Category: Business

(NEW YORK) — Starbucks baristas walked off the job in major cities in Massachusetts, Texas and Oregon on Monday, expanding the dayslong holiday strike to 12 cities nationwide, according to the union Starbucks Workers United.

Workers went out on strike in Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, joining baristas in cities spanning from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.

Striking baristas brought business to a halt in almost 50 stores nationwide on Sunday across multiple cities, Workers United said.

“The holiday season should be magical at Starbucks, but for too many of us, there’s a darker side to the peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes,”Arloa Fluhr, a longtime Starbucks employee in Illinois, said in a statement to ABC News.

Fluhr, a mother of three, struggles to support her family with the wages received from Starbucks, she said. “That’s why we’re steadfast in our demands for Starbucks to invest in baristas like me,” she added.

Workers United, a union representing 525 Starbucks stores in the U.S., said baristas nationwide launched a strike on Friday. The escalation on Monday is the latest expansion of a strike that has grown each day since it began, the union said.

The holiday season is one of the busiest periods of the year for the coffeehouse giant, the union added.

In February, Starbucks Workers United and Starbucks announced they would work on a “foundational framework” to reach a collective bargaining agreement for stores, something the union says has not come to fruition.

“We were ready to bring the foundational framework home this year, but Starbucks wasn’t,” Lynne Fox, president of Workers United, told ABC News in a statement. “Union baristas know their value, and they’re not going to accept a proposal that doesn’t treat them as true partners.”

Starbucks did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

In response to ABC News’ previous request for comment, Starbucks spokesperson Phil Gee said the company has not experienced a significant impact from the strike.

“We are aware of disruption at a small handful of stores, but the overwhelming majority of our U.S. stores remain open and serving customers as normal,” Gee said on Dec. 20.

Starbucks said it remains willing to resume negotiations with the union. “Workers United delegates prematurely ended our bargaining session this week. It is disappointing they didn’t return to the table given the progress we’ve made to date,” the company said. “We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements.”

The union and the company remain far apart on the key issue of potential wage increases, according to statements from both sides about the other’s proposal.

Workers United told ABC News in a statement that Starbucks had proposed no immediate wage increases for most baristas and a guarantee of only 1.5% wage increases in future years.

Meanwhile, Starbucks said in a statement that the union had proposed an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, as well as an overall 77% raise over the duration of a three-year contract. “This is not sustainable,” a Starbucks spokesperson told ABC News.

Starbucks United contests those figures as a disingenuous characterization of its proposal, the union told ABC News.

Some local elected officials joined workers on the picket lines on Sunday, including Democratic Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Democratic New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, the union said.

Baristas have unionized more than 100 Starbucks stores this year, expanding a union campaign that has spread to hundreds of stores across 45 states since an initial victory three years ago at a location in Buffalo, New York, the union said.

The union has filed hundreds of charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging illegal anti-union activities carried out by Starbucks, including alleged bad-faith negotiations over a potential union contract setting terms at the unionized locations.

Starbucks has denied wrongdoing and faulted the union for breaking off negotiations. The company offers better pay and benefits than its competitors, Starbucks said.

“We are focused on enhancing the partner (employee) experience, with over $3 billion invested in the last three years. Starbucks offers a competitive average pay of over $18 per hour, and best-in-class benefits,” Starbucks said in a statement to ABC News. “No other retailer offers this kind of comprehensive pay and benefits package.”

ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The price of bitcoin has tumbled about 12% from a record high reached earlier this week.

After topping $108,000 for the first time on Tuesday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to a price below $93,000 in early trading on Friday. Bitcoin soon recovered some of those losses, settling around $95,000 at 9:30 a.m. ET.

The selloff rippled through the wider cryptocurrency market. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, ticked down about 1%. Lesser-known dogecoin fell 4% and crypto-trading exchange Coinbase fell nearly 2%.

The slide for bitcoin has largely come after the Federal Reserve announced late Wednesday that it expects fewer interest rate cuts next year.

Lower interest rates typically stimulate economic activity, drive up corporate profits and lift the value of forward-looking assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies. In theory, a longer-than-expected period of high interest rates could diminish those returns.

The Fed’s forecast sent stocks falling within minutes and helped push bitcoin to its lowest level in weeks.

The recent slide for bitcoin erases some of the gains enjoyed since the election of former President Donald Trump, who is widely viewed as friendly toward cryptocurrency. Still, the price has climbed about 36% since Election Day.

Bitcoin had climbed to a new high earlier this week after Trump reaffirmed support for a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve.

A U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would amount to a substantial government holding of bitcoin similar to the country’s stockpile of oil or gold. Bitcoin bulls expect such a potentially large acquisition of bitcoin to drive up demand and hike the price.

Supporters of a bitcoin strategic reserve also say the asset would help diversify the nation’s financial holdings, protecting it from the possible decline in value of other assets, such as the U.S. dollar.

Since the price of bitcoin is highly volatile, a large purchase of the asset could end up threatening the nation’s financial stability rather than safeguarding it, some critics say.

The major stock indexes rebounded on Thursday, recovering some of the losses they took after the Fed’s unwelcome forecast.

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(NEW YORK) — As the Teamsters’ cross-country Christmastime strike against Amazon entered its second day on Friday, the union said that “momentum continues to mount” as workers seek “fair treatment” from the online retailer.

“The Amazon Teamsters movement grows bigger and stronger every day and will not be stopped,” the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a statement posted on social media late Thursday.

Workers affiliated with the Teamsters began striking at Amazon facilities across the country early Thursday. The union said thousands of workers were walking off their jobs at facilities in New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois, but did not provide specific numbers.

Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien is expected to join a picket line in California’s City of Industry on Friday, the union said.

Amazon said the strike was not expected to impact operations and claimed the strikes were being attended by outside organizers. Kelly Nantel, director of Global Corporate Issues and Media Relations at Amazon, said the company had not seen an impact on deliveries.

“Thankfully, the vast majority of our employees and the drivers who deliver on our behalf came to work today to do what they do every day,” Nantel said on Thursday. “They’re doing a great job of working for their customers and their communities and as a result of their hard work.”

The strike, which the Teamsters referred to as the largest strike in history, arrived during the busiest shopping season of the year, less than a week before Christmas.

In addition, the Teamsters said local unions were also picketing “hundreds” of Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide.

Overall, nearly 9,000 Amazon workers, across 20 bargaining units, have affiliated with the powerful Teamsters union, according to the union. The striking workers represent less than 1% of the company’s 1.5 million employees worldwide, including 800,000 in the United States.

The National Labor Relations Board officially certified the union representing workers, but Amazon has appealed that ruling. The union said Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline for contract negotiations to begin.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” O’Brien said in a statement Thursday announcing the strike. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”

In a statement to ABC News, an Amazon spokesperson said the Teamsters illegally coerced workers to join the union. The company in a statement described the people walking the picket lines as “almost entirely outsiders—not Amazon employees or partners.”

“The truth is that [the Teamsters] were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous,” Amazon said. “We appreciate all our team’s great work to serve their customers and communities, and are continuing to focus on getting customers their holiday orders.”

Amazon’s market cap is $2.35 trillion. Shares of the retailer ticked up $2.77 on Thursday, climbing about 1.26%. The stock was down about 2 in premarket trading on Friday.

ABC News’ Taylor Dunn and Soo Youn contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Workers affiliated with the Teamsters began striking at Amazon facilities across the country Thursday morning — in what the union calls the largest strike in history against the online shopping giant less than a week before Christmas.

In a news release Thursday evening, the union said “thousands of Teamsters” were taking part in the strikes at facilities in New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois, but did not provide specific numbers. Later, the union said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien would join striking members at a facility in the City of Industry, California, on Friday as the strike was set to enter its second day.

In addition, the Teamsters said local unions were also picketing “hundreds” of Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide.

Amazon said the strike was not expected to impact operations and claimed the strikes were being attended by outside organizers.

