A court in South Korea has sentenced the head and heir to the Samsung Group business, Lee Jae-yong, to 2.5 years in prison, Reuters reports. He was found guilty of bribery and embezzlement of about 8.7 billion won ($7.8 million) in connection with the scandal that toppled the country's first female president, Park Geun-hye. Mr. Lee was charged with bribery as part of a corruption investigation...

Delta Airlines published its financial report for the year 2020, according to which the airline's net loss was $12.4 billion, the worst figure in the history of the company. Despite an increase in traffic in the fourth quarter due to the Christmas holiday, the company's operating revenue fell $7.47 billion (65%) from a year ago. Annual revenue in 2020 was $29.9 billion (64%) lower than in 2019....

Visa and fintech startup Plaid have issued a joint statement saying that the companies refuse to merge. The decision was prompted by complaints from the US Department of Justice, which believed the deal would harm free competition in the market. Visa announced the purchase of Plaid in January 2020. The deal was valued at $5.3bn. The startup produces software that allows users to "securely link...

Bakkt Holdings LLC, the digital asset storage and trading platform launched in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), will become a public company. According to a press release from Bakkt, it will do so by merging with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is already listed on NASDAQ.  The new company will be named Bakkt Holdings Inc., will be...

Ford Motor Company has announced that Ford Brazil will cease production operations in 2021. "Ford Brazil will cease production at the Camaçari, Taubaté and Troller plants in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic will exacerbate ongoing industry downtime and low sales that have resulted in years of significant losses," the company said in a press release. The company will continue to serve the Brazilian...

US fast food restaurant chain Burger King is rebranding for the first time in 20 years, Restaurant Brands International (RBI) global marketing director Fer Machado said on Twitter. "We are genuinely excited about the introduction of our brand identity work," Machando wrote. The company also noted that it is rebranding for the first time in 20 years. Burger King is changing its logo, packaging...

Boeing has agreed to pay $2.5bn in the two 737 MAX plane crashes that killed 346 people, Reuters reports. In doing so, the aircraft maker will settle charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States brought earlier by the Justice Department. The agreement includes a $243.6 million criminal monetary penalty, $1.77 billion in compensation payments to Boeing 737 MAX customers and the establishment...

Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told The Indian Express that Tesla will "begin operations" in India in early 2021. This implies the start of official sales of Tesla electric vehicles and their service in India. In addition, the minister noted that in case of successful sales, the company does not exclude the assembly of its electric vehicles in India. Tesla opened its first overseas...

The US company Apple has reduced the fee it charges for payments in the App Store for small developers from 30% to 15%. It was reported by MacRumors. Apple announced plans to reduce fees for developers with total annual revenue of less than $1 million on the App Store in the fall of 2020.  It was expected that the commission will be reduced in 2021, but developers have reported that the...