Tension mounted among the nine jurors in the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan last week as they examined the nuances of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Fabrice P. Tourre, a former Goldman Sachs trader. By 3:12 p.m. on Thursday, the jury had reached a verdict, deciding Mr. Tourre was liable on six of the seven counts. “Ultimately, the jurors said, their decision came down to what they saw as the letter of the law and, for some, a broader concern that Mr. Tourre’s actions underscored a fundamental problem with society: Wall Street greed,†Susanne Craig, Ben Protess and Alexandra Stevenson report in DealBook.
“It got really intense; it reminded me of religion,†said one juror, the Rev. Beth F. Glover, a 47-year-old priest who initially struck a skeptical tone about aspects of the government’s case. The jurors, describing the genesis of their decision, expressed sympathy for Mr. Tourre, alternately calling him a “scapegoat†and a “willing participant†in Goldman’s vast mortgage machine. But the S.E.C.’s argument resonated with the jurors. “He is what Wall Street is all about and it scared me,†Evelyn Linares, a school principal from the Bronx, said on Friday in an interview from her porch. “You go in thinking you can make a difference and you get sucked in.â€
DELL BUYOUT BID SALVAGED  | When his takeover bid for the company he founded appeared in peril last week, Michael S. Dell sprang into action, holding talks with his main partner in the deal, Egon Durban of the investment firm Silver Lake Partners, about a potential compromise, DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced reports. The two men reached out to the special committee of Dell’s board, and by Thursday evening the two sides began completing a revised agreement that would keep the takeover effort alive for at least another month.
Under the new terms, Mr. Dell and Silver Lake are paying $13.75 a share plus a special dividend of 13 cents a share. “Mr. Dell is effectively financing the special dividend by taking a bigger discount on the nearly 16 percent stake that he is contributing toward the buyout, people briefed on the matter said,†Mr. de la Merced writes. “In return, the special committee agreed to change the rules by no longer counting Dell shares not cast in a special election as ‘no’ votes.†A shareholder vote is now set for Sept. 12, and the record date, or the day by which investors must have held Dell shares to be eligible to vote, was moved to Aug. 13 from June 3.
CLAWBACKS ARE MUCH DISCUSSED, RARELY ENFORCED  | “In the almost 10 years since clawback policies became a hot topic among investors, there is little indication that they have resulted in significant recoveries,†Gretchen Morgenson writes in The New York Times. “High-profile cases occasionally emerge â€" Ina Drew, the former head of JPMorgan Chase’s chief investment office, returned some pay after the disastrous losses she oversaw in the London whale matter. But examples like these are few and far between. So some investors are taking up the issue again.â€
ON THE AGENDA Â |Â
Tyson Foods reports earnings before the market opens. Vornado Realty Trust reports earnings in the evening. Glenn Hubbard, the dean of Columbia Business School, is on CNBC at 8 a.m.
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON WINS GENDER BIAS CASE  | “A federal jury in New York decided on Friday that a woman who was one of 11 people in her division at Bank of New York Mellon laid off in 2010 was not a victim of sex discrimination. The case was unusual in that it even went to trial,†Susan Antilla reports in DealBook.
The plaintiff, Rochelle Cohen, lost her $124,000-a-year job on Sept. 20, 2010, in a round of layoffs after the financial crisis. She testified at the trial that two years before she was fired, she asked her managers why she was not getting paid as much as the men, and she contended that her managers became critical of her after she brought up gender issues. The jury deliberated for just one day before delivering its verdict. A spokesman for the bank said the verdict “clearly confirms that Ms. Cohen’s pay and performance were judged solely on the merits, not on her gender.†Ms. Cohen said she was disappointed, “but I’m glad I fought the fight and hope it will make a difference for other women.â€
Boston Globe Is Sold to Owner of the Red Sox  | It was a coup for local newspaper owners when John W. Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox, agreed to purchase The Boston Globe, along with The Worcester Telegram & Gazette and other properties, from The New York Times Company for $70 million in cash, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
Newsweek Is Sold to International Business Times  | Barry Diller’s company sold Newsweek, the troubled magazine brand, for an undisclosed amount. NEW YORK TIMES
Weinstein Co. Said to Be in Preliminary Talks With Miramax  | The Wall Street Journal reports: “Weinstein Co. has held discussions with Miramax over a potential deal that would reunite two of the most powerful executives in the independent film world with the studio that made them famous.†WALL STREET JOURNAL
Former Chief of First Direct Said to Lead Bid for R.B.S. Branches  | Alan Hughes, a former chief executive of the online bank First Direct, is leading a bid of about £1 billion ($1.54 billion) for 315 branches being sold by the Royal Bank of Scotland, according to The Financial Times, which reports that the bidding group includes the Blackstone Group and the private equity firm Anacap. FINANCIAL TIMES
HSBC’s First-Half Profit Rose 10%  | HSBC, Britain’s largest bank, said earnings rose 10 percent in the first half of the year, to $14.07 billion, thanks in part to lower charges for bad loans, especially in the United States. DealBook »
Berkshire Hathaway Earnings Rose 46% in 2nd Quarter  | The conglomerate run by Warren E. Buffett reported big paper gains in the value of its investments and derivative contracts, The Associated Press reports. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Liquidator to Sell $29 Billion in Anglo Irish Loans  | The loan portfolio consists mostly of commercial real estate loans in Ireland and Britain but also includes residential mortgage loans in those countries as well as Irish corporate loans. DealBook »
At R.B.S., the Bond Salesman Who Wasn’t  | A situation in which a maintenance worker at the Royal Bank of Scotland apparently posed as a bond salesman shows how banks remain “vulnerable to compliance failings in unexpected places,†Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
The Sweetness of Time Off  | A growing body of evidence suggests that vacation time fuels greater productivity and more sustainable performance, Tony Schwartz writes in the Life@Work column. The key is to choose something truly renewing. DealBook »
Bid to Honor Austen on British Bank Notes Meets Resistance  | “There has been plenty of pride, but also a good dose of prejudice, as a small band of feminists in period costumes has initiated a national debate about power, rape and the limits of free speech in the age of social media,†The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Thomson Reuters to Expand Instant Messaging Service  | The move is the latest effort by Thomson Reuters to challenge the dominance of Bloomberg L.P., The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
A Prominent Financier Gets Behind Bitcoin  | The Phoenix Fund, a Zurich-based private equity fund led by the billionaire trader Joe Lewis, plans to invest $200 million in Avalon, which makes computer servers aimed at creating bitcoins, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Clooney Rebuts Loeb’s Critique of Sony  | The actor and producer George Clooney took time during an interview with Deadline Hollywood â€" ostensibly to discuss his coming movie, “The Monuments Men†â€" to inveigh against the hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb and his campaign against Sony. DealBook »
TCI Urges EADS to Sell Stake in Dassault Aviation  | The Financial Times reports that “TCI, the activist hedge fund, has written to the chief executive of EADS to demand it sell one of its most sensitive assets†in a direct challenge to the military contractor’s management and the French government. FINANCIAL TIMES
I.P.O. Market Is Heating Up Again  | “Conditions this year are more balanced and healthy†than last year, Jack Willoughby writes in Barron’s. BARRON’S
Inside a Boarding School for Aspiring Tech Moguls  | At the Draper University of Heroes, students in their early to mid-20s looking to break into Silicon Valley apprentice at the feet of the venture capitalist Tim Draper, “trying to pick up the tech world’s own brand of magical thinking,†Kevin Roose writes in New York magazine. NEW YORK
Goldman Named in Lawsuit Over Aluminum Warehousing  | Reuters reports: “The London Metal Exchange and Goldman Sachs have been named as co-defendants in a class-action lawsuit in the United States charging anticompetitive behavior in aluminum warehousing, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, which owns the London market, said on Sunday.†REUTERS
Regulator Says Fed Should Change Policy on Commodities Trading  | Bart Chilton, a Democratic member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said the Federal Reserve should reverse a ruling that allows banks to trade physical commodities, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Obama Administration Vetoes Ban on Apple Products  | The Bits blog writes: “The Obama administration has vetoed a federal commission’s ban that would have forced Apple to stop selling some iPhones and iPads in the United States this week, a rare intervention by the White House and a victory for Apple in its heated patent war with Samsung Electronics.†NEW YORK TIMES BITS
The Penalties, and Possible Appeal, for Fabrice Tourre  | Now that Fabrice P. Tourre, a former Goldman Sachs trader, has been found liable for securities fraud, the case shifts to determining what remedies the court should impose, Peter J. Henning writes in the White Collar Watch column. DealBook »
Rattner Backs Summers for the Fed  | Steven L. Rattner writes in the Opinionator blog of The New York Times that Lawrence H. Summers should be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. NEW YORK TIMES
