Martha Stewart received $1.2 million in pay from her company for 2004, some of which she spent in federal prison, according to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. Stewart’s compensation included a $726,923 salary, $236,000 bonus and $238,820 for her services in radio and television programs, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In September, the company said a new five-year employment agreement called for a $900,000 salary and a bonus of up to $1.35 million. However, the company said she wouldn’t receive any payments while in prison.
Junk spammer gets nine years
A man convicted in the nation’s first felony case against illegal spamming was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday for bombarding Internet users with millions of junk e-mails. Jeremy Jaynes, who was considered among the top 10 spammers in the world at the time of his arrest, used the Internet to peddle pornography and sham products and services such as a “FedEx refund processor,” prosecutors said.
Met Mortgage assets to be sold
The remaining assets of Metropolitan Mortgage &Securities and its affiliated companies will be sold and the money distributed to creditors, according to a new bankruptcy organization plan. The plan ends any suggestion that the failed Spokane conglomerate will try to emerge from Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection as a viable company.
Florida firm buys Bothell’s Myrio
Myrio Corp. of Bothell, a developer of Internet video software and services, will be acquired by Florida-based Siemens Communications Inc. Financial terms and other details of the acquisition were not released, but Myrio will continue operating as a wholly-owned Siemens subsidiary, the companies said. Siemens Entertainment, part of the large German parent company Siemens, already had a strategic partnership with Myrio, which employs about 75 people.
Shopper confidence remains strong
Consumer confidence held fairly steady over the past month despite surging energy prices and more cautious hiring by America’s employers. The AP-Ipsos consumer confidence index clocked in at 84.5 in April, compared with 84.2 in March, according to figures released Friday. A year ago, the index stood at 84.8. April’s reading suggests that consumers still feel pretty good about the economy in general, even against the backdrop of high prices for oil, gasoline and other energy products, a slowdown in the growth of the nation’s payrolls and rising interest rates.
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