| | |
| Top shareholders back Alibaba's controversial corporate structure Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:13 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Alibaba Group's biggest shareholders have backed a partnership structure that is at the center of a debate over where the Chinese e-commerce giant may list its shares in the most highly anticipated Internet IPO since Facebook Inc's $16 billion offer last year. Alibaba, which analysts value at as much as $120 billion, appears to have failed to convince Hong Kong regulators to waive tough listing rules, potentially handing the lucrative IPO to rival U.S. market operators. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yahoo backs Alibaba's management as IPO debate goes on Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:09 AM PDT  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc joined Japan's SoftBank Corp on Friday in backing Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's planned partnership structure. The U.S. Internet company, Alibaba's second-largest shareholder with a 24 percent stake, said it's important for technology companies to be able to preserve their culture and strategy. ... Full Story | Top |
| EA settles NCAA student-athlete cases, no game next year Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:57 PM PDT  By Malathi Nayak SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronic Arts said it had reached a settlement with former college football athletes who have accused the company of using their images without permission and would not be making a new game for the popular "NCAA Football" series in 2014. The athletes sued the video game publisher and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which has strict rules prohibiting them from sharing in the millions of dollars that schools receive from television and licensing deals. The case against the NCAA is still pending. ... Full Story | Top |
| Softbank CEO Son says 'very supportive' of Alibaba's partnership Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:16 PM PDT  HONG KONG/TOKYO (Reuters) - Softbank Corp CEO Masayoshi Son said on Friday the company fully supports a partnership system in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The group of 28 partners in Alibaba include the company's founder Jack Ma, some of Alibaba's senior managers and other insiders. Alibaba, which is preparing for an initial public offering valued at up to $15 billion, is looking to keep top management decisions within the partner group by giving it the right to nominate a majority of board members in the company. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ballmer goes out punching at last Microsoft employee meeting Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 06:03 PM PDT  By Bill Rigby SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer took his farewell bow before thousands of applauding employees on Thursday with a typically loud and emotional performance at his last companywide meeting, talking up the software giant's prospects and taking swipes at rivals. The CEO, whose screeching and dancing at company events is the stuff of YouTube legend, stormed the stage to "Can't Hold Us" by Seattle rap/producer duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and kept up his usual high tempo, according to several people present at the employee-only meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| How Jack Ma can keep a tight grip on Alibaba after an IPO Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 05:45 PM PDT  By Olivia Oran and Alexei Oreskovic NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd founder Jack Ma wants to keep a tight grip on the Chinese e-commerce company he founded even after he takes it public, and U.S. law gives him several ways to do so. The company had planned to list in Hong Kong, but the exchange there threw cold water on Ma's plan to give Alibaba's insiders, who only own about 10 percent of the stock, the power to nominate a majority of the board, sources say. Regulators in the Chinese territory said that all shareholders must be treated equally. ... Full Story | Top |
| BlackBerry's Heins, Fairfax's Watsa and the $55 million handshake Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:27 PM PDT  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Months before Fairfax Financial Holdings Inc bid $4.7 billion for BlackBerry Ltd, Fairfax boss Prem Watsa played a role in securing a golden parachute worth as much as $55 million for the smartphone maker's chief executive, according to company filings. Watsa, Fairfax's chief executive, joined BlackBerry's board in January 2012 and was one of three directors charged in March with reviewing the compensation of the Canadian company's chief executive, Thorsten Heins. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to consider relaxing rules on using electronics in flight Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 03:41 PM PDT By Alwyn Scott NEW YORK (Reuters) - Airplane passengers would be allowed broader use of mobile devices, laptops and tablets during flights, under a proposal U.S. air safety regulators are due to begin considering next week. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will receive in the next few days advice about allowing greater use of personal electronic devices on aircraft from an advisory committee drawn from government and the aviation and consumer electronics industries, according to people familiar with the matter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Google looks for talent in BlackBerry's backyard Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 03:07 PM PDT  By Cameron French TORONTO (Reuters) - With Blackberry Ltd shedding staff in its hometown of Waterloo, Ontario, other tech companies, including Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit, are moving to take advantage of a growing pool of local talent. Motorola Mobility said on Thursday it plans to set up a new hub in Waterloo, located about an hour's drive west of Toronto. "We have a small space right now and we're looking to grow considerably," said Derek Phillips, engineering director for Motorola Canada. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge allows lawsuit against Google over email ads Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 02:36 PM PDT  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss most of a lawsuit against Google Inc over allegations the company improperly scanned the content of customers' emails in order to place ads. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California ruled that the proposed class action lawsuit against Google can proceed. She rejected Google's argument that its users had consented to having their email read for the purposes of targeted advertising. "We're disappointed in this decision and are considering our options," Google spokesman Matt Kallman said in an ... Full Story | Top |
| Electronic Arts says no 'NCAA Football' game next year Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 02:29 PM PDT  By Malathi Nayak SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronic Arts said on Thursday that it will not offer gamers the next iteration from its college football video game series "NCAA Football" in 2014 and is evaluating the fate of the game franchise, which is mired in legal disputes with former college athletes. Electronic Arts made the decision because of on-going lawsuits and the withdrawal of support from organizations like the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Cam Weber, the general manager of American football for EA SPORTS, wrote in a blog post. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rattled by Alibaba loss, Hong Kong bankers seek market reforms Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 02:00 PM PDT  By Denny Thomas and Elzio Barreto HONG KONG (Reuters) - Lauded by many for its principled stance in rejecting Alibaba Group's plans to list shares, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has left the city's financial community fuming at a lost opportunity, and re-ignited calls for market reforms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sprint will 'wait and see' on BlackBerry strategy: CFO Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 01:51 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Corp is in no rush to follow the strategy of smaller rival T-Mobile US, which plans to cut back on offering BlackBerry smartphones, the chief financial officer of the No. 3 U.S. mobile operator said on Thursday. After presentation at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, Sprint CFO Joe Euteneur said his company would take a "wait-and-see" approach before making any decisions on BlackBerry, the struggling Canadian smartphone maker that has seen demand for its devices shrink rapidly and is narrowing its marketing efforts to businesses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fairfax's Watsa confident BlackBerry bid will succeed Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:16 PM PDT  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd Chief Executive Prem Watsa said on Wednesday he is confident the consortium he leads can find the money to fund its $4.7 billion bid for smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. "We wouldn't put our name to such a high-profile deal if we didn't feel confident that at the end of the day that our due diligence would be fine and we'd be able to finance it," Watsa said in an interview. ... Full Story | Top |
| Google introduces new 'Hummingbird' search algorithm Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:09 PM PDT  MENLO PARK, California (Reuters) - Google Inc has overhauled its search algorithm, the foundation of the Internet's dominant search engine, to better cope with the longer, more complex queries it has been getting from Web users. Amit Singhal, senior vice president of search, told reporters on Thursday that the company launched its latest "Hummingbird" algorithm about a month ago and that it currently affects 90 percent of worldwide searches via Google. Google is trying to keep pace with the evolution of Internet usage. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment