Today, the third airline in one week filed for bankruptcy! What the hell, everyone is doing it. Not to be outdone by Aloha and ATA, Skybus Airlines declared bankruptcy and shut down. Skybus is relatively small compared to Aloha or even ATA, which leads me to believe that a lot of smaller carriers are going to go down in the next couple of months. With the most recent job figures, most economists now believe we're in a recession so all kinds of craziness will ensue as confidence declines. Stay tuned.
Results tagged “business” from The Daily Nugget
ATA Airlines followed Aloha Airlines in declaring bankruptcy and shutting down. Another one bites the dust! ATA serves many airports, including Kona in Hawaii and Oakland where many travelers were left stranded and will have to make other arrangements to travel. I wonder how many more will fold?
A year ago, Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo for substantially more than the current $44.6 billion offer, but Yahoo turned them down. Now, after all of the mistakes that Yahoo made over the last year, it looks like the sale is almost an inevitability. They've making mistakes for a while. Yahoo had the opportunity to buy Google in the early days. Hell, in the last two years it had an opportunity to buy YouTube and Facebook for a fraction of their current valuations. Yahoo would damn near own the Valley today if it had pulled the trigger on just one of those deals (guess which one). But now, the only deal on the table is Yahoo itself. Hopefully, they won't mess up that deal too, or they may have to officially change their name to Boo-hoo-ooo!
A family business that was founded in 578 closed its doors last year without much fanfare. Kongo Gumi, a Japanese Buddhist temple construction company, was in continuous operation by the founder's descendants for 1,428 years! A key to success the family claims was to not always hand the reins of the business to the oldest son, instead they chose "the son who best exhibited the health, responsibility, and talent for the job. Furthermore, it wasn't always a son." The 38th Kongo to lead the company was grandmother of the 40th, and last, leader.
Despite the company's history, it was a set of ordinary circumstances that led to its demise. The company borrowed heavily to invest in real estate in the 1980s prior to the Japanese real estate collapse of 1992-1993. Through the 1990s revenue dropped, and by 2006 revenue dropped to the point where it could no longer service the debt. "To avoid a similar demise, evolve as business conditions require, but don't get carried away with temporary enthusiasms and sacrifice financial stability for what looks like an opportunity."
I actually found a list of the world's oldest businesses after reading this story. Now that Kongo Gumi is gone, the oldest business is Hoshi Ryokan, a family inn and spa near an underground hot spring in Japan. It is run by the 46th generation of family members and was founded in 718.
Despite the company's history, it was a set of ordinary circumstances that led to its demise. The company borrowed heavily to invest in real estate in the 1980s prior to the Japanese real estate collapse of 1992-1993. Through the 1990s revenue dropped, and by 2006 revenue dropped to the point where it could no longer service the debt. "To avoid a similar demise, evolve as business conditions require, but don't get carried away with temporary enthusiasms and sacrifice financial stability for what looks like an opportunity."
I actually found a list of the world's oldest businesses after reading this story. Now that Kongo Gumi is gone, the oldest business is Hoshi Ryokan, a family inn and spa near an underground hot spring in Japan. It is run by the 46th generation of family members and was founded in 718.
