Transcript
Here it is. Come on. Now, I'm pumped. Live. From Target's pride month, display featuring a black hole. Empty shell and some pocket lint. It's a business prep pant Friday, show here at June 6th. Studios featuring analyst whole Matt mascardi. Yeah, the second show in a row. I butchered the name business pants. I know, but Buddhist bands. On today's weekly wrap up. The girls are fighting. That's a quote, a humble Peruvian. Creates a potentially immense precedent and accidental proxy advisory advice. Wait, is the humble Peruvian already the data Queen? No, oh not, she's not that humble. Find her, but she is Peruvian. So, there's more than one Peruvian in the world. Our show today is being sponsored by free. Float, analytics.com. The only platform measuring board power connections and performance for free. Look, I do get excited every time I see the word, Peru or Peruvian. So I maybe I was drawn to that story. Maybe that's why I selected it. So you might have a chest there. Something about Peruvian. Have you been to Peru? Of course not. I did go to a Peruvian restaurant outside of Logan airport. Once is that I think it does. I think it does count actually. You ready to do this? Come on, yeah. I'm already tired. Let's yeah. I'm I'm exhausted and you tell me 93 pages of story of the week. No, I don't read it all. Come on, you know. Let's, let's start with the obvious and I don't have to spend a lot of time with this. I think. Actually, you pick up this thread later on in the show. Kind of not really, just stay away from it. The baby billionaire Bromance is over for now. I don't know they're having a tip but here's the headline, I liked, I actually took this one from people.com. I've never taken a headline from people.com. Savannah Guthrie. She's one of the hosts on The Today Show. Savannah, Guthrie says, Elon Musk and Donald Trump are Giving seventh grade girl as President says lost his mind now. at first, I was that an insult to 7th grade girls. But, you know, I I had a seventh grade girl, and man, did she go through some incredible fights with her friend, it back and forth. I mean, really they were really, really just a sight to behold. So maybe maybe Savannah's, right? Maybe this is giving 7th grade. Girl, I got, to be honest, I have my 8th grade girl, and a sixth grade girl, right now. That's not so great. So you have no evidence, so I have no idea. I did seventh grade ones to get to 8th grade. Yeah, it's a more mature than I think. Yeah, no. They're they, they currently are holding down 40 Hour Week jobs, and paying into Social Security know, they're not more mature. They're big fat babies. All right. Well, what do you do? You want to talk about this? Now you want to talk about later? You, I mean, look, Honestly, there's it's just a Non-Stop like fire hose of exaggeration. Both of them. They, this is the man flake economy. This is what it is, right? Like our It now it's a dick war between the richest man and the president, like it's just what it was gonna, it was always gonna be this. I don't, we don't need to talk about it. I mean, there are implications to their, I mean, must loses, right? Musk, loses this battle for now. Can I just say something? I hate to do this? I'm not this person, but I'm about to be this person. I, I don't no one would know these thoughts because we don't talk about pop culture. I'm not much of a Star Wars guy, I'm just gonna say that. Like, it's okay, it's fine, I like it. I love Star Wars, the movie is a child, but after that, I don't know if I really care but I am watching this new series called Andor. I don't know how new. It's probably not that new. It's really good and it's what by one of my favorite film screenwriters. And I, I, I'm gonna admit to you. I love it. I really love. I mean, the first season, I'm in the first season and this is a quote, I heard. And I'm actually gonna quote an episode of Pandora. Yeah, and I don't do this, I don't do pop culture. But here's the quote from just last night. A character said they're about to attack. Basically Trump's house, you know, they're fighting the Imperial forces. They're they're fighting the big enemy which is basically the oligarchy, really? I mean if you think about it here's the quote. He says. It's so confusing, isn't it? So much going wrong. So much to say and all that happening. So quickly, the pace of Oppression, outstrips are ability to understand it and that is the real trick of the Imperial Thought Machine. I just when I, when I heard that quote, I just thought Of these. Oligarchical. Billionaire babies, fighting. All the just all the non-stop headlines. All it's just a mess and I think they're absolutely right. I don't know where to look anymore. I don't know how to fight. I don't know. I the pace of Oppression outstrips our ability. I understand it like, co-founding, a company that just tries to get people to pay attention to who runs corporations and even that people are like, yeah, I don't know, you know, what are we doing, why would we do that? Why would we vote out a director? What do we? I mean, I even have a story this week, Matt about the, the annual meeting at, you know, United Healthcare, which maybe is the final proof that nobody is ever going to care about anything ever again? No, for me. The nail in the coffin was bowing last year, I've spent a year and pure nihilism. Anyways, let's move on for this. Everyone else is covering it. Yeah, let's get nerdy for the second story of the week. Only because I want to make look I'm gonna preface this by saying, is it. Okay, now, for us to make fun of Black Rock again? Now that now that they've fully capitulated pictures related to the right, here's the headline, black rock removed from Texas boycott list after quitting climate groups. That's what I This decision, follow black rocks, Texas had an investment Blacklist. This decision followed blackrocks withdrawal from several climate Focus initiatives, including the Net Zero asset managers Alliance and climate action, 100 plus. So congratulations, Larry Fink. I mean, It's just move your signature from like two groups and you're doing business in Texas. Again, that's all it took. That is this possible according to the reporting at Reuters. They they have more than four billion dollars in Texas funds or invested with black rock and that the BlackRock itself has nearly 12 trillion dollars in funds right now. Yeah. Is it possible that if I'm doing the math, right? I don't really understand assets under management under management too well but that Texas represents point zero three percent of all of. But is it really that small? I mean I'm being serious