A ranking of the top 25 earners shows that for the hedge fund elite, the rich are getting much richer in a hurry.

With The New York Times Company?s stock performance lagging, the Sulzberger family is bracing for a contentious meeting today.

Mr. Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote more than 20 books on topics as varied as the Vietnam War and basketball.

The technology investment firm is opening offices in Shanghai and Beijing and plans to invest a $360 million fund in Chinese start-ups.

Reuters - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has hired a high-profile lawyer who hopes to present to a special bank committee Wolfowitz's case that he was not unethical in directing a promotion for his girlfriend.

Reuters - Computer maker Apple Inc.'s ex-chief financial officer Fred Anderson has settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on his alleged participation in the backdating of stock options, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday.

Mr. Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote more than 20 books on topics as varied as the Vietnam War and basketball.

Japan's Toyota overtakes US rival General Motors to become the world's biggest carmaker, the company says.

The takeover battle for Alliance Boots hots up after one of the chemist chain's main suitors raised its offer.

Nissan aims to cut 1,500 jobs through an early retirement programme in Japan to boost lacklustre performance.

BP reports a 17% profit dip during the first three months of the year, hurt by lower prices and higher costs.

Former Man City full-back Ray Ranson makes a £90m offer to buy the club.

Reuters - An Indonesian court on Tuesday cleared the local unit of Newmont Mining Corp. and the unit's American president of dumping toxic waste into a bay near a gold mine in North Sulawesi and making people sick.

Airline Partners Australia steps up its efforts to woo Qantas investors to accept a takeover offer.

Shares in directories firm Yell sink 19% after it says its US sales are set to grow by less than expected this year.

Questions are raised about the UK's public finances after figures show a drop in corporation tax during March.

Associated British Foods sees profits rise 5% over the past six months helped by clothing and sugar sales.

Reuters - U.S. complaints to the WTO over commercial piracy in China will "badly damage" cooperation, Vice Premier Wu Yi warned on Tuesday, insisting that China has made great strides in protecting patents and copyrights.

Reuters - U.S. health officials have approved 13 cheaper generic alternatives to Ambien, a blockbuster sleeping pill from France's Sanofi-Aventis , the Food and Drug Administration said on Monday.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King says that there could be a 'sharp' decline in the UK's rate of inflation.

UK public borrowing rose in March after a drop in corporation tax revenues, official figures show.

Reuters - U.S. stocks are expected to open flat on Tuesday as markets focus on home sales data to determine the extent of the weakness in the U.S. housing market, while a barrage of corporate results is also due.

Reuters - Whirlpool Corp. reported a slight decrease in first-quarter profit on Tuesday on lower U.S. demand for appliances amid a slower housing market.

Reuters - DuPont Co. , the No. 2 U.S. chemical company, said on Tuesday that first-quarter profit rose, driven by significantly higher seed sales, increased pharmaceuticals income and a favorable currency impact.

Reuters - First-quarter profit rose 32 percent at Alcan Inc. on higher primary aluminum prices, and better pricing, product mix and volumes in its downstream businesses, the company said on Tuesday.

The first-quarter results mark another milestone in America?s long decline from industrial pre-eminence.

A group led by private equity firm Terra Firma ends its bid interest in Boots, leaving the way clear for rival KKR.

Japan agrees a deal that could lead to tough restrictions on US beef imports being lifted, officials say.

The ex-chief financial officer (CFO) at computer firm Apple is expected to settle US claims over backdated stock options

Members of the Portman building society vote overwhelmingly in favour of a merger with Nationwide.

A US mining executive and his company, Newmont, are found not guilty of polluting an Indonesian bay.

Reuters - Telecommunications service provider AT&T Inc on Tuesday posted a higher quarterly profit as revenue rose from growth in its wireless business and its purchase late last year of BellSouth Corp.

Reuters - Lockheed Martin Corp. said on Tuesday that first-quarter profit rose a greater-than expected 17 percent as the world's largest defense contractor posted higher sales of information systems for government customers and had a number of one-time gains.

Reuters - Whirlpool Corp. reported lower but better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday as strong international appliance sales helped offset declining U.S. demand.

Reuters - Boeing Co. shares rose before the opening bell on Tuesday as the company won another batch of orders, worth more than $7 billion at list prices, for its new carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner jet.

Bad weather and increasing problems in the subprime market led to an 8.4 percent decline in March.

Sales of non-new US homes suffer their largest monthly fall for 18 years, indicating the weakness in the market.

US telecom group AT&T says takeovers and its strong wireless business have almost doubled first quarter profits.

Members of the Portman building society vote overwhelmingly in favour of a merger with Nationwide.

Reuters - Sales of existing homes in the United States dropped 8.4 percent in March, their biggest tumble in more than 18 years, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday in a report that was much weaker than expected.

Reuters - Consumer confidence slipped in April to its lowest since last August, reflecting worries that rising gasoline prices could ignite inflation and crimp economic growth, a report showed on Tuesday.

Reuters - AT&T Inc.'s first quarter profit doubled and beat analyst estimates, helped by the purchase late last year of BellSouth Corp., but its shares fell 2 percent as revenue and wireless growth were weaker than expected.

The first-quarter results mark another milestone in America?s long decline from industrial pre-eminence.

The vote was a symbolic protest against the company?s dual ownership structure and lagging stock price.

Virgin Atlantic orders 15 of Boeing's Dreamliner jets - the largest European order to date of the aircraft.

Zambia is to pay $15m to settle a debt demand case at London's Hgih Court launched by a so-called 'vulture fund'.

Reuters - U.S. consumer confidence slipped in April to its lowest since last August, while sales of existing homes in March dropped more sharply than in any month since January 1989, according to reports on Tuesday that offered more evidence of a weakening economy.

