Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer (CEO in American English) or managing director (MD in British English) describes the position of the most senior corporate officer, executive, or administrator in charge of managing an organization. The CEO of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the entity. Titles also often given to the holder of the CEO position include president and chief executive (CE).

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of an organization's CEO are set by the organization's board of directors or other authority, depending on the organization's legal structure. They can be far-reaching or quite limited and are typically enshrined in a formal delegation of authority.

Typically, the CEO/MD has responsibilities as a director, decision maker, leader, manager and executor. The communicator role can involve the press and the rest of the outside world, as well as the organization's management and employees; the decision-making role involves high-level decisions about policy and strategy. As a leader of the company, the CEO/MD advises the board of directors, motivates employees, and drives change within the organization. As a manager, the CEO/MD presides over the organization's day-to-day operations. The term refers to the person who takes all the decisions regarding the upliftment of the company, which includes all sectors and fields of the business like operations, marketing, business Development, finance, Human resources, etc. The CEO of a company is not necessarily the owner of the company.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is an open world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 17 September 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, on 18 November 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on 14 April 2015 for Microsoft Windows. The game is the first main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series since 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three criminals and their efforts to commit heists while under pressure from a government agency. The open world design lets players freely roam San Andreas's open countryside and fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.

The game is played from either a first-person or third-person view and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Players control the three lead protagonists throughout single-player and switch between them both during and outside of missions. The story is centred on the heist sequences, and many missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. A "wanted" system governs the aggression of law enforcement response to players who commit crimes. Grand Theft Auto Online, the online multiplayer mode, lets up to 30 players explore the open world and engage in cooperative or competitive game matches.

Mad Money

Mad Money is an American finance television program hosted by Jim Cramer that began airing on CNBC on March 14, 2005. Its main focus is investment and speculation, particularly in publicly traded stocks. In a notable departure from the CNBC programming style prior to its arrival, Mad Money presents itself in an entertainment-style format rather than a news broadcasting one.

Cramer defines "mad money" as the money one "can use to invest in stocks ... not retirement money, which you want in 401K or an IRA, a savings account, bonds, or the most conservative of dividend-paying stocks."

Mad Money replaced Dylan Ratigan's Bullseye for the 6 p.m. Eastern Time slot. On January 8, 2007, CNBC began airing reruns of the show at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, on Monday through Friday, and at 4 a.m. Eastern Time, on Saturdays.

In March 2012, the program became a part of what was formerly branded as NBC All Night in the nominal 3:07 a.m. ET/2:07 a.m. timeslot on weeknights, replacing week-delayed repeats of NBC's late night talk shows. In that form, only the video for the program was presented on a 16:9 screen with gray branded windowboxing and pillarboxing, with all enhanced business information, including the CNBC Ticker, removed. Because of the scheduling of local station's 4 a.m. or 4:30 a.m. newscasts to air Early Today depending on how a station schedules its overnight programming (even if it airs at the regular time in the Eastern and Pacific time zones for instance, seven minutes would have to be cut-off to fit in Early Today and a local newscast starting at 4:30 a.m.), it is subject to local pre-emption, including by NBC O&O's.

Ciao

The word "ciao" (/ˈtʃaʊ/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈtʃaːo]) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both "hello" and "goodbye".

Originally from the Venetian language, it has entered the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world. Its dual meaning of "hello" and "goodbye" makes it similar to shalom in Hebrew, salaam in Arabic, annyeong in Korean, and aloha in Hawaiian.

The Vietnamese word chào (also "hello" or "goodbye"), while similar-sounding, is unrelated in etymology.

Etymology

The word derives from the Venetian phrase s-ciào vostro or s-ciào su literally meaning "I am your slave". This greeting is analogous to the medieval Latin Servus which is still used in a large section of Central/Eastern Europe. The expression was not a literal statement of fact, but rather a perfunctory promise of good will among friends (along the lines of "at your service" in English). The Venetian word for "slave", s-ciào ([ˈstʃao]) or s-ciàvo, derives from Medieval Latin sclavus, deriving from the ethnic "Slavic", since most of the slaves came from the Balkans.

Alliance Data

Alliance Data Systems Corporation is a publicly traded provider of loyalty and marketing solutions, such as private label credit cards, coalition loyalty programs, and direct marketing services, derived from the capture and analysis of transaction-rich data.

History

Alliance Data was formed from the December 1996 merger of two entities: J.C. Penney's credit card processing unit and The Limited's credit card bank operation, named World Financial Network National Bank.

In August 1998, Alliance Data acquired LoyaltyOne, then-branded The Loyalty Group Canada, for $250 million. The deal gave Alliance Data two valuable business enhancements, Canada's Air Miles Rewards Program and the company behind the popular Air Miles program, LoyaltyOne.

But, it wasn't until June 1999, that the real substance of the company was truly in place.

In May 2007, Alliance Data and The Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, announced plans for Alliance Data to be acquired by The Blackstone Group. In April 2008, Alliance Data terminated the merger agreement with Blackstone Affiliates.