Business
Amazon to File Lawsuit After Losing $10 Billion Pentagon Cloud Deal, Citing ‘Unmistakable Bias’
Amazon has given notice that it will file a lawsuit challenging the Defense Department’s decision to award Microsoft a cloud computing contract valued at as much as $10 billion over a decade. The e-commerce giant plans to lodge its complaint against the contract in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Seattle-based Amazon confirmed. The company’s challenge was earlier reported by the Federal Times. A representative for the Defense Department said the agency wouldn’t speculate on potential litigation. Oracle is also mounting a legal challenge to the cloud contract, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. The project is designed to consolidate the Defense Department’s cloud computing infrastructure and modernize its technology systems. Amazon spokesman Drew Herd...
Chinese Biotech BeiGene Makes a Splash in Cancer Treatment With FDA Drug Approval
This is the web version of Brainstorm Health Daily, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top health care news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved BeiGene’s Brukinsa, a treatment for the rare blood cancer mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). The immunotherapy drug is approved for adult patients who have been treated with at least one other medicine. From a business perspective, it’s big news for BeiGene—the China-based biotech that’s one of the pioneers in that country’s biopharma Renaissance. New stock exchange rules in Hong Kong have helped fledgling biotechs in China raise capital; BeiGene, for its part, had a nearly $160 million U.S. public offering in 2016 and then a $903 million seco...
Billionaire With a Taste for Casual Dining Offers $40 Million for Houlihan’s Restaurants
Houlihan’s Restaurants may become the latest chain of eateries scooped up out of bankruptcy by billionaire Tilman Fertitta. The casual dining company filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware along with more than 30 affiliates. But Landry’s, the Houston-based restaurant group that operates Joe’s Crab Shack, Rainforest Cafe, and Morton’s steakhouses, has already offered to pay $40 million for the business and to assume certain liabilities, court documents show. Houlihan’s listed about $80 million in assets and $77 million of liabilities. A Chapter 11 filing lets Houlihan’s keep its doors open and its staff of 3,450 employed while it works out a recovery plan or sale. Landry’s offer is a so-called stalking-horse bid, which sets a floor for any other offers that emerge in a bankruptcy sale ...
Pelosi Optimistic Congress to Vote on U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Deal This Year
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s aiming to have the stalled U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement approved by House this year, a sign that negotiations with the Trump administration on changes sought by Democrats are close to wrapping up. “I would like to see it done this year. That would be my goal,” Pelosi said Thursday, adding she believes an agreement is “imminent.” She said talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on the replacement for the 25-year-old NAFTA—the North American Trade Agreement—are “in a good place,” on the core issues of labor rights, drug prices, environmental protections, and enforcement. She said she hopes the Senate would move quickly on it after the House passes the implementing bill. House Democrats plan to meet to discuss the USMCA, as well ...
Mo’Nique Takes Netflix to Task Over Racial and Gender Bias in 39-Page Discrimination Suit
Did Netflix discriminate against Mo’Nique on the basis of race and gender during contract negotiations for a planned comedy special? That’s what the Oscar-winning actress and comedian is contending in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Thursday, which accuses the streaming giant of attempting to drastically underpay her for a stand-up special compared to rates offered to other actors. What the suit calls a “biased, discriminatory” offer, allegedly made to Mo’Nique in November 2017, sits at the foundation of a 39-page filing that shines a harsh light on Netflix’s internal lack of board diversity and previously documented issues with pay inequality. “Despite Mo’Nique’s extensive résumé and documented history of comedic success, when Netflix presented her wi...
Walmart CEO Says Online Business Still Has Lots of Work to Do
Walmart on Thursday reported another stellar quarter of online sales growth, but the retailer’s chief executive says it needs to do even better. The discount store chain said its U.S. e-commerce sales rose 41% in its fiscal third quarter, led by its strong grocery business, more than in recent quarters and better than Wall Street expected. Walmart has invested billions in equipping stores to handle drive-by order pickup, the ability to ship orders from a store, and the option to deliver right into customers’ homes, among other services. Its network of thousands of stores has given it an edge in online grocery sales that Amazon.com is still far from matching. But Walmart CEO Doug McMillon doesn’t think the chain’s online sales of non-grocery general merchandise are w...
