Actresses Ziyi Zhang, Kate Bosworth and Thandie Newton joined LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton brass, Beijing power players, Hong Kong and New York socialites and an army of press for a sunset fashion show atop the Great Wall of China staged by designer Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi. The extravaganza is said to have cost upwards of $10 million. The show was capped off with giant double-F logos projected onto neighboring mountains. "This is about positioning Fendi for the next 50 years," says Fendi CEO Michael Burke. With a section of the awe-inspiring, 4,000-mile-long structure snaking up the mountain …

Nike scored another goal in its stated mission to become the leading global soccer brand before the 2010 World Cup. It agreed to buy Umbro, which supplies equipment to the England soccer team, and will pay $582 million in cash. Over the past decade, Nike has been snapping at the heels of Adidas, the German sportswear giant that has strong ties with Fifa, the world football governing body. "Umbro is a brand with a powerful heritage and deep experience in the world's most popular sport," says Nike CEO Mark Parker. Adidas decided not to bid for Umbro. Nike …

The European Court of Justice cleared the way for Porsche to take over Volkswagen today by overturning a 47-year-old German law that protected Europe's biggest carmaker against hostile takeovers. Now that Porsche is free to increase its voting stake in VW, analysts predict it will move to become its majority owner. Porsche chairman Wendelin Wiedeking has declared he wants Volkswagen to rival Toyota--a grand ambition that would require VW, at a minimum, to recapture its lost presence in the American market. Wiedeking has little patience for money-losing models like the Phaeton, Volkswagen's luxury sedan, which never held its …

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to announce new software today called System Center Mobile Device Manager that could help businesses more easily install and update software and control security features on mobile phones. Ballmer also will detail a partnership with start-up Enterprise Mobile Inc. that will help businesses set up Microsoft software for mobile devices. Both Microsoft and Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry devices, are increasingly focusing on the consumer--an area that both companies have long neglected. At issue is whether the surge of innovation in mobile-phone software, services and handsets aimed at consumers …

Folks can rent the latest movies releases for $1 a night from movie-dispensing machines at almost 200 Publix stores Miami area. It's part of a pilot program that's touted as a convenient, cheap, no-hassle alternative to Blockbuster's stranglehold over the country's $8.4 billion movie rental business. Three factors drive the business: price, location and no membership required. The $1 rentals are cheaper than at other outlets. The kiosks are in places most consumers visit as part of their normal routine, primarily grocers. And customers aren't locked into a monthly fee as with subscription services, and need no membership …

As gas prices rise, small, low-cost cars have abruptly become the next frontier for the global auto industry after almost 20 years in which major carmakers dismissed such vehicles as a low-profit afterthought. Demand for small cars is expected to grow by 30% by 2013, mostly from developing markets, according to auto research firm CSM Worldwide. Demand for SUVs is expected to drop 4%. Tokyo-based Nissan has embarked on a particularly aggressive strategy. Nissan--whose fortunes surged on its big SUVs and high-performance sports cars--is trying to reinvent itself as a maker of low-priced "entry cars" aimed at the …

Microsoft this morning finally agreed to comply with a landmark 2004 antitrust decision by the European Commission. Among other things, it will make available to so-called "open source" software developers information they need to make their programs work smoothly with Microsoft's Windows operating system for personal computers. Microsoft has also sliced high royalties for that interoperability information, the Commission says. The defeated software giant announced it would not appeal against a decisive European Union court ruling two months ago that backed the Commission. "As from today, Microsoft has established compliance, no doubt about that," says EU Competition …

Pfizer's announcement last week that it would stop making and marketing Exubera, an inhaled insulin, represents a sharp break with industry precedent and could foster a sense it doesn't work well with partners like Nektar Therapeutics, from which it licensed the drug. Drug makers usually let under-performing products languish on the market, happy to squeeze out whatever sales they can. The drastic--and costly--step of pulling products usually is reserved for cases involving significant safety concerns, or in response to regulators' demands. CEO Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler's public comments indicate he aims to bring something else new to …

VF Corp., which acquired the Seven for all Mankind label in August, faces a familiar dilemma in the notoriously fickle fashion world: how to sustain buzz and expand beyond a single hot product--in this case, $100-plus jeans. The world's biggest apparel company and owner of brands including Wrangler and Lee has rolled out $795 Seven handbags and $332 cotton dresses in high-end department stores and boutiques. Expansions of its men's and kids' non-denim collections and e-commerce operations are in the works. It has launched a line of sneakers, shoes and boots, and also plans to open 100 branded …

The celebrity status of comedian Jerry Seinfeld's wife, Jessica, and an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" have helped propel her "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook to the top of bestseller lists. But a number of readers have pointed out some similarities between Seinfeld's book--published this month by an imprint of HarperCollins--and "The Sneaky Chef" by Missy Chase Lapine, which was twice submitted--and rejected by--HarperCollins and ultimately published by an imprint of Perseus Books. Both cookbooks are targeted to parents of picky eaters. The basic concepts for several of Lapine's recipes--such as avocado in chocolate pudding--also appear in recipes offered …