Business in brief: Investor seeks Facebook shares
NEW YORK – How much is Facebook worth? A Russian investment firm appears to think it’s $6.5 billion to $10 billion.
The investment group, Digital Sky, said Monday it will buy up to $100 million worth of Facebook shares from employees. At the price the firm would pay, the Internet company’s common shares are worth about $6.5 billion.
In May, Digital Sky bought $200 million worth of preferred shares in Facebook. That valued the company at roughly $10 billion, but those shares are worth more because they come with more rights.
Either way Facebook is worth less than $15 billion, which was implied when Microsoft bought a 1.6 percent stake in 2007 for $240 million.
Judge delays IRS-UBS case
MIAMI – Negotiations aimed at settling the Internal Revenue Service’s tax evasion lawsuit against Swiss bank UBS AG gained traction Monday when a federal judge agreed to postpone the case until early August or possibly longer.
The judge acted after a motion seeking delay was filed Sunday by the Swiss and U.S. governments and the bank, one of the largest in Europe.
UBS attorney Eugene Stearns said discussions are taking place at high levels between the two governments, which are at odds over the Swiss claim that its centuries-old bank secrecy laws prevent UBS from disclosing to the IRS the identities of some 52,000 suspected wealthy American tax dodgers.
Microsoft opens Office 2010 tests
SEATTLE – Microsoft Corp. is giving a select group of technology-savvy testers an early peek at its Office 2010 software, but it’s keeping a key development – free Web-based versions of programs such as Word and Excel – under wraps a little while longer.
Monday’s launch of this “technical preview” indicates Office 2010 is still on track for release in the early part of next year.
Among other changes, for the first time, Microsoft is adding free companion versions that run in a Web browser.
SCC may move jobs training
Spokane Community College may move its aerospace-related training to Spokane International Airport, and expand enrollment, the dean of instruction for technical education said Monday.
Mike Mires said the move from Felts Field would put the program closer to Cascade Aerospace and Associated Painting, which together could employ 350 within a few years.
The number of students will depend on the growth of the two companies, he said.