Business news in brief
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GM offers buyouts to salaried workforce of about 58,000
DETROIT General Motors is offering buyouts to most of its U.S. salaried workforce and some global executives in an effort to trim costs as it makes the transition to electric vehicles.
The Detroit automaker wouldnt say how many workers it is targeting, but confirmed that the move is aimed at accelerating attrition to meet a previously announced goal of $2 billion in cost cuts by the end of next year. GM has about 58,000 salaried workers in the U.S.
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The company says the offers also are designed to avoid any possible firings at a later date.
Offers will go to white-collar workers with at least five years of service, and global executives who have been with the company at least two years.
Shell nearly doubles CEOs salary amid record profits
LONDON The pay package for Shells CEO jumped by half last year to nearly $12 million, the fossil fuel giant said Thursday, as oil and gas companies made record profits from skyrocketing energy costs that have driven a cost-of-living crisis.
London-based Shell paid Ben van Beurden $11.5 million in 2022 as annual company profits doubled to an all-time high of $40 billion because Russias war in Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring.
Former Goldman Sachs banker sentenced to 10 years
NEW YORK A former Goldman Sachs banker was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for his role in looting a Malaysian development fund of billions of dollars used to finance lavish parties, a superyacht, premium real estate and even the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.
Roger Ng was convicted last April by a U.S. District Court jury in Brooklyn, but he continues to deny charges that he conspired to launder money and violated two anti-bribery laws.
Prosecutors said Ng and his co-conspirators helped the Malaysian fund, known as 1MDB, raise $6.5 billion through bond sales only to participate in a scheme that siphoned off more than two-thirds of the money, some of which went to pay bribes and kickbacks.
Senate confirms IRS nominee
WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate confirmed Daniel Werfel to serve as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday by a vote of 54-42.
Werfel, who pledged before senators not to expand tax audits on businesses and households making less than $400,000 per year, will serve a five-year term as leader of the federal tax collection agency.
The approval came after the Senate agreed a day earlier to move to a final vote on Werfels nomination, with six Republicans breaking party ranks to back him and a lone Democrat, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, voting against him.
Mortgage rates rise for 5th week
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose for the fifth straight week to its highest level since breaching 7% in November, just as the spring buying season gets ready to kick off.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate climbed to 6.73% from 6.65% last week. The average rate a year ago was 3.85%.
The average long-term rate hit 7.08% in the fall a two-decade high as the Federal Reserve continued to raise its key lending rate in a bid to cool the economy and quash persistent, four-decade high inflation.
The Associated Press
Friday, March 10, 2023 at 6:30 am