LONDON — The celebrity chef Jamie Oliver put his British restaurants into administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, on Tuesday, after the chain struggled with debt and an increasingly saturated market in recent years. The move puts about 1,300 jobs at risk at 25 restaurants. Administrators working on behalf of the business’s creditors will examine […]
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The New York attorney general’s office said Monday it had opened an inquiry into more than a decade of lending practices that left thousands of immigrant taxi drivers in crushing debt, while Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered a separate city investigation into the brokers who helped arrange the loans. The efforts marked the government’s first […]
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Photographs and Video by Kholood Eid May 19, 2019 ImageMohammed Hoque with his three children in their studio apartment in Jamaica, Queens. The phone call that ruined Mohammed Hoque’s life came in April 2014 as he began another long day driving a New York City taxi, a job he had held since emigrating from Bangladesh […]
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Once upon a time in America, when banks or investors lent money to a company, they expected to receive years of agreed-upon interest payments plus the return of the money borrowed. If the business did well, the lenders were paid back on time and made money. So they wanted the company to succeed. Not anymore. […]
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Pacific Gas & Electric has been blamed for starting some of California’s most devastating wildfires. Now it is asking state officials for permission to raise electricity rates to pay for safety improvements and to offset the financial risk of more wildfires. PG&E, working its way through its second bankruptcy in two decades, isn’t alone in […]
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Thomas Russo, the chief legal officer at Lehman Brothers when the Wall Street colossus filed for bankruptcy and threatened to melt down the global financial system, was recalling that frenzied final weekend in September 2008. “I remember that Sunday like it was yesterday,” he said. “In the morning we were told we were going to […]
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You can’t have divided loyalties when guiding a company through bankruptcy. If you’re helping it cut debt, you can’t be its lender. If you’re auctioning off its assets, you can’t put in a bid. Those rules are in place because the bankruptcy system — what seems like a grim realm of destitution — is actually […]
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As an executive vice president at Great American Group, a firm that helps liquidate the merchandise, clothing racks and mannequins at stores that are closing, Ryan Mulcunry has been watching booms and busts in the retail industry for almost two decades. Companies like his have been busy in recent years, but lately one thing has […]
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Neil and Kathinka McKeown’s home in Calaveras County, Calif., burned down in a 2015 wildfire that regulators believe started when a power line made contact with a tree. Late last year, they thought they were finally close to rebuilding after reaching a seven-figure settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric, whose line was involved. But PG&E […]
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Fifteen years ago, a movie fan could go into any of Blockbuster’s 9,000 stores and walk out with a Steven Spielberg hit. Now, options are limited for those who want to rent a hard copy of “Saving Private Ryan” from somewhere other than a library. There are only two Blockbuster stores left in the world. […]
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Fifteen years ago, a movie fan could go into any of Blockbuster’s 9,000 stores and walk out with a Steven Spielberg hit. Now, options are limited for those who want to rent a hard copy of “Saving Private Ryan” from somewhere other than a library. There are only two Blockbuster stores left in the world. […]
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Pacific Gas & Electric said Thursday that its equipment probably caused the Camp Fire, the catastrophic November blaze that destroyed thousands of homes in Paradise, Calif., and killed at least 86 people. PG&E, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, said it had recorded a $10.5 billion charge in anticipation of damage claims for that […]
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Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former chief executive of Enron whose lies contributed to the sudden collapse of the energy company in one of the country’s most high-profile cases of corporate fraud, was released from federal custody on Thursday after serving more than 12 years in prison, the federal authorities said. Mr. Skilling, 65, was released […]
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It sometimes seems baffling to me: I put my life on the line for research to produce a cancer medication that — if and when it is put on the market — I probably could not afford. Its miraculous prolongation of my existence, for which I am ever grateful, deepens my concern about those who […]
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McKinsey & Company agreed Tuesday to a $15 million settlement with the Justice Department to resolve an investigation into allegations that it did not make required disclosures of its financial connections with other parties while working on bankruptcies. The settlement arose from complaints that McKinsey had held back information about its investments and other deals […]
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Payless ShoeSource, a once-popular seller of inexpensive women’s footwear and a staple in many suburban shopping malls, is closing all of its American stores. The company said on Saturday that it would begin liquidating all 2,100 of its stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. Payless is also winding down its online business. The […]
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A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved Edward S. Lampert’s plan to buy Sears, but the judge implored Mr. Lampert to make a fresh start. Mr. Lampert, a billionaire hedge fund manager, could avoid becoming the “cartoon character” his critics have painted him as, Judge Robert Drain said — a cross between Jay Gould, the […]
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Before the catastrophic Camp Fire destroyed Paradise, Calif., the Pacific Gas and Electric Company was worth more than $25 billion. Now it’s C.E.O. has stepped down and the company, which provides natural gas and electricity to 16 million people in California, has filed for bankruptcy as it confronts billions of dollars in potential liability claims […]
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LOS ANGELES — Pacific Gas and Electric, the largest electric utility in California, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday in anticipation of billions of dollars in liability claims for two years of wildfires. PG&E, which faces damage claims estimated at tens of billions of dollars for wildfires started by its equipment, said this month that […]
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LOS ANGELES — Pacific Gas and Electric promises that its customers’ lights will stay on if it follows through on plans to file for bankruptcy this month. But companies that supply the California utility’s electricity may have more to worry about. PG&E said Monday that it would use bankruptcy to resolve huge liabilities arising from […]
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