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  • GOOD GAME: Deepseek vs. tech manbabies, Blackrock vs. Tennessee, Dimon vs. the anti-DEI
    2025/01/28
    Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.DAMION1The AI Tech BroBubble‘Sputnik moment’: $1tn wiped off US stocks after Chinese firm unveils AI chatbotAnger and Fighting BackWalmart is facing backlash from investors after cutting DEI programsA lawyer says he dropped Meta as a client after what he called a 'descent into toxic masculinity [and Neo-Nazi madness]' by Zuckerberg's companyBMW trolled after announcing it’s ‘no longer posting’ on X: ‘Becoming More Woke’Nearly a third of Elon Musk’s EV-loving Dutch customers may sell their Teslas: ‘There’s been a debate in the Netherlands around Tesla shame’I drive a Cybertruck, and I'm sick of people flipping me off. I wish they understood how helpful this car is for me. Misogynistic taunts cost Philadelphia Eagles fan his job at DEI firmBiden warns that an oligarchy is forming that threatens US democracyIs the warning good?Old-fashioned ESGRecord Number of Funds Drop ESG Labels Ahead of New EU RulesSBTi Passes 10,000 Companies Committing to Science-Based Climate TargetsBillionaire Michael Bloomberg To Fund UN Climate Change Body After US WithdrawalMajority of companies leading on emissions reductions have tied executive pay to ESG aimsBoeing should treat workers better to recover from its 'mess,' Emirates boss tells BIFines and Lawsuits and Settlements and RegulationsVanguard will pay $106 million over 'misleading statements' about retirement fundsTennessee drops BlackRock ESG suit after asset manager agrees concessionsDOJ sues Walgreens, alleging it 'knowingly' filled millions of prescriptions that lacked legitimate medical purposesGM can't sell your location data for the next five yearsCalifornia Bans Insurance Policy Cancellations In Boost To Property Owners. The Insurance Industry Prepares For Record-Breaking LossesCalifornia considers letting wildfire victims sue oil companies for damagesThe DEI/Union Speed RoundWhole Foods workers in Philadelphia vote to form Amazon-owned grocery store's first unionJamie Dimon is doubling down on JPMorgan's DEI work as a conservative group targets Wall Street: 'Bring them on'Costco union representing 18,000 workers authorizes nationwide strikeDelta Doubles Down on DEI, ESG Policies
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    46 分
  • DEI and manflakes, CEO pay hikes, Microsoft reforests, Air Products, Will Hild’s a middle schooler, and cheese
    2025/01/24
    Story of the Week (DR):Trump signed an order ending DEI. Here’s what it means for Fortune 500 companiesTrump’s latest presidential moves mandate government agencies to specifically target companies in the private sector engaged in what it describes as “illegal DEI discrimination and preferences.”Despite the intended chilling effect of these executive moves, multiple legal sources point out that Trump’s order and action do not constitute a change in the law. Rather, the language used in the order simply “enforces longstanding federal civil rights laws,” says Britney N.D. Torres, senior counsel at employment law firm Littler.Trump’s executive moves just mean that companies will have to continue to carefully review their DEI-related policies, practices and initiatives based on longstanding anti-discrimination laws, and make sure they can’t be interpreted in a way that is different from what they intended, she says.This week in Davos, Jamie Dimon reaffirmed JPMorgan’s DEI commitments after the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative nonprofit, proposed the bank revisit how compensation is tied to the company’s racial-equity goal. “Bring them on,” said Dimon referring to the efforts from right-leaning groups. “We are going to continue to reach out to the Black community, the Hispanic community, the LGBT community, the veterans community.”Will this ever trickle down to JPM leadership?15 on Operating Committee: 1 POC (an Indian man–Sanoke Viswanathan, CEO of International Consumer and Wealth–who came from McKinsey); 7/15 F though so some credit dueBoard: nearly 50% F but a woeful -21% gender gap; no leadership positions on board or top 3 committees: only committees where women have power are Public Responsibility Committee and Risk Committee; 11 on board: 9 WM and 2 BFCan we stop pretending board and shareholder oversight is a thing? DRJPMorgan CEO Dimon's 2024 pay rises 8.3% to $39 million after record profitDisney CEO Bob Iger’s Pay Package Rises 30% to $41.1 Million in 2024 Barclays proposes 45% increase in CEO pay under new bonus-linked scheme Goldman CEO gets big pay boost, and $80 million bonus for another five years at helmI promise I try not to pick Musk, but…‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi saluteSome say it was an unambiguous Nazi salute but others are unsure and say focus should be on Musk’s stated support for far-rightStarbucks lead independent director Mellody Hobson to step down Is this the only time in history a lead independent director was named in a headline or even mentioned at all?No more black people on board: no women in leadership positionsGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Trump has a message to CEOs: Build in America or pay upDR: This confusing headline: Voters who backed Trump identify new swamp to drain: corporate power“The pendulum has swung so far. Things have gotten so out of line. Companies ought to be able to police themselves and not hurt people, and it’s just gotten way, way out of line. It’s time that it swings back the other way.”DR: Trump’s DOGE department is now down to just one leader after Vivek Ramaswamy steps downMM: Microsoft Signs Forest Restoration Deal to Remove 3.5 Million Tons of CO2 DR MMMM: Jamie Dimon is doubling down on JPMorgan's DEI work as a conservative group targets Wall Street: 'Bring them on'Jamie Dimon says LFG RACISTSAssholiest of the Week (MM):John DeereSee, instead of sticking up for yourself against pretend journalists with zero credibility who cosplay at being ESG analysts but are really just anti gay middle school boys, you caved. You caved and now you have not one, but THREE shareholder proposals in a couple weeksAnd the ONLY one you challenged - the one you tried to exclude from your proxy - was the one by As You Sow, who asked the SAME THING as the National Public Policy Research Consumer Blah Blah BlahNational Legal and Policy Center (8 shares): SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL ON A REPORT ON RACIAL AND GENDER HIRING STATISTICSAs You Sow (26,000 shares): SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL ON A REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF EFFORTS TO CREATE A MERITOCRATIC WORKPLACE You also got these anti woke gems:National Center for Public Policy Research ($2,000): SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL ON A CORPORATE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT, asking for a new committee to show how committed you are to making moneyBowyer Research (100 shares): SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL ON A REPORT ON CHARITABLE GIVING, asking for a report on how you don’t give to Southern Poverty Law Center, but they think you might be and they’re discriminating against white religious conservatives and the KKKYou thought, “oh, if we just cut out our DEI stuff and make a press release, they’ll go away… sure, we’ll offend, like, all the black people and women and stuff, but it’s worth it for our white farmers, and everyone will forget…”You were wrong. Your board was wrong. Your management was wrong. You ...
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    1 時間 3 分
  • The American Oligarchs, alpha male cosplaying tech bros, TikTok and the US company China Threat, and retiring DEI
    2025/01/17
    IntroductionLIVE from your ESG EV Dipstick, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at January 17th Studios, featuring AnalystHole Matt Moscardi. On today’s weekly wrap up: The CEO takeover has accelerated; bravery for sale at Costco; and men finally have power Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.Story of the Week (DR):DealBook: C.E.O.s hail the chief MMElon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to attend Trump's inauguration: The three will be seated together on the inauguration platform with other prominent guests.About $200M so far (BIden about $60M)Amazon: $2 millionMeta: $1 millionMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg: $1 million (personal donation)Robinhood: $2 millionBank of America: $1 millionGoldman Sachs: UndisclosedGoogle: $1 millionMicrosoft: $1 millionUber: $1 millionUber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi: $1 million (personal donation) Boeing: $1 millionFord/GM//Hyundai/Toyota: $1 millionRipple [Cryptocurrency]: $5 millionApple CEO Tim Cook: $1 million (personal donation)OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: $1 million (personal donation)etc.In Farewell Address, Biden Warns of an ‘Oligarchy’ Taking Shape in AmericaPresident Joe Biden's farewell address Wednesday came with a series of warnings for the future of the country, among them that a rising “oligarchy taking shape” threatens American democracy: "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead."“... concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex," Biden said. "It could pose real dangers for our country as well.""Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit." he said, appearing to refer to Meta’s ending its fact-checking program.without safeguards, AI could "spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work and how we protect our nation."​​161 years ago, a New Zealand sheep farmer predicted AI doomOn June 13, 1863, a letter titled "Darwin among the Machines" written by Samuel Butler (under the pseudonym Cellarius) published in The Press newspaper of Christchurch warned about the potential dangers of mechanical evolution and called for the destruction of machines, foreshadowing the development of what we now call artificial intelligence—and the backlash against it from people who fear it may threaten humanity with extinction. It presented what may be the first published argument for stopping technological progress to prevent machines from dominating humanity.The letter drew direct parallels between Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and the rapid development of machinery, suggesting that machines could evolve consciousness and eventually supplant humans as Earth's dominant species."We are ourselves creating our own successors." he wrote. "We are daily adding to the beauty and delicacy of their physical organisation; we are daily giving them greater power and supplying by all sorts of ingenious contrivances that self-regulating, self-acting power which will be to them what intellect has been to the human race. In the course of ages we shall find ourselves the inferior race."In the letter, he also portrayed humans becoming subservient to machines, but first serving as caretakers who would maintain and help reproduce mechanical life—a relationship Butler compared to that between humans and their domestic animals, before it later inverts and machines take over.Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says AI can write 95% of an IPO prospectusThe initial registration prospectus for an IPO, called S1, usually took a six-person team two weeks to complete. However, now 95 per cent of the work can be completed by AI in minutes, he said. Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon questions start-ups’ need to listHe also asked private companies to take ‘great caution’ before deciding to go public, adding that the depth of capital in private markets has made the need to go public redundant for many. Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Costco is holding the line on DEI; Delta Doubles Down on DEI, ESG Policies; Apple backs diversity programs rejected by US firmsMM: European Union orders X to hand over algorithm documentsAssholiest of the Week (MM):Alpha masculine cosplayMiddle school beta nerds realizing they have “fuck you” money and now trying to act like big boys… which means dunking on women, gays, blacks, trans, and momWe need to be more manlyMommy made me do it, but now I’m a big boyElon paid for someone to spend 24 hours a day leveling up a video game character, then pretended it was him and he was good at itTrump Taps Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight as Hollywood ‘Ambassadors’Bezos has a HUGE NEW ROCKET guysThe Nerd Alpha Cosplay is using MAGA Trump as a vehicle…Inauguration ...
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    58 分
  • NUGGETS: “Retiring” DEI, Meta’s masculine energy, meritocracy of Dana White, CEO replaced by CEO, and activist action
    2025/01/14
    Live from an DEI-bedazzled ESG Glowstick, it’s an all-new Terrific Tuesday edition of Business Pants. Joined by Analyst-Hole Matt Moscardi! On today's SAT Cheat Sheet called January 14th 2025: BIZ NUGGETS!Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.DAMION1ZuckIn our 'He also said corporations named "Julie" and Samantha” especially suck' headline of the week. Mark Zuckerberg praises benefits of 'masculine energy', calls corporate America 'culturally neutered'*************** In our 'He cautioned any panic by saying AI would only steal jobs from the gays, the blacks, and human women' headline of the week. Zuckerberg Announces Plans to Automate Facebook Coding Jobs With AI***************In our 'Zuck and Musk criticized the action as "something a lady named Julie or Samantha would do" and also said "there is no place in our society for decisions that benefit the greater society"' headline of the week. Mastodon’s founder cedes control, refuses to become next Musk or Zuckerberg***************Eugen RochkoIn our 'In other news, acorn blindsided by oak tree's decision to let it fall to the ground' headline of the week. Meta’s oversight board blindsided by Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to relax hate speech restrictions*************** Tech BrosIn our 'Jeff Bezos sues Business Insider for calling him a 'shadow advisor'' headline of the week. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has a new 'shadow' advisor. It's one of the most prized roles inside the company.*************** Alex Dunlap, a 17-year veteran of Amazon Web Services, started as Jassy's shadow advisor in late 2024, replacing Eric Rimling, a logistics VP who was Jassy's shadow since January 2023.In our 'But we should still prioritize the fake meritocracy so we don't accidentally hire a black person' headline of the week. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: The new No. 1 ability you need to succeed—it's not raw intelligence*************** In our 'He also added that he still intends on re-electing Kimbal Musk to the board of Tesla' headline of the week. Steve Bannon vows to demolish Elon Musk’s political influence in a mission he says is ‘personal’*************** MATT1In our 'After we retire black people, we can finally get back to retiring cows for our burgers.' headline of the week. McDonald’s Retires DEI Goal SettingIn our 'I think they meant "retiring"' headline of the week. Is DEI dying? Here's the list of companies that have rolled back the 'woke' policiesIn our 'From the memo edition: "We firmly believe in our deeply held beliefs that exist today, not of yesterday or tomorrow. Those deeply held beliefs right now include retiring DEI, because that is what we currently have moral conviction to do as of this moment."' headline of the week. Meta announces end of DEI programs. Read the internal memoMeta's 2021 sustainability report had DEI as THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUE to both its business and its stakeholders. In our 'We have set two new ambitious goals for 2025 which we call "95 for 25": We aim to improve our tech workforce, which is 73.9% male and 89.7% white or asian and 90.2% straight, to be 95% male and 95% white and asian and 95% straight by 2025. We also aim to improve our user experience for men by altering our algorithm to show American football, tanks, missiles, pubic grooming tips, and women as property as 95% of all posts by 2025.' headline of the week. Mark Zuckerberg says he wants more 'masculine energy' at Meta. So, why don't more men use Facebook?In our 'We are well on our way to achieving one of those goals by the end of January.' headline of the week. Facebook Now Allows Calling Women Personal PropertyIn our 'Ok, let's be honest, these black women ARE the personal property of Mark Zuckerberg, right?' headline of the week. Facebook Is Creating Fake AI-Powered Black Women While Changing Its Rules So It’s Okay to Harass Real OnesIn our ‘Honestly, our biggest problem has been the gays. Did you know white guys can be GAY now? Almost 10% of our company say they’re gay, but Mark and I can't tell which ones are gays and not talented and which are just talented white guys because they look the same. So, in order to figure out who we’re not discriminating against, we have another new target to only hire people who wear a shirt that self-identifies if they’re straight and talented to maintain the meritocracy.' headline of the week. Meta policy chief says decision to end DEI ensures company hires 'the most talented people'In our 'We are well on our way to achieving meritocracy by the end of January.' headline of the week. Mark Zuckerberg Tells Joe Rogan Why He Wanted Dana White On Meta's Board Of Directors“Because I control Facebook, I have the benefit of not having to convince the board to not fire me. Because I’m not worried about losing my job, I get to use my board to get people I want to help solve problems.”In our 'This headline was...
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    36 分
  • 2025 Predictions: goodbye shareholder rights, the anti DEI movements wins (and loses), and woke retail zones
    2025/01/10
    ESGDisclosureThe next wave of anti-ESG movement focuses on reduced disclosureDecrease in Director/NEO bio/photo disclosure in both proxy statements and corporate websitesAnti-DEI board compositionA sharp drop in new directors that are “diverse”An increase in overall board size; instead of outright replacing diverse directors, an increase of white male directors (who skew younger) are simply added to boardsMusk effectGreater re-domestication push: incorporate, headquarters, employees: SHPs reflect thisCEO pay reconfigured for higher payouts:Decrease in “longterm” CEO compensation performance periods to reflect shorter CEO tenure and general CEO greedNew players in proxy cage matches: toxic bros (maybe a bitcoin bro?)SEC moves to greatly restrict shareholders’ right to submit proposalsWill lead to a significant decrease in E & S proposals: both in SHPs submitted and SHPs removedSHP support percentage will continue to decreaseBut I think we will see a new active conservative SHP machine to go along with the two CentersBlame game/oversight greenwashingIncrease in board-level committees (partly to due a thing and partly to pretend a thing was being done): AI, Cybersecurity, Succession PlanningSharp increase in “co-” arrangements: co-CEO; co-Chairs, etc. in order to shift blamePwC’s figure that 49% of directors want someone on their board replaced (and 25% want two or more directors replaced) increases to 66% and 44%GeneralThe next “Bud Light” is… Kontoor Brands (Lee/Wrangler)Something deemed “woke” triggers the MAGA mob and when they discover in the proxy that the company “Increased board gender diversity in 2024” and was “undertaking a search for a potential additional gender diverse director” all hell breaks loose.Year of ZuckEven more so if TikTok failsThe obvious prediction is Musk buys a media company but maybe I think Zuck makes a pivotal acquisitionElon fades due to Tesla sucking and Trump battlesYear of Drones: a CEO is fired for either accidental or illegal misuse of dronesSignificant increase in the “banning” of social media and teen smartphone usePeopleBuffett diesTim Cook steps downAfter more than a decade of tenure, Doug McMillon begins leadership transition from Wal-Mart with eyes on 2028 PresidencyAI. Also Generative AI. And headwinds.Texas is the new FloridaTexas sees an influx of incorporation under the pretense of “regulation easing”, but every company that moves is basically just racistGoodbye shareholder rights, we hardly knew theeAbolish say on pay (not even advisory!)Every board moves to classified boardWhy not, investors don’t challenge a single director anyway!Proxy voting policies are made illegal, as voting against the company in any way is considered discrimination against companiesAnti-ESG bills keep forgetting that G is in ESG… and they’re banning it, which means no proxy voting at allWyoming includes language stating “assessing corporate board or employment” as “evidence of” having a social agenda, and therefore bannedCostco isn’t aloneThe pushback against DEI pushback will come from the few, the strong, and the highly democratic boards with strong female power:1,023 mega, large, and mid cap US companies721 have diversity programs of some kind that are disclosed644 have disclosed targets or internal training around DEIOnly 94 companies have BOTH highly democratic boards (where power is dispersed evenly) AND top quartile female power on the board AND DEI programsThe most democratic is Costco - 32% female power (top quartile) and less than 3% deviation of power (4th most democratic in the entire US, tops for DEILayer in strong stock returns, and here are the companies who are likely to be targeted and push back:Procter & Gamble1yr/5yr up 8/31%Sell Braun, Gillette, Old Spice - man brands39% female power, 4% power deviationAltria1/5yr up 3/25%Cigarettes are still manly47% female power, 5% deviationMen FINALLY get some powerThe Meta Method: increase board size, add all men - went from one of the more gender diverse boards (fake, but still) to BELOW AVERAGE in one cycleThere are NINE board that by adding ONE more dude, they would become:Less than 50% femaleFrom positive to negative power gapRemain democratic (so dudes get a say) - here are the large caps:Cardinal HealthHPStryker CorpHonorable mention: Cracker Barrel, which is one Robbie Starbuck away from negating female powerThe US vs. Europe divide NARROWS… as the EU moves hard rightWatch 2025 elections: Norway parliament, German federal, Greece presidential, Czech parliament, Irish presidential (in which Conor McGregor is a viable candidate)The frameworks and regulations around environmental and ESG issues were so badly constructed, it’s the perfect storm for pushback and rollback - watch the EU undo everything to catch up with the US in the race to the bottomThe rise of the director activistA new model in investor activism - director activism, not corporate activism - ...
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    1 時間 1 分
  • Costco vs. racist investors, tech bro victimhood, Altman cries, and Zuck sucks up
    2025/01/08
    Live from an ESG-flavored 2025, it’s an all-new Wacky Wednesday edition of Business Pants. Joined by Analyst-Hole Matt Moscardi! On today's Costco lovefest called January 8th 2025: Headlines We Missed since the end of December and the new comic book superhero named Costco!Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.DAMION1Shit We Missed (in no particular order):Tech BrosZuckDana White, UFC CEO and Trump ally, to join Meta's board of directorsZuckerberg Announces New Measures to Increase Hate Speech on FacebookMark Zuckerberg's Meta is moving moderators out of California to combat concerns about bias and censorship“Huge problems” with axing fact-checkers, Meta oversight board saysCo-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt said she is "very concerned" about how parent company Meta's decision to ditch fact-checkers will affect minority groups: "We are seeing many instances where hate speech can lead to real-life harm, so we will be watching that space very carefully," she added.Meta Drops Rules Protecting LGBTQ Community as Part of Content Moderation OverhaulThe changes included allowing users to share “allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality.”Meta replaces policy chief Nick Clegg with former Republican staffer Joel Kaplan ahead of Trump inaugurationSamSam Altman Explodes at Board Members Who Fired Him"And all those people that I feel like really fucked me and fucked the company were gone, and now I had to clean up their mess," adding that he was "fucking depressed and tired.""And it felt so unfair," the billionaire told Bloomberg. "It was just a crazy thing to have to go through and then have no time to recover, because the house was on fire."The board’s primary fiduciary duty was not to maintain shareholder value or profits, but rather to stay true to OpenAI's mission of creating safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) that benefits humanity.Helen Toner: the director of strategy at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.Tasha McCauley: an adjunct senior management scientist at think tank RAND Corporation. McCauley was also on the advisory board of the Centre for Effective Altruism. In 2017 she signed the Asilomar AI Principles on ethical AI development alongside Altman, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, and former board member Elon MuskOpenAI CEO Sam Altman denies sexual abuse allegations made by his sister in lawsuitMuskMaga v Musk: Trump camp divided in bitter fight over immigration policyElon Musk Endorses Nazi-Linked German Party, Even Though It Opposed Tesla’s GigafactoryTech Bro Wealth12 US billionaires gained almost $1 trillion in wealth in 2024 as the stock market delivered another year of massive returnsNYT Report Says Jensen Huang, The CEO Of Nvidia And The 10th-Richest Person In The U.S., Trying To Allegedly Avoid $8 Billion In TaxesMark Zuckerberg says he doesn't have a Hawaiian doomsday bunker, just a 'little shelter.' It's bigger than most houses.You could live next door to Jeff Bezos on 'Billionaire Bunker' island for $200 millionMusk urges Bezos to throw an ‘epic wedding’ after Amazon founder blasts report of $600 million nuptials as ‘completely false’Elon Musk takes aim at MacKenzie Scott again for giving billions to liberal causes, calling the gifts 'concerning'How Jensen Huang and 3 Nvidia Board Members Became BillionairesMark Zuckerberg sported a $900,000 piece of wrist candy as he announced the end of fact-checking on MetaDEI/ESG Flip-FloppingWhen an anti-DEI activist took a swing at Costco, the board hit backA Costco shareholder proposal brought by conservative activist The National Center for Public Policy Research asked the company to probe its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, with an eye toward eliminating them.The thrust of the proposal is that certain DEI initiatives could open Costco up to financial risks over discrimination lawsuits from employees who are “white, Asian, male or straight.”The company’s board of directors unanimously urged shareholders to reject the proposal and made the case that Costco’s success depends on establishing a racially diverse, inclusive workplace: “We believe that our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are legally appropriate, and nothing in the (Center for Public Policy Research) proposal demonstrates otherwise,” the board’s statement said.The statement went on to rebuke the Center for Public Policy Research, saying that they and others were the ones responsible for inflicting financial and legal burdens on companies. “The proponent’s broader agenda is not reducing the risk for the Company but abolition of diversity programs,” the board said.Costco board member defends DEI practices, rebukes companies scrapping policiesJeff Raikes, co-founder of the Raikes ...
