A Costco strike, Elon Musk's DOGE, more Netflix price hikes, and the next Ozempic: Business news roundup
Plus, Trump finally signed a crypto executive order. Here’s what it means

2 / 11

A strike at Costco (COST) is now a real possibility after the union representing thousands of workers voted to authorize it.
With 85% of Teamsters members backing the move, workers are prepared to walk off the job unless the retailer comes to the table with what they deem to be a fair agreement. The union, which represents over 18,000 Costco workers nationwide, has been in contract negotiations for months. The current agreement expires on Jan. 31 and, without a resolution, workers may strike to demand higher wages and improved benefits, pointing to Costco’s record profits as justification for their demands.
3 / 11

There’s no real way to measure the intelligence of a population, but a research team at the testing platform BrainManager tried.
It attempted to figure out the smartest states in the U.S. based on 19 indicators, grouped into three categories: academic success, learning culture and support, and innovation and technology.
4 / 11

Elon Musk — the world’s richest man alive — has been handed his own task force designed to reign in government spending. Here’s what you need to know about DOGE, which President Donald Trump officially created on Monday.
5 / 11

It took less than 10 minutes into his new administration for President Donald Trump to get slapped with a lawsuit.
A trio of organizations — nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and the left-wing nonprofit State Democracy Defenders Fund — on Monday sued Trump and his administration over plans to launch the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk.
6 / 11

Netflix (NFLX) reported strong earnings in 2024, thanks to 19 million new paid memberships during the fourth quarter – its largest increase ever. The streaming giant finished 2024 with with 302 million memberships.
7 / 11

One day in, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) looks like it will have a tough time living up to the expectations he and President Donald Trump outlined months ago.
8 / 11

President Donald Trump signed a highly-anticipated executive order late Thursday establishing a working group on digital assets that will be responsible for putting forward potential regulations for the sector and evaluating a national cryptocurrency stockpile.
9 / 11

Two recent disappointing clinical trials of highly-anticipated weight-loss drugs have made it clear that it is too early to crown any winners in the race for the next generation of anti-obesity treatments.
10 / 11

A pivotal moment helped Nike’s new CEO face the full scale of the company’s crisis
11 / 11

Barron Trump is starting a luxury real estate company with his prep school classmate