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DECEMBER 13, 2004
Talk Show "When they showed the category, I thought, 'Oh, this is trouble.' Business and industry -- not really my thing." -- Ken Jennings, who won $2,520,700 playing Jeopardy! before losing on a question about H&R Block WEB WATCH The Beast In Cisco's Rearview Will Cisco Systems (CSCO ), king of computer networking, get Linuxed? If a group of open-source software enthusiasts have their way, it could happen. Atanu Ghosh, a prominent researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, Calif., is heading an ambitious project to provide free software that will route data through computer networks using inexpensive hardware and microprocessors from the likes of Intel (INTC ) -- the same way Linux has become a cheap answer for PC and server operating systems. The project is called the eXtensible Open Router Platform -- XORP, in tech-speak. If it's a success, XORP could become a low-cost alternative to expensive networking gear from Cisco and others. Ghosh has a basic version of XORP and has begun work on a more sophisticated update. He has raised $3 million from backers such as Intel, Microsoft (MSFT ), and the National Science Foundation. Of course, XORP is no overnight threat to Cisco. But executives at the $22 billion company should keep an eye out. In tech, someone always finds a way to turn today's big-ticket items into tomorrow's commodities. Cisco declined comment. By Alex Salkever   FASHION FRONT Brand It Like Beckham In the U.S., most people still don't know the world's most popular athlete, David Beckham. But the British footballer and his key sponsor, adidas-Solomon (ADDDY ), hope to change that with a new line of soccer and casual wear that will bear a Beckham logo based on his famous free kicks. If any soccer player can break through in the U.S. market, it's Beckham, 29, who has graced the covers of Vogue, Men's Journal, and Vanity Fair and lent his name to the surprise hit movie Bend It Like Beckham. The David Beckham Predator-Pulse Thumbprint soccer shoe and a collection of blue-and-white athletic apparel are just hitting selected U.S. retailers. In a few months, a line of Beckham casual and active wear will follow -- the first time adidas has created a signature brand and logo for one of its athletes. Adidas execs hope Beckham can do for the company what Michael Jordan did for Nike (NKE ). They pay him more than $100 million under a lifetime contract, and a further $10 million annually until 2008 for this deal. The apparel and logo are meant to give the Beckham brand legs well after his are too slow to play pro soccer. Just call it Brand It Like Beckham. By Stanley Holmes 
IPO WATCH A Vegas Mogul Cashes In Some Chips The biggest winner in Las Vegas this year could be Sheldon Adelson, a cab driver's son who made his first big score founding the Comdex computer trade show. Adelson placed a big bet in 1999, opening the $1.2 billion Venetian Casino Resort. Now he's planning to cash in with an initial public offering of stock in Las Vegas Sands, the entity that controls his casinos. According to a Nov. 24 SEC filing, the offering would value Adelson's remaining 88% stake at more than $6 billion. The estimated $500 million in proceeds from the IPO will help Adelson finish the Palazzo, a $1.6 billion casino resort he's building adjacent to the Venetian. But another jackpot lies overseas. Las Vegas Sands is one of three owners of casino licenses on the island of Macau, the former Portuguese colony that is China's only market for legalized gambling. Adelson, 71, opened one casino there last May and plans to build a second, a $1.8 billion knock-off of the Venetian, by 2007. In blackjack they call that doubling down. By Christopher Palmeri TOY STORIES Power Play Faster than a speeding subpoena! Able to leap Sarbanes-Oxley in a single bound! It's BossMan! Complete with tiny cell phone and stock-option certificate, this six-inch action figure is accompanied by his trusty sidekick, MoneyMan, who's armed with a calculator and paper shredder. Appearing in stores this month at $16 to $18 apiece, they're the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Kris Schantz, 27, and Shirley Yee, 29, two tech-world refugees who started Happy Worker two years ago in Toronto. Their first action figure was GeekMan, an über-nerd with "the ability to create tech acronyms." By Robert McNatt PARALLEL PERK Drive Green And Get Some Green In an effort to clear the air, Hyperion Solutions (HYSL ), a Sunnyvale (Calif.) maker of business software, is offering workers $5,000 each toward the purchase of a "green" car that gets 45 mpg or better. "[It's a] vote for the environ-ment," says Chief Executive Godfrey Sullivan. The idea popped into his head last July as his thoughts drifted during a 100-mile horse race near Lake Tahoe. Sullivan has allotted $1 million a year for the give-away -- a smidgen for the $670 million company -- and thinks half of his 2,500 employees could sign on. By Brian Hindo FACE TIME Vivek Paul: At Least He Gets Some Respect  Vivek Paul, CEO of Indian outsourcer Wipro and one of India's highest-paid execs, says he's feeling poor. His salary -- $460,000, with a bonus bringing the total to over $1 million -- is low compared with those of his Silicon Valley neighbors of 25 years.The CEOs nearby are raking it in: Last year, Apple Computer's (AAPL ) Steve Jobs traded options for restricted stock worth $74.7 million. And Oracle's Larry Ellison made a total of $40.6 million. Is Paul, 46, trying to play catch-up? He recently sold most of his Wipro stock for $7 million. He says that Wipro managers typically do not hold much stock and that he planned the sale. "It has absolutely nothing to do with my outlook," he says, noting a new, five-year contract. One thing Paul does share with his neighbors is celebrity status -- at least in India. "Instead of being ambushed by screaming teenage girls, middle-aged men come to me at airports," he says. That's no surprise. Wipro's $1 billion business is growing at a 47% yearly clip. By Olga Kharif CASINO SOCIETY Russian Slots Are Going Ka-Ching! Over and over, the catchy jingle plays, tempting passersby into the slot-machine arcade at the busy Kiev railroad station in Moscow: "Play Jackpot, and live without worries!" Every few feet, another arcade beckons. Quite a change from communist days, when gambling in Russia was outlawed. Hundreds of casinos opened in the 1990s, catering mainly to rich businesspeople. But in the past few years, the betting bug has bitten the man on the street. The number of slot machines nationwide has doubled in the past year, to 250,000, estimates Deloitte CIS. In 1999 there were only 12,500 in the country. Mouthwatering returns are driving the investment. Profit margins average 40%, and this year slot-machine owners will pull in some $2.8 billion in revenues, up from $1 billion in 2003, according to Deloitte. The key factor behind the takeoff in Russia is favorable regulation. There are few obstacles to acquiring a gambling license, beyond a one-time fee of $45. Operators pay a fixed tax per machine, set at $130 a month in Moscow. That's no great burden, considering that a slot machine generates an average of $700 to $1,000 per month. Parliament is debating a new law that would tighten the licensing requirements and hike taxes. Even so, big industry players from Australia and Asia are sizing up the market. Just 4% of Russians play slot machines, compared with 25% of Americans. With odds like that, it's no wonder Russia's slot-machine operators see the market as a sure thing. By Jason Bush 
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