"To win the battle for public opinion in America, you have to present yourself as a victim; that is how you win the heart of Americans. He who apologizes for using force loses.."
With supply chains stretching to China, customers as likely in Paris as Peoria, outsourcing operations in India and development in Russia, the reality of today's economy is that we must be global to succeed. But how do we succeed at being global? Here are three areas where most American companies need to get better, if they are going to succeed globally.
"Exploring the New World a thousand years ago, a Viking woman gave birth to what is likely the first European-American baby. The discovery of the house the family built upon their return to Iceland has scholars rethinking the Norse sagas."
The EU struck at the commercial backbone of Microsoft’s global software empire today (12/22/04) – forcing the company for the first time to strip its Windows platform of a popular feature to give competitors a better shot at success.
An EU court ruled Microsoft must immediately divulge some trade secrets to competitors and produce a version of its flagship Windows operating system without the program that plays music and video.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Gemstar-TV Guide's shares were up 9 percent Friday amid speculation that it could be sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. or Liberty Media Group.
The print and electronic programming guide provider was up 42 cents to $5.82 in afternoon trading.
Smith Barney analyst Niraj Gupta told clients Friday he thinks News Corp. or Liberty could buy Gemstar within the next year. He raised his rating on the shares to "buy, high risk" from "hold, speculative risk."
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Gemstar has "outlived its purpose" as a publicly traded standalone entity, Gupta said.
The company is "an obvious fit" within the Murdoch empire, in Gupta's view. News Corp. already owns 41 percent of Gemstar.
News Corp. has a controlling stake in DirecTV , the No. 1 U.S. satellite provider, as well as satellite assets in the U.K., Australia, Latin America and Japan. The company's programming assets include broadcast and cable networks, as well as 20th Century Fox Television.
Liberty Media , controlled by mogul John Malone, may also acquire Gemstar in a split-off, Gupta said.
Think Equity Partners analyst John Tinker told clients he believes News Corp. is considering buying the 59 percent of Gemstar it doesn't already own so that it can trade or combine certain of those assets with Liberty Media.
Tinker points out that Murdoch wants to consolidate his ownership in News Corp. by buying out Liberty Media's stake in News.
Malone earlier this month entered into a $1.5 billion transaction that could raise Liberty's voting share in News Corp. to 17 percent from 9 percent.
In reaction to Malone's move, News Corp. adopted a "poison pill" shareholder rights plan that would be triggered by any further share acquisition by Malone.
Gemstar said late Thursday that Chief Executive Officer Jeff Shell has resigned, effective immediately. He has been replaced by Rich Battista, who most recently served as vice president of business development and strategy for Fox Entertainment Group.
The company also said Anthea Disney has been named executive chairman of its board, and that Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, and deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., has resigned from the Gemstar board.
News Corp. shares were up 31 cents at $17.95, while Liberty declined 13 cents to $10.64.
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