FRIDAY WRAP: Boeing’s teary CEO, St. Paul’s all-female city council, Bill Ackman’s plea for sympathy, Gen-Z missed COP, and SBUX “ethical” sourcing

Story of the Week (DR):

1. Boeing CEO's tearful apology AB MM

1. “This stuff matters.”

2. Wall Street Journal report claims Elon Musk’s drug use is causing concern

1. Elon Musk Cosigns Racist Claim That Black Students Have Low IQs

1. "It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of  DIE," he tweeted, in response to a post arguing that IQ averages were lower at HBCUs, and lower than the "average IQ of US Air Force pilots."

3. Al Gore is officially too old to serve on Apple’s board JS CD

1. James Bell also stepping down

1. “The Board has adopted a policy that directors generally may not stand for reelection after attaining age 75. After years of dedicated and valuable service, James Bell and Al Gore will be retiring from the Board effective as of the 2024 Annual Meeting, having reached the age of 75. In consideration of the significant recent transitions in board composition and the value of retaining directors who have developed deep insights into the Company during their tenure, the Board determined that it would be in the best interests of Apple and its shareholders to ask Ron Sugar to stand for re-election at the 2024 Annual Meeting, although he has attained the age of 75.”

4. There is no headline!

1. Starbucks appointed 3 new board members to fight off union activist challenge from the Strategic Organizing Center

1. Neal Mohan (YouTube CEO), Daniel Javier Servitje Montull (Grupo Bimbo CEO), and Michael Sievert (T-Mobile CEO)

Goodliest of the Week (AB):

1. Minnesota capital St. Paul makes history as first large U.S. city with all-female council DR JS

1. All seven women are under 40 years old, and six out of the seven are women of color. 

2. St. Paul, with a population of about 300,000 people, is the first large U.S. city they know of with an all-female city council. 

3. “The median age of our community is 32.5. We are a majority person-of-color city. We have many major racial and ethnic groups, many of which are now represented on this council.”

2. Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi cap insulin costs at $35 CD

1. 3 companies control almost the entire insulin market and thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare patients will pay no more than $35 a month. However, because of the pressure to reduce the cost these 3 companies are extending the limit to uninsured Americans or Americans insured outside of Medicare.

2. 8.4M Americans need insulin, 1 in 4 was not able to afford the medication, cost of the medication TRIPLED in the early 2000s then went up by 25% between 2017 and 2022

3. A huge battery has replaced Hawaii’s last coal plant - “the most advanced energy facility on the planet” MM

1. The Kapolei Energy Storage gigantic battery has the same capacity as the old plant but can discharge energy much faster. The plan for the battery is to suck all the extra electricity during the day, when it is overflowing from the renewable generation, and deliver it back in the evening at a much lower price 

Assholiest of the Week (MM):

1. Bill.  Fucking.  Ackman. DR CD

1. After his wife is outed as having plagiarized (lightly?) in her dissertation, he posted on Wednesday a 4,200 word post defending his wife, detailing his personal trauma…

1. “When we finally hear the phone ring, Neri and I are in bed in our hotel enjoying our last morning before packing and heading back to New York City.”

2. “We are still on vacation, and we are not expecting any calls, so I thought the incoming call was likely urgent. For context, my mom is 83; Neri’s dad is 90, and her mom has Alzheimer’s.”

2. Then they finally talk to BI who Bill determines has an “agenda” to get his wife fired from MIT (she stopped working there in 2020)...

3. Then, there’s the “yeah, but…” paragraphs…

1. “After several hours of work, we determine that in four paragraphs of the 330-page document – in which Neri had correctly provided the proper citation for each author – she should have used quotation marks at the beginning and end of each paragraph.”

2. “Now bear in mind, Neri’s thesis has 2,774 paragraphs, which implies an error rate of 0.1141%. In other words, for 99.8859% of the paragraphs Neri used proper citation. Not perfect, but pretty darn good.”

3. “Also, for one sentence in her dissertation, Neri had properly paraphrased the author, but, by mistake, had omitted citing the author.” 

4. “Microsoft Word does not have a feature which counts sentences, but it looks like, on average, that there are about four sentences per paragraph in her dissertation. So using this assumption, Neri’s error rate for sentences was: 1/(2,774*4) or 1 out of 11,096 sentences. In other words, Neri accurately provided citations for 99.0988% of the sentences.” 

5. “According to http://Plagiarism.org: to "plagiarize" means:

1. to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own

2. to use (another's production) without crediting the source

3. to commit literary theft

4. to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source”

4. WELCOME TO BILLIONAIRE SIMBY - SYMPATHY IN MY BACK YARD, BUT NOT YOURS

1. Business Insider’s campaign to destroy Neri could have literally killed her, if she did not have profound love and support from me, love from our family and incredible friends, and confidence and respect from the most important scientists, architects, and designers around the world who have shown an incredible outpouring of support to her during this extraordinarily difficult time.

2. But it still has been very, very challenging for her. She has suffered severe emotional harm, and as an introvert, it has been very, very difficult for her to make it through each day.

