Boardroom

Reversing a stance its board of directors held fast for 18 months, PeopleSoft today agreed to be acquired by Oracle for US$10.3 billion, clearing the way for a merger that sparked one of the longest and most bitter business battles in the history of the tech industry. The merger promises to dramatic...

Instant messaging, a staple of teenage life, is growing up and entering the workplace. Yet companies whose employees arbitrarily install commercial IM solutions are opening themselves up to a potential Pandora's Box of viruses, worms and network degradation. Today, 50 percent of people polled use IM...

In retrospect, it seems obvious to match the capabilities of Windows with secure messaging software. However, in 1995, when Windows NT first burst into the marketplace, IT managers at first did not have many -- if any -- options to help their users easily and safely communicate with each other. This...

Leading chipmaker Intel did not have to search far and wide for a replacement for its outgoing CEO, naming longtime executive and current president and chief operating officer Paul Otellini to the top post. Intel's Board of Directors elected Otellini to take over from Craig Barrett effective in May ...

Most businesspeople get a knot in their stomachs when they think of bankruptcy. The reasons for this, I believe, are twofold: They don't have the basic knowledge about the implications of bankruptcy; and they feel a loss of control whenever they think about it. This article attempts to dispel the my...

Broadcom today announced that its Board of Directors has named Scott A. McGregor as president and chief executive officer, effective January 3, 2005. McGregor, 48, will succeed current President and CEO Alan E. "Lanny" Ross, who will retire upon McGregor's arrival. Last month, McGregor announced his...

In my last article, Sarbanes-Oxley: Avoiding Its Pitfalls, I talked about alleviating the fears of well-meaning management. This article addresses the concerns of sincere board members of publicly held corporations and of privately held companies. It provides guidance that will enable board members ...

EMC, an information-management vendor, appointed Jeffrey M. Nick to the position of senior vice president and CTO. Nick will assume a role in the direction of EMC's technology strategy and in the evolution and advancement of EMC's information-management capabilities, related platforms, software and ...

PalmSource, provider of Palm OS, an operating system powering next generation mobile devices and smartphones, today announced Eric Benhamou will step down as chairman of the board of directors, further separating two parts of what had been PDA maker Palm. Benhamou is expected to continue to serve as...

Nanosys yesterday announced that Peter S. Garcia has joined the company as chief financial officer. The action comes less than a week after the company pulled its plans for a $100 million initial public stock offering due to what the company called "the volatility of the public capital markets." Cal...

DreamWorks today filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing it intends to make an initial public offering of shares in, and split off, its animation unit, DreamWorks Animation. The studio, formed in October 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and D...

Discount brokerage Charles Schwab today announced the immediate replacement of CEO David S. Pottruck by board Chairman Charles R. Schwab in the face of continued sagging profits. In the same statement, the San Francisco, California, company also reported that its net income for the quarter ended Jun...

Dell President and COO Kevin Rollins moved up to the PC company's top spot today when he took over the CEO reins from company founder Michael Dell. The move was described as more a change of title than duties and is not expected to be followed by significant strategy changes, the world's largest PC ...

Many businesspeople have thought about the thrill of going public: the challenge, the excitement, the bragging rights and the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow. But what should you know about the downside and cost of such a venture? Are there important things you absolutely must be aware of be...

Whether they have just graduated from college or business school, or already have spent years climbing the corporate ladder, ambitious individuals with their eye on the corner office can take several steps to improve their chances of success. Businesses are looking for executives who excel in managi...