for tickets. It really that small. It probably is. And this I mean look what I just I can't wrap my head around Larry Fink like being such a wimp. I just this is everybody. The idea, it's not everybody access to Larry fake it but later because every Financial firm every Financial firm, but backing off of all, who was the song and dance? We had for the last five years. What were we talking about? What was all the what was the Business Roundtable saying? What was anybody saying? The broader implications of of it, what was what everyone was afraid of because it's like, you know, it's like you're it probably is more than four billion in Texas overall. It's probably four billion in Texas just one pension fund or maybe a couple for this theater came from. Yeah. But it could be a lot more than that. But you're still talking about like probably the maximum I could think is one percent of of their funds would be in Texas. Oh one one percent. You think it's even that high but they Black Rock Band manager's money for every global. Pension fund, like every single one. All of them have BlackRock funds and most of them. And most of them do not think like Texas. The vast majority of the robotics, right? But but the cost was, you know, lose 1% or less of our um or just unsign ourselves from a couple of Dopey climate, you know, things and still do climate the stuff which they never really did in the first place. I don't know for them, the trade was easy, it was the excessive ass kissing. That was really the question mark like why do we have to like why why do we have to? Like I don't fall, it's the ring. I don't show up that part. I don't exist. But I guess what most people would say is that this is who he always was or is it? Yeah, that's just flops in the wind, I don't know. I hears the part that I loved. I say that of course sarcastically Larry Fink made 31 million dollars last year, including an 11 million dollar bonus, which according to the proxy statement was based on subjective criteria. It's complete. They said they themselves said is completely discretionary, and one of the criteria was I'm quoting from the proxy statement to lead in a changing world. I thought that was cute. I will say this too. This is an impressive stat especially considering that BlackRock itself owned 6% of BlackRock a full 32% of BlackRock investors actually said no to Larry figures. Yeah, they did. So yeah, I don't know. Look confusing. Yeah, there you go. That's the second that's the nerd. I love the Black Rock on 6% of Black Rock. That's the second nerdy story of the week. Here's the third one. All, so we're just gonna stay in the land, depression. Big brands are pulling back on Pride, merchandise and events. This year, Corporate America pulls back from pride, no rainbow logos from Big Brands as June starts, blah, blah, blah blah. I mean, none of this is that surprising because they didn't care in the first place. Yes, that's what do you really believe that? You really believe that are they scared? I, I know you have a darker view of humanity than I do. I want to Mine is so maybe mine's more cynical, but I actually think people even Donald Trump. I think actually It's not anti-gay, he's not he's pro-gay rights but it's a political move. He's so I just think that yes, I think these people actually do believe. I think target actually does believe in. But there's such wimps, there's such they just follow the money. They just follow the dollar, which is worse, but if you believe in a thing. Yeah. Then you do the thing, right? Like that, is that how Corporate America? What is strip it down to core beliefs, right? Like, I think, actually, the last decade and we talked about this back at the mothership, the last decade has been about like corporate purpose. And I remember when we were still at msci, like we were talking about like, how these companies were like trying to figure out how to, to we went through processes inside msci, till like, give msci a mission statement. Do you remember that? Bullshit that we did, right? How dare you? Know, very real. And the every everybody's purpose was exactly the same. It was like the client comes first or whatever that was like every corporation purpose to hit a home, run over the green monster. Well, the the fact is like, if you have something that is like a deeply held belief like say equality, then, you know, celebrating pride month and diversity at your company, is squarely in that deeply held belief. You don't give it up because Donald Trump says you shouldn't do pride month. Well, give it up because political wins change against the thing. You believe the thing or you don't, you really don't think that there are boardroom especially after what happened to Bud Light. You don't think they're a boardrooms that even though they, they even might vote for Democrats. They might believe in the principles of gay rights, that they'll just gonna say, no because they don't, they don't want Critical feedback. You don't think that's possible. I think Costco. Is it like the example of The boardroom that said, we don't care what you're saying about diversity and there are and there or any of that and they're hokey hot dogs sellers. They're not exactly like this. You don't walk in there and feel like you're walking into a seminar at Bryn, Mawr, you know, century poet. It's literally Warehouse they still Warehouse. Yeah. Like so they sell everything, but that's true. I don't. It suggests to me that there are companies with deeply held beliefs, and then companies who view themselves as well, our job is to make money. We will shift wherever the money goes and we will adopt, whatever the narrative is, those are the wimps, the wimps have no actual feelings, like, they don't, they may have personal feelings. Like, well, I have a gay friend or I vote for liberals or whatever, right? Like, but, but I don't understand the corporate ethos. It you should either either like selling to gay people or lgbtq plus communities or hiring people of color is important because you recognize that. It's a, it's a way to grow your company, to be inclusive to increase your talent pool, when you're looking to hire whatever it is, or what about you don't believe? Yeah, I'll just say or what? A bunch of celebrating fun things. I mean Rainbows are great where I live like pride month is just fun for a whole month it's just like parties and music and you know just stuff parade in the end. In fact there was a I think it was CNN was covering the fact that actually pride month represents a considerable chunk of business for whoever celebrated its horses. It does, it makes a lot of money, is