The daily business briefing: September 17, 2018

1. Meredith agrees to sell Time to Salesforce founder

Meredith Corp. said Sunday it had struck a "definitive" deal to sell Time magazine to Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff for $190 million. Meredith, the Iowa-based publisher of Better Homes & Gardens, People, InStyle, and other magazines, finalized its purchase of Time Inc. eight months ago. It said in a press release that it expected to close the sale to the Benioffs within 30 days. Meredith said that the Benioffs "will not be involved in the day-to-day operations or journalistic decisions." It added that the agreement does not involve Salesforce.com, Benioff's cloud computing company.

The Wall Street Journal NPR

2. Markets struggle as investors brace for more tariffs

Asian markets and U.S. stock-index futures edged lower on Monday after reports that President Trump would soon announce new tariffs on $200 billion more of China's exports to the U.S. The U.S. and China are trying to prepare a new round of trade talks, but Trump is expected to announce as soon as Monday that he is imposing 10 percent levies, rather than the 25 percent proposed last month, on the newly targeted goods, escalating his trade war aiming to pressure China into changing trade policies Trump says are unfair to U.S. companies. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq-100 were down by 0.2 early Monday. Asian stocks also were mostly lower on Monday.

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MarketWatch The Associated Press

3. Musk says Tesla problems have shifted from production to deliveries

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Sunday that delivery logistics have become the electric car maker's latest obstacle in its effort to reach profitability with sales of its first mass-market vehicle. "Sorry, we've gone from production hell to delivery logistics hell, but this problem is far more tractable. We're making rapid progress. Should be solved shortly," Musk tweeted in response to a customer complaint on delivery delay. Tesla's stock has been weighed down by delays in its effort to ramp up production of its Model 3 sedans. The company recently reported it was close to its revised targets, and that it expected to build up to 55,000 Model 3s in the third quarter.

Reuters

4. Thousands of Germans march to protest clearing of forest for coal mine

About 4,000 people on Sunday marched in western Germany to protest the expansion of a coal strip mine that would require the clearing of the ancient Hambach Forest. Environmentalists have chained themselves to tree trunks and treehouses in an effort to stop the work. Police moved in on Friday to start evicting people from about 60 treehouses that have been built in the forest over the last six years. Environmentalists have stepped up their efforts to call attention to the mine, which is operated by the energy company RWE, saying it is not consistent with Germany's promise to reduce carbon emissions and honor its commitments under the Paris climate accord.

The Associated Press The New York Times

5. South Korea says business leaders joining president for North Korea summit

South Korea announced Sunday that Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong and leaders of several other major South Korean companies would join the country's president, Moon Jae-In, as he travels to Pyongyang this week for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Moon's government has been continuing a conciliatory approach as U.S. officials have chided North Korea for failing to follow through on denuclearization commitments Kim made to President Trump during their June summit. Moon has long advocated closer economic ties between the two Korean neighbors across their heavily fortified border. The summit starts Tuesday, and is scheduled to last three days.

The Japan Times