Archive for August, 2008

Motorola sweetens incentives for co-CEO

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

By James P. Miller | Chicago Tribune reporter
August 30, 2008

Motorola Inc. disclosed Friday that it has reworked co-Chief Executive Greg Brown’s contract, adding millions of dollars in new incentives that kick in only if the company successfully completes the planned spinoff of its handset unit.

The agreement contains a number of new stock-option arrangements, which pay out over three years, an arrangement that appears designed to entice Brown to stay with the company through the coming changes and beyond.

Under the contract, if Motorola’s mobile phones unit becomes a separate public company and is valued by the stock market at a minimum of $2 billion, then Brown, who will be head of the non-phone business, will receive a grant of at least $1.67 million in restricted Motorola common shares, as well as potentially lucrative options to buy at least $3.33 million in stock. They vest, subject to Brown’s continued employment, in three installments.

Motorola’s current market capitalization is $21 billion.
“The all-inclusive compensation package is designed to align Mr. Brown’s interests with the interests of Motorola’s stockholders,” the convention said in its filing.

Brown’s earlier employment agreement was signed in January, when the Schaumburg-based communications-materiel manufacturer promoted him to succeed Edward Zander as CEO.

Soon after taking the reins, Brown announced plans to split off the giant but struggling cell phone business into a free-standing company. Those plans took a major according with forward this month when Motorola signed Qualcomm Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Jha as co-CEO and head of the unfixed phone business.

The pay package for Jha, who will be head of the phone business once the separation is completed, was spelled out in a Securities and Quid pro quo Commission filing three weeks ago. Among other things, Jha received Motorola stock valued at the time at roughly $35 million and options to come by an additional 16.6 million shares.

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Lottery - Payment of prizes

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Winnings are not necessarily paid out in a lump sum, contrary to the expectation of many lottery participants. In certain countries, such as the USA, the winner gets to choose between an annuity payment and a one-time payment. The one-time payment is much smaller, indeed often only half, of the advertised lottery jackpot, even before applying any withholding tax to which the prize may be subject. The annuity option provides regular payments over a period that may range from 10 to 40 years.

In some online lotteries, the annual payments can be as little as $25,000 over 40 years, with a balloon payment in the final year. This type of installment payment is often made through investment in government-backed securities. Online lotteries pay the winners through their insurance backup. However, many winners choose to take the lump-sum payment, since they believe they can get a better rate of return on their investment elsewhere.

In some countries, lottery winnings are not subject to personal income tax, so there are no tax consequences to consider in choosing a payment option. In Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom all prizes are immediately paid out as one lump sum, tax-free to the winner.

In the United States, federal courts have consistently held that a lump sum payments received from third parties in exchange for the rights to lottery annuities are not capital assets for tax purpose. Rather, the lump sum is subject to ordinary income tax treatment.


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Lottery - Country lottery details - United States

Friday, August 29th, 2008

United States

n the United States, the existence of lotteries is subject to the laws of each state; there is no national lottery.

Private lotteries were legal in the United States in the early 1800s.[4] In fact, a number of US patents were granted on new types of lotteries. In today’s vernacular, these would be considered business method patents.

Before the advent of state-sponsored lotteries, many illegal lotteries thrived; for example, see Numbers game and Peter H. Matthews. The first modern state lottery in the U.S. was established in the state of New Hampshire in 1964; as of 2008, lotteries are established in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands.

The first modern interstate lottery in the U.S. was formed in 1985 and linked three of the New England states. In 1988, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) was formed with Oregon, Iowa, Kansas, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Missouri, and the District of Columbia as its charter members; it is best known for its “Powerball” drawing, which is designed to build up very large jackpots. Another interstate lottery, The Big Game (now called Mega Millions), was formed in 1996 by the states of Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia as its charter members. These states were joined by New Jersey (1999), New York and Ohio (May 2002), Washington state (September 2002), Texas (2003) and California (2005) for a total of 12 members. [1]

Instant lottery tickets, also known as scratch cards, were first introduced in the 1970s and have since become a major source of state lottery revenue. Some states have introduced keno and video lottery terminals (slot machines in all but name).

Other interstate lotteries include Cashola, Hot Lotto and Wild Card 2, some of MUSL’s other games.

With the advent of the Internet it became possible for people to play lottery-style games on-line, many times for free (the cost of the ticket being supplemented by merely seeing, say, a pop-up ad). Three of the many websites which offer free games (after registration) include iwinweekly.com, GuessLotto.com and the larger iWon.com, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC Search & Media. GTech Corporation, in the United States, administers 70% of the worldwide online and instant lottery business, according to its website. With online gaming rules generally prohibitive, “lottery” games face less scrutiny. This is leading to the increase in web sites offering lottery ticket purchasing services, charging premiums on base lottery prices. The legality of such services falls into question across many jurisdictions, especially throughout the United States, as the gambling laws related to lottery play generally have not kept pace with the spread of technology.

The most recent evolution of the lottery on the internet has appeared on the social network Facebook. The free lottery has weekly drawings and allows people to receive daily lottery tickets and send their friends tickets.

Presently, many state lotteries in the USA donate large portions of their proceeds to the public education system. However these funds frequently replace instead of supplement conventional funding, resulting in no additional money for education.

Lottery - Country lottery details - United States