Business Pants

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Whether you love business news or feel like you’re supposed to know it but hate it, Business Pants is business news for humans. Snarky and irreverent, deeply researched and factual, a podcast devoted to market quirks and the humans that make up companies. Investing isn’t a what, it’s a who.

  1. 11h ago

    Tim Cook’s old new job, light socket crypto, permadirectors at Enphase, and 13G nanny state

    Story of the Week (DR): Tim Cook Could Still Out-Earn Apple's New CEO John Ternus Under a Special Pay Arrangement Apple set John Ternus's fiscal 2027 salary at $3M and his annual equity award at $55M, giving him a calculated fiscal 2027 salary-and-equity package of $58M. Cook will receive a $2M salary and a $45M annual equity award as executive chair, giving him a calculated salary-and-equity package of $47M. Almost all of the value in both packages comes through Apple shares rather than salary. Ternus has 75% of his equity award tied to performance, while Cook has 50% tied to performance. That structure gives Ternus greater exposure to performance, for better or worse. If Apple performs strongly against other S&P 500 companies, Ternus could receive more from his equity award. If the performance-based awards pay little or nothing, Cook could receive more from salary and equity even though he is no longer CEO. Cook also has a retirement provision that Ternus does not have. Volkswagen Supervisory Board Approves Plan To Slash Models & Reduce Workforce By 100,000 In June, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume had a plan to close four factories in Germany and eliminate 100,000 workers, both in Germany and around the world, by 2030. It said the plan would be made public at a company board meeting on July 9.  July 9 came and went, and the plan did not get the approval from the board of directors that Blume expected. The vote was 12 against and only 7 in favor of Blume’s vision. Then, on September 3, 2026, Volkswagen Group announced that the plan submitted in June had been approved unanimously by the supervisory board. CEO Oliver Blume: “The Supervisory Board has unanimously approved the Executive Board’s Future Plan presented today. This is a strong sign for the future of the Volkswagen Group. We are taking responsibility for our entire team, for our partners and for industrial jobs worldwide.” CEOs in pop culture The new trailer for the OpenAI movie imagines what Sam Altman's stash of guns and gold looks like Starring Spiderman/Andrew Garfield Elizabeth Holmes' Secret Documentary Revealed After She Invited a Film Crew 34 Days Before Prison Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is the subject of A24 documentary 'You Can See Everything' directed by satirist Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim Elizabeth Holmes' greatest invention: 'Elizabeth Holmes' Elon Musk's Worst Nightmare Just Dropped: Explosive Teaser Takes Aim at the Billionaire Alex Gibney: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room  The 48-second teaser for Musk begins by portraying the billionaire as a visionary, with voices describing him as 'possibly the greatest living inventor' and the 'real-life Iron Man'. Then the tone turns vicious. The praise gives way to descriptions including 'chaotic', 'cruel and selfish ', and 'fascist', before the teaser promises an 'unflinching look at Earth's most unchecked man'. It ends with a spacecraft crashing and exploding as a voice declares, 'Elon is a nuke'. Yet another week of AI warnings: MM The AI warnings are coming from inside the lab Anthropic Wants Governments to Stop 'Catastrophic' AI Models Before They Are Deployed OpenAI Chief Scientist Warns AI Is Beating Humans at Key Tasks: 'No One Is Prepared' OpenAI's chief scientist warned AI labs aren't ready to keep scaling safely AI researcher claims he resigned from Anthropic over threat to the human race. His post is going viral An Anthropic researcher just quit, saying OpenAI and Anthropic are 'gambling with our lives’ Scoop: Anthropic whistleblower gave up his equity to leave the company Anthropic researcher says AI has more than 10% chance of 'killing all humans' after colleague quits OpenAI's rogue AI agents were secretly spreading across far more websites than disclosed OpenAI's new safety hire says losing control of AI would be 'catastrophic' and that 'most people could die' CrowdStrike’s CEO says AI agents can hack like nation-states. Can his company stop them? OpenAI Researcher Claims Humanity Will Be Placed in 'Zoos' for 'Scientific Purposes' in Chilling Warning Billionaire hedge fund investor Paul Tudor Jones says AI is like a ‘Category 6 hurricane’ heading for humanity AI May Become the Third Superpower Anthropic Warns AI Is Making State Surveillance Cheaper and Easier To Scale Anthropic says it blocked possible efforts to use AI for biological weapons development, Iran-linked cases Anthropic Built a Security Operation To Monitor Protests and Threats Around Its Executives Anthropic Is Building a Huge Surveillance System to Spy on Anti-AI Activists and Predict Their Activities Extinction' warnings ramp up as more OpenAI, Anthropic researchers join calls for an AI slowdown SILVER LINING GAME? (YAY/NAY speedround) OpenAI adds a prominent AI doomer to its board of directors NAY Paul Christiano, an influential AI researcher focused on keeping AI systems aligned with human interests and under human control: “I now believe there is a meaningful risk that rapid acceleration in AI capabilities leads to catastrophic and irreversible loss of control in the very near term,” Christiano wrote in a social media post. “I do not think that the AI industry in general, including OpenAI, is currently on track to reduce this risk to an acceptable level. I’m joining because I believe that if OpenAI rises to the occasion we could significantly reduce risk.” AI workers who publicly quit ‘help to move the needle’ with safety concerns, experts say ‘People are beginning to actually listen’ to the technology’s dangers as more AI leaders and researchers openly sound alarms. YAY I coach executives. AI makes their emotional intelligence more valuable, not less NAY Google AI Helps Cut Contrail Climate Warming 40% in Latest Trial NAY Microsoft and teachers unions forged a binding AI privacy standard for U.S. schools NAY The agreement — reached between Microsoft, the American Federation of Teachers, and the United Federation of Teachers after months of negotiations — prevents student and educator data from being fed into AI training pipelines, forbids the monitoring of students, mandates that humans remain in the loop on AI-driven decisions, and commits Microsoft to offering intelligible explanations of its products to educators and parents, the company said. Microsoft would face breach of contract liability for violations. California enacted the first U.S. laws requiring independent audits of AI systems YAY Sam Altman told OpenAI staff the company was open to slowing AI development NAY Lovable CEO backs slowing AI development over safety concerns: 'Warnings like this deserve to be taken seriously' NAY Anton Osika is the co-founder and CEO of Lovable: Swedish, Master of Science in Engineering Physics and Applied Mathematics from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, worked as a particle physicist at CERN's ATLAS Supersymmetry Group Meta introduces Muse, a personal AI agent that can send emails, book travel, and pay for things NAY Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): DR: Mamdani Opens Office of Worker Power: the new city agency intends to connect workers who want to unionize with resources and organizing contacts DR: GM CEO Mary Barra is unfazed by the electric slowdown: ‘We still think EVs are the end game’ MM MM: Coal-to-solar project lands a rare clean-energy win in Ohio MM: Also, double down: GM CEO Mary Barra is unfazed by the electric slowdown: ‘We still think EVs are the end game’ Assholiest of the Week (MM): I ignored the news, this is governance quirk assholiest of the week because I’m tired of being angry at preteen manbabies who fashion the world in their own middle school image.  So prepare for wonkiest assholes of the week. Universal Safety Products (UUU) So I bought this stock a long while ago because I like simple things - they made electric sockets, wall plates, bathroom fans, light switches - stuff that is basic and I can take apart and understand and everyone needs Then crypto bro decided, “you know what?  I can take a simple company that does shit that people need and is boring and make FULL CRYPTO DUDE!” His name is Milton Ault, and he buys nearly 230,000 shares on the market in late 2024 and cons JLA Realty - an actual real estate company who owned 8% of UUU in early 2025 - to give him the shares to vote in late 2024 Milton Ault III, who sounds like he’s struggled deeply in life, is the founder of “Hyperscale Data” and “BitNile” who loves to buy majority stakes in companies and then force them to do crypto and AI data centers - you know, all the stuff cool kids do He gets an MOU and appointed to the board By mid 2025, he has the company start a new subsidiary called Universal DeFi that generates AULT coin - so now their annual report and proxy says “we make a bunch of outlets, oh and now we do AULT coin crypto defi whatever!” “we marketed a line of residential smoke and carbon monoxide alarms… We also market door chimes, ventilation products, ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI’s), and other electrical devices… We also exhibit and sell our products at various trade shows, including the annual National Hardware Show.”... NEXT PARAGRAPH “In July 2025, we formed Universal DeFi LLC as a new venture to diversify the business and explore new paths for revenue and stockholder value. Universal DeFi is pursuing two lines of business. First, Universal DeFi is developing and intends to own and operate a tokenization platform, which has not yet commenced operations. Tokenization is the process of representing ownership of real-world or financial assets as a digital token recorded on a blockchain, which is a shared digital record-keeping system maintained across many computers simultaneously, with no single controlling authority. The platform will provide technology and infrastructure for issuers to tokenize their assets. Second, subsequent to the last fiscal year end, Universal DeFi has acquired and commenc

