Transcript
That's working. Come on, let's celebrate. It works. Live from Stanford's, non-elite Student Center. It's an all-new terrific Tuesday edition of business pants, featuring analysts whole map mascara. Yeah, I'm not a Davos. I you know, I just used to go to Davos this year on today's Bill Ackman. Still loves Jonathan, Ross called January, 12th 2026, no January 20th. Sorry the, who do you blame game? Can we just blame Bill? Ackman? That guy seemed. So on a take the credit for everything Jonathan Ross, don't eat her. The Department of Homeland Security told, they told CBS News. Don't say his name but Bill Acme. Gave him money. I guess. I don't know today. Yeah, go ahead. Did they really say? Don't say his name? Yeah, the department of Christy Noam, she is the Department of Homeland Security, right? The chief, what are they called? That the secretary? And she called doxxing and she said, do not say his name, Wow. He's a public to which the reporter employee. The reporter responded. Well this name is our. We already know his name. I mean, it's everywhere. Our show today is being sponsored by free, float analytics and free flow, analytics.com. The only platform measuring board power connections and performance for free. Now, I hear rumors that are data. Team is still I wouldn't say they're what are they up to tell me Wranglers up to they're wrangling? So there's a lot of data to Wrangle a lot of calculations. This is a lot. I've talked to them. There are 270,000, people in their database 10,000 companies in their database, you know, a half dozen performance metrics, it takes 70 individual metrics to, you know, calculate the influence numbers that they have. And then you have to get derivatives off of that, like, you know, gender power gaps, and all sorts of, it's a very complicated system. I've seen under the hood, they let me look and I get it, they're wrangling some data, they've had some problems with vendors and Gelling. But I, you know what? I got to be honest. It's really close and it's really cool. Maybe they should get a EV. An EV database because when you looked up that hood, it's just a big dumb battery, isn't it? Uh, you know what? Part of their problem is, they refuse to do everything with AI. They will not say much. They like combustion engines. Yeah. Like they're, they're like analog because they want to get it right levers. And I think they just want it to last, you know, like, you know, you know, like you bought a car from 1947. It still drives. Now, even if once every 14 months. All right. I want you got, I wasn't gonna start here, but we were talking off air and I got triggered by this. I wasn't, I, I wasn't Planning to talk about Martin Luther King Day? No. I mean, I should have, but I wasn't just because I feel like every show, I kind of tried to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King with everything that my perspective on the corporate world. But, but this triggered me and I, I need to, I need to mention this. So I showed you a post on LinkedIn from State Street and then you responded with a better one from the incoming CEO at Walmart. John, furner. And I'm going to paraphrase what he said. He said, he again, he posted this on LinkedIn. Along with two weird pictures, one of him standing in front of Martin Luther King and then one of like a black women in a, some singers singing. Yeah, the gospel. Yeah. Little cheesy there. Okay, here's his post and this is actually, this is actually what he actually said, except for I, I'm gonna paraphrase as you'll see darker. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Legacy reminds us blah blah blah during our annual MLK Day celebration. We reflected on blah blah. We care we care for people, blah blah blah. We strive to be honest, fair and courageous. We put others first in the work. We do to help people live better when we lead with care show. Respect and do what's right? We honor Dr. King's Legacy through action, and continue building a Walmart that reflects our purpose and values. I want to quickly talk about Walmart. I opened up the 2025 proxy statement so the outgoing CEO Doug McMillan made roughly, 27 million dollars, which is a CEO pay ratio of 930 to 1, which means by 11:14 a.m. on January 1st, He earned the median workers entire year of Labor, 11 a.m. right by late by Martin Luther, King's late by Martin Luther King Day. He'd already amassed 1.4 million dollars. It in Pay, which is the equivalent of the lifetime earnings of 48 median. Walmart associates, you got that. By Yeah, by Martin Luther King day, which is as you know in January he had already amassed the lifetime earnings of 48 medium, Walmart associates as of Martin Luther King Day, the combined net worth of the Walton family has reached a historic 513 billion dollars every year. They the Walton family receives about 3.4 billion dollars just in dividends, just in dividends the Walton film he gets three point four billion dollars. Which is roughly about they earned 386,000 dollars an hour just by being Walton family heirs and I want to remind everyone that one of them is on the board. I want everyone and don't say MLK. When you're talking about about this man. I hate that. I hate people saying MLK day. It is his name was Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King was literally campaigning. For a living wage in Memphis when he was shot by the FBI, and with everything going on with ice. It's just a, it's a weird kind of cycle of History here, but but John furner incoming CEO at Walmart. It's your move buddy. Like like Martin Luther King was literally campaigning for a living. Wait, wait, I don't know. I don't know what you're complaining about. John furner. Has a living wage, okay? I mean he made a lot by Martin, I mean day, he post, fine, just stop. Have you mentioned, courage, had the courage? John furner. Okay, that's it. I I had to do that. All right, let's play the game, you blame? Yeah, yeah. I'm starting with a goofy one. I like goofy because we gotta let go light in the load here. Everything's so serious. WestJet, WestJet, it's a Canadian Airline owned by Onex Corporation WestJet, reverses cramped, seating layout after vial viral videos, show passengers, knees pressed against seats. I applaud this, I hate, I hate my knees being pressed. Like, I'm not even that tall. I'm six foot two eight, but these planes flying. So that's, it's really not like I'm not Cooper flag here, buddy, but it's, I mean, that's like a professional, like, that's our comparison. Can I tell you what jet did they did this in October. They so they, they added some rows of seats and they made the economy class seats non reclinable. Oh, but you could pay extra for a just a little seats. I mean West yet, you're so that's kind of sick. No. so, Um, who do you blame? All right. Okay, about wait. Yeah about the reversal of the sea or the seats themselves. Well, let's just play the game. Okay. Okay. Just have a little fun with this one. Do you blame Samantha? Sam Taylor. She was appointed. Chief experience officer in March. Oh, that's a bad experience. She started as Chief marketing officer, how do you go from Chief marketing to Chief experience? But she she's in charge of the guest Journey, but I thought it'd be nice like to start with a woman, right? You could play a woman kind of like a Cracker Barrel, right? That'd be kind of cool. We love blaming women for stuff. Yeah. Maybe do you play in the stakeholders, for the reversal of the Paul say the so the customers The Travelers complain, they made videos, right? The the employees, the pilots and flight attendants race, concerns journalists, Reuters, Reuters reported on this labor unions, they they chimed in. So do we blame stakeholders for causing a kerfuffle making making? I like the making the corporation do a thing like this is the fastest forget Cheryl. The proposals. This is the fastest way to get at it, right? Cause of her full I mean I like the pull quote, you have for the for the labor unions. The president of the, the union working WestJet cabin, Personnel. Yeah. Quote, it created a hostile working environment for us as cabin person, how angry customers because every customer's like this sucks, everything about this sucks. Although In fairness customers, Don't fly West yet and or don't fly it all every flying everywhere. Suck. But everything sucks. They all suck. The reason why I mentioned the stakeholders those that, as we're entering a season where we can no longer have Sherlock Jolla proposals is, are we down to like taking viral video? This is why I capture the store like oh, we down and just taking viral videos and complaining and just praying that The board and the executive, see you complaining is that it is that where we're down to, isn't it? I mean the Arc of probably the problem is the ark is long because the same viral videos that get this reconfigured, you know, Bots induced viral posts by Robbie Starbucks gets WestJet to remove Dei if you want to like so so it's like that's you know, like the but we don't listen to him. Is he how about over the long term? How about in the future? We listen to your labor unions. We listen to the journalists, we listen to the employees and customers that they don't like, they don't ask them first. They don't say to their employees. Like what do you think about this? And now, let's get to the Crux of why I picked this company. There's always a nerdy governance Crocks. Okay, do we blame Onex Corporation? That's the way they own WestJet. Which is really a man named Jerry Schwartz. He's the founder and board chair. He gets an annual chair of one million dollars. I don't really know how the chair he maintains, 100% control of the multiple. This is a Canadian company. He but they're in our database. He maintains 100% control, the multiple voting shares of Onyx essentially, which means that he has 60% of the total voting power. Okay? And yeah, yeah, he's a 70% and free flow analytics so you could quite easily blame Him Jerry shorts or Onex Corporation or finally? Do you blame all stupid us dual-class dictatorships? Who do not do this? Here's what I found, this is why I'm applauding this story and maybe maybe there's a reason why they are receptive to their stakeholders because look what they did in 2023. Onyx, shareholders approved, a plan to implement a sunset on, Jerry Schwartz's, special voting rights, which means there was a three-year Sunset that they voted on and passed. Meaning that in May of this year, he is gonna lose all of his multiple voting. Share, this is a beautiful blueprint know, I mean, this can be done I maybe, I guess not anymore. Okay, can you to our real like actual intelligent listeners or or fans of the show? I'm thinking of people like Anne Lipton, Is there a mechanism that we can get this kind of a vote on the on the Slate anymore? Yes, you can. You can single. You can move to single class voting, but you cannot move to dual class voting. Okay? So here it just takes bylaw. Amendments, the problem is that do the dual-class dictator has to approve like they have to vote on it, right? Like, which means it never happened. So, never. So, what happened here is that Jerry Schwartz agreed. I have to go back and look into this, this vote, because I heard he was, there wasn't allowed to write, right or he agreed. And I'm gonna fly up on this, but it would be super Canadian for him to agree, wouldn't it would be the most look Canadian thing ever. Just the best thing I found in a while I not only did they capitulate to stakeholders but they actually they created a sunset provision on these horrible dictatorship shares. So I I just wanted to point this out, I don't know where you go with this. I don't know who you want to blame. I don't know where you want to go with any of this. I mean, you kind of have to blame like look if you're honest, you have to blame Jerry Schwartz for everything because he controls it like, right, like Like that's what you have to do, but I am going to blame Sam, Taylor in this case. because, Like why not? I don't know if Sam Taylor stood up in the meeting where they were like, you know what? We can do, we can put the seats on top of each other and make you paid. Have your seat not on top of a little extra Revenue. Yeah, like Sam, Taylor probably is sitting there. Like, I don't know if she rose raised her hand and said, you know, as the head of experience? Yeah. For our customers, that will be a bad experience. It might be well or not, but clearly, she still working there. And clearly, it wasn't bad enough for her to be like, I don't want any part of this. This is horrible. Horrible idea. And I'm gonna go find a job somewhere else. There you go. So, I'm just gonna blame her doing it. Just to blame somebody. All right, I'm gonna do one night. You ready for one of mine? Um going back to Walmart. Oh coincidence or not. Are you talking about? You know, talking about the same thing? Know. Okay. Slightly different. I saw this headline. Walmart International CEO, cath, Maclay to step down. Yes. So, is this part of John furner is part of his leadership regime as this was happening. So there's, there's a number of executive changes, which I'll get to take over collaborate. First, he takes over February 1st, Doug McMillan steps down. Take care of McMillan, will be on the board executive chair until June of this. That's right. He's actually leaving right? He's actually leaving but he's still an advisor to her until January of next. But I called like Governor's rectory. I call the victory. He's actually gonna vacate the board in 2026, that's kind of, that's kind of cool. It's it's weird that we call that a victory now. But remember I made a prediction last year that he was, he was going to leave Walmart and he was gonna prepare a presidential campaign. So let's see. That's true. It's not likely to be the second part. All right, do you blame ya? Kath McClay Walmart International CEO leaving where she going the half. Exiting Doug McMillan, the current soon-to-be EX on the board, but soon to be ex board member. Doug McMillan, McClay was under MacMillan for the entire her entire tenure at Walmart. She actually what he raised her to the CEO of the international division. It was like a choice of his, right? She might have been one of the choices to take over. I'm guessing so correct. If she was a protege of McMillan, she Rose through the ranks under McMillan. What did McMillan pass over her? When he chose John furner because we know the like we know that the Waltons, you know, on the Dual class shares. So they're making any decisions, McMillan was the CEO and chair. So he's making, you know, most of the day-to-day decisions. So somewhere in there, they pass over McMillan's involved in passing overlay. So so to be clear she was the CEO of Walmart International and John furner. Was the CEO of Walmart us. Is that what worked? What was he was? CEO of Sam's Club. Okay, okay, Sam's Club. So, Sam's Club. All right. So which brings us to John furner himself incoming CEO? John who's the, who's the white guy who became CEO? Which is the one, right? Interesting news stories ever. Finally a white man. Got a shot at Walmart executive job at Walmart. Yeah, I mean I'm just happy because Robbie Starbucks, no longer has to talk about Walmart, Dei and all that. Right. This would be the correct decision, right? This is the maritime, the meritocracy it works. This is the maritime project and and furner started as a sales clerk. He was like an hourly clerk, you know, at Rags to Riches a Walton joint. Yeah. Um, he was at Sam's Club for as a CEO for a long time, which is another Walton. Joint. Sam's Club is owned by the wall. Yeah, I don't know much about family, I don't know much about. That's like the Costco light kind of its the other competitor. That's the one that kind of sucks, there's Costco, BJ's and Sam's Club, but yeah, it's cost, goes the good one and the other ones kind of sucked. That's that's how I understand. That's great analysis. Berner. Um, furner McMillan and Walton family. Obviously, you know our are doing like the succession now and it turns out they named David Gugino. The new CEO of Walmart US passing Maclay, Walmart us is 2/3 of Walmart's Revenue. So that's the big job. If you're not the CEO being the CEO of Walmart us is the big job. They gave Chris Nicholas maclay's seat. So macleay announces leave, Chris Nicholas takes place seat. Seth Dallaire was made Chief growth officer. As part of this, massive executive restructuring rounding out in all male promotional cycle of new executive. I like no new women a major positions. Okay. So maybe mclay looked at John furner get the job and furner like shuffling things up and he's like, I'm gonna put this big swinging dick over there, that big swing and go over here. And she read the tea leaves. And she just said, now women have the chief legal and the chief people off. Or jobs and that's it. There's no where for me to go here I, you know, ferners made it clear. There's nowhere for me to go. I'm not gonna wait 10 or 15 years to get the CEO job. Here, I'm out. Do you think maybe that's so furner? Wouldn't she can play, would it interest you if he also divorce his wife and and got married to a man? Would that be kind of a cool like ending to the story? Like, he just replaced all the women with men burner? Yeah, for yeah. That'd be nice. Yeah, that guy's Circle. Can I just tell you this great tidbit about John furner. He graduated from the Sam. M Walton College of Business. Oh well that's why he know I'm not. I'm not kidding. Yeah, that does help. That's the business school at University of Arkansas. It's called the Sam Waltman College of Samuel Waltons. This is just called the Walmart school really, but whatever? Yeah, well honestly, yeah, or the Sam's Club. All right, so John Berner is cleaning. He's getting rid of the women who was cleaning out, she reads the tea leaves and says, this is all, you know, white guys. Getting the job all the way guys. I don't know if you, did you miss that? The new It looks like the new CEO of Sam's Club is a black woman. Yes, but they're not, they they're not necessarily on the executive committee. Okay? So, it's still what they should be like, but she should be, but she should be in the succession plan to replace burner, right? If Furniture screws up, right? He came from Sam's, Club know. I mean, that's not usually the way it works but your name is, letrice Watkins. All right, go ahead. I saw, I saw her too. Did you do you blame the compensation and management development committee, who according to the company charter? Says their quote periodically review and recommend to the full board succession planning practices for the company, CEO and other executive officers. So there is a committee on the board whose job it is to do the periodically review and planning practices for executives, okay? That committee is constituted by Carla Harris. Who's the chair? She's a black woman. Yeah, I know that she does have the name multi-cultural in her title at Morgan Stanley, like the multi-cultural Innovation. Okay, so that's cool. But apparently, she did not apply Multicultural to the Walmart executive Search did not seem Multicultural. Do you blame Marissa Mayer? Oh, and yes, it's that Marissa Mayer. Marissa Mayer, Was on the board Marissa. Mayer's, also, on the board of Starbucks with Brian Nichol and she's on the board of AT&T, where a man named Randall, Stevenson used to be CEO. Why do you mention those two names? Because also on this committee is Brian Michael, the CEO of Starbucks, which obviously has no conflict by having Marissa mayor on the same. I'm sure he spends a lot of time thinking about this committee at Walmart. And also, on this committee's Randall, Stephenson CEO of AT&T was no conflict of interest by having Marissa mayor on the board. Also worth mentioning that Tom Horton, is another board member not on this committee. He's the Xeo of American Airlines. He was the CFO at AT&T under Stevenson. This is so again, this is the part. I don't understand. Like you're, you're compiling a group of individuals to help provide independent oversight. Look, why do you want like a bunch of buddies? You can't find anyone else, don't you just it's like being A writer and like refusing to have like anyone read it or edit it or, you know, it's like it's just come on, a little, a little help, a little proofreading, what are you doing? It. And then finally, on this committee is a sheer marotta. Yeah. Who is from Google via YouTube? Yeah. Who would appear to have no links except when you look at Marissa Mayer's, past and find out she worked at Google in Search and maps and led the search while Mareta was at Google doing YouTube. So, they have a direct conflict, okay? You're talking about a very small pool of individuals who have decided who's job. It is to periodically reviewed. Succession plan. Yeah, I don't for the exactly. I don't think they're very involved. That's my guess. Or finally, do you blame Kathleen herself who just couldn't cut it? Listen clearly couldn't cut it now, listen. this is a difficult over, this is a difficult one because Doug McMillan staying. I don't know. Well, he is leaving actually. You know what? I it's not. I'm not blaming Doug McMillan. I actually think he is out. He's gone. He's this is not like Brian Cornell at Target. He's actually leaving. I don't think he cares anymore, he's done. Now, John furner would be the obvious choice because he's, he's