The head of Microsoft’s Windows and web operations is leaving the Seattle-based software empire.
Ford is hoping to persuade its American customers of the charms of modestly sized European vehicles such as the Fiesta, the Focus and the Transit van.
An emergency plan by the US government to stabilise the nation’s two biggest mortgage finance corporations won cross-party support last week.
Fears are growing over a potential cash crisis at the United States’s top carmakers after Ford warned its losses are running into billions.
Wal-Mart refuses to see the funny side of a musical based on its global dominance. Andrew Clark reports in New York.
American food empire Mars has teamed up with the world’s richest man, Warren Buffett, to create a global leader in confectionery by swallowing the chewing gum manufacturer Wrigley in an agreed takeover worth $23-billion. A combination of Mars and Wrigley will be the largest maker of sweets and chocolate in the world, leapfrogging Cadbury Schweppes.
If there is anything more satisfying than being rich, it must be basking in the glow of being proved right. The world’s wealthiest man, Warren Buffett, was lauded by 31 000 devotees in his home town last weekend for eclipsing the biggest brains on Wall Street through his homespun approach to business.
The credit crunch sent Bank of America’s quarterly profits plunging 77% after weak trading on Wall Street and in retail banking, it was announced on Monday. Bank of America, which has the largest branch network in the United States, wrote off more than -billion in trading losses and provisions against bad debts.
The internet company Google has defied predictions of economic doom by delivering a 31% surge in quarterly profits, which appeared to vindicate the company’s claims that people will continue searching the web in a recession. Google’s first-quarter earnings jumped from -billion to ,31-billion.
The global credit crunch claimed its biggest victim yet on Friday when the United States Federal Reserve orchestrated an emergency bail-out for Bear Stearns after a cash crisis prompted a run on the US’s fifth-biggest investment bank. President George Bush sought to calm fears of a deep recession in the world’s biggest economy.