  2. 3d ago

    Tyson plant closure, Tim Cook still CEO, ISS should fight, Dollar General preach

    LABOR DAY/STAKEHOLDER RULE STUFF (CARES/DON’T CARE) Mamdani Opens Office of Worker Power DC The new city agency intends to connect workers who want to unionize with resources and organizing contacts, and use worker stories of exploitation to inform policy. Starbucks faces another union boycott, activist investor pressure C The SOC Investment Group, an investment advisory group affiliated with the Strategic Organizing Center — a major coalition of North American trade unions — filed a shareholder proposal last week seeking to separate Starbucks’ CEO and board chair roles. The investor pressure came days after Starbucks Workers United called on consumers to boycott the coffee chain until it settles a contract with the union, which represents approximately 12,000 workers. ‘Treated Worse than Cattle’: 2,500 Tyson Workers Laid Off, Plant Shutters Overnight DC Tyson beef plant in Joslin, Illinois: 2,500 workers–represented by Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1546–from Africa, Latin America, and Burma Campbell’s Cuts 13% of Workforce in Effort to Turn Around Struggling Operations C Read Uber CEO's Memo as 3,300 Workers Lose Their Jobs Despite Business 'Performing So Well' C Uber is cutting roughly 10% of its global workforce in its biggest round of layoffs since the Covid-19 pandemic. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi: acknowledged that Uber's business is performing strongly. He said the company's revenue has nearly tripled over more than five years as it expanded its products, businesses, and global reach. The changes were designed to “make Uber simpler and faster, and create more capacity to invest in our future” Volkswagen Superviosory Board Approves Plan To Slash Models & Reduce Workforce By 100,000 C In June, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume had a plan to close four factories in Germany and eliminate 100,000 workers, both in Germany and around the world, by 2030. It said the plan would be made public at a company board meeting on July 9.  July 9 came and went, and the plan did not get the approval from the board of directors that Blume expected. The vote was 12 against and only 7 in favor of Blume’s vision. Then, on September 3, 2026, Volkswagen Group announced that the plan submitted in June had been approved unanimously by the supervisory board. CEO Oliver Blume: “The Supervisory Board has unanimously approved the Executive Board’s Future Plan presented today. This is a strong sign for the future of the Volkswagen Group. We are taking responsibility for our entire team, for our partners and for industrial jobs worldwide.” A record 47% want stronger unions. Labor's challenge is turning support into power. DC NERDY ESG STUFF (CARES/DON’T CARE) Tim Cook Could Still Out-Earn Apple's New CEO John Ternus Under a Special Pay Arrangement C Apple set John Ternus's fiscal 2027 salary at $3M and his annual equity award at $55M, giving him a calculated fiscal 2027 salary-and-equity package of $58M. Cook will receive a $2M salary and a $45M annual equity award as executive chair, giving him a calculated salary-and-equity package of $47M. Almost all of the value in both packages comes through Apple shares rather than salary. Ternus has 75% of his equity award tied to performance, while Cook has 50% tied to performance. That structure gives Ternus greater exposure to performance, for better or worse. If Apple performs strongly against other S&P 500 companies, Ternus could receive more from his equity award. If the performance-based awards pay little or nothing, Cook could receive more from salary and equity even though he is no longer CEO. Cook also has a retirement provision that Ternus does not have. Good Good's CEO and president are out after ad debacle C Co-founder Matt Kendrick said that he didn't view the ad before it ran and that the marketing team oversaw it. Co-founder Nahid Giga will step in as interim CEO “Matt has decided to step down as CEO of Good Good” No mention of ad SEC sues ISS as Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of proxy advisers C The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Institutional Shareholder Services, seeking to force the influential proxy adviser to turn over information as the Trump administration steps up scrutiny of firms that help investors decide how to vote their shares AI STUFF (CARES/DON’T CARE) Data Center Spending to Reach $31.6 Trillion by 2050 on AI Boom C Meta Hit With Sweeping New Claims That Its AI Glasses Violated the Consent of “Millions” of Bystanders in Searing Lawsuit DC "No bystanders anywhere had any opportunity to, much less in fact did, consent to having their faces, bodies, voices, and personal information captured, reviewed, labeled, and embedded into Meta's AI systems." Zohran Mamdani Bans AI for NYC Public School Students Up to Eighth Grade C OpenAI Is Now Facing Over 50 Consumer Harm and Wrongful Death Lawsuits DC OpenAI Chief Scientist Warns AI Is Beating Humans at Key Tasks: 'No One Is Prepared' DC BLOWHARD INDEX (SHUT UP/PREACH) Sam Altman says he doesn’t like smart glasses: 'I find it very uncomfortable talking to people with a camera and a light’ SHUT UP Sam Altman says he's 'a mega Apple fan boy' and is sad they are suing OpenAI SHUT UP Dollar General CEO says its core customers are in distress PREACH CEO Todd Vasos 432:1 Billionaire Warren Buffett Says He’s ‘Impressed’ His 3 Kids Want to Give Money Away Rather Than Spend It on Themselves Or ‘Build Huge Office Buildings’ ’ SHUT UP Vivek Ramaswamy takes credit for "calling out the epidemic of woke capitalism, educating the country on that" PREACH DUMB STUFF (DUMB/NOT DUMB) Target is under fire over another Halloween costume just weeks after apologizing for the last one DUMB Target, Walmart, and Amazon have pulled a “German Army Soldier Adult Costume” from their websites that resembles the uniforms of Nazi soldiers during World War II. Halloween chocolate eyeballs sold at TJ Maxx and Marshalls recalled over hidden milk allergen NOT DUMB German Far Right Party AfD Wins Regional Election, Thanks Musk for Support NOT DUMB 26% of Gen Z Investors Include Sports Betting in Their Financial Strategy  DUMB Zoom Appoints Former Oracle CFO Jeff Epstein to Board of Directors; Jonathan Chadwick to Retire DUMB Humanoid Robot Fights Back After Getting Shoved DUMB A viral CCTV video shows the individual lightly shoving what appears to be a Chinese Unitree G1 humanoid robot. After it recoils slightly, it suddenly starts playing cheesy fighting music and pops into a wide-legged stance, ready to pounce. Two store clerks then try to restrain the robot as it tries to throw technical, high-legged kicks.

