Billion | featured news

BP will pay approximately $4.5 billion and plead guilty to criminal charges as part of a settlement with the U.S. government over the deadly Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the London-based oil giant announced Thursday.

The budget deficit rose in October, the first month of fiscal year 2013, as looming negotiations over expiring tax cuts and imminent spending reductions dominated the post-election political landscape.

N.Y. Gov. Cuomo plans to request at least $30 billion in aid to repair infrastructure damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

Jefferies will continue to operate as a full-service global investment banking firm in its current form, the companies said.

Priceline is buying Kayak in a $1.8 billion cash-and-stock deal, adding a travel search site that went public earlier this year.

You can do a lot with a billion dollars - but still not change much. This Election Day, it's likely to produce another Republican-led House that's little different from the existing version.

U.S. manufacturing increased slightly last month, while construction spending rose 0.6% to an annual rate of $851.56 billion. Meanwhile, October consumer confidence climbed to its highest reading since early 2008.

Lawyers for ABC News asked a judge Wednesday to toss out a $1 billion defamation lawsuit filed by a South Dakota-based meat processor over a meat product that critics dub "pink slime," saying the news organization did not knowingly disparage the company or its product....

Well, this is unexpected: In a deal worth a reported $4 billion in stocks and cash, George Lucas has handed the keys to his Star Wars kingdom over to Disney. Saying that "Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas," the understandably enthused Disney CEO, Bob Iger, heralded an acquisition that "combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney's unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value."

The Walt Disney Company, in a move that gives it a commanding position in the fantasy world of film, said Tuesday it had agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. from its founder, George Lucas, for $4.05 billion in stock and cash.