Vivendi Slashes North American Jobs

Game maker Vivendi Universal Games today announced its plans to eliminate 350 jobs. The positions lost will account for one-third of the company’s total North American jobs--excluding the PC games division, Blizzard Entertainment--and are expected to be vacated in 60 days. Unrelated to the layoffs, former CEO of Vivendi, Jean-Marie Messier, who resigned in 2002, was taken into police custody today in Paris in connection with Messier’s move to buy back company stocks in large quantities after the economic whiplash that resulted after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The financial move is being investigated for possibly deceiving investors.