CEO chokes, Trump’s tariff penguins, ESG needs a spine, chicken nuggets, and Starbuck at Heritage

Story of the Week (DR):

1. CEO accused of choking a fellow cruise passenger after the man allegedly danced barefoot at a bar aboard the ship and insulted the CEO’s wife

1. Kenneth DeGiorgio, the CEO of First American Financial Corp, faces a federal assault charge of choking a man on a Virgin Voyages cruise ship.

2. The wife told law enforcement that she told the victim, "Look, we are all grown-ups here, can you put your shoes on?" The victim responded by cursing at her and sticking his middle finger up, the complaint alleges.

1. Security video showed DeGiorgio standing up, walking over to the victim and choking him, according to the complaint.

2. The victim said that DeGiorgio "used a lot of force" and that it felt like his "throat was going to be ripped out," the document says. The man alleged that during the incident, DeGiorgio said, "I am going to f---ing kill you."

3. Why? freefloatanalytics.com says he is only the 3rd most powerful board member (15%), behind board chair and former CEO Dennis Gilmore (17%) and Compensation Committee chair Michael Dale McKee (16%), who has served on the board for more than 10 years than the choker

1. Or maybe he’s angry that the CEO at peer company Cincinnati Financial not only has a way cooler name that is more appropriate for ocean cruising: Stephen Spray, but Mr. Spray also received a perk of  $17,523 for the incremental additional cost of spouse travel and meals for business events that could have covered that off-shore excursion to the one-legged turtle sanctuary

2. Nah, it was probably the alcohol.

2. Trump’s tariffs amount to ‘worse than worst-case scenario’ as investors brace for stock-market beatdown

1. Trump Tariffs Show Signs of Being Written by AI

2. Donald Trump Puts Tariffs on Islands Inhabited Only by Penguins

3. China retaliates with 34% tariff as markets suffer from fallout

4. 'Let's Make the World Poor Again' (and then we can buy it at a discount)

5. “Oh, really? Oh shit, OK. I just looked at the screen. I hadn’t looked at it. [The share price] got hit when I think the tariff came out and everybody can see in our 10-K where we’re sourcing from.”

1. — Gary Friedman, the C.E.O. of the luxury home furnishings company RH, remarking on the company’s stock price during an earnings call shortly after Trump announced his tariff plan. (More than two-thirds of the company’s goods are sourced from Asia.) RH’s stock dropped as much as 40 percent as the call went on, making it one of the worst days in the company’s history as a publicly traded business.

6. “I talked to probably 10 C.E.O.s who are all in the Business Roundtable — these are C.E.O.s of the largest companies in America — overnight, and to a one they think this is a huge mistake. They think this is too much, that it will have lasting and cascading negative repercussions for the United States and the global economy.”

1. — Brad Gerstner, the C.E.O. of Altimeter Capital,

7. Even Fox Business feels uneasy: Legendary economist says Trump's tariffs could replay 'devastating history'

1. Thomas Sowell, the Rose and Milton Friedman senior fellow on public policy at the Hoover Institution

3. Leaders quit after someone complained:

1. BP chair to resign amid pressure from shareholders over green agenda

1. Helge Lund likely to leave post in 2026, with investor opposition having derailed net zero plans

2. Primark boss quits after woman complains about his behaviour

1. Paul Marchant

4. Companies still don’t take G seriously (and investors don’t seem to care): Macy’s to claw back executive bonuses due to accounting scandal

1. Macy’s tied executives’ cash bonuses to an earnings metric that turned out to be overstated by around $81 million in 2023: overpaid executives by $609,613

2. Macy’s didn’t name the people whose bonuses will be affected. A spokesperson declined to comment. 

3. Macy’s also said Tuesday its CFO was leaving. The company said it was replacing him with his counterpart at Capri Holdings Ltd., Thomas J. Edwards, and said the move was part of its plan to return to long-term, profitable growth.

