Transcript
live live live from your Glass Lewis Hall of soulless mirrors. To business pants Friday, show here at October 17th featuring analyst whole map mascardi. On today's weekly. Wrap-up CEOs, saying sayings. Principal director resignation. And CEOs really hate poor people. Is that what's happening? I don't know. It's possible. It's a weird. They're all not weird. There is a thing happening. Yeah. There's the thing happening. Yes. So don't like they don't like crime but instead of like, Discussing the root causes of crime in our society, they just want big Burly men and guns to show up. Is that what you're talking about? The tapping. That's one of the things that's happening, but the other thing that's happening because I thought for a while that, you know, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg, all these big billionaire CEOs, we're building, giant bunkers, and Estates and Hawaii often the islands, somewhere else and owns his own Island. I thought they were doing that because they were like worried about climate change and zombies and they're doing it because they're worried about us. They're they are yes. Desperately worried about us. I don't like regular people. They really don't like us at all and they don't like people who don't have homes. It's like if Howard Hughes multiplied and was given a trillion dollars, each, that's kind of what's Happening. They're all like Walt Castle, weird paranoid. Delusional That's us now. That's that's billionaires with us. That's it. That's how it works. Do we need to do more of a show? That's it. Yeah. All right, let's get going. The sponsor. We got a sponsor. Oh, our show today is being sponsored by free. Float, analytics.com. The only yeah, form. Measuring board. Power connections and performance for free. We want a new sponsor. You said last week, we like this sponsor. But other sponsors, if you're out there, we're not so insipid. Actually, we're right. A lot. We we're right all the time, like you would go, you would happily Advertise on Joe Rogan like why would you not advertise here, right? Just not, is this not the joke? I thought we've been doing The Joe Rogan show this whole time just because we don't have any listeners. It's not a good reason. Our I heard that Joe Rogan's listening to 80% male, do you think ours are 80% male? I think ours, 80% of 1. How do you is what, what number is that? All right, man, all right, story that, and, Oh, I love that music. Now, I'll try to go quickly on this first one. Blowhard CEOs. That's it. That's the first one. Now, do you. Okay, these are all headlines from just this week, I mean, we used to this is an honor of Jamie. Dimon says, we love it when the chair and CEO of JP Morgan he says, stuff and the reporters like to report with. He says, he says a lot, but listen to this, listen to this list this week, and listen to how horrible. Some of this stuff is no particular order. Sarah's CEO, Andrew Feldman says, you can't build something extraordinary working 38 hours a week, so, you know, shooting on workers. I guess. Is that what he's doing? Sit maltman says, if jobs, get wiped out, maybe they weren't even real work to start with. Oh, I'll come back to that one. I like that. Mark, Benny off, says Trump should send guard troops to San Francisco. Yeah, we're gonna come back to that too. Yes, all fun. I love saying look, there's some more Peter teal, says, he warned, Elon Musk who ditch donating to the giving pledge because Bill Gates will give his wealth away to left to Wing non-profits. Left wing, is it that they work with poor people caller women, we need this that kind of thing. Where are we JP Morgan? Jamie dimon says there he is. Oh, our favorite says, there's a heightened degree of uncertainty. Best Buy CEO says growing spending power, gap between affluent and pork keeps me up at night. Does anybody ask the Best, Buy CEOs opinion about stuff, though? Like why is that this one billionaire bosses like Jeff Bezos? And Reed Huffman, they don't say they denounced. They denounced work life balance and some think working non-stop is key to success. Oh, I like denouncing. There's not enough denouncing. There's too much saying and not enough to announcing Logitech CEO. Hannah. Faber says she would consider adding an AI agent to her board of directors. How about that one for stupid. That's not dumb. That's a great idea. They probably be more independent than most board members. Plaid CEO says it's inevitable AI will drive our financial lives. Verizon exact tells unemployed gen Z. They can always volunteer to stand out in the current league job market. No one. I know. Wait. No one's going to say no to free work. And finally, figure, AI CEO. Brett Adcock says, The robotics company is building a new species. I don't. This is a guy who has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Florida. This is the guy I want. He's the one I want running a company building it creating new species by the way, I want Brett Adcock. That's who I usually when I write down my notes of what Merit looks like, it looks like guy who's never dealt with species, builds new one, All right, that's the first category just see you just saying mostly horrible stuff, but the second story. Let's get a little somber here. This doesn't happen very often in our world, in our, in our, in our free flow analytics, database Lending Tree founder, and CEO dies unexpectedly and weekend. ATV, accident and age, 55. I mean, first of all, they tell you how we die, They tell you his name but they don't give me the honor him one last time and tell you stupid name and I'll honor him is his name is Douglas. Lebed interesting situation. Yeah, I'm gonna get right into the governor of it because that's what I am. I'm a governance loser. He's the chair and CEO of London, tree is a Founder. He owns 20% of the shares. He controls seven. Okay, he did. I'm sorry. He controlled 78% of board influence according to free-flow analytics.com. Look, this is what happens. I mean, when and I look, this is a this is a morbid way for me to describe this, this Theory here, but I already I already feel when you load up all the power in a one individual in a company, that is a humongous risk. And and this is why At a minimum guys. Like this should not be the chair of