Business Pants

Free Float Media Inc.
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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. 3D AGO

    BLAME: Coinbase’s AI job cuts, Starbucks’ $10 “affordable” coffee, Bezos at the Met

    DR Coinbase cuts headcount by 14% citing AI acceleration. The shares are gaining Coinbase cuts headcount by 14% citing AI acceleration WHO DO YOU BLAME? Cofounder/CEO/Chair Brian Armstrong: 49.6% voting power MM In 2020, amidst global protests for racial justice, Armstrong issued a blog post that effectively banned employees from discussing social issues or activism at work: "We don't advocate for any particular causes or candidates internally that are unrelated to our mission, because it is a distraction from our mission... we won't engage in broader societal issues." Brian is a proponent of "Freedom Cities"—privatized zones built on federal land that would be exempt from the laws that govern the rest of the country Meta Platforms director Marc Andreessen: Impeding the development of AI in any way, he argues, “is a form of murder. "Our enemies are 'social responsibility', 'stakeholder capitalism', 'Precautionary Principle', 'sustainable development goals', 'social justice', and 'environmental, social, and governance (ESG)'... These are all ideas that would lead to a stagnant, decadent, and ultimately dead society." The dual class share structure: The holders of our Class B common stock are entitled to twenty votes per share, and holders of our Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share. Jeffrey Billings, the independent trustee for certain trusts established by Brian Armstrong (representing 18.9% voting power) Co-founder/director Frederick “Fred” Ernest Ehrsam III (10.6% voting power) co-founder and general partner of the crypto-focused venture capital firm Paradigm co-founder and CEO of Nudge, a neurotechnology startup developing non-invasive brain–computer interfaces Duke University While Fred is often seen as the quiet intellectual counterpart to Marc Andreessen, his philosophy is arguably even more dystopian to critics because it moves beyond just software—aiming to program human governance and the human brain itself. Fred is the Quiet Architect of a future where human systems are replaced by cold code. Fred is a major backer of the Prometheus Summit, a secretive gathering of tech elites focused on "longevity" and "assisted reproductive technologies." In 2026, Fred was appointed to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) by President Donald Trump The 2 women on the board, seems very DEI-ish The shares are gaining WHO DO YOU BLAME? Investors Up 15$ in 2 days: $655M for brian Diary of a CEO founder says he hired someone with ‘zero’ work experience because she ‘thanked the security guard by name’ before the interview WHO DO YOU BLAME? The so-called “meritocracy” MM “I hired someone who’s CV was two lines. Their experience was zero” Elon Musk's SpaceX Could Be Fast-Tracked Into S&P 500 After IPO Under Proposed Rule Changes AND Elon Musk settles SEC lawsuit over Twitter purchase and agrees to pay $1.5m fine A trust in Musk’s name will pay a $1.5m civil penalty, without admitting wrongdoing. Musk won’t have to give up any money he allegedly saved from the delay. In its January 2025 lawsuit, the SEC said Musk’s 11-day delay in revealing his initial 5% Twitter stake in late March and early April 2022 let him buy more than $500min shares at artificially low prices, before he finally revealed a 9.2% stake.  WHO DO YOU BLAME? The SEC Commissioners Jan 2025 Chair Gary Gensler (D) Commissioner Hester Peirce (R) Commissioner Mark Uyeda (R) Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw (D) Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga (D) Today MM Chair Paul Atkins (R) Commissioner Hester Peirce (R) Commissioner Mark Uyeda (R) Vacant Vacant Specifically Paul Atkins During his first stint as an SEC Commissioner (George W. Bush), Paul was famous for his dissent against large corporate penalties He argued that fining a company for the "sins" of its executives just hurts the innocent shareholders a second time Recently in the same Administration with Musk (DOGE) Generally believes the SEC overregulates; Musk has referred to the SEC as “bastards” Commissioner Hester Peirce The perennial dissenter (pre-Trump 2.0): Whenever the SEC would sue a crypto firm or fine a high-profile CEO, Peirce would release a blistering public letter explaining why the SEC was wrong, overreaching, and "paternalistic." Hester is the primary author of the Token Safe Harbor proposal, which essentially argues that tech companies should be allowed to operate for three years without any SEC oversight to "find their footing." Hester has long argued that the SEC’s disclosure requirements are "bloated" and "immaterial." In her view, Musk’s failure to file a 13D form for his Twitter stake wasn't a crime—it was a failure to comply with a "clunky, outdated bureaucracy." "In our purportedly enlightened era, we pin scarlet letters on allegedly offending corporations without bothering much about facts and circumstances... After all, naming and shaming corporate villains is fun, trendy, and profitable." The S&P 500, managed by S&P Global Dow Jones Indices, on Thursday, announced it was beginning consultation on rule changes that could potentially help Elon Musk-led SpaceX gain an expedited entry into the index.  The rule changes include letting IPOs enter the index six months after their debut on an eligible index instead of a 12-month period, according to current rules. The index also proposed eliminating a minimum Investable Weight Factor (IWF) of 0.10 for megacap companies. The IWF is a methodology used to calculate the number of shares of a company available to trade on the market. Notably, the proposed rule changes also eliminate profitability requirements for megacap companies. Current rules require a company to be profitable on a GAAP basis for 12 months to be considered for the index, but that rule could be eliminated. S&P DJI only accepts feedback during the announced consultation open period, which is generally one calendar month following the consultation announcement. The Index Committee considers the complexity of the change and the desirable implementation timing in determining the open window for the consultation, which is generally aligned, if possible, with the index rebalancing schedule.  WHO DO YOU BLAME? S&P Global CEO Martina L. Cheung (31% no on pay last year) DEI? That’s all I have S&P Global Chair Ian Livingston (Lord Livingston of Parkhead) Lord Livingston is also involved in a number of charities particularly in the fields of education, equality and social care Lords are weird? That’s all I have The Index Committee The S&P 500 Index Committee is one of the most powerful and secretive groups in global finance. To prevent insider trading and front-running (where traders buy a stock because they know it’s about to be added to the index), S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) keeps the names of the individual committee members confidential. “To mitigate even the appearance of a conflict of interest... all Index Committee meetings are confidential. Membership of the Index Committee is not disclosed, and voting members consist of senior S&P DJI staff who have no commercial responsibilities” The Committee Members: Usually consists of about five to nine full-time employees of S&P Dow Jones Indices.   Veto Power: Unlike other indices that use a rigid formula, this committee has discretionary authority. They can choose to ignore certain rules (like profitability) if they believe a company is representative of the U.S. economy. Who is probably partly on the Committee: Catherine Clay (CEO, S&P Dow Jones Indices): As the top executive, she oversees all index divisions. She joined in late 2025 with a mandate to modernize the indices for the digital and private-to-public era. Fiona Boal (Global Head of Equities): She oversees the entire equity index suite. Any proposal to change the "seasoning" or profitability rules for the S&P 500 goes through her office. Michael Orzano (Head of Exchange Products): He is the primary strategist for how major listings (like a $1.75T SpaceX IPO) integrate with the exchange-traded product (ETF) ecosystem. He was the lead strategist during the 2020 Tesla Inclusion, which was the most chaotic event in S&P history Hamish Preston (Head of U.S. Equities): He is the primary spokesperson for S&P 500 methodology. If the "SpaceX Rule" is adopted in June 2026, he will be the one explaining the technical justification to the media. Louis Bellucci (Head of Index Committee Management): As of 2026, he is the specific individual tasked with managing the various index committees and ensuring they follow the updated governance protocols The general concept of greed MM MM 'Tone Deaf' Starbucks CEO Slammed for Justifying $10 Coffee as 'Affordable Premium Experience' - Niccol is so close to the human experience, he thought it was obviously “affordable” premium to pay $10 for a single cup of coffee.  WHO DO YOU BLAME? Mike Sievert, Jorgen Knudstorp, Neal Mohan, and Brian Niccol According to Free Float knowledge database, the only four directors with base knowledge of marketing in their backgrounds - all direct from their education and bios 46% of SBUX influence Richard Allison, Neal Mohan, Andy Campion, Beth Ford, Mike Sievert Members of the pay committee that graciously granted Niccol $96m such that a $10 coffee is an “affordable premium experience” for Niccol alone Meanwhile, CEO Pay Surges 11% While Workers' Wages Stagnate at 0.5% in 2025: Report. In the last 5 years, EVERY director at SBUX was tagged as a “bottom payer” for employees using bottom quartile employee median pay relative to peers as a flag At the same time, SBUX tagged as mildly atypical overpay relative to other paying directors, and the board average 5 year CEO Pay ratio ranking in the BOTTOM QUINTILE - not only do they love paying their employees as little as possible, the couple it with massive pay packages for CEOs everywhere they go Beth Ford, Daniel Servitje, and Neal Mohan Acco

