MONDAY KETCHUP: Comcast's NBCUniversal CEO steps down, BBY goes bankrupt, Zuckerberg Andi Owens's his employees, Goldman's DJ DSol problem, and Anheuser blames the woman

Live from 3 miles beyond nowhere, it’s yet another Manic Monday edition of Business Pants. Joined today by the Lord of the BS. In today’s feedbag called April 24, 2023: Sexy Story Updates and…what? Board Sabermetrics talk?

DAMION1

1. NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is stepping down following an 'inappropriate relationship' with a colleague

1. "Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal," Shell said in a two-paragraph statement. "I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret. I'm truly sorry I let my Comcast and NBCUniversal colleagues down, they are the most talented people in the business and the opportunity to work with them the last 19 years has been a privilege."

2. In the memo, Cavanagh and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said they were "disappointed" to share the news. "We built this company on a culture of integrity. Nothing is more important than how we treat each other. You should count on your leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace. When our principles and policies are violated, we will always move quickly to take appropriate action, as we have done here," they said.

3. Potential longer-term candidates include Mark Lazarus, who runs NBCUniversal’s TV and streaming operations; Cesar Conde, who heads its news division; and Donna Langley, chairwoman of Universal Pictures.

4. BS

1. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts: Lord of family firm Comcast: 72%/10%. 

1. 1% of shares/35% of vote: each holder of Class A common stock is entitled to 0.0634 votes per share and each holder of Class B common stock is entitled to 15 votes per share

2. Women: 6%/30%: no leadership roles

2. Bed Bath & Beyond & Bankruptcy 

1. You've only got a couple of days left to use Bed Bath & Beyond coupons after the retailer filed for bankruptcy

2. The retailer filed for bankruptcy Sunday, and will stop accepting coupons after this Tuesday.

3. It's struggled in recent years, closing stores and laying off workers to try to avoid bankruptcy.

4. The company, which failed to fully reckon with the rise of online shopping, said that store closing sales would begin on Wednesday.

5. BS

1. In May 2019, CEO Steven Temares was ousted by a group of activist investors who called for his resignation in a brutal 168-slide presentation. Several board members also stepped down at the behest of investors.

2. Women to the rescue: 78%/50% (4 directors) appointed to board in 2019

1. Too little too late

2. Also, still went with male CEO as former Target CMO Mark Tritton took over for interim CEO Mary Winston in Nov 2019

1. Tritton stepped down June 2022

3. CFO Gustavo Arnal fell to his death Sept 2022

3. Mark Zuckerberg grilled by angry employees who asked why executives received large bonuses during a year of layoffs and business turmoil

1. Zuckerberg, who is on parental leave for the birth of his third child since last month, hosted the call for employees who survived yet another round of layoffs enacted on Wednesday, focused on Meta's tech and engineering teams. He confirmed that the company, formerly known as Facebook, cut 4,000 employees in April, according to two people familiar with the call, in addition to the 11,000 workers let go in November. He admitted that the lastest cuts deeply impacted management, as expected and previously noted by workers, with about 20% of managers being let go or being forced into non-management roles.

2. One of the most upvoted questions by staff, according to the people, was why senior leadership received bonuses last year at a level of "exceeds expectations," while the company not only saw a historic stock drop, and enacted layoffs, but bonus stock grants for most rank and file employees was lowered and their performance was judged more harshly than ever. A number of perks and benefits have also been cut over the last year, as Meta looked to cut costs.

3. Zuckerberg explained on the call that several in the C-suite, namely Susan Li who became CFO after more than a decade with the company, "received good ratings because they stepped into new roles that they haven't held before and that they've taken on expanded scopes," a person present for the call said. Zuckerberg also argued that Meta's performance overall negatively impacted the executives, meaning a reduction to their bonus was "baked in."

4. The answer struck several employees as "shallow" and "very patronizing," the person present for the call said.

5. "Employees change roles all of the time with expanded scope and they don't automatically exceed expectations," the person added. "We are supposed to be outcome-focused."