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    51 分
  • 2024 News of the Year
    2024/12/20
    IntroductionLIVE from your ESG Hanukkah Jesus Bush, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at December 20th Studios, featuring AnalystHole Matt Moscardi. On today’s YEARLY wrap up: Everything.Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.Story of the Year (DR):Exxon Sues Two ESG Investors [Follow This, Arjuna Capital] MMJudge voids Elon Musk's "unfathomable" $56 billion Tesla pay packageBoeingBoeing CEO says it was 100% his own decision to resignBoeing CEO's tearful apologyBoeing pleads guilty to fraud in fatal 737 Max crashes, fined $243.6 millionBoeing names Robert ‘Kelly’ Ortberg as new president and CEOBoeing factory workers strike for first time since 2008 after overwhelmingly rejecting contractTrump’s victory adds record $64bn to wealth of richest top 10The Murder of Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare C.E.O. DRGoodliest of the Year (MM/DR):DR: 2,000 senior women win “biggest victory possible” in landmark climate caseMore than 2,000 older Swiss women have won a landmark European case proving that government climate inaction violates human rights.The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that Switzerland had not acted urgently to achieve climate targets, leading victims, who are mostly in their 70s, to suffer physically and emotionally while potentially placed at risk of dying.The women, part of a group called KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection), filed the lawsuit nine years ago. DR: Minnesota capital St. Paul makes history as first large U.S. city with all-female councilDR: Delta paying $1.4 billion in profit sharing payments to employeesDR: 42% of shareholders vote against BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's payMM: Stakeholders rule: U.S. bans noncompete agreements for nearly all jobs: MM“30 million people, or one in five American workers are bound by noncompetes. It will take effect later this year, except for existing noncompetes that companies have with senior executives ‘on the grounds that these agreements are more likely to have been negotiated.’”MM: Women > men: First NCAA women’s basketball championship surpasses men’s viewership: DR“Iowa-South Carolina game averaged 19 million viewers, 24M in the final 15 minutes. Men’s averaged 15 million. Year of renegotiating for women’s basketball.”MM: Porn figures it out: A Pornhub Chatbot Stopped Millions From Searching for Child Abuse VideosMeanwhile… “Google’s Search AI Recommends Changing Your Car’s Blinker Fluid, Which Is a Made Up Thing That Does Not Exist.”Researchers Call for "Child-Safe AI" After Alexa Tells Little Girl to Stick Penny in Wall SocketGoogle’s Gemini Chatbot Explodes at User, Calling Them "Stain on the Universe" and Begging Them To "Please Die"Meta's AI Refuses to Show Asian Men With White WomenMM: Study: Playing Dungeons & Dragons helps autistic players in social interactions Assholiest of the YEAR (MM):Sam AltmanSam Altman will return to OpenAI's board with three new directors“Our primary fiduciary duty is to humanity.” - So let’s summarize - we have a board with Bret Taylor (ex Twitter chair, Salesforce founder, worked at Google, worked at Facebook and created the like button), Larry Summers (grumpy grandpa Harvard who thinks women are unable to compete with men and was master of Harvard when Zuck founded Facebook), Adam D’Angelo (founder of Quora, former CTO of Facebook), Sue DH (who was on board of Facebook), Fidji Simo (who lead monetization at Facebook), and the only NON FB alums Sam Altman (the master and founder) and Nicole Seligman (who oversaw one of the largest hacks in history and has a history on boards of CBS/Viacom under dictators)...Proxy voters DRDisney Shareholders Are Selling Their Proxy Votes Online - IndieWireA share of Disney is currently hovering at $118.Buying the vote is currently valued at $0.20.The current economic value to shareholder right value multiple is 590:1McDonald's CEO Kempczinski to assume role of board chairmanMiles White named Lead Independent DirectorDirector since 2009 (15 years)Connected to 58% of the CURRENT boardHas nearly 40 loops back to board members in the last 7 years aloneWas on the board for the disaster that was Steve EasterbrookMiles is part of the Boeing American Board Other board history:LIDsThere are 284 US large caps out of just over 600 with CEO/Chair combo, founder, or executive chair and a Lead Independent Director on the board - that’s 47% of US large cap boardsAt 59% the LID has 10+ years of tenureAt 29% BOTH the executive AND the LID have more than 10 years of tenure - as in they worked together for a decadeAppointments, not electionsNumber of new directors appointed from 6/1/23 to 6/1/24: 1,875Average time between appointment and election: ~4 monthsThomas Gayner was added to the Coca Cola board and served 10 full months before he got a vote from investors - and they voted 39.1% AGAINST SEC ...