The Trump Administration Wants to Ban Flavored Vaping Products. Why Not Menthol Cigarettes, Too?
With vaping products increasingly popular among youth and more than three dozen vaping-related deaths to date, the Trump administration may—or may not—be getting closer to moving forward with a ban on flavored vaping products first announced in September. Last week, Trump told reporters, “We’re talking about the age, we’re talking about flavors, [and] we’re talking about keeping people working.” According to CDC data, the rate at which middle and high school students are using e-cigarettes is rapidly rising, from 3.6 million in 2018 to 5.3 million in 2019. And the popularity of e-cigarettes far outweighs that of traditional cigarettes. In 2018, 8.1% of high school tobacco users reported smoking cigarettes, compared with the 20.8% who reported using e-cigarettes. This popu...
How Goldman CEO David Solomon Is Making Goldman a Less ‘Envied and Feared’ Place
This article originally ran in Term Sheet, Fortune’s newsletter about deals and dealmakers. Sign up here. I never thought I’d read a feature on Goldman Sachs that depicts people dressed as the poop emoji, but here we are. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this profile on Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has it all. Published this morning, the piece by my colleague Jen Wiezcner delves deep into Solomon’s one-year tenure as the chief executive of the 150-year-old investment banking behemoth. But before we even talk about Goldman, we have to talk about Solomon’s alter ego as a DJ. In the clubs, he is known as “D-Sol.” From Jen’s feature: It’s the last Saturday in October, which means it’s Halloween in South Beach, and the club has been made over into an apocalyptic Area 51; the crowd has sh...
The Next Decade of E-Commerce: A Shift From Intent to Discovery
For 20+ years, shoppers have bought stuff online. But people don’t just buy, they also like to shop–reveling in the experience of discovery. And they have now begun to extend that shopping behavior online. Brands need to capitalize on this shift–because it’s the inevitable future of e-commerce. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
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![E-Commerce Holiday Content: What to Write About, and for Whom [Infographic]](https://www.wazupnaija.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/e-commerce-holiday-content-what-to-write-about-and-for-whom-infographic-80x80.gif)
E-Commerce Holiday Content: What to Write About, and for Whom [Infographic]
Are you planning to produce–or have you already begun producing–content in connection with the upcoming holiday season? Here is an abundance of insights to inform your approach to holiday-season content. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Malls of Tomorrow Will Be Less Big Box, More Lifestyle, and Play Well With E-Commerce Too
Fourteen miles outside of Boston, the ground floor of what was a Sears at Burlington Mall has been stripped down to the steel. Renovations scheduled to finished in summer 2020 will transform the space into a “streetscape” of smaller stores and restaurants facing out on to dining patios and a one-acre park. (Consumers who aren’t keen on harsh weather need not worry, the interior connecting hallways will remain open.) The rest of the mall is evolving too, getting a ride-sharing waiting room, a media lounge, and a kids’ play area that will also have party rooms. In its transition, Burlington Mall is emblematic of many suburban malls across the U.S. The old indoor aquariums, with their long corridors and national chain stores behind large glass windows, are being reworked to ...
According to Y’all, These Are the Must-Listen Podcasts on Race and History
Thanks to all who participated in the first-ever installment of “According To Y’all,” an occasional feature that taps the collective wisdom of the greatest audience in newsletter history. Last month, we asked for your best recommendation for a podcast series or episode that offers unique insight into race, history, and that helps to explain current events. You sent in an embarrassment of rich ideas that will bless our audio queues for hours, but there was one clear winner that nearly everyone recommended with their whole, entire hearts: The “1619” audio series associated with The 1619 Project. I agree. The 1619 Project is an unprecedented attempt to understand the role of slavery on society and marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved A...