CEO LEAVES SRI: SRI/Surgical Express Inc. of Tampa said its chief executive, Joseph Largey, has resigned to pursue other interests. Largey joined the company, which provides hospitals with surgical supplies, in December 2002. SRI said it will take a charge of about $325,000 for the third quarter in connection with severance expenses. Largey, who had previously worked with several health care companies including Johnson & Johnson, received $300,000 in salary last year plus a $50,000 bonus. The company said the board's executive committee would immediately begin the search for a successor.
YAHOO REDESIGNS SITE: Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. has given its popular Web site a face lift to highlight some of the features that the company has been improving during the past year. Yahoo.com's new look, expected to debut today, isn't a radical makeover, although company officials say it represents the most significant cosmetic change at the Internet's most popular destination in two years. The most visible changes include the addition of a "music" button across the top of the home page and the removal of a button that directed traffic to the company's help wanted site, HotJobs.
AMERICAN AIRLINES DROPS FARE INCREASE: American Airlines has dropped a $10 per roundtrip fare increase on most U.S. and U.S.-Canada flights after competitors declined to match the change on all routes. American raised fares five days ago because fuel prices had more than doubled in the past year to $1.51 a gallon. All major U.S. carriers matched the increase within two days, then Delta Air Lines Inc. withdrew its higher fares, said Tom Parsons, who monitors ticket prices for Bestfares.com.
US AIRWAYS WARNS OF LIQUIDATION: US Airways Group Inc. warned in a bankruptcy court filing that it might have to liquidate by February if a judge does not impose a temporary 23 percent pay cut on its union workers. The airline asked a judge on Friday to impose the pay cuts by Oct. 14 at the latest. On Monday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell scheduled an Oct. 7 hearing on the issue.
JPMORGAN BUYS HIGHBRIDGE STAKE: JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Monday it agreed to buy a majority stake in Highbridge Capital Management, a closely held hedge-fund company, in a deal that demonstrates Wall Street's growing attraction to the lucrative hedge-fund business. Financial terms were not disclosed but the Wall Street Journal reported the proposal valued Highbridge at about $1-billion. The Journal said Highbridge brings in about $140-million in fees annually.
BURGER KING NAMES CFO: Burger King Corp. named Halliburton Co. treasurer Cedric Burgher as its chief financial officer Monday. Burgher, 44, fills a position last held by Burger King President John Chidsey.
Clarification
Zapata Corp.'s stock closed Friday at $60.26 per share. The figure was omitted from a story in Monday Business.