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    1 時間 10 分
  • Walmart’s award, E.L.F.’s award, and the real top 100 methodology
    2024/12/17
    Live from an ESG-scented 100% cotton unisex onesie, it’s an all-new Terrific Tuesday edition of Business Pants. Joined by Analyst-Hole Matt Moscardi! On today's anti-anti-DEI lovefest called December 17th 2024: Random ESG Headlines That I Care About Because Somebody Has To Care About Something and Changing the Methodology for Fortune 100 Most Powerful Executives!Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.DAMION1Random ESG Headlines That I Care About Because Somebody Has To Care About Something:Walmart is the 2024 Yahoo Finance Company of the YearThe legacy retailer, once seen as slow to adopt technology as Amazon (AMZN) rose to the forefront, has quietly invested in everything from artificial intelligence and augmented reality to same-day delivery and cheap groceries. The combo punch has led to nearly four quarters of record earnings — and a title as Yahoo Finance's annual Company of the Year award winner.A committee of Yahoo Finance editorial leaders selected Walmart because of its strong year of sales and profits, financial outperformance relative to key rivals like Target (TGT), and a stock price that has reached fresh records in 2024.Another unknown is the impact of Walmart's Nov. 26 decision to scale back its DEI work amid right-wing pressure. The decision came a few days after our interviews with McMillon and Rainey, at which time Walmart had already secured its Yahoo Finance Company of the Year recognition.In a Dec. 2 phone call with Yahoo Finance, Walmart's chief people officer, Donna Morris, defended the company's choice:"We are the exact same company today as we were last week, and we will continue to be the same company," Morris said. "We act with integrity, we serve our customers and our members, and we strive for excellence. So our values are absolutely not changing.""Our values are absolutely not changing, the specific initiatives or terms, they change over time," she continued. The company started moving to "belonging" in early 2023, though Morris said the move wasn't due to pressure from any specific group."When you talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, all in part, there can be communities, and often the largest communities, that step back and say, 'Geez, I'm not sure if I'm even actually included'," Morris explained of the decision.After Floyd's murder, a "majority" of companies felt the need to boost their DEI efforts, but now they are reevaluating. "What we observed and felt was really important is that everyone was part of that work, and that's why we really made the shift," Morris said.‘A huge regression’: Walmart’s DEI rollback incites new racial equity pushA year after the murder of George Floyd, Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart had a warning for corporate America. The death of Floyd triggered a wave of protest over systemic racism and was “not an isolated event. We have a long history of racism, and we see unacceptable events continue.”Walmart and other large US corporations made pledges to address inequities within their business, ones many feared would be dropped once the focus on Floyd’s killing and its aftermath faded. “We can’t let that be the case,” he wrote, outlining how the company was releasing its “diversity metrics twice a year” and calling on companies to “continue to address systemic racism and the structural inequities that are rooted in this nation’s history of slavery and that persist today”.Times have changed. Last month Walmart became the latest corporation to cave to a rightwing campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, announcing it would stop using the term DEI altogether, drop DEI trainings, no longer consider race and gender as a means to improve diversity when making offers to suppliers and would not renew a racial equity center committed to addressing “the root causes of gaps in outcomes experienced by Black and African American people”.The union-backed Walmart workers group United for Respect has tried to introduce a shareholder proposal at Walmart’s past two annual shareholder meetings for a third-party independent racial equity audit of the corporation.The racial equity shareholder proposal has come up short of the 20% support it would need for Walmart to discuss it, receiving 18% in 2023 and just over 15% in 2024. Hightower said she planned on reintroducing it at the 2025 annual shareholder meeting in Arkansas.Why Tarang Amin, CEO of E.l.f. Beauty, is Modern CEO of the YearModern CEO set out to recognize an executive who embodies the traits and values we’ve been covering in this newsletter for the last two years: inclusion, accessibility, humility, and innovationEarlier this year, E.l.f. proclaimed its commitment to diversity when it launched “Change the Board Game,” a campaign to encourage corporate board diversity. “I’m proud to say that our board has 78% women and 44% diverse ...
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