FRIDAY WRAP: Starbucks pivots on unions, Pornhub could regulate social media, the Business Roundtable is with Exxon, and Dr. Jones wins
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:
Story of the Week (DR):
Starbucks’ surprise pivot to work with its main union is a landmark moment for labor AB JS
On Tuesday, the company and the Starbucks Workers United union announced that they were beginning discussions meant to secure collective bargaining agreements and resolve litigation. As part of that announcement, Starbucks said it will start providing Workers United’s members with benefits, such as credit-card tipping, that it previously restricted to nonunion stores.
Boeing safety ‘disconnect’ ripped in scathing report accusing rank and file of covering up quality issues for fear of retaliation
Elon Musk is suing Microsoft-backed OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, among others, alleging they abandoned the company’s founding mission to develop artificial intelligence “for the benefit of humanity broadly.”
S.E.C. Is Investigating OpenAI Over Its Board’s Actions: The U.S. regulator opened its inquiry after the board unexpectedly fired the company’s chief executive, Sam Altman, in November.
Celeb director exodus MM
Oprah is leaving Weight Watchers after she acknowledged using a weight loss drug
The company said in the statement that Ms. Winfrey would donate the value of her holdings in WeightWatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington in part to “eliminate any perceived conflict of interest around her taking weight loss medications.”
Winfrey said that she will donate her interest in WeightWatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The company said that it supports Winfrey's decision to donate all of her stake to the museum during WeightWatchers upcoming trading window in March.
Joined at around $6 in 2015; peaked at over $100 in 2018; dipped to $3.17 last week; currently $3.50
Papa Johns is saying goodbye to Shaq
Goodliest of the Week (AB):
A Pornhub Chatbot Stopped Millions From Searching for Child Abuse Videos MM DR JS
A new report published this week by the University of Tasmania has found people looking for sexual images of children on the internet were put off and sought professional help to change their behavior!!
This was following the intervention of a ground-breaking chatbot trialed on the Pornhub website in the UK.
No, Wendy's says it isn't planning to introduce surge pricing
On an earnings call two weeks ago, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner was talking about the $20M Wendy’s is spending on digital menu boards and said it would give Wendy’s the chance to try out some stuff, including dynamic pricing.
WeightWatchers shares drop 24% after announcing Oprah's exit from board
No one cares about directors, unless that director is a celebrity shareholder who also promoted weight loss by lifestyle change but who ALSO admitted to taking prescription drugs for said weight loss?
As of 1/1/24 Oprah owns over a million shares worth $6.3M, she is the largest individual shareholder, she has been on the board of WW since 2015.
She will be donating those shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture upon her exit. However, this would’ve been worth a lot more money last year since WW has lost more than half its value so far this year.
Assholiest of the Week (MM):
Biden’s Green Factory Push Is Benefiting Republican States DR
BlackRock indicated its preference for companies to disclose the process by which candidates for board positions are identified, but clarified their intent is not to prescribe any particular board composition.
YOUR FUCKING JOB IS TO PRESCRIBE BOARD COMPOSITION
Exxon just got two big endorsements in its climate change lawsuit against its own shareholders JS AB
The Chamber of Commerce (always idiots) and the BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE submitted amicus briefs backing Exxon in suing Arjuna
Background: Arjuna ask: Shareholders support the Company, by an advisory vote, to go beyond current plans, further accelerating the pace of emission reductions in the medium-term for its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3, and to summarize new plans, targets, and timetables.
Why: Oil and gas peers BP, TotalEnergies, Repsol, and Eni recognize climate transition risks and have set more ambitious, medium-term emission reduction targets
Business Roundtable argues:
It’s abuse: A surge of activist shareholders have abused Rule 14a-8 to force onto corporate proxy statements a host of proposals addressing social and political issues. Many of these proposals have little or no relevance to the target company’s business. Some—like the proposal at issue here—threaten the target company’s well-being.