5. And now, the part that only billionaires can do because the rest of us asshole poorsies don’t rate…

1. I reached out to a board member I knew at BI, and to its controlling shareholders, the co-ceos of KKR, and to Mathias Döpfner, the Chairman and CEO of Axel Springer

2. I reached out to Joe Bae because he is Co-CEO of KKR

3. I reached out to Henry Kravis because he is KKR’s representative on the board of Axel Springer

4. I called a board member of BI that I knew, but not well, on Saturday

1. “After spending a lot of time over the past few weeks looking at and thinking about the definition of “plagiarism” (and some cited examples), I agree with you about it. Academia needs to narrow the definition.

2. I made one request. I asked him to publicly disclose that Axel Springer had launched an investigation of the story, and he said he would have to get back to me on that request. 

2. Name.  The fucking.  CEO. AB

1. Qualcomm CEO's pay jumps 395% in slow year for phone chips - The Register

2. Walgreens CEO Bought Up Stock After Cutting Dividend

3. Boeing CEO's tearful apology - The Daily Debrief - The Hill

3. Boeing

1. DOOR PLUGS?

2. See Wednesday Business Pants

4. Apple board succession JS

1. H/T to Andrew Droste’s substack, Mr. CorpGov: James Bell, Al Gore, and Ron Sugar have hit the bylaw retirement age (75); however, the board will be making an exception for Mr. Sugar, as he will stand for reelection. Sugar is currently Chair of the Audit Committee

2. Ron Sugar has a network value of $105 TRILLION - he’s one of the most powerful professional directors on Earth now - currently on the Amgen, Apple, and Uber boards, was on a half dozen others in the last 20 years

3. WE CAN’T FIND A SINGLE PERSON TO REPLACE THE 75 YEAR OLD RON SUGAR?  NO ONE?  NOT ONE PERSON?  

Gen-Ziest of the Week (CD)

1. Boeing 737 MAX Incident a By-Product of Its Financial Mindset, The American Prospect JS

1. It’s the same lesson we learned this summer when the Titanic submersible the “Titan” imploded… you CAN NOT cut costs by cutting corners!! Especially when you’re manufacturing a machine that carries people thousands of miles underwater or in the sky

2. What the article says:

1. In the early 2000’s, airlines were consolidating → wanted to pack as many seats as possible on the planes

1. Driving company: every college student’s favorita airline “Ryanair, a discount flyer, was one of the main airlines pushing for more seats from Boeing.”

3. Boeing decided it was “far more cost-effective to mass-produce one standard fuselage to fit all airline orders”

1. Fuselage: main body of the aircraft

2. “The solution Boeing came up with was to introduce cutouts in all its planes”

1. (Door plugs could easily fill those cutouts, or be swapped out with exit doors for airlines that wanted to seat more passengers. That way, Boeing’s jets could meet FAA regulations, while avoiding specialized manufacturing”

3. Boeing then subcontracted the manufacturing and installation of door plugs to suppliers, depending on the airline’s desired seating configuration

4. → 

2. ‘Protect students better’: Harvard undergrads and graduate students hope university now focuses more on their well-being, The Boston Globe DR

1. Obviously a hot-topic for college students… as this is the environment we are living in (or are about to return to in my case, when I go back in a couple weeks)

2. HARD: find middle ground

1. When you have good-faith conversations, most people don’t have completely tribal mindsets about the conflict… but today’s online culture (and election environment as it is now 2024) forces the dominant narrative to seem that way

3. Article: interviews Jewish, Muslim, and pro-Palestinian Harvard students

1. Discuss public doxxing on campus, hostile culture among student groups, and the interference of politics in inner-campus environments

2. Consensus seems to be: keep the vitriol out of the discussion, anti-cancel culture

1. Several Jewish, Muslim, and pro-Palestinian Harvard students in recent days said that the intense focus on Claudine Gay’s leadership at the university, stoked by conservative activists and lawmakers, has overshadowed the school’s inability or unwillingness to protect them from inside and outside harassment.

2. Public doxxing: 

1. October, an out-of-state conservative group drove trucks through Harvard Square emblazoned with pictures of students, including Kahloon, linked to a controversial statement on the Oct. 7 attack, labeling them with the words “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites.”

3. Safe engagement:

1. Want to “feel safe attending classes, getting involved in student groups, and interacting with classmates around campus”

3. 2023 smashes record for world’s hottest year by huge margin, The Guardian AB

1. Reposted abundantly on social media

1. Mostly by climate activists and people I know are interested in climate consulting/environmental technology fields after graduation

2. The environment is an issue near and dear to my generation’s heart

1. Greta Thunberg, climate walkouts

2. Article anticipates and tries to disprove those climate change deniers:

1. “Analysis showed some extreme weather, such as heatwaves in Europe and the US, would have been virtually impossible without human-caused global heating.”

2. “Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years”

1. Records that: “Almost half the days were 1.5C hotter and, for the first time, two days were more than 2C hotter. [than is normal]” 

3. Type of language you don’t want scientists to resort to…

1. One scientist characterized the heat trends as “gobsmackingly bananas”

→ What are we doing to address this climate crisis? Have another climate summit, which – for the second year in a row – will be headed by Big Oil. Check out BBC headline: 

1. Climate change: Former oil executive Mukhtar Babayev to lead COP29 talks in Azerbaijan, BBC MM CD

1. I’ve scanned tiktok and polled friends… most people around me don’t know much or anything about COP28 or 29

1. Unless they’re an environmental science major

2. BUT everyone is shocked and outraged and very much cares when they are informed about what’s going on… interesting it’s not a more dominant story in the news…

2. “For the second year in a row, a minister with vast experience of the oil industry will be in charge of global climate negotiations.”

1. [LAST YEAR:] Sultan al-Jaber from the United Arab Emirates 

1. “also an experienced oil executive who decided to stay on as head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company while also running COP28.”

3. Last years summit: COP28 about whether we agreed to transition away from fossil fuels

1. Which summit members managed to agree that, yes, eventually, we should do that, with the Climate-Oil Sultan characterizing the move as “inevitable” anyways… 

4. This year: COP29 about specific finance goals for the transition – essential to making the transition a REALITY

1. BBC claims “experienced negotiators say that COP29 will be a lower-profile event”

5. Scientists and climate campaigners are super angry about the choice 

1. BBC reports there is concern “about the growing role of the oil industry in the talks.”

2. Similar article by Reuters reports that some scientists are outright characterizing the appointments as a pattern of corruption, and are calling for an overhaul of the leadership board

1. Will that happen… probably not

Exhausting-est of the Week (JS):

1. Starbucks sued for ‘100% ethical’ sourcing claim for tea and coffee AB DR

1. Let me preface…I’m glad they’re being sued. 

2. What’s exhausting is this: The National Consumers League alleges that producers in the coffee giant’s supply chain have a documented record of “child labor and forced labor as well as rampant and egregious sexual harassment and assault.” The suit says Starbucks has “unjustly benefited from branding itself as a leader in corporate responsibility” while hiding the “true nature” of its practices.

3. In one of several examples, the lawsuit points to a 2022 complaint from the Brazilian labor prosecutor against the Cooxupé cooperative, a certified Starbucks supplier. The NCL alleged that, according to the Brazilian complaint, there were “abusive and unsafe working conditions analogous to slavery,” including violence, confinement and the trafficking of more than 30 migrant workers. Starbucks has continued to work with the supplier.

4. The NCL accuses Starbucks of seeking to capitalize on “significant and growing consumer demand for ethically sourced goods and services,” for which customers will pay a premium.

2. Companies being THE MOST AMERICAN MM

1. McDonald’s

1. McDonald's Double Big Mac slated to hit menu on Jan 24

2. The Double Big Mac, announced Tuesday, will come with extra sauce and the typical Big Mac toppings and bun, according to McDonald’s. Like the name suggests, it will contain four patties.

2. Miller Lite

1. The beer brand’s Beer Mints will hit the market in two tranches of online sales. The sales will take place a week apart, with the first slated for today.

2. This is a move to “embrace” Dry January

3. When you pop the mint, the "freshness of mint" will come through at first and then a "subtle, yet great taste of Miller Lite that leaves consumers’ breath feeling fresh and their taste buds hoppy"

3. FDA CD

1. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women globally, and recently replaced lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed

2. More than 900 chemicals in widespread use could be increasing breast cancer risk, scientists reported in a peer-reviewed study

3. Some of the most widely studied chemicals include classes of plastic additives called bisphenols and phthalates, parabens and PFAS—per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances—aka “forever chemicals.” They’re found in a dizzying array of products, including cash register receipts and canned food linings (bisphenols), soap, shampoo, hair spray, lubricating oils and vinyl flooring (phthalates), cosmetics, moisturizers and shaving creams (parabens) and fast-food packing, nonstick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics and mountaineering gear (PFAS).

4. The FDA should be banning these chemicals and protecting us

5. Then we have this headline: THE FDA SAYS OZEMPIC PROBABLY WON'T MAKE YOU SUICIDAL

6. Considering Ozempic prescriptions hit 9M back in September, the FDA should not feel comfortable until they know for certain that there’s no correlation between semaglutide and suicidal ideation

Who Won the Week?

1. DR:

1. We hopefully did? Full the full-circle Boeing story

2. Jerod Mayo and the NFL for getting another black head coach

2. AB: Sleep training 

3. MM: Door plugs.  I’m ordering 300 of them

4. JS: Climate change- 2023 world’s hottest year…depressing

Predictions

1. DR: One of the Strategic Organizing Center directors ends up on the board

1. I guess the easy pick is the dude? Joshua Gotbaum

2. AB: 

3. MM: Chantal goes back to campus and immediately starts a podcast and social channel called “Dunn Done and Done” covering business news.  By February it has twice as many subscribers as us and multi million views on TikTok

4. JS: Ozempic prescriptions rise exponentially in correlation with the McDonald’s locations that start selling Double Big Macs