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World Wrestling Entertainment disclosed another $5 million in payments from former CEO Vince McMahon and delayed its earnings report, according to an SEC filing Tuesday.
WWE stated that the payments, made by McMahon in 2007 and 2009, are unrelated to the allegations of misconduct against McMahon.
The update comes after a disclosure of $14.6 million in previously unrecorded expenses paid out by McMahon, and his retirement from the CEO position.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Chairman Vince McMahon (L) and wrestler Triple H appear in the ring during the WWE Monday Night Raw show at the Thomas & Mack Center August 24, 2009
Ethan Miller | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

World Wrestling Entertainment disclosed another $5 million in payments made by former CEO Vince McMahon and delayed its earnings report, according to an SEC filing.
The update comes after a disclosure of $14.6 million in previously unrecorded expenses paid out by McMahon, and his retirement from the company. The Wall Street Journal had reported that the hush payments were under investigation by federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

McMahon, who retired as CEO and chairman of the company last month, is the largest shareholder of the company with a 32% stake. He bought the company from his father about 40 years ago and oversaw its growth into a global sports entertainment brand.
McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon, took over as co-CEO and chairwoman, while her husband Paul “Triple H” Levesque, is now in charge of WWE’s creative content.
In its filing Tuesday evening, WWE stated that the two newly disclosed payments, made by McMahon in 2007 and 2009, are unrelated to allegations of misconduct against McMahon. The board is currently overseeing an independent investigation of the previous payments and allegations.
News of the previous payments heightened speculation of a WWE sale. On Wednesday, WWE shares rose more than 1%, hitting a 52-week high, before closing roughly flat.
WWE also said it will be unable to file its quarterly report as scheduled this week due to the circumstances of the unrecorded expenses.
The company released preliminary results for the quarter on July 25 alongside the $14.6 million disclosure.

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Proposed tax credits of up to $7,500 for EVs under the Inflation Reduction Act could be counterintuitive for sales of EVs, according to several companies.
Supporters of the new rules say they will wean the auto industry off its reliance on foreign countries, specifically China, and encourages domestic production of electric vehicles and batteries.

Tesla cars charge next to a traditional Texaco gas station on July 17, 2022 in Nephi, Utah. With more electric cars on the road, lack of charging infrastructure is becoming more of a problem for EV owners.
George Frey | Getty Images

Proposed tax credits of up to $7,500 for electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act could be counterintuitive for sales of EVs, according to several companies and a group representing major automakers such as General Motors, Toyota Motor and Ford Motor.
The new rules would raise a sales threshold for qualification, but would impose materials sourcing and pricing stipulations, along with personal income caps.

The federal government has used EV tax credits as a tool to promote the adoption of electric vehicles and lower the U.S. automotive industry’s reliance on fossil fuels. Electric vehicles are currently far pricier than their gasoline counterparts due to the expensive batteries needed to power the vehicles.

Automakers have relied on the credits to assist in lowering the prices on the vehicles for consumers, as costs of lithium and cobalt needed for the batteries have soared.
Opponents of the new guidelines contend that pricing and sourcing rules, specifically for crucial raw materials used for the batteries on the vehicles, are too aggressive and could result in most EVs falling out of qualification for the federal incentive, at least in the short term. And unlike under current criteria, vehicles would have to be produced in North America to qualify for the credits.
Supporters of the new rules say they will wean the auto industry off its reliance on foreign countries, specifically China, and encourage domestic production of electric vehicles and batteries – a goal of the Biden administration.
The Democrat-spearheaded $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act was passed by the U.S. Senate on Sunday. It’s expected to be approved Friday by the U.S. House, before heading to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

‘Jeopardize our collective target’

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents automakers producing nearly 98% of cars and light trucks sold in the U.S., believes 70% of electric vehicles currently sold in the U.S. would be ineligible for the tax credits upon passage of the bill.
“Unfortunately, the EV tax credit requirements will make most vehicles immediately ineligible for the incentive. That’s a missed opportunity at a crucial time and a change that will surprise and disappoint customers in the market for a new vehicle,” John Bozzella, CEO of the alliance, said in a blog post.

Workers inspect a Rivian R1T electric vehicle (EV) pickup truck on the assembly line at the company’s manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, US., on Monday, April 11, 2022.
Jamie Kelter Davis | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bozzella told CNBC that he supports the long-term goals of the bill but contends the industry needs more time to make production plans and secure domestic materials for their vehicles. The current supply chain can’t support all the EVs that companies want to produce in the coming years, he said.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” he said. “We need to work with our partners and public officials to figure out what’s going to work best for the consumer.”

Bozzella said the new standards “will also jeopardize our collective target of 40-50% electric vehicle sales by 2030” – a goal announced last year by the Biden administration. He said the Washington, D.C.-based trade association and lobby group will continue to push to reform the credit system if the bill is signed into law.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who spearheaded the materials sourcing requirements included in the bill, has not been open to changing the rules.
“Tell [automakers] to get aggressive and make sure that we’re extracting in North America, we’re processing in North America and we put a line on China,” Manchin told reporters last week. “I don’t believe that we should be building a transportation mode on the backs of foreign supply chains. I’m not going to do it.”

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., speaks to the cameras about the reconciliation bill in the Hart Senate Office Building on Monday, August 1, 2022.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Martin French, a longtime supplier executive and managing director at Berylls Strategy Advisors USA, believes the new requirements could be a long-term benefit for the U.S. auto industry. But he said there could be growing pains along the way.
“I think there’s a little bit of negativity now, but if you look at what the [automakers] are promising, if they execute on their commitment, I see no reason why the domestically produced products should not benefit, and the consumer should not benefit,” French told CNBC.

Automakers concerned

Automakers condemning the new credits include companies from EV startup Rivian to larger foreign companies that have yet to produce many, if any, electric vehicles in North America.
“We are disappointed that the current legislation severely limits EV access and options for Americans and may dramatically slow the transition to sustainable mobility in this market,” Hyundai, which recently announced U.S. investments of $10 billion including EV manufacturing in Alabama and Georgia, said in an emailed statement.
Jeep maker Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, said many provisions in the bill could help the company with its $35 billion electrification plans, but “the practical elimination of near-term incentives for American customers joining the shift to electrified vehicles may threaten the pace of change required to achieve a meaningful transition to sustainable mobility.”
Vehicles from other EV startups such as Lucid’s pricey Air sedan and Fisker’s forthcoming Ocean, which is set to be imported from Austria, automatically wouldn’t qualify for the new credits.
Rivian, which began producing electric pickups and SUVs last year in Illinois, has characterized the bill as pulling “the rug out from consumers considering purchase of an American-made electric vehicle.”
James Chen, Rivian’s vice president of public policy, told Crain’s Chicago Business that the proposed regulations would favor automakers such as Tesla and GM, which have had longer to ramp up production or do some manufacturing overseas.

2024 Chevrolet Blazer SS EV

Tesla did not respond for comment. GM declined to speculate what, if any, of its current vehicles would qualify for credits under the bill. The Detroit automaker said the bill “aligns very well with GM’s long-term plans,” but some of the requirements would be challenging in the short term.
“While some of the provisions are challenging and cannot be achieved overnight, we are confident we can rise to the challenge because of the domestic manufacturing investments we are making to secure a supply chain for batteries and critical minerals,” GM said in an emailed statement.
Ford CEO Jim Farley on Wednesday said the new credit should be good for the automotive industry, but the company is continuing to analyze details of the bill regarding the sourcing of parts and materials.
“We’ve got to work through that but generally it’s positive for our industry,” Farley told reporters during an event at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant, where the Bronco SUV and Ranger midsize pickup are produced.
The company on Wednesday announced a new clean energy agreement with DTE Energy for all vehicles manufactured in Michigan to be produced using the equivalent of 100% carbon-free electricity. The companies called the deal the largest renewable energy purchase from a utility in the U.S.
French said it’s going to be up to each company to determine how important they believe the credit will be to their sales of EVs in North America.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business case on how much market share they feel they’ll use, but I think it will definitely raise the eyebrows,” he said. “If there have been some considerations to localize production, I think that this is going to stir the discussions and the emotions a bit more.”

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Some price-sensitive spirits drinkers are swapping out high-end bottles for cheaper options, according to Beam Suntory.
But the company said consumers are still buying its high-end options, too.
For the first half of 2022, the Jim Beam owner reported global net sales growth of 13%.

Bottles of Beam Inc.’s Jim Beam bourbon whiskey, center, are displayed for sale at a liquor store.
Uriko Nakao | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The maker of Jim Beam said some price-sensitive whiskey and tequila drinkers are opting for cheaper bottles, making it the latest company to note diverging behaviors among lower- and higher-income customers.
Beam Suntory CEO Albert Baladi told CNBC that the spirits company is starting to see “a little bit of tempering” of the super premium and ultra-super premium categories.

Still, the company said its financial results weren’t dented much by the shift in behavior, since many consumers are still grabbing high-end tequila and other spirits. In recent years, Beam Suntory has shifted its portfolio toward more expensive spirits, upgrading to brands like Knob Creek bourbon and Bowmore Scotch whisky.
It’s the latest company to report signs of a split among its customers amid soaring inflation and recessionary fears. Executives have said lower-income consumers are cutting back their spending, while higher-income shoppers keep buying pricy restaurant meals, airline tickets and cars. Molson Coors, for example, said it saw increased demand for both its higher-end Blue Moon and Peroni and more value-oriented Miller High Life and Keystone Light beers.
For the first half of 2022, the Jim Beam owner reported global net sales growth of 13%, fueled by strong growth markets including the United States, Spain, Australia and India. Because the company is privately owned, it isn’t required to disclose its financial results like many of its publicly traded competitors.
The company said sales growth was more than double that of case volume growth, fueled by its pricier higher-end bottles. Baladi said the company raised prices last year and this year, and some brands even hiked their prices twice already in 2022, depending on the market and the strength of the category. But he estimates that the increases were still lower than overall inflation levels.  
As economists and business leaders share concerns about a potential recession, Beam Suntory isn’t worried about its business. Historically, the spirits industry fares well during tough economic times.

“It’s something that’s likely to stay with us as consumers cut down on large expenses,” Baladi said. “They’re likely to want to treat themselves with little daily luxuries.”
Besides price sensitivity, Beam Suntory also saw differences across geographic regions. The company said Spain’s strong tourism this year drove growth at bars and restaurants for its spirits. But demand in Poland and Germany weakened, fueled by soaring inflation and wobbly consumer sentiment, both of which it attributed to the war in Ukraine.
In early March, Beam Suntory suspended shipments to Russia as a result of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and instead distributed many of those bottles to other European markets. Last month, the company announced it will exit the country entirely, selling its joint venture with Edrington to the local management team.

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Deliveries of Boeing 787 Dreamliners had been paused for much of the past two years.
American Airlines said it received one of its 787 planes from Boeing’s South Carolina factory.

An employee works on the tail of a Boeing Co. Dreamliner 787 plane on the production line at the company’s final assembly facility in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Travis Dove | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Boeing delivered its first 787 Dreamliner in more than a year on Wednesday, ending a pause on handovers of the jetliners that was sparked by a series of manufacturing flaws.
American Airlines took the first new delivery from Boeing’s 787 factory in South Carolina, the carrier’s CEO, Robert Isom, said in an Instagram post.

The delivery is a milestone for Boeing. The planes are a key source of cash for the manufacturer, and the bulk of an aircraft’s price is paid upon delivery — though the company has had to compensate customers for the delays.
Deliveries have been on hold for much of the past two years. Boeing said earlier this year that the production defects and a drop in output during the delivery hold will cost it $5.5 billion.

Dreamliner customers like American and United Airlines have had to go without their new planes, which are often used for long-haul international routes, during a resurgence in demand for such trips this year.
Among the issues discovered was tiny, incorrect spacing in some parts of the fuselage.
“Every action and decision influences our customers’ trust in Boeing — we build trust one airplane at a time,” Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit, wrote in a note to staff Wednesday. “We’ll continue to take the time needed to ensure each one meets our highest quality standards.”

The Federal Aviation Administration earlier this week said it cleared Boeing to resume deliveries, which were set to begin this week.
The FAA’s acting administrator, Billy Nolen, visited the 787 factory last Thursday and met with FAA safety inspectors about steps to improve production quality, the agency said earlier this week.

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Farley said Ford increased prices on the F-150 Lightning to help offset surging battery costs.
Battery costs have climbed sharply as prices for minerals like lithium, nickel and cobalt have surged.
Ford is investing in longer-term solutions to bring down costs.

Ford CEO Jim Farley poses with the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck in Dearborn, Michigan, May 19, 2021.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

WAYNE, Mich. – Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley does not expect the costs of raw materials for the company’s electric vehicles to ease in the near future, marking the latest signal that automakers will continue hiking prices for their new EVs.
“I don’t think there’s going to be much relief on lithium, cobalt and nickel anytime soon,” Farley told reporters Wednesday during an event at the automaker’s Michigan Assembly Plant.

