US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and another US lawmaker introduced legislation Thursday against companies including Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) that they call the "Stop BEZOS" Act, after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, that will tax corporations for every dollar that their low-wage workers receive in government health care benefits or food stamps, a report by CNBC said.
The bill is aimed at shaming companies such as Amazon and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT). For months, Sanders juxtaposed the enormous wealth of Bezos with reports Amazon warehouse workers are paid less than the industry average and rely on food stamps. Bezos is the world's richest man with a net worth of more than US$168bn.
Amazon strenuously disputed the accusations.
Shares of Amazon dropped nearly 3% to trade at US$1,937.60, falling below the US$2,000 level it recently pierced. It had hit an all-time record of US$2,050.50 in its run to become the second US company with a market capitalization of US$1 trillion.
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Alphabet Inc's Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is no longer a teen as the company turned 20 years old on September 4, a report by the Verge said.
It said no technology company is arguably more responsible for shaping the modern internet and modern life than Google. The company that started as a search engine now manages eight products with more than 1 billion users each, the report said.
Google's stock fell 2.65% to US$1,155.09.
Nearly half of young users have deleted the app of social media giant Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) from their phone in the last year, driven away by the scandals which have hit its platform, a report by CNBC said.
A survey by the Pew Research Center of 3,400 Facebook users in May and June found that 44% of those ages 18 to 29 said they have deleted the app although some reinstalled it later. The survey measures only the core Facebook app and may not necessarily spell dire news for the company as a whole, the report said.
Facebook shares slid almost 3.8% to US$160.89.
READ: Facebook unfriended by Wall Street as US$100bn wiped from market value
The takeover by Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) of UK-based music app Shazam has been cleared by EU regulators, a report by Sky News said.
The main concern was that a takeover of the song recognition tool could put rivals of Apple Music at a disadvantage. The regulators ruled on Thursday the merged entity would not have a unique advantage and Apple's competitors would still have the opportunity to access and use similar databases, the report said.
Apple shares were down 1.8% to US$222.79.
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) has come to the rescue of the show "Designated Survivor" which will now go into a third season, a report by Collider said.
The drama led by actor Kiefer Sutherland was canceled recently after two seasons, but Netflix ordered 10 episodes to air in 2019. Sutherland portrays Tom Kirkman, is a nondescript politician who comes US president after the elected leader and everyone else in the line of succession is killed in an attack that he must solve, the report said.
Shares of Netflix added 0.74% to US$343.80.