By Walter Loeb, Contributor Over the years I have visited many Walmart stores and have seen some very disorderly stores. But I found a store in total disarray during my visit last Saturday to the Pittsfield, Massachusetts store (number 1201). It was disturbing. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Filed under: Retail, International Trade, Wal-Mart, Scandals and Lawsuits, Stocks
NEW YORK — The world’s biggest retailer, Walmart, says it is likely that it will incur a loss from bribery probes into its operations in Mexico and other countries.
Walmart Stores Inc. (WMT) has been dealing with allegations that surfaced last April that it failed to notify law enforcement that company officials authorized millions of dollars in payments in Mexico to speed up getting building permits and gain other favors. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act forbids American companies from bribing foreign officials.
The company has launched its own investigation and is working with government officials in the U.S. and Mexico. In November, the retailer said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was looking into potential U.S. bribery law violations in Brazil, China and India.
In another filing Tuesday with the SEC, Walmart Stores said that it expects to incur costs above the $157 million it spent on the probes in fiscal 2013 due to its ongoing review and other investigations as well as shareholder lawsuits.
It also said it is “probable” that it will incur a loss from the matters, but didn’t give an estimate on how much.
“Given the on-going nature and complexity of the review, inquiries and investigations, we cannot reasonably estimate any loss or range of loss that may arise from these matters,” the Benton, Ark.-based Walmart said in the filing.
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By IBTimes
Filed under: CEOs, Entrepreneurs, People
By Angelo Young
The Forbes magazine annual list of the world’s billionaires has always been scant of women, but 35 more women did join this year’s record-length list of 1,426 global über-rich. They now number 138, or 9.7 percent of the total. Last year, they represented 8.5 percent of the list of 1,226 billionaires.
The world’s richest women continue to be heiresses or inheritors of wealth, but every year there appear women who acquired their fortunes largely on their own.
The women in the top 40 are regulars to the list. They include Liliane Bettencourt of the L’Oreal clan, two Waltons — relatives of Walmart Stores, Inc. (WMT) founder Sam Walton — the widow Iris Fontbona of the Chilean copper mining giant Antofagasta, Australian mining magnate Georgina Rinehart and Jacqueline Mars of the candy giant Mars, Inc.; the latter two inherited their fortunes and responsibilities when their fathers passed away.
But three women joined the club this year without the help of a family empire or a massive inheritance. These three entrepreneurs join a small sub-set inside Forbes annual list of self-made women.
Take a look at the Forbes list of self-made women billionaires:
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Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images
