The giant insurer MetLife said on Tuesday that it was exploring spinning off its retail life and annuity business in the United States because of financial pressures it is facing under regulations put in place in the wake of the financial crisis. It is considering several options, including an initial public offering to create a company that would, presumably, be better able to compete with smaller life insurance and annuity providers who are not subject to the same regulatory restrictions.

TGI Fridays has named hotel executive Robert Palleschi as its president and CEO to succeed Nick Shepherd, who stepped down in October. Palleschi, who joins the Carrollton, Texas, chain Feb. 8, was most recently head of global full-service brands for the McLean, Va.-based Hilton Worldwide Corp. Palleschi said TGI Fridays' remodeling and refranchising program was one of the factors that attracted him to the company. TGI Friday'shas 490 domestic restaurants, which are about 90% franchised.

Budget airline Ryanair has appointed a marketing director from the budget supermarket chain Lidl to be its new marketing operations director. Matthias Wenk, who will join the airline on Jan. 18, has spent 10 years at Lidl Ireland where he was associate marketing director and head of advertising. At Ryanair, he will oversee all advertising, brand communications and sales and marketing. Ryanair's chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said the company is growing traffic, destinations and routes across Europe.

Coach, which started as a handbag maker, is touting itself as a full lifestyle label. A new ad campaign highlights the lifestyle line Coach 1941, which includes handbags, apparel and footwear. The push includes a 30-second spot which will begin airing in stores on Monday, ahead of the collection's February sales debut. Print ads will roll out in February and March fashion magazines and be supported by global billboards and social media.

Jon Krafcik, former Hyundai executive and now Google's car project leader, says the company is going to bring autonomous cars to market by making some serious alliances in the near term. Krafcik, speaking at the post-auto show Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, said partnerships will be a 2016 priority. This could suggest that Google, which has been clear about not wanting to wade into the car-maker quagmire, is searching for companies already in those waters to build cars that would use Google software.

L'Oreal has signed up 69-year-old Hollywood actor and human rights campaigner Susan Sarandon as the latest in its line-up of celebrity ambassadors. Sarandon joins over-60 female celebrities Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton, and Jane Fonda as model and spokesperson for the brand, part of its commitment to combating ageism.

India has an Amazon competitor. It's called Flipkart, and its co-founder Sachin Bansal has stepped down as CEO. He will be replaced by his co-founder, Binny Bansal (no relation). Bansal will become executive chairman and "mentor the senior leadership of the company and look for new investment opportunities," the company said in the announcement. Binny Bansal, formerly chief operating officer, will now run the business day to day.

East Coast Wings & Grill, a North Carolina-based casual family dining restaurant with an emphasis on buffalo wings, announced the promotion of Stacey Kane to chief marketing officer. Kane joined East Coast Wings & Grill last February as VP marketing. The company has had 12 consecutive years of positive same store sales. In her new capacity, Kane will continue her current responsibilities of overseeing brand positioning, digital marketing, customer acquisition, and social media platforms.

David Bowie was a business entrepreneur and tech visionary who understood the what the Internet would mean long before the Internet age. He did so before the entertainment industry or lawmakers attempted to wrap their heads around it. "The Internet carries the flag of being subversive and possibly rebellious, and chaotic and nihilistic," Bowie said.

Denny's is predicting fiscal 2015 will produce its highest sales growth in more than a decade, with systemwide domestic same-store sales rising 5.8%. The preliminary results were released in advance of a presentation to Wall Street analysts at the annual ICR conference in Orlando, Fla., which began on Monday.