MONDAY KETCHUP: Top ten including Public Square SPACs itself, billionaire mental health, and Zaslovian Venmo requests, plus board member of the week from UPS

Live from the shark-infested northeastern waters, it’s yet another Manic Monday edition of Business Pants. Joined by the Lord of the BS. In today’s swampy anthill called July 17, 2023: Top 10 Sexy Monday Stories and Director of the Week!

DAMION1

1. Tucker Carlson’s show on Twitter makes ad deal with anti-ESG shopping app

1. Tucker Carlson has agreed to a seven-figure ad deal with Public Square (PublicSq.), a conservative-friendly shopping app, for his Twitter show.

2. The move indicates that Carlson is looking to use his new program to lure conservative-friendly advertisers eager for a bigger platform.

3. Carlson started the show after Fox News parted ways with him following its settlement in Dominion Voting’s defamation lawsuit against the network.

4. Public Square

1. Small businesses you can trust. Make the switch to values-aligned businesses for everything from daily essentials to great restaurants near you.

2. Our Values: Pro-Life, Pro-Family, Pro-Freedom. Our mission guides everything we do. Businesses you find on PublicSq. are values-aligned by design.

1. We are united in our commitment to freedom and truth — that's what makes us Americans.

2. We will always protect the family unit and celebrate the sanctity of every life.

3. We believe small businesses and the communities who support them are the backbone of our economy.

4. We believe in the greatness of this Nation and will always fight to defend it.

5. Our Constitution is non-negotiable — government isn't the source of our rights, so it can't take them away.

3. Michael Seifert, Founder and CEO of PublicSq

1. Isaiah 12:2

4. Sebastian Harris., Co-Founder and COO

1. Last tweet: “So wild you can’t tell which gender your barista is these days.

5. Brad Searle, CFO

1. I actually lived in a 3-story house with 24 other Christians. It was insane. It was essentially a Christian frat house for people that weren’t in college, post-college. We had gals on the first floor.

5. PublicSq. Moving Closer to Going Public

1. Colombier Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company.

2. CEO/Chair Omeed Malik

1. Bank of America Executive Departs After Misconduct Claim

2. How Wall Street Keeps #MeToo Claims Out of the Spotlight: Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and other major institutions act privately to handle misconduct allegations

3. CFO/Director Joe Voboril

1. BofA Dismisses Two Staffers in Manager's Harassment Probe

1. Bank of America Corp. dismissed two staffers for insufficiently disclosing information as it examined a complaint of inappropriate sexual conduct by Omeed Malik, a former prime brokerage executive, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

4. Malik and Voboril featured in: The big-money donors backing DeSantis — and RFK Jr.

1. Malik and Voboril said they are attracted to the two candidates for their willingness to go against mainstream thought consensus.

2. Billionaires aren't okay — for their mental health, time to drastically raise their taxes

1. From threatening cage matches to backing RFK Jr., billionaires prove too much money detaches a person from reality

2. Paul Krugman of the New York Times argues that their money and privilege are rotting their brains: It may seem odd to see men of vast wealth and influence buying into conspiracy theories about elites running the world. Aren't they the elites? But I suspect that famous, wealthy men may be especially frustrated by their inability to control events, or even stop people from ridiculing them on the internet. So rather than accepting that the world is a complicated place nobody can control, they're susceptible to the idea that there are secret cabals out to get them.

3. Elizabeth Warren urges SEC to investigate Tesla over Twitter ties, corporate governance

1. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Tesla and its board of directors over possible “conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other negative impacts to Tesla shareholders” related to CEO Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover.

2. The nine-page letter, first obtained by CNBC, was sent to SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Monday.

3. Sen. Warren wrote that the Tesla board’s “apparent lack of independence” from Musk, combined with “inaction and incomplete disclosures, raise questions about possible violations of securities laws and exchange rules which fall under SEC’s jurisdiction.”

4. BlackRock offers a vote to retail investors in its biggest ETF

1. BlackRock will give retail investors in its biggest exchange traded fund the chance to participate in proxy voting in 2024, as the $9.4tn asset manager moves to rebut Republican claims that it pursues a “woke agenda”.

2. Investors in BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF will be asked to choose among seven different general policies ranging from voting generally with management to prioritising Catholic values or environmental, social and governance factors. Investors can also tell BlackRock to continue voting their shares. Customers will not be able to cast specific votes on individual companies.

3. The fund, known as IVV, has more than $342bn in assets, making this the largest retail proxy voting effort to date. Charles Schwab started polling retail investors in three funds last year, Vanguard ran a pilot project involving three funds this spring and State Street launched a larger programme in April.

