VASTERAS, Sweden—Machines are strewn about the floor. Cranes heave building material through the factory hall. In this patch of Swedish forest, preparations are afoot for the battle between Europe and China over control of the technology that powers electric cars.

Peter Carlsson, a tall, blond Swede sporting a short beard, once managed Tesla Inc. ’s supply chain. Then he founded Northvolt AB, which aims to become the prime purveyor of batteries to Europe’s makers of electric and hybrid cars. Pointing at the chaotic site, he insists the first batch of test battery cells will roll off the factory floor in the next 10 weeks.

In 2018, We took in $1.8 billion in revenue—but for every dollar the company generated, it spent nearly two. The biggest expense: rent to landlords, which is equal to 65% of We’s revenue.

The tech backlash has come for the gig economy.

The California bill passed this week that threatens to make drivers for ride-hailing companies into employees rather than independent contractors is the latest move by regulators and courts around the globe that could curtail companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. and food-delivery businesses like DoorDash Inc.

New...

Not much was expected of Apple Inc. (hardware-wise) on Tuesday and, in that respect, it didn’t disappoint. The company delivered upgrades to last year’s three iPhone models, plus some minor tweaks to the Apple Watch and iPad lines and an update on its coming subscription services.

The biggest news was that the company reduced the cost barrier for some of its devices, by bringing the iPhone 8 (with wireless charging) and the iPhone XR (with Face ID) down $150.

Once a corporate cousin of the U.S. Yahoo website, Yahoo Japan is now a separate company under SoftBank’s control and increasingly focused on commerce rather than its original core business of selling advertising against content such as news and sports.

That shift will accelerate with Yahoo Japan’s $3.7 billion plan to take a 50.1% stake in Japanese online fashion retailer Zozo Inc. Zozo founder Yusaku Maezawa, who is selling most of his 36.8% stake and resigned as chief executive on Thursday, said he wanted to leave the company he built and focus on personal ambitions including traveling into space—twice.

With Zozo in its stable, Yahoo Japan hopes to attract younger fashion-conscious consumers in competition with Amazon, whose Japan unit had sales of $13.8 billion last year, and homegrown rival Rakuten Inc.

“We are aiming to become No. 1 in domestic sales volume” in the next five years or so, said Yahoo Japan Chief Executive Kentaro Kawabe at a news...

Starting next year, all California residents will have the right to ask retailers, restaurants, airlines, banks and many other companies to provide them with any personal information they may have, including individual contact information, purchases and loyalty-program history. Consumers also can ask that businesses delete their information, or opt out of letting it be sold.

“You have to find a way to capture all that information and track it so you know what’s happening with that information,” said Dan Koslofsky, associate general counsel for privacy and data security at Gap. “And that’s a pretty significant undertaking for most companies. Unless you’ve been in a regulated space like health care or financial services, you probably haven’t done that previously.”

The California Consumer Privacy Act was designed to make data-trafficking companies and tech giants such as Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. ’s Google and Facebook Inc. more transparent about how they...

The share of female board members in the Russell 3000 index, which includes most public companies on major U.S. stock exchanges, increased to 20% in the second quarter of this year from 19% the previous quarter, according to Equilar Inc., a governance-data firm. When Equilar began tracking the measure in late 2016, 15% of board seats were filled by women.

The increases come amid calls for change from big investors and a new California law mandating female representation on public-company boards. In July, the last all-male board among S&P 500 companies—Dallas-based online car-auction company Copart Inc. —added a female finance executive to its ranks.

Other recent high-profile appointments of female directors include Starbucks Corp. executive Rosalind Brewer to Amazon.com Inc. ’s board and former Apple Inc. retail chief Angela Ahrendts to Airbnb Inc.’s board. WeWork, recently renamed the We Co., is adding Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei to...

A group of music publishers suing Peloton Interactive Inc. allege the company’s workout video-streaming service used more than twice as many songs without permission as they had previously claimed, and they are seeking more than $300 million in damages.

In March, the publishers, represented by the National Music Publishers’ Association, sued Peloton, saying it used more than 1,000 songs—including hits from Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Drake and Lady Gaga—without acquiring licenses to use the songwriters’ compositions....

A panel of outside advisers recommended that the Food and Drug Administration greenlight a proposed treatment for peanut allergies in children, a step that could clear the way for marketing the first approved treatment of the condition.

The drug, code-named AR101, is made from peanut flour and given as a powder mixed with foods. Its developer, Aimmune Therapeutics Inc., proposes to market it under the brand Palforzia.

The...

Randall Stephenson, AT&T Inc.’s longtime boss, got an unexpected phone call Sunday evening from a hedge-fund manager at Elliott Management Corp., one of Wall Street’s biggest and most aggressive activist investors.

The call was brief and cordial, but behind it was a stinging rebuke of the telecom veteran’s mission to turn the phone company into a media giant and leave a top lieutenant to finish the job. Investor Jesse Cohn told Mr. Stephenson the hedge fund had concerns about AT&T’s strategy and execution, reflecting...

Shale executives are changing the words they use to talk up their prospects, in a linguistic evolution that broadly reflects the industry’s efforts to shift from prioritizing growth to returning cash to increasingly disillusioned investors.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed the transcripts of the earnings calls of 40 public U.S. shale companies—with technical help from financial research firm Sentieo Inc.—and found that fracking’s buzzwords have changed significantly since 2015.

