The corporate glass ceiling remains firmly in place at companies based in California, according to a study released Wednesday.

High credit default rates and consumer debt will cause the US economy to recover at a slower pace than it did after previous economic downturns, said Steve Schwarzman, CEO of private equity firm The Blackstone Group.

American Express has seen a consistent improvement in write-off rates and 30-day past due, Kenneth Chenault, American Express chairman and Ceo, told CNBC Tuesday.

General Electric and Vivendi are making slow progress in talks for the French media company to shed its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal, but a deal is still expected in the next 10 days, sources told CNBC.

U.S. President Barack Obama ranked at the top of the list of the world's most powerful people, according to Forbes.

Bill Gates said on Wednesday he believes Wall Street pay is "often too high" and that U.S. government ownership of American International Group worries him because it has devalued the giant insurer.

In a memo to the company's employees, AIG CEO Robert Benmosche said Wednesday that he and the board remain "totally committed" to leading AIG.

Comcast and General Electric have agreed to make NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker the head of their proposed joint venture, but the structure of a new board is still being negotiated, sources familiar with the matter said.

Robert McCann, UBS Wealth Management Americas CEO, successfully brought four former Bank of America-Merrill Lynch senior managers with him to UBS, but it will be difficult for him to poach any more talent from his former firm, sources close to the matter told CNBC.

Nearly a year after leaving Bank of America under a cloud of controversy involving massive losses, executive bonuses, and lavish office decorating, former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is set to emerge from his self-imposed seclusion Thursday at a hedge fund event in Greenwich, Conn.

Business air traffic is starting to stabilize, said Larry Kellner, CEO of Continental.

Regulators should focus on simplifying, rather than adding to the bank regulation, said Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, speaking in support for a resolution mechanism or systemic risk regulator that could deal with banks and other companies that have become “too big to fail.”

OPEC ministers will raise output to protect the global economic recovery at a meeting in December if oil prices rise to $100 per barrel, the group's president said on Sunday.

Embattled Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis agreed to give up his $1.5 million salary and other compensation for 2009. Lewis will repay the bank the more than $1 million that's been paid to him so far this year.

E-mail messages from Bank of America reveal formerly secret discussions about its ill-fated merger with Merrill Lynch.