Money

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Macy’s has struggled for years against rising competition and shoppers migrating away from department stores. Now, a group of investors reportedly wants to take Macy’s private at a vulnerable moment for the famed company. Arkhouse Management, a real estate investment firm, and Brigade Capital Management, a global

By Olesya Dmitracova, CNN London (CNN) — Zara has pulled an advertising campaign that provoked a backlash from people decrying what they said was a resemblance to scenes of death and destruction in Gaza. The advertising images for a line of jackets, posted earlier this month to Zara’s official social media channels, featured rubble, ripped

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Harvard University President Claudine Gay has drawn national attention over her contentious comments on Capitol Hill a week ago about antisemitism on campus. Many donors, politicians and business leaders demanded her resignation, but Harvard’s board, faculty and alumni have come to her defense. Gay was inaugurated as

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Choice Hotels, which owns a number of budget lodging brands, including Comfort Inn, is getting more aggressive in its attempt to acquire its rival Wyndham Hotels. On Tuesday, Choice said it will expand its several monthslong hostile takeover bid of the Days Inn owner by taking its

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay has gained the unanimous support of the university’s board, Harvard’s highest governing body said in a statement Tuesday, giving Gay significant cover to remain in her position after a tumultuous week in which many donors and politicians have called for her ouster.

By Hanna Ziady, CNN London (CNN) — The maker of Dove soap and Cif floor cleaner is being investigated by the UK antitrust regulator over concerns that it is “misleading” shoppers about how environmentally friendly its products are. An “initial review” into Unilever’s marketing tactics “uncovered a range of concerning practices,” the Competition and Markets

By Michelle Toh, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — The billionaire founder of Chinese online shopping giant JD.com is rallying the troops and calling for change at his company, even as he blamed himself for “mismanagement.” Richard Liu, chairman of JD.com (JD), one of China’s largest online shopping platforms, has told employees that the Beijing-based firm

By Ally Barnard and Tara Subramaniam, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — “The Boy and the Heron,” the latest work from beloved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, has become his first film to top the North American box office. The movie earned just under $13 million in its opening weekend, the biggest ever opening in the United

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — In a momentous decision that could chip away at Google’s firm control of its Android app store, a federal jury said Monday evening that Google’s app marketplace is an illegal monopoly. The verdict in a years-long battle between Epic Games — maker of the hit video game “Fortnite” —

By Samantha Delouya, CNN (CNN) — Hasbro is slashing nearly 20% of its workforce amid an ongoing slump in toy sales. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks announced layoffs for 1,100 workers in a Monday memo to employees, cuts which come in addition to the roughly 800 jobs eliminated earlier this year. Cocks said the decision to

By Liam Reilly, CNN (CNN) — Digital publisher The Arena Group, which operates household brands such as Sports Illustrated and The Street, fired its chief executive on Monday amid a larger C-suite bloodbath, a spokesperson for the company told CNN. A spokesperson for The Arena Group declined to go into further detail to explain the

CNN By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — A day after Elon Musk restored the X accounts of notorious right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his website, Infowars, the platform is actively promoting Jones’ account to other users, giving the fringe figure a major platform to air his deceptive and dangerous views. Conspiratorial posts

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — A day after Elon Musk restored the X accounts of notorious right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his website, Infowars, the platform is actively promoting Jones’ account to other users, giving the fringe figure a major platform to air his deceptive and dangerous views. Conspiratorial posts from Jones’

By Liam Reilly, CNN (CNN) — Hannah Giles, the chief executive of Project Veritas, said Monday she has stepped down from her role at the right-wing group “effective immediately,” after discovering evidence that the organization has engaged in “past illegalities.” “Though I had high hopes when I joined the organizations, I stepped into an unsalvageable mess — one

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — The National Football League is in an uncomfortable position. The sports and entertainment juggernaut is in talks to renew its $100 million deal with Elon Musk’s troubled social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, The Wall Street Journal reported in November. But Musk’s unhinged behavior and the surge in

By Brian Fung, CNN Washington (CNN) — Elon Musk has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the Securities and Exchange Commission violated the Tesla CEO’s free-speech rights when it required, as part of a 2018 settlement, that some of his social media posts be vetted in advance. The petition appeared on the

By Catherine Thorbecke, CNN New York (CNN) — Microsoft says it’s giving labor leaders a seat at the table for discussions about the development and implementation of artificial intelligence technology. The software giant, which is a major investor in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, said on Monday that it struck a deal with the AFL-CIO to create an

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — It will likely come as little surprise to many parents that a large percentage of American teens say their use of certain social media sites is “almost constant,” according to a new Pew Research Center report on youth social media and internet use. But it may be

By Hanna Ziady, CNN London (CNN) — The most disadvantaged people in the United Kingdom are no better-off than they were 15 years ago, according to a new report, which finds a “yawning gap between those who can get by and those stuck at the bottom.” The grim conclusion about inequality in one of the

CNN By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Billionaire Len Blavatnik is joining the list of frustrated Harvard donors closing their checkbooks to the university. Blavatnik’s family foundation has suspended donations to Harvard in the wake of President Claudine Gay’s disastrous testimony before Congress, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. Blavatnik,

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Soho House has become so popular that it’s no longer admitting new members to access its clubs in three cities as it deals with complaints of overcrowding. Beginning in 2024, people looking to secure an annual membership — which can cost as much as $5,000 — will

By Laura He, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — While many central banks around the world are still trying to cool inflation, China is grappling with falling prices. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropped 0.5% in November on an annual basis, the biggest fall since the depths of the pandemic three years ago, according to data

By Sergio Padilla, CNN New York (CNN) — Spotify made a name for itself in the audio-streaming business through its hyper-personalized user experience, thanks to artificial intelligence and a team of 9,800 staffers at the end of 2022. But after three rounds of layoffs in one year: 590 positions in January, 200 in June, and another 1,500 this week, Spotify’s investments

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — Now that Liz Magill has stepped down as president of the University of Pennsylvania, the spotlight has turned to her counterpart from Harvard University, Claudine Gay. “One down. Two to go,” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, with the

By David Goldman, CNN New York (CNN) — When Liz Magill was hired to be the 27th leader of the nearly 300-year-old University of Pennsylvania 20 months ago, she was academic royalty. On Saturday, she resigned in disgrace. Born into a family of lawyers and judges, Magill had spent decades rising to the top ranks

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — CVS Pharmacy is promising to make its drug pricing system simpler and more transparent. But that may not translate into lower costs or more clarity for consumers. The company announced Tuesday that its new CVS CostVantage model will revamp how its pharmacies are paid for prescription medications. It will

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — After facing mounting pressure for months, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill announced that she was stepping down on Saturday. But her resignation alone won’t combat rising incidents of antisemitism at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. Fears over antisemitism have reached new heights over the

By Samantha Delouya, CNN Los Angeles (CNN) — To the casual shopper, Sears, one of America’s oldest retailers, may appear to be on life support. The department store chain that once reinvented how Americans shopped now barely has a brick-and-mortar footprint after a 2018 bankruptcy and hundreds of store closures. But talk of Sears’ demise may

CNN By Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — Now that Liz Magill has stepped down as president of the University of Pennsylvania, the spotlight has turned to her counterpart from Harvard University, Claudine Gay. “One down. Two to go,” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, with

By Skylar Harris and Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Saturday warned state colleges and universities of “aggressive enforcement action” if discrimination laws are violated, as pressure mounts on schools across the country to deal with antisemitism on campus in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Hochul’s letter

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — In a stunning downfall for the leader of one of the world’s most prestigious universities, Liz Magill, the president of University of Pennsylvania, voluntarily stepped down from the helm of the Ivy League school on Saturday following a torrent of criticism for her testimony about antisemitism on

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — Elon Musk said the account of right-wing extremist Alex Jones would be reinstated on X, formerly known as Twitter, reversing a 2018 decision by the company’s previous management to deplatform the notorious conspiracy theorist after he repeatedly broke rules prohibiting harassment and hate. On Saturday morning, Musk

By Parija Kavilanz, CNN New York (CNN) — Deodorant, detergent, granola bars, cookies, underwear. Shop for any of these every day items and you’ll scan not one but at least two, sometimes three different prices crammed underneath them on the store shelf. Typically, one price label will say “Unit price.” That will be next to

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN New York (CNN) — McDonald’s announced on Wednesday that it is piloting a new cafe concept called CosMc’s, which will mostly sell indulgent, highly customizable caffeinated beverages with some food. The first CosMc’s location is now open in Illinois, and nine more are planned in Texas in the coming months. For

WLS, MCDONALD’S, CNN By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN New York (CNN) — McDonald’s announced on Wednesday that it is piloting a new cafe concept called CosMc’s, which will mostly sell indulgent, highly customizable caffeinated beverages with some food. The first CosMc’s location is now open in Illinois, and nine more are planned in Texas in the

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — In good economic times and bad, people’s self-control to spend within their means on gifts during the holiday season flies out the window. For decades, credit cards bore the brunt of compulsive holiday spending habits. But increasingly, they’re sharing the spotlight with Buy Now, Pay Later companies.

