In Venezuela, there are over 2,500 squatters living in an unfinished 45-story building. The building is called the “Tower of David,” named after the investor who tried to build the tower in the 90′s.

DirecTV Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DTV) has appointed Michael White as their new CEO. White previously worked at PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) as the Vice Chairman. Interestingly White does not have much experience in the food and beverage industry so that makes the decision quite interesting for DirecTV. There is speculation that he will act as a “baby-sitter” for DirecTV until a take-over happens. AT&T and Verizon are both potential candidates for buying out DirecTV since they both partner with the satellite TV company.

DirecTV has 18 million subscribers and the company launched in 1994. The company is currently owned by The DirecTV Group which is a division of Liberty Media.

White will be taking the CEO position on January 1 and will be replacing Chase Carey. Carey will be leaving to join News Corp. as the COO and President. Shareholders and the DirecTV management team are currently discussing whether to spin off Liberty Media’s entertainment assets into a separate company. DirecTV used to be owned by News Corporation, but Liberty Media exchanged 16.3% of their stake in News Corp. and $625 million in exchange for DirecTV and three sports networks.

Chase Carey has been the President and CEO of DirecTV since December 2003.  This past week Carey stepped down from DirecTV and joined News Corporation to replace Peter Chernin.  At one point, News Corp. even owned 34% of DirecTV.  When Carey joined DirecTV, he left News Corporation.

To find a replacement for Carey, DirecTV formed a director committee.  As a temporary replacement EVP of Legal, HR, and Administration Larry Hunter has become the interim CEO of DirecTV.

“Chase has been an important advisor and a close friend to me for several decades,” stated Murdoch. “I know that his leadership, strategic capabilities and more than 15 years of experience at our company will prove invaluable as we face the challenges and opportunities before us.”

[via LA Times]

Sirius XM Radio Inc.(NASDAQ:SIRI) may be kicked out of the CEO position of the company if they decide to file for bankruptcy protection according to The Wall Street Journal.  The Journal was notified of this possibility by a group of creditors involved with Sirius.

“Creditors will act quickly and definitively if they perceive that management is acting in their own interest and not in the best interest of the estate,” Edward Weisfelner, a partner with Brown Rudnick, the law firm representing the creditor group, told the newspaper. “The board of directors should carefully consider the ramifications.”  The company met over the weekend to determine which plan is most suitable.

Creditors would petition the court to have Sirius’ management team removed and be replaced with independent trustees.  Sirius was rumored to be seeking investment from Liberty Media.  Liberty Controls DirecTV.  If Sirius goes bankrupt, then it would be the second largest Chapter 11 this year as they have about $5 billion in assets.