what it really does. Of course, it does. And, and in the end, the companies that are backing off on this are telling you something. If you are a buyer, if you are a potential employee what they're telling you is we are willing to trade You. For what we think are political expedience, whatever. The way the wind is going and every boardroom that is saying oh well I I love gays but I I just don't think our company should celebrate them. They're telling you something, right? Like that's telling you, there is no moral belief system or or broader, thought process or deeply held sort of Ethics that they're adopting. They are literally they adopted Pride because they thought they could sell you more, shit. They're unadding. It because they're worried that you won't buy it. Like, somebody's gonna get angry, Robbie Starbucks. Citizen journalist is gonna write a really angry report. I mostly think about Dmitri Stockton. When we talk about this issue because Dimitri sits on the board of Target as well as deer. Both companies kind of notoriously getting rid of their Dei programs so he's the one I always considered me tree. Either you're listening or maybe your your partner's listening. I don't know. Or maybe you're. Who knows your children? Give me. Give us a call. Like to hear. What I want to hear. I want to hear that inside scoop. Yeah, why not right? I'm sure he shared that. Let's get, let's move on. Let's go get in stupid. The last big story of the week, again, another nerdy one, but demonstrative and a lot of ways United Health Group AGM was held this week. Now, do I need to sum up all of the craziness going on United Health Group that, and not just including the murder of one of its named executive officers. Do I need to sum up? Do I need to, man? I'm asking a question. I don't want you don't? Okay good. Here's what investors thought. Average. Director support 94%. The guy who created the mess in the first place is boomeranging back, a CEO who was chair for all these years who've created all the boards and hired everybody Stevens, he got 93% support. Wow, yeah, the audience apparently didn't didn't own shares. I don't. Uh, yeah, he's there was an article that said that he's stepping forward, he stepped forward to acknowledge the Fallout and chart a new course. Promising promising, a comprehensive review of some of the company's most controversial practices. So that again, the guy, the guy who created the controversies is here. In fact, they're even the Wall Street Journal is even saying that he apologized. He apologized for United Health's recent performance and sighted, a need to rethink many internal processes this this this this this is the guy that okay so sailing through the part. Yeah. The part that I think people don't know because they announced Andrew witty steps down. This is after the assassination of Brian Thompson. Yeah. All these problems Hemsley steps into the CEO role and some people know that he's a boomerang. Some don't or the part that I think most people don't know is that That the entire time. He was the last time you CEO was like 2011 or something like that, right? Like I think he was the CEO two CEOs ago, but he's been executive chair forever, right? I think people don't know what executive chair is. Is so the company says, he's acknowledging The Fallout and chart a new course. He's promising. Comprehensive review, some of the companies most controversial practices. Yeah, he's actually an executive at the company, he's not a guy who's coming in and being like, I'm gonna do a review of all the practices that we have and see which ones don't work, which do I want to address the Fallout from some of these issue, he was in exactly. He was a paid. Well then he should have right at the company. For 20 plus years. These are not things that are new. He should know every single one of these things, he's in executive executive chair was not, like guy, they brought in to be CEO again or guy they brought in to be CEO for the first time, it's not outside. Hire Stevens, lie, it is Existing executive takes over. Other executive's role promises to figure out what's going on. What are we doing to be clear and now we're in the world of semantics but I just want to be clear he He stepped down as executive chair in 2019 but remained as chair and and of course, kept his Equity. So it's really just a matter of semantics, right? I mean he he was formerly CEO forever. He was executive chair after that. Now they call him a non-executive chair. But what does that even really mean? I mean, when you have the numbers shares that he has, well, let's talk more than the executives who work there. Let's talk about that because actually this is a this is an area of corporate governance. That is constantly overlooked. I don't think data providers. Like, msci, have ever noticed these types of things? I don't know. Anyone does, I don't know. Anyone reports on them in the right way. But Stephen Hemsley. Kind of hard to figure out, but as of the proxy date, he owned about a 1.2 million shares. It looks like as of a couple weeks ago, he might own up to about 1.7 million shares. But the other thing they did at the annual meeting is that is the company actually raised the cash dividend for shareholders, which is just, maybe like a way to Garner their vote. I have no idea. So that cash dividend is up to two dollars and 21 cents a share. This means that roughly Speaking. Stephen Hemsley is making about. Three and a half million dollars every guest order. Yes. Every quarter, he's making over 10 million dollars a year, just on the dividend. So to call him a non-executive chair is ludicrous. But but anyway, that to your point. Yeah, he's the guy anyway, the shareholders supported him 93% and, and looking at it a little bit deeper I don't know what they're up to. They're they're 99% support for directors like Paul Garcia who's the former CEO of Global Payments? I don't know how that helps the Board 99% support for Kristen Jill. Who was the former VP business? Finance officer, alphabet. I mean, they just, I don't know that they care, they just don't really care. That's just my takeaway. I mean, yeah, that we I mean, it's You think they care that the company is under investigation for like, Medicare fraud and stealing from 401ks. Yeah, like all the lowest vote which is not low, is 86% support for John knows worthy. And forget the joke about his name. This guy was the former CEO of the Mayo Clinic so you'd think he might be important, right. But anyway, what they did say no to although not not it is an advisory vote and it didn't reach a majority. But 40% of Cheryl said no to say on Pavel. So I don't know if that all meaningful, but it's not really. Anyway, really, really got him. You got him there. That's my fourth story of the week is even at United Health Group shareholders, don't really know what to say. So my options here are the man flake fight Black Rock which in Texas you really mean Larry Fink Larry coals, big Brands, pulling back on pride and United Health groups AGM results for good. Ones. I like I can't choose the United Health group's AGM results, like, that's fine. That's Wanna Talk About knew those were going to be the results, right? Actually. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah I was a little surprised, go ahead. I mean like Boeing paid Dave Calhoun for literally 20 years of destroying the company a 40 million dollar golden parachute. And shareholders. That's true. Proved it. That was a vast majority and that was like, 300, customers kill as opposed to one named executive officer killed. Yeah, that's true. So, like just trade there. Um, so I'm not I can't use that BlackRock getting back on the Texas list was also sort of inevitable that this is how Like the grift works, right? Like this is you do a thing and then they don't have negotiation art of the deal. I mean the trans. Everything's now transactional, the Republican party in this country is just basically. What can you give me? That's all it is. Give me something and BlackRock gave them no more climate like taxes. We don't care about the climate. Texas is the best at it. They feed their supporters. This like this rhetoric against the left about, you know, we were Pro oil. We hate Wok stuff. We hate the sun. We hate everything, but then they're the ones taking all the money for renewable energy right there. Yeah, they're the ones making Bank off of that. Yeah, it's just give me something so that the Gimme something state that gives that leads me, like, that, that leaves me with pride or, or the, or the, the man, the the girls are fighting. As AOC said, the girls are fighting the middle school, man. Like in the in the school yard. They're just so dumb. I have to go with pride. I just have to go with pride. Oh yeah I gotta go Pride. What's the sort of pride month? Yeah, it's a starter pride month and I knew this was coming. It was all inevitable, but like I cannot in good conscience choose Musk. And Trump throwing mud at each other. I wonder what? What is it? So dumb, yeah, it's dumb. What is it meaningful at all? When we look at companies like Tesla, who knows, I don't know. Right, they're gonna make up anyway, they're gonna make up but it's just what the dumb part about it. To me is not like that it happened, right? Like cuz that was inevitable too. It's that. This is where we are like the richest man in the most powerful. You know, person in the country fighting on social media of all places, they don't even like talk, like I told my kids like if you have a problem with someone call them up or say it to their face, they can't even do that. Well, yeah, we're doing, we're doing polls on social media and say, like speaking of my daughter, that's so dumb. So shut out to AOC and Savannah Guthrie, speaking of my daughter and 8th grade. She got in trouble for something related to something that she texted, or posted or and and that was the moment where we had to sit her down and her friends and be like, don't ever make this public, like, let's just like, let's keep all this in-house. Let's just work these things out. And, and since then match, it hasn't happened again, she actually learned the lessons. I mean, that's great. It turned into adults. Like, these people are not adults, they're Toddlers and like, like when it evolves to Elon had no problem with the bill and Elon saying I didn't even see the pill and it's like, you totally did you just have, you know, like, I threw you out. You didn't throw me out, I left like what he doing, like, I can't choose that I can't use that, so we'll go with. Yeah, let's move on to pull back on price. So you picked a depressing one. Yeah, Pride. Yeah Pride. Let's do good least. Well, I like good least. Or do you want to just do yours since it's the, the man flake flapping at the black? Looking at it it was like, so ridiculous. Maybe that's where the boat should go for this. I just love like, they Trump. We're gonna remove all space. That contracts musk. We're gonna decommission the dragon spacecraft. Before you do that, like it's like it's such baby material. Like, I actually want my kids. Yeah, my my seven year old and my 12 year old my 14 year old to read it so that they can be like, wow this is so dumb. Like this is this is this is how not to resolve a conflict or even talk about it. I gotta say, I always feel like an idiot in these situation because I even, I was surprised at how quickly it went into like I guess Elon Musk was was saying that Trump is in the Epstein files. Yeah. I was surprised even I was surprised how quickly it went, like just straight middle. School like I I get fighting about, you know, bills and companies, and that's what they do, I guess, but to go there so quickly and then he's Trump's calling him crazy. I just like, wait, what really this? But why do I fall for? Why do I? Why am I surprised? I just I can't. I just can't I can't get over like the WWE well for vacation of. That's our this guy. Like I like it used to not just this country. Yeah, but you used to like like you wanted to it was like dunking on social media was reserved for social media and then in real life people didn't really act that way. But it's like, so the old, the spillover from social media, the constant desire to dunk on everybody is now playing out with the two, arguably, most powerful people in this country trying to dunk on each other. On social media about nothing, like it's, I, it's better. Matt here. Does this make you feel better? There was a study that came out yesterday. A study that came out that asked the people who live in their country and they're in their respective countries, if they feel like their society is broken. That's the, that's the actual call broken which is really depressing when I think about it, and the United States understandably. 66, that's a lot two thirds of people think society's broken but Matt, we're not alone and in France and the UK 65%. So it's the same percentage. I think it's broken in Germany that's up to 77%. So we all feel broken. It's not just, it's not just the United States. Look it's social, I guess we're all say this, we're probably export we probably export. A broken better than, you know. It's, it's, it's Mark. Yeah. It's I mean, Mark, owns 85% of the social media Market but it's Mark, it's Evan Spiegel, it's Sergey, it's Larry. It's middle school, man. Boys, who effectively related tools to dunk on each other and that gets clicks and that broke down Society. It is a one-to-one. It isn't like a slow burn of something. It is one to one. Is it weird that I felt a little bit better but the some of the other countries feel the same way I always feel like that the US is a crisis. But anyways, so that's your goodness. Dunking on the idiots. Mine. I actually have two that a little bit more serious. The first one is this headline. The Trump EPA tried to bury some good news so Just so weird, a climate report acquired by a Freedom of Information Act request of all. Things shows that the US climate pollution actually declined in 2023 us climate pollution fell by 2.3%. This is in the First full year of Biden's inflation reduction act. But, of course, Trump, they tried to hide the good news. That is just well, they blew up the. I know the elements that would be stupid, but I guess, anyway, I can't celebrate that. There's some good news bearing there. And how about this one? The headline is, how a Peruvian Farmers legal defeat raised new risks for companies. So, there's a Peruvian farmer file, the lawsuit against German Energy, company rwe, all he wanted was 17,000 dollars because because because of glacial melt that he says, that are w e was contributing to, which was causing flooding from a lake, that's only one in 17,000 dollars. Of course, the court said, no, but they couldn't really prove it. but, The court acknowledged, the legal principle that major greenhouse gas emitters can be held liable for climate related damages. And this is a new president. It actually set a new president. So there you go in Germany. So, well, I have to choose that one because all the everything about this week I just love the humble request 17,000 dollars 17,000. I know like I feel like you should ask for more like well, I don't know because I I've had a lot of flooding issues with my basement and I remember we did get a price to to do get some pumps redo. All the basement, just all kinds of stuff and it was about 17,000 dollars. So maybe oh so really he just needed to sump pump. Yeah. It's like some yes, some other things that's drained. Some French drains I don't know. All right, let's I like that one. All right, let's do assholes. Oh God here haven't we already done asshole. It's just. That's the problem. I know. Like, like so not an asshole. This week are the man flakes, right? Because like, I, it's just it. It's constant. Um yeah, I was van door said right? Yes, constant yeah, go ahead. All right, the first option is proxy. Advisors, I know like look, we do this every almost every single week but on our proxy countdown show, which if you haven't heard it, go get that podcast. It's it's our more analytical shit. We cover agms. First of all, I don't know why we separate the channels. I don't know why, because I feel like as few subscribers, as we have here, we have even less for the other one. Yeah, this is a great. It's there's a lot of incredible research and information on data in those shows. For any of you who are just higher high on the nerd scale and really work in this industry. I think we're gonna just stop with high like yeah. This week, particularly was fascinating, you introduced incredible, some incredible data about CEO succession, which I found pretty riveting again, from an animal, a nerdy analyst perspective. Yeah, from a human perspective. It's horribly boring, it's horribly horrible. But the other thing was what you're about to report on happening at Zephyr. Therapeutics is that that show always covers goes deep into a lot of the kind of interesting nuggets that no one else covers at least with any, it's so verb or personalities. So yeah, so wonky and then no one covers it, but it's so human that it's fascinating to us. So, is ever a Therapeutics was in a activist battle with a Daniel manglitz, but ISS and glass Lewis and Eagan, Jones, the proxy advisors weighed in on the proxy battle. Now, mangoes wanted multiple directors on the zebra board. He ended up losing, he didn't win. But what was amazing to me was when you pulled this for the proxy countdown reading, what iss and glass Lewis. And you can Jones had said like here's ISS. One of the things, one of the reasons why they said, they would not back the activists they were going to side with Severus board, okay? They said, quote, the boards concerns about having a former CEO on the board and potential disruption are valid. So what is this was saying is manglers put up a former CEO of zebra. The founder of zebra to join the board and and change the direction of the company. And ISS said, The existing board said, having a former CEO would be disruptive. Yeah, and they agree. I agree. I agree. So, i s s. Yeah, there are 92594 active directors in the msci data that we have from February of this year. 3,123 of them are tagged as former Executives at the company and they're on the board. That's it actually surprises me. In fact, 522 us companies out of 2200 or so. Oh 522 companies. Have a former executive on the board and more often than not it is the CEO, the former CEO. In fact, the company National Healthcare Corp has four former Executives on the board. Yeah, former Executives. It's almost like I have to give a warning to ISS and glass Lewis. Like when you, when you attempt to do your jobs, during these activists fights, you're kind of unwittingly just like to Peruvian farmer. You're kind of unwittingly creating precedent you're creating government. You're like, actually accidentally saying out loud. Governance principles that have long been held by the community in which you operate because because why, why is this just important at this one company? Like what are you doing? Why are you? That's my problem, you asshole. Why are you revealing the secret? You did. The you did the analysis here, makes me agreed that explorers, CEO would be disruptive and then At all those other companies where there are former CEOs, for executives, you're saying, it's fine. It's fine. All of them. Just this one was a problem. It's not funny. You know, what if you worry about doing your job so you can add some Nuance to it. Say We'll create how about this a sunset clause on their board service how about they can serve for three years but then we vote you out, just do something. Come up with some recommendation based on this because this sounds like you're actually paying attention for one. I don't want I don't even want to recommendation I just want some semblance of consistency