your board but anyway, Lending Tree Founders CEO dies. So, yeah, okay, I'll move on. Yeah, move on this, this story of the week, this two is coming. These two are combined at first, the SEC, just discourage ESG, Charlotte proposals, and glass Lewis to end, share voting guidance opposed by Republicans. They're ending their Decades-long decades, long practice of providing recommendations. For shareholder votes, after receiving criticisms from Republican leaders, for promoting Pro ESG issues. Can you imagine class Lewis? That's all it took. It took One election cycle, that's it to change your business, starting starting in the 2027 annual shareholder season, so, luckily, they can get that done quickly. We can Chief nothing else quickly. Well, glass Lewis will no longer give a house view on how industrial that does give you. That does give them two like a year and a half. Almost two full years are mines to figure out how to sell something that isn't what they've been selling. Can't even give a house for you. I mean, it's just a house view. It's just like, I always think of it, in terms of like Siskel and Ebert, I mean, the telling you, two thumbs up, they're telling you two thumbs down, that's just their opinion. You can still go to the damn movie. So what do you what do you buy when you buy something from them? Now like the name of the guy on the board of Contracting with glass Lewis, I guess But like so what they were if you actually think about what they were. First of all, I love the fact that it's like, Republicans are angry that they used Pro ESG is in their idiots like that, that is fundamental. Like governments is everything its leading. Most of their recommendations do not promote Pro ESG. Things on any level, they don't promote that, not even occasionally sure, but they did that once. Yeah, I think they did that once so they already getting the story wrong. But, but like I cannot for the life of me figure out like, okay, so glass Lewis, what they really provided was effectively insurance for investors who did not have the time energy or willingness to look at 90,000 director elections, a year and conservatively 1200 to 2,000 shareholder. Proposals a year. What they gave them was a thumbs up or thumbs down recommendation on those things vote, Yes, or vote. No, that's really what it's pretty binary, you vote. Yes, you vote. No, that's kind of all you do and they gave them that. So that investors could go out and say, well, we bought some stuff from them. And we don't rely on it, but it's good information to know what an expert thinks. It's like buying insurance or Consulting. It's like just in case I need it. Now, they don't offer that. Right, they won't do that anymore. So then what do you buy from them? If you are a pension fund, I have. No. What is the thing that you get? Yeah, I know. Yeah. What? Like what you only wanted it for the insurance. So what they effectively did Is put themselves out of business. Didn't I hope so? I hope so. Anyone who contracts with class Lewis or knows anyone who cloned trucks plus. So send them our way please just honestly like we will undercut any pricing, we will and we will provide so more information and we won't be left or right. We we will unless you want us to be. But I'm super happy to have a house of you. Yeah. Like you're gonna ask me. My will give you will help you with your view. We'll do whatever you want. The free flow analytics data has no house view attached to it, right? Like it's a it just is the data if you want our perspective, one over here, I will happily. Come on you. Gotta Throw this story in here and Meta Meta removed. Facebook page. Legally used to Target ice agent up to pressure from the Department of Justice. The story is not getting a lot of press but seems pretty important with everything going on. And finally, how about this horrible story? And I mostly picked this story because I I looked at their board, the Duke Duke University has officially ended. Its full ride scholarship for black students in need of financial assistance. Now mind you this is a you know, a university in the South. This is their North Carolina. Now I looked at their Board of Trustees. There are 34 members of the board. Okay? Four of those members are either the president of Duke Vincent Price or three students because they have a system where they nominate some undergrads and grads that. Yeah, that's four out of the 34, two of them. Two are the 34 are got like God people, they're, they're either a bishop or retired Bishop from the same church. They're United Methodist Church. They both happen to be black bishops. I don't know why I have one shirt from the United Methodist Church. Fine. Great. Got it. And then there's There's a journalist who also she also sits on the board of an insurance company. So I didn't really know how to I didn't not what to call her. She She's kind of a. Kind of in business, right? But she's also kind of a journalist, okay, so there's those people and then the next 27 people, are all from the corporate world, including Chair and CEO of General Motors. Mary Barra CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, you know, CEO Silver Lake, Karen. The list goes on and on Michael CEO Ally Financial Michael wrote 27, of the 34, people who I'm guessing, hoping we're part of this decision. These are the people responsible for, for forget for officially Ending, full ride scholarships for black students in need of financial assistance from the from the south from the north, from the North Carolina University Duke. Who is more than capable of providing that financial assistance for. But there you go. I had to include that story The because sometimes you just don't know what you're going to find. When we dive into some of these boards. But this one, this one, 27 of 34 members incredible. I mean, just so every one of those people went to Duke then right? Yeah, I guess I But is that what percentage of do we think got a scholarship? Yeah, I like, I don't know what we're seeing, what like, Jensen Wong just came out. And, like, supported Trump on terrorists who supported Trump on everything. He's like best BFF now because for business decisions, and then Trump goes and charges like 100,000 dollars for each, be One Visa and Jensen. Wong says, I