The Wall Street Journal - 26.11.2019

***** TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2019 ~ VOL. CCLXXIV NO. 126 WSJ.com HHHH$4.

DJIA28066.47À190.85 0.7% NASDAQ8632.49À1.3% STOXX 600408.09À1.0% 10-YR. TREAS.À3/32, yield 1.763% OIL$58.01À$0.24 GOLD$1,456.60g$6.50 EURO$1.1015 YEN108.

$11 “Rhumami” cocktail, a

shaved ice margarita with six

drops of Yamaroku soy sauce

inside instead of salt on the

rim.

Coffee and olive

oil had their moment

in the sun, and now

it is soy sauce’s turn.

The humble Asian

condiment, as popu-

lar in Japan as

ketchup is in the

U.S., has been trans-

formed into a dollar-

a-drop luxury to be

fussed over like a

fine wine.

Soy sauce is typi-

cally made from a

mash of soybeans,

wheat, brine and

mold that is mixed

together, then left to ferment

for weeks, months or years, de-

PleaseturntopageA

said Chase Givens, a lawyer with the Cochran

Firm who attended the event. But the present-

ers’ track records mounting complex cases got

the audience’s attention.

Three years later, more than 42,700 farm-

ers, landscapers and home gardeners have

sued Bayer AG, Roundup’s manufacturer,

claiming the company knew the herbicide

posed a cancer risk but failed to warn con-

sumers. Bayer is contesting the lawsuits and

argues that scientific research and regulatory

reviews, including from the Environmental

Protection Agency, prove Roundup’s safety.

Behind the surge in lawsuits is a little-

known, sophisticated legal ecosystem that in-

cludes marketing firms that find potential cli-

ents, financiers who bankroll law firms,

PleaseturntopageA

BERLIN—German police are

investigating what experts are

calling one of the most devas-

tating jewelry heists in history

after nearly a hundred pieces

of 18th-century jewelry were

stolen from one of Europe’s

most renowned treasure col-

lections early Monday.

Police described a sophisti-

cated predawn burglary at the

500-year-old Royal Castle of

Dresden, where an unknown

number of thieves broke in

through a window, descended

to the Grünes Gewölbe gallery,

took an ax to a jewelry case

and within minutes had cap-

tured at least three sets of

priceless Baroque-era jewelry

before fleeing the scene in an

Audi A6.

Authorities have appointed

a special task force, named

Commission Epaulette, to in-

vestigate the crime. As of late

Monday, 20 criminologists

were working on the case and

no arrests had been made.

“It’s certainly one of the

greatest art robberies in his-

tory,” said Vivienne Becker, a

London-based jewelry histo-

rian and author, who said it is

impossible to calculate the

monetary value of the stolen

jewels because of their unique

historical value to the art of

goldsmithing.

“It’s as if someone broke

into the Louvre and had taken

the Mona Lisa,” she said.

Museum officials said it

wasn’t possible to put an exact

value on the stolen pieces,

which include several diamond

brooches, a string of pearls and

an epee with a diamond-en-

crusted hilt.

“We are talking here of ob-

jects of immeasurable cultural

value,” said Dirk Syndram, a

German art historian and di-

rector of the Grünes Gewölbe,

PleaseturntopageA

In late 2016, a group of plaintiffs’ lawyers

took the stage at the year’s largest gathering

of their colleagues to talk up a promising new

target.

For 30 minutes, they laid out arguments

linking the popular weedkiller Roundup to

cancer. An arm of the World Health Organiza-

tion had pegged Roundup’s main chemical in-

gredient as a probable carcinogen the year be-

fore, and it was quickly becoming a focus of

the plaintiffs’ bar.

Some product-liability lawyers in the audi-

ence in Las Vegas were skeptical. Tying expo-

sure from everyday products like Roundup to

cancer often is less straightforward than link-

ing illness to medications or medical devices,

BYSARARANDAZZO ANDJACOBBUNGE

Mass-Tort Machine Powers

Wave of Roundup Lawsuits

Weedkiller made by Bayer is target of a little-known, sophisticated

ecosystem that includes marketing firms to find clients

further shake trust in the plat-

form here and elsewhere.

Uber has long found itself in

the crosshairs of authorities

around the world over what

critics have said was a corpo-

rate culture, built under its co-

founder and former Chief Ex-

ecutive Travis Kalanick, that

tested the regulatory and legal

envelope of countries where it

operated. Chief Executive Dara

Khosrowshahi has said he is

trying to repair some of the

reputational damage that

strategy wrought.

In particular, he has courted

London authorities after years

of strained relations with city

officials, regulators and com-

petitors, including the city’s

ubiquitous black cabs. London

PleaseturntopageA

from primary vendors such as

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s

Ticketmaster.

While StubHub and Viagogo

are both big online ticket resell-

ers, StubHub is mostly present

in North America, whereas

closely held Viagogo is a signifi-

cant competitor internation-

ally—particularly in the U.K. and

Europe.

The deal would give the

companies, which together sell

hundreds of thousands of tick-

ets daily across more than 70

PleaseturntopageA

EBay Inc. said it agreed to

sell its StubHub business to Ge-

neva-based Viagogo Entertain-

ment Inc. for $4.05 billion, a

deal that would create a global

ticketing giant in the booming

live-events business.

