Herbalife's chief executive has resigned over unspecified comments he made before taking leadership of the Los Angeles supplement maker.
Richard Goudis, who became chief executive in June 2017 after having served as chief operating officer, will be replaced on an interim basis by the company's former chief executive, Michael O. Johnson, Herbalife said in a news release Tuesday.
Johnson, the company's executive chairman, will take over immediately, and the board expects to find a permanent successor from among Herbalife's senior leadership.
The sudden leadership change comes as Herbalife has tried to move past controversies over its business practices, fueled by allegations from activist investor Bill Ackman.
Herbalife said in the news release that Goudis' departure was "not due to any issues regarding the company's financial reporting, but pertains to comments which recently came to light" that he had made before taking over as chief executive "that are contrary to the company's expense-related policies and business practices."
VW, Ford set to unveil alliance
Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. will unveil a deeper alliance next week that goes beyond cooperating in commercial vehicles, Reuters reported today.
The scope of the alliance is still being determined, the report said, citing unnamed sources.
Last month, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess told reporters after a White House meeting that the German automaker could use some of Ford's factory capacity to produce vehicles.
The framework of the alliance would include pooling resources in autonomous technology and VW investing in that Ford business, and Ford licensing Volkswagen's MEB electric vehicles platform, the Reuters report said
VW officials have talked about gaining access to Ford's Transit commercial van and the Ranger midsize pickup truck, as well as building their vehicles in Ford plants.
An announcement could come as soon as next week's Detroit auto show, said the report.
Canadian GM staff stage work stoppage
OSHAWA, Ontari - Unionized workers at the General Motors assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, staged a second work stoppage on Tuesday after the company confirmed it would not reconsider plans to close the facility that would lead to the loss of 3,000 jobs.
The union said the protest Wednesday morning lasted close to two hours and followed about a five-hour sit-down at the plant the evening before.
Unifor president Jerry Dias sat down with GM on Tuesday to talk about union proposals to extend the life of the Ontario plant, including extending the life of the Chevy Impala and Cadillac XTS produced at the plant or shifting production slated for Mexico to the plant. GM said they were not economically viable.
GM announced in November it would cut up to 14,000 workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure. David Paterson, vice president of corporate affairs at GM Canada, said the union should instead work with the company on timing and transition plans for the workers who are losing their jobs.
GM said it has identified job opportunities, is willing to pay for retraining and is open to negotiations on packages for workers on top of what is already included in contracts.
Saudi Arabia reports higher oil reserves
Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest oil producers, says it has 268.5 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, a figure higher than previously known.
The kingdom had previously reported reserves of 266.3 billion barrels of oil.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry also revised upward the country's gas reserves to 325.1 trillion standard cubic feet as of the end of 2017. The revisions come after an independent audit by consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton.
Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Wednesday the reserves are among the lowest cost in the world to recover and the most profitable.
His comments come amid plans for a possible initial public offering in state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco, although al-Falih has said any offering of the company would not include the kingdom's oil reserves.
Boeing tops Airbus in airline deliveries
Boeing is keeping its title as the world's leading maker of airliners, a nose ahead of Airbus.
Europe-based Airbus, which assembles some planes in the U.S., said Wednesday it delivered 800 commercial aircraft in 2018.
That's six less than Boeing's record year, announced earlier this week. The Chicago company has major manufacturing sites in Washington state and South Carolina.
Both companies are riding strong demand from airlines reporting strong travel demand.
Boeing says it received a net of 893 new orders last year, and Airbus got 747 orders.