Zuckerberg almost makes list of worst CEOs

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Updated January 18, 2013 13:11:26

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has gone from hero to zero, almost making a list of 2012's worst chief executives.

Mr Zuckerberg fell just short of the annual list compiled by Dartmouth College business professor Sydney Finkelstein and published by Bloomberg's Businessweek.

Professor Finkelstein told Businessweek that Mr Zuckerberg almost made the list because of his "massive ego", as well as his immaturity and the consistent decline in Facebook's share price since it listed on the share market.

He made similar criticisms of Groupon's boss, Andrew Mason.

"There's no reason to believe they have the management skills to run a major public company," Professor Finkelstein said.

As for those who did make the top five worst CEOs for last year?

Number one was Brian Dunn, who resigned as chief executive of Best Buy in April after allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a younger employee.

However, he was mainly nominated for a falling share price, falling sales, loss of market share and over-priced share buybacks.

Aubrey McClendon from Chesapeake Energy made the list for a series of personal transactions that appeared to involve a conflict of interest with his role as CEO.

Avon's former chief, Andrea Jung, made the list because her company's market value has plunged from $US21 billion to $US6 billion since 2004, and management rebuffed a takeover offer worth more than $US10 billion that Professor Finkelstein says looks like good value in hindsight.

Zynga's boss Mark Pincus made the list because the online and mobile gaming firm saw its share price drop 75 per cent last year.

A European boss rounds out the top five, with former Bankia chairman Rodrigo Rato facing an investigation for practices that may have led to the bank's collapse and bailout by the Spanish government.

Topics: business-economics-and-finance, corporate-governance, management, united-states

First posted January 18, 2013 13:04:20

United Nations to probe drone strike deaths

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Updated January 25, 2013 14:14:06

The United Nations has launched an investigation into the use of unmanned drones in counter-terrorism operations, after criticism surrounding the number of innocent civilians killed by the aircraft.

The inquiry, announced in London, will investigate 25 drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.

British lawyer Ben Emmerson will investigate the extent of civilian casualties, the identity of the targets, and whether the attacks could constitute war crimes.

Mr Emmerson said there has been an exponential rise in the use of drone technology because of the low cost of their deployment, both economically and in terms of risk to the lives of service personnel.

While most attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles have been by the United States, Britain and Israel have also used them and dozens more countries are believed to possess the technology.

But Mr Emmerson also said he would not single out the biggest users.

"The plain fact is that this technology is here to stay, and its use in theatres of conflict is a reality with which the world must contend," Mr Emmerson said.

"It is therefore imperative that appropriate legal and operational structures are urgently put in place to regulate its use in a manner that complies with the requirements of international law."

Criticism of drone strikes centres on the number of civilians killed and the fact that they are launched across sovereign states' borders so frequently - far more than conventional attacks by piloted aircraft.

Retired US General Stanley McChrystal, who authored the US counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan, earlier this month warned against overusing drones, which have provoked angry demonstrations in Pakistan.

Data collected by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism indicates 2,600-3,404 Pakistanis have been killed by drones, of which 473-889 were reported to be civilians.

The UN's Human Rights Council asked Mr Emmerson to start an investigation following requests by countries including Pakistan, Russia and China to look into drone attacks.

Mr Emmerson said that he did not expect the inquiry to result in a "dossier of evidence" that would directly point to legal liability, but that results would help support the relevant states' own independent investigations.

He also said Britain's Ministry of Defence had agreed to fully cooperate and he was optimistic he would receive good cooperation from US and Pakistani governments.

Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security project said he welcomed the investigation "in the hopes that global pressure will bring the US back into line with international law requirements that strictly limit the use of lethal force".

"To date, there has been an abysmal lack of transparency and no accountability for the US government's ever-expanding targeted killing program," Ms Shamsi said.

The report and recommendations will be presented at the UN General Assembly in New York in October this year.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, united-kingdom, united-states, pakistan, afghanistan, somalia, yemen, palestinian-territory-occupied

First posted January 25, 2013 10:14:04

White House chief of staff to head Treasury

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Updated January 11, 2013 07:34:54

US president Barack Obama has confirmed he is nominating White House chief of staff Jack Lew as America's new Treasury secretary.

Mr Obama wants Mr Lew to replace Timothy Geithner, who does not want to serve a second term in the post.

"Jack has my complete trust," Mr Obama said at a White House ceremony.

He has called on the Senate to confirm his position as soon as possible.

Topics: world-politics, business-economics-and-finance, united-states

First posted January 11, 2013 06:20:25

Westerners urged to leave Benghazi over 'imminent threat'

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Updated January 25, 2013 11:35:42

Australians are being told to leave the Libyan city of Benghazi as soon as possible after Britain warned of a "specific and imminent" terrorist threat to Westerners.

The office of Foreign Minister Bob Carr says contact has been made with the two Australians registered as being in Benghazi.