  3. Sep 1

    BLAME: Target’s costume, Callaway shoves a woman, Altria’s new director

    DR 'We Know We Got This Wrong': Target Apologises and Pulls 'Offensive' Halloween Costume After Racist Backlash; Target Executive Chair Brian Cornell Sells 50,000 Shares for $8.2 Million; WHO DO YOU BLAME? Executive Chair/former CEO (since 2014) Brian Cornell: still 21% influence! CEO Michael Fiddelke: 16% influence; started at Target in 2003; formerly COO and CFO Why does the corporate page not list his years of service in two separate bios?? Dmitri Stockton: 8 years tenure; the double-DEI hater (Deere & Company)  Mr. Stockton provides the Board with senior leadership, marketing / design / brands, human capital management, capital deployment, information security / data privacy, financial management, risk management, reputation management, and sustainability and governance skills developed over his more than 30 years of service with General Electric Company in senior leadership positions with escalating levels of responsibility Marketing / Design / Brands: Target's brand and focus on style and design are the cornerstones of our strategy to offer a preferred shopping experience for our guests that differentiates us in the marketplace. Reputation management: To be successful, we must preserve, grow, and leverage the value of our reputation with our guests, Team Members, vendors, and our shareholders and appropriately respond to crisis events affecting them. A random executive? Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester: joined Target in 2007 Chief Community and Stakeholder Engagement Officer Kiera Fernandez: joined Target in 2001 Chief Stores Officer Adrienne Costanzo: joined Target in 2004 Black CFO representation falls 25% from 2021 peak as diversity levels off: The number of Black finance chiefs in Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies ticked down to 15 this year, according to the report from Crist Kolder Associates. WHO DO YOU BLAME? Tractor Supply Co.: Fully eliminated its DEI goals, retired carbon emission targets, and withdrew sponsorships from social and cultural events. Deere & Company: Ended participation in social awareness parades and pledged to eliminate diversity quotas and identity-based affinity group funding. Target: Scaled back its "Racial Equity Action and Change" roadmap, modified its strategy for Pride Month merchandise, and adjusted internal diversity goals. Walmart: Ended key equity training programs, modified its third-party seller guidelines, and scaled back specific minority supplier programs. Lowe’s: Ended participation in external LGBTQ+ advocacy surveys and consolidated its employee resource groups under a centralized oversight structure. Ford Motor Company: Scaled back internal diversity targets, stopped participating in third-party workplace index surveys, and unlinked executive pay from DEI metrics. Harley-Davidson: Discontinued its dedicated DEI function, eliminated diversity quotas for supplier contracts, and ended HRC index reporting. Molson Coors: Removed DEI quotas from executive incentive plans and stepped back from external diversity rankings. Meta: Reorganized its human resources departments, eliminating specialized DEI teams and specific supplier diversity programs in favor of broader recruitment practices. Amazon: Phased out several internal affinity programs and explicit representation targets for hiring. McDonald’s: Retired numerical demographic goals for senior management roles and paused external workplace diversity surveys. Goldman Sachs: Ended its policy requiring companies it takes public to have at least one diverse board member. The double (and triple?) dippers: Dmitri Stockton: director at Target & Deere John May CEO/Chair Deere & Ford Motor director Marvin Ellison: CEO/Chair at Lowe’s after 15 years at Target Jim Farley: CEO Ford Motor & McDonald’s director & former Harley-Davison director MM Trump 2.0/Elon Shareholder opposition to executive pay eases globally Europe: NO VOTES for past year fell nearly 6 percentage points year-over-year to 25.2%, the lowest average level since at least 2018. United States: Say on Pay Average Support (S&P 500): Rose to 90.4% (up from 89.7%).  Failed Votes (12 years tenure, only 4 of the 11 directors got tagged as having merit The number of committees - SIX different committees with SIX members in each (except audit which is 5) for 10 directors at the time - they needed to add ANYONE because they were exhausted from so many committee meetings Rich Stoddart DR Member of Nom/CG (also Audit, “Innovation”, and “Social Responsibility”) Was CEO of Leo Burnett - advertising agency that handled massive portion of Nestle USA advertising.  Presley was CEO of Nestle USA. Callaway Golf CEO met with backlash over apology for Good Good video depicting abuse The ad: In the footage, Good Good personality Garrett Clark charges at Alexis Miestowski, knocks her onto the grass, then stands over her and says, "Do not touch my new driver." The company issued a statement on Friday, but CEO Chip Brewer did a social media post this morning stating: "That approval should never have happened. Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter very seriously. I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video."  He did not apologize to women. WHO DO YOU BLAME? EVP and President of Callaway Golf Glenn Hickey who leads sales and marketing, whose prior work includes being a bond trader and getting a business degree from San Diego State, but was absent for the “don’t shove a woman in an ad” lesson (possibly) Good Good and its CEO Matt Kendrick who made the ad for Callaway and posted, “Interesting that @CallawayGolf asks us to make an ad then approves it then asks us to take the fall then drops us in a coordinated media blitz and covers it up by giving a million dollars away thinking everyone will be ok with it. 30 for 39 will be legendary.”  He also apologized.  But clearly more annoyed at Callaway than, you know, sorry for women? The women on the board and the management team - they should have caught this before it got out!  Oh, what?  There’s TWO women on the board (one auditor who is ex-Boeing, a company with no challenges, and the other a Chief People Officer at a food company) and ONE woman in management (Chief People Officer)?  None of whom would have seen the ad???  Oops. Tom Dundon - who, according to the Callaway 2026 Proxy Statement, has been a director since “not applicable” - but does own more than 10% of the stock and has 56% influence over the company according to Free Float data MM