cleaning house, his ex, he's bringing his peeps. The committee, I could blame for other reasons because that pay committee that management development Community. They're not they're sleep with the wheel, they're not doing anything. There's no way that they pit, they're paying attention to any of this. They don't know what's happening. They don't care. They're busy. A busy ganging out the one I'm yeah they're just they're busy with other jobs and other things and they have friendships and they're just listening to John furner that just listen to John put that. But the one I'm actually gonna blame is is Catholic because, you know, wow, I'm blaming for Just an obvious reason, which is that she's probably I don't think she was. I think she's leaving. I think she's like screw this because I because she got turned down. I hope for her sake that she knows, like it's time to leave. Like I'm never gonna be CEO here. It's like kind of being like the you're the second prince in a monarchy. So you you leave the family and you go to another country and try to be that another family because you never gonna be king because you're the brother, right? You're the younger brother, right? Like I think she's oh, I think we'll see her land. A pretty big jump. Maybe she'll be a Fortune 500 CEO within the next six months. Maybe that's what we're going to see. That's where I like throwing her in as a bit of a joke telling, you know, and you went for it just like I picked. I guess. It's just like I picked Sam Taylor. I don't see it as a joke. I see her throwing her hands up being like, you gotta be kidding me. Like John furner picking. John furner over me. Like, that's what I bet you. I mean, it's, it's feels like no surprise that she's leaving the minute. John furner takes over. Do you like, isn't that like, I hate that guy. Is that like an? I hate that guy move. So, all right. What do you got next? um, God. Where am I? I'll save my depressing one for last. Matt Damon says Netflix wants to make action movies differently to account for shorter attention spans. Okay. This is this, is this this bothered me that I you can tell. Like I'm not I'm not very creative really, when it comes to this company and show because, you know, I was a writing major at college and I was also a minor in Black studies and film, right? So the course, the two things I'm talking about Marvel, the King day, I'm talking about film. I'm such a, I'm such a predictable, bored caricature, right? I'm such a bore, but this really Drew my attention because I want to point out five of quickly. I'm gonna try to do this quickly, five of the reasons why the art of filmmaking is being completely subverted by Netflix and and commerce, and and social media. But here's some new rules. For filmmakers, dictated by Netflix, the say, what you do rule, right? So they're now asking to put into scripts that wait, is this? This is true actually like Netflix. Yes, release this as some sort of yes. So instead, so as an example, instead of instead of like showing that I because, you know, film is a visual art, instead of showing the character is sad, you they want. Explicit dialogue character saying things like, I'm just so sad right now as an example. Right. No, I'm serious because because and the backdrop to this is that that there is data. Now showing that 94% of people use a phone while watching TV 94%. Even that was hot that I have. But so that's that's to say what you do, rule the heightened audio cues so they want more audio hooks. They want occasional loud. Things that occurs that you look up from your phone? No, I'm serious. I'm serious, the worst. This is the worst you've ever said. The other one was the depressing, won the first 10 minutes mandate. So no, no slow Burns know, like, no like mysterious. They used the example of 2001 A Space Odyssey. The Stanley Kubrick move. I don't know if you've ever seen that but takes a while for that movie to, to get into it. Sort of, I mean, you know, it takes a while here. You're basically saying the movie Alien wouldn't exist. No. Because alien took, like, 40 minutes for anything to happen because they're worried about they say that in the first two, to five minutes, people hit their back button and they start over Center. This one, is the one that got me. I hated this one centered framing. They, they want you to put the Fret, the action. The center of the frame, makes it easier for people when they look up from their phones to see what's happening that they don't want you to to goof around and they don't want you to like take the whole thing seriously, right? They want you to look and finally, increase recapping. And this is what Matt Damon was talking about day. Want you to that, they want the characters in the dialogue to remind viewers of the plot periodically, as the movie goes on, they want you to like restate things. And the example they gave is a is an actor saying. So let me get this straight. We have to get the key from the volt before the guard returns. In five minutes, they want you to repeat, I'm serious. This is the worst. This is bad. I yeah. So the last movie I the movie. I watched maybe most recently other than watching stranger things, which is in a movie. I watched Train Dreams. Did you see this is on my list. It's supposed to be a beautiful philosophical, but that I don't, I'm surprised that movie even got made, right? Isn't it? Now, one of it. No. These things apply to Train Dreams, nobody's one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen critics and nerds are watching this movie, that's the reality. Unfortunately, right? That's supposed to be a beautiful, neither a Critic. Nor a nerd. I watch like crap, like, I'm fine with crap. I, I mean, I had my kids re-watch Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure that like crap. But yeah, I mean, it kind of is when you rewatch it pretty bad. It's pretty bad. But but like the fact is none of these rules apply to Art like, okay? But as soon as you create a rule like that, it is antithetical to, yeah, I defy you to go back to your Netflix account and find I'll give you an hour. Can you find five other movies, like Train Dreams, honestly? Like, I don't know. I don't, I wouldn't even know how to look. There's so much shit in there. Yeah, I do. Am I blaming each of those items because each one of them is the phone. That's the phone. That's okay. That's one of your choices. That's the background to this to the hoodia Blame Game. Do you blame just Netflix in general? Because this is a man, this is coming from Netflix and that's and I'm talking about co-ceos. Ted sarandos Greg Peters. I'm also talking about Reed Hastings and I gotta add in j-hope because I mean, j-hope never dies in there for the entire time. Yeah. He's been by read side out. You left out, Nancy killed Gore. Who's on the board who actually worked for Netflix? All. So, but is now considered independent, for some reason, there were other people, I was gonna add like the chief content officer and blah, blah blah, but I thought these four were kind of the Four Horsemen, you know? Like the four. Yeah, I think you're right. So, Netflix play Netflix, did you do you blame the drugs CEOs? And by that, I mean, the algorithm CEOs, right? So, because again, 94% of people were using their phones while watching TV and movies, and that You could expand this list, but I focused on tiktok CEO, right? Who tiktok is wildly considered the pioneer of the short form video. Um, I thought that was Vine. Like, I don't know what, you know. Yeah, I just ripped off vine again. This is all debatable, but but didn't but tiktok specifically the algorithm. Yes, exactly. So it's algorithm is specifically designed to provide intermittent reinforcement like a slot machine. So they're really, they're really trying to keep you hooked medicine. You Mark Zuckerberg Zuck recently, pivoted, to pivoted, Facebook to Instagram reels. I think the whole company is Instagram reels. Basically, that's what people are completely lost in. And he did that to compete with tiktok. This that's still like the world of the passive scroller. I swear when you're on like the Subway or bus, that's what people are doing. They're like passively scrolling through Instagram or do you blame. I also added Youtube CEO Moen. He he is under his leadership. They came up with YouTube shorts. But but, you know, look, I don't know. You could add what you could double down on Moen because he is the he's also on the board of Starbucks, another drug company. So, oh there drugs in recently, even the YouTube co-founder Steve Chen warned, that short videos are shrinking kids attention spans. So anyway, do you blame? So it's Netflix the drug use? Do you blame the smartphones that you said? And here, I'm going to say Is it former Apple CEO? Steve Jobs? I think Steve Jobs should take credit. For finally, coming up with the Prototype that got people to, to believe in smartphones. I guess. I mean, someone eventually would have done it, but he married. There was the iPod Touch, I think with a phone and then all hell broke loose, right? He made it easy. To play with your phone, right? Isn't that what he did basically? I mean, yes, yes. Okay, so you play Smurf bones, um, including Steve Jobs, or how about this? I found. I really dug for this one. But the last one was. Do you blame Stanford? Okay, because the whole institution because I found this guy BJ Fogg, he runs the Stanford persuasive technology lab which is already kind of bothering me. They call him the father of persuasive Tech. And they stayed that he taught many of the early, the founders and early employees of Instagram, Facebook all and he had off the Fogg behavior model. Which taught Engineers how to use triggers and rewards to change human behavior through software. He provided the scientific framework that allowed tech companies to treat the human brain like Hardware that could be hacked for maximum engagement. So this is BJ Fogg at Stanford and his persuasive, technology lab. So there, there are your four choices. What do you blame? Who do you blame? Possible to blame like a. Feser for me. I like I, I know I actually it wasn't BJ, fuck. I'm blaming Stanford just generally stand for it. I mean I like His his name is already like ironic. It seems like the frame log behavior model. Yeah. Um, I hate I hate everything about what he's what he's teaching, but it's hard to blame him for what now having a theory like there are people who have horrible theories all over the place but it takes well some yeah. Jackass to actually make that theory a reality for, you know, billions of people well to that and like, can you blame, can you really blame Netflix if people were using their phones? Can't blame Netflix, right? Like a campaign. Not flicks. They're like, this is like there, it's horrible. But it's so what they would do the drugs, CEOs. I can't blame them by themselves. It's the phone. Oh, really you're playing the phone? I thought you were gonna go drugs. CEOs, I hate the phone. Yeah, I guess you're right. You know, without like bones. There are no drugs. There is no drugs, yes, without your phone. Like it's a dollar smart computer in your pocket and like you don't need it. You really don't. I hate my like I At the dependence that we have on these stupid phones. It was like, you know, especially because I did just binge watch, stranger things on your phone facing, like 19. No, no, but seriously like 1985, right. And they have, you know, walkie-talkies and pay phones. Yeah. It's like, that's and somehow they all survived. There Will Survive like a, like, a alien invasion. Like, come on. Like, spoiler alert. They didn't have to pay phone. All right, so you blame me. I think that's, I guess. You know, I was gonna go a different rape, but I think you're right. I think that's the right choice, you know. I just bought a Because of my failing eyesight. I bought this reading tablet right which I love You know, because you can have you can change the text size, bigger and whatever, and I love it just it's it's been great for reading for me. But I still find myself even though I had this beautiful tablet to read books, I still find myself grabbing the phone for no good reason, just because I think, You know, I just fits in your hand, it becomes a part of your body, almost don't even notice it's there anything. You're yeah, you check into just like, let me do a quick check on. Yeah. So I think you're right. Like I think there's something about the, the, the, the, the device itself. I think that's ruined. It's like the idea that because something popped into my brain, I need to I need to check it, or answer it, or figure it out. Immediately like investigate that thing immediately and we're all add is a result, right? Like all right, there you go. Pay attention with single thing. What's next for you? All right, here's my next one and as you see official, oh no has actually implied in his speech kind of said, but also implied that you do not have to vote your proxies as an investor you, okay? But we knew this, you don't have to Well, no fiduciary rules. You do, like, people vote in large part because it's part of their fiduciary obligation, right? Like that's oh, you talk about that. I'm talking about Institute. Okay guys, retail to do anything. Sure. Okay. I see what you're saying. Okay. But who do you blame for this? This shift in. Well, this is your fiduciary. Obligation already on the slippery, slope right. We're in the middle of the slide right now. All right. You weren't that we're near the bottom. We're in the playground, the we can see the box and it's not one of those memories a kid. It's not like one of those mornings where like it rained. It is like a lot of dough in the air and it's like you couldn't get down the slide. Like you stop the middle. Like rub your legs. Yeah, this is like it's like after like 50 kids with chubby thighs wearing quarter, he's made this slide really slick, what we're zooming, down the slide All right. Do you blame Brian Daly? The author of a speech called re empowering fiduciaries and proxy? Voting is he not? You know, is he a sec commissioner who is he? He's ahead of the division. Okay, Investment Management division or something. A January 18th. He made the speech and like even the name is a Gaslight. Yeah. In powering