AMERICA’S TWO BOOK MARKETS

Jun 18, 2003 | business

Hillary Clinton’s memoirs had the highest opening day sales in the history of nonfiction. The fifth Harry Potter book will undoubtedly have the biggest launch ever for a work of fiction. But the publishing industry is in trouble and most publishers are struggling...

WAL-MART TAKES OVER THE WORLD

Jun 10, 2003 | business

Every so often some business kowtows to Wal-Mart by changing the cover of a book or magazine or releasing an alternate version of a CD with family-friendly lyrics or the like. Those things seem strange to me, but it’s because I keep forgetting just how big Wal-Mart...

THE GREAT REBATE SCAM

Jun 10, 2003 | business

Like most people, I’ve never liked rebates, but I take it seriously – I will pay more if that’s what it takes to avoid a rebate. Slate has a good article about the rebate game – why they’re offered, and what the manufacturers and retailers do to delay, trick...

COREL ACQUIRED BY VECTOR CAPITAL

Jun 6, 2003 | business

Corel announced today that it has agreed to a takeover bid by Vector Capital, a San Francisco-based company that already owns a substantial stake in the company. At $1.06 per share, the purchase price almost exactly equals the amount of cash that Corel has on hand....

MEDIA MONOPOLIES

May 29, 2003 | business

I was looking for this the other day – here’s a list of the companies owned by AOL Time Warner. It’s extraordinary. You can get similarly chilling information about other media conglomerates, like Clear Channel Communications and Disney. Look at those charts and...

MICROSOFT TO PAY AOL $750 MILLION

May 29, 2003 | business, law, Microsoft

You might have seen the news that Microsoft will pay AOL $750 million to settle AOL’s antitrust lawsuit. AOL acquired Netscape in 1998 and sued Microsoft in early 2002 for playing dirty to obtain market dominance. The deal makes sense from an economic perspective for...