Business Notes DEALS

For just $100,000, less than the price of an average single-family house, Investor Lloyd Lubensky managed to buy a 34.2% controlling interest in the seventh largest U.S. steel company, Wheeling-Pittsburgh, according to papers filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 1.7 million shares he acquired had a market value of $13.5 million on the day he paid the $100,000 for them, Dec. 31. Lubensky bought the stock for the lower price from a friend, Wheeling Chairman Allen Paulson, who resigned a week later. Paulson apparently intends to use the virtual giveaway as an income-tax write-off. SEC officials said the deal was legal, but an IRS spokesman said it would arouse scrutiny at the agency.