There’s a revolution going on in corporate human resources departments, and the much-hated annual performance review is in the crossfire. Over the past few years, a fast-growing number of high-profile companies have been blowing up this annual rite of corporate life, replacing the traditional yearly...
July is nearly here, and as temperature rise, you can expect prices to drop on popular products. Make the most of mid-summer sales with our guide to what you should buy (and skip) during the month of July. Buy: Patriotic items Each year around the Fourth of July, stores pledge allegiance to the...
The gig: Tony Schubert, 44, owns Event Eleven, an event production company he founded in 2001. Schubert’s company produces large-scale events, including designer fashion shows, blockbuster film premieres, celebrity weddings, product launches, awards show after-parties and dinners. Among Event Eleven’s...
Question: Our association hired an attorney who promised that with his representation we’d win a lawsuit that was filed against our association, saying, “It’s a slam-dunk.” Board directors aren't lawyers and understanding legal stuff isn't easy. At every meeting he pushed his litigation strategy,...
Hoping to match the profit margin of his competitors, United Airlines Chief Executive Oscar Munoz laid out a plan this week to generate $3.1 billion in new revenue and savings by 2018. One way he hopes to meet that goal is do what airlines have been doing a lot lately: Squeeze more thin-cushion seats...
If you rent out your home or apartment through an online rental site like Airbnb, you could be a greater risk of being a victim of identity theft. That is the warning from the identity monitoring firm LifeLock, which conducted a survey of about 1,000 American adults and found that 41% said they...
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will help boost the economy before either of them get into office. At the very least, they are expected to help the hospitality industry in the two cities that are hosting the Democratic and Republican conventions next month. As expected, the hotel occupancy levels...
Getting out of debt is much harder than getting into it. But you can do it — and along the way, you’ll rid yourself of a lot of stress. Countless people find themselves drowning in debt simply because they can’t control their spending. If this sounds familiar, try tracking everything you buy for...
California and its $5 billion of annual exports to Britain could be standing in harm’s way if there’s economic upheaval caused by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. The state is a major trading partner with England and the rest of Britain, whose vote to exit the EU -- the so-called Brexit...
Westwood’s Shamrock Capital Advisors has made dozens of investments over the years, owning stakes in everything from the Harlem Globetrotters to computer equipment maker Netgear. Though they run the gamut, those investments all had at least one thing in common: They were all companies. Now Shamrock...
To star Los Angeles investor Jeffrey Gundlach, bull markets and bear markets aren’t about how much stocks have climbed or fallen, but about teamwork – whether players in the economy are working together. “Bull markets are about cooperation,” Gundlach, chief executive of downtown L.A. money manager...
Snapchat Inc. could begin paying users to post photos and videos, according to patent filings that reveal another way for the company to push the bounds of social media advertising. Through its popular Live Stories feature, the Venice firm produces highlight reels of events across the world made...
For decades, financial and political leaders have preached the inevitability of globalization, promising nations that by sacrificing some of their sovereignty and dropping national barriers they could reap far greater rewards through economic integration and cooperation. And that turned out to...
Many an Uber passenger has been shocked by the cost of a ride as a result of the company’s controversial surge-pricing policy. That might change under a new “no surprises” approach to fares that the ride-hailing giant announced Friday. Uber isn’t doing away with surge pricing – its strategy of raising fares...
The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 610 points, or about 3.4%, on Friday as global stock, currency and other markets convulsed in response to Britain’s surprising vote to leave the European Union. The so-called Brexit shouldn’t lead to a recession in the U.S., experts said. Still, the turmoil...
As global markets recoiled from Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, President Obama told a group of budding entrepreneurs that it was their job to bring the world closer together. Speaking to crowd of nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs, investors and reporters at the Global Entrepreneurship...
Faraday Future said it will test driverless cars on California highways, having secured permission from the state. Whether early tests deploy prototypes that look more like Google car-pods than the exotic, aggressive specimens shown in photos of Faraday concept cars is yet uncertain. The former...
What Britain does, or doesn’t do, might not seem relevant to investors and consumers on this side of the Atlantic. But just like a Cadbury Creme Egg, there is more than meets the eye about Thursday’s historic vote to leave the European Union. The vote to exit the 28-nation EU bloc is a move that...
Demand for travel was already strong in the U.S., and the vote by the U.K. to leave the European Union will make it cheaper for Americans to visit their British cousins across the pond. The exit of the United Kingdom from the 28-nation union has pushed the value of the British pound down relative...
Playing dead is not as easy as it sounds. That was demonstrated when about 20 actors, hired to play zombies for a new Universal Studios Hollywood attraction, attended a zombie boot camp taught by Greg Nicotero, executive producer and frequent director of the AMC television series “The Walking Dead.”...
What you heard the other day, when Pacific Gas & Electric and a group of environmental organizations and labor unions announced a plan to permanently shutter the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, was the sound of the door shutting on nuclear power in the United States. Or was it? The landmark deal,...
International markets reeled on Friday as Britain voted to leave the European Union in a shock referendum result, with the value of the pound falling to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1985. As of early Friday morning in Britain, 52% of British voters had chosen to leave the EU and...
When my son was circumcised, Sade’s “Love Is Stronger Than Pride” was playing on a radio at the hospital. The pediatrician glanced over at me and said, “Some day, he’ll hear that song and won’t know why it makes him uncomfortable.” Snip. I recalled this experience while speaking the other day with...
