Author: James Martin

Specialized life insurance plans offered only to the wealthiest Americans are a vehicle for dodging billions in taxes, a Senate report released Wednesday charged.Though the high-end plans’ tax advantages are legal, the Democratic-led committee blasted them as a “booming tax dodge for the rich” sheltering up to $40 billion — and called for legislation restricting those plans as well as tougher tax disclosure.The report sheds new light on a long-obscure segment of the insurance market and signals a possible new front for Democrats on tax legislation, even though passage in this polarized Congress, divided on everything from Ukraine aid to…

After undergoing surgery, radiation and three different therapies, Scott Goedeke faced a tough reality: The cancer that first surfaced on the roof of his mouth had spread to a lymph node in his neck. So the 58-year-old health-care consultant agreed to an experimental treatment that would deploy his own cells to destroy it.“I have to do this,” he recalled thinking at the time.His medical team at the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis extracted one tumor, identified the cells that could attack the disease and multiplied them in a lab. Billions of cells were then infused back into his body…

The proposed merger between Capital One and Discover Financial Services could face an uphill regulatory battle in Washington, where the Biden administration has long pledged an aggressive crackdown against consolidation in the financial sector.Before the two companies can close the $35.3 billion deal, they must first obtain approval from federal antitrust watchdogs, who have challenged — and sometimes even blocked — a slew of recent deals involving airlines, biotech firms, grocery chains and tech giants.Asked about the potential megamerger early Tuesday, Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, told CNBC she could not “speak to any particular…

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In the heart of the country’s No. 1 hub for science research sit roughly 100,000 square feet of gleaming new lab and office space. A banner declares the site at One Canal is smack “in the epicenter of the world’s most impactful discoveries.”This kind of prime real estate would typically get scooped up. But there isn’t much discovery — or, really, much of anything — happening inside. A chain-link fence blocks the entrance from a quiet side street. And the site is almost entirely empty.Similar scenes are cropping up all over Cambridge and neighboring Boston, where a…

Walmart is buying Vizio for $2.3 billion as it seeks new frontiers for its advertising business, the companies said Tuesday.Walmart said the deal will give its Walmart Connect advertising division new ways to reach customers through in-home media.“Our announcement today that we’ve agreed to acquire Vizio gives us the opportunity to reach and serve customers in new ways and connect more dots for those that advertise with us,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillion said Tuesday during the retailer’s earnings call with analysts.Under the all-cash deal, Walmart would pay $11.50 per share to acquire Vizio, reflecting a 54 percent premium over the…

Global law enforcement agencies said Tuesday that they have significantly infiltrated the operations of LockBit, one of the world’s most prolific criminal ransomware gangs, in an international operation that aimed to disrupt the group’s repeated attacks.According to a statement issued Tuesday, an international task force led by Britain’s National Crime Agency, representing 11 countries’ law enforcement agencies including the FBI, was behind the investigation into LockBit. “After infiltrating the group’s network, the NCA has taken control of LockBit’s services, compromising their entire criminal enterprise,” the British agency said.The malicious ransomware variant has been deployed by criminal hackers to extort tens…

Capital One is purchasing Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion, the banking giant announced Monday — an all-stock deal that brings together two of the country’s largest credit card companies.The two financial giants combined would become the biggest credit card lender in the nation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. Discover, based in Riverwoods, Ill., has a market value of nearly $28 billion, while McLean, Va.-based Capital One is valued at about $52 billion.Under the deal’s terms, Discover shareholders will receive a little over one share of Capital One for every Discover share they own — a 26.6 percent…

The Biden administration will give $1.5 billion to help build a vast new computer-chip factory in New York state as part of an effort to strengthen the country’s ability to mass-produce the brains of modern consumer and military electronics.The grant, formally unveiled Monday, is the third announced as part of the Chips and Science Act, a $52 billion program President Biden signed in 2022 in hopes of supercharging U.S. manufacturing of semiconductors, which are largely made overseas.The money will help the semiconductor giant GlobalFoundries build a large-scale fabrication facility, known as a “fab,” at its headquarters in Malta, N.Y., to…

After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, companies made big pledges about racial equity, hiring teams dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion. Now corporate America is pulling back — cutting DEI jobs and outsourcing the work to consultants.DEI jobs peaked in early 2023 before falling 5 percent that year and shrinking by 8 percent so far in 2024, according to Revelio Labs data shared with The Washington Post. The attrition rate for DEI roles has been about double that of non-DEI jobs, says Revelio, which tracks workforce dynamics.In recent weeks, Zoom axed its internal DEI team amid broader layoffs, and Snap…

After his grandmother died in Ontario a few years ago, British Columbia resident Jake Moffatt visited Air Canada’s website to book a flight for the funeral. He received assistance from a chatbot, which told him the airline offered reduced rates for passengers booking last-minute travel due to tragedies.Moffatt bought a nearly $600 ticket for a next-day flight after the chatbot said he would get some of his money back under the airline’s bereavement policy as long as he applied within 90 days, according to a recent civil-resolutions tribunal decision.But when Moffatt later attempted to receive the discount, he learned that…