State to launch a quantum computing project in Holyoke

BIOTECH

Biogen chief executive Christopher Viehbacher is promoting the Cambridge-based biotech’s chief accounting officer, Robin Kramer, to be its next chief financial officer, now that the current one has announced plans to retire in February. Biogen on Monday announced that Michael McDonnell, executive vice president and CFO, is retiring as of Feb. 28 after four-plus years in the role; Kramer will take over as CFO at that point. Viehbacher said Kramer’s “understanding of our business, coupled with her breadth of knowledge and leadership experience” gives him confidence that she’ll do a great job in the CFO position. Prior to joining Biogen in 2018, Kramer held senior finance roles at Hertz Global Holdings, Fisher Scientific (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific), and Gillette Co. (now part of Procter & Gamble). — JON CHESTO

FAST FOOD

McDonald’s says Quarter Pounders will return to menus at all restaurants this week after ruling out beef patties as the source of a multistate E. coli outbreak that has sickened dozens and left one person dead. The fast food chain said it combined its supply chain tracing data with information from government bodies, including an analysis by the Colorado Department of Agriculture that found no E. coli in dozens of samples from multiple lots of the restaurant’s fresh and frozen beef patties. The E. coli infections have been linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders and appear to stem from the slivered onions served on top of the sandwich. The company had stopped selling the burgers in about 20 percent of its more than 13,000 US restaurants, and it said on Sunday they will return without onions. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

AUTOMOTIVE

Volkswagen plans to close at least three factories in Germany as Europe’s biggest automaker tries to slash expenses to become more competitive. Proposals to fix the struggling namesake VW brand include a 10 percent wage cut and shrinking all remaining sites in Germany, said works council chief and supervisory board member Daniela Cavallo. The plans underscore the extent of the crisis at Volkswagen, which has bungled a transition to electric vehicles and lost relevance in China, where it’s losing market share to local automakers. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

DEI

After a backlash against DEI programs by conservative activists, a majority of executives in a new survey said that their companies have changed how the initiatives are described with reduced emphasis on racial diversity. Among more than 60 executives, slightly above 50 percent said their firms adjusted terminology, with another 20 percent considering similar changes, according to a survey by the Conference Board. In many cases, companies are dropping “equity” from descriptions because it’s seen as the most controversial term, said Andrew Jones, a senior researcher at the Conference Board’s ESG Center and co-author of the study. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Philips stock fell the most in 26 years after the medical technology firm slashed its annual sales-growth forecast on tepid demand in China. Philips expects comparable sales to grow as much as 1.5 percent in 2024, down from a previous forecast of as much as 5 percent. Order intake decreased 2 percent in the third quarter due to the China slump, it said Monday. The manufacturer is trying to regain shareholder and consumer trust after paying less than expected to settle US claims linked to faulty sleep apnea devices. The recall cost Philips around $5 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations. The company is still being investigated by the US Department of Justice over the issue and has not yet made any financial provisions for that matter. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

Voters in Liechtenstein have voted to withdraw state funding from the tiny country’s public radio broadcaster, a decision that leaves the station’s future in doubt. In a referendum on Sunday, 55.4 percent of participants voted to scrap legislation that grants state funding to Radio Liechtenstein at the end of 2025, official results showed. The measure was initiated by a small opposition party, Demokraten pro Liechtenstein. It argued that Radio Liechtenstein is swallowing more than 70 percent of state funding for the media, giving it an unjustified advantage against private media, and that it should be privatized. The government argued before the vote that it’s questionable whether Radio Liechtenstein could be privatized successfully, “because it is hardly possible for a private radio station in Liechtenstein to generate enough advertising income.” It says Radio Liechtenstein had an average 11,400 daily listeners in the country in 2021, the last year for which figures are available. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

ENTERTAINMENT

California aims to more than double annual tax credits for film and television production in the state to about $750 million, Governor Gavin Newsom said Sunday at a media event in Los Angeles. “We needed to make a statement and do something that was meaningful,” Newsom, a Democrat, said at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles, describing the recent decline of content production in California as a crisis. Michael Hackman, whose Hackman Capital Partners owns the Raleigh location and 600 other stages around the world, said the augmented rebates were “a good start.” The increase from about $330 million is subject to the state’s approval of California’s proposed 2025-2026 budget and would be the first major overhaul of the incentive program since 2014. It follows contact with local legislators and industry unions, many members of which have been without work in recent months. Last year’s twin actors and writers strikes, as well as a pullback in content spending as entertainment giants such as Walt Disney Co. and Paramount Global seek to improve the profitability of their streaming services, accelerated a decline in California’s movie and TV productions. — BLOOMBERG NEWS