6. Last year, Meta's stock fell to its lowest level since 2015, after months of shrinking revenue growth as it struggled to recover from changes to its advertising business, and spending nearly $14 billion on the metaverse, which spooked investors. 

7. According to Meta's proxy statement for 2022, each member of the C-suite received a bonus based on an individual performance multiplier. While an 85% multiplier would have shown they met expectations, all of the executives received a multiplier of either 125% or 165%, showing they are considered to have far exceeded what was expected of them. 

8. CFO Susan Li received a bonus of $575,613; CPO Christoper Cox received a bonus of $940,214 – the biggest bonus of all the executives; COO Javier Olivan received a bonus of $786,552; CTO Andrew Bosworth received a bonus of $714,588; and David Whener, who took on a newly created role of Chief Strategy Officer, received a bonus of $712,284. Sheryl Sandberg, who officially left her role as COO in September, received a bonus of $298,385.

9. BS

1. Who cares? This is Zuck’s world: 79%/11%

2. But I like nerdy proxy talk

4. Where Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon takes the corporate jet

1. Goldman Sachs has attracted a lot of attention over David Solomon's use of private jets. Here's an investigation into where the firm's two corporate jets have flown over the last 15 months.

2. There’s a lot to unpack here: but let me cut to the chase: investors are increasing uneasy with DJ D-Sol and DJ D-Sol is increasingly on a private jet to the Bahamas

3. BS:

1. I’m mostly just here to tell you we already predicted DJ D-Sol’s demise (as a CEO, not as a DJ or a human being) and here's how we know it: 16%/7%

1. That’s extraordinarily little juice for a combined CEO/Chair, especially when Lakshmi Mittal and Michelle Burns (combined 22%) keep looking at you funny when you forget to properly reseal the chive cream cheese

5. More Bud Light-Dylan Mulvaney Fallout: Marketing Executive Out Amid Far-Right Uproar

1. Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, has taken a leave of absence, according to AdAge, weeks after the brand was criticized and boycotted by far-right personalities for its marketing partnership with transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.

2. Heinerscheid will be replaced by Todd Allen, who most recently served as Budweiser’s vice president for global marketing, Anheuser-Busch told AdAge.

3. Anheuser-Busch also revamped its marketing staff so that senior marketing employees are “more closely connected” to the “brand’s activities,” a spokesperson said.

4. Heinerscheid’s absence comes three weeks after Mulvaney shared a video on social media indicating Bud Light sent her a can with her face on it to celebrate her one-year anniversary of publicly identifying as transgender.

1. That caused several conservative personalities to criticize the brand, including Kid Rock, who posted a video shooting cans of Bud Light while yelling profanities about the company.

2. Some Anheuser-Busch facilities have received threats of violence in recent weeks, according to CNN, though the company said it has prioritized the “safety and welfare of our employees and our partners”

5. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a statement last week the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” though he did not directly refer to Mulvaney or the partnership.

6. Heinerscheid, who has worked for Bud Light since June 2022, said in an interview with the Make Yourself at Home Podcast she intended to “evolve and elevate” Bud Light by “having a campaign that’s truly inclusive” in an effort to attract younger consumers. She also said Bud Light was “in a decline for a really long time” and referred to the company’s previous marketing tactics as “fratty” and “out of touch.”

7. BS

1. Female power gap: 32%:33%

1. This is a company that has obviously been trying?

MATT1

BS Note:

• Highest batting average on Comcast board goes to Naomi Bergman

• Bats .573, which makes her a starter

• Why is she winning?  Simple: she hasn’t been on the Comcast long enough to have one of the worst controversial business records in the S&P 500!

• Despite having a TEAM WORST .289 EBITDA batting average vs. team average .507, she has a TEAM BEST .896 in controversies where the rest of the team averages .137.

• She’s also on the board of Visteon, a Ford automotive electronics company spin off with a 4bn market capitalization