BUSINESS

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Oil prices surged close to $120 per barrel on Monday, March 9, following Iran’s announcement of a new supreme leader, before later retreating to around $106.23 per barrel.

The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei signaled the continued dominance of hardline leadership in Tehran, raising fears of prolonged disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and sending shockwaves through global financial markets.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed to an early high of $119.50 per barrel before easing back to $106.23. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate, the main U.S. crude benchmark, rose to $119.48 before dropping to $101.25.

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Private equity firm General Atlantic is moving to sell part of its stake in ByteDance in a transaction that values the Chinese technology giant at approximately $550 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The proposed deal signals a sharp re-rating of ByteDance's private market valuation, representing a roughly 66% increase from last year's employee share buyback, which priced the company at just over $330 billion. It would mark the first significant secondary share sale involving ByteDance since U.S. authorities cleared a long-awaited restructuring of the company's American TikTok interests earlier this year.

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Burger King is rolling out an AI-powered headset system called "BK Assistant" at 500 of its US locations. The technology monitors interactions between staff and customers while overseeing general store operations. According to a company spokesperson and promotional materials, the system analyzes employee conversations to generate "friendliness scores" for each restaurant.

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Gilead Sciences will pay up to $7.8 billion to acquire its partner Arcellx, marking its largest transaction since 2020, as the drugmaker deepens its focus on cancer treatments.

The Foster City, California-based company, long known for its leadership in HIV and liver disease medicines, has been seeking new growth avenues. Sales of its COVID-19 therapy Veklury have declined, and the company faces upcoming patent expirations on key products.

Under Chief Executive Daniel O'Day, Gilead has pursued a strategy of targeted acquisitions and partnerships, including the $21 billion purchase of Immunomedics in 2020. The Arcellx deal reflects a broader industry trend in which large pharmaceutical companies use early collaborations to position themselves for full takeovers in competitive areas such as oncology.

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In a significant crackdown on gig economy practices, Walmart is being held accountable for systemic wage deception. The $100 million settlement underscores the retail giant's failure to be transparent with its workforce, allegedly siphoning off earnings that drivers relied on. By misleading both workers about their pay and customers about where their tips were going, the company prioritized corporate gain over the livelihood of its delivery partners.

Walmart said it was improving its systems to "ensure fairness and transparency" and had already started making payments to people who had been affected.

Delivery drivers are due to receive $79m worth of payouts from the settlement, according to FTC leaders.

"We value the hard work and dedication of the drivers who deliver great service and products to our customers," the company said in a statement.

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Shares of Novo Nordisk plunged Monday after the company said its experimental obesity therapy CagriSema did not match the weight-loss performance of Eli Lilly's blockbuster drug Zepbound in a closely watched trial.

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Electric vehicle giant Tesla on Thursday introduced a more affordable version of its futuristic pickup in the United States, while trimming the price of its top-tier Cyberbeast variant as it looks to reignite slowing demand.

The company said the new dual-motor all-wheel-drive configuration will start at $59,990, making it the most accessible Cybertruck in its lineup to date. At the same time, Tesla reduced the Cyberbeast price to $99,990 from $114,990, a significant rollback aimed at widening its customer base.

With the revision, Tesla appears to be phasing out its Luxe Package, which previously bundled Supervised Full Self-Driving capabilities along with complimentary access to the company's Supercharger network. The add-on had been introduced last August alongside a price increase for the electric pickup.