CNN, KYW By Nicki Brown, CNN (CNN) — The president of Harvard University apologized in an interview with the school’s student newspaper after facing widespread condemnation for her disastrous congressional testimony this week, in which she and other university presidents failed to explicitly say calls for genocide of Jewish people constituted bullying and harassment on

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN (CNN) — It can take 20 minutes to “fast charge” an electric car up to 80%. But what if you could just change the batteries like they were AAs in a toy, and be back on the road fully charged in a handful of minutes? It seems like an obvious solution,

By Nicki Brown, CNN (CNN) — The president of Harvard University apologized in an interview with the school’s student newspaper after facing widespread condemnation for her disastrous congressional testimony this week, in which she and other university presidents failed to explicitly say calls for genocide of Jewish people constituted bullying and harassment on campus. “I

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Billionaire investor David Rubenstein is in discussions to potentially acquire Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Rubenstein, a Baltimore native and co-founder of The Carlyle Group, has been in talks to buy the Orioles for some time, but a deal

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — Rabbi David Wolpe, a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Divinity School, announced his resignation on Thursday from the university’s Antisemitism Advisory Group. Wolpe, who had been instated earlier this year as the Anti-Defamation League’s first rabbinic fellow, wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that

By Chris Isidore and Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Numerous college presidents are facing criticism about their responses to antisemitism on their campuses. But none more than University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill. Some have called for the resignations of Harvard University President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth after they testified

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — The growing chorus of donors, politicians, business leaders and other prominent figures calling for the immediate ouster of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill has reached a crescendo after her disastrous testimony at a House hearing earlier this week. During Tuesday’s House hearing, Magill, along with the

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — “By Washington Post Staff.” That was the byline affixed to the vast majority of The WaPo’s stories Thursday as the newspaper’s unionized employees staged a full-day strike against the Jeff Bezos-owned outlet — an act of protest not deployed against the company since the 1970s. As the public got

By Laura He, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — China has vowed to strengthen fiscal policy in 2024 to boost its flagging economy. The announcement Friday followed a meeting of top Communist party officials and came just days after Moody’s downgraded its outlook on China’s credit rating to negative from stable. The ratings agency on Tuesday

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is in the giving mood this holiday season. Scott announced Wednesday $2.15 billion in donations over the past year on her website, Yield Giving. She said in the post that the nonprofit donated to 360 organizations, “every one of whom could use more allies.”

CNN By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — The walls appear to be caving in on the University of Pennsylvania’s president, Liz Magill, who faces scathing criticism over her performance at a House hearing earlier this week. Prominent donor Ross Stevens threatened to claw back a $100 million donation. The university’s board of trustees

By Nicole Goodkind, CNN New York (CNN) — Startups are not having a good 2023. And the investors who handed out billions of dollars to fund them aren’t very happy about it. During more flush years, venture capitalists, angel investors and billionaire evangelists poured their cash into tech startups – the easy money pipe was

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — Meta’s Oversight Board on Thursday initiated a review of two content moderation decisions by the social media giant related to Israel-Hamas war content. The move marks the first time the board has conducted an “expedited” review process, a nod to the intense scrutiny Facebook-parent Meta and other

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — The US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued several warnings for high-powered magnetic balls in toy sets, after the agency said it was aware of seven deaths linked to swallowing small magnets. The CPSC did not list the total units affected because most of the companies did not

By Catherine Thorbecke, CNN (CNN) — Russian propagandists exploited celebrity videos from the popular platform Cameo to support their misinformation campaigns, cybersecurity researchers at Microsoft said. Starting in July, pro-Russia social media channels began circulating videos of American celebrities that were “deceptively edited to push anti-Ukraine propaganda,” according to a report published Thursday by Microsoft’s

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — Users of Meta’s Facebook and Messenger apps will now automatically gain the protections of end-to-end encryption, a major boost to security and privacy, the company said Wednesday. The long-anticipated rollout will keep user messages from prying eyes by scrambling their contents to everyone but the intended senders and recipients.

By Jennifer Korn, CNN (CNN) — Thanks to generative AI technology, you can now listen to a soothing Christmas bedtime story told by the late legendary actor Jimmy Stewart. Stewart, star of “It’s a Wonderful Life” who died in 1997, is the voice behind a new audio story released Tuesday on the sleep and meditation

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — The former head of information security at Twitter, now called X, is accusing the company of firing him after he objected to demands by owner Elon Musk and his associates to make cuts to safety systems. Shortly after Musk’s takeover of Twitter late last year, the billionaire’s

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — A very real legal drama over coffee is brewing on the set of a fictional TV show. The ranch of Tyler Sheridan, who is the showrunner and creator of the hit TV show “Yellowstone,” is suing the coffee brand created by Cole Hauser, one of the show’s

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk wants Bob Iger fired. The X owner and erratic billionaire conspiracy theorist went on a rampage Thursday against the Disney chief executive, assailing Iger for the Magic Kingdom’s decision to pull advertisements from his imperiled social media platform, and declaring that Iger should be forcibly removed from his job. “He should

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — The walls appear to be caving in on the University of Pennsylvania’s president, Liz Magill, who faces scathing criticism over her performance at a House hearing earlier this week. Prominent donor Ross Stevens threatened to claw back a $100 million donation. The university’s board of trustees held

