Big Alcohol’s fight, Costco’s DEI defense, and Big Tech at the Trump show: Business news roundup

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On January 22, 2025

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Image for article titled Big Alcohol's fight, Costco's DEI defense, and Big Tech at the Trump show: Business news roundup — Photo: Witthaya Prasongsin (Getty Images), Justin Sullivan (Getty Images), Joe Raedle (Getty Images), Joe Raedle (Getty Images), jetcityimage (Getty Images), Pari Dukovic/National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.Shelby Knowles/Bloomberg (Getty Images), Allison Robbert-Pool (Getty Images), Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto (Getty Images), Image: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

New cars are supposed to be more reliable than used ones — but that’s only true if you buy the correct vehicle.

Consumer Reports mined its annual auto survey to see which car models its members found to be the least reliable.

The data comes from more than 300,000 respondents in the U.S. and looked at 20 different trouble areas, like squeaky breaks, deteriorating interior trim, and EV charging problems.

Almost a century after Prohibition ended, alcohol faces a new reckoning.

In New Mexico, where alcohol-related mortality rates are the highest in the U.S., lawmakers are preparing two proposals to reshape how the state taxes alcohol. One would implement a uniform 3% rate, while another tax would adjust for inflation plus add a 20-cent “public health investment fee” per drink. It’s an attempt to modernize what state Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena calls a “flat, regressive” system in which taxes — $1.60 per liter of spirits, 45 cents per bottle of wine, and 41 cents per gallon of beer — have stagnated for decades.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Capital One (COF) on Tuesday for allegedly “cheating” people out of billions of dollars in interest payments on savings accounts.

At a time when many large U.S. companies are scaling back their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, Costco is standing firm in its commitment to these initiatives.

Shopping carts outside of a Walmart Supercenter on November 18, 2024 in Miami, Florida.

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)

A recall over Walmart’s (WMT) store-brand chicken broth could put a damper on soup season.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a recall in December for the retail giant’s Great Value Family Size Chicken Broth over potential “packaging failures that could compromise the sterility of the product” and lead to spoilage.

Three major drug middlemen needlessly marked up generic drugs for cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis to generate $7.3 billion in revenue, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in a report released today.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to be joined by friends, family, and major technology firm CEOs when he’s sworn in as the next president of the U.S. on Monday.

Eli Lilly (LLY) revised its revenue outlook on Tuesday for the fourth quarter of 2024 on weaker-than-expected demand for its popular weight-loss drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro.

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk has repeatedly run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) smacked billionaire Elon Musk with new charges related to his 2022 Twitter acquisition, just days before a friendlier federal administration takes over.

Weight-loss drugs have been a major revenue-driver for Eli Lilly & Co., as well as other major pharmaceutical firms.

Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) thinks its next experimental weight-loss pill could get approved as soon as early 2026.

CEO Dave Ricks told Bloomberg News on Monday that data on the drug, orforglipron, is expected before the middle of 2025. That could lead to regulatory clearance the following year, Ricks said in an interview at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) in San Francisco.