FRIDAY WRAP: McDonald’s had a week, Southwest’s board “shakeup”, Boeing’s board get sued, and Techno Optimism revisited

Introduction

LIVE from your ESG corn maze, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at October 25th Studios, featuring all your favorites: AnalystHole-man Matt Moscardi. On today’s weekly wrap up: McDonald’s investor relations team hires entire writing staff from The Onion, an accelerated retirement at Southwest, Denny’s is saving lives, and a shout-out to Mr. CorpGov

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):

1. McDonald’s strange week: DR MM

1. Trump

1. McDonald's is distancing itself from Donald Trump after a high-profile visit to the fryer

2. We don’t support presidents

1. Read McDonald's memo about Trump's controversial visit: 'We are not red or blue – we are golden'

3. E. coli outbreak/quarter pounder/onions

1. E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounder kills 1, sickens dozens in US

2. Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King pull onions amid McDonald’s outbreak

3. A much bigger McDonald’s lawsuit is about to ‘erupt’ in the aftermath of its E. coli outbreak, food safety lawyer says

4. CDC told McDonald's about potential E. coli outbreak late last week

5. FDA probing McDonald's supplier Taylor Farms as source of E. Coli outbreak, CNBC reports

1. DEI failure? According to comparably.com, only 2 of Taylor Farms leadership team of 16 are women. So I guess Vivek would agree that it was the men? 

2. Former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries charged with sex trafficking, interstate prostitution

3. Southwest chairman will 'accelerate retirement' and step down next week, as board appoints 6

4. Disney to name CEO Bob Iger's replacement in 2026, taps Morgan Stanley's Gorman as chair

5. Boeing strike drags on as latest deal is rejected by 64% of union

Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):

1. DR: Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Other Job: Helping Nike Turn Things Around

2. DR: Denny's to close 150 restaurants, will reduce menu

3. MM: McDonald's linked to E. coli outbreak, CDC says

1. Trump just served them!

4. MM: SEC Fines WisdomTree $4 Million for Investing in Fossil Fuels and Tobacco in ESG Funds DR MM

Assholiest of the Week (MM):

1. Southwest and activist investor Elliott strike deal to keep CEO Bob Jordan, add six new directors

1. Look how we have to coddle these fucking directors - the six directors leaving Southwest will be gone by November 1, but Gary Kelly, who has sat on this board and let it languish for THREE DECADES will still get to linger at the back of the conference room as “Chair Emeritus”

2. In: David Cush, Sarah Feinberg, Dave Grissen, Gregg Saretsky and Patricia Watson plus Pierre Breber, who was already added

1. We have Grissen, Saretsky, Watson, and Breber in our data

1. Average earnings: 413

2. Average TSR: 389

3. Out: Biegler, Biggins, Blunt, Cunningham, Gilligan, and Soltau

1. Average earnings: 356

2. Average TSR: 371

4. Survivors: Doug Brooks, Ed Conrado, Bob Fornaro, Rakesh Gangwal, David Hess, Elaine Mendoza, Chris Reynolds, and Lisa Atherton

1. Average earnings: 379

2. Average TSR: 500

5. Replacement skills:

1. Energy/oil (Biegler) for energy/oil (Breber)

2. Government (Blunt) for government regulator (Feinberg)

3. TWO professors (Cunningham, Gilligan) for TWO airlines (Cush, Saretsky)

4. Bankrupt retail (Soltau) for mediocre hotel (Grissen)

5. Bank (Biggins) for Bank tech (Watson)

6. Jordan stays

7. This is the big win??? Replacing mediocre with mediocre, keeping Kelly napping in the background, and Jordan, a lifer alongside Kelly, keeps his job?  That’s a WIN?

2. Teen Dies by Suicide After Becoming Obsessed With AI Chatbot

1. 150m raised at a 1bn valuation

2. Andreesen anchored

3. Techno Optimist Manifesto:

1. We believe Artificial Intelligence can save lives – if we let it. Medicine, among many other fields, is in the stone age compared to what we can achieve with joined human and machine intelligence working on new cures. There are scores of common causes of death that can be fixed with AI, from car crashes to pandemics to wartime friendly fire.

2. We believe any deceleration of AI will cost lives. Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder.

3. Our present society has been subjected to a mass demoralization campaign for six decades – against technology and against life – under varying names like “existential risk”, “sustainability”, “ESG”, “Sustainable Development Goals”, “social responsibility”, “stakeholder capitalism”, “Precautionary Principle”, “trust and safety”, “tech ethics”, “risk management”, “de-growth”, “the limits of growth”.

4. Accountability and oversight: none

5. OpenAI disbands another safety team, head advisor for 'AGI Readiness' resigns

1. Meta Oversight Board seriously concerned about Facebook’s ‘overenforcement’ of Harris-Walz nipple post

3. Whining Boeing Investors

1. Lawsuit Against Boeing's Board Seeks Accountability for Safety Failures

1. Ohio AG Dave Yost on behalf of Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio

2. The lawsuit contends that board members and senior management know about the ongoing unsafe practices but even today fail to address them, choosing instead to prioritize profits over safety and regulatory compliance.

3. “The failure of Boeing’s directors and officers to implement and oversee Boeing’s safety and compliance functions in good faith led to incalculable damage to Boeing’s relationships with its regulators, customers, lenders, potential employees, and the flying public,” the lawsuit says.

4. Congrats on the lawsuit!  Also, the 2024 proxy vote by OPERS:

Headliniest of the Week

1. DR: Microsoft CEO Nadella asked for pay reduction after security slip, but total comp still rose 63% (more than $30 million)

2. MM: H/t to Mr. CorpGov on his substack

Who Won the Week?

1. DR: He wins when he says and when he doesn’t says: Jamie Dimon Privately Supports Kamala Harris. He Just Won’t Say So.

2. MM: Shake Shack, the only fast food company not associated with e coli

Predictions

1. DR: Jamie Dimon Says you should feel safe eating at McDonald’s even though he wouldn’t be caught dead eating at McDonald’s. Also, the next CEO of Disney comes from Netflix

2. MM:  Ozempic cures e coli