Senate Puts Blackstone on Notice

Move could rock Silicon Valley model if successful

(NEWSER) - With what’s expected to be an almost $20 billion IPO looming, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus is starting to wish he hadn’t given out so much stock to attract early employees to his company. So he’s doing something unheard of: He’s demanding employees give their stock back or be fired, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move could rock Silicon Valley, whose startups have long relied on the prospect of stock wealth to lure talent. More»

Huge private equity company to open its books

(NEWSER) - The Carlyle Group is going public. The mammoth private equity company has filed paperwork with the SEC for what’s planned as a $100 million initial public offering, the Washington Post reports. The move will open its books to public scrutiny, shining a light on the array of 270 disparate businesses and properties it has a stake in. The group owns, for example, Nielsen Co., a truck transmission company, a Brazilian lingerie firm, Asian forests, and a string of Connecticut rest stops. More»

Thanks to an army of lobbyists, they've dodged reforms

(NEWSER) - While Wall Street banks are being hauled before Congress for public reprimand, hedge funds and private equity firms have floated blissfully above the fray, thanks to an army of well-connected lobbyists. More than half of the 83 new lobbyists who signed up with the industry's two main trade groups last year came from government jobs, Politico reports. That includes three former members of Congress, and several former top staffers for the Senate Banking Committee. More»

Firm could make less money due to bear market

(NEWSER) - Rosetta Stone, the popular language-learning software maker, holds its initial public stock offering today—a risky move in a bear market, Jennifer Collins reports for Marketplace. Rosetta Stone’s profit has quadrupled since 2007, but it could make twice as much by waiting. It’s possible Rosetta needs cash now, which would be an acceptable reason for the dubious timing. More»

(NEWSER) - Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post. In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which requires congressional approval, would reverse decades of deregulation. More»