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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
A SURPRISE RESIGNATION at Berkshire Hathaway as manager David Sokol leaves the company. While current CEO Warren Buffett has said he has no plans to retire any time soon, many believed that Sokol would be a likely candidate for Buffett's successor.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) also disclosed that Sokol bought thousands of shares in Lubrizol before Berkshire announced a $9 billion deal with the company two weeks ago. Buffett said in a statement Wednesday that he saw no legal problem with Sokol's purchase of those shares. [New York Times]
DIRTY TECH LAUNDRY to be aired soon, as Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen is publishing a book that will be released April 19 about the history of the company. The Wall Street Journal took a look at an early draft of the publication, called "Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft." Apparently, Allen has some rather unflattering things to say about his old high school buddy Bill Gates. [Wall Street Journal]
SPEAKING OF COMPLAINING AND MICROSOFT, Microsoft is going to the European Union with an anti-trust complaint against Google. Microsoft claims that Google (GOOG) is using its search dominance to limit the growth of Microsoft services such as Bing. [BBC]
GOOGLE, FOR ITS PART is offering a search algorithm with a social media component that allows users to recommend searches to their friends. Google's plan with the new social media service, called "+1," is to get in on the ad dollars going to Facebook and other social-networking companies. [Wall Street Journal]
IT JUST GETS WORSE Blockbuster has been kind of a mess since it declared bankruptcy last September. Recently, Blockbuster announced that it wanted to transfer its contract to sell Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream in its stores to a potential buyer. There's just one problem--Dreyer's claims the contract no longer exists. It ended, the ice cream company claims, before Blockbuster (BLOAQ) filed Chapter 11. [Wall Street Journal]
STARBUCKS WANTS IN ON INDIA by way of a joint venture with Indian company Tata Coffee that would give Starbucks (SBUX) a 26% stake. A growing middle class that prefers coffee to tea is making India an important market for the coffee company. [Wall Street Journal]
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
DISASTER IN JAPAN One of the less tragic effects of the earthquake and tidal wave that hit the Japanese coast is that they damaged factories for major manufacturers, which MORE
Mar 15, 2011 9:16 AM ET
On the 25th anniversary of Microsoft's IPO, Fortune is featuring our 1986 cover story in which we followed around a young Bill Gates as he prepared to take his company public. Here's the story of the birth of a billionaire.
Editor's Note: This story was first published in the July 21, 1986 issue of Fortune. As Bro Uttal told Fortune's editor, Marshall Loeb, at the time (see Editor's Letter MORE
Mar 13, 2011 9:00 AM ET
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
GM IS IN THE BLACK for the first time since 2004. While the last quarter of 2010 didn't represent a great profit margin for GM (GM), the MORE
Feb 25, 2011 9:30 AM ET
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
IT'S A GOOD DEAL, WE PROMISE Nokia is having to defend its recent deal with Microsoft (MSFT), which spooked investors who MORE
Feb 14, 2011 8:06 AM ET
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
NOKIA IS BURNING, metaphorically, according to a company memo from its newly hired CEO Stephen Elop. He has said MORE
Feb 10, 2011 7:59 AM ET
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
GOOGLE TO MICROSOFT: "GET YOUR OWN ALGORITHM" Google (GOOG) is up in arms because it says that Microsoft's (MSFT) search engine Bing is copying Google's MORE
Feb 2, 2011 6:36 AM ET
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
THE COST OF GROWTH becoming clear at Amazon (AMZN), which reported better sales for this past year's holiday season than many of its competitors, but MORE
Jan 28, 2011 6:53 AM ET
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
TAXPAYERS STILL FOOTING THE BILL for Frannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), three years after the government bailed out both MORE
Jan 24, 2011 9:44 AM ET
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The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today's highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
IS GMAC BACK? Top auto company General Motors (GM) is contemplating getting back its auto loan business, formerly called GMAC. GM needs the business, renamed Ally Financial, MORE
Jan 11, 2011 5:14 AM ET
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