Kroger’s CEO fired, State Street’s ESG loss, meritocracy is fake, and corporate blame games

Introduction

LIVE from your ESG-shaped Rubik's Cube, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at March 7th Studios, featuring AnalystHole Matt Moscardi. On today’s weekly wrap up: Kroger leaves the good part out, exploding rockets in Texas rain debris over Florida, and defining Meritocracy has become as difficult as defining Woke.

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. Kroger ousts long-time CEO after probe into personal conduct MM

1. Rodney McMullen, the Company’s Chair and CEO, resigned, effective immediately.

2. The only thing shareholders know is that “On February 21, 2025, the Board of Directors was made aware of certain personal conduct by Mr. McMullen and immediately retained outside independent counsel to conduct an investigation, which was overseen by a special Board committee

3. And that “Mr. McMullen’s conduct is not related to the Company’s financial performance, operations or reporting, and it did not involve any Kroger associates.”

4. It’s clearly pretty bad though because they are taking away his unvested equity awards and his 2024 bonus and firing a man who has been at Kroger for over 40 years and held every management job possible: 1) CEO, 2) Chair, 3) COO, 4) Vice Chair, 5) CFO, 6) EVP, Strategy, Planning, and Finance, VP, Planning and Capital Management.

5. Lead Director Ronald Sargent is the interim CEO and Chair. Which means that even in the interim this board has no sound governance principles.

2. Tariff stuff:

1. "Chaos": How American CEOs are reacting to Trump tariffs

2. Trump’s 25% tariffs take effect; Canadian PM calls it “a very dumb thing”

3. Target CEO joins swarm of Fortune 500 executives warning of bigger bills as Trump’s tariff fallout hits the grocery aisle

4. A top Jack Daniel's exec says Canadians removing US liquor from store shelves is a 'disproportionate' response to Trump tariffs

3. Good bye, Stefano:

1. Walgreens to Be Bought by Private Equity Firm in $10 Billion Deal

2. Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance have lost about half their value in the past year, as the chain has faced pressure in its retail and pharmacy businesses.

3. At $11.45 per share that’s a beautiful $2B failure for ol’ Stefano Pessina. His wife, COO Ornella Barra, only gets $36M.

4. At Quanex Building Products: 15% of shares were against Susan Davis (all others at least 93%) because she chairs the nomination committee on board with only one female director… Herself!

Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):

1. DR: Target's DEI retreat has sparked a 40-day boycott

2. DR: SpaceX's Starship explodes in space, again raining debris over Caribbean

1. The FAA briefly halted flights to several Florida airports, feels like a small victory

3. MM: Why State Street Lost US$35bn to Amundi & Invesco Over ESG MM DR

4. MM: Bourbon Is Banned, California Wine Canceled, as Canada Pulls U.S. Alcohol

Assholiest of the Week (MM):

1. Pass the buck

1. Arsonists Set Fire to a Dozen Teslas, Charging Stations Amid "Anti-Capitalist Coordination to Target Tesla" 

1. It’s YOUR fault anti-capitalists, not the board of Tesla who allows its CEO to be an open face Nazi sandwich who’s using the obscene money they paid him to purchase the government

2. Elon Musk tells Republican lawmakers he’s not to blame for federal firings

1. It’s YOUR fault American public, YOU elected our new king

3. More CEOs Are Getting Fired. Blame FOMO Boards.

1. It’s YOUR fault boards, even though you’re hand chosen by the CEOs and the CEO sucks, YOU’RE the ones to blame for firing them after they underperform

4. A top Jack Daniel's exec says Canadians removing US liquor from store shelves is a 'disproportionate' response to Trump tariffs

1. It’s YOUR fault Canada, even though Trump started a random stupid trade war to help Vice President DOGE Musk, YOU took it too far

5. Starbucks CEO Tells Workers to Step It Up After Layoffs

1. It’s YOUR fault workers we laid some of you off and now you have to work more

2. You’re going after meritocracy now? DR

1. Robby Starbuck vows to pursue firms doing DEI by any other name

1. You got your job… how?  You’re not a real person.  Your merit was doing music videos, then pivoting to a fake documentary, then being a white guy

2. Meanwhile…

1. Update on DEI—Federal Court Temporarily Blocks Most of the Administration’s DEI Orders, But Uncertainty Continues

1. This is the pattern - you HAVE TO FIGHT AND NOT CAVE ASSHOLES, because everything that’s happening is unlawful

3. Meanwhile…

1. Deloitte says office attendance will be considered as part of some employees’ performance reviews to decide their bonuses

1. So women who disproportionately take care of kids at home when they’re sick now get less bonuses, not because of merit, but because the boys

4. Meanwhile…

1. Billionaire 5-hour Energy founder says you can learn more about managing a business from your mom than getting an MBA

3. You’re welcome

1. Texas Leads U.S. Renewable Energy Generation by a Country Mile

Headliniest of the Week

1. DR: Sweetgreen is betting that you want fries with that salad

1. Sweetgreen mission statement: “Building healthier communities by connecting people to real food”

2. MM: Man Removes Huge Letters Reading "#1 Hair Implants" From His Gold Cybertruck After Relentless Bullying

3. MM: 23andMe Rejects CEO’s Takeover Bid of 41 Cents a Share MM DR

Who Won the Week?

1. DR: Jessie the Money Whisperer: for finally getting rid of her Tesla after buying a Hyundai last year: Hyundai stands by DEI, says it 'drives sales'

2. MM: Michael Bloomberg, who managed to get written up as the largest philanthropist in the country with headlines like Michael Bloomberg is America’s biggest donor with $3.7 billion in gifts: ‘I’ve never understood people who wait until they die to give away their wealth’... except that Mackenzie Scott gave away, according to reports, $19 BILLION overall and $2 billion in 2024 and wasn’t listed in any list of top donors for the year

Predictions

1. DR: Children of Google Workers order more Dominos Pizza and log increased iPad time: Sergey Brin says AGI is within reach if Googlers work 60-hour weeks

2. MM: American Express will sue one of its shareholders this year!  American Express Elects Michael J. Angelakis to Board of Directors