WOKE WEDNESDAY: Alternative democracy update, Cucker Tarlson talks M&M, and an anti-woke update quiz!

LIVE from the Vanguard Pickled Materiality Pavilion, it’s the ESG Industry’s ONLY weekly woke data podcast, featuring BS man Matt Moscardi and me. In today’s Extra Stupid Garlic called February 15, 2023: your alternative democracy and an anti-Woke quiz!

Our show today is being sponsored by ESGauge, your ESG data solutions provider

DAMION1

1. Let’s start with J & J Snack Foods (because why wouldn’t I?)

1. First of all: J & J Snack Foods??

1. I eat a lot of terrible food and even this one stumped me.

2. Slush Puppies

3. ICEEs

4. Luigi’s

5. Dippin’ Dots

6. Also at least 4 types of pretzels I’ve never heard of:

1. SuperPretzel

2. Brauhaus Pretzels

3. Federal Pretzel

4. New York Pretzel

5. If you have  SuperPretzel why do you need the others?

1. The origin story is cute: In 1971, Gerry Shreiber bought a struggling pretzel company in bankruptcy court for about $70,000.

2. The vote

1. Before we get to that: J&J is dominated by founder and Chair Gerald Shreiber: 73% influence; over 50 years of board tenure

1. So I know ESG data and research providers will tell you he controls only 21% of the company’s total voting power and isn’t even the CEO anymore! but let’s be clear:

1. His influence alone is 73%.

1. Add to that his daughter Marjorie Roshkoff

2. And BFF Peter Stanley who has been on the board for 40 years

3. The Nominating chair, Vincent Melchiorre, is a former J&J executive!

4. The compensation chair, Sidney Brown, he of two decades service, owns a trucking company that provided $662K in services to J&J in 2022

5. Then there’s CEO Daniel Fachner

6. As of November, only 0.33% of the board was truly independent!!

2. Is this even a real company??

3. The only good news I could find here is the name of its CFO: Ken Plunk

3. But you’re right, Strive and the anti-ESG wingnuts, let’s focus on BlackRock and Vanguard’s 20% ownership… because that’s the real story here, right? Larry FInk?? Amirite? And not the actual governance

2.  Our first NO on Say on Pay??

1. Delta Apparel: 61% said get outta here with that!

2. Why?

1. Probably saggy stock price?

2. And a bunch of discretionary pay-for-pulse stock awards that vest in less than 2 years

1. The Compensation Committee is two former CEOs and a politician (Glenda Hood)  who put in her bio that she was CEO of the City of Orlando and CEO of Hood Partners LLC but none of her other public ios online mention anything about being CEO of nothing… cities included

3. That sounds like “woke” shareholders to me

3. Smart Global Holdings

1. I just like this one because the reelected directors are named: Mark, Bryan, and Mark. Good for you, boys!

2. I should add that whereas the Marks received less than 1% votes against; Brian received 6% against.

3. Also, this is a company that makes smart whiteboards and they have a director named Mark Papermaster!

4. What the hell is going on here!!!!??

4. And finally, the first woke vote of the year? Tyson Foods

1. Shareholder proposal requesting a policy that the Company comply with World Health Organization guidelines on use of medically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals

1. Antibiotics overuse is known to exacerbate antimicrobial resistance (“AMR”), which the WHO describes as “one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.”

2. BlackRock (sorry, Larry FInk) and Vanguard control 6% of the voting power

1. Less than 5% said yes

2. What’s happening, Strive!? Larry Fink be the devil!!!

CUCKER1

MATT1

Anti Woke quiz:

1. Who said this: “it is not the place of government to tell corporations and their investors that they cannot invest”

1. Marco Rubio

2. AG of Texas

3. Ron Desantis

4. AG of Arizona

2. The verdict is in: the Super Bowl was:

1. Woke

2. A celebration of America

3. Which Business Pants guest is prepping a run for president?

1. Doug Chia

2. Matt Orsagh

3. Vivek Ramaswamy

4. ESGauge

4. Who said it: “The blowback is coming from how ESG is rated, which I agree with the critics, is totally broken”

1. A fake public company CEO who, with his co-founder, owns a whopping 82% of the board power

2. A company with two women on a seven person board, and the women own a massive 2% of board power

3. A company with a board full of young directors

4. A top rated ESG company

5. How much would it cost Indiana to discriminate against asset managers who discriminate against oil and gas?

1. $22 in postage to send letters to all of them

2. $100m in fees to transfer asset managers

3. $6.7bn in pension fund costs

4. $0 because you go woke, you go broke