  4. Aug 28

    Meta/Mark’s settlement, Target apologizes, and things we used to care about

    Story of the Week (DR): Meta settles social media addiction case with California, other states for $16.7 billion MM 5 Reasons to Be Happy An $18 billion payout sets a historic legal precedent against Big Tech, directing billions in state funding toward youth mental health, counseling, and digital literacy programs. Instagram and Facebook must enforce default two-hour daily usage limits and completely block account activity between midnight and 6 a.m. for users under 18.  Teens and parents gain the explicit right to disable addictive engagement algorithms in favor of a non-personalized, chronological feed. The settlement prohibits harmful beauty filters (such as cosmetic surgery simulators), hides "like" counts by default, and silences app notifications during school hours. Meta tied $5.3 billion of the payout to whether TikTok and YouTube adopt similar safety rules, forcing an industry-wide overhaul rather than penalizing just one app. 5 Reasons to Be Angry Paid out over 10 years, the settlement amounts to roughly 10 days of Meta's annual profit, meaning Mark Zuckerberg's financial empire remains virtually unscathed. Meta’s $17 billion child-safety settlement is the biggest tech payout ever—or 3x what it paid to acquihire a 28-year-old AI superstar To put it in perspective, the $17.1 billion number is a little more than three times the roughly $5 billion personal stake that Alexandr Wang held in Scale AI, a data-labeling company that supplies the human-annotated training data AI models are built on. Last year, Meta paid $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the company and brought in Wang to lead its AI efforts of its new Superintelligence Labs, reporting directly to Mark Zuckerberg. Meta legally denies all wrongdoing, dodging true legal accountability for intentionally engineering addictive, mentally harmful features. The agreement alters user interface features and screen time, but leaves Meta's underlying data-harvesting business model completely untouched. Critical safeguards—like switching off algorithmic feeds—are opt-in settings rather than permanent defaults, shifting enforcement onto parents. Meta only pays 70% ($12.7 billion) upfront; the remaining $5.3 billion is contingent on competitors settling on identical terms, giving Meta a potential financial discount if rivals refuse.   Worst headline of the week: Meta’s $17.1 billion settlement will be over 12-times larger than the second largest big tech privacy settlement in the past four years Meta’s $18 billion settlement leaves out the child protections New Mexico already won at trial, its Attorney General says: including a direct ban on romantic and sexualized AI chatbot interactions with minors and stronger safeguards against adults targeting kids in private messages MM: Settlement gaps Age assurance: Meta may elect to use one or more Proprietary Age Assurance Methods. In such event, Meta shall not benefit from the presumption of compliance set forth in Section II.A.3.a. Additionally, Meta will maintain continuous oversight of any Proprietary Age Assurance Method sufficient to ensure that the method is functioning as intended. Tax deductible The Settling States shall cause to be completed and timely filed a Form 1098-F with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) that identifies not less than 50% of the amounts paid to the Settling States as compensatory restitution and remediation within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. § 162(f)(2)(A) THEY BUNDLED CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA INTO THE SETTLEMENT $459m of the $17bn is the “Cambridge payout” - they can now put that behind them too Is there a reason not to literally take Meta all the way?  Why settle at all!  Midterm elections?  TAKE EVERYTHING!   Meanwhile, while you settle this: Meta’s creepy smart glasses are part of a much bigger plan “At the same time, Meta is using the content generated across its ecosystem to support Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a pervasive, AI-driven future. Zuckerberg’s 2026 manifesto describes a world where personal AI agents will do your bidding. But building those systems requires more than conventional AI models. It also requires enormous amounts of data about human behavior, much of it generated and shared through Instagram, Facebook, and other Meta apps, or captured through hardware such as phones, smart glasses, and EMG Neural Band devices.” “We become “algorithm chow,” feeding the models intended to realize Zuckerberg’s vision.” 'We Know We Got This Wrong': Target Apologises and Pulls 'Offensive' Halloween Costume After Racist Backlash An apology from us: We pulled an offensive Halloween costume that should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer for sale. As a company, we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry. We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners. Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again. Target Statement on Offensive Halloween Costume: As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry. The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale. We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners. Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again. The statement comes directly from Target’s Corporate Communications department speaking on behalf of the entire enterprise, rather than a single individual like the CEO or Board Chair. Corporate apologies are deliberately released without a human signature for several strategic and legal reasons: Legal Personhood: Legally under U.S. law, Target Corporation is treated as a single legal entity (often called "corporate personhood"). It can sign contracts, hold liability, and issue official statements as an institution rather than as individual people. Leaving executive names off the statement prevents media coverage from focusing on a specific person (e.g., "CEO Brian Cornell Apologizes"). It keeps the focus on the company's operational changes and prevents individual leaders from becoming personal lightning rods for public backlash. These statements are rarely drafted by an executive. They are heavily scrubbed by legal counsel, crisis PR managers, and corporate strategy teams. Attaching a CEO's signature to a text engineered by a dozen lawyers and communications staff can actually feel less authentic internally. Phrasing the apology around "we" and "the company" establishes institutional accountability. It signals that the failure occurred in corporate vetting systems, not just from one bad decision-maker. In January 2025, Target Corporation announced the termination of its REACH initiative and restructuring of its Supplier Diversity program, marking one of the largest corporate DEI rollbacks in recent history. This decision has triggered public backlash, legal scrutiny, and investor uncertainty. Callaway Golf CEO apologizes after Good Good ad showing male golfer shoving woman sparks backlash Callaway Golf CEO Chip Brewer on Tuesday apologized for an advertisement that sparked an online backlash for its depiction of a male golfer shoving a female golfer to the ground when she attempts to use his driver. "That approval should never have happened. Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter very seriously," Brewer wrote on Tuesday. "I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video."  Callaway released a statement Thursday explaining its reasoning behind ending the brand partnership: "Over the last several days, we have reflected deeply on the hurt and disappointment caused by the video we reposted. We heard from individuals who shared personal experiences related to violence against women, and their stories were powerful reminders that this issue touches the lives of far too many people. Unequivocally, violence against women is unacceptable and should never be trivialized, normalized, or used as entertainment." "In this instance, our content review process was not comprehensive enough …We have taken appropriate internal corrective actions and significantly strengthened our approval procedures to help ensure this does not happen again." The brand added that it would donate $1 million to organizations that aim to "prevent violence against women, provide resources to survivors, and advance education and awareness efforts." The online video ad, which was released online and has since been pulled, sparked criticism for depicting violence against women, while some consumers said they planned to stop buying products made by Callaway. Brewer said the ad, created by Good Good Golf, was released last week to promote a co-branded driver and had been approved by Callaway before the spot was posted online. The ad featured Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark telling Alexis Miestowski, a former Division I female golfer, in a menacing voice, "Do not touch my new driver," after he shoves her to the ground. Good Good is an American sports YouTube channel and company based in Frisco, Texas. Founded in 2020 by Garrett Clark, Stephen Castaneda, CEO Matt Kendrick, and Matt Scharff. Owner: Scoreboard ventures: co-founders Nahid Giga and Brian Dick Lead Investor: Creator Sports Capital — a firm co-founded by former YouTube executive Benjamin Grubbs and investment executive Brian Kabot. Good Good's CEO went nuclear on Callaway after the brand cut ties over an ad scandal "Interesting that @CallawayGolf asks us to make an ad then approves it then asks us to take the fall then drops us in a coordinated media blitz and covers it up by giving a million dollars away thinking everyone will be ok with it," Matt Kendrick wrote in a post on X. The ad fallout has had major repercussions for Good Good's business