    59 min

  2. MAY 1

    CEOs silent millions, DEI dies, Altman’s sorry, Gorman’s Disney problem, Chip Wilson won’t leave

    Story of the Week (DR): Happy (?) May Day MM May Day 2026: Top CEO pay increased 20 times faster than workers’ pay in 2025 Rivian Sold 42,247 Cars And Paid Its CEO [RJ Scaringe] $403 Million, Or 15 Jim Farleys Comcast Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh Lands $72 Million Pay Package For 2025 Google co-founder [Sergey Brin] rips California billionaire tax: 'I fled socialism' ONE-TIME wealth tax: The proposal would impose a 5% tax on net worth above the $1 billion threshold for people who were California residents as of Jan. 1, 2026, with some assets like real estate and certain retirement accounts excluded ~$13B, with certain exclusions this figure could drop to $9B (the approximate value of his real estate empire) This is the equivalent of $2,500 if you earn $50,000 Ken Griffin slams Mamdani for singling him out as a 'profound lack of judgment,' ripping socialist bent Bill Ackman to New York City Mayor Mamdani: Don't scare away the billionaires     CEOs got millions after boards ‘neutralized’ the impact of tariffs. Some won't say what it was worth RTX CEO Christopher Calio: $27.7 million in compensation last year At its January 2025 board meeting, the compensation committee of RTX pre-authorized the removal of tariff impacts on business metrics related to Calio’s pay months before President Trump announced a set of sweeping Liberation Day tariffs on April 2, 2025 that upended global supply chains. The RTX comp committee said that the tariff-cost impact “should be neutralized” for determining annual bonus payouts because the tariffs were “externally imposed, unpredictable and unrelated to operational execution.” Calio’s annual bonus hit $5.1 million, an 85% increase over the $2.76 million the company paid him the year before How much of that growth was attributable to the tariff exclusion, RTX did not disclose We spoke to over 30 CEOs and business leaders. Here's what worries them most A world of constant shocks Supply chains are under strain and getting costlier Inflation is testing the consumer AI is an opportunity, but also a threat Cyber and trust are keeping CEOs up Energy security is back at the center The leadership playbook is changing The 'Dirty Secret' Behind AI Layoffs: Forrester Warns Tech Is Often Non-Existent Forrester finds most firms citing AI for job cuts lack the systems to back it up, deepening mistrust over how and why people are being let go Executives are increasingly blaming artificial intelligence for sweeping layoffs even when the technology is barely in place, Forrester has warned, with analyst J.P. Gownder saying that in 'nine out of 10' such cases the AI capability behind those cuts simply does not exist Meta says it doesn't know its ideal size as it prepares to lay off 10% of its staff Bed Bath & Beyond CEO: AI will lead to ‘significant reduction in headcount’ Sam Altman says he is 'deeply sorry' for failing to alert police ahead of mass shooting Sam Altman Issues Grim Apology Sam Altman is “the face of evil” for not reporting school shooter, says lawyer Sam Altman apologized to the people of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, because OpenAI had flagged and banned the suspect’s ChatGPT account but did not alert police before the mass shooting April 28, 2026: Our commitment to community safety “We assume the best of our users, but when we detect that someone is attempting to use our tools to potentially plan or carry out violence, we take action, including revoking access to OpenAI’s services.” “We use automated detection systems to identify potentially concerning activity at scale.” “When an account or conversation is flagged, it is assessed in context by trained personnel. These human reviewers are trained on our policies and protocols, and operate within established privacy and security safeguards” “When conversations indicate an imminent and credible risk of harm to others, we notify law enforcement.” Zero mention of the Tumbler Ridge massacre, the apology, the lawsuits, etc. Elon Musk's trial against Sam Altman to reveal the ongoing power struggle for OpenAI Musk is suing Altman, OpenAI, and Microsoft over the claim that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit, “benefit humanity” mission and instead became a profit machine, while OpenAI says Musk is really trying to slow a competitor he helped create The courtroom tone has been described as unusually messy and theatrical, with the judge reportedly telling both sides to stop acting out on social media The judge told Musk to cool it on the “robot apocalypse” and “Terminator” talk. Musk lawyer says OpenAI 'stole a charity,' as trial against AI firm, Sam Altman begins World's Richest Man, Least Generous? Elon Musk Tops Forbes 'Least Philanthropic' List Forbes' analysis concludes that Elon Musk has given around $500 million 'directly to those in need' — a sum that sounds enormous in isolation yet, by the magazine's maths, represents just 0.06 per cent of his reported wealth. In other words, for every $1,000 attached to his name on paper, roughly 60 cents has so far gone, in clear line of sight, to people or causes that can be classed as receiving direct help. Jerome Powell says he will continue to serve as a Fed governor, calls Trump criticism 'unprecedented' Powell says he’s staying on as a Fed governor after his chair term ends, which blocks Trump from simply creating an empty seat Powell says the pressure campaign is unprecedented and threatens the Fed’s independence. Bessent Says Powell Staying On Is ‘Violation’ of All Fed Norms “It’s highly unusual for someone who says he’s an institutionalist and cares about norms at the Fed. This is a violation of all Federal Reserve norms.” “I think it is an insult to Kevin Warsh, Miki [Michelle] Bowman and Chris Waller to think that these other Republican nominees do not care about the institution of the Fed and that he alone can maintain the integrity of the Fed.” Trump Takes a ‘Wrecking Ball’ to Independent Scientific Advisory Board The DEI death blow: “We Could See the Largest Drop in Black Representation Since the End of Reconstruction” Much like dual class shares: The erosion of the Voting Rights Act directly dilutes the collective political power of Black communities Thomas Dartmouth Rice ("The two most popular characters in the world at the present time are [Queen] Victoria and Jim Crow.") received some formal education in his youth, but ceased in his teenage years when he acquired an apprenticeship with a woodcarver named Dodge Pentagon inks deals with seven AI companies for classified military work OpenAI, Google, Nvidia and others agreed to ‘any lawful use’ of their tech. Anthropic, feuding with Pentagon over potential AI misuse, was not included Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): DR: France unveils plan to ditch all fossil fuels by 2050 a “first of its kind” plan to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 during a global conference aimed at breaking reliance on fossil fuels MM: War on Social Media:  Greece to ban anonymity on social media DR I seriously might move to Greece Meta’s threat to quit New Mexico ‘is showing the world how little it cares about child safety,’ AG says Assholiest of the Week (MM): Disney’s spineless chair James Gorman DR ABC can beat Trump FCC's license threat if owner Disney is willing to fight The man who was the savior picking the new CEO, when asked what he thinks of the attack on Kimmel and Disney’s ABC (again), said, “It’s the job of the CEO with their team to figure out the right answer and they’ll be guided by the board”, and then declined to say what advice he or the board would give regarding the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show. “We have a terrific new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, he’s world class so I’m sure he’ll rise to the occasion and do what the right thing is.” Here’s a glow up of Gorman choosing the new CEO: James P. Gorman, former head of Morgan Stanley, became Disney’s chairman a year ago with succession at the top of his to-do list. The 67-year-old Australia native comes with strong opinions and sterling credentials: He helped stabilize, then revitalize the Wall Street bank during his 14 years in the C-suite, retiring in December 2024 after orchestrating a seamless baton pass. “I don’t know that there’s anyone who could have navigated these kinds of leadership transitions better than James,” Wharton School Dean Erika H. James said in an interview. “He’s not afraid to do the hard things.” James was on the board of Morgan Stanley with Gorman So the board abdicates all responsibility?  They bow out?  Without Ken Doll Bob Iger around they have no part to play anymore? “Even after paying off the president last year, ABC is once again under attack by this administration,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote yesterday. “This should be a lesson to all who capitulate to the president: You cannot buy his favor, you can only rent it.” Even the f*****g CATO INSTITUTE weighed in: FCC’s Punitive Review of ABC-Disney’s Broadcast Licenses Shows Need to Protect Free Expression “Punishing a media organization, no matter what one thinks of their reporting or programming, is an affront to the right of Americans to speak and listen to whatever speech they wish” AI Overload Popular pasta sauce brand is launching new device to record conversations Prego owned by Campbells selling a puck that sits on your dinner table, records the conversation, and offers “conversation prompts” When a soup company thinks the answer to AI in soup is a f*****g device sitting on your table, listening to you, when we’re already surrounded by our tech overlords doing the same thing, we know we’ve jumped the shark Chip Wilson and the male CEO industrial complex Lululemon Founder Takes Aim at New CEO Pick, Escalates Proxy Fight Chip uses “governance” as his main angle of attack without acknowledging that 50% of the board

