Xo Communications Inc

After a last-ditch fund-raising effort fell apart, bankrupt NorthPoint Communications Inc. late Wednesday began shutting down its high-speed Internet network, cutting off service to tens of thousands of customers nationwide. Emeryville, Calif.-based NorthPoint and its bankers rejected an offer from a coalition of Internet service providers to fund NorthPoint's network operations until users could be shifted to other carriers. More than 100,000 U.S.

Winstar Communications Inc. said Wednesday it will receive $1.02 billion in new capital, a quarter of which is an equity investment from Microsoft Corp., Compaq Computer Corp. and others. The investment helped send shares of the wireless phone and data company up 14%. Microsoft, Compaq, CSFB Private Equity and investment company Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe will provide $270 million. An additional $750 million will be borrowed from banks and suppliers, Winstar spokesman Kevin Cavanaugh said.

Troubled telecommunications company Global Crossing Ltd. on Tuesday won its bid to continue exclusive talks to be bought by Singapore Technologies Telemedia. The decision, issued by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber, represents a loss for XO Communications Inc. and other suitors who have been blocked by the court-mandated exclusivity period. The judge agreed to extend that period until Oct. 28.

Citigroup Inc., the world's largest financial services company, must defend allegations of biased analyst research in nine separate investor lawsuits instead of just one, a federal judge in New York ruled on Tuesday. Shareholders of WorldCom Inc., Global Crossing Ltd., AT&T Corp. and six other companies sued the bank's Salomon Smith Barney unit, alleging analysts had artificially boosted the value of nine technology stocks to gain investment-banking business. Some investors asked U.S.

The Securities and Exchange Commission identified 32 companies that it believes were the "most suitable" examples of situations in which investors could apply for restitution from a fund set up by Wall Street firms to settle an investigation of biased analyst research. Companies whose investors were the alleged victims of biased stock research included telecommunications firms, such as Global Crossing Ltd., WorldCom Inc., AT&T Corp., Winstar Communications Inc., Broadwing Inc.

Billionaire financier Carl Icahn said Friday that he bought an 8.4% stake in Hollywood Entertainment Corp., the video rental chain being bid on by a group including Chief Executive Mark Wattles, by Blockbuster Inc. and by Movie Gallery Inc. Icahn companies bought 5.11 million shares of Hollywood Entertainment from Nov. 11 to Friday and may get involved with an offer for Hollywood Entertainment, according to a filing Icahn made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

More than 40 companies are reviewing Global Crossing Ltd.'s operations and weighing whether to bid for the company in Bankruptcy Court, Chief Executive John Legere said in a weekend interview. The flurry of investor interest in the Bermuda-based operator of a worldwide fiber-optic network should help the company convince anxious creditors that a reorganized Global Crossing would yield a bigger payback than liquidation.

Many of Global Crossing Ltd.'s key U.S. customers have been without long-distance service since Friday, when a rival phone carrier cut off Global's access to its network as part of an escalating dispute between the two firms. The move by XO Communications Inc. marks the first major service disruption for Global Crossing customers since the Bermuda-based company filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 28.

Edward E. Whitacre Jr., the chief executive who led the turnaround of General Motors Co, is stepping down at the end of the month. The surprise announcement came as the nation's largest automaker reported $1.3 billion in quarterly profit. The earnings were a stark contrast to the staggering $12.9-billion loss the company recorded in the second quarter last year, as it was emerging from bankruptcy protection after receiving more than $52 billion in federal bailout funds. Whitacre, a former AT&T executive who came out of retirement to run GM, will be leaving on a high note.

Hewlett-Packard Co. President Michael Capellas said Monday that he will resign his post, walking away from the newly merged computer maker with nearly $14 million in bonuses and heading into speculation that he may land the top job at troubled telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc. Capellas, the 48-year-old former chief executive of Compaq Computer Corp. who helped engineer its merger with Palo Alto-based HP, won't be replaced when he steps down Dec. 1, according to company officials.