A joint venture that includes a prominent Chinese developer is looking to redevelop nearly 16 acres surrounding the North Hollywood Red Line station, an ambitious plan that could include retail shops, offices and more than 1,000 residential units. The project, a public-private partnership with...
Ride-hailing company Lyft is one step closer to settling a class-action lawsuit from drivers who want to be treated as employees after U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco granted preliminary approval to a $27-million settlement. The sign off comes after Chhabria rejected an initial...
Uber Technologies partnered this week with Hertz, one of the world’s largest car rental companies, to offer short-term auto rentals to ride-hailing drivers -- a move intended to court new drivers and keep current ones on the road. The partnership, which launches in Los Angeles and will be rolled...
The U.S.’ largest financial institutions have enough armor to withstand the turmoil of a major and prolonged U.S. and global recession, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. The annual “stress tests” show that the 33 largest financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America...
Boeing Co. has applied for a license from the Federal Communications Commission to launch and operate a network of thousands of satellites, joining companies such as SpaceX and OneWeb in the new race to build constellations for broadband Internet access. In its application filed Wednesday, Boeing...
U.S. stocks made their biggest gains in a month Thursday as investors grew more optimistic that Britons would vote to stay in the European Union. Investors bought stocks and sold bonds, sending bond yields and banks higher. On the last trading day before results from the British referendum, stocks...
Communications software maker Twilio Inc. flourished in its stock market debut Thursday, signaling that investors starving for new opportunities may be renewing their interest in risky tech companies. Twilio shares jumped 90% from the initial offering price of $15, closing at $28.53. The San Francisco...
Sick and tired of dealing with your cable company? You’re not alone. Some top members of Congress are with you — and they’re calling out the industry in a blistering new report finding that tens of thousands of Americans are being overcharged for their service and may not even know it. The report,...
Volkswagen has agreed to take a series of steps costing about $10.2 billion to settle claims from its unprecedented diesel emissions cheating scandal in the U.S., two people briefed on the matter said Thursday. Most of the money would go to compensate 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel...
After leaving his job as chief creative officer at Xbox, Elan Lee started tinkering with a new game. It would have explosions, laser beams and nightmarish creatures. But unlike the video games he shepherded through production at Xbox, this one wouldn’t require hordes of developers or years to finish....
After months of turmoil at SunEdison Inc., during which the big developer of renewable energy projects, once a Wall Street darling, plunged into bankruptcy, Chief Executive Ahmad Chatila has resigned. Chatila stepped down Wednesday and was succeeded by John Dubel, SunEdison’s chief restructuring...
Los Angeles billionaire Elon Musk has been lauded as an entrepreneurial mastermind, creatively wheeling and dealing to turn his flashy ideas into fully realized companies. For years, fans and investors have been buying into Musk's unconventional approach to corporate finance. He used his own money...
BitTorrent Inc., the San Francisco developer of the world’s most popular tool for online piracy, has been trying for years to persuade studios, labels and other content owners to put torrent-sharing technology to legitimate use. To that end, it rolled out BitTorrent Bundles in mid-2013, a format...
Los Angeles’ largest venture capital fund has poached an investor from Silicon Valley with expertise in a pair of hot sectors locally: marketing software and virtual reality technology. Upfront Ventures announced Thursday that Kobie Fuller plans to move with his family to Los Angeles and join the...
About 1,300 nurses at Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center are set to begin a four-day strike Thursday. The nurses, members of the California Nurses Assn. and National Nurses United, are seeking a contract to improve staffing levels, wages and patient care. The nurses contend that inadequate...
When David Dinenberg decided to get into the marijuana industry, his business plan was based on fear. In 2014, he founded Kind Financial with the aim of making loans and providing other services to marijuana growers and sellers – customers banks were scared to work with. Just two years later, though,...
Three pro athletes, including Denver Broncos quarterback and USC alumnus Mark Sanchez, lost tens of millions of dollars in an investment scheme run by an Orange County money manager, according to a civil fraud case filed by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Sanchez, San Francisco...
Pieology Pizzeria, the design-it-yourself pizza joint, has gobbled up rival chain Project Pie for an undisclosed sum, the Rancho Santa Margarita-based company said Wednesday. Pieology has more than 100 locations in the United States and one in Guam, while Project Pie has about 30 restaurants in...
Fiat Chrysler is speeding up a recall of 1.1 million vehicles with confusing gear shifters like one in the SUV that crushed and killed “Star Trek” actor Anton Yelchin. Yelchin, 27, known for playing Chekov in the rebooted film series, died Sunday after his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee pinned him against...
The Canaveral Port Authority in Florida may start charging SpaceX higher fees to dock the reusable rocket boosters that the aerospace company has been launching at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, landing at sea and then hauling to shore. Port authority officials had planned to consider the measure...
U .S. stocks finished lower Wednesday as energy companies sank with the price of oil and weak quarterly reports weighed down technology companies. After two up days, stocks rose in the morning but couldn't hang on to the gains. Energy companies fell after U.S. energy stockpiles shrank by a smaller...
Aerospace giant Boeing Co. has established a preferred partnership with MemorialCare Health System to offer most of its Southern California employees a health plan option that eliminates much of the role of a traditional insurer. Starting in January, Boeing employees who choose the MemorialCare...