BUSINESS BRIEFS
Countrywide CEO will give up $37.5 million
Advertiser Staff and News Services
LOS ANGELES — Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo, under fire over the size of his potential payout from the proposed sale of his troubled mortgage company, says he is forfeiting some $37.5 million in severance pay, fees and perks he was scheduled to receive upon his retirement.
Mozilo, however, will still retain retirement benefits and deferred compensation that he has already earned, Countrywide said in a statement being released today.
Calabasas-based Countrywide agreed earlier this month to be acquired by Bank of America Corp. for $4.1 billion in stock.
NO DEAL YET WITH QTRAX, WARNER
LOS ANGELES — A revamped online file-sharing service that promised to offer unlimited, free music downloads from all the major record labels hit an apparent snag yesterday after one denied it had given the service permission.
Qtrax touted in a press release yesterday morning that it was the first Internet file-swapping service to be "fully embraced by the music industry," and boasted it would carry up to 30 million tracks from "all the major labels."
New York-based Warner Music undermined that claim, declaring in a statement that it "has not authorized the use of our content on Qtrax's recently announced service."
Allan Klepfisz, Qtrax's president and chief executive, said yesterday that the Warner Music deal had not been signed, but said he expects to reach an agreement on terms "shortly."
AT&T, VERIZON RAISING PRICES
NEW YORK — AT&T and Verizon are raising prices for caller ID and other popular phone services by as much as 300 percent, even as they continue to push regulators to loosen up because of increased competition.
AT&T and Verizon have argued they need pricing flexibility to compete with cable TV and others offering Internet-based phone services. Dozens of states have acquiesced, giving carriers freedom to jack up prices.
Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe says consumers "aren't trapped in any way. ... The reality is that people have lots of choices" in telecom companies. AT&T prices, even with the increases, "are very competitive," says spokesman James Peterson.
AMERICANS DELAY DRAWING ON IRAS
NEW YORK — Americans who have money stored in Individual Retirement Accounts tend to hang on to it for use in the later years of their retirement, according to a study being released today.
The Investment Company Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association, found that less than one-fifth of households with IRAs made withdrawals from their accounts in tax year 2006.
Savers who withdraw funds before age 59 1/2 are subject to a 10 percent penalty; savers older than 59 1/2 but younger than 70 1/2 may take withdrawals without penalty. But once they reach 70 1/2, the law mandates "required minimum distributions" based on IRS tables.
MOST EXPENSIVE BEER COSTS $400
COPENHAGEN — Carlsberg A/S ads say it's "probably the best beer in the world." At $400 a bottle, it's now the most expensive. The brewer, Scandinavia's biggest, introduced a beer yesterday that costs 2,008 Danish kroner ($396.47), the price being based on the year of its introduction. The Vintage No. 1 brew will be sold at three Copenhagen restaurants.
The product, costing 357 times more than Carlsberg's main Danish lager brand, has been developed to challenge luxury wines in the gourmet restaurant market and capitalize on rising individual wealth.
Carlsberg has produced 600 bottles of the 10.5 percent alcohol beer, each of 37.5 centiliters (0.8 pint). Another version costing 2,009 kroner will be introduced next year and one for 2,010 kroner the year after, the company said yesterday.
