Category: corporate buzz

Washington Post/AP: Biogen Drug Debacle May Drag Down Industry. The debacle over faulty drugs besetting the pharmaceutical industry has now spread to the biotech sector, with one of its best performing companies and a partner pulling their highly touted multiple sclerosis drug from the market after one patient died and another fell seriously ill.

What’s happening? Is this another reality TV show where one drug gets voted off the market each week? I’ve added Biogen Idec contracts to the site. Includes a number of R&D and licensing agreements.

Hewlett-Packard just filed Carly’s severance package with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If you’re getting a $14,000,000 severance payment, do you really need an additional $50,000 for financial/legal/career fees? The severance payment will be paid six months from the termination date with interest of 2.78%, which should work out to be just shy of $195,000 by my calculation. I guess she won’t have to dip into the interest to pay for her financial counseling now.

San Francisco Chronicle: Computer Break-in Imperils Californians. Criminals may have stolen personal data of 35,000 Californians by infiltrating computers at ChoicePoint Inc., a company that keeps background information on virtually every U.S. citizen.

So, instead of stealing from one person at a time, they’ve figured out a way to steal from thousands at a time. I’ve posted ChoicePoint contracts on the site.

SmartMoney.com: Cheaper by the Dozen. By early January, Krispy Kreme declared it would have to restate results from some prior quarters because of accounting errors, potentially triggering the default of its main credit facility on Jan. 14. Soon after Chief Executive Scott Livengood stepped down, and the company hired turnaround company Kroll Zolfo Cooper. Kroll partner Steven Cooper, a restructuring expert, was named the new CEO.

I’ve added the between Krispy Kreme, Stephen Cooper, Steven Panagos and Kroll Zolfo Cooper LLC to the site.

Chicago Sun-Times: OfficeMax CEO Resigns Amid Turmoil. A widening scandal at Itasca-based OfficeMax spurred its chief executive to resign Monday, and the company revealed it would restate its profits from the first three quarters of 2004.

I’ve added OfficeMax contracts – mostly employment and severance agreements – to the site.

I found a Licensing Agreement between Verne Troyer (aka Mini Me) and Collectible Concepts Group.

ZDNet: Fiorina’s Fuzzy Vision. When history looks back on the tenure of Carly Fiorina as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, the conclusion will likely be that she was a charismatic personality who tried to compensate for the lack of a consistent vision through a lot of acquisitions and management changes.

I’ve added HP contracts to the web site, including Carly Fiorina’s employment agreement and HP’s Severance Plan for Executive Officers.

I’ve just posted Pace Theatrical Group contracts, which includes agreements involving various musical productions.

Financial Times: OPEC Quota ‘Should Remain Unchanged’. A key OPEC committee recommended that the oil cartel keep its output quotas unchanged but call on members to rein in over production.

I’ve posted contracts from Arabian American Development Co., including some Saudi oil contracts.

Bloomberg.com: Gillette’s Kilts Expects More Consumer-Product Industry Mergers. Gillette Co. Chief Executive Officer Jim Kilts expects more acquisitions among consumer-products companies in the wake of Procter & Gamble Co.’s $52.4 billion planned purchase of the razor- and battery-maker.

I’ve posted the Procter & Gamble / Gillette Merger Agreement. You can also review other Gillette contracts, including Jim Kilts’ Employment Agreements.