The Week in Business: Spies at Twitter

The Party’s Over at Airbnb

Airbnb announced a daunting initiative to verify all of its more than six million listings, including the accuracy of photographs and safety standards posted with each property. The statement is part of an effort to give customers “peace of mind” after five people were killed at a party in a California Airbnb rental home on Halloween night. (Another new rule: no “party houses,” although how this will be enforced is anyone’s guess.) It’s almost certainly intended to woo investors, too, as the company heads toward an initial public offering next year. The logistics of this colossal verification process are still to be determined, but Airbnb’s chief executive, Brian Chesky, said the company planned to use “a combination of remote technology inspections and verifications from our community.”

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What’s Next? (Nov. 10-16)

Let Shopping Season Commence

The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is expected to break records (again) during its famous Singles Day sale on Monday, despite China’s trade war and slowing economic growth. Created as a shopping holiday for young, unmarried Chinese people to “celebrate” their singledom by buying things for themselves, Singles Day has become the world’s biggest shopping event. It is particularly significant this year, as Alibaba resumes plans to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which would open it up to billions of foreign investor dollars. Alibaba postponed its stock offering a few months ago when protests disrupted Hong Kong and heightened its tensions with mainland China.

Just When Things Couldn’t Get Worse

The government has demanded that the embattled e-cigarette company Juul turn over all documents concerning potential contaminated vaping pods that it may have sold. Juul has denied previous accusations that it did any such thing, but a former executive says the opposite. And as mysterious vaping-related illnesses continue to spread, lawmakers (and doctors, and customers) want answers. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump says he’s toying with the idea of raising the minimum vaping age from 18 to 21. On that note, say goodbye to mint-flavored nicotine pods, which Juul is pulling from the market after a study showed that teenagers were using them.

A Cheaper Way to Fight H.I.V.

The Trump administration has accused Gilead Sciences, which sells H.I.V.-prevention drugs, of profiting from research funded by taxpayers without paying taxpayers back. In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the government said the company infringed on patents owned by the Department of Health and Human Services and refused to pay royalties. Gilead Sciences makes billions off two drugs that are widely used to prevent H.I.V. infection and can cost patients up to $20,000 a year. If this lawsuit is successful, it could be a first step in pushing down prices for the medication, which would then become more accessible to those at risk.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/10/business/the-week-in-business-spies-at-twitter.html?emc=rss&partner=rss