sense. Like I just want you know Common Sense. How about this from glass Lewis? Andy Jones? Glass Lewis said Mr. Reagan who is one of mango's suggested directors for this board at Mr. Reagan is limited dated and unrelated public board service in Jones, also questioned the relevant expertise of mangoes is nominees stating quote, we do not believe Mr. Regan's background in proxy solicitation Offers meaningful value in the context of Zephyrs boardroom. So what they're saying effectively is they don't have core knowledge of zebra Therapeutics why should they be on the board? Did you miss Dana White at meta or Nelson Peltz at Disney? Who you almost all said, was okay. We actually have data on director knowledge, I pulled it all. Our data suggests that 22% of directors on boards globally, have direct core knowledge of relevant to the industry of the company of their City. Wow. Yeah. Because only 22% does that's disheartening because the company itself is ever a therapeutic said. That the reason why they're voting against Reagan, he has because he has no life sciences industry experience or knowledge. So, 78% of directors don't have direct experience. Are we voting against all of that, right? Is that what we should do? Part that I can't get my head around. I don't get it. Like suddenly direct experience matters. Until? You look at any other company. I don't so I am utterly and totally flabbergasted it is weird. I mean I we talked about this a lot, but I I put this in the context of like sports and sports radio because one thing that they that is common knowledge. Now is is as an example, you wouldn't build a basketball team, where all your players all there were good at is like rebounding, that's all they were good at. They can't shoot, right? So why is it so hard for ISS in class Lewis to articulate, like bigger ideas, about the people who run the corporations, that that basically create our existences? I mean, they employ the globe, I don't get it, I just don't get it. I and then finally glass Lewis in what might have been the best quote of the entire thing said, quote publication of certain social media activity by Mr. Reagan appears to suggest something of a Blythe approach to compliance. Glass, Lewis looked at. The mangoes nominee, Regan's. Social media posts and said because of the nature of those posts. Yeah. They seemed to not be a person who would seem to not appear to be like a person who's into compliance. Meanwhile Have you heard of Elon Musk? Yeah. Like I have them. Like Alex karp at palantir. Like the the people that we that are on these companies. Half of them. Say incredible shit on social media, and still keep their jobs. Yeah. I can't get over it. You guys, you guys are such assholes, you don't, you don't say anything consistently. It's funny because the yeah, who's a data point? If you're gonna say it here, just go. Look over there and see if you're consistent before. You say it before. That's your reason, the one article I left out about Larry Fink and talking about Black Rock is he said that he was warning other CEOs, basically, to watch what you say that, you have to be a lot more guarded and he even, I don't know if this is a troll to the like, to The Climate movement. But yet he says, because we live in a terrarium, Oh, yeah. No. Is that like, is that his like, cheeky way of like, like not caring about? It was just closed. Ecosystem terrarium. Is that kind of like where we live? Kind of a closed ecosystem, and a glow in a dome, but anyway, yeah, go ahead. All right, so that's number one. The proxy advisors this week. Number two, I'm gonna do the next long one, reverse discrimination. So we saw a story. A woman won a reverse discrimination, a white woman, heterosexual woman won, a reverse discrimination case at the Supreme Court. Basically kicked it back down to Earlier Court decisions, how she was discriminated against because she was straight and white. Over to a gay people who got promotions? I thought I was just straight. Okay, go ahead. I mean, I I'm sure it's all part of it, but the point here was that Effectively, she wanted discrimination lawsuit as a majority party, right? Oh, was the point, which is funny because like, you know, women are clearly not in the majority when it comes to like leadership at work or business in general. Right. But go ahead. Yeah, that she won that. And then I saw this job that you are this a story. You pulled from propublica, dismissed by Dei Trump's Purge made black women, with stable federal jobs in easy, target it Chronicles, sort of three women, three black women who were working in the federal government whose jobs had nothing to do with diversity. In fact, the first one, Quay crowner, she enrolled because Betsy DeVos, and Trump's first term, She enrolled in a Betsy DeVos LED program which was meant to sort of like further women and people of color in the federal Workforce. Yeah. Back when that was still normal back when that was cool. Yeah, I mean this is still normal. But now all the haters of apparently this Administration used the list of anyone who enrolled in that program. To fire them all. So, pure devil work, she showed up for a job. She was the director of Outreach impact and engagement, which had nothing to do with impact investing or engagement with diversity. It was, it was everything to do with like, you know, like getting people federal assistance for, you know, college. It was very, very basic stuff and she'd been there for some, some years and she said she was the only person on her team to be like go and she was the only black woman on the team, like, all of them were white and she was a black woman. In fact, there's a quote from the article quote, we have observed. This is from a group leading, a lawsuit against the administration. We have observed approximately, 90% of the workers targeted for termination due to perceived association with diversity, Equity. Inclusion efforts, are women or non-binary, so it's a purge. Of women and non-binary people. We saw this with strive as management mentioned that. Yeah, go ahead. Strive Asset Management Vivek, ramaswamy anti-walk, sort of, you know, asset manager was a Launchpad over president. I was now he's running for the governorship of Ohio strive when you look at their proxy voting records, it was demonstrably, anti-female and anti-personal just look at the data. Yeah, if you look at the data and then I juxtaposed it with the different story you pulled, which was Trump appoints. 