Business News at a Glance

Facebook Identifies New Influence Operations Spanning Globe

Facebook said Tuesday it had identified multiple new influence campaigns on its platform that were aimed at misleading people in different countries and regions. The social network found and took down 652 fake accounts, pages and groups that were trying to sow misinformation. The activity originated in Iran and Russia, Facebook said. Unlike with past influence operations, which largely targeted Americans, the fake accounts, pages and groups were this time also aimed at people in Latin America, Britain, the Middle East, as well as in the U.S., the company said. Last month, Facebook said it detected and removed 32 pages and fake accounts.

Uber Appoints New Head of Finance as It Marches Toward an IPO

After a yearslong search, Uber has finally found a chief financial officer as it advances toward an initial public offering. The ride-hailing company said that it had hired Nelson Chai, 53, a formerly of Merrill Lynch and CIT Group, to be its new CFO. The job had been vacant since Brent Callinicos departed in 2015. Picking a CFO is crucial for Uber because the company has said it plans to go public by the end of 2019, in what is likely to be one of the biggest-ever technology IPOs. Uber is one of the most highly valued private companies at $62 billion.

Slack Raises $427 Million More, at $7.1 Billion Valuation

Slack, the 4-year-old workplace messaging company, said Tuesday that it had raised $427 million in new funding, just a year after its last huge infusion of money. The latest round values the company at $7.1 billion. Slack says it has 8 million daily users, double its total from around a year ago. Many of its users do not pay for access to the service. More than 70,000 groups pay, the company said. Last year, Slack raised $250 million in capital from SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund, among other investors. That funding valued Slack at $5.1 billion.

PepsiCo Returns to Soda’s Roots With Its SodaStream Deal

PepsiCo’s $3.2 billion purchase of SodaStream hearkens to its past. Most consumers now drink soda out of bottles or cans. But the vending machine staple got its start as a mixable medical remedy. By buying SodaStream, PepsiCo will partly return to the mixable syrup model on which its sugary business empire is built. SodaStream has made DIY sodas a little more popular with modern consumers, the big beverage companies have had limited success with the direct-to-consumer syrup approach this century. Coca-Cola tried by buying a large stake in Keurig Green Mountain, but ended that effort two years later because of poor sales.

In a Victory for PETA, Animal Crackers Roam Free

After 116 years of captivity, animal crackers have been freed from their cages. It was a symbolic victory for animal welfare activists, notably People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which had argued that the immediately recognizable yellow-and-red boxes by Nabisco — introduced in 1902 — portrayed a cruel bygone era when traveling circuses transported exotic wildlife in confinement. The new boxes are expected to arrive in stores this week. They show a zebra, an elephant, a lion, a giraffe and a gorilla roaming free side-by-side in a natural habitat, a sweeping savanna with trees in the distance.

Apple Buys Rights to Series Based on New York Times Climate Change

A recent New York Times Magazine article about climate change and the political forces that have stymied efforts to combat it will become an Apple television project. Apple announced Tuesday that it had bought the rights to a series based on “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change,” a 30,000-word article by Nathaniel Rich that took up an entire issue of The Times Magazine this month. The “Losing Earth” article recounted how, from 1979 to 1989, a small group of American scientists, activists and politicians tried to save the world from the ravages of climate change before it was too late.