Newsmakers

Xerox Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Anne Mulcahy will pass the torch to the current president, Ursula Burns, effective July 1, according to a statement from the company. Mulcahy will remain as the chairman of the board. Read the full story on CNNMoney

Oprah Winfrey’s tastemaking power is legendary. A spot on her book club list is the Holy Grail for authors, who are all but guaranteed a bestseller. Under her tutelage, the likes of Dr. Phil, Tyra Banks and Rachael Ray have shot to stardom. A few comments on her show can make or break a product. [...]

After spending nearly five decades building the Four Seasons Hotels out of a motor lodge he started in 1961, Four Seasons founder and CEO Isadore Sharp is telling his story. It’s captured in his new book, “Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy,” which hit bookstores this week. Read the full story on CNNMoney

Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett defended the government’s handling of the economic crisis, but warned that the purchasing power of the dollar may fall as policymakers stretch to finance expensive rescue plans. Read the full story on CNNMoney

Bruce Wasserstein, chief executive of asset management firm Lazard, died Wednesday, according to published reports. He was 61 years old. Read the full story on CNNMoney

General Motors is losing its top U.S. sales executive, a key player in the automaker’s reorganization, to a job in another industry, CEO Fritz Henderson announced Wednesday. Read the full story on CNNMoney

Ken Lewis doesn’t have a golden parachute, but he’s all set for a comfortable landing — unlike his long-suffering shareholders. Read the full story on CNNMoney

When President Barack Obama nominated Preetinder S. Bharara last week to become the new U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which includes Manhattan, there was some cheap-shot snickering about a purported irony. Bharara, as Senator Charles Schumer’s chief counsel, had spearheaded the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s [...]

Senate lawmakers took the Securities and Exchange Commission to task Thursday for failing to prevent Bernard Madoff from perpetrating one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history. Read the full story on CNNMoney

Josie Natori followed her business dreams from the Philippines to Wall Street. But after nine years as a banker, she needed a more creative outlet. In 1977 she launched a lingerie company with an East-meets-West flair. Today her brand includes four intimate-apparel lines, as well as a ready-to-wear clothing collection, home and bath products, eyewear [...]