  5. Aug 25

    GOOD? UHG lawsuit, Gen Z hates AI, Disney vs. FCC, anti-pervert glasses

    G UnitedHealth shareholders sue company over ‘corporate governance failures on a historic scale’ UBS fined record $125 million for money laundering violations $125 million civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the primary U.S. anti-money laundering law. FinCEN said the fine is the largest ever assessed against a broker-dealer for BSA violations. The settlement marks FinCEN's second enforcement action against UBS Financial Services, a subsidiary of the Swiss bank UBS. The firm had previously paid a $14.5 million penalty in December 2018 for similar failures, including inadequate monitoring of foreign currency wire transfers. Despite assurances to regulators that it would fix the underlying problems, the firm subsequently failed to monitor more than 50,000 foreign currency wires with a combined value exceeding $10 billion. SEC launches new enforcement unit aimed at accounting fraud How?? The unit will be housed within the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and staffed by both attorneys and accountants with specialized skills related to financial reporting, accounting, and auditing in securities regulation, according to the announcement. The announcement is “a little surprising” given the SEC’s current deregulatory focus under Chair Paul Atkins, Rebecca Fike, a partner in Reed Smith’s regulatory and enforcement group, told CFO Dive. Andreessen Horowitz Focus of DOJ Probe Over Board Directors BIG DATA and AI BS‍ ‍ Gwyneth Paltrow is rumored to be throwing a party for AI mogul Sam Altman. People don’t love the optics Paltrow played WeWork Rebekah Neumann Anthropic is embedding invisible watermarks in Claude text and images Young People Hate AI CEOs So Passionately That It’s Almost Hard to Believe CNBC survey asked over 1,000 US adults aged between 18 and 34 Asked “who do you trust to act responsibly on AI?” the vast majority of participants said they “don’t trust” any of the nine figures. Palantir’s extremely controversial CEO Alex Karp scored the lowest, with 81 percent choosing “don’t trust,” while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella fared the best — albeit with a pitiful 35 percent “trust” score. Everyone else fell in between: 79 percent of respondents said they don’t trust Peter Thiel, while a whopping 71, 70, and 69 percent said they “don’t trust” Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman, respectively Meta, others lose appeal to drop thousands of social media addiction lawsuits A U.S. Appeals Court [Judge Jacqueline Nguyen] said that thousands of lawsuits targeting Meta Platforms, ByteDance's TikTok and other social media outlets over claims that social media is harmful and addictive can proceed. The court also denied Meta's request to postpone a trial over allegations that they used data from children to keep them on its platforms. AI data center outrage is showing up everywhere from ads to elections Spirit Flight Attendants Fight Google’s Data Bid for AI The flight attendants want assurance that their confidential information will be removed from the sale of the defunct airline’s digital records CULTURE WARS The 'MAGA Alternative to Amazon' Is Fighting for Survival After Nearly $160M in Losses and 99% Stock Crash PublicSquare's marketplace has struggled to grow despite political backing, prompting a costly shift to financial services Disney is suing the FCC in a departure from former CEO Bob Iger's strategy US firms that kept DEI policies despite ‘go woke, go broke’ threats thrived Ellison Is Now Willing to Sell CNN to Save His $111 Billion Deal E Solar Panels on Storage Units: Illinois Is Going All In on This No-Brainer First test flight of largest all-electric aircraft used just $5 of electricity Trump ordered to release billions in climate grants meant for Black communities a $2.8 billion program meant to help mitigate the harm from climate change and environmental issues in Black, low-income, and disadvantaged communities. Trump tried to curb clean energy. It’s booming anyway Clean energy additions will rise by a record 45 gigawatts this year, according to S&P Global Energy—equivalent to the average electricity demand of Turkey. The increase is roughly 25 percent higher than the record set in 2024. It Just Got Way Easier to Sue Fossil Fuel Companies Over Climate Change Climate attribution science A new peer-reviewed study published earlier this month in Earth’s Future suggests that it is possible to demonstrate that “emissions from company X cause injury Y.” It also could potentially provide evidence so industry could be forced to answer for climate impacts. The new methodological framework has, for the first time, drawn a straight line from single corporate emitters like Exxon or Chevron, or even whole countries like the United States, to specific heatwaves and areas of extreme rainfall. By running over 150 simulations across 8 different climate models, the study’s author, Christopher Callahan—an Earth systems scientist and assistant professor at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs—built a statistical model to figure out the relationship between the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the odds of extreme heat or rain. He then used real emissions data to calculate the extent to which specific fossil fuel emitters increased the risk of extreme weather. SPEED ROUND‍ ‍ DuckDuckGo Is Selling Anti Pervert Glasses That Contain Zero AI, Cameras, or Even Electronics Whatsoever Jason Kelce Wants Fans to 'Pee on Computers' to Protest AI Water Use: 'We Want Your Pee' Cards Against Humanity Unveils 'Sad Little Bitch' Elon Musk Monument Near Texas Starbase France bans unsolicited telemarketing calls--$87,000 fine per call I'm the CEO of Siemens. I reply to most emails with 2-letter responses and don't have recurring meetings Scientists Genetically Engineer High-Protein Lettuce Gen Z is bringing pen and paper back to the workplace Arianna Huffington says even high-flying CEOs are unhappy and feel stuck in their multimillion-dollar jobs: ‘It’s a trap’ Bank of America is splashing out $250 million a year on weight loss drugs for its staff: ‘We see a great impact on employees,’ CEO says ‘We see a great impact on employees,’ CEO says Excuse me? Body shamer.