Reuters - AT&T Inc. said on Tuesday that first quarter profit doubled and beat analyst estimates, helped by the purchase late last year of BellSouth Corp., but its shares fell as much as 2 percent as revenue and wireless growth were weaker than expected.

Reuters - Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. reported higher first-quarter profit on Tuesday, but failed to trounce bullish Wall Street forecasts for the booming defense sector, sending their shares lower.

AP - The Bush administration said Tuesday that it will look into ways to help people get information about fees and expenses assessed on 401(k) plans, which can drain hard-earned money from workers' retirement savings.

Reuters - Fred Anderson, former chief financial officer of Apple Inc. , settled a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to the company's stock options plan, his attorney said on Tuesday.

Reuters - AT&T Inc. said on Tuesday that first quarter profit doubled and beat analyst estimates, helped by the purchase late last year of BellSouth Corp., but its shares fell as much as 2 percent as revenue and wireless growth were weaker than expected.

AP - The economy provided a sobering reminder Tuesday that consumers are jittery and the housing market is still a major cloud over growth.

It may seem that layoffs are happening more frequently than they once did and that workers? income is more volatile. The reality may be different.

An ex-manager at Apple faces civil charges over the alleged fraudulent award of share options to bosses.

A US court overturns an order stopping telecoms firm Vonage signing up new clients amid a row with rival Verizon.

Reuters - Online retailer Amazon.com on Tuesday said its quarterly net profit more than doubled and raised its earnings and sales outlook for the year, sending its shares up over 10 percent after hours.

Reuters - The death of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heiress Helen Walton will not require sales of a large block of the company's shares, her family said in a statement on Tuesday.

Reuters - Computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. on Tuesday posted a quarterly net profit versus a year-ago net loss but revenue fell shy of analysts' estimates and shares fell about 5 percent.

AP - Investors pressing companies to say more about the possible financial effects of global warming haven't found an ally in large mutual funds.

The vote was a symbolic protest against the company?s dual ownership structure and lagging stock price.

Reuters - U.S. regulators accused Apple Inc.'s former general counsel of fraudulently backdating stock options and settled a lawsuit against another former executive who said he had relied on CEO Steve Jobs' judgment in handling the questionable grants.

Reuters - Computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. on Tuesday posted a third quarter net profit versus a year-ago loss, but revenue fell shy of analysts' estimates and shares fell about 5 percent.

An 8.4 percent drop, coupled with lower prices, reflected a housing market that is looking unfriendly to sellers.

The earnings show the potential for growth but also the steep challenges facing AT&T and other telephone companies.

Vonage can sign up new customers as it pursues its appeal of an earlier ruling that it infringed three Verizon patents.

Quarterly profit increased 38 percent, citing improving margins in its core retail business and increased sales in categories like electronics and soft goods.

The vote was a symbolic protest against the company?s dual ownership structure and lagging stock price.

Online retailer Amazon enjoys a strong start to 2007, its sales rising 32% in the first three months of the year.

Reuters - Apple Inc.'s former finance chief said on Tuesday he relied on Chief Executive Steve Jobs in the handling of backdated stock options, putting the spotlight on the company's co-founder in the scandal.

Reuters - Dutch takeover target ABN AMRO said it would consider a superior proposal to its roughly $87 billion takeover by British bank Barclays Plc -- but that it has no responsibility to actively solicit a rival offer.

The news that Toyota is now the world?s largest carmaker was met in Detroit with anger and a sense of resignation.

Regulators said they would bring no civil charges against Apple over the backdating of executive stock options.

Winter weather and newly tightened lending standards probably sped the 8.4 percent drop in March, economists said.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $46 million to settle a suit by female brokers who said they were discriminated against in how they were trained, promoted and paid.

Gazprom will sell carbon dioxide emissions credits that companies in the European Union need in order to burn Gazprom?s fuel.

After 20 years of failed development efforts, buildings are finally going up on Chicago?s long-vacant Block 37.

Skybus Airlines, a start-up based in Columbus, Ohio, that promises some $10 seats on every flight, will begin service on May 22.

The warning cast doubt about the long-term outlook for the company four months after completing a trans-Atlantic merger.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and an Italian billionaire won the takeover battle in Europe?s biggest private equity buyout.

Shareholders gave voice to their growing displeasure with the company?s management and financial performance.

Job cuts in Europe and the U.S. may be offset by growth in Asia if Barclays and ABN Amro complete their nearly $91 billion deal.

Lexmark International posted a quarterly profit that missed Wall Street estimates.

The chemical maker reported a 16 percent increase in first-quarter earnings citing strong performance in its agricultural unit.

Investors weighed disappointing data on housing sales and consumer confidence against stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Other European oil companies are also expected to record declines in profit amid dwindling output and rising costs.

The order was part of an environmental partnership with Boeing that includes joint research into biofuels for use in jet engines.

The frenetic competition in the automotive industry is taking its toll on the advertising industry.

First-quarter earnings rose 17 percent because of higher sales at its technology unit and one-time gains.

The company said it would resume share buybacks that it had suspended while it digested its purchase of rival Maytag.

JetBlue Airways posted a loss and warned of weaker demand, higher fuel prices and a lower profit outlook.

I.B.M. increased its dividend by 33 percent and authorized an aggressive ramp-up of its share buyback program.

Nike is expanding its agency roster by shifting several important creative assignments to Crispin Porter & Bogusky in Miami, part of MDC Partners.

Warren E. Avis was a Michigan car dealership owner who founded a chain of car rental agencies and turned it into the nation?s second biggest.

Harold Max Mayer was the former chairman of Oscar Mayer who helped oversee the company?s sale in 1981.