22 year old ex Gardener and grocery store, assistant to lead us Terror, prevention shocking. so, we don't have, I did some data pools of our own because You've been talking about on proxy countdown, this idea of down to two. Down to two women on the board. The quiet Purge of having a minimum of three women on the board and write market, large market cap. So I pulled all the data and it's incomplete because the proxy votes really in our data are back in March for the most part. So the vast majority of votes. We don't have in there yet, but the early results comparing at the end of last summer to basically time at roughly in March, early April There are out of us companies 54, have become more manly where they've added men and removed women. 95 have actually become more womanly, added a woman and removed a man. Yeah, which sounds good except that 11 over 1100. Have had man, power-ups men got more influence after the after the, after the changes to the board and only a thousand female women got more influence, okay? So men are outpacing women and getting power and power, right? And that's data only available at free, float, analytics.com, and the secret here, for any company listening, you want to, you want to do your own reverse discrimination Purge. If you expand the board, the secret is for companies that expanded their board size from last year to this year, there are 422 boards that expanded 362 of the expanded seats. Went to went to men and 181 went to women. A two-to-one ratio when you expand the board, they're adding men at a two-to-one rate versus women on an expanded board. And notice that like that the far majority of the time, they're not asking shareholders to let them expand the board and they're not, and they're also not asking investors to vote on the new director just a point. There are pointing them. Yeah. It's purely by Charter, right? Like they're just by bylaws expanding the board. That's interesting. That's so when you look at the data on reverse discrimination, what you have is called just discrimination, you assholes are like so focused on on white men not getting their due that when you look at the data, they already were getting more than their due and now they're getting more more than their do, right? Like it's it's just the little subtle tricks in order to effectively remove power from women and people of color are driving me. It's driving me nuts, this week, this is not new, but no, it's not. The other thing that drives me is saying, although, I don't really, I don't have any evidence of this at the moment. I didn't collect evidence of this, although maybe I can't collect evidence of this based on what I'm about to complain about is that I'm not even. I don't see the stories anymore since Trump, really since Trump 2.0, or really, since the, since the election cycle, I don't even see articles championing diversity where it's almost like the people who who used to Champion It Like Us. They don't even celebrate it anymore. There are two afraid to even talk about it, like changed the name, like not the power or solves on the back. But I think we're the only one who still like, are operating like nothing has changed because nothing has changed. Just because we've elected this bully of a president, doesn't mean we should change our principles. So I I don't understand where those stories have gone. You were we're still allowed to talk about leadership, diversity, and Leadership. These are still Important things to to Mark and to celebrate. So I don't, I don't know. I wish I wish we could get back to that. I wish people wouldn't be so afraid to lean in to those moments. Oh no, you just Sheryl Sandberg that wow. Sorry I didn't mean to. All right. So I have two more but they're really short two more but they're really short. Go ahead, the third option here is robots. I'm just so tired of these stories. Yeah, I'm just gonna read the headlines. I'm not gonna say, Okay, Amazon testing, humanoid robots to deliver packages good because I can't cancel my Amazon Prime last time, I mean, come on FBI says Palm Springs bombing. Suspects used AI chat program to help plan the attack. I believe that one. Yeah. Meanwhile open AI to appeal copyright ruling in New York Times case as Altman calls for AI privilege, which is When you talk to AI, it should be like talking to a doctor or a lawyer know you. If you're trying to murder your neighbor, that might be privileged, that's privileged information now because because that's what I think that's all the ideas because I don't that's all in Watts or Walmart, plans to expand drone. Deliveries to three more States. Good, I don't shop at Walmart to another win for me. Yeah, I just don't, do you want like robots and drones? Wow, down your street, not even close. That's the thing that hurts me. The most in my life is when I it's the weekend hits. I don't have to think about this stupid company anymore. I'm just sitting out my handmade and I hear I hear my, my lazy neighbor who can't he can't operate a rake, he's too despite his Advanced degrees because I know I live in a pretty smart neighborhood. Can't operate a rake, and he's got a leaf blower out. So, the last thing I want is a stupid drone. Buzzing in my ears, someone gets gets like a new, like, mop from Amazon. Or whatever about this. If you don't like that sound, I don't this is the last 10 years of the birds way most self-driving. Taxis have a hilarious problem. That's driving people bananas. It is they honk when they back up I might be okay with that one. UPS. Back up. I love that as a kid. I used to do that hunk before they were backing up. Well, you loved that as a kid except that, I don't know in California, where the way mows are, like, all over the place. Never seen a waymo. People are actually they're doing it, like, four in the morning, right? Like, they back up into their charger and they're like, Brooklyn, yeah. Apparently, yeah. So I'm so tired of robot. Okay, that's a stupid one. What else? You get out with robots and last Retail investors a back to investors. I look, I know I harp on institutional investors all the time but this week these two stories hit us accused United, Healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione said executive had it coming prosecutors review. Like that, doesn't sound right and we already talked about how everybody voted for, Stephen Hemsley and everybody on this board. Not, but, one of, I mean, I don't, I am not a fan of Luigi. I'm not a fan of Murray, but not to get too dark, but a sensibly it was Stephen Hemsley. Kind of helped to create this nightmare of an industry. That that Americans are so angry about you. But what if Luigi me and you ran a vote, no campaign on the board. First, try that first go to murder actually as an activist investor. They