Business Briefing
Google founders to sell shares
Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin plan to sell 5 million shares apiece of their company stock, worth $5.5 billion combined at current prices.
The sales will occur periodically during the next five years and leave the two with 48% of the voting power among stockholders, down from roughly 59% now. But with Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt controlling nearly 10% voting power, the trio will still control the company.
According to regulatory documents, Page and Brin will still own 47.7 million shares combined after the sales.
TAXES
Swiss tribunal rules against U.S.
Switzerland cannot hand over files on 26 suspected tax cheats to U.S. authorities because their failure to properly declare assets doesn’t constitute fraud under Swiss law, a top Swiss court has ruled.
The ruling sets limits on Swiss government cooperation with Washington in a U.S. investigation against banking giant UBS and could have implications for the way Switzerland handles about 4,000 other Americans suspected of tax evasion.
In the first appeal by former UBS customers against the handover of their banking details to U.S. authorities, the Federal Administrative Tribunal found that one client’s failure to fill out a supplementary U.S. tax form didn’t constitute fraudulent behavior.
FOOD
Hershey gives up Cadbury pursuit
Hershey Co. conceded the race to acquire British candy maker Cadbury, opting for a slower road to international expansion but also possibly a tougher battle for shelf space in grocery stores in the U.S.
The all-but-certain acquisition of Cadbury by American food giant Kraft Foods Inc. marks the second time in two years that the most recognizable name in American chocolate must stand by while its competitors make plays for much faster growth.
The Kraft-Cadbury combination, coming on the heels of the 2008 acquisition of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. by privately held Mars Inc., also could erode Hershey’s strength in domestic distribution channels in coming years.
FINANCIAL CRISIS
Bank failures reach 9 for 2010
Regulators shut down financial institutions in Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington state, bringing to nine the number of bank failures in 2010, after 140 last year.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the five banks. The largest were Charter Bank in Santa Fe, N.M., with $1.2 billion in assets, and Columbia River Bank in The Dalles, Ore., with $1.1 billion in assets. The others were Premier American Bank in Miami, Bank of Leeton in Leeton, Mo., and Evergreen Bank in Seattle.
LABOR
Union strength shifts sectors
The number of union workers employed by the government for the first time outnumbered union ranks in the private sector last year, the result of massive layoffs that plunged the rate of private-sector union membership to a record low.
Local, state and government workers made up 51.5% of all union members in 2009, up from 48.7% a year ago, the Labor Department reported.
Overall, union membership declined by 771,000 workers, to 15.3 million. Private-sector union membership plummeted 10%, while government unions posted slight gains.
With the number of nonunion workers also shrinking, the rate of union membership fell only slightly to 12.3% of all workers from 12.4% in 2008.
-- times wire reports
