BY GEOFFREY A. FOWLER For the past 20 years, Mary Currie has served as the spokeswoman and go-to historian for a Bay Area icon that requires constant attention: the Golden Gate Bridge. As public affairs director for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District—which operates the bridge and other transit and ferry services in the area—Ms. Currie handles everything from movie shoots to protesters climbing the bridge's cables, and has written two books about the bridge's history and engineering. "Every day here has been different," she says. Ms. Currie began keeping track of the Golden Gate Bridge's history early in her tenure, when ...BY GEOFFREY A. FOWLER For the past 20 years, Mary Currie has served as the spokeswoman and go-to historian for a ... Continue reading →
BY GINA CHON, JENNY STRASBURGAND ANUPREETA DAS Capital Research & Management wanted to buy into the Facebook Inc. initial public offering. But days before the IPO, an underwriting bank on the deal warned the big investment firm about Facebook's dimming revenue prospects. The Los Angeles firm, armed with information from a May 11 "roadshow" meeting with underwriters and Facebook, along with similar estimates of its own, slashed the number of shares it intended to buy. The night before trading began, a Capital Research manager told a banker at Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter, that the deal's pricing was "ridiculous," according to a person familiar with the situation. ...BY GINA CHON, JENNY STRASBURGAND ANUPREETA DAS Capital Research & Management wanted to buy into the Facebook Inc. ... Continue reading →
Bloomberg News Facebook CFO David Ebersman decided to boost IPO shares. Less than three days before Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering, Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman decided to boost the number of shares the company would offer investors by 25%, said people familiar with the planning. His main adviser at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley assured him there was plenty of demand, they said. Facebook shares slid sharply for a second straight day as analysts for at least two of Facebook's lead underwriters revised their financial forecasts for the company while it was holding IPO roadshow meetings. David Benoit has details on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters. That decision by the 41-year-old Facebook executive may have doomed any real chance the social-networking company had that its ... Continue reading →
BY BEN WORTHEN Hewlett-Packard Co. is laying off 27,000 workers as part of a massive restructuring plan to stem its declining profits and revenues, underlining the growing gulf between the technology industry's old guard and new generation. H-P said the job cuts, which amount to about 8% of its workforce, will take place over the next two years. It projects the move, once complete, will save $3 billion to $3.5 billion annually, with most of the savings going to fund new efforts such as cloud computing and "big data" analytics. The technology giant outlined its restructuring plan as it posted a 31% profit ...BY BEN WORTHEN Hewlett-Packard Co. is laying off 27,000 workers as part of a massive restructuring plan to stem its declining profits ... Continue reading →
BY WILL CONNORS Research In Motion Ltd. may have lost its dominance in the global smartphone market, but its instant-messaging service is still widely popular around the world. Now even that strong suit is threatening to weaken as world-wide sales of BlackBerrys falter and RIM softens efforts to leverage the messaging tool. Teenagers still embrace BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM, for its quick and free instant messaging, and its easy-to-use contact list of friends. Security professionals—police, firefighters and ambulance drivers—have come to rely on it as one of the most dependable forms of electronic communications. There are more than 55 million BBM users today, ...BY WILL CONNORS Research In Motion Ltd. may have lost its dominance in the global smartphone market, but its instant-messaging service is ... Continue reading →
Zynga Inc. has faced plenty of questions after buying the maker of "Draw Something," a mobile game that was released only six weeks earlier and has since lost popularity. Now the social games company is trying to provide some answers.The San Francisco-based company on Thursday plans to announce an agreement with animation studio DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. to place additional advertising in the game. Zynga believes it's the start of new revenue-generating possibilities that will justify the controversial acquisition.Zynga, known for developing some of the most popular games played by Facebook Inc. users, has seen its stock fall by nearly half in the past two months. One factor is the company's dependence on Facebook, whose own growth and valuation has come into question since its ... Continue reading →