fiduciaries and proxy voting. Like that's what he said. Like people use read like that too. He argued that not voting. May not violate fiduciary duty, like, if you do decide not to vote, it's actually might actually comply with you for this jury duty. He effectively said that, there are specific examples that he could think of where not voting makes sense. Particularly, if you are gambling, for instance, quote, I'm not just the whole thing gambling, okay, not voting makes sense. In many situations, look, for example, at quantitative and systematic managers who often operate models, that merely seek exposures to identify sources of alpha meaning, if you're just purely gambling, if you're just, yeah, you can like beat the market. Why would you vote like that doesn't make any sense? You're just saying, you're generating, you don't care what's going on the world. Anyways, so just don't get. Yeah, it doesn't matter. What happens to the company, you just want the stock to go up like you're a gambler, right? He said index investors quote. It may be appropriate for these categories of investment advisors to consider whether they're taking positions on fundamental, corporate matters or on precatory proposals if It's consistent with their investment mandates. Like wait your investment mandate if, if the vote comes up and it's not consistent with your investment mandate do you shouldn't have but wait a feel compelled to vote. Correct me if I'm wrong, I feel confused, isn't this good? Like an Institutional investors, they vote for management every single time and basically. Okay, so right? So don't, yes, don't we wanna eliminate their it'd be one thing if they actually were honest about their voting. But but here's the stack the deck again like any kind of counter Viewpoint, don't they? But here here's the problem. Okay with what they're doing because he goes on to, he Hedges himself and and basically says you generally, you do want to vote. But after saying don't vote the whole time he says, but also do vote, then he actually threatened using proxy advisors and here that actually the proxy advisors their advice is part of the problem. They say vote management. Most of the time, right? But advisors themselves like the date they provide. It's actually 100% necessary. What he's basically said, is quote, and if we are raising issues for consideration because this is like the Tucker Carlson way. Oh, I'm just asking the question. I'm just raising the issue for God creation. Like he's not part of my I'm not answering it. Even though I'm part of the machine, that answers it. I'm just raising it for you to think about maybe it's a possibility. I will also mention because the president did That there is a real concern out there, that habitual adherence to a proxy Consultants recommendations could pull into advisor into a section 13d group, God what that means is for anybody, who doesn't know what that means, it means like if you listen to a proxy advisor and a bunch of other, people also listed to a proxy advisors and you do it, habitually over and over. You're all part of a cabal, actively a cabal sort them. And you you are now part of an activist. That's what they call it a couple they've been using that. They have used that language. Right? A couple of course they have. Of course they have. So do we blame Brian Daly? It seems to be a choice. What else? Do you blame investors? Because no matter what? Brian Daley suggests investors almost never vote against management, right? Neither do proxy advisors. So what are we really fucking writing speeches about? Yes, I like what's what's the point? I flagged something from the corporate governance Forum at Harvard and yeah that that last year those numbers continue to tick up. Like you're always joking about how many How many directors, get everything continuing. Even that is increasing slightly. It's like how it's like the room to increase. Yeah. And and some, some blowhard. I wish I had to, in front of me. Maybe you can talk about on Friday. Some blowhard said, like, oh, this is, this is good news. It means, it means that everyone's that corporations and director, they're all performing. Well, this is great. This is a healthy thing, of course. Yeah, of course it is. Yeah. You know, like it does make me think of the we covered a story on on Friday or about 96% of people. Polled agree, that undressing minors using AI is a bad idea. 96%. So this same number of people who agree that undressing minors is a good idea or bad idea, is the number of people who agree on every single director on average. Now this is interesting Universe because don't forget that 94% of people use their phone while watching TV. So all these things are kind of lining up, right? That everything is going to agree on but a couple of things, do we blame costs because Daily points out quote and this triggered me. Unbelievable in assessing proposed votes investment, advisors might utilize the fiduciary and super interpretations concept of a reasonable inquiry into the client's objectives, meaning. When you are looking at the vote, you have to do you have to look at your client and what they want, right? Yeah, if advisor. If an investment advisor, routinely follows a proxy advisors stock recommendations, without a tailored engagement or independent analysis is this reasonable inquiry. Maybe. But if, but it is certainly worth thinking about. Again, we're just throwing out considerations to go back to the first question. If the voting process is so burdensome that it requires extensive external resources. Why is the advisor voting at all? What, what kind of, so what he's saying is that to say, ridiculous, let's say you have a bunch of clients. Yeah. And you have to make a vote, it's hard to ask all your clients and come to a decision and make an independent analysis if it's burdened. Some yeah, why you vote is not what? That's what he said. Isn't that part of what you're spending the money on that, they pay you to do you what he's talking about? That's so here's here. That's like, say, you go to your mechanic and you have them fix your, your, your, your flat tires. He's like it's burned some for me to get the tools to fix your tire so I'm not gonna do it like well yeah, but I gave you a hundred dollars and and that's part of that money is you to go buy a goddamn tool like what are you doing? What triggered me the most about it because he's making this argument about voting. Yeah, but isn't the cost of getting like Equity analysis significantly higher than getting voted proxy. Voting on all. This is nonsense, this is the right. This is their anti-esg message for years is like, it's and you can't ask every client, should I buy or sell this stuff, right? So but this is part of their long dumb story about how what are we doing. ESG is anti-corporate, because we have to spend like 500 dollars to do this and it's burdensome like, you know, and and 12 hours of like labor to work on this. So it's Bert like, you know, they've always been doing this this nonsense, it's just unbelievable to me. It's like like it would be like saying my Bloomberg terminal is is really expensive and I can't ask