Business

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has picked a date to step down as CEO. Bezos, who grew Amazon from an internet bookstore to an online shopping behemoth, said Wednesday that Amazon executive Andy Jassy will take over the CEO role on July 5. “We chose that date because it’s sentimental for me,” Bezos said during an Amazon shareholder meeting Wednesday. He explained that it was exactly 27 years ago on that date in 1994 that Amazon was incorporated. Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. announced that Bezos was stepping down as CEO in February, but didn’t provide a specific date. Jassy, his replacement, currently runs the company’s cloud-computing business. Bezos, 57 and with a personal fortune of $167 billion, won’t be going far. He will become executive chair at Amazon and focus on new products and initiatives. He also plans to focus on his other ventures, such as his rocket ship company, Blue Origin, and his newspaper, The Washington Post. On Wednesday, Amazon also announced it would buy storied Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion with the hopes of filling its video streaming service with more shows and movies to watch.

The District of Columbia has sued Amazon, accusing the online retail giant of anticompetitive practices in its treatment of sellers on its platform. The practices have raised prices for consumers and stifled innovation and choice in the online retail market, the DC attorney general alleges in an antitrust suit. The suit filed Tuesday in the District of Columbia court maintains that Amazon has fixed online retail prices through contract provisions and policies it applies to third-party sellers on its platform. It alleges these provisions and policies prevent sellers that offer products on Amazon from offering their products at lower prices or on better terms on any other online platform, including their own websites. “We filed this antitrust lawsuit to put an end to Amazon’s illegal control of prices across the online retail market,” DC Attorney General Karl Racine said in a conference call with reporters. “We need a fair online marketplace that expands options available to [District of Columbia] residents and promotes competition, innovation and choice.” Racine noted that Amazon — which recently made news because of a deal to buy MGM — is the world’s biggest online retailer, controlling 50 percent to 70 percent of online market sales.

Uber Technologies on Monday launched its COVID-19 vaccine rides program in partnership with the White House, offering all Americans an up to $25 discount for each of their trips to and from a vaccination site. Customers who have booked a vaccine appointment can request a ride through the Uber app and either incur no charges if the trip costs less than $25, or receive a $25 discount for their journey, the company said. Drivers will receive the full payment for the trip, Uber said. With two of the three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States requiring two separate shots, Uber would pay a maximum of $100 per passenger under the program. A company spokesman said Uber does not have an estimate for the number of vaccine rides it expects to provide. U.S. President Joe Biden two weeks ago announced the partnership with Uber and its rival Lyft in an effort to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates at a time when U.S. demand for vaccines has declined. Many states are offering incentives, from free food and drinks to a chance at winning a lottery, in order to get more Americans to roll up their sleeves for a COVID-19 shot. Biden has set a target of getting 70 percent of U.S. adults inoculated

Stocks are broadly higher in morning trading on Wall Street Monday as investors regained an appetite for risk after the market notched two straight weeks of losses. The S&P 500 index was up 1.1 percent as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 215 points, or 0.6 percent, to 34,423, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.5 percent. Technology stocks were among the bigger gainers, particularly semiconductor companies. Nvidia and Micron both rose more than 2 percent. Communications stocks, like Facebook, and a variety of companies that rely on direct consumer spending also made solid gains. Sectors that are viewed as safer investments, like utilities, lagged the broader market. Investors continue to watch for potential signs of inflation as the economic recovery continues in the waning days of the US coronavirus pandemic. Earnings season at this point is near its end. Investors will get results from Dell and Salesforce.com this week, among a few others. There’s only a handful of economic reports this week, including monthly home sales. On Friday, investors will get another reading on inflation in the form of the Commerce Department’s personal consumption and expenditures index. “Core PCE,” as it is known, is the

The New York Knicks are trying to end a trying 47-year championship drought in this year’s NBA playoffs. If that sounds like a painful stretch, consider that the Dolan family has endured a drought that has stretched for a total of 96 seasons. James Dolan and the New York branch of the family bought the Knicks and Rangers in 1995 — right after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. It has been downhill ever since, with 27 straight seasons of disappointment for the Rangers, who missed the playoffs this year, and 26 for the Knicks. The latter, maybe this year’s most improved team in the NBA, are in the first round of the playoffs. You can add to that 22 seasons for the WNBA’s New York Liberty, which was founded by Dolan in 1997 and sold in January 2019 to Brooklyn Nets Owner Joe Tsai. The Cleveland branch of the family — Larry Dolan (James’ uncle) and his son, Paul — owns MLB’s Cleveland Indians, who have not won a World Series in 21 years of the family’s control.  No current sports team-owning family has gone through a longer drought than the Dolans.  There are, on the other hand, several

Amazon said Friday it will retire its quick-delivery Prime Now app at the end of the year, claiming that its regular app is now capable of the same speedy service. The seven year-old app, which also has its own website, provides last-minute delivery on groceries and other household staples in about an hour. It is now being merged into Amazon.com in an effort to “streamline” all of its offerings into one app, the company said. Amazon claims customers will still get the same “ultra fast” delivery they had with Prime Now. The company has already eliminated Prime Now as a separate service in India, Singapore and Japan. After suspending Amazon Pantry last year, due to the pandemic wreaking havoc on delivery, Amazon eliminated it altogether in 2021. It was a subscription service that delivered bulky and heavy items like bottled water and canned goods. Prime Now launched in a handful of cities in 2014 and eventually expanded into 5,000 cities offering free, two-hour delivery. There are separate Prime Now warehouses as well. It launched more widely in 2019 with Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market. Amazon also offers Prime Now delivery services through third-party merchants, including Bartell’s pharmacy

The fate of Tribune Publishing hangs in the balance, but Dr Soon Shiong, the LA Times owner who is also the second largest shareholder in the newspaper chain that includes the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune, nearly forget a crucial vote to sell the publisher is set for Friday, May 21. “I’ve been really focused on what I’m doing.” he told the Washington Post. “I was hoping that there [was] more than one buyer coming through the process,” he said. “And I think I understand that maybe it’s fallen by the wayside. So when Friday comes I’ll turn to all the people who looked at this for me on my behalf, get the advice and make the decision. So unfortunately, I’ve really not made any decision at this point in time.” Soon-Shiong is seen as the last line of defense to block the takeover of Tribune by the newsroom-slashing hedge fund Alden Global Capital. Alden owns 32 percent of the stock and has a bid valued at $630 million on the table to take it private. Only the non-Alden shareholders can vote, and the takeover requires a two thirds vote to pass. Soon-Shiong owns 24 percent of

Comedian-turned-media mogul Byron Allen has sued McDonald’s for $10 billion in damages, alleging racial discrimination tied to its advertising practices.   The head of Allen Media Group claims racial stereotyping is at play in the fast-food giant’s refusal to contract with his AMG’s Entertainment Studios and Weather Group in violation of federal and state law. Entertainment Studios owns 12 television networks. His Weather Group owns The Weather Channel. But Allen claims the burger joint behind the Big Mac has refused to advertise on Entertainment Studios networks or The Weather Channel since he acquired the network in 2018. The lawsuit also blasts McDonald’s for giving African American-owned media less than $5 million of its roughly $1.6 billion annual television advertising budget even as African Americans represent some 40 percent of McDonald’s US sales. Byron has previously sued cable giants like Comcast, claiming race was a factor in their refusal to air channels from his Entertainment Studios Network. Allen in recent months has joined forces with other Black-owned media owners to pressure automaker GM to advertise with them.

Kohl’s raised its financial outlook for the year on Thursday, after a solid rebound in the first quarter from the devastating impact of the pandemic. But those raised expectations fell short of what many industry analysts had been projecting and shares plunged nearly 11 percent Thursday. During a conference call, Kohl’s explained that it it took into account logjams at ports and inflationary pressures in wages that could increase costs in the second half of the year. Kohl’s is trying to manage supply chain issues by adding more drivers and increasing frequency of store deliveries. More shoppers came back to shop in stores as COVID-19 vaccinations became more common and Kohl’s bounced back to a profit after the chain, based in Menomonee Fall, Wisconsin, lost money last year when it was forced close its doors along with thousands of other retailers. Quarterly sales and profits topped almost all expectations, but Kohl’s said it expects net sales to increase only in the mid-to-high teens percentage range. That spooked investors. “Kohl’s is either being conservative and cautious with its forecasts – which is understandable given how uncertain everything remains – or lacks confidence that its various initiatives and a strong consumer economy