4. 3 recent BlackRock votes

1. Deere: Shareholder Ratification of excessive golden parachutes: 41% Shareholders said YES; Blackrock said NO

2. Starbucks: Assessment of Worker Rights Commitments: 52% shareholders said YES; Blackrock said NO

3. YUM Brands: Annual Report on Lobbying: 41% of shareholders said YES; Blackrock said NO

5. 340,000 UPS drivers poised to strike over extreme heat, safe working conditions

1. The largest single-employer strike in U.S. history could frame worker power as a climate solution.

6. Prolonged Hollywood strikes could lead to ‘an absolute collapse,’ says Barry Diller

1. Diller specifically addressed artificial intelligence in the interview, which he called “overhyped to death” in terms of the impact it will have on writers’ and screen actors’ jobs.

2. Diller, a former Paramount Pictures CEO, predicted a domino effect should the dual strikes not resolve quickly.

3. Diller said to ease that disparity, top studio executives and top-paid actors could take a 25% pay cut as a “good-faith measure” to try to “narrow the difference between those that get highly paid and those that don’t.”

7. Deloitte Australia CEO Adam Powick admits he isn't worth his $2.3 million pay package in a public hearing over salaries and misconduct at consultancy firms

1. Deloitte executives were questioned about the company's integrity at a public hearing on Monday.

2. The hearing is part of a more extensive inquiry about consulting firms in Australia after eight partners were fired at PWC Australia for leaking confidential information about government tax plans to help multinational companies evade more tax, per Reuters. 

3. During the hearing, Deloitte Australia's CEO Adam Powick admitted to being overpaid.

4. The CEO, who reportedly earns $3.5 million AUD ($2.3 million), was asked by Senator Barbara Pocock: "Are you really worth seven times the salary of the Australian prime minister?"

5. He responded "no," and went on to say: "I happen to deeply recognize that I'm incredibly privileged to earn what I do for what I do," per ABC News. 

8. Rumsey to become first female chair of Cummins board

1. Cummins CEO Jennifer Rumsey will become chair of the company’s board of directors next month as the Cummins’ former CEO Tom Linebarger plans to step away after three decades with the company.

2. Not a surprise to FFA: 38% body; 46% power

1. Although worth noting that Rumsey has highest overall batting average (.719).... Everybody else .584 or under

9. Writers Requesting David Zaslav Pay Up on Lost Wages via Venmo

1. Writers disrupted David Zaslav’s time at billionaire summer camp by requesting the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO pay up for their lost wages via Venmo.

2. This was after a journalist discovered that David Zaslav’s Venmo is public

3. While the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) are striking for better pay and working conditions, many Hollywood CEOs and studio executives jetted off to the Sun Valley Conference between July 11 and July 14. Dubbed the “summer camp for billionaires,” individuals like Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, and Zaslav were spotted attending and chilling at the luxurious retreat as if the SAG-AFTRA strike hadn’t just been announced alongside the ongoing WGA strike.

10. Goldman Sachs accused of culture of bullying that made staff ‘sob through meetings’

1. Former recruitment chief is suing the investment bank for £1m

2. Goldman Sachs’ former recruitment chief has accused it of creating a “culture of bullying” that caused staff to “sob” through meetings and led to him having a mental breakdown. 

3. Ian Dodd, who left the bank in 2021, claimed that Goldman employees frequently “express distress” by crying and that “sobbing through meetings” was common behaviour, according to documents filed in the High Court. 

4. Mr Dodd, who was global head of recruiting, is suing the Wall Street titan for £1m, alleging that the pressure to work excessive hours caused him to have a mental breakdown. 

MATT1

Board Member, or BM, of the Week

340,000 UPS drivers poised to strike over extreme heat, safe working conditions

• Case study in why committees need real power - your BM of the Week is Christiana Smith Shi, head of the Compensation and Human Capital Committee!

• 4% influence (not great) at UPS

• Comp committee has a staggeringly low 26% of board influence, and the weakest member is the chair, Christiana

• Rodney Adkins is the strongest individual at 8% (still weak), and is the only one with a labor strike controversy to his name (Arizona, US: USD 30,000 class action settlement over alleged unpaid overtime wages at AVnet)

• Christiana bats 0.448 overall (3rd best on the board), joining Adkins (top performer at 0.520), Stokes (0.354) and Warsh (the board weakest 0.340).

• Stokes and Warsh have only been on the UPS board the last 5 years

• UPS Compensation and Human Capital Committee Charter excerpt: “Provide human capital management strategy and practices oversight, including relating to performance management, talent management, diversity, equity and inclusion, work culture and the development and retention of the Company’s workforce.”

• Here’s the amazing thing:

• UPS is “fake public” inasmuch as they have dual class shares, but their 10 to 1 voting power shares aren’t held by a shithead bro founder and his best friend - it’s held by 155,000 employees and ex-employees

• Management has <1% of total voting power

• The employees and ex-employees themselves can vote for Christiana - or against the CEO Carol Tome