Business news in brief
By The Associated Press
The Onion’s bid to buy Infowars goes before judge
A bid by The Onion satirical news outlet to buy Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory platform Infowars is scheduled to return Monday to a Texas courtroom, where a judge will be deciding whether a bankruptcy auction was properly run as Jones alleges collusion and fraud.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston is set to hear testimony about the November auction and how a trustee chose The Onion over the only other bidder — a company affiliated with Jones that offered twice as much money as The Onion.
The sale of Infowars is part of Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, which he filed in late 2022 after he was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut. Jones repeatedly called the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six educators a hoax staged by actors and aimed at increasing gun control.
Omnicom and Interpublic to form marketing powerhouse
Omnicom is buying Interpublic Group in a stock-for-stock deal that will create the largest ad agency in the world with combined annual revenue of almost $26 billion.
The names may be unfamiliar to many Americans, but some of their marketing campaigns are iconic. Those include “Got Milk” for the California Milk Processor Board, “Priceless” for Mastercard, “Because I’m Worth It” for L’Oreal and “Think Different” for Apple.
The combined company will be worth more than $30 billion.
Nvidia’s stock dips after China opens probe of company
Shares of Nvidia fell Monday after China said it is investigating the high-flying U.S. microchip company over suspected violations of Chinese anti-monopoly laws.
In a brief news release with few details, Chinese regulators appear to be focusing on Nvidia’s $6.9 billion acquisition of network and data transmission company Mellanox in 2019.
Nvidia shares about 3% Monday. They are still up 179% so far this year.
—From AP reports
