News Corp. heir rejects $6M bonus
LOS ANGELES » News Corp.’s heir apparent, James Murdoch, says he’s declining his $6 million bonus for the past fiscal year in light of the phone hacking scandal at the British tabloid he oversaw as an executive.
Declining the bonus still gives him a 31 percent pay raise. An Associated Press tally finds that his compensation for the fiscal year through June came to $11.5 million, up from $8.8 million a year earlier.
His father, Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, saw his pay jump 75 percent to $29.4 million from $16.8 million the previous year.
Regardless of pay, the Murdochs control the company through a family trust that owns 38 percent of voting shares worth $5.1 billion.
Regulators shutter 2 Georgia banks
WASHINGTON » Regulators on Friday closed two small banks in Georgia, boosting to 70 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.
The pace of closures has eased in 2011 as the economy has slowly improved and banks work their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Patriot Bank of Georgia in Cumming, Ga., with $150.8 million in assets and $111.2 million in deposits, and CreekSide Bank in Woodstock, Ga., with $102.3 million in assets and $96.6 million in deposits. Atlanta-based Georgia Commerce Bank agreed to assume the assets and deposits of the two failed banks.
Growth of time on Google+ site stunted
The amount of time U.S. users spend on Google Inc.’s new social network has grown more slowly in recent weeks, according to Experian Hitwise, indicating that the service may struggle to make headway against Facebook Inc.
Users on average spent 5 minutes and 47 seconds on Google+ during the week ended Aug. 27, up about 4 percent from the previous week, according to New York-based Experian Hitwise, which tracks Internet statistics. Time spent on the site peaked in the week of July 16, at 5 minutes, 50 seconds, Hitwise said.
Google+ is the company’s latest effort to help it compete against Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook, the world’s most popular social site. While the new service offers some good features for sharing content with friends, Facebook is an entrenched rival with more than 750 million users, said Charlene Li, an analyst with Altimeter Group in San Mateo, Calif.
Total recall
About 5,500 Playsafe Dartmouth Swing Sets are being recalled that were imported by Pacific Cycle Inc. of Madison, Wis., and sold exclusively at Toys R Us stores nationwide from January through May 2011. The swing sets have two swings with yellow plastic sling-style seats, a yellow plastic sliding board, a two-person glider with yellow plastic seats, yellow plastic trapeze hanging rings and a four-person lawn swing with yellow plastic seats and footboard. The swing sets were manufactured in China. The sling-style swing seats can crack or split prematurely, posing a fall hazard. Call 877-564-2261 or go to www.pacific- cycle.com.
Coming up
» Today: U.S. stock and bond markets closed for Labor Day.
» Tuesday: Institute for Supply Management releases its service sector index for August.
» Wednesday: Labor Department releases job openings and labor turnover survey for July.
» Thursday: Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims. Commerce Department releases international trade for July. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.
» Friday: Commerce Department releases wholesale trade inventories for July. Kroger Co. releases quarterly financial results.