Magazine Review

While US Presidential candidates John McCaina nd Barrack Obama differ in their proposed financial policies, Fortune Magazine zeroes in on one issue where both are united and that’s paving the way for a greener and safer environment.

Fortune Magazine reported that both candidates agree to regulate carbon emissions by enacting a carbon cap and trade law to force industries to reduce carbon emissions. The said cap is envisioned to be lowered each year and this is where Obama and McCaind differ.

While McCain favors a 60% carbon dioxide output level by 2050 based on the 1990 levels, Obama wants to lower emissions by 80% by that year. While this is favorable to the environment, this is expected to create a toll on the economy considering that reducing greenhouse gases can lead to a rise in the prices of energy as an add on to the money that will be spent by industries for a cleaner and greener technology.

At a time when gas prices are pumping at $4 per gallon on the average, both McCain and Obama might want to rethink their percentages.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft is perhaps one of the best loved and most popular billionaires around. This Harvard drop-out may have amassed wealth but he is not greedy at all, donating most of his money in cause-oriented foundations that seeks to find a cure for some ill that society has.

Well, Fortune Magazine has reported that Bill Gates is about to retire from the company but not from humanity. While an ordinary person would think of relaxing and traveling, Bill Gates is excited about his retirement so he can spend more time trying to find a way to stop malaria.

Bill Gates may still be at the ripe old age of 53 but his retirement plans have been at the back of his mind for a long time now to pave the way for more altruistic pursuits. Fortune Magazine reports that Bill Gates has always been a utopian believing that every problem the world has can be solved using the IQ.

But with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie in the helm of Mirosoft, Bill Gates can sleep tightly at night even while on retirement.

The law of gravity provides that what goes up must come down.  This was realized too late by three men, all former Chief Executive Officers of big companies like Starbucks, JetBlue and Motorola. Fortune Magazine interviews these men on a topic considered by most ex-CEO’s, their wives and even children as taboo.

Fortune Magazine talked with Jim Donald, former CEO of Starbucks and who managed to raise the share price of the company from $26 to $39 during the two years he held office. As soon as the sales dropped, he was also dropped like a hot potato by the previous chairman Howard Schultz who reinstalled himself as Starbucks chief executive.

Fortune Magazine’s interview with former Motorola CEO (who made millions out of RAZR) Ed Zander. When the succeeding product fumbled and profits went down, he was also forced to go down along with it.

Of the three, Fortune Magazine found former JetBlue CEO David Neeleman to be relaxed and not nervous at all durign the interview. Reason: he has his future planned out.

 

Fortune Magazine hit the nail right on the head when it featured a story about a 27-year old systems analyst who admitted seh adn her husband are working overtime just to subsidize their gas expenses.

In an interview with Fortune Magazine, Kathleen Finan said she has no choice but to take a car to work since she has a 15-month old son. As a saving measure, she saved up for a hybrid but still looking for savings from that car.

Fortune Magazine said Finan and her husband, who works 40 hours a week, have to work an extra 10 or more hours just to raise money to buy gas.  How cruel can this world be?

Iron Man is a certified blockbuster and Fortune Magazine has just named its creator Avi Arad the godfather of various modern super hero movies, fifteen at the latest count.

Fortune credits toy inventor Arad for super hero movie flocks including Spiderman, X-Men, The Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider. Eight of Arad’s films consecutively landed at the top of the Box Office, the latest of which is the Robert Downey Jr.-starring role.

According to Fortune Magazine, the stellar performance of Iron Man impressed marvel and Paramount bosses as it exceeded their expectations. And why not, when Iron Man opened to $214 million sales worldwide. It is not however surprising considering the people’s apparent fascination for super heroes, the amazing technical glitz in the movie and of course, Downey’s stellar performance.

Arad still has another ace coming though with the opening of Incredible Hulk on June 13. But this might be the last Marvel super hero flick Arad will do. Arad used to be Marvel’s chairman and CEO until he left the company two years ago to concentrate on his own production outfit.

Fortune Magazine credits Arad for resuscitating Marvel’s financial condition after it filed for bankruptcy protection sometime in the 1990s. Arad is a successful toy inventor and businessman with assets worth over $100 million. Expect something different from him in the future like a 3-D film version of “Ghost In The Shell”, a Japanese Manga and a film on Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

Fortune Magazine’s list of the top 25 most powerful people in business is headed by Steve Jobs, CEO and Chairman of Apple.  Jobs has accomplished a lot in his 30-year career but one of his most glaring achievement (aside from being the founder of Apple)  is the way he changed the course of the computer industry.

Fortune Magazine acknolwdged Jobs’ conception of desktop publishing, laser printer and personal computer networks but not necessarily in that order.  He also financed Pixar whcih revolutioned the making of computer animated films. 

He did not stop there though.  As per Fortune Magazine, he also introduced iPod, paved the way for the selling of music through theiTunes Music Store and now the iPhone.

Fortune Magazine sure knows how to find powerful people so look out for more of them.

Google has just topped Fortune Magazine’s survey on the 100 Top Companies in the US to work for.   Everyone who is using the Internet (and even some who don’t!) know Google.

Fortune Magazine cites Google’s 8,134 US employees and 60% job growth as among the factors that placed Google on the top of the list, not to mention its popularity. Google offers one of the best salaries in town and the most exciting perks.  However, the opportunity to discover things has made Google number one.

Fortune Magazine continues to deliver crisp and critical insights on the business front. Not surprising that it is also a top business magazine.