Farley’s comments come a day after the Detroit automaker announced it would be raising the starting prices for its electric F-150 pickup due to “significant material cost increases.” The increases range from $6,000 to $8,500, depending on the model. Ford isn’t alone: Rival Tesla increased its U.S. prices in June.
Prices of all lithium, cobalt and nickel have risen sharply over the past year as demand from battery makers has outpaced miners’ efforts to increase supply.
Farley said the fast-rising costs of the minerals used in its current lithium-ion batteries are why Ford plans to offer lower-cost lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries in vehicles such as the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E crossover.
“I don’t think we should be confident in any other outcomes, than an increase in prices,” he said. That’s why we think LFP technology is critical … We want to make these affordable.”
Last month, Ford said it will begin offering LFP batteries from Chinese battery giant CATL that don’t use nickel or cobalt as a lower-cost option in the Mustang Mach-E next year. The company plans to expand the option to the F-150 Lightning in 2024.

Ford also has invested in Colorado-based battery startup Solid Power, one of several companies working to develop solid-state batteries for electric vehicles. Solid-state batteries have the potential to offer EV owners more range, shorter recharging times, and a lower risk of fires than today’s batteries.
Solid Power said Tuesday that it’s on track to deliver prototype batteries to Ford and BMW, also an investor, by the end of the year. But vehicles using the batteries are still at least a few years away.

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Three years ago no one had heard of BioNTech. Today the German biotechnology firm is a household name, which last year raked in revenues of $19bn. The company owes both the lustre and the lucre chiefly to the successful mrna covid-19 vaccine which it developed in partnership with Pfizer, an American drug giant. Yet even the effective jab has not immunised it from a downturn afflicting the biotech industry. On August 8th BioNTech reported that sales fell by 40% in the second quarter, year on year, as fewer people are left unjabbed and unboosted. Its share price tumbled by nearly 9%.The biotech industry is particularly vulnerable to the syndrome of slowing economic growth, higher inflation and rising interest rates. As with other tech startups, rate rises make promised profits, most of which lie far in the future, look less hale today. Unlike software firms, biotech companies need constant injections of capital to develop their drugs, which takes lots of time and money. Until recently that money was easy to tap. Biotech startups raised $34bn globally last year, twice the figure in 2020. In the first six months of 2021, 61 such firms launched initial public offerings (ipos) in America alone. Since then cash has grown scarcer. The first half of 2022 saw just 14 American ipos. None of the 24 startups that Silicon Valley Bank, a lender to techie companies, expected to go public this year has made the jump. Funding for private biotech businesses is down, too. Banks are reluctant to lend to early-stage firms, whose fate is tied to treatments that might never materialise. Many companies are shedding staff. This week Atara and MacroGenics, two medium-sized public firms, announced big layoffs. An index of biotech companies listed on New York’s Nasdaq exchange has fallen by a quarter since its peak a year ago, further than the sliding nasdaq index overall (see chart). Valuations of unlisted companies are dropping faster than ever, says Lain Anderson of L.E.K. Consulting. Not all will pull through.As non-specialist investors swept up in the pandemic biotech boom retreat, more discerning ones are sharpening their pencils. Some companies suddenly look cheap, especially those with proven treatments or drugs in late-stage trials. Venture-capital firms have raised over $100bn to invest in life-sciences businesses in the past three years, notes Tim Haines of Abingworth, a biotech-focused asset manager. They still have plenty of unspent “dry powder” to deploy. Big pharma in particular may be eyeing up biotech startups with promising drug pipelines. The giants will see some $300bn-worth of patents expire by 2030, says Mr Haines. Pfizer has been particularly acquisitive—and, thanks to the $37bn it earned last year from sales of its covid vaccines and treatments, particularly flush. On August 8th is agreed to pay $5.4bn for Global Blood Therapeutics, a maker of a treatment against sickle-cell disease, bringing its total takeovers to more than $25bn in the past 12 months.As for Pfizer’s covid-vaccine partner, BioNTech, it is still worth five times what it was before the pandemic, despite a 50% crash in its market capitalisation since the peak a year ago. Don’t bring out the defibrillator just yet. ■ More

Food costs climbed 1.1% in July, bringing the year-over-year gain to 10.9%, according to the latest government data.
These five tips can help you save money on groceries as food inflation shows no signs of slowing down.

To feel the effects of inflation, just go to the supermarket.
Although inflation, overall, began to ease last month along with gas prices, food costs climbed 1.1% in July, bringing the year-over-year gain to 10.9%, according to the latest Consumer Price Index figures.