“What you see here are almost entirely outsiders—not Amazon employees or partners—and the suggestion otherwise is just another lie from the Teamsters,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a emailed statement a few hours after the strikes began Thursday morning. “The truth is that they were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous. We appreciate all our team’s great work to serve their customers and communities, and are continuing to focus on getting customers their holiday orders.”

Overall, nearly 9,000 Amazon workers, across 20 bargaining units, have affiliated with the powerful International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union said. The striking workers represent less than 1% of the company’s 1.5 million employees worldwide, including 800,000 in the United States.

The Teamsters, announcing the move earlier this week, billed it as the “largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history” and said it came after Amazon refused to bargain with workers organized with the Teamsters.

The union said workers are picketing for higher wages, improved benefits and safer work conditions.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” O’Brien said in a statement Thursday announcing the strike. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”

In a statement to ABC News, an Amazon spokesperson said the Teamsters illegally coerced workers to join the union.

“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement Thursday. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.”

The spokesperson said the company has increased the starting minimum wage for workers in fulfillment centers and transportation employees by 20% and in September increased average base wage to $22 per hour.

The announced strike by the Teamsters comes after workers at several Amazon facilities authorized the walkout.

The facility in New York City’s Staten Island was Amazon’s first-ever unionized warehouse. Workers there have said the company has refused to recognize the union and negotiate a contract after workers there voted to unionize in 2022.

The National Labor Relations Board officially certified the union representing workers at the facility, but Amazon has appealed that ruling.

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(NEW YORK) — The Teamsters said workers will begin striking at Amazon facilities across the country Thursday morning — in what the union calls the largest strike against the online shopping giant less than a week before Christmas.

The Teamsters said the strike will begin early Thursday at several facilities, including in New York City, Atlanta, three locations in Southern California, one in San Francisco and one in Skokie, Illinois.

In addition, the Teamsters said local unions would also put up primary picket lines at hundreds of Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide.

In a news release, the union calls it the “largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history” and says it comes after Amazon has refused to bargain with workers organized with the Teamsters.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien in a statement. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”

In a statement to ABC News, an Amazon spokesperson said the Teamsters have illegally coerced workers to join the union.

“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.”

The spokesperson said the company has increased the starting minimum wage for workers in fulfillment centers and transportation employees by 20% and in September increased average base wage to $22 per hour.

The announced strike by the Teamsters comes after workers at several Amazon facilities authorized the walkout.

The Teamsters said nearly 10,000 Amazon workers across the country have joined the union.

The facility in New York City’s Staten Island was Amazon’s first-ever unionized warehouse. Workers there have said the company has refused to recognize the union and negotiate a contract after workers there voted to unionize in 2022.

The National Labor Relations Board officially certified the union representing workers at the facility, but Amazon has appealed that ruling.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, delivering relief for borrowers at the central bank’s last meeting before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month.

The central bank predicted fewer rate cuts next year than it had previously indicated, however, suggesting concern that inflation may prove more difficult to bring under control than policymakers thought just a few months ago.

The major stock indexes inched downward in trading after the announcement in response to the forecast of fewer rate cuts.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank may proceed at a slower pace with future rate cuts, in part because it has now lowered interest rates a substantial amount.

Powell also said a recent resurgence of inflation influenced the Fed’s expectations, noting that some policymakers considered uncertainty tied to potential policy changes under Trump.

“It’s common-sense thinking that when the path is uncertain, you get a little slower,” Powell said. “It’s not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking around in a dark room full of furniture.”

The move marked the third consecutive interest rate cut since the Fed opted to start dialing back its fight against inflation in the fall. The Fed has lowered interest rates by a percentage point in recent months.

However, the Fed’s forecast on Wednesday said it anticipates only a half a percentage point of rate cuts next year and another half-percent cut in 2026.

The benchmark interest rate helps determine loan payments for everything from credit cards to mortgages. Even after recent cuts, the Fed’s interest rate remains at a historically high level of between 4.25% and 4.5%.

The size of the interest rate cut on Wednesday matched investors’ expectations.

The latest rate cut may prove the Fed’s last for many months, experts previously told ABC News.

