Corporate news, markets, and the economy
An Australian fashion designer has triumphed in a High Court battle over her own name, defeating international pop star Katy Perry in a landmark trademark dispute that stretched across 17 years.
Ella Sullivan 
Australia faces a cascading cost-of-living shock as Middle East conflict disrupts global oil supplies, threatening to drive grocery prices higher in coming weeks.
Sophia Vargas 
LEGO has finally announced what fans have been clamouring for since 2020: a proper Mario minifigure. The news arrived on Mario Day, with both Nintendo and LEGO confirming traditional brick-scale figures are heading to stores in 2027.
Tom Whitfield 
Disney has announced a major leadership restructuring with Thomas Mazloum becoming chairman of Disney Experiences, the company's most profitable division, as Josh D'Amaro assumes the CEO role on March 18.
Mitchell Tan 
Two major corporate sponsors have pulled out of Copenhagen's Noma restaurant ahead of its highly anticipated Los Angeles pop-up, citing allegations of past abuse by founder René Redzepi.
Jake Nguyen 
Former EA executive Peter Moore says his aggressive public relations strategy, adopted from the video game industry, conflicted with Liverpool FC's American owners and partly led to his departure as CEO.
Sophia Vargas 
Lululemon has paid $702,900 after sending hundreds of thousands of emails with hidden promotional content, marking the fifth ACMA enforcement action in 18 months.
Sophia Vargas 
Internal Amazon briefing notes reveal the company blamed AI-assisted code changes for recent outages, yet publicly the company insists user error was responsible. The contradiction raises questions about what Amazon actually knows about its systems.
Andrew Marsh 
March 2026 brings higher electricity bills and new Centrelink rates. We break down the cost-of-living reality and share practical budgeting strategies Australian families can use right now.
Ella Sullivan 
Global oil prices have pulled back from their highest levels since 2022, easing investor fears. The ASX is positioned for modest gains, though energy supply disruption through a key shipping channel threatens long-term inflation pressures.
Oliver Pemberton 
Meta is acquiring Moltbook, a social network where AI agents post and interact, absorbing its creators into Meta Superintelligence Labs as the company races to commercialise AI.
Sophia Vargas Australia's property market is showing early signs of strain ahead of the Reserve Bank's March 17 decision, with auction clearance rates falling and buyer sentiment turning cautious as higher mortgage costs take hold.
Darren Ong 
Legora's $550 million Series D round valued at $5.55 billion reveals that legal AI adoption has moved from pilot projects to production workflows. The question now is whether venture capital's enthusiasm can sustain a market that demands ruthless efficiency.
Riley Fitzgerald 
A new survey reveals an unusual pattern: occupations experiencing the largest job losses are also seeing the strongest demand for specialised roles. The shift reflects a fundamental reshaping of the skills economy around AI management.
Oliver Pemberton 
A Denver-based startup led by former SpaceX engineers is building the industry's first reusable satellite platform, attracting $10 million in seed funding for a demonstration mission launching next year.
Oliver Pemberton 
As conflict between Israel and Iran deepens, global oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with analysts warning of prolonged supply disruptions that will ripple through Australian fuel costs and manufacturing.
Mitchell Tan 
Brisbane is introducing a rival parking app to challenge the decade-old CellOPark monopoly, part of a broader shift toward digital payments that's saving the council maintenance costs but raising questions about who gets left behind.
Bruce Mackinnon 
A brief system outage forced JetBlue to request a nationwide ground stop early Tuesday morning, affecting hundreds of flights and highlighting vulnerabilities in critical airline infrastructure.
Mitchell Tan 
Escalating tensions between Israel and Iran have sent jet fuel costs surging, prompting Australia's biggest airline to raise international fares and prompting Air New Zealand to suspend financial guidance.
Yuki Tamura The RBA held rates steady in March, but the reprieve looks short-lived. Most major banks now forecast another rate hike in May, with sticky wage growth complicating the inflation picture.
Andrew Marsh