Investments and Business

One man got down on his knees and kissed the rug emblazoned with the ship’s logo. Another lifted his wife and swung her around, ecstatic to be among the roughly 5,000 passengers to embark on the inaugural sailing of the world’s largest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas.For months, the 250,800-ton ship, which can carry nearly 8,000 people, has been making headlines — including some that have criticized its size and potential to damage the environment. But the passengers who plunked down $1,800 to $100,000 and boarded the ship at Port Miami in Florida on Jan. 27, said nothing…

Robert A. Iger has insisted for months that his turnaround plan for Disney was working. But distinct proof has been elusive, and investors, as evidenced by the company’s underperforming stock price and multiple proxy campaigns by activists for board seats, have been hesitant to buy in.On Wednesday, Mr. Iger delivered financial proof — along with a flurry of announcements about future entertainment offerings, including a “Moana” sequel, the arrival of Taylor Swift’s concert movie on Disney+, a partnership with Epic Games to create a Disney universe connected to Fortnite, and the 2025 rollout of a flagship ESPN streaming service that…

BP’s new chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, promised a flexible approach to the shift away from fossil fuels as the oil giant reported a $3 billion profit in its latest quarter on Tuesday.Mr. Auchincloss said in an interview after BP reported earnings that the company was pursuing what he called a “demand strategy.” BP’s shares rose nearly 5 percent in trading in London, where the company is based.BP has a plan to become what Mr. Auchincloss called an integrated energy company. But in the meantime, “we see growing demand for energy right now across the globe,” he said. “It is not…

After a year of big layoffs, job cuts at the tech industry’s largest companies trickled into the first month of 2024.Google started the year with layoffs of several hundred employees and a promise of more cuts to come. Amazon followed by trimming hundreds of jobs in its Prime Video department. Meta quietly thinned out middle management. Microsoft also cut 1.900 jobs in its video game division.The layoffs continued even as sales and profits jumped and share prices spiked. That disconnect, tech insiders and analysts say, is reflective of an industry facing two big challenges: coming to terms with frenetic work…