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JANUARY 31, 2005
Edited by Ira Sager Talk Show "You'll have at least two ways to get lucky on our flights." -- Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic founder, on his airline's offering casinos and double beds on its six new Airbus A380 planes EXECUTIVE SUITE COOs: Less Room At The Top The chief operating officer job could become a thing of the past. Since the dot-com bubble burst, the number of companies with COOs has fallen, from 316 in 2000 to 249 last year, according to a study of more than 600 large U.S. companies by executive search firm Crist Associates. On Jan. 12, Motorola (MOT ) became the latest to drop the title, with the departure of Mike Zafirovski 13 months after he was passed over for chief executive. CEO Ed Zander thinks this will help him get closer to the company's four business units. "I want to have one-on-one time," he says. Other companies that have abolished their COO positions in recent years include General Motors (GM ), IBM (IBM ), and Procter & Gamble (PG ). For years, the COO post was considered critical, to free up the CEO for strategic issues or as the final stop for an exec groomed for the top job. But today, investors demand CEOs who know every corner of their business, and reforms such as Sarbanes-Oxley impose greater accountability, forcing CEOs to be more hands-on. Chief financial officers' expanding roles now often overlap with COOs', too. A CEO-in-waiting recruited from the outside might benefit from a stint as COO. Barring that, fewer companies seem willing to pad the payroll with another high-paid exec. By Louis Lavelle   HOT SEATS Updraft In The Windy City In 2003 a seat on the Chicago Board of Trade sold for just $338,000, compared with $2 million for one on the New York Stock Exchange. But in early January a seat on the Chicago futures exchange changed hands for $1.25 million -- just off a November high of $1.4 million. Meanwhile, the price of a seat at the NYSE has eroded to a nine-year low of $975,000, thanks in part to uncertainty over plans to automate more trading. It's the first time in roughly 20 years that a CBOT membership is priced higher than that of the NYSE. The secret to the dramatic uptick in the price of a CBOT seat has been success. The exchange traded nearly 600 million contracts in 2004, up 32% from the previous record year. Plus, new technology and price cuts have helped stave off low-cost electronic rival Eurex U.S., which opened last year. It also hasn't hurt that shares in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the city's other major futures bourse, have soared from $35 to a recent $206, since a December, 2002, initial public offering. The CBOT has filed restructuring plans with the SEC, a step that could signal an IPO. If that happens, a seat on the CBOT certainly would be a hot commodity. By Adrienne Carter 
THE HOME FRONT Virtual Immigration Enforcers David Caulkett, a 56-year-old Pompano Beach (Fla.) resident who was laid off as a computer technician two years ago, blames illegal immigrants for depressing the country's wages, clogging its courts, and burdening its public services. Tired of "sob stories," he has joined a growing number of Web activists who have taken the crusade against illegals into their own hands. On his site, ReportIllegals.com, anyone can report, anonymously, details on suspected illegal immigrants, such as name, address, and the companies that allegedly employ them. Caulkett charges $10 but doesn't vet reports from his 8,000 monthly visitors for accuracy, leaving that to the Homeland Security Dept., the FBI, and other agencies to which he forwards the complaints. Other sites, such as IllegalAliens.us, StopTheInvasion.com, NumbersUSA.com, and Americans for Legal Immigration (alipac.us), urge visitors to complain to their congressional representatives or law enforcement. HSD doesn't endorse the sites but says it welcomes the help. The agency publishes a phone number for reporting suspected illegal aliens free of charge. It deported a record 157,842 people in 2004, up from 145,416 the prior year. Some deportations, HSD says, likely resulted from Web tips. Immigration supporters are appalled. They say reporting suspected illegals over the Web will result in U.S. citizens being mistakenly fingered, or let people with a grudge turn in innocent victims. "It's almost like vigilantism," says Judy Golub, with the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. Caulkett, for one, is unswayed: "These people have not contributed to our society." Meanwhile, complaints to Caulkett's Web site have risen 10% per month. By Brian Grow CHINA CHECK Chip Shot Given China's economic boom, it was just a matter of time until the nation's chip market clawed its way to the top. That time is now. This year, China will become the world's biggest chip market, predicts IC Insights. The Scottsdale (Ariz.) researcher thinks 2005 sales of chips in China will reach $34.3 billion, eclipsing both Japan's $33.1 billion and North America's $33 billion. Since 2001, China's chip market has grown at a yearly rate of 46%. While cell-phone chips are hot, demand for computer chips is even greater. By Otis Port FACE TIME Gerald Greenwald: This Time, He's Taking The Train  In mid-1999, after five years as CEO of United Airlines (UALAQ
) and 20 years with Chrysler (DCX
), Gerald Greenwald retired to his Aspen (Colo.) home. Now, at age 69, Greenwald is adding railroads to his résumé.On Jan. 12, Greenbriar Equity Group, a $450 million investment vehicle Greenwald founded, teamed with Berkshire Partners to buy North America's largest builder of locomotives: General Motors' (GM ) Electro-Motive Div. The purchase is Greenbriar's fourth in the transportation sector. Greenwald can't seem to stay away from planes, trains, and automobiles, but he does rule out one investment: United. When the airline went into bankruptcy in late 2002, he says, he offered to buy a stake but was rebuffed. Today, as United struggles to cut costs, he's glad: "I've been saved from myself." Besides, now he has time to travel. A day after inking his rail deal, Greenwald left for a week in the Amazon jungle. No wheels -- just a guide and his own two feet. By Michael Arndt GIVING A Corporate Peace Corps Catches On Last year, Cisco Systems (CSCO ) made an unusual donation to nonprofit NetHope: an executive director. Dipak Basu took leave from his sales job to run the group, which helps bring high tech to developing nations. On Jan. 10, as relief workers responded to the tsunami disaster, NetHope began setting up wireless networks across Southeast Asia. That let relief workers coordinate efforts via e-mail and cell phone. The volunteer plan has been so successful that Cisco plans to let more staffers work with aid groups. The model for a corporate Peace Corps is catching on. By pairing top talent with charities, companies are contributing their most important asset: brainpower. This spring, Nike (NKE ) will begin offering workers with 10 years of service five-week paid sabbaticals to volunteer with aid groups. Pfizer (PFE ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers already send employees to help nonprofit organizations in developing countries. In addition to building infrastructure, the programs help create goodwill among future customers in emerging markets. Nonprofit BuildingBlocks International, which connects businesses to social causes, wants to keep the momentum going. It's asking America's top companies to commit to sending 10 workers to developing countries for 1,000 hours each. So far, Pfizer has signed on, and Cisco and Nike are considering. These companies are finding that lending a helping hand may do more good than handing over cash. By Jessi Hempel TINSELTECH First-Run Films In Your Living Room? This year, Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival, long a showcase for indie movies, will also show off technology that could change movie distribution. On Jan. 22, Intel (INTC ) will stream an 84-minute film called Rize from an Oregon lab via an Internet service provider to Park City, Utah. From there it will be broadcast wirelessly for 11 miles using Intel's new WiMax gear to a theater screen and a dozen laptops at a Park City lodge. The idea? To show how wireless broadband can be used to untether digital movies. WiMax, which rolls out this year, can enable distribution of movies-on-demand to theaters, or even homes. While that will take a few years, "it has enormous meaning for filmmakers," says Ian Calderon, director of digital initiatives for the Sundance Institute. Studio execs from Walt Disney (DIS ), HBO (TWX ), and Sony (SNE ) are expected to watch. No wonder. Imagine the ability to add digital homes to an opening weekend box office sum. By Heather Green 
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