support Trump. Also, I would not have been able to come here into this country without that, right? Like, my family would not be here without that, without the HP One Visa, is this another situation in which like a couple of, you know, business people make a millions or billions of dollars, you know, by leveraging A system that exists like getting a scholarship for instance and then are happy to dispense with the scholarship when it's politically expedient to dispense with it. When like they are, they've got their Millions. And they, they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. Apparently, that's always the interesting sort of hypocrisy of those moves, but I see like JB pritzker's on this list. Yeah, look, I must suggesting that all of these people were in favor of this policy. I'm just yeah, JB pritzker is a, is it the governor of Illinois, a huge liberal, but also, you know, comes from a business family. I included him on that list of 27 because his fortune and his Fame, as a loud him to to win things like the governorship of Illinois is comes from his family money. I think that's a big part of it which is from the highest hotel's Fortune. So I felt safe putting him on the business list. but yeah, I I mean, I think, what's going about this, not only is that these did Board of Trustees are controlled by CEOs essentially but also I mean you know, a place like Duke University that comes from the south in the United States of America where especially a state like North Carolina with the tobacco plantations. And and the even though the founder of Duke University himself which used to be called Trinity, College named was Braxton Craven was a slaveholder who publicly defended slavery. Look, I'm not suggesting that it's every Duke students job and it's Duke's job to to wrestle with the history of slavery in this country. But but hey, I you know I I love this in with the class Lewis. I just really can't believe the types of people who are, who are making such massive policy decisions, just because of what, I don't, I don't know, I don't know, I just don't I just unclear what's happening? I really I'm just unclear why it's so easy for institutions like less than two. Just to just to do this cave, I just caved. I'm just I'm just super unclear about it all honest. There's a lot of groupthink on this board, right? Like there's actually two people on this board. There's two people from Silver Lake. There are like about 25% of the board is the private equity and banking this, right? Like, there's two from, there's two from the NBA two from Apple. I mean, you're right, I mean there's there's like more more see my people from apples. There are bishops from the United Methodist Church, I mean, so, I mean, you got Ally Financial. You've got a problem, you've got Jeff oven, who is a private equity and Venture capitalists guy on Silver. Like and then you've got like, a bunch of Consultants who work with those. Like you've got Boston Consulting Group, you've got Deloitte like how many people in this group? Represent a community that they actually are giving the scholarship to anymore, right? Like, they kind of It's like group. Think it's the same group, think problem, we have everywhere. I mean, but, you know, I can understand, okay? Like three or four members in that Community, I must say you shut out that Community completely 27 out of 34 of the board. It's shocking and it's a lot and, and I again, I include this because you have you have honor of some interesting data in the past about the, the types of people sitting on non-profit boards and how those connections are just as important as their connections at the corporations themselves. So, yeah, there's there in fact that that's all so fascinating because when you look at like who's on this board, right? Like I recognize names on the board from massive public boards like the um, and not just like Mary Barra the CEO of General Motors or Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. But like the biggest names out there who I've we've talked about her in the past, that I recognize Jeff oven, because he's on boards that we've Talked about in the past, there are people on this board who are interacting here, but when they go to the public board, you don't see this connective tissue. They don't disclose like, oh, you know, well, I know. So and so who sits on this other board with me, it's a non-profit board. We did all this work to uncover this, for that reason, because it's, it's a black hole. And that's how groupthink is formed. It's not formed where, like, people like stand next to each other and like, I think like you it's formed in soft ways like you all sit in the same rooms, you all. Go to the same clubs you all, you're all in this Duke Fuqua board or whatever like, you know, that's how groupthink gets formed. I will say just to one more thing I want to say about this is I this is like a slightly imprecise number. I think it's pretty close though. Of those 34 trustees, six or black that and thats that includes a former NBA player Grant Hill who now is you know, in the business world and the two Bishops I'm just saying, like, that's Bishops, I don't and you know how much, you know, have in that room, fourth of the of the black representation is a student. Who obviously Sydney hunt and I'm sorry, Sydney hump, but clearly she's gonna have no power in that and that boardroom. But yeah, no one's opening. Four of the six, black members of the Duke Board of Trustees are a former basketball player, two Bishops in a student, Yeah, well, there would have to be more black CEOs for it to even be probable. Just how about just black people from all of the how, I mean, how many disciplines is do teach how many how many different departments are there? How about, how about black leaders, from all the great academic disciplines that do cut? It's a it's a fine University. What about where the scientists where the Educators? I mean I I could go on and on I mean, this is insane. Absolutely. Yeah. This what I feel like triggered you in his story of the week. I think the story. Yes. So your story is here, move on, Lending Tree founder, Douglas laiba dies, SCC to discourage ESG shareholder proposals, In glass Lewis also decides to discourage shareholding anymore