Add Microsoft’s general counsel to the list of people not happy about PRISM and other government surveillance programs. Brad Smith wrote a letter to Eric Holder yesterday—a letter Business Insider calls “unusually dramatic” in its tone—asking the attorney general to convince President Obama that he should be more… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
After alleged details of its collaboration with U.S. intelligence agencies were published last week, Microsoft quickly refuted accusations that it provides unfettered access to private user data for domestic surveillance. But with the NSA’s rumored PRISM program still making headlines, Microsoft is taking additional strides to clear the air. In a blog post today, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Legal & Corporate Affairs, Brad Smith, offered new insight into the company’s compliance with government requests and its ongoing efforts to gain permission to release detailed records of its security practices.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Tech
By Brian Stoffel, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy to dissect balance sheets, income, and cash flow statements. This is the first step in getting your feet wet in the investment world.
But it doesn’t stop there. If we were to base investing decisions solely on what we read in these statements, that would be akin to picking a significant other based solely on their Facebook profile — to many, it just doesn’t make sense to avoid real-life interaction.
Investigating these “soft” aspects of a company is important for investors. And although we can’t capture all of the intangibles of a company in one article, Glassdoor.com — a website that collects employee sentiment for companies across the world — recently came out with a list that could help: The Top CEOs of 2013.
Below are the CEOs rated No. 20 through No. 16. Read below and I’ll give some more detail, and at the end, offer up a special premium report on one of these five.
Number 20: Intuit
As tax season is winding to a close, millions of Americans are using one of Intuit’s key products: TurboTax. It just so happens that Intuit’s CEO, Brad Smith, used to head the division that produces TurboTax.
Smith, who has been with the company since 2003, also has experience managing the other side of Intuit’s business: From 2006 until he became CEO in 2008, he was a general manager in Intuit’s small businesses division, which offers Quicken accounting products to more than 7 million small companies.
Smith believes that Intuit’s strategy moving forward will be three-pronged: penetrating deeper into traditional tax and small business markets, focusing on emerging markets, and generating a greater mix of services.
Apparently, Intuit employees tend to agree with this blueprint, as 91% approve of the job he’s doing.
Number 19: NetApp
For those who might be unfamiliar with the company, NetApp is a specialist in network storage solutions; in other words, it helps save, store, and maintain complex networks of information online. NetApp’s CEO, Tom Georgens, has been with the company since 2007, and has served in the role of CEO since 2009.
Under Georgens tenure, NetApp increased revenue 59% between 2010 and 2012, with net income increasing by 51% over the same time frame. Georgens has stated that these growth rates aren’t from focusing on a specific dollar target or worrying about macro issues, but rather by looking to gain “a point, a point-and-a-half a share every year.” The plan seems to be working, and Georgens’ employees appreciate that, giving him a 91% approval rating.
Number 18: Intel
This behemoth micro-chip maker is one of the few in its industry that attempts to keep the whole process of design and fabrication in-house. That’s long been the case at Intel, and CEO Paul Otellini has continued the tradition since becoming CEO back in 2005.
Otellini has been with the company since 1974, working his way up through the ranks. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance