Comcast Makes $31 Billion Bid for Sky, Apple Plans Health Clinics
Comcast is making a $31 billion offer for European broadcaster Sky, topping Fox's bid. This is part of Comcast's push to expand into the European market. Sky has about 23 million customers across Europe. Comcast, which owns NBC and Universal Pictures, could thwart Rupert Murdoch's years-long attempt to purchase Sky.
Apple plans to open two health clinics for its employees this spring. The company has already posted job openings for the clinics, which it's calling AC Wellness. For now, the health clinics are only for employees and their families, but many wonder if this could be part of a broader push into the health industry. This comes weeks after Amazon announced it was teaming up with JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to create an independent healthcare company for its employees.
Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure “white gold” in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile.
The number of different electronic cigarette devices sold in the U.S. has nearly tripled to over 9,000 since 2020, driven almost entirely by a wave of unauthorized disposable vapes from China, according to tightly controlled sales data obtained by The Associated Press.
In Wednesday's business headlines, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is due in court to defend the company's takeover of Activision Blizzard and United Airlines is under fire over its recent cancellations with CEO Scott Kirby blaming the FAA for the disruptions. Meanwhile, a judge approved Overstock's purchase of Bed Bath & Beyond assets.