USA TODAY International Edition
MONEYLINE
AMTRAK TAPS EX- DELTA CEO TO LEAD RAIL SERVICE Amtrak, the national passenger rail operator, said Monday former Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson will become its new president and CEO starting next month. Anderson, 62, will initially work as co- CEO with current Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman until the end of the year. The arrangement is “to ensure a smooth transition,” Amtrak said. Beset by operational troubles and mounting losses, Amtrak hired Moorman in September as a short- term CEO to improve operations and recruit his successor.
BUFFETT’S BERKSHIRE BUYS NEARLY 10% STAKE IN REIT Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s firm acquired a nearly 10% stake in a real estate investment trust that controls single- tenant properties. Berkshire Hathaway invested $ 377 million in shares of Store Capital, equaling a stake of about 9.8%, the REIT disclosed Monday. The investment firm bought the shares at a price of $ 20.50.
BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR LOEB TAKES $ 3.5B NESTLÉ STAKE Billionaire activist investor Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point paid $ 3.5 billion for a 1.3% stake in Nestlé, characterizing the world’s largest food manufacturer as being “stuck in its old ways” and calling for changes to boost earnings. The changes at Nestlé sought by Loeb include selling the company’s stake in L’Oréal, getting rid of nongrowth businesses, more costcutting and possibly buying back shares. Shares of Nestlé, traded on SIX Swiss Exchange, rose 4% Monday.
EU MAY RETALIATE AS U. S. EYES STEEL TARIFFS The European Union’s top trade official says the bloc is preparing retaliatory measures in case the United States goes ahead with steel tariffs on imports. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said the bloc was “making preparations” to retaliate in the event the U. S. introduces new tariffs.
EU SLAPS GOOGLE WITH RECORD $ 2.7B FINE The European Union’s competition watchdog slapped Google with a record- breaking $ 2.72 billion fine on Tuesday for breaching antitrust rules with its online shopping service. The announcement marks the latest clash between European regulators and large U. S. technology companies like Google, Apple and Amazon that have been ensnared in lengthy antitrust, tax and privacy- related investigations by European officials. Regulators said Google "abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to another Google product, its comparison shopping service."