voting like I guess they've they've they've hung it up. No more houses, um, meta reviews, Facebook page for targeting ice, which Free Speech absolutism though, and Duke's killing full ride, scholarships for black students who need it. The Duke store sort of overlaps a little bit with CEO says, right? Because I mean the CEO is what they say and think is really the most important thing these days. But yeah, go ahead, you did pull another story that says, CEOs, have become influencers that I saw right on our story list which is, which is evidence that like this, if we're asking the Best Buy CEO, what she thinks of stuff like Best, Buy went bankrupt seven years ago, like they're not, this is not exactly the company that we looked to to influence us. This is always been the problem with the American governance system of paying our CEOs like Their kings, like their Emperor, it gives them an overinflated egos. I mean, and it probably makes them think that everything that they say and do is important, this is why they get involved with, you know, this is why like a guy who graduated in chemistry and biology from Duke of all places. He's now the CEO of plaid, which is a financial, you know, company, and he says it's inevitable, AI will drive our financial. I mean, they're just, they're just in territories, where they don't belong. I mean, this is just, it's out of whack these. They're, they're of course, they're influencers, because they think they're so important, I think, but I do think the story. What's the story? Yeah. Come on, is the SEC and glass slowest. That's the story of the week. This week, Paul Atkins gave his speech in which he basically said we are going to review whether or not shareholder proposals need to exist. Yeah, and we predicted this already right horse, we did years ago. Yeah, no not only do we predict it but we've been railing on the fact that investors Focus so much and the media focuses. So much on shareholder. Proposals, how are we going to vote them? What does that mean? Little Theater? Like like the only ones who win shareholder, proposals are John Chavez and Jim MC Ricci like corporate governance focused support proposals from trusted shareholder. Proponents those are the guys that win. Yeah, because they've been doing it for 20 years. We all know who they are in, in our circles and we all know that they're doing it for all. The right reasons, you're smart, but you could make the case assistance. But you could make the case that suggesting that a shareholder has to say, whether the CEOs, the chairman is a form of, like, socialism its meddling. It's, it's, you know, like good, that's exactly what, that's what the SEC is deciding that that is a form of meddling, not a form of governing tongue and cheek Lee. I joke that were basically on the slippery slope to First, they'll get rid of say on pay and then they're going to get rid of the right to vote under directors. And I, I kind of meant as a joke, but I don't think I really do mean as a joke. I think that we're heading towards shareholders, having no say in anything. Well, here's The corporate democracy is the canary in the coal. Mine for the federal democracy. If there's any like corporations have effectively gerrymandered investors for as long as investors have been able to vote. Like they've been trying so much in fact that that not all votes are equal. How about that? Like literally like they're like it's it's the 1800s and we're saying you're worth 350 of the person right? Like yeah it's the same thing, the corporate democracy basically mastered this. Yes it's a master class in doing it and it's usually CEO and founder who was worth more than the peasants, but we're all so inventing new ways for them to do it. Where Exxon has proposed this year that the basically you Auto opt-in as a retail investor and Exxon you Auto opt-in to vote with whatever Exxon Board of management says. Like they just and the estimate is that they will recapture 10% of their vote in perpetuity For nothing. Like they basically just take the vote Exxon, the the proxy contest was a engine. One was an engine one. Yeah. Engine number one, that really upset Exxon, that was really some. Yeah, that fuel for it except they're like Donald Trump of the corporate world. I mean, the first, they sue, their shoulders. Now they're, they're creating these like systems where like it's Auto voting and yeah, it's crazy. And glass Lewis capitulating where ISS basically is already capitulated too, right? Like glass Lewis is doing this is another like bending of the knee to why corporations and and conservative I don't views like this is like we don't just a house View. If they don't want voting, you know what people Empower don't like? Well democracy, they really fucking hate democracy move on. That's definitely the story of the week. I got to watch that because because that mean, the only thing left for you to do, if you're an investor. And I mean, every investor, you're an individual, you're an institution, the only thing left for you to do, is to vote against directors, stop fucking around and vote against the directors. For once, I know you said it's too aggressive and we just want to have conversations, guess what? There's no more conversations, not only do that. I want to talk to you. They're happy to sue. You. If you talk to them, the SEC is going to throw it all out. They're going to call you activists. They're going to do what I mean, just vote against directors that is anywhere. I mean, we we live in a highly litigious. Society we have wars going on across all continents. We have, you know, we have schools in our own country school shooting is all mass shootings, all the time, that the politicians can't seem to get control of and this is too aggressive is to challenge and the Her on a board. And the thing I don't get is you own the company, it's yours, not even there, that's what the share does. The crazy thing too, is, it's not even their livelihoods. It's like a lot of these people already have way better day jobs. It's like you're not, it's not exactly, like firing the young woman who works at Chipotle, because she dropped your burrito, you know. It's like these people are we seen we've seen two high-profile directors, get voted out in the