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Recent Press Releases (U.S. and international) for magazine issues and staff changes may be found below. Please note that for many issues there exists only a highlights sheet, while for others there may also be a full press release. The cover of FORTUNE's current issue is pictured at right. Please contact the appropriate communications staff member with any questions.
Highlights of the December 11, 2006 Issue of FORTUNE
COVER STORIES: Lafley and Immelt: In Search of Billions, by Geoff Colvin, page 70 The CEOs of Procter & Gamble and General Electric face the same big problem: figuring out how to generate billions more in new revenue to impress Wall Street. Immelt and Lafley are going down a road everyone in business will have to travel. Watch and learn.
Q & A: On the Hot Seat, Interview by Geoff Colvin, page 75 In the latest installment of FORTUNE's C-Suite interview series, star chief executives A.G. Lafley and Jeffrey Immelt, in a rare New York City public appearance, talked about everything from pleasing investors and the holy grail of R&D to paying the price for Enron and other corporate wrongdoers. Lafley on his plans for satisfying investor expectations: “…we've got to grow market shares and move into adjacencies and create new categories of business. So the name of the game is innovation. We work really hard to try to turn innovation into a strategy and a process that's a little more consistent, a little more reliable, so that we can build a portfolio of innovations and get the yield we need to get that $6 billion or $7 billion a year.”
Immelt on achieving an organic growth rate of 8%: “Most people just assume that big companies are slow and lethargic, and only a small company can grow. But if you get good processes, you can make size an advantage.”
Diamonds Aren't Forever, by Vivienne Walt, page 86 Koidu, a town in eastern Sierra Leone whose diamonds have been mined since the 1930s, is thousands of miles away—and a galaxy removed—from the glittering displays in jewelry stores in New York, Tokyo, and London. It is set in a country where the average man earns $220 a year and dies at 39. In short, it is hard to imagine a starker contrast between this world and that of the people who might one day wear whatever diamond is found, and they live in deep ignorance of each other. But after 130 years of diamond mining in Africa , that ignorance is unraveling fast as the two worlds collide over the image of diamonds. The conflict, which has rocked the industry in recent years, may reach fever pitch this month with the release of the movie Blood Diamond, which raises tough questions about Africa 's bloody diamond trade. A report from the pits.
Queer Inc., by Marc Gunther, page 94 Last June the gay rights movement quietly achieved a milestone; For the first time, more than half of FORTUNE 500 companies—263, to be precise—offered health care benefits for domestic partners, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Ten years ago only 28 did. Along with health benefits for their families, many workers also get bereavement leave when their same-sex partner dies, adoption assistance or paid leave if they have children, and relocation assistance for their partners if they are transferred. Put another way, gay marriage—an idea that has been banned by all but one of 27 states that have voted on it—has become a fact of life inside many big companies . “Corporate America is far ahead of America generally when it comes to the question of equality for GLBT people,” says Joe Solomonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
The World According to Carlos Ghosn, by Alex Taylor III, page 114 After the collapse of alliance talks with GM, the globetrotting CEO is going it alone—at least for now. Today he is as focused on the global competition as he is on alliance possibilities. “There is no doubt they will be coming to the U.S. ,” says Ghosn. He is referring to the Chinese and Indian vehicle manufacturers that will soon hit the U.S. market. Ghosn also spends much of his time thinking about Toyota . In an industry that produces 65 million vehicles annually, Ghosn argues, there should be room for most of the players. “I think in our industry, when you do the right thing, you get the right results,” he says. “I don't think there is anything miraculous.”
The Wal-Mart Haters, by Barney Gimbel, page 125 They spin. They leak. They cajole. And the politicos behind WAKE UP WAL-MART aim to make the holidays hell for the folks in Bentonville. Plenty of companies complain they get bad press. But Chris Kofinis, communications director and Paul Blank, the group's campaign director are part of what is quite possibly the most relentless public relations assault ever launched against a company. Simply put, Wal-Mart cannot do anything right in the eyes of these groups. With campaigns like “All I Want for Christmas Is Health Care for Mommy,” and “Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart,” the group claims 287,000 supporters.
Tools for Better Living, page 135 New devices and ideas are remaking our world. Here are seven brilliant, practical inventions: cheap, simple handsets for cellphones; teaching software; a syringe that can't be shared; a portable water filter; a superefficient clean-burning stove; weather insurance and biosentinel crops.
Vietnam Vrooooom…, by Clay Chandler, page 147 Six years ago Vietnam 's leaders rolled back trade barriers with the U.S. That accord, combined with reforms slashing government restrictions on Vietnamese businesses, brought a moribund economy roaring to life. Exports, led by big gains in textiles, seafood, and furniture surged threefold, to $32 billion, generating millions of new jobs and sucking in billions of dollars in foreign investment. In the last five years, Vietnam has clocked GDP growth of 7.4%, better than any Asian economy except China 's. Investors are hailing this communist bastion as Southeast Asia 's most dynamic tiger and clambering to its fledgling stock exchange.
DEPARTMENTS FIRST Happiness is a Warm iPod The Beatles music catalog, unavailable in MP3 for years, may finally go to Steve Jobs' iTunes Music Store. Andy Fastow's Legal Eagle Thanks to lawyer John Keker, the Enron CFO may actually get out of prison in just five years. The Bond Market's Dirty Secret Twenty-two banks were hauled before the Fed on Nov. 6 to discuss manipulation in the repurchasing market for Treasury notes. DISPATCHES Branson in Paradise What happens when billionaire bon vivant Richard Branson hosts a gaggle of young Internet superstars? A Man of Parts Wilbur Ross has made fortunes in distressed industries. Now he's placing his bets on the auto-parts business. In Vino Profitas A web startup that serves that fundamental need of all successful executives: making their very own high-end wine. COLUMNISTS Politics A win-win accounting trick: compelling the U.S. to get real about health costs in one easy step. Media Bubble Downtown Records has a big hit with Gnarls Barkley by finding an audience on the Net. Can it make a star out of an unknown artist? While You Were Out Forces are coming together to suppress productivity growth. How can we help? INVESTING Our Best and Worst Stock Picks of the Year With the market rocking this fall, many of our recommendations have paid off handsomely. What's Next for Netflix? The DVD-by-mail giant is soaring, but challenges loom. BUSINESS LIFE Fair Play Wall Street money, edgy art, and party-hopping scenesters have turned Art Basel Miami Beach into a culture-driven Davos. A walk through the fair, with a little black book that tells you what to see (and where to be seen). GADGETS Sony scores with its new PlayStation 3 console, but Nintendo's Wii provides the cheap thrills.
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