Amazon’s new college initiative, Holmes trial delayed, food delivery apps sue NYC

Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman breaks down Friday’s business headlines.

Video transcript

JULIE HYMAN: The criminal fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has been paused just days after it began. One juror said he may have had exposure to COVID-19, although his over-the-counter test showed a negative result. Two other jurors have potential conflicts, including one who said she will not be paid while serving in what could be a three-month trial. Holmes has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Amazon is offering to pay college tuition for its employees. The measure starts in January and covers all of the cost of tuitions, fees, and textbooks. It's being offered to Amazon's 750,000 US hourly employees in its warehouses and distribution centers. They're eligible after 90 days of working there. The company previously had a program to pay for 95% of higher education costs.

And Doordash, Grubhub, Uber Eats-- they're all suing New York City. At issue is the city's law that caps the amount of commissions those services can charge restaurants, which the app say is harmful government overreach. NYC last month made the cap, temporarily put in place early in the pandemic, permanent. Restaurants can charge no more than 23% an order-- that's 15% for delivery, 5% for listing on the apps, and 3% for credit card processing fees. The company say the limit has cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. No word on what the restaurants are saying at this point about not having to pay the higher fees, Brian Sozzi.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah. I know our producer, Val, is excited about paying $20 for her Starbucks Oatly drink after these fees eventually go away, perhaps.