It’s expensive: The SEC has estimated that shareholder proposals can impose up to $150,000 in direct costs on a company per proposal.
The company spent $89k on Darren Woods’ personal security, $158k on personal use of the aircraft, and gave him a SAVINGS PLAN for $119k - to a man whose reported income was 36 MILLION
Only Exxon knows: As ExxonMobil has explained at length, constructing a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (which ExxonMobil has done) requires comprehensive knowledge of the company’s global energy business—from research and investment in new technologies, exploration, production, and product strategy to geopolitics and global energy demand.See id. ¶¶ 72-82. Balancing those myriad factors calls for the kind of business judgment possessed by ExxonMobil’s management.
Here’s your Business Roundtable board agreeing with Exxon’s idea to SUE AN INVESTOR FOR ASKING FOR LEGALLY ASKING FOR SOMETHING THEY DON’T LIKE:
Exhausting-est of the Week (JS):
Anti-woke still being ridiculous
During Monday’s (Feb. 26) Tournament of Champions quarterfinal, contestant Cris Pannullo chose a $600 puzzle in the “Speech! Parts of Speech!” category. The puzzle simply read, “Xem, Xyrs, Xemself,” to which Pannullo guessed, “What are pronouns?” Confirmed by host, Ken Jennings
The puzzle sparked swift backlash after clips of the episode began circulating on X, where many angered fans began using the hashtag #BoycottJeopardy.
Conservatives were vocally against the show’s decision to include the puzzle: “You evidently have a radical social activist using Neo-Marxist Newspeak writing for you,” one commenter wrote. “I suggest you stick to reality. It’s just “she” and “he” from the moment of conception & forever.”
NFL Has Become a Woke, Discriminatory, Anti-American Institution
“...we avoided the Super Bowl because the NFL is no longer the politically neutral, family-friendly organizer of “America’s Game.” It’s an anti-American, “woke” institution that engages in racial discrimination with apparent immunity from the Justice Department”
the NFL has implemented a symbol of division, the so-called black national anthem, at the start of every Super Bowl. Now, instead of singing the one patriotic song that expresses our unification as a people, the NFL has added a song intended for only one group of Americans, based on their skin color.
This racist, discriminatory move is part of the “woke” agenda pushed by the radical ideologues who have invaded so many of our institutions. They hate this nation, its culture, and its history, and they think America is the source of all the world’s evil.
Exxon just got two big endorsements in its climate change lawsuit against its own shareholders
Background: In December, activist investors Follow This and Arjuna Capital wanted Exxon to step up its 2050 net zero commitment to fighting not just its own emissions but those of its customers as well, and put the matter up for a proxy vote. In January, Exxon sued them to drop the matter, the first time in history a company had sued to block a shareholder resolution.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the nonprofit Business Roundtable group filed an amicus brief Wednesday in support of Exxon, arguing that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is too permissive of shareholder speech.
In other words: Just because an investor at the annual meeting wants to ask the company to do something, they shouldn’t be able to really ask.
“By opening the door to shareholder proposals pushing social and political agendas, the SEC has allowed a subset of activists to commandeer corporate proxy statements for their own parochial ends,”
THEIR OWN PAROCHIAL ENDS??? PRESERVING THE EARTH???? HOW SELFISH
Norfolk Southern CEO received major pay boost despite East Palestine derailment AB DR MM
Absolutely no accountability
The chair of safety committee, Michael D. Lockhart, wasn’t affected either
Who Won the Week?
DR: Oprah
AB: Shaq.
MM: Christopher Jones getting his doctorate
JS: Booklyn prison guards: Sam Bankman-Fried is dispensing crypto investment tips to Brooklyn prison guards
Predictions
DR: Howard Schultz buys 3% stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the makers of Kleenex, because after crying for a few weeks straight he grows to appreciate a really soft tissue.
AB: Oprah will get on the board of Novo Nordisk, company that owns Ozempic
MM: The head of Pornhhub’s IT is hired to regulate Facebook/social media
JS:
