FRIDAY WRAP: Reddit’s dual class fake public IPO, Tesla can’t expand, Boeing’s “culture refresh”, and pork flavored everything

Introduction

IT’S FRIDAYYYYY!!! And we are LIVE, and ALIVE. This is Ari the Data Queen, joined by AnalystHole Matt Moscardi, Jessie the Money Whisperer, and Hazelnut Rallis. On today’s weekly wrap up: Damion gets triggered, social media trolls are allowed to make Sam Altman richer, corporate governance experts pretend to be corporate governance experts, and our favorite headlines of the week

Story of the Week (DR):

1. Reddit IPO MM

2. In yet another Glass Cliff CEO alert: Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has announced his resignation, amid scrutiny over alleged price-gouging tactics used by the Australian supermarket giant

1. He will be succeeded by the company's head of e-commerce Amanda Bardwell

3. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos completes $8.5bn share sale plan

Goodliest of the Week (AB):

1. U.S. lands unmanned Odysseus spacecraft on moon

1. Did you guys watch the stream? I got emotional lol

2. WE’RE BACK BABY!!! Last night was the first time since 1972 the US has landed on the moon!!!

3. NASA paid private company Intuitive Machines $118M to deliver instruments to the moon aboard its lunar lander, Odysseus. (Can you tell it’s dudes naming these things after other dudes?)

4. A SpaceX rocket launched the lander last week

5. This is next-gen NASA in action…  heavily subsidized *private* companies doing things… and while idk how I feel about that I am so excited that moon missions are back!!!

2. Reddit plans to reserve shares for its big users in IPO, WSJ reports

1. Has anyone ever heard of this before? Reddit is giving users who have “meaningfully contributed to Reddit community programs” (including moderators) the chance to buy shares in the company at the IPO price... typically reserved for employees and investors only. I probably find this way more touching than it is but I think it is the CUTEST THING EVER. 

3. Tesla faces rejection from locals for plans to expand German site DR MM

1. Berliners say “NEIN!” 

2. Residents did NOT like Tesla’s plans to raze down trees to expand the Berlin-Brandenburg plant. Tesla was hoping to double the output capacity of the plant to 1M cars per year.

3. This now goes to the local authorities to decide what ultimately happens but seems like an uphill battle…. Berliners like their woods. 

Assholiest of the Week (MM):

1. Judge Reed O'Connor

1. Anti-ESG lawsuit against American Airlines allowed to proceed - Pensions & Investments

2. "Defendants' public commitment to ESG initiatives motivated the disloyal decision to invest plan assets with managers who pursue non-economic ESG objectives through select investments that underperform relative to non-ESG investments, all while failing to faithfully investigate the availability of other investment managers whose exclusive focus would maximize financial benefits for plan participants," O'Connor wrote.

3. The defendants also said the plaintiff "neither alleges any facts specifically showing how investment managers' funds underperformed nor provides facts connecting the investment managers' proxy votes for ESG measures to the alleged underperformance," O'Connor wrote.

4. "At this stage, plaintiff need not plead the exact connection between the investment managers' alleged ESG proxy voting and the financial harm plaintiff suffered as a result."

5. Unbiased judge:

1. Repeal Roe

2. Repeal Obamacare

3. Anti trans

4. Federalist society

5. Basically - he’s from Texas

2. Jeff Sonnenfeld

1. Boeing is shaking up its ‘good ole boys’ culture–but the company still has a long way to go before it gets its production and financials right

2. To the credit of CEO Dave Calhoun, in the weeks since, he has been laser-focused on the three crucial areas we suggested as Boeing’s key priorities: governance and culture challenges, supply chain and production failures, and restoring mutual trust with regulators, customers, and the flying public. 

3. Already, since Boeing MAX planes were first grounded in 2019, a vast majority of the Boeing board has turned over, with the formation of a new Board Safety Committee consisting of almost entirely new members, as well as the creation of a new Chief Aerospace Safety Officer position.

1. DATA CHECK:Out of 79,000 active directors globally, just under 55,000 started since 2018 - that’s 70% natural turnover globally

2. According to MATH, 8 of the 13 Boeing board members are “new” - airquotes emphasized - in the same timeframe, meaning 62% of the Boeing board has been refreshed.  

3. I’m not a math scholar, but I believe 62% is LESS THAN 70% - this is not a company where “the vast majority” has turned over - actually less than average have turned over

4. Not to mention WHO has turned over - the entire board, as we established in show after show - is connected to Calhoun and Kellner and the idiots that are still there having approved the Max 8 in the first place

3. Mark Zuckerberg jokes that Sheryl Sandberg raised him 'like a parent'

1. "We joke that she like raised me as a manager and as like a parent almost," Zuckerberg said. "And I think that's true in a lot of ways."

2. As he puts it: "We were just a bunch of kids running around, building stuff we thought was cool."

3. The lesson here: if you’re going to start a company where you have all the power, Peter Thiel is telling you you’re a god, and your company will likely mark the beginning of the end of democracy and human civilization, be sure you hire mommy with good skin

Headlini-est of the Week (JS):

1. The MM giggles edition:

1. LGBTQ100 ESG ETF (NYSEARCA:LGBT) Stock Price Down 0.3% - THE GAYS ARE TRADING DOWN!

2. KFC rolling out 'Chizza' to American menus - POP QUIZ: IS “CHIZZA” A RAPPER OR A RACIAL EPITHET?

3. The growing popularity of degrowth - NOW TRENDING: TRENDING!

2. The DR gets triggered edition:

1. Bill Ackman spilled details about the time he was at the mercy of another activist investor—only to be saved by a ‘handshake’ deal with Jamie Dimon’s bank

2. Elon Musk is deriding a Tesla competitor for its 'Saudi Sugar Daddy'

3. Sam Altman is set to be one of biggest winners in Reddit’s IPO, with a stake that could be worth $435 million

4. The ones that made me giggle (I need some relief from my anger after all):

1. BP manager's husband pleads guilty to insider trading after WFH eavesdropping

2. Warren Buffett Drinks 5 Cans Of Coke Per Day At 93 Years Old — But He Was A Dedicated Pepsi Drinker For 50 Years Before His Neighbor Convinced Him To Switch To The 'Nectar Of The Gods' And Invest Billions

3. Starbucks introduces new pork-flavored latte

Who Won the Week?

1. DR: Rich jerks

2. AB: Twitter employees who ignored Musk’s orders to give reporters access to everythinggggg. Way to do your job in the face of a bully! And I hope you’ve already quit!

3. MM: Pork flavored everything

4. JS: 

Predictions

1. DR: Sam Altman buys something

2. AB: 

3. MM: Sam Altman buys all the Chizza

4. JS: