Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" sidekick was also a prolific endorser of brands and companies, including Budweiser, Alpo, Chris-Craft, Texas Instruments, Breck, Sara Lee, Mercedes-Benz, American Family Publishers and Cash4Gold. He also marketed his own brand of liquor, McMahon Perfect Vodka.

The Journal's Yukari Iwatani Kane and Joann S. Lublin broke the news on Saturday that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had undergone a liver transplant in Tennessee a couple of months ago. Apple refused to confirm or deny the report but says that Jobs is on track to return to work by the end of June. Bloomberg News' Connie Guglielmo and Joseph Galante, say that signs are growing that Apple can do fine without Jobs at the helm. "For investors, it would be better if Steve doesn't return to be as hands-on as he was," Michael Obuchowski, chief …

The average brand lost a third of its formerly highly loyal customers in 2008, according to an analysis study conducted by the CMO Council and Catalina Marketing's Pointer Media Network. The two-year study looked at 685 brands, using data compiled from the loyalty cards of 32 million consumers, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson reports. That's bad news for brand marketers who count on their best customers for most of their profits. In fact, brand managers and retailers who have seen the data have been startled by it, according to Todd Morris, svp at Catalina. "Defection is top of mind for brand …

Jack Welch, the seemingly ubiquitous former CEO of General Electric, is putting his name -- and a couple of million dollars -- behind Chancellor University System LLC, a new for-profit online venture, Paul Glader reports. Chancellor will name its Master of Business Administration program The Jack Welch Institute. Welch says the MBA program will integrate his philosophy of leadership and human resources into a 12-course curriculum designed for mid-career workers. He and his wife, Suzy, are also helping to recruit faculty and planning curriculum; he will record a weekly video for students. Welch says he was initially skeptical on …

As other supermarkets watched their customers defect to Wal-Mart, Costco and other discounters, Cincinnati-based Kroger, which also owns Ralphs and a couple of dozen other local chains, posted same-store sales growth of 5% in its last fiscal year. It has made a concerted effort to attract bargain hunters and to market its house brands, Lawrence K. Ho reports. Kroger CEO David B. Dillon credits much of the success to a tracking system developed by Dunnhumby, a British marketing company, that identifies how often shoppers visit the store and provides the company with detailed information about what types of promotions …