Clients. What to do? I shouldn't invest. Yeah like Just forget the whole thing. They love that. They love that one. Oh my God, I triggered me. Um and then finally do we blame John Chavez finally with a second to Jim mcritchie. Yeah. Without Chevette and and MC Ritchie, we may have half the shareholder rights we currently have at S&P 500 companies for sure but who the no action data, as you know, when you go to the SEC website, they tell you what companies are trying to exclude from their proxy ballots. Now, and the SEC said we're not going to respond, you can just exclude. Effectively is what they said, but they have taken the time to respond. In a disproportionate rate, to just one proponent in that is John Chavez and every single ask is it? About Declassified is basic governance rights. So if Chevette didn't hadn't made a hole stink about Cheryl should have the last 30 years. If that guy just shut up, we wouldn't be having this conversation, you know, there's some truth to that weird statement you're making. I were thinking we need to be more docile. This is the need to be more. Docile like all of that like wooky stuff and like, you know, social agenda stuff is all gaslighting to stop, John Chavez and one guy from effectively asking companies to declassify their boards allow special meetings. I don't get Jordy voting policy. I thought we're simple governance. I thought the Trump Administration in Doge. I thought it was all like a pro populace like anti Elite message but isn't but isn't that all the language is pro populace, but all the action is centralized power, right? So, all the language about the voting was Pro, like, it was like, all this, like you are excluding pieces of these, you know, some of your investors. Like you're not representing your, you have a woke agenda, that doesn't represent your so issues. All that shit. I SS is Elite but the corporation like 3M, that is like populist, is that what they're trying to say? That's yeah, that's all right. I So I can pick Brian Daly and investors cost John show. I'm tempted to do to pick like Ricky and because yeah, if They kind of ruined it right. Like they they complained too much right? And then, I mean, but no, they clearly did. They were doing Preparatory proposals for the last 30 years or nothing. They hate the most can't. Yeah. I mean like I feel like this blame game where basically blaming the smallest person on everything I almost feel like you can't blame Brian Daly because he's just another mouth mouth piece. Just another student part of this. Yeah, he is a Toady. I mean, I'll go back to like I gotta always go back to investors. I because investors have a say in all this just like the voters in America have a say I mean, the Democracy its voters. Are its main protagonist, right? So I mean, investors need to be involved, I don't know. They, they don't need to be so passive. They don't they need to have a They need to be more like, Jim Richie, I guess, right? I don't know. I'm gonna go with a master's. Here's what I Love, Actually, the threat that Brian Daly writes out, which is quote, if habitual adherence to proxy Consultants recommendations cupola and advisor into a section 13, D group, meaning you would have to file tremendous amounts of paperwork. You considered an active, as a totally different way to that. Also, would mean that habitual adherence to voting with management. Because that's what proxy advisors suggest to do is. Pulls you into a section 13d Group, which means shouldn't you then buy the proxy advice and do the opposite, which? Yeah, but voting against management. It's stupid anyway. Because when you buy proxy device, they do, give you different choices. I mean, there's all these. Yeah. All of, which result you voting with me? That's true. all right, let's and this is too much and in my last ones too long and I I struggle with this one, I tried to keep Editing it down and I didn't know if I had the categories, right. You could tell what I'm angry about overall, so maybe you can help me. But but I just struggle with this one. So the the headline was Trump calls New York, Stock Exchange Dallas. That's NYSC, Dallas expansion. Calls it, he calls the plans unbelievably bad for New York. Trump says, move poses. A big test for newly inaugurated Mayors or on madani. So why? So that's have anything to do with my right? So this is where I struggle with this one because this one really tweaked me. So I ended up going I ended up going with which hypocrisy do you blame right? So and I put into five categories. I don't know if I got this, right, but you kind of know where I'm going with all these. So first I started with like the the blame the free market bulshit how Trump and Texas have been championing. The freedom of businesses of. Did they get to leave Blue States right into? So I, you know, they're the ones who've been kind of telling you like, let's leave the blue States behind, right? So Right? So it's a race to the bottom on the exchanges, right. Like so like that I think that's literally what they're doing on purpose. Do we blame the next category is blaming the anti-walk anti-esg scare mongering. So let's not forget that Texas frames itself is a sanctuary from socialism really just trying to get rid of. They're trying to get rid of like the regulation, they're trying to get rid of transparency, is what they're really doing. Um, oh and speaking, I say, yeah, go ahead, the thing, the thing they love the most in Texas is football, which is a socialist group and privacy for their, for their millionaires. They're like, right? Like it's really but but bananas that they don't okay, continuous sorry. And and, as I mentioned before, Texas Attorney General Ken backs can packs and describe Black Rock straight State Street in Vanguard as an investment cartel, a legally controlling National energy Market, squeezing more money, out of hard, work working Americans, right? He said they really squeeze that money out of us, packs and set a formal warning to Larry Fink and other CEOs. Stating that they're radical environmental policies and race-based. Quotas would face severe enforcement actions if they prioritize politics, over consumers, which is not what they're doing here, right? I can't be what's happening in Texas. So yeah, you know what, I think of what I think of Larry Fink I think of radical environmental agendas and Dei he did say it Davos this week that capitalism needs to change. So Is he like going back to his like Business Roundtable days? Like, what's happening? Know what what he's saying now? Is that more money that because of AI is displacing white collar workers. Where he's he's basically saying that the he's at Davos and he's saying to the people in the room, we are the ones with all the money and industrialization killed blue-collar workers, hit them the hardest and now ai is killing white collar workers. And while we may have all the money, it's gonna be, it's the same thing that Jamie Diamond said to pay pitchforks, right? The coming for their work. They're now worried, he's now worried or at least stating out loud in some way that no one outside of this room is going to care what we're