Business

Athletic wear maker Under Armour said on Wednesday it would raise the minimum wage for hourly workers to $15 in the United States and C$15.25 ($12.59) in Canada, starting June 6. It is the latest in a string of companies, including Walmart and McDonald’s, to hike hourly wages for employees as retailers and restaurants try to retain and hire more workers to keep up with a surge in sales amid a broader economic recovery. The move comes at a time when there is a fierce debate over worker rights and higher minimum federal wage under the Biden administration. “We are committed to doing the right thing, and at the center of our commitment is ensuring our teammates feel valued and appreciated,” Patrik Frisk, Under Armour’s chief executive officer said in a statement. The company said the raised hourly minimum wage will be available to over 8,000 employees.

Tesla may be misleading consumers by advertising its vehicles as “self-driving,” according to California authorities. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles is reviewing whether the Elon Musk-owned electric automaker is violating a law that prohibits advertising vehicles as autonomous unless the vehicle meets strict regulatory criteria. A DMV spokesperson told The Post on Tuesday that the agency “has the matter under review.”  All Teslas since 2020 have come with “self-driving” computers, but owners must pay an extra $10,000 to unlock the feature, according to Car and Driver. The self-driving feature allows cars to change lanes, exit highways and stop at traffic lights, but drivers are required to remain alert and awake at the wheel.   According to California law, “autonomous technology” must allow vehicles to move without “the active physical control or monitoring by a human operator.” Car manufacturers and salespeople are forbidden from advertising vehicles for sale or lease that do not meet this definition.  If California authorities find that Tesla violated California law, the agency could potentially revoke the company’s permits and licenses, which could lead to Teslas being removed from public roads, according to the DMV spokesperson.  Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the review, which was first reported by

Univision Communications, the largest Spanish-language media company in the US, says advertisers have overlooked Hispanic American audiences for far too long, and it will announce new programming and features on Tuesday to draw more marketers to Univision and its audience. Its presentation during the “Upfronts,” an annual event where major TV broadcasters preview the fall television season to advertisers, comes after Univision last month announced plans to merge with Mexico City-based media network Televisa. They launched a free streaming service called PrendeTV in an effort to grow amid increasing consolidation in the U.S. media industry. Univision said it will launch a free 24/7 news channel in early 2022 that will air on PrendeTV. To help advertisers target ads to Hispanic audiences, Univision will build an “audience data graph” that uses viewer data from its digital properties and other sources to help brands more effectively target ads to Hispanic viewers, Donna Speciale, president of ad sales and marketing at Univision, said in an interview. The data graph will launch during the fourth quarter of this year, said Speciale, who previously served as president of ad sales at AT&T media unit Turner, which includes networks like CNN and TNT. While advertisers used to treat multicultural marketing as an add-on, more brands

The Colonial Pipeline communication system reportedly went down Tuesday, nearly a week after the fuel company recovered from a crippling cyberattack that sparked panic buying and gas shortages. Two market sources familiar with the system said the company’s so-called nomination system was shut on Tuesday, leaving shippers unable to plan fuel shipments, Reuters reported. It’s unclear what caused the issue, but barrels are continuing to flow on the line despite the downed nomination system. GasBuddy Patrick DeHaan said this issue isn’t as consequential as the pipeline being down, as was the case when the company was hit by a ransomware attack just over a week ago. But DeHaan added that if it’s not resolved quickly, it could become more disruptive. The company did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment. Colonial Pipeline fell victim to a cyberattack that the FBI said was orchestrated by Russia-based cybergang DarkSide. The attack shuttered the largest US oil pipeline for almost a week, and Colonial paid nearly $5 million in ransom to unlock its stolen data and safely resume operations. With Post Wires

Some higher ups at AT&T aren’t too happy about billionaire Paul Singer’s hedge fund’s response to their $43 billion media merger on Monday. “Elliott Management is taking a victory lap even though they had nothing to do with getting this deal done” one AT&T insider griped to The Post about AT&T’s plans to combine its WarnerMedia entertainment unit with media giant Discovery. Elliott took a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T in September 2019, calling in a letter for “improved strategic focus” and “enhanced leadership.” But the hedge fund’s execs weren’t in the room when negotiations to were taking place, according to sources close to the situation. That didn’t stop Elliott executive Jesse Cohn from tweeting about the deal on Monday in a way that rubbed some insiders the wrong way. It’s been a transformational year at @ATT since John Stankey took over as CEO & today’s announcement represents another impressive step in their recent evolution. @ATT has now executed on its promise to streamline operations and re-focus on its core businesses 1/2— Jesse Cohn (@jessecohn4) May 17, 2021 “@ATT has now executed on its promise to streamline operations and re-focus on its core businesses,” Cohn said

