General Motors Corp. may no longer be the world's biggest automaker, but it still operates the country's largest pension fund. The threat to its pension plans has always been an issue, butit took on a new urgency when GM disclosed April 7 that its plans were underfunded by more than $27 billion, with more than half of that being owed to U.S. workers and retirees. Across town, a post- bankrupt Chrysler faces its own pension shortfall. ...

Michael Fertik may be running a business, but by the time new customers are knocking on his door, things have turned decidedly personal. "People send us letters that say, 'You saved my life,'" says the CEO of Reputation.com, pointing to the dramatic ways in which a person's virtual reputation can shape their day-to-day routine. "They literally say, 'I'm now able to live my life.'" When most Web surfers Google themselves, the self-search begins and ends with social ...

Health-care woes are terminally funny in 'So Much for That' Just when you're sick to death of hearing/talking/thinking about health care reform, along comes a delicious novel about ... why we need health care reform. So Much for That, Lionel Shriver's improbably feel-good black comedy, is the rare book that can make suicide, near-bankruptcy and terminal cancer so engaging you can't wait to turn the page. It's no secret that Shriver (We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Post-Birthday World) is brainy. But ...

Extended Stay Hotels Inc.’s examiner filed under seal his report addressing claims that two private-equity firms schemed with the hotel chain’s senior lenders to push out junior debt holders and take over the company by bankrupting it. Ralph Mabey, a former bankruptcy judge, filed his report under seal yesterday in Extended Stay’s case docket. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James M. Peck in Manhattan on March 10 granted Mabey’s request to keep the report under wraps temporarily. ...

A U.S. federal judge in the GM bankruptcy case late Sunday approved the sale of the troubled automaker's assets to a "new GM," court documents showed. Judge Robert Gerber, in giving his approval, said it "is the only available means to preserve the continuation of GM's business." Lawyers wrapped up their closing arguments in the bankruptcy case Thursday, giving Gerber the long holiday weekend to make his decision. Hanging over the case was a July 10 deadline imposed by the ...

General Motors, the nation's largest automaker and for decades an icon of American manufacturing, stood on the brink of a bankruptcy filing and a de facto government takeover on Monday. A bankruptcy petition will be filed at 8 a.m., according to a source with direct knowledge of the bankruptcy proceedings. President Barack Obama will address the nation shortly before noon on Monday to explain the rationale for the filing, and his hopes that this is the best route for a ...