last, like, what? Eight weeks j-hope, and the guy from Wiley, Brian Hemphill, right? Like you president of Old Dominion University? Yes. Two cases where a director was voted out? You know what? Both of those boards said well. Yeah. What was he said? No. Not only do you not even like they they don't want you to vote when you do express. Any vote in opinion? They ignore you. That's too good. All right. Let's do you. Good list, you got me ranting now. I have two this week, you good things go first. Um, I have this one. This is the headline, Ron Conway, skewers Marc benioff in board resignation after 25 years. I now barely recognize the person. I have so long, admired. I love this. That's a whole quit director resignation, but it's not a, it's not a public board though, right. It's like a foundation. I know, I know it's the wrong Conway. Come on the show, run Conway, but he quit like somebody. Quit like a Billionaire's gone off the rails, I like that. Yeah, I'm too, but my second one is actually really really simple and for the stupidest possible reason. Yeah, Houston American and energy. I know nothing about this company. Houston American Energy, Declassified Board of direct graduation. I love it's possible. It's possible in Texas in Texas of all places. Like they're not like listed in Texas, Sarasota and Delaware, they'll relisted text. I actually have three to wash the bad taste out of my mouth of all the horrible things that CEO or CEOs are saying, I actually have three things. I like CEOs that I like what they're saying, Mark Cuban urges companies to share stock options with employees amid Rising CEO pay Gap. Home Depot, founder, Arthur Blank speaking. You said you were re-watching, the Falcons Super Bowl, he's famous. I need, he's famous for being on the sidelines of this Super Bowl, I needed to feel good about something. Yeah, Home Depot founder, Arthur Blank donates, 50 million dollars to Atlanta as a historically black colleges and universities via Foundation although she gives him to Duke now too all though. Well you know it's a it's a small part of his fortune. It's still good, still good. And how about this? That maybe the first time I've ever prayed Howard Schultz? That's the Starbucks founder and seven times CEO. Howard Schultz said, he is worried with a Big W about AI. He said he drew parallels. Between the speed at which social media progressed, how regulation around social media lag behind and Warren the ai's on the same trajectory. He's basically maybe the only guy, the only CEO type who was come out and He's parodying, our words, which is like, what the fuck is going on? Like, social media. I'm sorry we already have social media ruined our world. What's next? Okay. I know you're gonna find some way to crap on. Yo, says, no, you're not us. Well, first of all, Howard Schultz you mean like, all right, this is your over the pattern. What you're not? Let a girl like prominent person leaves. Everything then says, what they actually think. Like, like you wouldn't have never done this. If he's right though he's right. Like Home Depot founder. Arthur Blank is 50 million of his 11 billion dollars. What's our winner of did? We do we do winners for good lists? We do do winners. I'm going with the winner is Houston, American Energy classifies. I want Ron Conway to come on the show and yell about Mark Benny up, that's what. All right, let's asshole. Uh, there's a couple the last two were short, they're just headlines. I like sure. I mean, look, the first assholes really obvious, it's Mark. Benny off himself forever like former big liberal Marc benioff. I don't look Democrat Republican, liberal conservative, I don't care. I just want there to be an off switch for fucking billionaires in their big fat. Mouths. Okay, the headline was marked. Benny off, says Trump should send guard troops to San Francisco. Anyway, by the way, he said this at the dreamforce conference, which is the sales forces like conference where they talk about, I don't know Salesforce stuff, I don't know. Sales, like Salesforce is biggest client, is The unit US Government. Yes, that's true. Well because it's the US government's the biggest employer. So it's like they just work with employers, right? So, but this is the same conference in 2023. He threatened to take this conference out to another city because he was worried about homelessness and drug use in San Francisco, okay. But he's worried about it, like, for his own personal well-being and safety. He's not worried about the people who are homeless and and the drug use, he doesn't he's not contributing to that problem. Well, let's just do some popular maths because at the time he was worth eight billion dollars and there was an elevated. There's a an estimated 8,000 or so homeless people in San Francisco that crisis he the median home price in Auckland is 800,000 dollars. Meaning he could have bought every homeless person a house. That's true. The children, every single one of them, that's true in cash and still at four billion left over, so already in a market. In a market that where the home prices are extremely over 100,000 dollars. Later median, home price is He could have bought every homeless person to help Marc benioff your horrible. That's a horrible statistic. Now, he does have like a foundation where they donate a lot of money. But I actually did the math 10% of the money that has Foundation donated was to give AI access to like, like poor people. And it was like, wait, what? They don't need that, they need help, like what he gave, he gave 10%, they donated like 34 million dollars last year, they get 10% of Salesforce Foundation donations went to education access for AI and Technology. That was 10% of it. I just thought that was kind of funny but last night that's using the wrong words. Not funny. Last night he posted this tweet. This is last night. It is a picture of himself. Standing next to a cop. Oh cool, a random cop. Yeah. And he said that this is the quote safest dream Force ever. Okay, he said there are there are 50,000 attendees safely screened 300,000 times. It was that a concern. You want to know how many instances of violence there have been at dreamforce conference, how many, none, none instances of violence. What we growing about, what is no, major incidents 200 