■INTERNET
Google founders sell shares
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin each plan to sell 5 million shares in the Internet giant, a move that would reduce their joint holdings to below 50 percent, a filing TO the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Friday. The SEC filing said the stock sales, which will occur over the next five years, are part of a pre-determined stock trading plan set up by Page and Brin on Nov. 30.
■BREWERIES
Beer blockade lifted
A blockade that threatened to strangle supplies of top Belgian beers to home and neighboring European markets ended on Friday, after management and unions said a compromise was reached. Two weeks after workers first barricaded Stella Artois, Jupiler and Hoegaarden breweries, in protest at owners Anheuser-Busch InBev’s plans to cut 10 percent of its European workforce, drinkers can breathe easier. AB InBev produces around 60 percent of the beer consumed in Belgium’s bars and cafes.
■COMPUTERS
Wife punishes Oracle chief
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Oracle Corp president Charles Phillips has learned that lesson in a very public way. Huge billboards depicting the married software executive with YaVaughnie Wilkins, his former mistress, appeared this week in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco, setting tabloid tongues wagging. The billboards with the words “You are my soulmate forever!” appeared to be an attempt by Wilkins to embarrass Phillips after their relationship ended and he returned to his wife. The billboards also featured the address of a Web site that contains photos of Wilkins and Phillips, karaoke tracks and articles written by Wilkins.
■BANKING
Barclays’ bonuses deferred
Top staff at Barclays will defer payment of up to 100 percent of their bonuses for up to three years as they seek to respond to public anger about banking pay, the Financial Times reported Saturday. The business daily said this would apply to members of the British bank’s 11-member executive committee, led by chief executive John Varley, while the next 2,000 or so staff could defer upwards of 75 percent for three years.
■INDUSTRY
GE income down 19 percent
General Electric Co’s fourth-quarter net income fell 19 percent, but the industrial bellwether is seeing signs of stability as it moves into a key rebuilding year. For the quarter, GE posted net income of US$2.94 billion, or US$0.28 per share. That compared with US$3.65 billion, or US$0.35, a year earlier. GE said that orders improved late in the year in its businesses that supply equipment like turbines for power plants and sonogram machines for hospitals.
■FAST FOOD
McDonald’s profit rises
McDonald’s dollar menu keeps gaining fans in the recession, and its profit rose last fall, but the world’s largest burger chain said on Friday that its annual revenue slipped for the first time in at least a quarter century. For the three months that ended on Dec. 31, McDonald’s rang up revenue of US$5.97 billion — 7 percent more than the same period last year. Falling commodity costs and currency fluctuations helped boost the company’s fourth quarter profit, which amounted to US$1.22 billion, or US$1.11 per share. For the full year, McDonald’s profit climbed 6 percent to US$4.55 billion, or US$4.11 per share.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor exports to the US to encourage chip manufacturers to move their production facilities to the US, but experts are questioning his strategy, warning it could harm industries on both sides. “I’m very confused and surprised that the Trump administration would try and do this,” Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst and founder of TECHnalysis Research in California, said in an interview with the Central News Agency on Wednesday. “It seems to reflect the fact that they don’t understand how the semiconductor industry really works,” O’Donnell said. Economic sanctions would