Yogurt maker Chobani announced it will name a new chief executive to replace its founder and may appoint its acting president, a turnaround expert from private equity firm TPG, which lent the company $750 million last year. The company plans to name a new CEO in the first half of 2015 and replace company founder Hamdi Ulukaya – the top contender is currently interim president and COO Kevin Burns. 
Kevin Burns is not being paid to serve as interim COO of the challenged yogurt-maker. Last week, The New York Times reported that investors with private equity firm TPG Capital were “paying twice” for work being done by TPG partner Kevin Burns, who also is serving as the interim COO of yogurt maker Chobani (in which TPG invested last year). The paper basically alleged that Burns was being paid his regular TPG salary, derived from annual management fees paid by limited partners in TPG funds, while TPG also was receiving from Chobani a “a separate fee based on the partner’s work on the particular investment.” And, rather than sharing this separate fees with its limited partners, TPG had used a shadowy internal “recovery” group to keep most of the money in-house. 
Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ:MXIM) CEO Tunc Doluca sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock on the open market in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.13, for a total value of $198,780.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.
Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of Chobani, allegedly bribed a former employee at Fage to reveal the rival's recipe for Greek yogurt, according to Ulukaya's ex-wife. A recent court filing obtained by The Huffington Post accuses Ulukaya, a Turkish born immigrant and now billionaire, of repeatedly bragging about how he "traveled to Europe and bribed this employee with 30,000 Euros." The allegations are being made by Ulukaya's ex-wife, Ayse Giray. The former couple has been locked in a legal battle since 2012, when Giray first claimed Ulukaya denied her a stake in the company. 
Yogurt maker Chobani Inc. has named Dipak Golechha, an 18-year veteran of Procter & Gamble Co., as its new chief financial officer. Mr. Golechha, who will start on Jan. 1, has been a divisional CFO at P&G, most recently for its global feminine health and hygiene business, where he also is chief operating officer. Before that, he was CFO for its global snacks division. The appointment of Mr. Golechha is the latest in a string of executive appointments at the New Berlin, N.Y.-based company. In July, for example, Chobani hired David Denholm, formerly in charge of Kellogg Co.’s main breakfast division, as COO, and Peter McGuinness, a longtime advertising executive, as its chief marketing and brand officer. 
In medical terms, Dr. Mehmet Oz's Hearst Magazines project has just begun "gestation" (no title yet for a magazine set to begin testing in first-quarter 2014), but the acclaimed cardiologist and television personality did his first meet-and-greet at a July 10 HM luncheon for the Chicago advertiser and agency communities at the Peninsula Hotel. PARKS, Nev., (SNC PR) – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is pleased to announce that John Olson, Ph.D., former Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics, Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President, has joined SNC as vice president of Space Systems. “SNC and I are truly fortunate to have John Olson join our senior leadership team,” said Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC’s Space Systems. “John’s world-class experience, vision, and energy will enable our success with the Dream Chaser® Space System and our strategic enterprise.” 
Chobani is the United States' top Greek yogurt brand and it prides itself on adding no GMO ingredients to its yogurt. However, it is likely that the company is relying on milk from cows eating a diet full of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMO Inside, a national, non-GMO coalition led by Green America, is calling on Chobani to cease marketing its products as "real" and "natural" until the company switches to verified non-GMO milk sources.
New York — Herrick, Feinstein LLP has represented The Gulaylar Group, a diversified Turkey-based company and leader in the international jewelry and diamond industry, in its acquisition of a three-level, 12,000-square-foot retail condominium at Extell Development Company’s International Gem Tower (IGT) on West 47th Street in Manhattan’s diamond district. “The Gulaylar Group has long been a presence in Manhattan’s Diamond District but this new retail condo offers an exceptional opportunity to capitalize on their experience and stellar reputation,” said Barbaros M. Karaahmet, a Partner and co-chair of the firm’s Turkish Practice Group, who has been representing the Gulaylar family for the past 15 years. “We are delighted to have played a role in this significant transaction,” he added. 
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas airplane maker Beechcraft has lost a legal battle to halt work on a high stakes Air Force contract awarded to rival Sierra Nevada Corporation. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Friday denied Beechcraft's request for a temporary injunction. The contract for 20 planes for use in Afghanistan is worth more than $427 million. It could be worth as much as $1 billion, depending on future orders. 