Australian embassy staff in Cairo called them this morning and told them to leave the city as soon as they can.

Britain, Germany and the Netherlands are also warning their citizens to leave at once.

The warnings come after the British Foreign Office said it had received "credible" and "serious" reports about a possible terrorist threat to Westerners in Benghazi.

It declined to give details about the nature of the threat.

The Libyan government says it is very surprised by the warnings.

"Nothing justifies this reaction," deputy interior minister Abdullah Massoud said.

"We acknowledge that there are security problems in Benghazi and that there have been for several months, but there is no new intelligence that could justify this reaction from London."

He added that such actions only add to the region's instability.

Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 revolution that toppled former Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi.

The warning comes a day after US secretary of state Hillary Clinton gave an emotional appearance before Congress about the attack on the American mission in Benghazi last year.

United States ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in last September's attack, which was part of a wave of violence targeting foreign diplomats, military and police officers.

After France's recent military intervention in Mali and the Algerian hostage drama, governments are warning there could be retaliatory attacks against Western interests.

British prime minister David Cameron has warned that last week's deadly attack in Algeria was only one part of what would be a "long struggle against murderous terrorists" around the world.

Dozens of foreigners were killed when Islamist gunmen attacked a remote desert gas complex at In Amenas, including at least three Britons.

Another three workers, plus a British resident, are still missing and believed to be dead.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Cameron promised to put the issue of terrorism at the top of the agenda at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland in June.

"I believe we are in the midst of a long struggle against murderous terrorists and the poisonous ideology that supports them," he said.

"As we have successfully put pressure on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so Al Qaeda franchises have been growing for years in Yemen, Somalia and parts of North Africa - places that have suffered hideously through hostage-taking, terrorism and crime.

"To defeat this menace, we've got to be tough, intelligent and patient - and this is the argument I'll be making at the G8."

Italy temporarily closed its consulate in Benghazi earlier this month and pulled its staff out of the country following a failed gun attack on the consul.

Libya has been awash with weapons since the fall of Gaddafi, and its shaky nascent institutions have struggled to rein in armed groups keen on ensuring they receive what they see as their fair share of power.

Benghazi in particular has been the scene of power struggles between various armed Islamist factions.

ABC/wires

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, libyan-arab-jamahiriya, united-kingdom

First posted January 25, 2013 00:55:21

Traders shocked but not awed by BoJ program

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Posted January 22, 2013 16:24:31

Markets have given a mixed response to the Japanese central bank's latest measures to try and pull the country out of its multi-decade economic funk.

At its monetary policy meeting, which concluded around 2:45pm (AEDT), the Bank of Japan doubled its inflation target from 1 to 2 per cent, and said it would maintain an open-ended asset purchase program to help it achieve the consumer price target.

The BoJ will commence its new asset purchase program in January next year, with 13 trillion yen ($137 billion) of asset purchases each month, including 2 trillion yen worth of Japanese government bonds.

The bank says that will increase the size of its asset purchase program by about 10 trillion yen in 2014, and that is expected to be maintained thereafter.

The BoJ's benchmark lending rate will be maintained between 0-0.1 per cent for the foreseeable future.

The strategy echoes a similar approach by the US Federal Reserve, which launched the so-called QE3 program in September (under which it is purchasing $US40 billion in mortgage backed securities per month indefinitely) combined with its existing Operation Twist (where it is purchasing $US45 billion of US treasury bonds every month until the end of this year).

Traders initially greeted the news with some optimism that it would help lift Japan out of more than two decades of deflation and economic stagnation - Tokyo's Nikkei share index climbed around 1 per cent immediately after the announcement to 10,855.

However, it has since given up those gains and was down 0.7 per cent on the day to 10,696 around 3:40pm (AEDT).

The Japanese yen initially fell to levels approaching a two-and-a-half-year low against the US dollar initially, but has since recovered.

Commonwealth Bank currency strategist Joseph Capurso says that is partly because aggressive action by the Bank of Japan had already been factored into market pricing, but also because the details of the BoJ's program were not as strong as the headlines.

"People were cottoned onto the open-ended asset purchases, and that sounds very impressive, but then when they looked at the details they realised that that open-ended program won't start until January 2014, so that's quite a long way off," he told ABC News Online.

"It's certainly unusual for central banks to promise something and not deliver that for another year.

"When you dig even deeper, you find out most of the debt that the Bank of Japan will buy will be very short-term debt."

Mr Capurso says that has left the market questioning how much benefit the struggling Japanese economy will receive from the stimulus, even though it sounds bigger than the US Fed's program.

"The bottom line here is that the Bank of Japan's actions will not add much extra stimulus to Japan's economy," he added.

After a brief dip, the Japanese yen is also trading stronger against the Australian dollar - at 94 yen to $1, after trading around 95 to 1 straight after the BoJ announcement.