    1h 7m

  3. APR 28

    IN OR OUT: New Rexnord and AIG CEOs, Dana White, Autodesk board refresh, Spirit Airlines

    Regal Renord [sic] Corporation Names Aamir Paul As New CEO IN: Louis Pinkham (24%) will also resign from the Board of Directors effective on his last day as CEO. IN IN: Because of Chair Rakesh Sachdev (15%) OUT A powerful counterpoint to a new CEO’s power Axalta Coating Systems (27%) Herc Holdings (14%) Edgewell Personal Care (13%) OUT: “On October 29, 2025, the Company announced that Mr. Pinkham, our CEO, will separate from his role with the Company in connection with a CEO search process being led by the Company’s Board. Mr. Pinkham’s separation from his role as CEO is expected to occur by June 30, 2026.” OUT What took them so long? And what’s wrong with their bench? ($8.775M golden hello) Brooke Lang: President, Power Efficiency Solutions (2022-) VP & GM of the Power Components Division Eaton (2008-2016) Jerry Morton: President, Industrial Powertrain Solutions (2015-) served as President – Integration, Motion Control Solutions from 2021-2023, President of the Power Transmission Solutions from 2019-2021, Vice President, Business Leader of Power Transmission Solutions from 2017-2019, and led the global operations for Regal Rexnord's power transmission business from 2015-2017.  Kevin Long: President, Automation and Motion Control (2025-) 10 years at Dover Corporation, most recently as Group President of OPW, a global business serving the fluid handling, clean energy, cryogenics, and car wash markets. IN: Aamir spent years at Schneider Electric: essentially a AAA MSCI company ENVIRONMENT: Opportunities in Clean Tech 4.7 industry average/6.4 score (Regal is completely opposite here 4.7/3.0) IN OUT: The Board is too entrenched: get rid of Rakesh Sachdev (15%, 18 years) Curtis Stoelting (21 years, 9%), Stephen Burt (15 years) and maybe this could work. OUT UFC CEO Dana White Says WHCD Shooting Was 'Awesome' and He 'Took In Every Minute' of the Incident IN: Dana White is Dana White. Works perfectly for TKO Holdings and Meta Platforms IN IN: Because of Ari Emanuel (CEO/founder/Chair of TKO) and Zuck OUT (CEO/founder/Chair of Meta). Ari is the most powerful agent in Hollywood. Zuck is the king of social media addiction. They handle the “adult” business while Dana handles the “middle school” business TKO Group Holdings: Ari Emanuel 67% Meta Platforms: Zuck  68%; Dana White 0% OUT: Dana White is Dana White. How are major sponsors like Disney going to feel about calling a shooting “awesome.” IN: Look at the Board: these are serious douches and they love this kind of behavior OUT Ari Emanuel: known as being the a-hole of Hollywood. Silver Lake’s Egon Durban: VC bro, Elon bud, Dell buddy, say no more TKO COO Mark Shapiro: Hollywood man has served wherever there are bratty boys in charge: TKO, Endeavor (re: Elon, Ar, Egon), Dick Clark Productions, Papa John’s, Six Flags, etc. TKO LD Steve Koonin is the CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and used to serve on the WWE and GameStop boards “The Rock” Former WWE CEO Nick Khan Nepobaby Jonathan Kraft, NFL OUT: Look at the Board: these are serious douches and they love this kind of behavior. This is male toxic leadership that will eventually screw it all up.  Ari Emanuel: known as being the a-hole of Hollywood. Silver Lake’s Egon Durban: VC bro, Elon bud, Dell buddy, say no more TKO COO Mark Shapiro: Hollywood man has served wherever there are bratty boys in charge: TKO, Endeavor (re: Elon, Ar, Egon), Dick Clark Productions, Papa John’s, Six Flags, etc. TKO LD Steve Koonin is the CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and used to serve on the WWE and GameStop boards “The Rock” Former WWE CEO Nick Khan Nepobaby Jonathan Kraft, NFL  AIG names Andersen CEO as Zaffino moves to exec chair IN:  You’re getting a two-headed monster. Eric Andersen (ex-Aon President) handles the daily operations, while Peter Zaffino stays as Exec Chair to handle the high-level strategy OUT IN: Andersen spent years at Aon. OUT Climate Change Vulnerability 6.2/8.2 Human Capital Development 4.2/4.9 Privacy & Data Security 3.8/5.0 OUT: AIG is already strong in the same places: OUT Climate Change Vulnerability 6.2/7.1 Human Capital Development 4.2/6.0 Privacy & Data Security 3.8/4.9 OUT: Peter Zaffino is a massive personality (32%). He’s going to backseat-drive every decision Andersen makes, leading to a paralyzed C-suite. OUT LD John Rice 14%, Diana Murphy 11% (4 boards), Linda Mills 11% No tenure above 10 years OUT: Crappy succession planning. Why ignore the bench? Anderson’s golden hello has not been disclosed yet but you know it’s going to be bad. What about? IN Charlie Fry: EVP, Reinsurance and Risk Capital Optimization Jon Hancock: EVP & CEO, General Insurance leads AIG’s three business segments: North America Commercial Insurance, International Commercial Insurance and Global Personal Insurance, and AIG’s Claims organization and Chief Underwriting Office. Previously, led AIG’s International Commercial Insurance and  Global Personal Insurance businesses; former CEO of International General Insurance from June 2020 to December 2023; Director of Performance Management at Lloyd’s of London from 2016 to 2020 with responsibilities including oversight of performance and risk management globally across the Lloyd’s market. Pearson CEO Omar Abbosh is up for Autodesk board seat as director exits IN: Omar Abbosh led Microsoft’s Industry Solutions. Autodesk is desperate to become an AI software company: Omar is the guy who actually knows how to sell AI to enterprises. IN Omar is “Hall of Famer” Autodesk already has 2 hall-of-famers: Ram Krishnan, Rami Rahim Stephen Milligan (who Omar is replacing) = ROTATION OUT: Have a director named Jeffrey Epstein OUT IN: Chair Stacy Smith (12%; former CFO Intel) is cleaning up: replacing a hardware guy (Milligan) with a software/AI guy (Omar) OUT OUT: Despite what you might think, don’t invest because they have a female board chair: Stacy is a dude. OUT IN: Omar is CEO at Pearson, dealing with the ethics of AI in education: Autodesk is rapidly integrating AI into urban planning and architecture to foster more sustainable, equitable, and efficient cities. All boards need AI dudes like Omar OUT OUT: Omar is the CEO of Pearson. Pearson is in the middle of its own massive AI transition. He doesn’t have the bandwidth to be an effective director at Autodesk. He’s just a big name OUT OUT: Losing Stephen Milligan (ex-Western Digital CEO) could be trouble: will Autodesk overdo its AI hand? Spend too much, fire too many people? OUT Trump’s idea to ‘just buy’ bankrupt Spirit Airlines draws GOP backlash IN: CEO Dave Davis (45%) rescued Sun Country. OUT Transportation 12% Law and Government 2% Economics & Accounting 3% Sales & Marketing 0.4% IN: Director (and ALL STAR) Robert Milton (6%). Former CEO/Chair of Air Canada; led the restructuring there; isn’t at Spirit to watch it liquidate IN OUT: CFO Fred Cromer is presiding over Spirit’s second bankruptcy restructuring in under two years OUT OUT: John Bendoraitis has been the COO since 2017. He’s been the architect of the operation during Spirit’s entire decline—the engine issues, the labor disputes, and the service meltdowns OUT OUT: Trump thinks it’s a good idea IN Snap (SNAP) Appoints Doug Hott as New CFO . IN:  Doug Hott is coming from Amazon. He understands addicted customers.IN OUT: former CFO Derek Anderson also came from Amazon. OUT IN: Evan Spiegel (40%) and Robert Murphy (36%), despite owning all the decisionmaking, finally have someone willing to do the dirty work and make decisions (Mr. “16% layoff” Hott is a real man.) IN OUT: Former CFO Derek Andersen is bailing right as the company announces layoffs and faces activist pressure from Irenic Capital. Maybe that’s a sign? OUT OUT: Evan Spiegel (40%) and Robert Murphy (36%) needed Irenic Capital to realize they needed to fire CFO Derek Andersen OUT OUT: New CFO Doug Hott started by firing 16% of the workforce? He will be hated forever. Plus, why invest in another heartless finance bro treating human beings like line items to be deleted?  OUT: Chair Michael Lynton (8%), the only adult with power on the board, was CEO/Chair of Sony Pictures (2004-2017), when the studio faced what is widely considered the most devastating corporate scandal in Hollywood history: the 2014 Sony Pictures Hack. Run. IN