talking about. If we have all the money and they have no jobs. Yeah but that's what they were starting to insinuate in 2019 point for them. Like that's what they've been doing. Is this the place where they give us six more dollars and say there you go and they passed on the head and hopefully go away. All right. What's ironic about all this is that is it the reason why we had a New York Stock Exchange in Dallas all Street. They stupidly call it is because they originally used Larry. As they're at. Remember, they had Billboards about Larry Fink anyway, the whole thing, the hypocrisy, that's why I call this the witch hypocrisy. Do you blames my, my first one was free market bulshit the second one. Was the anti-walk anti-esg, scare monger. And the third was I'm calling this, like, the lead, by example hypocrisy. So let's not forget that Trump already quit New York City, right? He like vocally left his hometown to go to stupid Miami or wherever he lives mar-a and must do the same thing. Musk's decks it to Yale Street. Not only did he leave Delaware because they wouldn't give him all the money. He'll they change their minds, but remember, he pulled out of California because Regulators were angry about things, like, nooses being. You know, in in Factory is right there were threatening black workers. So so Trump and musk of already set the example to this, right? So I'm calling up the lead, by example hypocrisy, the fourth one, I'm calling Um, leader name, calling and scaremongering. It's all, this is all kind of the same stuff. So let's not forget that before Trump fell in love with Mom Donnie. He called him a communist lunatic and a Marxist. The dial now he loved it. I know the whole thing is just head spinning, little confusing the hypocrisy, just to hide from the Epstein file is about all the stuff is just Madness. That's, that's Dallas. Mayor. Eric Johnson. This is Mr. Anti Elite. He went to Penn. He went to Harvard and he went to Princeton, right? This is the Republican mayor, Eric Johnson, he called it. He calls what's going on in New York and on American Socialist impulse and he marketed Dallas as a sanctuary from Socialism. And finally, I'm going to end on the hypocrisy of the elite versus Common Man nonsense that we, that we've been talking about. Because remember, they call in the yawl street. So they they're specifically giving it a popular spraying, which is ridiculous, but who backs the Texas stock exchange. This is the part that I originally just got triggered by the the big four anchor investors that I found backing the Texas Stock Exchange are BlackRock. Obviously Citadel which of course, Ken Griffin, right? Ken Griffin just famously left Chicago because I don't know. He saw a black person, I don't even know why he left. Why did he leave Chicago know the quote was there were bullets flying through his window, right? There's no crime in Miami, right? It's a crime for Utopia. The the third, big four, anchor is JP Morgan. Chase. And the in the fourth is Charles Schwab. So they're calling these four, the big four anchor. That's where do I go with this hypocrisy? I don't I mean, I mean, it's just such a, this kind of this reminds me of yours talking about What's his name over at the SCC? Brian, Brian Daley. It's just all this like They're like, they're tripping over their own hypocrisy. Now they're constantly trying to to pay these BS. May be populist messages may but they're all like secretly and not so secretly like Pro Management Pro corporate proce CEO, like the whole thing and making me mental. Honestly, well, I will say that blaming a hypocrisy for something is hard, is hard, are you? This is Mommy's test. This is his this fell in his lap like he literally wasn't mayor until like 10 days ago. I mean, what a bunch of. There's no one just shit. I mean, this is just crazy but unbelievably bad for New York, so now New York now, he's Trump is nostalgic for New York. Like what? I don't even know what he's talking about. Like no he spends all his time. I know. Like I think actually what is he live in? It doesn't Melania like stay in New York and Trump is like, I don't care, I don't. Oh, which hypocrisy like, which is the worst. All the same. It's the elite versus common. They are all kind of the same. That's the part about you. It's it's the big George Bush. Ronald Reagan pretend like I'm just like you are like bush bush bush. Junior Bush was the best at this was really, really good at that. He gets, he gets some like, a guy, like he would there was, I remember the time you stories about how he'd be like out shopping wood at his Ranch in Texas and like, and they get Pictures of him and like, you know, like a plaid you know, button down shirt and rugged jeans and he's like I'm just like everybody else. Like well yeah that and it works you know, like worked Except that he went to fucking Princeton, didn't he like, you know. Yeah yeah. So that's where his dad his dad went to jail and was grandfather press press caught Preston like he's like literally old blood old money. You know, you us royalty pretending to be every man his daddy was president. Can you imagine nepo baby? David Ellison going out and being like like in a like dressed like a hipster and like go to like CD Lottery pool being like I'm just like you guys man I'm sure I've never daddy. You bought me three companies right? What on Earth? Like it's all fake if as soon as anybody says I'm just like you and one way or the other they're like well this is like they're either actually just like you and you you will know it or if they say it they're not like a friend over the weekends, we're watching the The Patriots played the who they played the Texans, the Texans, and I thought, you know what? I really appreciated the old version of this team because it was the the most honest like version of Sport. The blue, the blue collar team. Yeah, they were the Houston Oilers because that's all Texas. Is it all Texas? Really is. It's not y'all Street. It's a bunch of. It's like oil executive who are real Baron. Yeah, that's what it is. I mean, what is this yolk Street? I can't believe honestly, like, yeah, I you made the right choice on this one like it's, it's just, it's silliness. That's all I got. I'm, I'm exhausted. Now, I know that we're like supposed to know like have I thought that was gonna be a shorter show. What we do that? That's all he got his. I mean scary. We are free float. Come back. When Friday we got a Friday show, I don't think we're doing a practice counts by weekly at first, right? And really go back to buy weekly until it ramps up, you know, somewhere in March we probably doing every single week unless You have a question? You know, bad question. Can hit us, go to freeflow.com LLC. There's a there's an email address there, you can sign up for free flow, analytics.com, our sponsor and you can get free data there and get on the zine list. We got, I'm actually gonna I'm asking questions, I produce the show for Mike Levin and Ann Lipton. We got a mailbox show coming tomorrow with, with Mike Levin. They got some questions from listeners. We're gonna go. You'll go over them. Love that until later. It. Bye.