Over the past few years,
Google has been, along with
eBay and
Wi-Fi, among the few happy tales in Tech Land. Now tech enthusiasts
and some
Wall Street money folks are panting for a Google IPO;
taking Google public could raise $2 billion and bring a rush of
other tech IPOs. As always, the big investment banks will hog the
early action, but insiders whisper that Brin and Page, always
thinking outside the box, might set up an online auction to allow
millions of loyal Googlers a shot at some shares. For more on this
subject, google it.
WILLIAM DONALDSON
Who Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Why Watch? SEC chief faces a raft of problems in cleaning up
financial scandals.
That old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times," must
have occurred to William Donaldson over the past few months.
Accounting scandals. Corporate fraud. Improper trading practices in
the $7 trillion mutual-fund industry. Times don't get much more
interesting than these for the government agency charged with
protecting investors and maintaining the integrity of the financial
markets.
Donaldson, 71, took the SEC's reins last year following the
resignation of Harvey "Embattled" Pitt, who was criticized for
being too close to the scandal-plagued accounting industry. With
polls showing the public's confidence in the SEC at an all-time
low, Donaldson, a founder of the Wall Street investment house
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and a former chairman of the New
York Stock Exchange, pledged to create "a new environment of
integrity and accountability that goes well beyond adherence to
laws."
Since then, Donaldson has been playing Whack-A-Mole with one
ethical mess after another as critics wait to see whether he and
his boss,
President Bush, are serious about using the agency's
expanded powers, granted by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including
stronger criminal penalties for white-collar crimes and new rules
for stock analysts and lawyers.