DISNEY CLOSES $71B FOX DEAL

Disney has closed its $71 billion acquisition of Fox’s entertainment business, putting “Cinderella,” “The Simpsons,” “Star Wars” and “Dr. Strange” under one corporate roof.

The deal is likely to shake up the media landscape.

Among other things, it paves the way for Disney to launch its streaming service, Disney Plus, due out this year.

Europe fines Google $1.7 billion in antitrust case.

BRUSSELS» Europe’s antitrust regulators slapped Google with a big fine Wednesday for the third time in less than two years, ordering the tech giant to pay $1.7 billion for freezing out rivals in the online advertising business.

The ruling brings to nearly $10 billion the fines imposed against Google by the European Union.

And it comes at a time when big tech companies around the world are facing increasing regulatory pressure and fierce political attacks over privacy violations.

Gates joins Bezos as the only membersof the $100 billion club.

Bloomberg tracks the fortunes of some 2,800 billionaires. Of those, 145 are worth at least $10 billion, making them decabillionaires. Now, the world contains two c en ti billion aires simultaneously.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, once the world’s richest person, has again eclipsed the $100 billion threshold, joining Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos in the exclusive club, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Shares in Germany’s Bayer plungeon U.S. weedkiller ruling.

BERLIN» Shares in chemicals manufacturer Bayer fell sharply Wednesday after a U.S. jury found the Roundup weed killer to have been a substantial factor in a California man’s cancer.

It’s the second case that has gone against manufacturer Monsanto, which was acquired for $63 billion last year by the German company.

Bayer’s shares dropped 10 percent to 62.70 euros on the Frankfurt exchange.