US Business

Several investment and technology firms are exploring a potential deal for the U.S. operations of TikTok, which is facing a Trump administration ban, but they each would have to surmount hurdles at least as high as the Chinese social-media platform’s main suitor, Microsoft.

Facebook Inc.’s hottest property has cloned numerous features from trendy, fast-growing social-media apps—none more intensely than Snapchat. With the launch of Instagram Reels, it’s TikTok’s turn.

Live-streaming has been popular among videogame enthusiasts for at least a decade. But the coronavirus pandemic has prompted a wave of people with other interests to take it up, too.

Employers added 1.8 million jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, so far recovering less than half of the jobs lost due to the pandemic.

Twitter has had preliminary talks about a potential combination with TikTok, the popular video-sharing app that the Trump administration has declared a national-security threat due to its Chinese ownership, according to people familiar with the matter.

Warren Buffett’s conglomerate said its second-quarter earnings surged 86%, as a rebound in the stock market offset a profit decline in the company’s operations and a large write-down for Precision Castparts.

Wading into the technology battle between Washington and Beijing, the smartphone chip maker warns of potentially losing billions of dollars in sales because of export limits.

Companies losing money in 2020 are in a hole. One way out: Dig deeper, because today’s losses can yield outsized tax breaks.

The moves upended the structure Jason Kilar’s predecessor, John Stankey, had set up before ascending to chief executive of AT&T last month.

United Parcel Service plans to impose hefty fees on big shippers during the holiday season, reflecting the added complexity and cost of an expected crush of online orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.