StubHub and smaller rival Vi-

agogo are already among the

largest players in the growing

secondary market for sports,

music and live-entertainment

tickets, in which brokers and

fans resell tickets purchased

ByCara Lombardo,

Corrie Driebusch

andAnne Steele

StubHub Deal Forms

Global Ticket Giant

LONDON—Uber Technolo-

gies Inc. lost its license to op-

erate in London, one of its

most important markets, after

regulators found widespread

instances of unauthorized

drivers using the ride-hailing

app to pick up customers.

The company can continue

to operate in the city through

an appeals process that could

take months. Still, the public

reproach over a loophole in

Uber’s software threatens to

BYPARMYOLSON

London Deals

Blow to Uber,

Pulls License

Regulator cites 14,

trips with unauthorized

drivers; company keeps

operating as it appeals

Priests Convicted of Abuse at School for Deaf

JUSTICE: A court in Argentina on Monday convicted two Roman Catholic priests and a

gardener of abusing children at a school for the deaf. The Rev. Nicola Corradi, in wheelchair,

was sentenced to 42 years, the Rev. Horacio Corbacho, in white shirt at rear, was sentenced

to 45 years, and the gardener, Armando Gomez, in sweater, was sentenced to 18 years. A

DIEGO PARÉS/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Smoky. Barrel-Aged.

It’s Soy Sauce.

iii

Humble condiment puts on wine-like

airs and becomes a luxury item

BYSURYATAPABHATTACHARYA

ANDRIVERDAVIS

Dante Colombo, a bar man-

ager in Lawrence, Kan., was

surprised when his

bartender proposed

paying $50 for a cou-

ple of bottles of soy

sauce.

“It was a lot,” Mr.

Colombo recalls. “He

said this is legit soy

sauce. All the Kikko-

man stuff we see is

not legit. This is the

real stuff.” When Mr.

Colombo tasted the

sauce—which had

been aged in wooden

barrels on a remote

Japanese island—he

says “it made me im-

mediately hungry in a way no

other food had done.”

The bar then introduced its

BYSARAGERMANO

ANDKELLYCROW

Jewels

Stolen

In Castle

Heist

 Heard on the Street: Why

eBay is in cheap seats....... B

INSIDE

U.S. NEWS

Don McGahn, former

White House counsel,

must testify in House

inquiry, judge rules.A

Supreme Court blocks

congressional effort to

obtain Trump’s

financial records.A

DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES

Like a fine wine

Pay for technology infrastructure

as you use it and free up resources

for innovation.

Learn more at

DellTechnologies.com/OnDemand

Dell Technologies

ON DEMAND.

Introducing

CONTENTS

Banking & Finance. B

Business News...... B

Capital Journal...... A

Crossword.............. A

Heard on Street.. B

Life & Arts......... A9-

Markets..................... B

Media........................... B

Opinion.............. A13-

Sports........................ A

U.S. News............. A2-

Weather.................. A

World News... A6-7,

s2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

>

What’s

News

Subpoenas issuedto peo-

ple with ties to Giuliani indi-

cate a broad federal investiga-

tion into possible money

laundering, obstruction of jus-

tice and campaign-finance vi-

olations and show that pros-

ecutors are probing Giuliani’s

consulting businesses.A

A judge saidclose presi-

dential advisers aren’t im-

mune from being forced to

testify in congressional in-

quiries, a ruling that comes

as part of a lawsuit brought

by the House to enforce a

subpoena against McGahn.A

The Supreme Court

granted Trump’s emergency

request to suspend enforce-

ment of a House subpoena

seeking his financial records

from his accounting firm.A

Trump ordereddefense

officials to allow Gallagher

to remain a member of the

Navy SEALs, Esper said.A

German policeare inves-

tigating a jewel heist from one

of Europe’s most renowned

treasure collections.A

The FDA approveda

new drug for sickle cell dis-

ease, adding to a new wave

of treatments for the life-

threatening blood disorder.A

Newly electedlocal lead-

ers took to an embattled uni-

versity campus to support

Hong Kong protesters.A

Saudi authoritiesarrested

several high-profile people in

recent days, extending a bid

to sideline perceived oppo-

nents of the crown prince.A

An Argentine courtfound

two Catholic priests guilty

of sexually abusing children

at a school for the deaf.A

U

ber lostits license to op-

erate in London, one of its

most important markets, after

regulators found widespread

instances of unauthorized

drivers using the ride-hailing

app to pick up customers.A

EBay said it agreedto

sell its StubHub business to

Viagogo for $4.05 billion, a

deal that would create a

global ticketing giant.A

Schwab’s dealto buy TD

Ameritrade isn’t sitting well

with one key group: financial

advisers who park their cli-

ents’ money with the firms.B

Tiffany will facean over-

haul of underperforming

operations by LVMH’s Ar-

nault after its acquisition by

the European luxury firm.B

Prosecutors chargedfor-

mer Outcome Health execu-

tives with allegedly falsify-

ing data in a nearly $1 billion

scheme to defraud the firm’s

clients and investors.B

Starboard Valuehas

taken a stake in CVS and

held talks with the drug-

store and insurance com-

pany’s management.B

The Dow, S&P 500and

Nasdaq closed at fresh re-

cords, gaining 0.7%, 0.8%

and 1.3%, respectively.B

GE hiredMaersk execu-

tive Dybeck Happe to be CFO,

tapping another outsider to

help its turnaround effort.B

The SEC is takingan-

other stab at regulating

the use of derivatives by

investment funds.B

Fed officialsare in the final

stages of a search to fill two

staff jobs overseeing finan-

cial markets operations.B

Business&Finance

World-Wide