FRIDAY WRAP: SEC’s new climate rule, JetBlue’s dead merger, ISS’s “ESG skeptic” policy, and Musk v. MacKenzie Scott

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: the SEC half-assed disclosure rules two years in the making, grandparents and teenagers are calling their representatives for the same reason, and MacKenzie Scott in the headlines for other than giving away her billions.

Story of the Week (DR):

1. Labor unions end proxy fight at Starbucks after bargaining progress AB

1. SOC Withdraws Nominees Citing Starbucks’ New Commitments to Workers

2. US lawmakers vote 50-0 to force sale of TikTok despite angry calls from users

1. The House Commerce Committee today voted 50-0 to approve a bill that would force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the company or lose access to the US market.

2. 20W

3. SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Represents Important Progress, But Falls Short on Key Metrics of Financial Risk MM DR

1. What's included:

1. “Material” climate-related risks, as well as any activities to mitigate or adapt to those risks.

2. The costs of severe weather events and other natural conditions, and the effect of those events on their business conditions.

3. Any climate-related targets or goals that are material to their business.

4. Processes the company has for identifying and managing material climate-related risk.

5. Information about the board of directors’ oversight of climate-related risks.

2. What’s not included:

1. Scope 3 emissions

2. And only those Scope 1 and 2 emissions the companies decide for themselves are “material”

4. Trian blames 'poor oversight' for Disney's problems in its push for board seats

1. “We believe the root cause of Disney’s underperformance is poor oversight from a Board that lacks focus, alignment and accountability”

2. “Board” (304 times)/”director” (99 times)

Goodliest of the Week (AB):

1. JetBlue, Spirit end $3.8 billion merger agreement after losing antitrust suit AB MM

1. Spirit shares went down immediately after announcement, but jetblue slightly up. It’s like they shed their downer friend.

2. US lawmakers vote 50-0 to force sale of TikTok despite angry calls from users DR

1. The House Commerce Committee voted yesterday to approve a bill that would force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the company or lose access to the US market.

2. If the bill passes in the House and Senate and is signed into law by President Biden, TikTok would eventually be dropped from app stores in the US if its owner doesn't sell. It also would lose access to US-based web-hosting services.

3. Boeing says annual employee bonuses will focus on safety

1. Under the new annual incentive plans, which will cover executives, managers and employees, safety and quality metrics will now account for 60% of the payout at Boeing's commercial unit

Assholiest of the Week (MM):

1. Investors’ valuation of proxy voting

1. Disney Shareholders Are Selling Their Proxy Votes Online - IndieWire

2. How about this for a proxy vote valuation multiple: 

1. A share of Disney is currently hovering at $118.  

2. Buying the vote is currently valued at $0.20.

3. That means investors currently value the vote, at a high given its a proxy contest, at roughly 0.01% of the share price

4. The current economic value to shareholder right value multiple is 590:1

3. That makes the fact that 0.2% of directors get voted out globally every year look positively impressive

2. Shut.  The fuck.  Up.

1. Elon Musk is lashing out at MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos' ex, for donating billions to charities for women and minorities

1. “Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse' should filed be listed among 'Reasons that Western Civilization died’”

2. White male billionaire donors are now full on deciding what is worth funding for the public, what is worth building in private markets, and attacking everyone who disagrees with them

3. Kissing the ass of conservative diaper babies

1. Exclusive: Proxy adviser ISS expands offerings for 'ESG skeptic' clients

1. They promise to only suggest 5% of shareholder proposals are worth voting for, PLUS they’ll vote with management on almost every board member… which is different… somehow…

2. “ESG skeptic” - data skeptic?  We hate using data voting policy?  “Ignore data we don’t like” policy?  I get offering “all options” - which ISS ALREADY DOES - but this is fucking stupid

3. They’re doing this in partnership with Bowyer Research, who they met because THEY CRITICIZED THEM ON LINKEDIN?

1. Bowyer has a whopping 56 followers

2. Jerry Bowyer, CEO, has 4,500 followers and spent a year as a small business accountant and got a theology degree

1. Author of “"The Maker Versus the Takers: What Jesus Really Said About Social Justice and Economics"

3. He has no data, just a fat mouth and nothing to back it except Jesus - website from 1998: https://bowyerresearch.com/

4. Meanwhile, Free Float has data on 220,000 individual directors power and performance, with 30 performance KPIs… how about a fucking DIRECTOR MERITOCRACY POLICY?

Headline-iest (ALL):

1. DR

1. Climate change effects Northern Nevada DR MM

2. Doctors Puzzled by Man Who Got 217 COVID Vaccines AB

3. The WiFi at Google's new Bay View office hasn't been working properly for months

4. Sergey Brin once hosted a bizarre baby shower where big-name guests wore oversized diapers and onesies

2. MM Cinnamon products sold at Dollar General, Family Dollar have elevated lead levels, FDA says

3. AB: Yum China CEO says consumers are growing more ‘rational’ as rising costs cut dining budgets

Who Won the Week?

1. DR: MacKenzie Scott

2. AB: Nvidia board members cash in stock in the $2 trillion AI company following blockbuster 27% run up in price

3. MM: Pepsi - the Doritos boycott is bringing attention to the fact that the conservatives didn’t hate that the trans woman said rape was cool once, they just hate that she’s trans

4. JS: 

Predictions

1. DR: Republicans sue SEC and weaken new climate disclosure rules even further; Larry Fink goes to a nice restaurant

2. AB: Rupert Murdoch gets dis-engaged again.

3. MM: Vivek Ramaswamy sues Jerry Bowyer for working with ISS to create a policy that was too woke, saying supporting 5% of SHPs is a form of communism

4. JS: