Cameron (left) and Tyler Winklevoss. (Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images)
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss found a skeptical audience Tuesday as they tried to persuade a U.S. appeals court to let them out of a $65 million settlement over the founding of online social network Facebook.
The saga of the Winklevoss twins and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg became silver screen lore with the film “The Social Network” last year. It has long been a legal battle as well. Get the full story »
General Motors Co. is looking to apply the technology of its Chevrolet Volt to a wide array of vehicles, potentially including a Cadillac SRX plug-in, Chief Executive Daniel Akerson said Tuesday.
The automaker is developing a hatchback and a crossover that could use the Volt technology, Akerson said during a speech at the Automotive News World Congress. Get the full story »
Even as its U.S. parent bows to consumer demand for healthier products, McDonald’s in Japan is ladling on the calories — an unusual strategy in a country known for its healthy diet and longevity.
Japan’s top restaurant chain by number of stores, McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. rolled out its Big America 2 campaign last week, featuring four burgers named for U.S. locales. The Idaho burger, which will make its debut by the end of this month, features a quarter-pound beef patty, melted cheese, a deep-fried hash brown, strips of bacon, onions and pepper-and-mustard sauce. The calorie count: 713. Get the full story »
U.S. retail gasoline demand was little changed last week but fell compared with year-earlier levels because of holiday and travel fluctuations, MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse report showed Tuesday.
Average gasoline demand was down 0.2 percent, to 8.4 million barrels-per-day, in the week to Jan. 7. Demand was off 2.9 percent from a year earlier. Get the full story »
Maserati will get its own SUV model next year, built on the platform of Jeep Grand Cherokee at the Chrysler Group plant in Detroit, the companies announced Tuesday.
Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Jeep parent Chrysler Group and Maserati parent Fiat, said that the new vehicle will debut in 2012 and that it will contain an engine designed by another Fiat unit, Ferrari. Get the full story »
JBS, the world’s top beef processor, could team up with a group of buyout firms as it seeks alternatives to win control of Sara Lee Corp., a source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters Tuesday.
Private equity firms have pursued Sao Paulo-based JBS since reports about a potential bid for Sara Lee arose late last year, the source said. No accord over a joint bid has been reached, said the source, who declined to be quoted by name because the talks remain private. Get the full story »
Charles Schwab Corp. will pay $18 million to settle regulatory charges that it hid mortgage-related risks in a bond mutual fund from investors. Get the full story »
Tribune Co. said Tuesday that its Chicago subsidiary has acquired Naperville Magazine, a lifestyle monthly devoted to the Illinois suburb of the same name. Get the full story »
Twenty-three Kmart stores in Illinois and three other markets are testing financial centers where shoppers can cash checks, pay bills, place money orders and transfer money.
“We’re looking at how to better utilize the real estate in our stores and to better serve our customers,” Kmart spokeswoman Shannelle Armstrong said.
Kmart’s pilot financial centers are staffed by company employees, she said. But Armstrong declined to comment on whether a bigger rollout is planned, or what the retailer has learned so far from its test. Get the full story »
Shares of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. dropped more than 3 percent on Tuesday after UBS downgraded the carrier to “neutral” from “buy,” saying the company’s efforts to cut distribution costs with online travel agencies could hurt profits. Get the full story »
Struggling entertainment site MySpace says it is cutting 47 percent of its staff worldwide, or about 500 people.
Mike Jones, the chief executive of MySpace, said in a statement Tuesday that the cuts are “tough but necessary” and have been taken to put the site on a path to growth and profitability. Get the full story »
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. will team with German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim to develop diabetes treatments, as the U.S. pharmaceutical company pushes to fill a looming revenue gap created by expiring patents for several key drugs. Get the full story »
Urban Partnership Bank, the successor to failed ShoreBank, said Levoi Brown, 33, formerly an asset management director with General Electric Real Estate, has joined the South Side bank as the new director of commercial real estate.
Brown will be responsible for Urban’s commercial and multi-family real estate portfolio in Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit. He reports to Urban Chief Executive William Farrow. Get the full story »
Goldman Sachs took a step toward greater transparency Tuesday by pledging to disclose more about how it makes money, seeking to rebut criticism that it has been putting its own interest ahead of clients. Get the full story »