additional officers were added and then talked about how great the sample is, San Francisco, police department. And the mayor, keeping their neighborhood, safe and clean are this, is the guy who at that conference said they should bring the National Guard to San Francisco. He wants the National Guard there. Why is he? Yeah he was he was actually confused because all this week while he is begging for the National Guard for Trump to send the National Guard to a city illegally. He also this was the headline, Salesforce linked security breach Fallout escalates with Qantas leak. Salesforce had a security breach that an estimated 1 billion records were hacked from Salesforce. So maybe he's actually, maybe we're wrong about this. He doesn't want the National Guards at San Francisco. He wants them at the sales force offices, to figure out who's hacking all of their fucking records because they can't do security themselves. This guy is, I just want you to turn off. I want every fucking blowhard CEO. Did just stop talking. We don't need to know what you think anymore. I don't care what none of us, know me care. Yeah, and I thought they were gonna be political anymore anyway so it's okay to be political on the right wing side of things, but I just want you to shut up. I don't want your Tweet with you next to a cop Making like holding hands and talking about how safe it is and the strong partnership. You have with the mayor and neighborhoods are safe and clean and at the same conference you're fuking asking for the National Guard to get rolled out because you don't like homeless people. Let me add one more. It's so gross. So shut up to this. This is from The New York Times just yesterday. Salesforce offers its services to boost Trump's immigration Force. The San Francisco base. Firm has told ice That it could use AI to help agency. Nearly triple its staff. There you go. So supporters, shut up, just shut up Mark Benny. That's not, you're not an elected official. I mean, you're not, you're weighing in on matters that you don't belong. You have a horrible software company that sells horrible, it's software Softails, whatever you do. That's what you do. I go sell your software. You know, he worked, he worked under Larry Ellison Oracle. So this is there's a theme here. All these fucking billionaire, you know, white Bros, know each other, like they're all building their own bunkers. That's number one Mark. Benny off number two, seems like an easy week for me but go ahead. I think I know this one's gonna be, I don't know. I don't know Contender. Maybe not the labor. Con job, what's up? here, the headlines from just this week that you pulled, Verizon exact tells I'm employed gen Z, they can always volunteer to stand out in the currently job market. No One's Gonna say no to free work, okay? This woman is the head of people at Verizon. Fortunately, yeah and she suggested that. Yeah. So you got laid off but you should just go work for free. It's still good for your resume. So just work for free, it'll be good for you. Chief Talent officer, Christina, schelling. She told this to gen Z. Yeah. And the same week that this headline came out, because there was a report about it gen Z's misery is real, most workers. In this economy, lack of voice and are stuck in low-quality jobs, a massive Gates back study fine. So, study found, the Gen Z has it worse off than any prior generation with a job just worse for them. Forget the headline I said about what's Ah, well, genzies problem is they could they can solve their problem by working for free according to Verizon's header people. And then Sam Altman, said, if jobs get wiped out, maybe they weren't even real work to start with. Yeah, so Not only was your, your job is a nothing Burger. You got you got fired, you got you were flipping burgers. It, your job was fake, your pointless. You should go work for free. Because starving is realer than that. Job was like, you can feel that maybe you can intern, like, you know, like the Coca-Cola company for 18 months for free and trying to impress somebody. And then JP Morgan came out with data that showed how Americans in different income brackets, perceived the economy, the headline was a shocking disparity between how high income and low income earners feel about the economy. Why is that? I mean, whoever the headline writers are CNBC. Why is that? If you want to report on the disparity, that's fine, but it stopped. It's shocking to nobody. I mean, what do we do doing? It's horrible. Period, being low is is backbreaking, it's horrible, it's exhausting so scary. The con job here is, we've been talking about AI is liberating people, but what Liberation looks like is your fired company. Executives, who make money are telling you, you should just work for free. The AI said, because you got you got fired, your job wasn't real to begin with not to mention that. This is what that's, that's the tip of the spear. You're being told by a College Dropout, who is racing forward, and in his field to with no guardrails in place by know, societal guard rails. That is checking Sam Altman and what he builds and who we partners with nothing, no one because, and then because not that long ago, his board actually revolted against Samuel for for doing the things that he's doing now this. Yeah. And and open ai's response was to fire the board members replace them with some of his buddies and keep him going. So, and Howard. And then at the our shows, you should be commenting on stuff like that. You should. Yeah. Say something about the threads together, Howard, I think, actually we've made fun of you a bunch Howard, but you'd actually love this show. I think we. Yeah, tied things together, but I like that, at the end of this road of gen Z's, had got a horse to get, no jobs the executive say just work for free, it's not a big deal. Sam ottman says your job was fake anyway, at the end of this job. We're surprised in a report when low income earners, feel bad about the economy and high income earners don't. That is the con. That's the great Khan. We're surprised by that. Oh my God, how could that be except that everyone is telling you, you suck like this, building on last week's show when we talked about how a half dozen CEOs, said, you're gonna have to give up on