During the lockdown and increased frequency of working from home, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Best Buy announced that its US online sales (increased purchase of computers, printers, tablets, fitness tech, and other gear) for the Q2 of 2020 had tripled. Despite these revenues, Best Buy has laid off over 5,000 employees in early 2021, along with forcing many others into part-time positions.
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was occurring in the Capitol, Trump held a rally nearby where he called for the election result to be overturned and called on his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell.". Thousands of those supporters then stormed the Capitol around 1 pm, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the violence, Trump posted mixed messages on Twitter and Facebook, eventually tweeting to the rioters at 6 pm, "go home with love & in peace," but describing them as "great patriots" and "very special," while attributing the events as being caused by a fraudulent election.
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House. The House voted to impeach Trump on January 13 with a majority of 232 to 197, making him the first U.S. officeholder to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachment – the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party. The Senate trial is scheduled to begin in the week of February 8.
Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. At the age of 78, he is the oldest person to have assumed the office. He is the second Catholic president (the other being John F. Kennedy) and the first president whose home state is Delaware.
On 26 January, Ibrahimović was involved in a confrontation with former Manchester United teammate Romelu Lukaku in Milan's Coppa Italia quarter-final match against Inter. Following a foul committed by Lukaku late in the first half, he and Ibrahimović could be heard exchanging insults as the pair clashed heads and had to be restrained by their respective teammates.
On February 2, 2021, Bezos sent an email to all Amazon employees, telling them the transition would give him "the time and energy he needs to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and his other passions."
On 16 February 2021, Philip was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital as a "precautionary measure" after feeling unwell.
In February 2021, her dog walker Ryan Fischer was hospitalized after getting shot in Hollywood. Two of her French Bulldogs, Koji and Gustav, were taken while a third dog named Miss Asia escaped and was subsequently recovered by police. Gaga later offered a $500,000 reward for the return of her pets.
Two days later, on February 26, a woman brought the dogs to a police station in Los Angeles. Both were unharmed. Los Angeles Police initially said the woman who dropped off the dogs did not appear to be involved with the shooting, but on April 29, she was one of five people charged in connection with the shooting and theft.
On 1 March 2021, Philip was transferred by ambulance to St Bartholomew's Hospital to continue treatment for an infection, and additionally to undergo "testing and observation" relating to a pre-existing heart condition.
In March 2021, Zoom announced that from 23th August 2021 Zoom will stop selling new and upgraded products directly to customers in mainland China.
On March 3, 2021, it was announced that Dollar Tree had quietly introduced a combination Family Dollar/Dollar Tree store concept with the first one opening in late 2019. Dollar Tree has opened and operated nearly 50 locations by the end of 2020, primarily in small towns with populations of just a few thousand people.
On March 5, 2021, Reddit announced that it had appointed Drew Vollero, who has worked at Snapchat's parent company Snap as its first Chief Financial Officer weeks after the site was thrust into the spotlight due to its role in the GameStop trading frenzy.
In April 2021, Uber said that its employees are expected to return to the office by September 13 and to work at least three days per week from the office. Later in the month, Uber announced it would be expanding upon its food-delivery features to further integrate them with its ride service to accommodate a vaccinated public. Vaccination appointments will be facilitated through the app as well.
Philip died on the morning of 9 April 2021 at Windsor Castle, aged 99, two months before his 100th birthday. He was the longest-serving royal consort in British history. In private, the Queen described her husband's death as "having left a huge void in her life".
Bitcoin price drops to $30,000 at one point following suggestions that Tesla has sold or will sell its Bitcoin holdings and a new set of regulations from the Chinese government to support their cryptocurrency crackdown.
Under Arnault's leadership, LVMH has grown to become the largest company by market capitalization in the Eurozone, with a record of 313 billion euros ($382 billion) as of May 2021.
Arnault has promoted decisions towards decentralizing the group's brands as a business strategy. As a result of these measures, brands under the LVMH umbrella such as Tiffany are still viewed as independent firms with their own history. For a very brief period on May 24, 2021, Arnault temporarily became the richest man in the world, surpassing Jeff Bezos with a net worth of 187.3 billion dollars. A few hours later, however, Amazon stock ticked up and Jeff Bezos retook the spot and reclaimed it.
