Feds and Penguin Random House set to square off over Simon & Schuster deal
CBSN
The government and publishing titan Penguin Random House are set to exchange opening salvos in a federal antitrust trial Monday as the Department of Justice seeks to block the biggest U.S. book publisher from absorbing rival Simon & Schuster.
At a time of mega-mergers and flashy high-tech corporate hookups, the biggest U.S. book publisher's plan to buy the fourth-largest for a mere $2.2 billion may seem somewhat quaint. But the deal represents such a key test for the Biden administration's antitrust policy that the Justice Department is calling an out-of-the-ordinary witness to "The Stand": horror master Stephen King.
The renowned author whose genre-transcending works are published by Simon & Schuster is expected to testify during the weekslong trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., and is likely to draw wide attention.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.