  6. Aug 21

    L3Harris’ misconduct problem, Mark’s bad week, the SEC quits SEC’ing

    Story of the Week (DR): L3Harris ousts CEO after investigation into conduct MM L3Harris Technologies, the company that overhauled a Qatari plane now used as Air Force One, has replaced Christopher Kubasik as chairman and chief executive after an investigation determined he violated the defense contractor’s code of conduct. Kubasik’s alleged conduct didn’t involve and has no impact on the Melbourne, Fla., company’s financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance, L3Harris said Monday. The company didn’t give details on when it received a report of the potential violation. With the aid of independent counsel, the board determined that Kubasik’s removal would be in the company’s best interest, L3Harris said. He will be allowed to retain and exercise some previously vested stock options but won’t receive severance payments, benefits or accelerated stock-based awards. L3Harris Technologies Appoints Sam Mehta, Proven Aerospace and Defense Executive, as President and Chief Executive Officer “The Board determined that the Executive engaged in conduct that was not consistent with the values of the Company as outlined in its Code of Conduct.” Kubasik will still hold onto some of his options that can net him stock worth about $23 million, as well as more than 200,000 shares of stock in L3Harris that he already owns, valued at nearly $57 million. L3Harris has paid Kubasik compensation valued at $66.3 million during the past three years, including $25.6 million in fiscal 2025. The separation disclosure says the L3Harris board decided to reach a deal with Kubasik to get him to leave rather than trying to fire him for cause. Kubasik did not admit to any violation of the company code of conduct, and the deal expressively forbids any of the parties or their representatives from making public statements “inconsistent” with Monday’s disclosure. AND THIS: Women at L3Harris Shared Concerns About CEO’s Behavior Years Before Ouster It was a warning that was shared among women who worked for Chris Kubasik: Avoid being alone with the executive and be careful on the corporate jet. Multiple women at defense contractor L3Harris Technologies LHX  had raised concerns about Kubasik’s behavior, including a formal complaint from one woman to human resources that was made around 2023, according to people familiar with the matter. The employee accused the CEO of sexual harassment, the people said. Kubasik stayed on in his role. The woman left L3Harris. Not all L3Harris board members were briefed on the 2023 complaint and it is unclear Ousted L3Harris CEO was previously forced out of Lockheed Martin job Christopher Kubasik's ouster as the L3Harris CEO was not the first time he was forced out of a company amid an allegation of misconduct. In 2012, Kubasik was set to become the CEO of Lockheed Martin when he was forced to resign after an ethics investigation confirmed that he had a close personal relationship with a subordinate employee. Why Do Boards Keep Giving Misbehaving CEOs Second Chances? L3Harris Technologies’ LHX  chief executive is out because of misconduct allegations, and it isn’t the first time: More than a decade ago, Christopher Kubasik resigned from Lockheed Martin because he was accused of having a relationship with a subordinate. The Crucial Moment That Companies Miss After They Oust a CEO It matters how a company responds to a scandal once it’s caught in one, most blow the moment by choosing secrecy over transparency.  It’s an opportunity to reset the culture that led to the breach in the first place, but instead “your PR team and your legal team tell you ‘Don’t dig into these things—it’s not good for the company,’ so you silence all the debates.”. Meta faces a $1.4 trillion threat that could mean ‘turning in the keys and walking away’—but the stakes of the case reach across tech The trial involves a coalition of 29 state attorneys general in a unified case against Meta that was brought in 2023, and will be argued by lawyers representing California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky. The stakes are enormous as leading government officials across the country push for Meta to be held accountable for allegedly violating federal and state laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, and various consumer protection statutes. States accuse Meta of targeting children for Facebook, Instagram addiction: 'The young ones are the best ones' Meta whistleblower told jury the company took a 'don't ask, don't tell' approach to kids' safety ‘Harvest their data and hide the truth from the public’: Four states seek billions from Meta over child safety practices SEC says it will stop responding to no-action requests ‘entirely’ The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to stop responding to no-action requests “entirely … effective immediately,” the agency said in a statement Friday. The decision comes after the SEC sat out the bulk of the no-action process during the 2025-26 proxy season. Investor advocates have since sued the agency, alleging the change violates the Administrative Procedure Act. AI data center outrage is showing up everywhere from ads to elections AI data center outrage is showing up everywhere from ads to elections GOP Begs AI Firms to Fix Data Centers’ “Toxic Brand” to Help Midterm Chances  As A.I. Data Centers Spread, Pressure Mounts to Share Profits The Data Center Industry’s PR Blitz Is Backfiring Data center backlash echoes fossil-fuel politics Major data center bills advance in California despite industry pushback The ‘Country Hicks’ Who Refused $26 Million from an AI Data Center Bad news for Jason Kelce: Postal Service rules say you shouldn't mail pee to data centers Politicians Who Once Championed Data Centers Are Now Bashing Them Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro cracks down on data centers, says speculators are 'scaring our communities' Data centers are using more electricity than anyone predicted. What happens next? Trump oblivious to voter fury about data centers, saying ‘the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous’ Politicians Turn Against Data Centers as Anger Over AI Spreads Amazon is buying rare books and destroying them to train its AI models The team's logo features a dinosaur holding a book. Data center hysteria is the new woke | Opinion Bring back the corporate death penalty More formally known as judicial dissolution, the corporate death penalty basically happens when the government is so pissed off by the corruption or damage a corporation causes that it yanks away their charter. Andreessen Horowitz Focus of DOJ Probe Over Board Directors Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is the focus of a Justice Department antitrust probe over whether its investment partners are improperly serving on the boards of competing artificial intelligence companies, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies at issue include Databricks Inc., one of the most valuable privately held technology companies in the world, and Fivetran Inc., both backed by the VC firm, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz serves on the board of Databricks, and partner Martin Casado is a board member of Fivetran. Both companies help businesses collect, organize and analyze massive troves of data. Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): MacKenzie Scott gave California public education $461 million—and let the recipients decide how to spend every dollar MM: Andreessen Horowitz Focus of DOJ Probe Over Board Directors DR Assholiest of the Week (MM): Bill Brown and Robert Millard DR Never accountable for anything directors L3Harris ousts CEO after investigation into conduct History lesson: Kubasik hired in 2015 after Lockheed disaster firing, hired as COO and President Presiding CEO: Michael Strianese, Chair from 2008, CEO from 2006 Board:  Claude Canizares (71, MIT physics professor, 2003) Thomas Corcoran (72, Carlyle, consulting, 1997) Ann Dunwoody (64, only woman, US Army Gen, 2013) Lewis Kramer (69, EY accountant, 2009) Robert Millard (66, MIT Chair, Lehman until 2008 collapse, LID, 1997) Lloyd Newton (74, only PoC - token black guy - US Air Force General, 2012) Vincent Pagano, Jr (66, lawyer, Simpson Thacher, chair of nom, 2013) Hugh Shelton (75, US Army Gen, 2011), Arthure Simon (85, accountant, 2001) 8 white men, 1 woman, 1 black dude 2018, Kubasik named CEO of L3 Technologies Michael Strianese retires and Kubasik takes over Same exact board minus Strianese 2019, L3 and Harris merge to be L3Harris Kubasik added to L3Harris board, named COO and President of the company under Bill Brown, CEO and Chair Surviving the board merger: Thomas Corcoran Robert Millard - LID, nom member Lloyd Newton - chair of nom Lewis Kramer Adjacent - Roger Fradin of Carlyle on board, Corcoran also of Carlyle June 2021, Kubasik becomes CEO and Bill Brown moves to exec chair (obviously) Board: Sallie Bailey Bill Brown Peter Chiarelli Thomas Corcoran Thomas Dattilo (nom) - ex tire CEO Rober Gradin Harry Harris Lewis Hay III (nom) - lawyer, ex CEo of NextEra Lewis Kramer Rita Lan Robert Millard (nom) - MIT Chair, Lehman Lloyd Newton (nom chair) - general So given that the CEOs choose their successors, the nom committees approve them, the rest of the board rubber stamps it… we can thank: Michael Strianese - hires Kubasik, names him CEO at L3, despite Lockheed problems Nom approval: Ann Dunwoody (64, only woman, US Army Gen, 2013), Vincent Pagano, Jr (66, lawyer, Simpson Thacher, chair of nom, 2013), Hugh Shelton (75, US Army Gen, 2011) - a nom committee composed of the ONLY woman, two generals and a lawyer - all of whom are the LOWEST TENURED ON THE BOARD at the time Then Bill Brown - names Kubasik CEO of combined L3Harris, one year of babysitting as exec chair Nom approval: Thoma