    48 min

  4. APR 24

    CEO turnover boom, Texas rejection, and white guy leadership victimhood (man feelings)

    Story of the Week (DR): Apple names John Ternus as CEO to replace Tim Cook, who will become chairman Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down Meet John Ternus, the 51-year-old former swimming champ who will succeed Tim Cook as Apple CEO Tim Cook to step down as Apple CEO. In letter, describes 15 years of emails Tim Cook’s exit is part of a CEO reckoning sweeping Corporate America Are internal CEOs the way to go? Best Buy taps insider Jason Bonfig as new CEO, Corie Barry steps down She’s actually leaving the board Lululemon names former Nike exec Heidi O'Neill as CEO MM Lululemon CEO Pick Heidi O’Neill Faces Skeptical Wall Street AND Lululemon shares dive on new CEO pick — as investors fear she may not have chops to save struggling company O’Neill brings more than 30 years of experience in performance apparel, footwear, and sports, including over 25 years at Nike, where she was credited with transforming their women’s business from a side-project into a global juggernaut. Her leadership spanned product creation, brand strategy, marketing, and global operations, making her one of the most influential executives in the company’s modern era. Most recently, she served as President, Consumer, Product & Brand, overseeing Nike’s global consumer and product engine Golden hello: $7M equity, $2M cash Roughly 75% of Lululemon’s customers are women Lululemon board: 7 of 11 F Chair Martha Morfitt Committees: Audit: 2 of 3 F, including chair Nomination: 3 of 5 Pay: 3 of 5 F, including chair Also: CFO, Chief Merchandising Officer, Chief People & Culture Officer, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, Chief Brand & Product Activation Officer Now we get why Chip is so mad: Chip Wilson, Lululemon’s founder, largest shareholder and chief agitator, has not weighed in on the pick yet, although he previously advocated for waiting to name a new CEO until the board could be reset Best Buy taps insider Jason Bonfig as new CEO, Corie Barry steps down Best Buy taps insider Bonfig to succeed veteran Barry as CEO amid demand slowdown Oil giant BP suffers shareholder revolt over climate transparency at tense AGM “BP suffered a shareholder revolt at its AGM over the election of a new chair and resolutions that included dropping some climate disclosure obligations” BP failed to get majority shareholder approval on two highly anticipated motions, which would have permitted online-only AGMs and retired two company-specific climate disclosure obligations. Each resolution received around 47% support, far short of the required 75% required to pass. Ahead of the AGM, BP’s board blocked a motion tabled by Follow This that would have required the company to share plans on creating value for shareholders under future scenarios of falling oil and gas demand. Resolution 1: Annual Report and Accounts – 98% For / 2% Against Resolution 2: Directors' remuneration report – 95% For / 5% Against Resolution 3: Directors' remuneration policy – 95% For / 5% Against Resolution 4: To elect Albert Manifold as a director – 82% For / 18% Against Some activist investors had said even a 5% vote against Manifold, who has only been in post as chair since October, would represent a severe reprimand, particularly after a historic 24% vote against outgoing chair Helge Lund last year. Resolution 5: To elect Meg O'Neill as a director – 97% For / 3% Against Resolution 6: To re-elect Kate Thomson as a director – 96% For / 4% Against Resolution 7: To re-elect Dame Amanda Blanc as a director – 95% For / 5% Against Resolution 8: To re-elect Tushar Morzaria as a director – 96% For / 4% Against Resolution 9: To re-elect Ian Tyler as a director – 96% For / 4% Against Resolution 10: To re-elect Satish Pai as a director – 92% For / 8% Against Resolution 11: To re-elect Dr Johannes Teyssen as a director – 89% For / 11% Against Resolution 12: To re-elect Hina Nagarajan as a director – 96% For / 4% Against Resolution 13: To elect Dave Hager as a director – 97% For / 3% Against Resolution 14: Reappointment of auditor – 100% For / 0% Against Resolution 15: Remuneration of auditor – 100% For / 0% Against Resolution 16: Political donations and political expenditure – 98% For / 2% Against Resolution 17: Directors' authority to allot shares – 96% For / 4% Against Resolution 18: Special resolution: Authority for disapplication of pre-emption rights – 99% For / 1% Against Resolution 19: Special resolution: Additional authority for disapplication of pre-emption rights – 99% For / 1% Against Resolution 20: Special resolution: Share buyback – 100% For / 0% Against Resolution 21: Special resolution: Notice of general meetings – 94% For / 6% Against Resolution 22: Special resolution: New Articles of Association – 47% For / 53% Against Resolution 23: Special resolution: Revocation of previous 2015 and 2019 resolutions – 47% For / 53% Against Resolution 24: Special resolution: ACCR shareholder resolution – 26% For / 74% Against Netflix authorizes $25 billion share buyback after stock drop Populist Math Time: Employees: As of 2026, Netflix employs roughly 16,000 people. If you took that $25 billion and distributed it directly to the workforce = $1,562,500 per employee Alternatively: They could fund a $100,000 annual salary for 250,000 new people for an entire year. Customers: Netflix has roughly 325 million subscribers globally. If they decided to use that money to subsidize the service instead of buying back stock: $77 per person. Netflix could give every subscriber on the planet roughly 4 to 5 months of service for free. Or, they could lower the price of every subscription by about $6.40 per month for a full year. Social impact: Various estimates (including from HUD) suggest that ending homelessness in the US would cost roughly $20 billion to $30 billion. It could provide a full four-year scholarship (at an average cost of $100k total) to 250,000 students. It could fund the eradication of several neglected tropical diseases or provide clean water infrastructure for tens of millions of people globally. For perspective, the entire annual budget for NASA in 2025 was around $25 billion. Netflix is essentially spending one "National Space Program" worth of cash just to tweak its stock price. Shareholders: If Netflix successfully retires that 6.4% of shares and the market maintains its current valuation, the stock price should mathematically rise by about 7% to compensate for the reduced supply. If the price jumps 7% (from $93 to roughly $99.50), here is the wealth jump: Vanguard: $2.5B BlackRock: $2.1B Fidelity: $1.4B Reed Hastings: $138M Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): DR: Lufthansa Cuts 20,000 Flights to Save Fuel Amid Iran War Price Surge MM: The Onion Says It Has Again Struck a Deal to Take Over Infowars MM: Texas Capital stays incorporated in Delaware after shareholders reject 'Dexit' vote Are investors waking up???  They rejected TEXAS CAPITAL redomestication to TEXAS! Assholiest of the Week (MM): White guy victimhood DR ‘The disfavored groups, No. 1, obviously, would be white males’: Ron DeSantis is still signing anti-DEI legislation White males are… 70% of governors 70% of congress 60% of US corporate boards 31% of US population What percentage of DEI programs for companies were designed by white male CEOs?  90% of CEOs in Fortune 500 are white guys - so ALL OF THEM So when we read: White House study says DEI policies cost US economy by promoting unqualified managers… Even if the premise and math and methodology and concepts are literally all make believe, we SHOULD take away that “white men pretending to do DEI are bad for the economy” right? Federal Job Cuts Hit Black Women Hard—a Year Later, Unemployment Is Up Donald Trump 'Honours' UGA Women's Tennis Champions With Bizarre Photo Featuring Only Men In The Foreground The anti DEI, white male victimhood movement should entirely OWN DEI itself - this is the great blame transfer - somehow manage to blame black women and gays for the fact that white men running the world instituted s****y policies not meant to distribute equal opportunity, just meant for press releases - anti DEI is actually anti white male leaders.  Make every company CEO a black woman and then see what DEI looks like White guy manifestos Palantir published a mini manifesto calling some cultures ‘harmful’ and ‘middling’ and said Silicon Valley has ‘a moral debt’ to the U.S. Why are tech bros so insistent we listen to everything they think?  Were you not listened to as a child?  Did no one ever validate you?  Is this just about sex?  Could you not get laid, and now because you have money you need to get everything you ever thought off your chest? Here are snippets of what Alex Karp, man who couldn’t get laid, thought so important that we know: The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The culture almost snickers at Musk’s interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves . . . . Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn. The ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures drives far too much talent away from government service. Man who exposes private lives as a business model says it’s bad We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. All very important points from a man we should clearly listen to about everything - the lane I want you to stay in is “shut the f**k up” lane where, BECAUSE you have billions, I’m not forced to listen to you as if you matter White guy philanthropy Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos Donate $34 Million in Fashion Grants MacKenzie Scott’s latest donation takes her HBCU giving to well over $1 billion MacKenzie Scott has donated more than $26 billion—but it’s

    1h 1m

  5. APR 21

    Tim Cook steps over, Swiss envy Singapore, Ford’s EV oops, and the corporate groin

    DR1 In our 'And in the biggest leadership transition of 2026' headline of the week. RPM Announces Appointment of Thomas C. Gentile, III to Board of Directors***************  In our 'When we told shareholders that keeping Jay Hoag on the board was in the best interests of shareholders right after they voted him off the board. Haha, suckers.' headline of the week. Reed Hastings Reveals His 'All-Time Favorite Memory' At Netflix As He Steps Down***************  "My all-time favorite memory was January 2016, when we enabled nearly the entire planet to enjoy our service." In our 'Proxy analysts give up and openly announce laziness' headline of the week. AI as the New Proxy Advisor: Reshaping Shareholder Activism Communications***************  AI is currently more likely to support an activist’s case for change than an incumbent Board and management team. Which sources most often shape AI analysis in proxy fights? frequently source lower-quality, but higher-volume, automated sites for retail financial analysis In our 'Master Certified Life Coach and college dropout tells people that data centers are the new corporate coffin' headline of the week. A talent CEO says data centers are a 'massive opportunity' for office workers to pivot mid-career***************  Broadstaff CEO Carrie Charles In our 'Two MIT grads beg the Supreme Court to let them cause millions of addictions and bankruptcies and maybe even influence geopolitics' headline of the week. Kalshi’s fight over sports betting is hurtling toward the Supreme Court—and the future of gambling is at stake***************   In our 'Switzerland calls Singapore to congratulate its success in diversity in leadership' headline of the week. Gender diversity, tenure length remain governance gaps among Singapore company chairpersons***************  3 of 30 Sing: 1 in 30 switz MM1 In our 'CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA part 1' headline of the week. Ford's CEO said he chose to test-drive a Xiaomi and not a Tesla because the latter doesn't have an 'updated vehicle' "We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been driving it for six months now, and I don’t want to give it up," In our 'CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA part 2' headline of the week. Ford CEO Draws Line In Sand: Keep Chinese EVs Out Of US – 'Should Not Let Them Into Our Country' Allowing the Chinese companies in would be "devastating” to American manufacturing, which Farley calls "the heart and soul of our country.” In our 'When we say, "Endless", you say, "Temporary"!' headline of the week. Red Lobster’s Endless Shrimp Is Back—With a Few Strings Attached Unlike the promotion’s previous iteration, this time Red Lobster plans to offer Endless Shrimp on a limited-time basis at participating locations. The chain won’t serve it to-go, for delivery, or on holidays. In our 'When we say "Standard", you say, "What standards?"' headline of the week. Standard Dental Labs Inc. Appoints Brendan Cummins to Board of Directors Brendan Cummins, finance and trading dude, joins the board that includes founder James Brooks, whose prior work in "financial leadership" and Claire Ambrosio, lawyer to James Brooks.  The management team listed includes Kristin Triplett, accountant, David Acosta, finance acquisitions, and Tiffany Boulton, communications.  Not listed at Standard Dental Labs: a standard dentist. In our 'When we say, "Your nurse", you say, "You mean Gary, the gig nurse who also works as a DoorDash delivery guy?"!' headline of the week. ‘Uber for nurses’: gig-work apps lobby to deregulate healthcare, report finds DR2 In our 'Exclusive-horses are horses' headline of the week. Exclusive-Musk and insiders to retain voting control of SpaceX after IPO***************  In our 'Hey Ma, another headline where big tech screws up big but won't be held liable, you know, because of free speech or china or trans people or DEI or whatever, tell Dad!' headline of the week. Barclays CEO Flags Anthropic's Mythos AI As Potential Catalyst For Cyberattacks On Global Banks: 'A Serious Issue'***************  In our 'Blah blah founder blah blah chairman blah blah nepobabies blah blah activist investor blah blah blah how did this board even exist in the first place blah blah blah founder let's get rid of the only woman blah blah blah founder blah blah blah investors' headline of the week. Activist Investor Value Base has joined forces with the late founder’s children in efforts to oust the chairman and most of the board, including the late founder’s second wife.***************  Radcom: 7 directors: 1W In our 'The meritocracy is for wussies' headline of the week. Elon Musk bans résumés and cover letters in hiring for his chip team. These are the 3 bullet points he’s looking for instead*************** In our 'The meritocracy is for pussies' headline of the week. The FBI is easing hiring requirements and turning to social media to attract applicants to rebuild workforce depleted by firings and resignations*************** In our 'About 1,000 activist investors tried to storm a Veterinary Diagnostics company protected by a classified board, a dual class stock structure, and an independent lead director that has been on the board for 24 years' headline of the week. About 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to storm a beagle research facility protected by a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence*************** MM2 In our 'After careful consideration, after considering Craig, Johny, Kevan, Eddy, Steve, Mike, Phil, and Adrian, we settled on John to succeed Tim who succeeded Steve.' headline of the week. Apple names John Ternus as CEO to replace Tim Cook In our 'What Jeff Garcia taught us about succeeding Steve Young' headline of the week. What Tim Cook taught us about succeeding a legend In our 'When we say "Exit", you say, "Executive Chair!"' headline of the week. Tim Cook’s exit is part of a CEO reckoning sweeping Corporate America In our 'Though shareholders voted against mustard, the board thinks the vote results reflect a general view that hot dogs are not delicious, and so the board has rejected the resignation of mustard.' headline of the week. A. O. Smith board rejects director resignation after shareholder vote Following the tender of offer of resignation by Dr. Kadri and in accordance with the Policy, the Committee (with Dr. Kadri recusing herself) considered the offer of resignation at a meeting on April 14, 2026. Based upon, among other things, the skills and qualifications of Dr. Kadri to be a member of the Board, her past contributions to the Board, and the belief that the “withheld” votes for Dr. Kadri, who is a highly valued member of the Committee, were primarily reflective of stockholder views regarding the Company’s dual class capital structure and not because of any specific objection to Dr. Kadri, the Committee recommended that the Board reject the offer of resignation In our 'If Chief Legal Officer is the calf of companies, are Chief Human Resource Officers the groin?' headline of the week. C.E.O.s Are the Heads of Companies. Should They Also Be the Face?

    37 min

  6. APR 17

    Allbirds’ pivot, Illinois’ AI law allows nuclear war, Amazon’s dead worker, Reed Hastings steps off

    Story of the Week (DR): Sneaker Company Allbirds Plans to Pivot to A.I. Yes, A.I. MM After selling its business for $39 million last month, the company said it planned to buy powerful computer chips and rebrand itself NewBird AI. Allbirds is ditching years of clean and green street cred Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote on each proposal and each share of Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes on each proposal Classified: one Class I director to hold office until the 2028 Annual Meeting AI/technology experience on board: ZERO Voting power Cofounder/former CEO/director Joseph Zwillinger (24%) VC dude: B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research; M.B.A. Wharton; director since 2015 Cofounder/former CEO/director Timothy Brown (27%) Former soccer player: B.S. in Design; M.Sc. in International Management; director since 2015  Director Dan Levitan (33%) VC dude: B.A. in history from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard; director since 2016 Lead independent director and “effective chairperson” Dick Boyce (4%) VC dude; B.S.E from Princeton and M.B.A. from Stanford; director since 2016 2 whole women Also Snap blames AI as it lays off 1,000 workers Starbucks launches beta app in ChatGPT to fuel new drink discovery US Army Builds First AI Chatbot for Troops, Trained on Live Conflict Data From Iran and Ukraine, Built on Reddit-Style Forums Meta is making an AI Mark Zuckerberg to talk to employees, report says ‘AI Is Our Friend,’ Morgan Stanley CEO Says Trump administration taps automakers to boost weapons production in WWII-style push Senior U.S. defense officials have held talks about producing weapons and other military supplies with top executives ​of companies including General Motors CEO/Chair Mary Barra has spent 2025 and 2026 "cozying up" to the administration. In recent shareholder letters, she has explicitly thanked Trump for his support of the industry and praised his tariff policy for "leveling the playing field." Director Wesley G. Bush: the former CEO of defense giant Northrop Grumman also sits on the board of GE Aerospace, acting as a major link to the administration’s military expansion goals. Two weeks prior to his resignation as CEO, a scathing independent review outlined the 14-year delay, 19x budget overrun ($800M), and numerous human errors made by Northrop Grumman in the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope, which led to Wes testifying before congress GM donated $1 million to the 2025 inauguration and supplied the official presidential motorcade vehicles, continuing their long-standing tradition Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley has been described as a frequent caller to President Trump. In January 2026, Trump was caught on a live mic during a Michigan factory tour claiming Farley calls him "all the time" to push for the repeal of environmental "garbage" (EPA regulations). Chair William Clay (Bill) Ford Jr.: has maintained what he calls a "great relationship" with President Trump since the 2024 election. In January 2026, he personally hosted Trump at the Ford Rouge Center in Dearborn, where they toured F-150 production lines. Ford Motor Company was one of the first major corporations to "line up" for the 2025 inauguration. The company donated $1 million to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and provided a fleet of vehicles for the ceremony's transportation needs Director Jon Huntsman Jr. served as Trump’s Ambassador to Russia during his first term. GE Aerospace CEO/Chair Larry Culp has a very direct win-win relationship with the administration. In May 2025, Culp accompanied President Trump on a high-stakes trip to the Middle East. During that trip, Trump helped broker a $96 billion order from Qatar Airways for Boeing jets, which will be powered exclusively by GE engines. Culp was seen side-by-side with Trump in Doha celebrating the deal. Director Wesley G. Bush: the former CEO of defense giant Northrop Grumman also sits on the board of GM, acting as a major link to the administration’s military expansion goals. Oshkosh Director David Perkins: a retired 4-star General and former commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) U.S. tech companies ramp up government lobbying amid Iran war uncertainty Netflix Chair Reed Hastings to Leave Board in June The founder is stepping aside to focus on his philanthropic efforts Sarandos or Peters or Hoag? Average Frequency 2004: approximately 5 to 6 discs per month per subscriber Today: Monthly Average: This adds up to about 31 to 32 hours per month. The "Browsing" Tax: Interestingly, data shows that the average user spends about 18 minutes per day just scrolling through the menu before actually hitting "play." If you include that, people are "using" the app for nearly 40 hours a month Populist math time: that’s 6570 minutes=109.5 hours=4.6 days According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for March/April 2026, the average hourly wage in America is: $37.38 per hour=$4093.11 Average US minimum wage is $11.60=$1270.20 IBM folds to Trump anti-DEI push, admits no misconduct but pays $17M penalty 3 (of 14) women with 11% total influence: no leadership positions 21 execs/5 women: 3 are Assistant General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Legal Officer White House study says DEI policies cost US economy by promoting unqualified managers Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): DR: Oil prices may be falling, but for the wrong reason: ‘Demand destruction’ throttling global consumption European Airlines Face Fuel Shortages Within Weeks DR: Karen S. Carter Named Dow CEO; Number Of Black Women Running Fortune 500 Companies Now At 2 MM: Big grid batteries are finally on a roll in New England Assholiest of the Week (MM): There is one a*****e of the week - protection from liability.  Here are the incarnations. Security: We're in a new era of heightened CEO safety measures, security pros say Starbucks Mandates CEO Private Jet Use After Security Review Meta spends more guarding Mark Zuckerberg than Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet do for their own CEOs—combined Friday's attack on Sam Altman's house underscores a growing worry for some CEOs: safety at home Snap paid $2.8 million for CEO and cofounder Evan Spiegel's personal security Alphabet paid $8.3 million for CEO Sundar Pichai Musk = $2.4m Huang = $2.2m Tech billionaires seem to be doom prepping. Should we all be worried? Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, has talked about "apocalypse insurance". Security costs are directly correlated to how much we hate the CEOs - this is not a mistake, literally these people are the ones who take advantage of employees and customers, ruin the free world, destroy everything they touch and make billions doing it I never need to make an a*****e list again - I just need to identify what company pays the most for security for their CEO Damion’s prediction of a corporate nation state is close - small armies, bubbles and islands, no accountability? Social Media: Meta vows appeal of 'landmark' social media verdicts, warns of free speech erosion So now Meta is arguing that the teen in California was harmed by the content, which is protected by section 230, so Meta can’t be liable.  But the teen argued that the DESIGN of Meta social media was the problem, NOT the content, and that’s how they won Meta and Google lost because of content recommendations, not content - the recommendations are entirely in the control of Meta and Google Meta is effectively now arguing that algorithmic delivery is free speech - but they talk out of the other side of their mouths when coddling Trump and conservatives, because if algorithm is free speech here, it means content moderation IS ALSO FREE SPEECH since the algorithm IS MODERATION If Meta wins on appeal, it means that the social media companies can never be liable for anything - not the product design, not the content - it is the ultimate coup, there would be nothing you could possible sue them for New study shows just how Facebook's algorithm shapes conservative and liberal bubbles Legislation: Bill Cunningham, Illinois State Rep DR OpenAI Backing Law That Protects It When AI Causes Mass Deaths and Other Mayhem Anthropic Opposes the Extreme AI Liability Bill That OpenAI Backed Provides that a developer of a frontier artificial intelligence model shall not be held liable for critical harms caused by the frontier model if the developer did not intentionally or recklessly cause the critical harms and the developer publishes a safety and security protocol and transparency report on its website. Provides that a developer shall be deemed to have complied with these requirements if the developer: (1) agrees to be bound by safety and security requirements adopted by the European Union; or (2) enters into an agreement with an agency of the federal government that satisfies specified requirements. Sets forth requirements for safety and security protocols and transparency reports. Provides that the Act shall no longer apply if the federal government enacts a law or adopts regulations that establish overlapping requirements for developers of frontier models. "Critical harm" means the death or serious injury of 100 or more people or at least $1,000,000,000 of damages to rights in property caused or materially enabled by a frontier model, through either: (1) the creation or use of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapon; or (2) engaging in conduct that: (A) acts with no meaningful human intervention; and (B) would, if committed by a human, constitute a criminal offense that requires intent, recklessness, or negligence, or the solicitation or aiding and abetting of such a crime. Headliniest of the Week DR: Amazon Accused of Hiding Worker’s Death for a Week, Making Employees Keep Working as Corpse Lay on Floor DR:374Water Reappoints Richard "Rick" Davis to the Company's Board of Directors AND CMC Anno

    1h 6m

  7. APR 14

    BLAME GAME: Microsoft carbon fails, Booking.com hack, Amazon + OpenAI love, Sheriff and Feeler

    DAMION Booking.com warns customers of hack that exposed their data: WHO DO YOU BLAME? CEO Glenn D. Fogel (2017-); no background in tech Cybersecurity Subcommittee (Chair) Larry Quinlan MM Global Chief Information Officer (2010 - 2021) Deloitte; but what was 2021 like Covid and masks? DEI hire Cybersecurity Subcommittee member Nicholas J. Read (2018-): Technology not listed as qualification.  Cybersecurity Subcommittee member Vanessa Wittman: most recently (until 2022) CFO at Glossier, an online beauty product company; director at AIG but does not serve on Technology Committee Woke coffee chain slammed by liberal California customers for removing pride flags from cafes: 'Bound to backfire' Philz CEO Mahesh Sadarangani: “Our longstanding support of the LGBTQIA+ community is unchanged. We are working toward creating a more consistent, inclusive experience across all our stores, including removing a variety of flags and other decor. This is a change in how our stores look, not in who we are.” In 2025, the company drew headlines when private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. acquired it for $145M.  One customer said: 'Yeah their coffee sucks but this banning pride flags will not go over well - boycott incoming - maybe they need to look up what happened to Target.' Founded in 2003 in San Francisco's Mission District by Phil Jaber and his son Jacob WHO DO YOU BLAME? CEO Mahesh Sadarangani How I Philz: Ether straight up. Came from Wingstop, which just inherently feels homophobic. I mean it sells the wings of birds. That doesn’t feel right. Freeman Spogli & Co. Team: 31: 5F And 6 Industry Executives: 0F Partners 10: 1F Last filing from 1/2025 lists 10 executive officers: 0F founded by Richard Riordan, Bradford M. Freeman, and Ronald P. Spogli OG greenwashy: first page is all women Phil Jaber and his son Jacob I’m trying here, people The San Francisco Bay, where the vast majority of Philz cafes are located: a notoriously homophobic region Anthropic's Claude for Word is another challenge to Microsoft's software empire Chevron and Microsoft Team Up for Giant Texas Gas Power Plant OpenAI rips Anthropic, distances itself from Microsoft WHO DO YOU BLAME? Satya Nadella Reid Hoffman: Epstein Island said what? Charles Scharf (2014-): in 2020: "The unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from." Charles Scharf again: in 2025:  settled a lawsuit for $85m after whistleblowers revealed that Wells Fargo managers were reportedly conducting "fake" interviews with minority and female candidates for positions that had already been filled or promised to someone else to "check a box" and meet internal diversity guidelines. Charles Scharf and Reid Hoffman as a duo: Scharf publicly called for the firing of Lina Khan, the Chair of the FTC. He characterized her regulatory approach as a "trauma" to the economy. Hoffman said Kahn  was “waging war on American business” Hugh Johnston: does it get any more pointless than Disney and Pepsi? (CFO at those places) Teri List: the boring company queen: (since 2014; The Gap/Dick’s/Kraft/Procter&Gamble/Visa/Danaher) Catherine MacGregor: she’s a woman and she’s French! Lead Independent Director Sandra E. Peterson (2015-): fake LD Penny Pritzker: nepobaby Dame Emma Walmsley: she’s a woman, and a Dame, and not American and has a degree in Classics!! Mark Mason: he’s black! Trump’s SEC Is Going After Fewer Wall Street Crimes The agency released long-delayed data that confirmed a steep drop in enforcement. That contradicts statements that the SEC’s head, Paul Atkins, made to Congress in February, disputing reports that suggested his agency was prosecuting fewer crimes, and assuring lawmakers that SEC enforcement work had not seen a steep decline. In its release of case numbers this week, the agency framed its enforcement drop as an effort to focus more on cases where investors saw direct harm and to better use agency resources: “Regrettably, such resources have been misapplied in prior years to pursue media headlines and run up numbers, and in turn, led to misguided expectations on what constitutes effective enforcement.” 784 in 2023 … 456 in 2025. WHO DO YOU BLAME? Trump, duh Paul Atkins, duh SEC re-tread: served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under George W. Bush  Private Sector Influence: founded Patomak Global Partners om 2009, a powerful consulting firm that advised major financial institutions (like Goldman Sachs) and crypto giants (like FTX and Coinbase) on how to navigate the very regulations he now oversees. the wealthiest SEC Chair in history: $330M net worth Upon being confirmed as Chair in 2025, Atkins sold his stake in Patomak Global Partners but refused to disclose the identity of the buyer, leading critics like Senator Elizabeth Warren to call the payout a "pre-bribe" from industry players. Shortly after taking office, Atkins oversaw the dismissal of high-profile "regulation by enforcement" cases against Coinbase and Binance, effectively handing the keys of the financial system to the crypto industry that funded his firm In 2006, Atkins infamously argued that granting executives stock options right before good news was released shouldn't be considered insider trading: "It is cheaper to pay a person with well-timed options than with cash." During his first stint as Commissioner (2002–2008), Atkins was a staunch opponent of increased oversight for investment banks. He is frequently blamed for ignoring the systemic risks that eventually led to the subprime mortgage collapse. Elon Musk (DOGE): Under directives from DOGE, the SEC was required to submit plans for "large-scale reductions in force" (RIFs). This resulted in the termination of many probationary employees (those with less than two years of service) and several senior directors at regional offices. To avoid even more aggressive firing, the SEC offered $50,000 buyouts to staffers who agreed to leave voluntarily. This led to a significant "brain drain" of veteran trial lawyers and investigators. Staffers linked to Elon Musk and the DOGE initiative were placed in key administrative roles (like the Office of Personnel Management) to oversee these cuts, effectively bypassing the traditional civil service protections that usually slow down government layoffs. Biden, for allowing so many enforcements MM Hudson Technologies Announces Election of Alan Sheriff and Jeffrey Feeler as Independent Directors. WHO DO YOU BLAME? Top shareholder Ernest Lazarus (9%). Lazarus is primarily a biblical figure from the New Testament known for being raised from the dead by Jesus after four days. The name represents resurrection, returning from the brink of failure, or a person overcoming extreme adversity. I’m thinking he needed a Sheriff in case all that digging up corpses from cemeteries went sour. Director Loan Mansy. Getting a good loan is all about putting out feelers to different banks so Loan needed a Feeler to get shit done. Director Vincent P. Abbatecola.Forgive me, maybe I watch too many episodes of The Sopranos but Vinnie used to be the Chairman of the National Packaged Ice Association and that just sounds a bit scary and a bit made up. Like, put him on Ice, Vinny. Speaking of death, Vinny is also a director on the United Hospice Board. And speaking of God, he also serves on the St. Thomas Aquinas College President’s Council. St. Thomas Aquinas was declared a “Doctor of the Church” and had mystical experiences. Feeler and Sheriff? That is so Tommy Aquinas. Director, CEO, President, Chair, former COO, former CFO and top shareholder (6%) Brian F. Coleman, who has been with the company since 1997 and somehow still sits on the Nomination Committee! Dude, that is soooo cheating and you know he was the one who asked for a Sheriff and a Feeler. DR MATT Microsoft Pauses Carbon Removal Purchases. Satya Nadella Chair and CEO with 27% influence IT WAS HIS TARGET - carbon negative by 2030 One year later on LinkedIn: “As a company, we’ve set ambitious climate goals to be carbon negative, zero waste, and water positive by 2030, and we’re making progress as we work towards a more sustainable future” And last year, MSFT’s chief sustainability officer Melanie Nakagawa: "In 2020, Microsoft leaders referred to our sustainability goals as a 'moonshot', and nearly five years later, we have had to acknowledge that the moon has gotten further away." It’s worth pointing out - any target set by an executive they don’t hit is a failure of leadership - either the target was ill conceived, not ever meant to be attained, or they just failed to actually manage to the target.  There aren’t other options - if I set a target at Free Float of $1bn in sales by 2030, invest entirely in crypto, lose it all, and we achieve $45 in parking tickets by 2030, do I blame the changing market environment and just skip the target?  Penny Pritzker Head of the Environmental Yada Yada committee Bats .269 on carbon intensity overall, all at MSFT (that’s horrific in case you needed context - .500 is the average peer director) Reid Hoffman The AI evangelist, founder of LinkedIn, heavy investor in AI Reid Hoffman says AI is going to be blamed for ‘just about everything’, except AI is on pace to use as much as 20% of ALL ENERGY in the US this year, up from 4% for data centers in 2024 AI in 2026 will equal all of NYC carbon On the Environmental Yada Yada committee! Catherine MacGregor One of top performers on carbon on the board at 0.632, CEO of Engie SA, a massive French energy company focused on renewable energy On the Environmental Yada Yada committee Energie: MSFT: 4% influence, only 2 year tenure on MSFT The 2020 Microsoft Board: DR Reid Hoffman Hugh Johnston Teri List-Stoll Satya Nadella Sandra Peterson Penny Pritzker Charles Scharf Arne Sorenson John Stanton John Thompson Emma Walmsley Padmasree Warrior IT’S BASICALLY THIS BOARD???  Five years, three gone - and Soren