By Jack Guy, CNN London (CNN) — Cinemagoers in Japan will soon be able to see box office hit “Oppenheimer,” months after much of the rest of the world. The blockbuster’s release was postponed amid controversy over an unofficial marketing campaign that critics said trivialized the 1945 nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Film distributor

By Arya Jyothi and Yara Enany, CNN Business Abu Dhabi (CNN) — The construction industry is among the biggest contributors to global heating, and one of the toughest sectors to decarbonize. Constructing buildings and manufacturing and transporting materials accounts for about 11% of all global carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. Now,

By Samantha Delouya, CNN Los Angeles (CNN) — On Monday, the US Supreme Court grappled with one of the highest-profile bankruptcy cases the court has taken on in decades. The case hinges on the legality of OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma’s multibillion-dollar bankruptcy plan ­— which would have the Sackler family, who once owned the pharmaceutical giant,

By Michelle Toh, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — For the first time, Hong Kong’s leader has welcomed Saudi Arabian elites to the city for an investment conference, in an example of how it is embracing new potential business partners as it confronts a slumping economy and geopolitical uncertainty. In opening remarks on Thursday, Hong Kong

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Public support is building for changes to zoning codes and other laws that have dominated American housing policy for decades and restricted new development. A new Pew Charitable Trusts poll shows broad public approval for several policy initiatives that would make it easier to build new housing,

By Laura He, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s exports increased for the first time since April, while imports inched downward, data from the world’s second largest economy showed on Thursday. Exports in US dollar terms rose 0.5% in November from a year ago, reversing a 6.4% decline in October, according to the General Administration

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — Microsoft’s battle to defend its acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is not yet over. The US government said Wednesday that a federal appeals court should block Microsoft’s recent purchase of Activision because a lower-court judge was too deferential to Microsoft’s promises about the future of “Call of

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN New York (CNN) — Shedding light on its long-awaited and oddly secretive CosMc’s concept, McDonald’s on Wednesday finally shared more about the café pilot, which seems to be its answer to Starbucks. It was weirder than expected. Over the summer, McDonald’s teased the test of a new restaurant concept. We knew

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN New York (CNN) — For anyone working a minimum wage job in this new year, they will be paid more in 22 states and in at least 40 cities and counties across the country than they were in 2023. The higher hourly rates are due either to scheduled increases or lawmakers

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has accused Meta Platforms of creating a “breeding ground” for child predators on Facebook and Instagram in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the latest in a string of legal actions related to alleged harms to young users caused by the social media

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — The sell-off in the oil market accelerated Wednesday, with US crude prices sinking below $70 a barrel for the first time since July. The latest wave of selling bodes well for consumers, suggesting gas prices could fall even closer towards $3 a gallon nationally. Gas prices bottomed out at

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — Hundreds of staffers at The Washington Post are set to strike for 24 hours on Thursday, protesting recently announced cuts to the newspaper’s workforce and applying pressure on management to reach an agreement on a new union contract. “Taking this historic action is not a decision we came to

CNN By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Taylor Swift is ending her year with another accolade: The pop superstar was named Time magazine’s 2023 “Person of the Year,” beating out Barbie and King Charles III. “While her popularity has grown across the decades, this is the year that Swift, 33, achieved a kind of nuclear

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Jack Daniel would probably pour himself a stiff one after seeing his parent company’s earnings. Brown-Forman, the maker of several spirits, said sales of its Jack Daniel’s whiskey fell 1% in the first half of its current fiscal year — a sharp contrast when compared to the

By Chris Isidore, CNN New York (CNN) — Elon Musk is seeking to raise $1 billion for his artificial intelligence company xAI. The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said that it has already raised $135 million of that $1 billion target, and it has a “binding and enforceable agreement” for the purchase of

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — If it seemed like everyone was buying tickets to see Taylor Swift or Lionel Messi this year, that probably wasn’t far off. StubHub released its 2023 “Year in Live Experiences” report that revealed some of the top-selling events sold on the ticketing website. Swift’s tour and Messi’s

By Matt Egan and Donald Judd, CNN New York (CNN) — The presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania faced intense scrutiny on Wednesday from business leaders, donors and politicians following their testimony at a House hearing on antisemitism on campus and calls for genocide in Israel. The criticism focused on the university leaders’ answers

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — The bundle is staging a comeback. After spending billions of dollars to launch their own direct-to-consumer streaming platforms, the world’s biggest entertainment companies are slowly getting back together, giving consumers a break on soaring prices by pushing them to their more lucrative ad-supported tiers with the hope that the

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — Add Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser to the growing list of bank CEOs who are warning about tough times ahead. While Fraser doesn’t “see a drastic downturn on the horizon,” the head of the third-largest bank in the United States does see a recession coming, she said in