1. Adrian Mitchell was CFO AND COO

2. $6m last year: $7m in “full ‘walk-away value’”

3. Highest vote against was 7% last year (5% average)

4. New CFO AND COO about $4M golden hello

Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):

1. DR: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s Annual Letter Omits References to DEI, ESG, and Sustainable Investing

2. DR: Oregon and Washington workers may soon be able to claim unemployment benefits when they go on strike

3. MM: Elon Musk Gets Booed Right to His Face

4. MM: Trump Tariffs on Penguin-Only Islands Spark Wave of Social Media Jokes MM DR

Assholiest of the Week (MM):

1. Spineless ESGers

1. Trump’s DEI Purge Drives 34% Drop in Pro-ESG Investor Proposals

2. Alliance Defending Freedom, which leads one of the most active conservative investor groups, said its coalition submitted 70 proposals this year, up from 28 in 2024.

3. C’mon As You Sow: “We have tempered down some of our asks,” Behar said, noting that his group filed 58 resolutions this year, down from 99 last year.

1. GO HARDER, NOT SOFTER

2. USE MORE DATA - we literally offered As You Sow, among others, FREE data to target directors instead of writing shareholder proposals

3. Someone actually told us they “disagreed” with the data we showed them - this is the ESG SIDE - they disagreed with the DATA and therefore didn’t want to use it

4. This is why you lose - and almost never ever win - victories have been “oh good, we got 12% of a vote on a non binding shareholder proposal” - that’s just fucking fundraising hubris

5. The entire ESG proxy machine has been predicated on making a point, not winning the war for better data and better corporate behavior - and now you’ve been cowed too, and we’re cowering from the big fight

6. And I love what Andy and As You Sow do, but CHANGE UP FOR FUCK’S SAKE - DO IT DIFFERENT

4. Our offer still stands - FREE DATA to any of these ESG groups - As You Sow, Proxy Impact, the nuns - if you are going to use it to vote out DIRECTORS who suck, we’ll provide you data for it.  Come at us.

2. Fake legitimacy

1. EXCLUSIVE: Robby Starbuck Joins Heritage Foundation To Continue Fight Against Woke Corporations

2. Trump fires six national security staffers after meeting with far-right activist Laura Loomer

3. No who’s fault this is?  Zuck!  Social media!

4. The algorithm has legitimized the loudest voice in the room, democratized opinion value, and made it possible for two actually inexpert loudmouth diaper baby internet trolls to find some form of legitimacy

5. Why are there no adults in the room?  Because the room is run by baby boys!

3. Coddled billionaires

1. Roblox could be the latest company to follow Elon Musk out of Delaware

2. Look who’s leaving Delaware - this is who they’re changing the rules for:

1. Musk/Tesla - captured board issues ridiculous pay, also don’t pay attention to the swastikas at the factory

2. Zuck/TMeta - college dropout gives young girls body dysmorphia and ruins democracy with dual class accountability

3. Baszuki/Roblox - can’t stop sex predators on its platforms with a dictator founder

4. Houston/Dropbox - dual class dictator sits on board of other dual class dictator who gives young girls body dysmorphia

3. Basically, we have coddled dictator man babies who break every possible rule on their way to untold wealth for themselves - we gave them dual class shares, let them hand pick their boards, they have no accountability, and they’re UPSET?  They’re TIRED OF SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS?  They think the system ISN’T WORKING FOR THEM?  Even when half of them DON’T MAKE MONEY?  They’re not rich ENOUGH?  The rules are really TOO STRINGENT for them??

4. And the manflakes are just doing TOO MUCH…

1. Burned-out executives can cost companies more than $20,000—and cause a ‘social contagion effect’

Headliniest of the Week

1. DR: Elon Musk's Estranged Daughter Labels Tesla A 'Ponzi Scheme' Citing Stock's High P/E Ratio, Gets Called Out For 'No Evidence'

1. As of April 3, 2025, Tesla's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is approximately 131.02. GM: 6.71​ Ford: 6.32

2. MM: Trump Tariffs Show Signs of Being Written by AI

3. MM: There are microplastics in your chicken nuggets DR MM

Who Won the Week?

1. DR: Wisconsin voters: Elon Musk bet big on the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. He lost.

2. MM: Exploding rockets: NASA Signs Contract for Elon Musk's Starship, Even Though It's Never Launched Without Exploding

Predictions

1. DR: in yet another move that Trump supporters are too dopey to comprehend, Trump lets Bezos buy TikTok

MM: Jake Paul is invited to join the National Legal & Policy Center as an advisor on future shareholder proposals that might discriminate against his new reality show with his brother, Paul American