A recent bout of stubborn inflation could prompt central bankers to freeze interest rates in place as they bring price increases under control. A humming economy, meanwhile, shows little need for the jolt of activity that lower borrowing costs may provide, the experts said.

Consumer prices climbed 2.7% in November compared to a year ago, marking two consecutive months of accelerating inflation, government data last week showed.

Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of more than 9% in June 2022. But the recent uptick has reversed some progress made at the start of this year that had landed price increases right near the Fed’s target of 2%.

In August, Trump said the president should have a role in setting interest rates. The proposal would mark a major shift from the longstanding norm of political independence at the Fed.

Powell struck a defiant tone last month when posed with the question of whether he would resign from his position if asked by Trump.

“No,” Powell told reporters assembled at a press conference in Washington, D.C., blocks away from the White House.

When asked whether Trump could fire or demote him, Powell retorted: “Not permitted under the law.”

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(NEW YORK) — The price of bitcoin topped $107,000 for the first time this week, climbing to a fresh high days after President-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed support for a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve akin to its strategic oil reserve.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has seen its price climb more than 50% since the election of Trump, who voiced support for bitcoin on the campaign trail.

Proponents of a potential government stockpile of bitcoin say it could diversify the nation’s financial holdings and prevent other countries from dominating the ascendant digital currency market. Critics warn, however, that the highly volatile asset lacks the type of financial or national security import that would warrant a strategic reserve.

Here’s what to know about a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve, according to experts:

How would a bitcoin strategic reserve work?

A U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would amount to a substantial government holding of bitcoin similar to the country’s stockpile of oil or gold.

A strategic reserve typically acts as a safeguard against an emergency shortage or another sudden event that would require the government to draw upon its stockpile of a given asset.

For instance, the strategic petroleum reserve, or SPR, was established after the Arab Oil Embargo triggered an energy crisis in the early 1970s with devastating consequences for the U.S. economy. The SPR, in turn, provides an emergency source of oil that protects the U.S. against a sudden supply crunch.

A bitcoin strategic reserve would help ensure the U.S. plays a significant role in the cryptocurrency market, which supporters view as a fast-growing part of the global financial system, Nik Bhatia, a professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California who studies cryptocurrency, told ABC News.

“Bitcoin has now become the largest decentralized asset in human history,” Bhatia said.

“Having some ownership in the network would be natural for the U.S. given its leadership in technology,” Bhatia added, citing the nation’s role in the invention of the internet.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of a bitcoin strategic reserve?

Speaking at a pro-bitcoin conference in July, Trump said a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would ensure the country exerts influence over bitcoin and prevents China from controlling the digital currency market.

Supporters of a bitcoin strategic reserve also say the asset would help diversify the nation’s financial holdings, protecting it from the potential decline in value of other assets, such as the U.S. dollar or gold.

Some proponents have said bitcoin holdings could help the U.S. pay down its national debt, since the price of bitcoin has recently climbed.

“While U.S. adversaries acquire traditional gold from a position of relative financial weakness, the U.S. can countermove by stockpiling digital gold in a way that amplifies its incumbent financial strength,” the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that supports a bitcoin strategic reserve, said earlier this year.

Some critics say bitcoin, launched 15 years ago, remains a relatively new asset lacking the kind of social utility or financial import that would necessitate a strategic reserve.

“You’re going to be hard pressed to say someone needs bitcoin the day-to-day way that they need petroleum,” Ananya Kumar, deputy director for future of money at the GeoEconomics Center, a part of the nonpartisan Atlantic Council, told ABC News.

Since the price of bitcoin is highly volatile, a large purchase of the asset could end up threatening the nation’s financial stability rather than safeguarding it, some critics say.

When asked about forecasts of future bitcoin gains that could ease the nation’s debt, Kumar says the long-term outlook for bitcoin remains uncertain. “The coin’s price has obviously been rising over time, but I’m not sure if that rise will continue,” Kumar said.

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(NEW YORK) — The federal appeals court that last week rejected TikTok’s attempt to overthrow its pending ban denied the company’s request Friday that sought to pause the ruling and the Jan. 19 deadline for a sale.

The company, which has been forced by a federal law to sell to a new owner or be banned in the U.S., requested the emergency pause earlier in the week arguing it would afford the Supreme Court time to determine whether it should review the law.

However, the D.C. Circuit judges said that Congress made a “deliberate choice” to set a 270-day time frame for the sale-or-ban, “subject to one (and only one) extension.”

“The petitioners have not identified any case in which a court, after rejecting a constitutional challenge to an Act of Congress, has enjoined the Act from going into effect while review is sought in the Supreme Court,” the judges wrote in the unsigned order.

TikTok has not immediately commented about the order.

The Justice Department asked the court to reject TikTok’s request for a temporary injunction.

“The Court is familiar with the relevant facts and law and has definitively rejected petitioners’ constitutional claims in a thorough decision that recognizes the critical national-security interests underlying the Act,” the DOJ’s attorneys said.

The Justice Department did not immediately comment on the decision either.

The case would have to go to the Supreme Court if TikTok chooses to appeal, which could delay the Jan. 19 deadline.

President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was part of a massive, $95 billion foreign aid package passed by Congress, on April 24.

As part of the act, TikTok, which has over 170 million U.S. users, is forced to sell the company from its current Chinese-based owner ByteDance.

The president and some congressional leaders have argued that the ultimatum against TikTok was necessary because of security concerns about ByteDance and its connections to the Chinese government.

ByteDance rebutted those allegations in its lawsuit, arguing there has been no tangible evidence that the app poses any security risk and filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department in May.

The law has prompted major protests from TikTok’s American users who have defended the app.

President-elect Donald Trump once proposed a TikTok ban when he was in office but has changed his stance and signaled he would reverse the ban once in office. A reversal, however, would require approval from both houses of Congress.

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(WASHINGTON) — A fresh inflation reading this week flashed a warning: Price increases are rising again, just when the Federal Reserve had appeared close to declaring “mission accomplished” in its yearslong fight to lower them.

In theory, the trend would prompt the Fed to raise rates, or at least hold them steady, when central bankers meet next week. High interest rates, after all, are the main tool the Fed has used to ratchet inflation down from its pandemic-era heights.

Instead, investors peg the chances of a rate cut next week at an overwhelming 98%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.

The reason is clear, experts told ABC News: Interest rates will remain historically high even after a small cut. The Fed likely does not view a mild uptick of inflation this fall as enough to deviate from a path of rate cuts it laid out earlier this year, they added.

“I don’t think the recent inflation has diverged enough from what the Fed expected to change its outlook,” William English, a professor of finance at Yale University and a former Fed official, told ABC News.

Consumer prices rose 2.7% in November compared to a year ago, marking two consecutive months of rising inflation, government data this week showed.

Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of more than 9% in June 2022. But the recent uptick has reversed some progress made at the start of this year that had landed price increases right near the Fed’s target of 2%.

That progress had helped nudge the Fed toward its landmark shift to interest rate cuts.

In recent months, the Fed has cut its benchmark rate three-quarters of a percentage point, dialing back its fight against inflation and delivering some relief for borrowers saddled with high costs.

Even after the cuts, the benchmark rate stands between 4.5% and 4.75%, its highest level in nearly two decades. The high interest rates have kept borrowing costs high for everything from credit cards to mortgages.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at nearly 6.7%, well above an average rate four years ago of 2.6%, Freddie Mac data shows.

A small rate cut by the Fed would not meaningfully reduce mortgage payments for new loans, Yeva Nersisyan, a professor of economics at Franklin & Marshall College, told ABC News. In turn, the rate decision poses little risk of boosting demand for big-ticket items, like homes, which make up prices most immediately sensitive to lower rates. Other prices operate on a prolonged lag in response to changes in interest rates, she added.

“In that sense, a quarter of a percentage point cut or not really wouldn’t make a difference for inflation,” Nersisyan said.

The anticipated rate cut also reflects the Fed’s consideration of employment, which makes up the other component of its dual mandate besides inflation, English said. The unemployment rate has increased this year from 3.7% to 4.2%, though it remains at a historically low level. Hiring has slowed down but remained solid.

Lower interest rates are meant to stimulate economic activity over the long term, keep the economy growing and safeguard the labor market.

“They’ve been trying to balance two risks: One is that the economy slows more than they thought, and the other is that inflation proves more stubborn than they thought,” English said.

Still, experts cautioned that the recent uptick in inflation may delay or alter plans for rate cuts next year.

“Starting next year, they probably will take a more cautious outlook,” Nersisyan said.

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(NEW YORK) — Multiple “Wanted” signs featuring corporate executives posted in Manhattan this week included a grave warning, according to a New York Police Department bulletin. “Brian Thompson was denied his claim to life. Who will be denied next?” the signs said.

The threats of violence against CEOs followed an outpouring of criticism on social media directed at corporate leaders in the wake of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Many online also praised Luigi Mangione, the murder suspect, who assailed large corporations in writings found by police.

The wave of sympathy toward Mangione and hostility toward CEOs sparked debate about how a set of Americans had come to cheer, or at least condone, wishes of violence hurled toward corporate executives.

Some experts who spoke to ABC News attributed the anti-corporate outcry to a host of overlapping trends: widening wealth inequality and a perception of an economy rigged against everyday people, blistering rhetoric supercharged by social media and a populist strain of politics that faults elites.

“People feel that the system just isn’t built to favor regular folks. That’s underlying a lot of the macabre response that we’ve seen to this shooting,” Chris Jackson, senior vice president of public affairs for Ipsos in the U.S., told ABC News.

Other experts, however, have said the criticism voiced by a small but outspoken minority risked overstating the level of dissatisfaction with CEOs.

“Despite a vocal fringe, most Americans continue to admire businesses and their leaders as vital forces of innovation, prosperity and stability,” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor of management at Yale University who regularly convenes meetings of the nation’s top CEOs, wrote in the outlet Chief Executive.

Mangione was arrested by police on Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on gun charges, before being charged in New York with murder. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania, and has fought extradition to New York.

The online response to the murder has arrived at a moment of deep distrust about what determines economic outcomes, polls show. More than two-thirds of Americans think the nation’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful, an Ipsos survey last year found.

That perception of unfairness coincided with a rise in anti-corporate attitudes among members of both major parties, according to a 2022 Pew survey. Only 1 in 4 adults believed large businesses have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country, down from 36% just three years earlier, the poll showed.

“There’s growing dissatisfaction and anger toward top-level corporate management,” Daniel Kinderman, a professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware, told ABC News.

Such distrust, Kinderman said, traces in part to wide economic inequality. The wealthiest 10% of U.S. families control about 60% of the country’s wealth, a Congressional Budget Office report in October found.

“A lot of people are working hard, but they’re not really getting anywhere,” Kinderman said. “There’s a sense that the system is broken.”

Some experts have disputed explanations of the anti-CEO sentiment that attribute the phenomenon primarily to individuals’ economic outlook, however.

Sonnenfeld said the hostility owes to populists on both ends of the political spectrum who villainize corporate America.

“This unholy alliance between the far left and far right seems to think that businesses cannot succeed without doing something unethical or hurting others,” Sonnenfeld wrote in the outlet Chief Executive.

Much of the vitriol has targeted the health care industry, which aggravates consumers more than corporations overall, Tom Rogers, the founder of CNBC, told ABC News.

“I don’t really see another industry where the depth of disapproval and disgust that people have would be anywhere near as motivating in terms of the ill will toward CEOs,” Rogers said.

Social media also drew blame from experts, who faulted algorithms that they said often reward provocative posts with higher engagement and wider reach. Viral posts online have listed the names and salaries of several health insurance executives, the NYPD said in its bulletin this week.

Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who studies political violence, acknowledged the role of social media but said a focus on any single factor risks overlooking the contribution from others, including economic frustration and populist politics.

“It’s really an interwoven cocktail,” Pape said.

Pape pointed to recent bouts of political violence that in his view have weakened a longstanding taboo against it: the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; the assault of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in 2022; and a pair of assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.

“Political violence has become normal,” Pape said. “We’re on a slippery slope.”

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