Whereas top shale executives once frequently promised to “ramp up” production, these days they are more likely to assure investors they can deliver “free cash flow.”

The startup had something incredible: a cure for babies with a deadly neurological disease. Last year, the company was snapped up by pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG, and by this past May, its drug was the most expensive on the market.

In just a few years, the company, AveXis Inc., morphed from a handful of hospital-based researchers into one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most stunning success stories.

But...

Uncertainty is the monster that lives under the bed of every CEO. It waits until the door is shut and the lights are out, and even then, it bides its time. Pulses race, sweat beads, no move seems the right one.

The first eight years of my life were spent in the sprawling farmlands of Howell, Mich., and I learned firsthand that uncertainty is a constant.

E-cigarette maker NJOY Holdings Inc. has changed plans for its funding round after the Trump administration proposed pulling most vaping products from the market, said people familiar with the matter, in one of the clearest signs yet of the potential business impact of the ban.

NJOY’s funding round was expected to increase the startup’s valuation to as much as $5 billion, up from the $2 billion valuation a spring round placed on the company, a person familiar with the company said. One investor with exposure to NJOY described the planned ban, which covers fruity and minty flavors that drive sales, as a “catastrophic change” for the vaping industry.

VASTERAS, Sweden—Machines are strewn about the floor. Cranes heave building material through the factory hall. In this patch of Swedish forest, preparations are afoot for the battle between Europe and China over control of the technology that powers electric cars.

Peter Carlsson, a tall, blond Swede sporting a short beard, once managed Tesla Inc.’s supply chain. Then he founded Northvolt AB, which aims to become the prime purveyor of batteries to Europe’s makers of electric and hybrid cars. Pointing at the chaotic site, he...

MoviePass is finally fading out.

The service, which made a splash with a too-good-to-be true subscription service that let customers watch up to a movie a day in theaters for less than $10 a month, said it planned to shut down as of Saturday. MoviePass’s parent, Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc., said Friday it was exploring all options, including a sale of the entire company.

MoviePass...

In 2018, We took in $1.8 billion in revenue—but for every dollar the company generated, it spent nearly two. The biggest expense: rent to landlords, which is equal to 65% of We’s revenue.

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Make room, Gigi Hadid. Victoria’s Secret will no longer rely on a small group of supermodels to promote its sexy lingerie, as the chain shifts to more inclusive marketing to end a prolonged sales slump.

The tech backlash has come for the gig economy.

The California bill passed this week that threatens to make drivers for ride-hailing companies into employees rather than independent contractors is the latest move by regulators and courts around the globe that could curtail companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. and food-delivery businesses like DoorDash Inc.

Not much was expected of Apple Inc. (hardware-wise) on Tuesday and, in that respect, it didn’t disappoint. The company delivered upgrades to last year’s three iPhone models, plus some minor tweaks to the Apple Watch and iPad lines and an update on its coming subscription services.

The biggest news was that the company reduced the cost barrier for some of its devices, by bringing the iPhone 8 (with wireless charging) and the iPhone XR (with Face ID) down $150.

Still, there are some new features. Here’s a look at how the phones compare:

Walt Disney Co. ’s Chief Executive Robert Iger resigned from Apple Inc. ’s board of directors, the tech giant said on Friday, severing a yearslong connection between the two companies as they prepare to launch competing video-streaming services.

He resigned on Tuesday, Apple said in a one-sentence filing to securities regulators.

A group of music publishers suing Peloton Interactive Inc. allege the company’s workout video-streaming service used more than twice as many songs without permission as they had previously claimed, and they are seeking more than $300 million in damages.

In March, the publishers, represented by the National Music Publishers’ Association, sued Peloton, saying it used more than 1,000 songs—including hits from Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Drake and Lady Gaga —without acquiring licenses to use the songwriters’ compositions. The initial suit, filed in U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, sought more than $150 million in damages.

FRANKFURT—European auto makers have plowed tens of billions of dollars into developing electric cars and hybrids to comply with stricter restrictions on tailpipe emissions. Now they face the challenge of selling those vehicles.

Volkswagen AG , Porsche and Daimler AG ’s Mercedes-Benz all unveiled electric models at this week’s Frankfurt auto show that will be heading to dealerships soon. Executives said more hybrid and plug-in models were on the way, as part of a broader push to electrify large parts of their lineups.

However, with prices still high and consumer demand lukewarm for electrics, the industry is calling on European governments for assistance, asking for tax subsidies and regulatory incentives to make the cars more affordable and appealing to buyers.

A panel of outside advisers recommended that the Food and Drug Administration greenlight a proposed treatment for peanut allergies in children, a step that could clear the way for marketing the first approved treatment of the condition.

The drug, code-named AR101, is made from peanut flour and given as a powder mixed with foods. Its developer, Aimmune Therapeutics Inc., proposes to market it under the brand Palforzia.

The startup had something incredible: a cure for babies with a deadly neurological disease. Last year, the company was snapped up by pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG , and by this past May, its drug was the most expensive on the market.

In just a few years, the company, AveXis Inc., morphed from a handful of hospital-based researchers into one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most stunning success stories.