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Apple's chief executive was the highest-paid CEO during 2011, according to a study put out by the Wall Street Journal and the Hay Group consulting firm earlier today.

Cook was granted a pay package worth $378 million after becoming Apple's chief executive last August. Though as the Journal notes, there are some serious strings attached.

The stock grant, which was unveiled in a January proxy filing, had restrictions that keep Cook from collecting the first half of the shares until 2016, with the other half in 2021. Nonetheless, Apple's stock price at the time they were valued … Read more

Last update: 1:38 p.m. PT

So, it looks like investors are not too happy with Facebook today.

The company's shares plummeted in early trading, hitting a low of $33, down some 13 percent, shortly after the opening bell. By the end of the day, they had recovered slightly to close out at $34.03, down 11 percent for the first full day of post-IPO trading.

The poor performance puts Facebook much lower than its $38 initial offering price and its Friday close at $38.23. The humongous social network made its attention-grabbing stock market debut Friday.

The … Read more

Facebook's shares are trading lower on their second day on Nasdaq.

In pre-market trading this morning, the company's shares dropped 4.37 percent to $36.56, leaving them below their initial $38 offering price and their first-day close of $38.23.

Facebook's shares rose to a high of $45 on Monday before flirting with falling below their initial price. It was believed that the stock was buoyed by underwriters to ensure it didn't slip below $38.

Aside from Facebook finally going public, the big story on Friday was Nasdaq delaying its opening due to a technical glitch. … Read more

We have lift-off! It's a new era for social media, space exploration and... shoes?

Update: The SpaceX rocket launch was aborted at the last minute and rescheduled for Tuesday, May 22 at 3:44 a.m. Eastern.

Facebook ended its first publicly traded day right where it began: at $38 a share. CEO Mark Zuckerberg rang in the Nasdaq opening bell virtually from the Silicon Valley campus, and later, shares began trading at around $42 each. Facebook's bankers saved the IPO, keeping shares barely above $38. From this IPO, Facebook raised $16 billion. That's almost 10 times … Read more

Facebook today revealed that it will have more shares than expected available to investors when it goes public on Friday. But the social network won't be the one cashing in on it.

Facebook will now offer up to 484.4 million shares of class A common stock, including overallotment, when it goes public on Friday. In a filing yesterday, Facebook revealed that it was only planning to go public with a maximum of 388 million shares. The increase has pushed the maximum amount of cash potentially secured in the offering up $3.66 billion from $14.7 billion to $… Read more

In today's show, the postman always scans twice, a new Kindle could let you read in the dark, and catch all the Pokémon hiding in your living room:

We're keeping a close eye on Facebook as it prepares to go public on the Nasdaq this week. Values for its initial public offering are in the $34 to $38 range. At the high end, it would make Facebook worth more than $100 billion. But we will find out Thursday what the actual initial stock price will be.

But will it keep that high value for long? A poll shows … Read more

Embroiled in shareholder lawsuits, its stock plunging, and still headed by a CEO criticized as unpredictable, Groupon has found things a bit hectic recently. Which may explain a minor board shakeup that looks a lot like an attempt to put some grownups in control of things.

Financial veterans American Express CFO Daniel Henry and Deloitte vice chairman Robert Bass are to join Groupon's board.

"With their deep financial, accounting, and operational experience, Dan and Bob will provide invaluable expertise to the Board going forward," Groupon Chairman Eric Lefkofsky said in a statement.

Henry joined the board April … Read more

Criticism of its recent stock split plan has evolved into a court case against Google. A shareholder filed a class action lawsuit in an attempt to block the plan on the grounds that it gives Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin too much power, according to Reuters.

Brockton Retirement Board brought the suit, alleging that Page and Brin "wish to retain this power, while selling off large amounts of their stockholdings, and reaping billions of dollars in proceeds." Brockton filed the complaint in Delaware, where Google is incorporated.

Google announced its first stock split -- or, if … Read more

Barnes & Noble's shares are skyrocketing today following its announcement of a strategic partnership with Microsoft.

The company's stock soared in early trading to $26, nearly doubling last week's closing price of $13.68. Since then, investors have started to cool, though not by much: as of this writing, the company's shares are up 63 percent to $22.29.

Under the terms of their partnership, Microsoft and Barnes & Noble will own part of a new company, currently known as Newco until a final name can be determined. Microsoft gave Barnes & Noble $300 million for … Read more