    52 min

  8. APR 10

    Sam Altman the sociopath, reasons for hope, McD’s CEO says it’s mom’s fault, and men failing up

    Story of the Week (DR): Jeff Shell, president and board director at Paramount Skydance, is stepping down after allegations of SEC violations Shell came under scrutiny after gambler and whistleblower R.J. Cipriani filed a $150M lawsuit alleging Shell shared confidential information in violation of SEC rules. Shell previously left his role as NBCUniversal CEO in 2023 after he admitted to having an “inappropriate relationship” with an employee. The company said it did not find an SEC violation. Paramount added in a statement that the claims were “baseless” and said Shell is taking “forceful legal action.” His future at Paramount has been in question since the company beat Netflix  in a bidding war in February to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery The acquisition of WBD will bring in many new executives, and Shell, who was not involved in deal talks, didn’t have a defined role at a combined company, CNBC reported last month. Yesterday, a Separation Agreement was announced: Shell will be getting approximately $16M: $5M Cash Severance ($3.5M salary + $1.5M bonus) $11M Equity Acceleration (1,000,000 shares @ $10.95=$10.95M) 12 months of COBRA benefits COBRA/Subsidies ~$30,000 According to the agreement: “The Executive shall not issue a press statement announcing about the separation without the advance approval of the Company” and “Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed or construed as an admission of wrongdoing or liability on the part of the Company or of the Executive” “The problem is Sam Altman”: OpenAI Insiders don’t trust CEO DR Inside Sources Say Sam Altman Is a Sociopath OpenAI Insiders Claim Sam Altman is Lying, Manipulative, and Untrustworthy in The New Yorker's Investigation Sam Altman’s Really Weird Week Just Got Even Worse Two OpenAI Execs Are Going on Medical Leave The company’s chief marketing officer Kate Rouch is reportedly stepping down to recover from cancer. And Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of artificial general intelligence development — and arguably one of the AI company’s most important cogs — is taking medical leave. “For my entire time here, I’ve postponed medical tests and new therapies to stay completely focused on the job and not miss a single day of work” Proxy adviser ISS recommended a vote against the BP board for revoking  two resolutions from 2015 and 2019 requiring company-specific climate reporting which passed with near 100% support at the time. At the same time, Activist shareholder Follow This agreed with ISS and warned ‌of possible ⁠legal action after BP refused to put a separate shareholder resolution on the agenda of its April 23 AGM Oklahoma bill would block climate change lawsuits against fossil fuel companies A measure introduced in the legislature this year would prohibit anyone in Oklahoma from suing fossil fuel companies for damages related to the effects of climate change or greenhouse gas emissions. Rep. Anthony Moore (R-Clinton) said the legislation would protect the industry, which includes any company working with oil and gas, coal, natural gas liquids or refined petroleum products: “The reality is, if you were to get that judgment, billions and billions of dollars, that's just passed on to the taxpayer — that would be passed on at the pump, that would be passed on through electricity costs, energy costs across the board would dramatically change. There's no reason that that has any place in any court of law, but especially in Oklahoma.” Rep. Anthony Moore won a state championship in golf; minored in Bible in college; began his professional career as a landman in the oil and gas industry; his law practice focuses primarily on oil and gas; and has received numerous recognitions for his for his work representing oil and gas mineral owners, earning Super Lawyers Rising Star recognition in the field of oil and gas law for five consecutive years. Mark Cuban admits he made a mistake letting go of the Mavericks: ‘I don’t regret selling. I regret who I sold to’ Family of Sheldon Adelson founder/chair/CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation Owned more than 50% of stock Still routing took $25M in pay, including $5M in security costs Son-in law patrick Dumont: CFO/director Donald Trump's largest donor in 2016 and 2020 ($557M as of 2024) In February 2012, Adelson told Forbes magazine that he was "against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections. But as long as it's doable I'm going to do it.” secretly bought Nevada's largest newspaper for $140 million through a shell company: the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Dec. 2015, a deal orchestrated by Adelson's son-in-law Patrick Dumont and seen as "lavish" and as a dramatic overpayment, and speculated that the move was a power play to further Adelson's business or political agendas A set of editorial principles drawn up in 2016 and publicized to ensure the newspaper's independence and to deal with possible conflicts of interest involving Adelson's ownership were withdrawn after a new publisher was hired. The new publisher personally reviewed, edited, and sometimes killed stories involving Adelson Fighting cannabis legalization was a personal passion of Adelson, whose son Mitchell died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine.[69] Mitchell used cocaine and heroin from an early age.[70] Adelson believed cannabis is a gateway drug A few random scandals: The Macau Bribery Settlement ($9 Million) The Steven Jacobs Wrongful Termination Suit he was fired for attempting to stop "illegal" activities The $47.4 Million Money Laundering Settlement Allegations of Links to Triads (Organized Crime) The "Prostitution Strategy" Allegations Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): DR: Maine set to become first state with data center ban DR MM: BP Chair Faces Shareholder Backlash Over Climate Vote Block MM: Elon Musk seeks ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as part of lawsuit Assholiest of the Week Reasons for Hope (MM): Journalism DR Sam Altman piece in the New Yorker The most well researched, thorough, and harrowing view of one of the architects of what is inevitably the worst thing to happen to humanity in AI “Groups of senior employees, concerned with Altman’s leadership and lack of transparency, asked Loopt’s board on two occasions to fire him as C.E.O., according to Hagey.” “We have interviewed more than a hundred people with firsthand knowledge of how Altman conducts business: current and former OpenAI employees and board members; guests and staffers at Altman’s various houses; his colleagues and competitors; his friends and enemies and several people who, given the mercenary culture of Silicon Valley, have been both.” “Yet most of the people we spoke to shared the judgment of Sutskever and Amodei: Altman has a relentless will to power that, even among industrialists who put their names on spaceships, sets him apart. “He’s unconstrained by truth,” the board member told us. “He has two traits that are almost never seen in the same person. The first is a strong desire to please people, to be liked in any given interaction. The second is almost a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone.” “Altman is not a technical savant—according to many in his orbit, he lacks extensive expertise in coding or machine learning. Multiple engineers recalled him misusing or confusing basic technical terms. He built OpenAI, in large part, by harnessing other people’s money and technical talent.” “My vibes don’t match a lot of the traditional A.I.-safety stuff,” Altman said. Even people close to Altman find it difficult to know where his “hope for humanity” ends and his ambition begins. Senator who criticized Disney for being ‘too woke’ spotted at Disney World GOP Sen. Rick Scott from Florida had been paparazzied by TMZ at Disney World during a recess He said, “Disney used to be the happiest place on Earth, now it’s just woke central. It’s on the losing side of an issue that the majority of families, regardless of political ideology, agree with.” He also criticized the hypocrisy of Disney. Scott added, “While Disney tries to lecture us with these extreme views, the mouse is completely unwilling to speak up for freedom and against real oppression in places such as Communist China.” Local resistance Maine set to become first state with data center ban There is a great con of the data center - jobs Really means: energy consumption, a handful of jobs, but state subsidies to placate billionaires who don’t want to pay Maine doesn’t have a water problem, but could if a data center starts eating it all Studies now showing how bad data centers are for people - compute is the new oil Data centers are destroying states’ clean energy dreams A small city just voted on AI, and the result could ripple nationwide Despite Apocalyptic Warnings, California Fast Food Wage Hike Didn’t Kill Jobs The list of countries banning young teens from social media keeps getting bigger. Here’s the latest Labor resistance Gen Z workers are so fearful AI will take their job they’re intentionally sabotaging their company’s AI rollout ProPublica journalists go on strike partly over use of AI A Major Strike of Beef Workers Pauses in Colorado—but Workers Say the Fight Isn’t Over United Airlines and flight attendants reached a tentative deal with $740 million in bonuses Women MacKenzie Scott rewrote the rules of philanthropy. Who will follow her lead? When Robby Starbuck says of Bill Ackman: ““There is a system that preys more on white males, because it’s like they are outside the victim hierarchy.” - woman must be winning Headliniest of the Week DR: McDonald's CEO said he blames his mother for his infamous Big Arch taste test MM: You’re looking at the AI revolution all wrong, top economist says: 40% unemployment and a 3-day work week are the same thing MM: CoStar Group Ranked No. 1 on Washington Business J

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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
    314
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024, Free Float Media Inc.
  • Show Website
    Business Pants

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