Year: 2010

The top 50 CEOs delivered an average total shareholder return of 73.3% since June 2007, according to a new study published by “Chief Executive” magazine and calculated by Applied Finance Group. That performance handily beats the 14.9% average of the S&P 500 during the same period.

Priceline CEO Jeff Boyd took the spot as the #1 value creator based on the success he has had in taking his company’s online travel services to international markets, expanding market share and growing the top line — while keeping tight controls on costs. Apple CEO Steve Jobs ranks number four on the list.

Ask.com, an online brand for questions and answers, has revealed the hottest gifts this holiday season, selected from the millions of questions asked throughout the last month at Ask.com. Not surprisingly, the iPhone and iPad ranked high on the list.

iPhone reigned with more than twice as many questions asked about Apple’s big seller as compared to the next phone in line, the Droid, according to Ask.com. The BlackBerry was also a popular gift item, although Ask users were not nearly as inquisitive about the handheld as its iPhone and Droid peers.

ComScore (http://www.comscore.com), a company that measures the digital world, says holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 47 days of the November-December 2010 holiday season is looking good, thanks, in part, to the iPad and laptops.

Telltale’s Back to the Future: The Game will debut this Wednesday, Dec. 22. The five-part season’s first episode “It’s About Time!” will be available for Mac and platforms.

Fans can still get the Puzzle Agent game free with their pre-order (US$24.95) from http://www.backtothefuturegame.com, and Telltale also donates $1 to the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation with each purchase up through the launch. The series will debut on the PlayStation Network and iPad platforms in early 2011.\