Epic Games said on Friday that it submitted Fortnite to Apple’s App Store, the month after a judge ruled in favor of the game maker in a contempt ruling. Fortnite was booted from iPhones and Apple’s App Store in 2020, after Epic Games updated its software to link out to the company’s website and avoid Apple’s commissions. The move drew Apple’s anger, and kicked off a legal battle that has lasted for years. Last month’s ruling, a victory for Epic Games, said Apple was not allowed to charge a commission on link-outs or dictate if the links look like buttons, paving the way for Fortnite’s return. Apple could still reject Fortnite’s submission. An Apple representative did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Apple is appealing last month’s contempt ruling. The announcement by Epic Games is the latest salvo in the battle between it and Apple, which has taken place in courts and with regulators around the world since…

As struggling drugstore chains work to regain their footing, Walgreens is doubling down on automation. The company is expanding the number of retail stores served by its micro-fulfillment centers, which use robots to fill thousands of prescriptions for patients who take medications to manage or treat diabetes, high blood pressure and other conditions. Walgreens aims to free up time for pharmacy staff, reducing their routine tasks and eliminating inventory waste. Fewer prescription fills would allow employees to interact directly with patients and perform more clinical services such as vaccinations and testing. Walgreens first rolled out the robot-powered centers in 2021, but paused expansion in 2023 to focus on gathering feedback and improving performance at existing sites. After more than a year of making upgrades, including new internal tools, the company said it is ready to expand the reach of that technology again. Walgreens told CNBC it hopes to have its 11 micro-fulfillment centers serve more…

Fox Corp. will launch its direct-to-consumer streaming service, to be called Fox One, ahead of the National Football League season later this year. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch unveiled the name and timing of the company’s upcoming streamer during a quarterly earnings call Monday. The exact launch date and pricing will be announced in the coming months. While Murdoch didn’t give specifics on pricing, he said during Monday’s call it would be in line with so-called wholesale pricing, meaning it would be similar to the cost of the channels for pay tv distributors. Cable TV subscribers will get access to the service at no additional cost, Murdoch said. “Pricing will be healthy and not a discounted price,” he said. “It would be a failure of us if we attract more connected subscribers … we do not want to lose a traditional cable subscriber to Fox One,” said Murdoch. He added the company…

McDonald’s announced a plan to hire 375,000 employees across the U.S. this summer. The plan, announced on Monday, is one of the fast-food chain’s largest hiring pushes in years, according to a news release. It goes hand in hand with McDonald’s goal to open 900 new restaurants in the U.S. by 2027 and its plan to serve more customers during summer months. Joe Erlinger, McDonald’s president for the U.S., met with Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer at a location just outside of Columbus, Ohio, to announce the news. The hiring will be across McDonald’s company-owned and franchised locations, according to a company spokesperson. The news comes amid the Trump administration’s push for businesses to invest more in the U.S. The White House reported that it secured more than $5 trillion in new investment promises in the U.S. during Trump’s first 100 days in office. Those investments include a $500…

CAMDEN, N.J. — The father and son duo behind a stock fraud scheme involving the infamous $100 million New Jersey deli were sentenced to several months in prison Tuesday. Peter Coker Jr. was sentenced to 40 months. With credit for time served, he owes about 12 months locked up. But he could be released sooner than that given how federal inmates are granted time off for good conduct. Earlier Tuesday, the 56-year-old’s father, North Carolina businessman Peter Coker Sr., was sentenced to six months in jail, to be followed by six months of home confinement, for his role in the case. The Cokers and a third man, James Patten, admitted to the scheme in orchestrated the fraudulent inflation of the share price of two companies to better position them for mergers with private firms. One of the companies, Hometown International, ended up having a market capitalization of more than $100…

UnitedHealth Group announced a new chief executive Tuesday, a sudden and surprising change following the fatal shooting in December of its UnitedHealthcare subsidiary’s leader. Andrew Witty stepped down from leading UnitedHealth for unspecified “personal reasons,” the company said. Stephen J. Hemsley, who served as chief executive from 2006 to 2017, will return to the role and remain board chairman. Witty will serve as a senior adviser to Hemsley, the company said in a news release. UnitedHealth has been the focus of sharp criticism over the health insurance industry’s practices and has seen its stock plummet in the past year. The Justice Department has investigated its business activities. UnitedHealth’s shares fell more than 17% Tuesday. The stock, which is part of the 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed at $311.38 a share, well off its recent high of $630.73 in November. The company also said that it has suspended its annual outlook for 2025,…

Microsoft on Tuesday said that it’s laying off 3% of employees across all levels, teams and geographies. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. The company reported better-than-expected results, with $25.8 billion in quarterly net income, and an upbeat forecast in late April. Microsoft had 228,000 employees worldwide at the end of June, meaning that the move will affect thousands of employees. It’s likely Microsoft’s largest round of layoffs since the elimination of 10,000 roles in 2023. In January the company announced a small round of layoffs that were performance-based. These new job cuts are not related to performance, the spokesperson said. One objective is to reduce layers of management, the spokesperson said. In January Amazon announced that it was getting rid of some employees after noticing “unnecessary layers” in its organization. Last week cybersecurity software provider CrowdStrike announced it would lay off 5% of…

Financial technology company Chime on Tuesday filed paperwork to go public on the Nasdaq. The company intends to file under the ticker symbol “CHYM.” “Chime is a technology company, not a bank,” the company said in its prospectus, noting it’s not a member of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Still, the company cited Bank of America, Capital One, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank and Wells Fargo as competitors. Most of Chime’s new members who arrange for direct deposit previously did direct deposit elsewhere, “most commonly with large incumbent banks,” the company said. According to the filing, Chime picks up revenue from interchange fees associated with purchases that members make with Chime debit cards and credit cards. Banks collect interchange fees, which are generally a percentage of the transaction value, plus a set amount for each transaction depending on the rates determined by card networks such as Visa. The banks then…