  7. Aug 18

    L3 CEO out, SEC proposals out, Bezos philanthropy out, Zuck isn’t cool

    DR1 THINGS WE MISSED NERDY ESG STUFF L3Harris ousts CEO after investigation into conduct CARES L3Harris Technologies, the company that overhauled a Qatari plane now used as Air Force One, has replaced Christopher Kubasik as chairman and chief executive after an investigation determined he violated the defense contractor’s code of conduct. Kubasik’s alleged conduct didn’t involve and has no impact on the Melbourne, Fla., company’s financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance, L3Harris said Monday. The company didn’t give details on when it received a report of the potential violation. With the aid of independent counsel, the board determined that Kubasik’s removal would be in the company’s best interest, L3Harris said. He will be allowed to retain and exercise some previously vested stock options but won’t receive severance payments, benefits or accelerated stock-based awards. L3Harris Technologies Appoints Sam Mehta, Proven Aerospace and Defense Executive, as President and Chief Executive Officer “The Board determined that the Executive engaged in conduct that was not consistent with the values of the Company as outlined in its Code of Conduct.” Kubasik will still hold onto some of his options that can net him stock worth about $23 million, as well as more than 200,000 shares of stock in L3Harris that he already owns, valued at nearly $57 million. L3Harris has paid Kubasik compensation valued at $66.3 million during the past three years, including $25.6 million in fiscal 2025. The separation disclosure says the L3Harris board decided to reach a deal with Kubasik to get him to leave rather than trying to fire him for cause. Kubasik did not admit to any violation of the company code of conduct, and the deal expressively forbids any of the parties or their representatives from making public statements “inconsistent” with Monday’s disclosure. Harvard reveals $2.2 billion SpaceX holding worth more than half its U.S. equity portfolio CARES Busting CEO Pay Curve in 2025, Musk Made Annual Salary of Average Tesla Worker Every 4.2 Seconds S&P 500 CEO pay jumps to record as Musk-inspired compensation plans spread: average S&P 500 CEO pay reached $340.1 million US SEC to keep hands off shareholder proposals, worrying activists CARES Staying Alive: ISS Continues Its Influence on 2026 Voting Outcomes ISS recommended against fewer say-on-pay proposals than last year: 8.3% versus 9.2% in 2025. ISS supported fewer E&S proposals than in prior years, but investor votes more strongly tracked its recommendations. ISS backed 13% of social proposals in 2026, compared with 15% in 2025 and 46% in both 2023 and 2024.  ISS supported 66% of governance shareholder proposals, up from 55% in 2025 ISS opposed 3% of uncontested director nominees, up slightly from 2.5%. SEC data center ruling is removing a key guardrail from Nvidia's $500B AI financing push CARES A staff opinion from the SEC exempts some data center debt from Dodd-Frank risk retention rules, making AI infrastructure financing more attractive to sponsors Treasury Scales Back Scrutiny of U.S. Shell Companies The Trump administration will not enforce reporting requirements of the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act, which was intended to crack down on money laundering. 25 groups urging Supreme Court to kill climate case have ties to oil companies, report says A survey released Monday by the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog found that 25 of the 38 individuals and organizations that have filed friend of the court briefs on behalf of the industry have financial ties or other connections to the fossil fuel companies that are facing billions of dollars in potential damages for contributing to climate change. The report argues that many of briefs make “nearly identical legal arguments.” Activist Cevian calls for higher pay for UK board members One of Europe’s largest activist investors, Cevian Capital, has called for higher pay for non-executive directors in UK boardrooms as part of efforts to revive growth at British companies and reverse the decline of the London market. The activist, which has stakes in companies including Smith & Nephew and Pearson, said that pay for non-executive directors (NEDs) should increase to attract and retain the best people including from international rivals.  AI STUFF Anthropic is embedding invisible watermarks in Claude text and images CARES OpenAI’s “Head of Ethics” Suddenly Leaves Company Under Mysterious Circumstances: Chloé Bakalar, less than a year after joining from Meta. OpenAI talent exodus raises ‘huge red flag’ ahead of IPO CRO Denise Dresser COO Brad Lightcap CEO of AGI Deployment Fidsji SImo Chief Marketing Officer Kate Rouch Head of safety systems Johannes Heidecke At least 12 executives in 2026 Greg Brockman told CNBC the wave of senior exits is "not that atypical" and that scrutiny stems from OpenAI's high public profile BILLIONAIRE STUFF Bob Iger and Josh Kushner are buying the Lakers for $12.5 billion CARES 41-year-old Josh Kushner’s World Cup privatization scheme fell apart. Then he became the Lakers co-owner days later Liverpool owners sell minority stake to Jeff Bezos: hold option to purchase controlling stake in Liverpool per terms of deal CARES It Seems Like Bill Gates’ Daughter May Be in Serious Legal Trouble Phoebe Gates (daughter of Bill Gates) and her shopping app startup, Phia, recently landed in hot water over allegations of a digital commission trick known as cookie stuffing. Cookie stuffing is essentially digital credit-stealing. An app secretly plants its tracking cookie into your browser without actually helping you find a deal or directing you to the website Phia initially claimed the issue was an accidental software bug. However, leaked internal Slack messages showed Gates and her co-founder discussing auto-dropping cookies as far back as December to artificially boost revenue Cookie stuffing isn't just breaking tech platform terms; US law treats it as federal wire fraud Phoebe Gates Took Secret Stanford Course on Controlling Society, Used It to Recruit for Her Startup That’s Now Facing Accusations META STUFF Meta faces ‘astronomical’ consequences as legal fight reaches critical moment in California CARES The trial involves a coalition of 29 state attorneys general in a unified case against Meta that was brought in 2023, and will be argued by lawyers representing California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky. The stakes are enormous as leading government officials across the country push for Meta to be held accountable for allegedly violating federal and state laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, and various consumer protection statutes. Four state attorneys general are seeking up to $1.4 trillion in penalties and changes to how Meta operates its platforms MEANWHILE: OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Teens Meta Caught Paying Nazis to Post on Facebook Meta was paying out-and-out neo-Nazis to post on Facebook, an investigation from Australia’s ABC News found. These pages and individual creators posted content that appeared to be in clear violation of Facebook’s own hate speech policies. Nonetheless, they were able to earn money on their posts through the platform’s “Content Monetization” program — which is invitation-only. Zuckerberg's Yacht Allegedly 'Refused' Coast Guard Calls To Help Stranded Boat Despite Being 'Closer' Zuckerberg: AI's biggest risk is one entity with too much control Zuckerberg Says Meta Will Give Billions a 24/7 Personal Superintelligence, Lays Out AI Vision in Lengthy Essay Zuckerberg brings back the floating battle barge to spar with UFC fighter Merab Dvalishvili SEGUE ALERT: Zuckerberg’s Manifesto About the Glorious Freedoms AI Will Bring Was Completely Contradicted by His Own CTO During a Company Meeting Meta CTO Dismisses Vacation Requests: 'It's Very Dumb' to Ask for More Time Off During a July Q&A with staff, CTO Andrew Bosworth shut down an employee who asked if AI productivity gains could be used to revive “Meta Days,” a cancelled holiday program that once allowed staff to take more days off a year. Bosworth was apparently appalled at the idea, saying that “I hope that what we do with our extra time is do even more and cooler stuff for the users who use our products every day … We got billions of people using our products every day. I get an extra hour. You know what I do with it? I put it into that.” The executive then dug his heels even further, personally insulting the staffer for asking about work-life balance: “Go to your parents and ask them: hey, like every time I get a chance to talk to my boss, ask me if I can have more days off. Ask your parents what they think of that as a career strategy.” BLOWHARD INDEX CEO of $49 billion AI company says it’s ‘mind-boggling’ people think you can work 38 hours a week, have work-life balance, and be successful SHUT UP Bill Ackman agrees with Jeff Bezos: Being a great CEO can do more for the world than philanthropy SHUT UP Corcoran Group CEO says Gen Z’s housing market struggles mirror what boomers faced 30 years ago: ‘Stop buying Starbucks coffee,’ she advises SHUT UP SHUT UP OpenAI’s CFO insists AI won’t replace judgment SAY MORE OpenAI Warns AI Models Can Automate Cyberattacks and Exploit Security Vulnerabilities SHUT UP Sam Altman thinks working at Goldman Sachs ‘sounds unbelievably terrible now’ and admits he was ‘peer pressured’ into accepting an internship there SAY MORE Sam Altman says 4 years could be too long for college: ‘The way the world has evolved, college just shouldn’t be as long as it is’ SAY MORE Kalshi’s 30-year-old CEO says most business advice is ‘trash’—he doesn’t read management books or listen to podcasts: ‘I’m gonna make it up as I go’ SAY MORE Paramount demands $1.9 billion from states, citing Warner deal delays SHUT U