In June 2021, Facebook announced it would do a test launch of targeted advertisements in applications for Oculus Quest. The company claims that movement data, voice recordings, and raw images from the headset will not be used in targeting. Instead, the ads will rely on information from the user's Facebook profile and all user activity related to Oculus - installing apps, viewing content, subscription to apps, adding an app to the checkout cart or wishlist. The company has not stated whether ads will appear only in applications or in the Oculus Home experience as well.
In June 2021, Gopinath was appointed to the World Bank–International Monetary Fund High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth, co-chaired by Mari Pangestu, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, and Nicholas Stern.
On June 24, 2021, during an earnings call with investors, CEO John Donahoe stated that "Nike is a brand that is of China and for China", in response to a question about competing against Chinese brands.
In July 2021, Xiaomi surpassed Apple, making Xiaomi the second-largest smartphone maker in the world according to Canalys. Later that month, Counterpoint announced that Xiaomi also surpassed Apple for the first time in Europe, making them the second-largest in Europe as well.
On 10 July, Argentina defeated hosts Brazil 1–0 in the final, giving Messi his first major international title and Argentina's first since 1993, as well as his nation's joint record 15th Copa América overall.
On 11 July 2021, Richard Branson took a flight with Beth Moses, Sirisha Bandla, and Colin Bennett and reached the edge of space (86 kilometers or 53 miles) on a Virgin Galactic spacecraft called VSS Unity. This made him the first billionaire founder of a space company to travel to the edge of space.
Aline is a 2021 French-Canadian musical comedy-drama film co-written, directed by, and starring Valérie Lemercier. A fictionalized portrayal of the life of Céline Dion, Lemercier plays "Aline Dieu", a Canadian singer who rises to international superstardom. Production companies are Rectangle Productions, Gaumont, TF1 Films Production,De L'Huile, Caramel Film and Belga Productions.
On August 2, 2021, Kroger announced that it had elected Elaine Chao, formerly Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and Secretary of Transportation under President Donald Trump, to its board of directors.
On 5 August, Barcelona announced that Messi would not be staying at the club, even though both parties reached an agreement and were due to sign a contract that day. The club cited financial and structural obstacles posed by La Liga regulations as a reason for Messi's departure. Club president Joan Laporta also blamed the previous board for Messi's exit by saying "the basis of everything is the calamitous and disastrous situation left by the previous board", he added saying "the expected debt is much higher and we had some sports contracts in place that meant we had no margin on salary".
On 10 August, Messi joined the French club Paris Saint-Germain. He signed a two-year deal until June 2023 with an option for an extra year. Messi chose 30 as his squad number, the same he wore as a teenager when he made his senior debut for Barcelona.
On 27 August 2021, Manchester United announced they had reached an agreement with Juventus to re-sign Ronaldo, subject to agreement of personal terms, visa, and medical. The transfer was reported as costing an initial £12.85 million, with a two-year contract plus an optional year, and was confirmed on 31 August.
On 9 September 2020, Jolie made a generous donation to two young boys, who were running a lemonade stand in London. The boys were raising money through the stall for the people of Yemen, as the country was on the brink of a humanitarian crisis caused by the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels.
On 28 September, Messi scored his first goal for the club, a strike from the edge of the 18-yard box after playing a one-two with Kylian Mbappé, in a 2–0 Champions League group stage win over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
On September 28, 2021, CEO Michael Wytinski, citing increased shipping and labor costs squeezing profit margins, announced that some prices will be rising above $1, possibly to as much as $1.50.
This was followed by her second collaborative album with Tony Bennett, titled Love for Sale, on September 30. The record received generally favorable reviews and debuted at number eight in the US. The record received generally favorable reviews and debuted at number eight in the US.
In 1986, Doug Perry, Macon Brock, and Ray Compton started another chain store called Only $1.00 with five stores, one in Georgia, one in Tennessee, and three in Virginia. The expansion of dollar stores was continued alongside K&K Toys stores, mostly in enclosed malls.
Apple announced the third generation AirPods on October 18, 2021. They feature an external redesign with shorter stems similar to AirPods Pro and use similar pinch controls. They include support for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos, IPX4 water resistance, skin detection, and a case supporting MagSafe charging. Apple claims increased battery life, with AirPods lasting six hours and the charging case providing up to 30 hours.