The daily business briefing: August 30, 2016
1.
The European Commission ordered Apple to pay Ireland $14.5 billion in back taxes on Tuesday. E.U. antitrust regulators believe that Ireland gave the iPhone maker a deal allowing it to route profits through Ireland and skirt E.U. laws in return for creating jobs in the country. Apple shares dropped by 3 percent in pre-market trading on the news. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company planned to appeal. The ruling is expected to anger Washington, which has accused the E.U. of targeting big U.S. companies — Amazon and McDonald's face similar investigations in Luxembourg, and Starbucks has been ordered to pay Holland $33 million.
2.
Hershey shares dropped by 11 percent in after-hours trading after Mondelez International on Monday announced that it was dropping its $23 billion takeover bid. Mondelez, maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolates, made its pitch in June, hoping to become the world's biggest candy maker by acquiring the iconic American chocolate company. The board of Hershey, which was trading at $98.93 early Tuesday, unanimously rejected the $107-per-share bid. The deal also would have needed the approval of the Hershey Trust, the company's largest shareholder, which has opposed past sale proposals.
3.
Amazon is launching a pilot project soon shortening the work week to 30 hours for select employees. The employees on a few technical teams made up of part-time workers will move to 30-hour schedules. The workers on the teams will be salaried employees, with the same benefits of 40-hour-a-week full-timers. Their pay, however, will be just 75 percent of what they would receive if they were working a traditional full week, reflecting their shorter hours. "We want to create a work environment that is tailored to a reduced schedule and still fosters success and career growth," the e-commerce giant said.
4.
The dollar gained early Tuesday after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the U.S. economy was "very close" to full employment, reinforcing rising expectations that the central bank would soon nudge interest rates higher. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to a three-week high after the comments. Expectations of an interest-rate hike have been growing as Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen and other Fed policy makers said the case for dialing back stimulus efforts was getting stronger as the economy gained strength, although Fischer emphasized that the timing of any hikes would depend on incoming data.
5.
Nearly 10,000 current and former hourly employees have filed a class-action lawsuit accusing Chipotle of making them work extra hours "off the clock," and they are demanding unpaid wages. The workers say the Mexican-grill chain has been engaging in the practice, known as wage theft, across the U.S. Chipotle, still struggling to recover from recent food-safety issues, denies the charges and says the suit has no merit.