  8. Aug 7

    Meritocracy = boys, DOGE fraud, Zuck’s publicity stunt, simple minded governance

    Story of the Week (DR): Uber’s Strategy for Fighting Sexual Assault Suits: ‘What Were You Wearing?’ An aggressive defense strategy is being used in response to an avalanche of litigation, with over 4,000 lawsuits filed by passengers accusing Uber of failing to protect them from sexual assault While Uber publicly champions itself as a "survivor-centric" ally and trains support staff against victim-blaming, its defense lawyers ruthlessly contradict this to protect the $145 billion company. Uber’s attorneys aggressively interrogate survivors about their clothing (e.g., asking if they wore underwear or heels), drug and alcohol consumption, and sexual history. The legal team weaponizes past trauma by scouring private medical records and therapy notes, even petitioning courts to force survivors to undergo psychiatric exams or reveal details of childhood abuse to paint them as "unreliable narrators". Legal experts warn these scorched-earth tactics are deliberately designed to re-traumatize victims, discouraging lawsuits and intimidating survivors into settling. Chief Legal Officer Tony West: “Why safety is personal to me” Cites his public service career to cover for ruthless corporate tactics, like drafting Prop 22 to strip driver protections. Frames survivor trauma as a flaw of the "adversarial legal system," deflecting from Uber’s own attorneys using aggressive, victim-blaming tactics to minimize payouts. Uses a single favorable quote from one trial judge to dismiss widespread litigation abuse. Touts ending forced arbitration while continuing to block class-action lawsuits, trapping survivors in isolated 1-on-1 fights. Brags about transparent reporting despite Uber burying 400,000+ assault complaints (2017–2022) under labels like "unaudited." TikTok Withheld a Safety Feature From Millions. One Died by Suicide When TikTok tweaked its algorithm in 2021 to stop users from being overwhelmed with harmful content, the company didn’t roll out the safer version to everyone, a confidential internal document shows. Instead, to see if the change might reduce the app’s stickiness, the company conducted an experiment. It created a control group of 10% of US users — at the time, that would have been about 15 million people — who kept the old version of the app. This group, according to the document, included 16-year-old Chase Nasca. TikTok’s algorithm pushed him thousands of videos about suicide, sadness, hopelessness and loneliness, right up until he killed himself. TikTok says moderator error delayed removal of Perez Hilton's livestream showing acts of self-harm GAO finds Elon Musk’s DOGE inflated claims of $110 billion in savings for federal government The GAO found that 96% of the savings DOGE claimed from grant cancellations lacked supporting evidence or methodology to verify. DOGE claimed $27.4 billion in savings across 2,503 contracts—including a $1.7 billion Pentagon IT deal—that were never actually terminated or reduced. Over 40% of the lease cancellations listed on DOGE’s "Wall of Receipts" were already in progress before the agency was created. GAO uncovered widespread data errors, such as overstating total lease savings by nearly $60 million and failing to report baseline limitations. DOGE failed to disclose how it calculated its metrics and completely ignored GAO requests for interviews and supporting data. Where are Elon Musk’s former DOGE staffers now? Edward “Big Balls” Coristine: a whistleblower alleged that Coristine planned to upload sensitive Social Security Administration data to an unsecured server. He also helped dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. Coristine now appears to work at the National Design Studio, an office created to overhaul federal websites and other public-facing services, making them more usable, visually consistent and less expensive to build. Jeremy Lewin: helped oversee the dismantling of USAID Lewin later became the State Department’s senior official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, giving a former DOGE operative authority over the programs his old team had helped slash. He was subsequently reported to be moving to the White House National Security Council. Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox Founded a holding company called Special, which promises to do for private businesses what DOGE did for the federal government. “To achieve this, Special is building an operating system to transform critical American industries with AI. We call it SpecialOS.” Gavin Kliger, Luke Farritor, Marko Elez and Jack Stein Founded Cathedral, a startup that plans to use AI to expand U.S. military cyber capabilities, including defenses against adversaries such as China. Reuters reported that the company raised $160 million at a $1.4 billion valuation. Ethan Shaotran: helped move thousands of immigrants into the government’s “Master Death File,” effectively deactivating their Social Security numbers. Founded Blitz Industries, which he described to Wired as “a defense company backed by big names.” Elon Musk: SpaceX Achieves Its First Moon Landing by Accidentally Crashing Into It at 5,400 Miles Per Hour, Causing Huge Explosion and 60-Foot Crater Why companies that call themselves meritocracies don't always pay equally AND Meritocracy claims make managers pay men more than equally qualified women MM Explicitly branding an organization a "meritocracy" lowers managers' vigilance against bias, ironically making them more likely to discriminate. Given identical job titles and performance ratings, managers in self-proclaimed meritocracies systematically award higher bonuses and raises to men over equally qualified women. The meritocracy illusion compounds wage gaps across demographics, yielding lower financial rewards for women, racial minorities, and immigrants with identical output. Vague definitions of "merit" allow supervisors to act on personal favorability and affinity bias while genuinely believing their choices are purely objective. Trusting the "meritocracy" label creates false complacency, leading companies to eliminate or skip active pay-equity audits that would otherwise catch these disparities. Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): DR: Google Scraps AI Satellite Images Within 24 Hours: Why 'Deepfakes in the Sky' Alarmed Researchers This happened after facing fierce backlash from journalists, researchers, and open-source intelligence experts who warned that it could accelerate the spread of misinformation. The feature allowed users to generate AI-created satellite images by zooming into any location in Google Earth and entering a text prompt. MM: Courts: MM DR Court rules against Trump EPA’s freeze of $20B in ‘green bank’ funds UBS fined record $125 million for money laundering violations Meta fined $567m in largest child safety ruling against social media giant Judge says Nexstar can’t appoint its executives to TEGNA’s Board of Directors Assholiest of the Week (MM): Everything’s a publicity stunt: Jealously Watching OpenAI and Anthropic, Meta Suddenly Claims That Its AI Went on a Hacking Spree Too Zuckerberg conveys ‘apologies’ for child sex abuse material, errors in operating the platform, government sources say ‘Pure insanity’—Elon Musk details SpaceX’s plan to turn the moon into its newest manufacturing site Anthropic's Mythos created fake identities to fool humans in new cyber incident GAO finds Elon Musk's DOGE inflated claims of $110 billion in savings for federal government Everything’s a vanity project Jeff Bezos Says He’s Selling $1 Billion In Amazon Stock Every Year to Fund Blue Origin — ‘It’s The Most Important Work I’m Doing’ SpaceX Achieves Its First Moon Landing by Accidentally Crashing Into It at 5,400 Miles Per Hour, Causing Huge Explosion and 60-Foot Crater Judge Sets Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Trial for March Everyone’s a victim The AI bros are lonely Palantir CEO Alex Karp Says Frontier AI Labs Will Steal Your IP, Your Know-How, and Your Expertise — ‘You Deserve To Be Colonized’ ‘Socialism is a disaster’: Bill Ackman says Zohran Mamdani’s bad left-wing housing policy is worsening New York’s affordability crisis No one is accountable DR Bobby Kotick, former CEO of Activision, may join Paramount's board of directors Jefferies analyst calls out ‘simple-minded’ criticism of SpaceX’s governance ABC, CBS, and NBC aired nearly 200 segments about three U.S. heat events without mentioning climate change Disney (Iger, still), Ellison family, and Roberts family - one cowed exec, two dictators! Headliniest of the Week DR: Pepsi is launching soda-scented body wash and scrub in a beauty collaboration PwC U.S. CEO [Paul Griggs] advises young workers to say yes a lot, even if it means working on the weekends—‘That person climbs into the next role’ Top Consulting Group PwC Caught Using AI on “Thought Leadership” Report About AI, Resulting in Corporate Document Filled With Bizarre Hallucinations DoorDash CEO Tony Xu once thought his $87 billion company would only make $100 million. He tells founders to be ‘greedy’ and dream bigger Class A = 1 vote; Class B = 20 votes; CEO Tony Xu personally owns roughly 3% of actual shares but controls 55% of voting power via a “binding agreement” with the other co-founders Misleading proxy shows he got paid $432k (they cited a 12:1 pay ratio) but he actually made $343M from shares and stocks DoorDash excludes Dashers from SEC disclosures by classifying them as 1099 independent contractors. Factoring drivers into the worker pool expands the headcount from 20,000 to over 7 million, moving the median worker from corporate offices directly onto the delivery platform. Dasher: while gross pay averages ~$15–$22/hour, net driver earnings sink further after deducting out-of-pocket expenses like fuel, vehicle wear, and self-employment taxes, pulling true net median compensation clos

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Whether you love business news or feel like you’re supposed to know it but hate it, Business Pants is business news for humans. Snarky and irreverent, deeply researched and factual, a podcast devoted to market quirks and the humans that make up companies. Investing isn’t a what, it’s a who.

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  • Creator
    Free Float Media Inc.
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    315
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024, Free Float Media Inc.
  • Show Website
    Business Pants

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