Category: Business

TEQUILA, Mexico —  People in the tequila industry call it the “Clooney effect.” In 2017, actor George Clooney announced he was selling his 5-year-old Casamigos tequila brand to a British beverage company for the staggering sum of $1 billion. Almost overnight, it seemed that every A-list celebrity was debuting a tequila label — from Arnold Schwarzenegger… Continue reading Celebrity tequila history, from Michael Jordan to the Rock

Tiana is rolling down the bayou — again — not as a frog this time, but as a capable, well-heeled princess guiding Disney guests through Splash Mountain’s new “Princess and the Frog,” Mardi Gras-themed reimagining. Disney Parks on Monday revealed the latest concept art for the log flume attraction that features the animation studio’s first… Continue reading Princess Tiana guides Disney’s Splash Mountain in new art

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell is asking $2.6 million for his longtime home outside Seattle, where he coached the SuperSonics in the mid-1970s. It’s a low-key spot for an 11-time NBA champion and five-time MVP. Found on a leafy lot on Washington’s Mercer Island, the vaguely Midcentury home was recently renovated with contemporary finishes… Continue reading NBA legend Bill Russell wants $2.6 million for Washington home

Anthony Jimenez hadn’t thought much about his Pokémon cards since middle school, when girls suddenly seemed more interesting. But with time on his hands during the pandemic, Jimenez dug out his old collection and found that the cards were in pristine condition, a fact that would change his life and financial outlook. “When I found… Continue reading Pokémon, other collectibles hit big during the pandemic

James Flanigan, whose twice-weekly column was a mainstay of business coverage at The Times for some two decades, died Aug. 19 after a brief illness. He was 85. From the mid-1960s — when he was lured west from a high-level editing job at Forbes to strengthen The Times’ business and financial coverage — until 2005,… Continue reading Hiltzik: James Flanigan, business columnist, dies at 85

Scarlett Johansson’s legal battle with the Walt Disney Co. has heated up a notch. On Friday, Disney’s lead attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, filed a motion in Los Angeles County Superior Court that seeks to have the more than $50-million breach of contract lawsuit decided in private arbitration proceedings rather than by a California jury. Johansson’s legal… Continue reading Disney wants Scarlett Johansson case to be arbitrated

California’s giant ride-hailing and delivery companies suffered a major setback Friday as a state Superior Court judge invalidated a 2020 ballot proposition that allowed Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other businesses to classify their workers as independent contractors. In a lawsuit brought by the Service Employees International Union, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled… Continue reading Prop. 22 ruled unconstitutional, a blow to CA gig economy law

In 2016, Southern California real estate soared to new heights with the $100-million sale of the Playboy Mansion. The market-defining deal was the largest in L.A. County history at the time, and soon after, owners of iconic California estates brought them to market in hopes of securing similar fortunes. One of those was attorney Leonard… Continue reading Once listed at $195 million, famed Hearst Estate heads to auction

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, Gregory Flynn, chief executive of Flynn Restaurant Group in San Francisco, the nation’s largest franchise operator, furloughed some 29,000 employees in 44 states, including more than 5,000 in California. “It was a crazy time,” he recalled. “But we brought most of them back within a couple of months.”… Continue reading California job market surged before Delta variant took hold

Americans have just about had it up to here with people who refuse COVID-19 vaccinations. The signs are everywhere: More stringent vaccine mandates from governors in California and Washington. Righteous fury from healthcare workers exhausted from seemingly endless shifts on the front lines. Warnings are proliferating about sick patients being turned away from hospitals because… Continue reading Hiltzik: Should the unvaccinated pay more for healthcare?