What happens when strongmen meet? We know that the world is slowly filling up with populist nationalists, from Manila to Washington. But how do they plan to deal with each other? Will they join forces against the sanctimonious, supra-national powers that dismay them all? Or will they compete, as erstwhile tough guys seem most comfortable doing? Perhaps we shouldn’t …

  News that Alipay hooked up with First Data Corp. in the US may end up being more significant for both the Chinese fintech player and for Apple Inc. than Jack Ma’s $1.2 billion bid for an old-school payments provider, MoneyGram International Inc. In one swoop, the payments affiliate of Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. gets access to 4 million …

  In 1989, Sears Roebuck & Co. ruled America as its biggest retailer. It loomed over rivals from a perch high above Chicago, inside what was once the world’s tallest building—one bearing the company’s name. The fall from that height may finally be nearing an end. Over the course of almost three decades, the company experienced what industry observers described …