Cutting Back
Compaq Computer said it will lay off 5,000 employees, or 7 percent of its work force, as it lowered its expected earnings for the first quarter of 2001 to $9 billion to $9.2 billion, or 4 percent less than the same quarter a year ago.
Rip Cord
Another Yahoo! executive is moseying out of the troubled company. Anil Singh, chief sales and marketing officer and senior vice president of business operations, will retire in early May, becoming the fifth executive to leave the Web portal since January.
To the Exit
Tod Johnson is stepping down as chief executive of Jupiter Media Metrix. Johnson was CEO of Media Metrix prior to the measurement firms acquisition of market research firm Jupiter Communications. Johnson also heads market research firm The NPD Group.
Bid Redux
BellSouth may be making another play for Sprint and Sprint PCS. BellSouth offered $100 billion for Sprint 17 months ago, but was outbid by WorldComs $129 billion offer. That pairing was unwound by antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe.
Up for Sale
Lucent Technologies is reportedly very close to selling its fiber unit, Optical Fiber Solutions. The move is part of the struggling telecom gear makers restructuring plan to save $2 billion in expenses.
Biggest Cheeses
According to Forrester Research, the top 13 tech power brokers in the new Congress are: Bob Bennett, R-Utah; Conrad Burns, R-Mont.; Chris Cannon, R-Utah; Chris Cox, R-Calif.; Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; John Kerry, D-Mass; Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Pat Leahy, D-Vt.; Ed Markey, D-Mass.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Jim Moran, D-Va.; and Billy Tauzin, R-La.