Goldman Sachs has tapped a former Uber executive to lead its fledgling consumer banking division, whose retail lending arm Marcus has seen heavy turnover since its launch. Peeyush Nahar, who at Uber had overseen teams that developed software for payments, insurance and other fintech, has joined the Wall Street giant as a partner and global head of its consumer business. He will report to Stephanie Cohen, Goldman’s global co-head of consumer and wealth management. Earlier this year, Goldman’s former head of consumer banking Omer Ismail and one of his top deputies, David Stark, left to run a new fintech startup at Walmart. On Friday, Goldman announced it was losing another member of Marcus — chief financial officer Sherry Ann Mohan, who is leaving for JPMorgan. Amid the flight of financiers, Goldman is trying to shore up the consumer division that launched in 2016. Over the past few months it has brought on three new executives. Brian King, a former Goldman executive who left for a brief stint at Wells Fargo, is now chief risk officer. Swati Bhatia joined from payment technology company Stripe as head of proprietary business. Robert Cochran has joined as digital product lead at the division. Before

World Economic Forum organizers say they have decided to cancel their annual gathering — usually held in Davos, Switzerland each year — this year amid concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. After multiple attempts to find a proper date and venue, most recently settling on hopes to hold it in Singapore in August, the forum’s organizers said in a statement Monday that it won’t go ahead with the meeting, largely citing the impact of the coronavirus. “Regretfully, the tragic circumstances unfolding across geographies, an uncertain travel outlook, differing speeds of vaccination rollout and the uncertainty around new variants combine to make it impossible to realize a global meeting with business, government and civil society leaders from all over the world at the scale which was planned,” the forum said. Forum founder Klaus Schwab called it a “difficult decision” … “but ultimately the health and safety of everyone concerned is our highest priority.” The forum’s next annual gathering will be in the first half of next year, with the final date and location to be determined, organizers said. The elite gathering typically draws hundreds of well-known government leaders, business executives, civil society advocates and artists, actors and musicians.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said he is skeptical of massive spending increases under Biden and the Federal Reserve – and is now worried about inflation more than ever, according to a report. “The traditional role of the Fed is to remove the punch bowl before the party gets good, right?” Summers told Axios. “They have announced that their new policy is to remove the punch bowl only after they have clearly seen a number of people staggering around drunk.” His comments come just days after April’s Consumer Price Index showed prices surged 4.2 percent from last April, making it the largest jump in prices since 2008. Over the past year the Fed has flooded the markets with money — $120 billion a month — as part of its bond-buying quantitative easing effort to stabilize markets. Last week, Fed vice chairman Richard Clarida admitted he was surprised by the CPI report, but said the central bank still believes steep inflation will be temporary as the Fed sticks with its easy-money policies in a bid to prop up the labor market. In February, Summers penned an op-ed for the Washington Post where he laid out his worries about

Whiskey makers in the United States are poised to sidestep a crippling tariff hike that would have doubled duties on their exports to the European Union to a whopping 50 percent. On Monday, the European Union said it will “temporarily suspend” the increase — which would have doubled the already stiff rate of 25 percent — as it negotiates a resolution to a two-year-old dispute with the US over metal tariffs. US whiskey makers became collateral damage in 2018 when former President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum from Europe and Asia. The EU retaliated with 25 percent tariffs on US whiskey and Harley Davidson motorcycles. The EU tariffs on booze, which previously hadn’t existed, had been set to increase to 50 percent on June 1. Bourbon and whiskey brands including Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and Makers Mark along with smaller craft distillers have seen their sales shrink abroad as European distributors and retailers have been reluctant to pay such hefty tariffs.   “Distillers across the United States are breathing a huge sigh of relief after bracing for a 50 percent tariff on American Whiskeys in just a matter of days that would have forced many craft

Telecom giant AT&T on Monday announced a deal to spin off its content unit WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery, creating a massive studio that could compete with streaming rivals Netflix and Disney.  The two companies said AT&T will receive $43 billion in a mix of cash, debt and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt for the deal. Current AT&T shareholders will receive stock representing 71 percent of the newly formed company, while Discovery shareholders will control 29 percent, the joint announcement said. WarnerMedia, which was known as Warner Bros when it was acquired by AT&T through the purchase of Time Warner in 2018 for $109 billion, includes CNN, HBO as well as cable channels TNT and TBS. Discovery focuses more on reality-focused TV channels, such as the Food Network and HGTV.  The merger could create a new media behemoth valued around $150 billion.  It’s the latest example of consolidation in the media industry as the once-colossal companies struggle to adjust to new consumer demands as more Americans cut their cable subscriptions and opt for streaming. The combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery might set the merged company up to better compete with established streaming players Netflix and Disney, which owns Hulu,