their management boards, a person with knowledge of the matter said, indicating a quickening of pace in the merger process, although both also warned that a deal was far from certain.
Spotify has filed a complaint with European regulators arguing that Apple limits choice and competition in its app store, giving its own music streaming service an unfair advantage over rivals. Apple’s app store is an important distribution platform for Spotify. But Apple takes a 30% commission on all sales made through the app store – including music streaming subscriptions – which Spotify and many other third-party app developers have long complained is an unfair “tax”.
At age 21, the reality TV star and makeup guru Kylie Jenner is the world’s youngest billionaire, according to Forbes. The magazine on Tuesday released its annual ranking of the planet’s richest people for 2019, announcing that Jenner not only made the billionaires’ list for the first time but is the world’s youngest billionaire as well as the “youngest self-made billionaire of all time.” Forbes credited Jenner’s billionaire status to the success of her makeup company, Kylie Cosmetics, which she founded in 2015 with the sale of the wildly popular lip kits — a set which included liquid lipsticks and matching lip liner.
Gap Inc. plans to separate into two publicly traded companies, spinning off Old Navy into a separate firm as it closes about 230 Gap stores over the next two years. As Old Navy becomes its own company, the other company, which has not been named yet, will consist of the Gap brand, Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermix and Hill City, Gap Inc. said. The moves announced Thursday are the latest signs of turmoil in the retail industry, as Sears and other chains struggle to stay afloat.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal judge to hold Tesla CEO Elon Musk in contempt for violating a settlement deal reached last year. Musk tweeted on February 19 that “Tesla made 0 cars in 2011, but will make around 500k in 2019.” Hours later, Musk sent a follow-up tweet indicating that the company will actually deliver just 400,000 cars this year. Although Musk corrected his mistake, regulators scolded Tesla’s billionaire CEO because he “once again published inaccurate and material information about Tesla to his over 24 million Twitter followers,” according to court papers filed Monday. The SEC noted that he did not ask for or receive company approval before publishing his tweet.
Facebook posted strong financial numbers for its fourth quarter Wednesday, beating on earnings and revenue and sending shares up more than 12 percent in extended trading. Active user metrics continue to rise, though slowly. It proved to be a strong financial quarter for Facebook, despite growing public outrage over the company’s privacy practices. Earnings per share jumped 65 percent from the year-ago period. Net income totaled $6.88 billion, a record profit for the company and an increase of 61 percent from the year-ago quarter.
McDonald’s Corp has lost its rights to the trademark “Big Mac” in a landmark European Union (EU) case ruling in favor of Ireland-based fast-food chain Supermac’s, according to a decision by European regulators. The judgment revoked McDonald’s registration of the trademark, saying the world’s largest fast-food chain had not proven genuine use of it over the five years prior to the case being lodged in 2017. The ruling allows other companies as well as McDonald’s to use the Big Mac name in the EU.
Lyft beat rival Uber in filing for an initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday looking to bring stability to its uncertain future in the advancement of self-driving cars. Lyft did not specify the number of shares to be sold or the price range. Lyft could go public as soon as the first quarter of 2019.
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested on December 1st and faces extradition to the US. The daughter of the founder is being investigated in connection with possible violations of sanctions against Iran by Huawei. The Chinese embassy in Canada protested her Wanzhou’s arrest. Huawei said it has little information about the charges.
After General Motors announced their decision to make major job cuts and halt production in the US and Canada, President Trump commented he is ‘looking at cutting all GM subsidies.’ Following Trump’s statement, GM’s shares dropped more than 3% on Tuesday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Trump discussed the cuts during a phone call.