Starbucks raises wages, Activision Blizzard CEO details pay cut, Third Point buys stake in Shell

Yahoo FInance's Julie Hyman breaks down Thursday's trending stories.

Video transcript

JULIE HYMAN: Starbucks has become the latest company to announce increases in pay for its employees. It announced plans to increase wages for all workers to $15 starting by the summer of 2022. This is going to bring the average pay to nearly $17 per hour with average hourly rates ranging between $15 and $23.

The move comes as the service industry continues to struggle to hire and retain workers. And by the way, Starbucks is going to be reporting its third-quarter earnings. That's due after the bell today. Those shares down just slightly ahead of that.

Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick asked the board of the company to cut his total compensation to $62,500 until the company meets its gender-related goals, but don't cry for Kotick. He received $154.6 million last year. All of this coming after the company failed to convince a California court last week to halt an ongoing sexual harassment and discrimination case. Activision was sued by the California civil rights agency Back in July. The company recently ousted 20 employees and called off one of its biggest conventions of the year.

And the CEO of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell pushed back against a suggestion by hedge fund Third Point that it split into two entities. Ben van Beurden told investors that they're better served by Shell's legacy oil and gas assets remaining tethered to lower carbon energy investments. Dan Loeb's Third Point said yesterday it had taken a stake in Shell worth over $500 million.

All of this as major oil companies continue to face pressure to reduce fossil-fuel investments amid concerns about climate change. And by the way, investors-- or executives, excuse me, from Exxon, BP, Chevron, and Shell are facing Congress this morning for a hearing about disinformation and the role of fossil fuels in global warming. That hearing will begin at 10:30 AM.