Bloomberg International Business Machines Corp. called foul on Microsoft Corp’s hiring of its chief diversity officer in a case that elevates recruiting and promotion of an inclusive workforce to the level of safeguarding proprietary technology. IBM claims the information that Lindsay-Rae McIntyre possesses — including confidential data about diversity, strategies and initiatives — can cause “real and immediate competitive harm” ...

Bloomberg EMagin Corp. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Lucas said that Apple Inc. didn’t invest in the augmented-reality display component maker, contradicting a listing in a regulatory filing mentioning the technology giant. An EMagin filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission listing Apple among “specified investors” was reported by TechCrunch, Bloomberg News and others. The document, from Jan. 23, proposed an ...

China’s biggest tech companies are emblems of national pride. When the government decides upon a priority, Tencent Holdings Ltd., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. are often asked to help devise the technology to achieve it. The companies are generally spared from official criticism, let alone interference with their commercial operations. Those privileges aren’t absolute, however, as Tencent recently ...

The markets may have had bigger things to worry about last week than the Bank of England’s statement that interest rates will rise earlier than previously expected. But they were still stunned by the announcement. Such a hawkish turn would make perfect sense under normal circumstances; inflation is above the bank’s target and there is no sign that the global ...

Equity markets haven’t yet managed to shake off their difficulties. If this selloff persists, credit looks like it could well be the next frontier for trouble. You can’t have falling stocks and tightening credit spreads — it doesn’t make sense to have risk-off sentiment prevail in an incredibly liquid market alongside a risk-on approach in an illiquid one. Arguably it ...

Rarely has a round of wage negotiations been watched so closely as the recent dispute involving Germany’s IG Metall labor union. The agreement reached in Baden-Wuerttemberg with the Suedwestmetall employer’s federation, including a 4.3 percent raise from April and the right to a 28-hour working week, is a further sign that wage pressures are finally returning to the euro zone. ...

Sometimes it feels like, wherever I go in the world, local businessmen have a story to tell me about one of their peers who has lost big money in India. This week, I have a story to tell them in return — one that may make everyone feel a bit better. These hard-luck stories are particularly common in the sort ...

The aerospace industry better be ready for Boeing Co. to become even more of a behemoth. The plane maker has reportedly held preliminary talks about acquiring Woodward Inc., a $5 billion maker of cockpit controls and fuel-metering units. No deal is imminent, and truth be told, Woodward is a weird choice (more on that later). But the fact that Boeing ...

Uber is trying to defeat the gender pay gap by relying on an algorithm that has no idea whether drivers are men or women. But is it working? A recent paper studying more than a million drivers reached a conclusion: not so much. Men earn about 7 percent more than women do, as it turns out. This could be taken ...

Bloomberg Asian stocks rose amid signs markets are beginning to stabilize after the biggest weekly rout in two years. Japanese equities pared gains as the yen advanced. Shares in Hong Kong and China led the rally in Asia after the S&P 500 Index posted its biggest two-day advance in 18 months. Japan’s equities retreated from the day’s highs after traders ...