The rise in the yen against most major currencies is precisely the opposite of what Japanese policy makers wish to achieve, with a lower yen desired to boost exports.

However, the Japanese currency is still considerably weaker than it was back in June, when an Australian dollar would buy 75 yen and a US dollar would buy 78.

Topics: business-economics-and-finance, economic-trends, money-and-monetary-policy, japan

US grounds Dreamliners after Japan scare

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Updated January 17, 2013 17:52:09

The United States will temporarily ground its Boeing 787s after a second incident involving battery failures caused one of the Dreamliner passenger jets to make an emergency landing in Japan yesterday.

January 16: An ANA Dreamliner passenger plane makes an emergency landing in Japan after smoke is reportedly seen inside the cockpit. January 14: Japan's transport ministry says it has begun examining the Dreamliner that suffered two fuel leakages in less than a week.January 13: A Japan Airlines (JAL) 787 suffers a fuel spill for the second time in a week. January 11: US regulators announce an in-depth safety review of the Dreamliner after a spate of incidents involving the aircraft.A crack in a cockpit windshield grounds an ANA Dreamliner after a domestic flight in Japan.An ANA Dreamliner, also on a domestic Japanese flight, experiences a delay due to an oil leak.January 9: ANA cancels a Dreamliner flight because of a brake problem.January 8: A Japan Airlines 787 flight to Tokyo is grounded in Boston following a fuel spill.January 7: A fire breaks out aboard an empty Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner in Boston.AFP

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says airlines will have to demonstrate that the lithium ion batteries involved are safe before they can resume flying Boeing's newest commercial airliner, but gave no details on when that may occur.

The agency says it will work with Boeing and the airlines to develop a corrective action plan that allows the US 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.

"Ultimately, you can view it as a positive thing if they can resolve what the issues are and give people confidence in the safety of the aircraft," Imperial Capital analyst Ken Herbert said.

"In the near-term, though, it's a negative. It's going to force the company to make significant investments."

Yesterday, Japan's two biggest airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, grounded all their Dreamliners after one of the planes was forced to make an emergency landing when smoke was detected in the forward compartment.

It was the latest in a series of problems to hit the Dreamliner fleet in the past week.

The sophisticated plane, the world's first mainly carbon-composite airliner, has suffered fuel leaks, a battery fire, wiring problem, brake computer glitch and cracked cockpit window in recent days.

Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Its shares fell 2 per cent in after-hours trading after the FAA announcement.

The 787, which has a list price of $207 million, represents a leap in the way planes are designed and built, but the project has been plagued by cost overruns and years of delays.

Some have suggested Boeing's rush to get planes built after those delays resulted in the recent problems, a charge the company denies.

The use of new battery technology is among the cost-saving features of the 787, which Boeing says burns 20 per cent less fuel than rival jetliners using older technology.

Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire if they are overcharged and, once alight, they are difficult to put out as the chemicals produce oxygen, 787 chief engineer Mike Sinnett told reporters last week.

He said lithium-ion was not the only battery choice, but "it was the right choice".

Indian authorities have also ordered the grounding of the Dreamliners in service with Air India, while Chile's LAN and Polish airline LOT have taken their 787s out of service.

Other airlines are among those globally to have ordered around 850 of the new aircraft.

Qantas confirmed to the ABC yesterday that it had not changed its order for 15 Dreamliners for its budget carrier Jetstar, with deliveries scheduled to start later this year.

Boeing has said it would at least break even on the cost of building the 1,100 new 787s it expects to deliver over the next decade.

Some analysts, however, say Boeing may never make money from the aircraft, given its enormous development cost.

Reuters

Topics: air-transport, industry, business-economics-and-finance, united-states, japan

First posted January 17, 2013 11:02:58

Wreckage of missing plane found in Antarctica

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Updated January 27, 2013 09:42:49

Rescuers have found the wreckage of an aircraft that went missing in Antarctica, with officials describing the crash on the steep mountainside as "not survivable".

Helicopter crews will attempt to access the wreckage today.

Three Canadians were on board the twin-engine plane operated by Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air.

The aircraft was flying between stations at the South Pole and Terra Nova Bay on Wednesday when its emergency locator beacon was activated.

Wind, snow and low cloud have hampered the New Zealand-led search for the plane and its crew.

Helicopters were able to fly over the site yesterday and spotted the wreckage near the summit of Mount Elizabeth.

Searchers say it appears the plane flew directly into the snow and ice-covered peak.

They say no-one could have survived the crash.

Tracy Brickles, from the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand, said it was a sad end to the rescue effort.

"It has been a difficult operation in challenging conditions but we remained hopeful of a positive result," she said.

"Our thoughts are now with the families of the crewmen."

ABC/AFP

Topics: air-and-space, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, antarctica, canada, new-zealand

First posted January 26, 2013 21:33:03