work life balance you like, forget about having a job. You just live in the office. You want to compete with China, I mean, I you had one earlier, right? Like you can't build something. Extraordinary, working 38 hours a week, I got effectively. They're effectively telling you, you should work till you're dead. Or your job is eliminated, when it's eliminated, your job was fake and you should work for free. And if you're if you're dead you got nowhere because like life is pointless. You've been working 70 hours a week just to keep your job. Yeah. And if you want, if you want to talk about it further, if you want to discuss this good luck, finding them because I'm hiding in my billionaire bunker somewhere. I will be available to take calls. I don't get calls underground in my underground mansion. All right so the labor time jobs. Number three, and four are quick. I'm gonna give you just to Gavin Newsom. Up for it. It's a very liberal asshole week this week. Gavin, Newsom. Here's Edline. Gavin Newsome. Vito's Bill to protect kids from predatory, AI. Do we know why? What was he? Doing what the video was about. Yeah, he's basically it seems like the veto was that, it was too restrictive. He vetoed it because the the you could interpret the law as none of this is legal. And it'd be too restrictive and, and then AI would not actually be able to be out in the world. Like, no, no AI. Which Correct. That's the way I sound right? Yeah, that sounds lovely but I gave you the second option because both of these happen in the same week. Gavin Newsom vetoes Bill to protect kids. From predatory AI, Sam Altman's, your second option here which is Sam Altman. Says open AI isn't moral police of the world after erotica, Chet GPT post blows up because this week Sam Altman said that chat GPT will be have effectively porn on it. You will be able to access or have poor knee conversations with AI. It's like unclear to be what that, what it actually means, but they will do. They're calling it erotica but it's porn. So Gavin Newsom vetoes a bill to protect kids. In the same week that Sam Altman says we're going to release porn versions of Chachi PT know. I was gonna include this story but I didn't but it but it works here. This is the same week that open AI essentially established the same bulshit that Facebook did with its oversight board. Open AI establishes a 8 member yeah Wellness Council to guide, healthy AI interactions. And part of this is in response to a wrongful death lawsuit which included allegations that Chachi PT contribute to the suicide of a young teenager. Now, it open it open, AI gets to pick the council. A, not only that, but there are reports that their first meeting that they spent time, talking, about all the great benefits of AI for for young kids, and so great start from that Wellness console. But yeah, unbelievable. But this is easy for me this week because it's easy. But really, you're gonna, you're just gonna go right off. Usually? Okay, I can explain. First of all, Gavin Newsome, California was the first date, was it last week? A couple of weeks ago, that is at least started weeks ago did some form of Regulation against, right. I love an attempt, okay? But but as we've said many many times over the show it there are two states, really? I mean, you could say that they're all there. You could count them as like, the only countries, I mean they're they're the same population as countries in the united. There are two States United States, that do that. Do anything anymore and that's Massachusetts in California. Those are the only two that. Try anything that anything. For the public good. So I have to I had to applaud. Gavin need some for that. I don't like him doing this bill but I'm not gonna he's not the asshole. The week just for that Sam Altman's. Every week, Sam Altman's like the asshole of the time. Yeah, it's hard to say. It's hard to. Yeah, the labor con job. It great reporting that ongoing by you but it's an ongoing issue I mean but this Marc benioff. I mean A CEO asking for, for troops, for to come into the city because because basically he's disturbed by the sight of homeless, people that's really the the root of. I mean, I too live in a city that has a has a homeless problem and the problem is is not about me and my reaction to it and what I'm witnessing. The problem is is that these people need homes, they the problem, they need drugs, and they need therapy, they need, they need income's. So, Mark, the problem is that Mark Benny off, but he's other billionaires made it so expensive to live there that those people know, many reasons, can yes. One of many societal reasons that he doesn't spend any time going into, it's just that he wants to bring in truths, with guns. Bringing the troop. He's just easy asshole the week. One of these. Let's go, let's move on. Let's do some headlines. Winners predictions and get out of here. I'm so tired after myself. Yeah, we we go a little crazy on this show. I have two good ones for headlines of the week. A story. We referred to last week. This is some more reporting on that lays, you know, the Lays Lay's chips? Yeah, chips. Yeah. Lays drastically rebrands. After disturbing finding 42% of consumers didn't know their chips were made out of potatoes. Is that? Pasta. Is that real? Is that possible? No, that's not fair up their their idiots on both sides of the aisle. What? I want to know. Yeah. is when you look at the picture of the bag of Lay's, It has a potato on the front of true. I'm dead and it shows are not, it's a slice, potato, and underneath so, like Lay's classic there, the yellow bag. You could picture it in your mind, right? Like, it's just says, it's a classic, there's a potato. And then underneath that in smallish font, but there it says potato chips. And then on the back of that, it says, made with potatoes in the ingredients, 40%. So what? Yeah well 42%, It's No, I will I will say it's a weird world anyway. I mean I I was wrestling with AI yesterday that I was trying to have, it helped me break down the Board of Trustees that Duke University. It kept insisting that the NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Is black. Insisting, he's black. And I mean if you, if you Google, Adam Silver. I happen to know who he is. But he's he's a