WASHINGTON — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has sent three individuals with experience in private equity and finance to the Social Security Administration, highlighting the focus that President Donald Trump is putting on rooting out waste and fraud in the nation’s social insurance programs.

Among those tapped for the ...Read more

These days, the perks of a shiny new bank account often include high yields and no fees, and many can be opened in mere minutes. Nevertheless, Americans with a checking account have held onto that account for an average of 19 years, while those with a savings account have had it for 17 years, according to Bankrate’s latest Checking Account ...Read more

Amazon and the Federal Trade Commission met in a Seattle court Friday to discuss the nuts and bolts of the sprawling antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant.

The hearing aimed to answer questions such as: How are the two parties defining monopoly power? Which markets does Amazon operate in? What evidence should the court consider?

Those ...Read more

SAN JOSE, California — Silicon Valley’s staggering income divide has widened twice as fast as the state and national average over the past decade, reflecting a tech-driven economy failing to deliver a living wage for almost a third of families while also producing 56 billionaires.

That’s according to a new closely watched annual report ...Read more

Breaking up is hard to do, even when it comes to firing your financial adviser.

Whether it’s a mismatch of investment strategies, a lack of communication or even ethical concerns, the decision to part ways with your financial adviser can be stressful.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of firing your financial adviser step-...Read more

A bitter rift between two Silicon Valley billionaires could shape the future of the fast-growing artificial intelligence industry.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who has his own AI startup, is duking it out in court and in a public war of words with Sam Altman, leader of ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

Musk, who is the world's richest man and has the ...Read more

The day after the Palisades fire broke out, luxury staging company Vesta began manufacturing beds around the clock.

Vesta produced 1,000 that first week from its factory near downtown Los Angeles. The beds — along with the company's supply of sofas, dining tables, outdoor furniture, area rugs, linens, kitchenware and even faux plants — were...Read more

DETROIT — Rocket Companies said Monday it is buying the real estate listing platform Redfin in a deal valued at $1.75 billion.

The all-stock deal, expected to close in within about six months, would incorporate one of the country's largest mortgage lenders in Rocket with one of the top home search platforms in Redfin.

Seattle-based Redfin, ...Read more

The union representing hundreds of REI workers has a simple ask for the Issaquah, Washington-based co-op’s members: Vote no on board candidates.

REI members began voting last week on the outdoor gear retailer’s candidates for its board of directors. The election runs online through May 1.

The union, United Food and Commercial Workers Union...Read more

Q: My 2012 Passat brake pedal felt soft and went to the floor in July 2024. My shop determined air was in the lines and bled the brakes. The problem returned a few weeks later. They replaced the master cylinder and bled the brakes again. The problem returned a few weeks later. They bled the brakes again. The problem again returned. Each time ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Two months after twin fires destroyed large swaths of two Southern California communities, many of the businesses left behind are struggling to revive sales in the face of displaced customers, road closures and a massive rebuilding effort that is projected to drag on for years.

The secondary crisis has hit hard in Malibu because...Read more

Boeing endured a truly awful year in 2024. Its millionaire executives, including those who exited as the company’s troubles mounted, largely saw their total compensation halved from the previous year.

They still got millions though in both actual pay and stock awards that should pay out in future years, according to Boeing’s annual proxy ...Read more

Amid calls for racial justice in 2020, Hollywood pledged to do better.

Studios and entertainment companies committed to donating millions of dollars to civil rights and anti-racist organizations, established in-house talent development programs to nurture underrepresented creatives and instituted new requirements for diverse hiring and ...Read more

As robotaxis become a more familiar sight on the streets of Los Angeles, Tesla has taken a step that could bring it closer to building its own fleet of self-driving electric vehicles, the California Public Utilities Commission confirmed last week.

In November, Tesla applied for a permit that would allow the electric-vehicle manufacturing giant ...Read more

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to establish a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" and a stockpile of U.S. digital assets.

The move came after Trump's proposal for a crypto reserve sparked unexpected blowback from tech leaders because he initially said over the weekend that digital assets other than bitcoin would also be part of ...Read more

Bird flu outbreaks sent egg prices soaring in recent months, in some cases north of $9 per dozen. While the virus also spread to dairy cattle, the outbreaks didn’t seem to boost California milk prices.

A group of UC Davis economists recently wrote that though California produces more than 15% of U.S. milk, bird flu has had “little or no ...Read more

Winston Churchill is credited with the following insight, delivered to the Royal Society: “Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.”

Certainly, England is the land of longstanding traditions, such as Guy Fawkes Night, cheese rolling and 12-cylinder Bentleys. But in the case of the ...Read more

As Range Rover enters Grasso’s Garage again this year, it’s time to review its flagship, the Range Rover SE. It definitely earns top marks for appearance and style.

Our tester, a Long Wheel Base (LWB) seven-passenger model, comes in with a base price of $113,000. With all of the luxurious features Range Rover can pack into an SUV, the SE ...Read more

Humans are so creative, so persistent.

Take thieves, frauds and scammers. As long as there are dollars in someone’s bank account, there are other people devising ways to siphon those dollars and claim them as their own.

The Internal Revenue Service is on to them. In its list of “dirty dozen” tax scams for 2025, the agency tells taxpayers...Read more

SEBRING, Florida — Like a St. Bernard, my Hyundai Kona tester is two-toned and funky-looking outside — fiercely loyal on the inside.

Its looks may not be for everybody, but it’s got everything you need.

Hyundai has been one of the industry’s most creative stylists with lookers like the Lego-brick Santa Fe and bar-of-soap Ioniq 6 EV. ...Read more