The food-at-home index, a measure of price changes at the grocery store, notched the largest 12-month increase since 1979.
Cereals and baked goods cost 15% more than they did last year. Milk and dairy products are 14.9% higher, and fruits and vegetables are up 9.3% over the year.

“Consumers are getting a break at the gas pump, but not at the grocery store,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “Food prices, and especially costs for food at home, continue to soar, rising at the fastest pace in more than 43 years.”
Because the Federal Reserve has already taken aggressive steps to fight surging inflation, consumers expect prices will come down, eventually. They are still expected to climb 6.7% over the next 12 months, but that’s a big decline from June, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations.
The central bank has hiked its benchmark rate by 2.25 percentage points so far in 2022 and indicated even more increases are coming.

More from Personal Finance:What a recession could mean for youBest money moves after the Fed’s interest rate hikesNearly half of all Americans are falling deeper in debt
Still, as Tomas Philipson, a professor of public policy studies at the University of Chicago and former acting chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, explained, “it will take a while for [the Fed’s rate-hike cycle] to work its way through.”
Until then, here’s how to shield yourself from sticker shock at the supermarket:

5 tips to avoid getting gouged on groceries

Use a cash-back app. Ibotta and Checkout 51 are two of the most popular apps for earning cash back at the store, according to Julie Ramhold, a consumer analyst at DealNews.com. The average Ibotta user earns between $10 and $20 a month, but more active users can make as much as $100 to $300 a month, a spokesperson told CNBC.
Scrutinize sales. Generic brands can be 10% to 30% cheaper than their “premium” counterparts and just as good, but that’s not always the case. Name brands may be offering bigger-than-usual discounts right now to maintain loyalty, so it pays to pay attention to price changes.
Plan your meals. When you plan your meals in advance, you’re more likely to just buy the things you need, said Lisa Thompson, a savings expert at Coupons.com. If planning’s not your thing, at least go shopping with a rough idea of what you’ll be cooking in the week ahead to help stay on track and avoid impulse purchases, she added.
Buy in bulk. When it comes to the rest of the items on your list, you can save more by buying in bulk. Joining a wholesale club such as Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s will often get you the best price per unit on condiments and nonperishable goods.
Pay with the right card. While a generic cash-back card such as the Citi Double Cash Card can earn you 2%, there are specific grocery rewards cards that can earn you up to 6% back at supermarkets nationwide, such as the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express. CNBC’s Select has a full roundup of the best cards for food shopping along with the APRs and annual fees.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

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The cost of travel surged this year and will likely rise again in 2023, according to a business travel industry report.
A recession and geopolitical problems could threaten a rebound in business travel.

Passengers wait for flights with their luggage at Heathrow airport in London
Luke MacGregor | Reuters

The cost of business travel, from hotels to airfare, is set to rise through 2023 as demand returns more than two years after the Covid pandemic began, according to an industry report published Wednesday.
Business travel airfare is on track to rise nearly 50% this year over 2021, following two years of steep declines, according to a report from travel management company CWT and the Global Business Travel Association. Next year, fares are set to increase more than 8%, the organizations said.

Airline and hotel executives have been upbeat about a return to business travel after Covid-19 and measures to curb its spread, like travel restrictions, forced companies to put many work trips on hold.
While leisure travel has roared back from 2020 pandemic lows, business travel has lagged, depriving hotels and airlines of an important source of revenue. Business travelers or their employers are often less price sensitive than leisure travelers and are more likely to book rooms or airline tickets that fetch a high price.
American Airlines last month said domestic business travel revenue, which made up nearly a third of its 2019 passenger revenue, was 110% higher than it was three years ago, before the pandemic.
That’s despite concerns about a slowing economy, travel industry labor shortages and other headaches, as some large corporations seek ways to cut back on spending.
“The anecdotal feedback that we’re getting as we go into the fall is people have to travel more,” Chris Nassetta, CEO of Hilton Worldwide, said on a July 27 earnings call. “While people are worried about where the macro environment is going, they’ve got to run the businesses. And in fact, the more worried they are, the more they realize they sort of got to get out there and make sure they’re hustling.”

Globally, hotel rates will likely surpass 2019 levels next year, the industry report said.
Big events like industry conferences have also made a comeback, such as the Farnborough International Airshow, last month. But prices are on the rise and the cost per attendee is set to increase 25% this year from 2019, the report said.

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