very white bald, man. He's very white-looking. Let's just say that. He's he's very white, but we just live in. I'm just my point being we live in a strange strange time, just strange time, that's all I'm saying. Okay, so maybe, oh, sorry, maybe this before you say maybe the 42% because consumers didn't know their chips are made up potatoes. Maybe they they used Chachi PT and they asked what they're made out of maybe. Chachi got it wrong. Okay, so two things, sorry about this. Number one, Lays his name after Herman lay? Yeah, he's a Salesman who made this, he's been selling potato chips since 1931. Yeah, we had 100 years to figure out it was potatoes. Yeah. I don't know, at which point people got confused and thought it was not a potato. Number two. The ingredients in Lay's, are potatoes and oil. That's it. Delicious, that's will, there's nothing else. Number three, the reason why they're doing this. They rebranded to put more potatoes on the bag. A big thing that says, you know, now with we're made with real potatoes, or whatever. Is because RFK Jr is pushing companies to ditch artificial ingredients with which I agree with you. Fine and lays his worry that they will get targeted because people didn't know, there aren't artificial ingredients in this. All right, we're spending too much, there's just potatoes, my other headline, so dumb, other headline of the week, divorced. Tesla fan. Admits that his cyber truck is repulsive to women in good. Yeah, that's a funny like he didn't have to do a poll for that. Just was like it is. It's repulsive. Yeah. What I got. Two, one is DirecTV screen? Savers. Oh, I saw this, I will show AI generated ads with your face in 2026, horrible. Um, first of all, I find it mostly funny that DirecTV still a thing. Did you know that exist? Well, does anybody have that anymore? Full disclosure? I use a friend's account, I shouldn't say this because DirecTV is probably gonna like figure out where I am and get rid of it, get my ability to use the account. So yeah, I I've been sharing someone's DirecTV account. It's just, yeah, it's just cable, right? Is that what is it? Spectrum? Yeah. What we talked about, but if it starts showing me ads with my horrible, ugly face on it. I'm I'm done watching. Like you playing volleyball, eating, Lay's potato chips, or something, I don't like. And second one Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is back to featuring hot women. After faildo woke Rebrand. I don't like that. I don't like the implication of that headline. That's what I thought was so good. Because now women who were in the fashion show every woman, who did it before was terrible headlines. Now, women of every size and color can be Did that because they're back to featuring hot women. Amazing women, the women they had before were all goes, is basically. What is that? What that means? Like, that's what they're saying. Well, that's what this whole, there's been a lot of bullying, a lot of reporting, how Victoria's Secret now is anti-woke and they've gotten rid of their woke Rebrand and that, yes, that is the insinuation. That they're saying Society has one version of what a woman should look like and fuck everybody else. I thought we got over this in 1995. I really did. I thought this was one of these crazy times, man, Looney times. Come on, who won the week, I, who's your winner this week? Oh speaking of which kind of a mash-up here, ugly or non ugly women. So that's all nice. Oh women. Yeah, yeah. And I think glass Lewis is actually there. They're shifting to, they're not gonna tell you which women, they think are ugly or not. Oh, they stop giving they're not gonna have a house view on on voting but they're gonna tell you which women they think are uglier or not, right? Because that's that's politically. Okay. Alright. That's fine. Well, I thinking about that's okay. Like like Roger ebert.com for having a house view about which movie is good. No. But that's okay too, which is that you don't want to do anything when it comes to proxy advice but it's fine. Everything else is fine. So I can do a goes and notes and I can do. Yes, movies, not movies. Whatever. Okay. My who my the winners ugly or not ugly, women who divorce men, who owns cyber trucks. It's an easy one. Oh, if you own a cybertruck, if you divorce the man you gonna win. You're a winner. I look. I'm on board with you. Because my winner was men without cyber trucks, so I'm a winner. So I'm a winner too, I've been a winner. We're all winners. Yeah, we all are winners. We got a prediction. Glass Lewis. A lot of glass Lewis talk today. I love. I don't know. Who cares about glass Lewis. Glass Lewis rebrands itself, simply as glass. Oh no more Lewis. Yeah, just just something just a nice piece of glass. You can look through it and just nothing it just there's no you can put, you can put it in front of you, in between you and the tree and your backyard. And there there's a tree. It's right. That that's your house view, a tree that you can. If it was on a house, you could view the house, right? Oh, don't turn towards the house. Just don't look at the house with blacks are my prediction. Sam Altman. Who said this week? He's not the moral police of the world. Actually, is elected. Moral police, sergeant of the world. That's kind of Elections. Yeah, I think inevitably, right? Like, he's gonna be like, some sort of moral police Sergeant, right? Because he's a College Dropout. So he knows he understands morality and he knows that I think he got through his ethics class, right dropping out. I hope so. That's it. That's hazelnut Ross. I'm here at. We are free float. Come back next week when we do more of whatever. This is really, it's nobody really knows. But if you get a chance, something go to free flow. Analytics.com, sign up for free, get the zine. It's so much content that Zayn. There's so much to read. There's so much to look at the free. And while you're at it, you can go look up every single board in the world. Who's on it? How they perform all sorts of stuff. So, go do that and you can go get shareholder. Primacy. Another podcast next week, we've got a proxy countdown podcast, we're doing. We got it, which has been fabulous. We're gonna do that proxy Seasons. Just get started, come back then, until then goodbye.