GOOD GAME: Prescription vapes, 5:1 CEO ratio, climate in exec pay, proxy perks, and IMMUNITY DIRECTORS

Live from the Vanguard Shareholder Proposal Proponent Hall of Fame, featuring a bronzed headless bust, it’s an all-new terrific Tuesday edition of Business Pants. Joined by Ari The Data Queen and Analyst-Hole Matt Moscardi! In today’s always charging but never charged battery called July 2nd, 2024: The Good Game and Matt’s Data List to honor the USA

Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE. 

DAMION1​​ 

Good Game

1. California is eyeing legislation that would make AI firms ensure their systems can’t be used to wipe out the electric grid or help build chemical weapons

1. Australians now need a prescription to buy a vape under new ‘world-leading’ law

1. Salesforce shareholders reject compensation plan for CEO, other top executives

1. 55% NO

1. Compensation Committee

1. Chair John V. Roos 93%

2. Neelie Kroes 98%

3. Craig Conway 96%

2. Target Value of Fiscal 2025 Long-Term Equity Incentive Awards $43.5M

1. Target Value of Fiscal 2024 Long-Term Equity Incentive Awards $15M

2. SHP Independent Board Chair (National Legal and Policy Center) 21% YES

3. SHP requesting stockholder approval of certain executive severance arrangements (John Chevedden) 5% YES

1. Dr. Bronner's CEO Salary Cap Based on Lowest Employee Wage

1. CEO David Bronner's salary capped at five times more than the lowest-paid employee

1. Uber and Lyft will pay Massachusetts drivers a minimum $32.50 an hour—and give state $175 million—in settlement deal over wage violations

1. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said the settlement resolves her office’s yearslong litigation against the two companies and stops the threat of their attempt to rewrite state employment law by a proposed 2024 ballot initiative.

2. Under the deal, Uber and Lyft will also allow drivers to pool together their hours driving for the two companies to obtain access to a health insurance stipend.

3. Drivers will be eligible for occupational accident insurance paid by the companies for up to $1 million in coverage for work-related injuries.

4. The agreement also requires the companies to provide drivers with key information — about the length of a trip, the destination and expected earnings — before they are expected to accept a ride.

5. Drivers will now earn one hour of sick day pay for every 30 hours worked.

1. Hawaii will decarbonize its transportation in 'groundbreaking' youth climate change settlement

1. Hawaii agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by 13 young people alleging the state had violated their constitutional rights with infrastructure that adds to greenhouse (GHG) emissions, exacerbating climate change. In the settlement, the state agreed to decarbonize its transportation system by 2045

1. Denmark will be first to impose a CO2 emission tax on farms

1. Denmark will introduce a tax on livestock carbon dioxide emissions from 2030, making it the first country to do so and hoping to inspire others to follow, the government said on Tuesday:  to help Denmark reach a legally binding 2030 target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels

1. BNP Paribas Asset Management to Require Portfolio Companies to Integrate Climate into Executive Compensation

1. Under its new voting policy, BNPP AM said that it will now require companies in energy, utilities, industrials and materials sectors, as well as companies identified as high greenhouse gas emitters, to integrate a climate component in executive remuneration policies, with the expectation to be extended to all companies by 2026. The firm added that the climate component must be “measurable, quantifiable, and relevant to the company’s sustainable development strategy.”

1. National Harris Poll Finds 76% of Retail Investors More Likely to Vote Their Proxy If Offered a Shareholder Perk

1. Oil Companies in Trouble as Renewables Suddenly Mean They're Producing Way Too Much Oil

1. According to a new report from the International Energy Agency, the world is headed towards a ludicrous surplus in oil supply that could see prices tumble and the industry's position falter — a forecast in no small part attributed to the growth in renewables, especially solar. This impending oil "glut," as the energy watchdog predicts, will come after a peak in global oil demand in 2029, plateauing at 105.6 million barrels per day. With a continued drop in demand in the following year, the supply will overshoot that figure by about 8 million barrels per day — a disparity that hasn't been seen since the lockdowns at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATT1

List throwdown:

America is a Public Corporation Now edition

• Supreme court rules Trump is immune basically from everything if he’s president (and Biden is currently immune?), which is something investors have known for a long time: boards and executives are basically immune from anything!

• So let’s find the most unaccountable directors:

• More than 2 boards in the last 7 years

• No totalitarian boards

• Elected this year with 98% or better vote FOR

• Bats in the bottom 25% for earnings and TSR

4. Rich Heyman

• 3 boards

• Bats 0.116 on TSR, 0.053 on earnings

• Elected to the Enliven Therapeutics board with 98.75% FOR vote in last election

3. Jason Wright

• 3 boards

• Bats .227 on TSR, .209 on earnings

• Elected to the Verint board with 99.18% FOR last election

2. Timothy Murphy

• 3 boards

• Bats .182 on TSR, .222 on earnings

• BONUS: 

• Bats .024 on controversies!

• 3 paths through him at Western Union - nice to have friends!

• Elected to Western Union board with 99.27% FOR last election

1. Alexander Wynaendts

• 4 boards!

• Bats .232 on TSR, .245 on earnings

• BONUS: 

• Bats .009 on controversies - so you get no returns AND highly controversial companies!

• 2 paths through him at Uber - nice to have friends!

•  In 2024, investors thought so highly of Wynaendts contribution, they elected him with a 99.3% FOR VOTE to Uber’s board