Bloomberg Facebook Inc. bet early on virtual reality, buying Oculus VR 2 1/2 years ago to get its groundbreaking headset. Now it’s fighting claims that the Oculus Rift was built with stolen technology and promoted with a false origin story about a young entrepreneur tinkering in his parents’ garage. What started as a falling out between tech geeks has …

  Bloomberg Optimism among America’s small businesses soared in December by the most since 1980 as expectations about the economy’s prospects improved dramatically in the aftermath of the presidential election. The National Federation of Independent Business’s index jumped 7.4 points last month to 105.8, the highest since the end of 2004, from 98.4. While seven of the 10 components increased …

  Bloomberg Google, Facebook Inc. and other Internet companies will be covered by strict new European Union privacy rules that seek to limit access to consumers’ data. The EU proposed in a draft law unveiled in Brussels Tuesday giving online users more control of their settings and limiting the “overload of consent requests” for cookies people encounter when browsing the …

  Bloomberg BMW lost its crown as the world’s biggest luxury-car brand to Mercedes-Benz, ending its reign after more than a decade amid a cluttered lineup of aging models. The Munich-based manufacturer sold 80,000 fewer cars last year than the Daimler AG brand, which drew younger buyers with sporty redesigns and a bigger array of increasingly popular SUVs. A rebound …

  SAN FRANCISCO / AP Few people realized it at the time, but the world shifted fundamentally a decade ago when Steve Jobs pulled the first iPhone from Apple’s bag of technological tricks. “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” Jobs declared as he paced across a San Francisco stage. It obviously wasn’t an …

  Bloomberg Alphabet Inc. is in talks to sell the Skybox Imaging satellite business it acquired for $500 million less than three years ago, another sign the technology giant is ratcheting back grand ambitions to blanket the globe with internet service. Planet, a satellite imaging startup former known as Planet Labs, may acquire Skybox, according to people familiar with the …

  Reuters Messaging app Snapchat said it would make London the home of its international operations, delivering another vote of confidence in Britain’s tech standing as the country prepares to leave the European Union. The company, which has 150 million daily users globally, will book sales in countries where it has no local entity in Britain rather than routing them …

  Bloomberg Team8, founded by veterans of an elite Israeli intelligence unit to solve what they consider the world’s most pressing cybersecurity problems, welcomed Citigroup Inc. and the venture arms of Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. into its syndicate. The group of military veterans, who have raised more than $92 million, plan to launch two companies this year. Existing portfolio …

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai-based developer Nakheel and Thai hotel group, Centara Hotels and Resorts, on Monday signed a joined venture agreement to create a 550-room, AED500 million beachfront resort with waterpark on Deira Islands in Dubai. Under the agreement, signed in Bangkok by Nakheel Chairman, Ali Rashid Lootah, and Centara Chairman, Suthikiati Chirathivat, the two companies will deliver an …

  ABU DHABI / WAM The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) announced the successful placement to institutional investors of a 30-year senior unsecured Formosa Bond, for a total nominal amount of US$885 million. The transaction follows NBAD’s inaugural US$696 million public Formosa Bond in October last year, the first 30 year Formosa Bond from the MENA region, which brings …