BUSINESS BRIEFS
Google profit rises sharply
Advertiser Staff
SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc.'s third-quarter profit nearly doubled in the latest demonstration of the Internet search leader's phenomenal financial firepower.
The results, released late yesterday, lifted Google shares by more than 7 percent — an upturn that translates into about $10 billion in additional stockholder wealth. The performance surpassed analyst estimates by 20 cents per share.
EX-HEAD OF NYSE MAY LOSE $100M
NEW YORK — Former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso, whose $187.5 million pay package helped fuel public outrage over skyrocketing executive compensation deals, could be forced to return as much as $100 million in a court ruling released yesterday.
State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos said Grasso broke the law by not making sure the NYSE board understood the "magnitude" of his ballooning pay, particularly the more than $100 million in retirement benefits that he quietly accrued in his last few years on the job.
NBC PLANS CUTS IN JOBS, EXPENSES
NEW YORK — Faced with slow ad sales and growing competition, NBC Universal plans to slash expenses by $750 million and cut 700 jobs, about 5 percent of its work force.
Executives said yesterday that their NBCU 2.0 initiative will help the TV and movie giant with its transition from traditional analog media to digital, including ventures on the Internet and cell phones.
