Business & Finance

Bankrupt Adelphia Communications won't pay $4.2 million in agreed severance to founder and ex-chairman John Rigas, published reports said. Compensation packages for corporate executives already were under increased scrutiny when Rigas and two of his sons were arrested in July on fraud charges. They'd resigned two months earlier amid revelations of $3.1 billion in hidden loans to family-controlled partnerships. The Rigases have denied any wrongdoing. Adelphia, of Coudersport, Pa., is the US's sixth-largest cable company.

Two vital decisions – whether to OK a $15 billion sale of deeply discounted new shares to current investors and whether to end support for a struggling cellphone service provider – confronted the board of troubled France Telecom as the Monitor went to press. Approval was likely to result in the departure of chairman Michel Bon, the Financial Times reported. The huge telecommunications company is staggering under debts of $70 billion, largely because of an aggressive acquisition spree, which has creditors worried. Meanwhile, France Telecom has an uneasy relationship with Buedelsdorf, Germany-based MobilCom, a 5 million-subscriber service in which the former holds a 28.5 percent stake. MobilCom likely would have to file for bankruptcy if that support was withdrawn, the Financial Times said.

Via early retirements, the electronics group Fujitsu will reduce its payroll by 3,000 more workers, a published report in Tokyo said. The Asahi newspaper said the company was taking the action because of the prolonged slump in the telecommunications industry, especially in the US. Fujitsu announced 2,100 job cuts less than a month ago on top of 16,000 employees who were let go in the fiscal year that ended in March.