THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150613
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 49 lines
The founders of Yahoo! are the youngest people to endow a chair at Stanford University, a $2 million thank you to the school where they developed the idea for the company that made them rich. Jerry Yang, 28, and David Filo, 30, are worth about $140 million each as a result of their Internet directory company, which went public last spring. The chair endowed by Filo and Yang is called the Yahoo! Founders Professor of the Stanford School of Engineering. Stanford trustees approved the name on Wednesday. (Associated Press)
Norfolk Southern termed most-admired railroad
Norfolk Southern Corp. got another Valentine this week. This one was from Fortune magazine, which called Norfolk Southern the most-admired railroad in the industry based on a survey of industry executives. The Norfolk-based railroad easily exceeded the ranking of No. 2 Union Pacific Corp. and No. 3 CSX Corp., its rival in the fight for Conrail Inc. Earlier this week, Norfolk Southern got a Valentine of thanks from a Norfolk business group. The Fortune survey ranked the most-admired companies in 49 industries. The nation's most-admired company is Coca-Cola, according to the survey. (Staff) W.Va. judge dismisses claims against tobacco
A West Virginia judge has dismissed the essential claims of the attorney general's Medicaid lawsuit against the tobacco companies, ruling that two state agencies have no independent right to sue for personal injuries allegedly caused by smoking. The ruling, issued February 13, could have wide implications in every other state where similar lawsuits are pending. Circuit Judge Irene C. Berger yesterday granted, in its entirety, the tobacco industry's motion to dismiss 11 of the 14 counts of a lawsuit brought by the state agencies. (Staff) Fidelity files with SEC for index funds
Fidelity Investments has fired a shot in its battle for a larger share of the index-fund market. The company has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to launch three retail index funds: Spartan Total Market Index, Spartan Extended Market Index and Spartan International Index. Fidelity currently offers just one retail index fund, Market Index, and two for institutional investors, U.S. Market Index and U.S. Bond Index. The minimum initial investment for each of the funds is $500 through most employee benefit plans, but $25,000 for investors on their own. Fidelity Investments has $496.3 billion under management. (Dow Jones News)