might pay attention exactly. There's a lot of actually ways to get attention Without murder like that. You don't have to get there. In fact, us bowing deal over 737 Max crashes. Morally repugnant says lawyer for victims families. Where are the, where it started? Activist campaign victims families. You should all just pull as much money as you possibly can. And vote out. Some of these people, the the April vote, the lowest vote for director was 92% in favor of Robert Bradway Kelly or got 98% in favor. That one that decision hurt me. The the I think it was the fine that they had to pay to the US government was greater than the goal, the money going to families, that kind of hurt. It's unbelievable to me that if you are a retail investor, the the retail mindset is when I when somebody does something to you, you sit in court for 10 years, trying to get reparations for what that, what's been done for you. Like, Instead of doing that in the meantime. Why not? Go buy some shares and make a massive stink to be an activist in capitalist activists. Get your shares vote, no campaigns. Duke, was you'll find someone who could do proxy access, put your own directors on the board, like that is how you can make change. I will say yes, in the interim for the cynics out there. These things do occasionally work, we cover at nauseam, we cover all the large market cap votes on the proxy countdown and hats off to people like Jim mcritchie. I mean, he puts up relatively mild benign. The shareholder proposals about governance, I love them, I support them, but yeah, they're great. It proves that and sometimes they're winning occasionally, so it proves that shareholders actually will support. This is the number one had something like 0.3% of Exxon shares and one inactive battle. All right. So okay, so you're options are proxy, advisors robots, reverse discrimination, and Retail investors two of these. We have every week, retail, investors and proxy. Advisors that's correct. Those. I like, I like those stories. I'm skipping those. The proxy advisors had the most data. The robots actually should be taking more seriously, because again, like listen to our shows, if you really want to know what's happening in the world and what what, the future holds for you, because we were complaining and scared about AI long before it caught up to our culture. And now now it's the worst thing going AI. So I can joke about robots now. But I know you're right. I know this is coming and I know it's going to be overwhelming and horrible. But for now I'm gonna exist in a world where they're not here yet and I'm going to go against based on the Supreme Court decision this week. I'm definitely voting for reverse discrimination especially on this reporting out of pro public. um, this purge against black women, a federal holding federal jobs, good reporting. I mean, to your point. It's not just holding federal jobs today. Quiet Purge in general jobs, right, like in general in general. So this is why the supporters have to fight back. You gotta have your voice because if you don't fight back, it's it's a it's a tacit approval. Of turning back the clock. So you say something, even if you only say it with your vote, say something right? You've got to say something. All right, let's do headlines winners predictions. Get out of here, going into our 12 hours. We've been an hour. Yeah, I got a quick headline yesterday. Anyway, I'm gonna go fast too. All right, this headlines, I saw this headline and I I was like, of course the the maker of taser. You know? Tasers. Yeah. I've watched TV. Yeah. They shoot cops shooting a gun. They Electrify the person and they're actually kind of horrible for you. Toasters. Yeah. Go. Um, the maker of taser is the highest paid CEO taking all the 1005 million of the S&P 500. His new PayPal package, and soaring stock made him a millionaire last year. What's his name? His name is. It's from the company aeon. His name is Rick Smith. Oh, of course it's Rick Smith. Oh my headline acts on not my headline of the week in light of this headline. meta's platforms, have become accessible of hatred against queer people in light of that I wanted To apply this op-ed from The New York Times, the headline anthropic CEO, don't let AI companies off the hook and throw up a CEO Dario a mode. Oh my God. Ah, Mo day, opposes, a proposed, ten-year Federal ban on state, AI regulation. Warning. The band would leave States unable to act in the nation without a coherent federal policy, exposing the public to AI risk. So this is a guy who runs an AI company actually doing something good. I applaud him. That's my headline. Okay, I believe it. Who's your wedding? You would say that. If we had more time, I'd like to hear your cynical. Come on, rip apart of Dario, but one of these fucking technology. Do it just beg for regulation, trying to get our an hour. Go who's the winner? Well, you're already excited this. My winner is of course the mirror talker. See when we have 22 year old ex gardeners and grocery stores leading terrorism, prevention teams for the administration. I mean again proving that Are there is no Maritime, there's no meritocracy. So when they are, when they are firing women and black women and and ruling against gay, people speak up. Come on. Yes. Speak up. There's no meritocracy. My winner is no one after reading it after reading. No fewer in 12 hours and 500 stories of the musk Trump Feud even going down this short Rabbit Hole of like, what are the most recent feuds that I can think of? And like reading about W, like wrestling feuds in the last year? I've concluded that this week. There are no winners. We are all losers this week, is that a winner could be Maurer Donna. Again, a guardian journalists or headline on the story was The inevitable. Trump musk viewed as finally here, and it's pathetic. I just like that. It's a great headline. All right, it's a sinks. You got a prediction. I do musk challenges Trump to a cage match on Mars. The winner gets X Twitter. And the loser gets truth. Social But actually, no, I say that, but honestly, I think they're hatred for all things Dei, and gay is too much to keep them apart. Especially in the month of pride in Juneteenth is June, June, June coming up. They're gonna reunite, they're gonna reunite. This is the month of hate people. What do you got? All right, here's mine. Come on. My prediction is the night, the 19th cuddling covering palantir stock or giving Umbrellas by the respective firms after This headline, Trump met team with tech company to create a database of Americans. Trump is teeming with palantir and that's two months after CEO. Alex karp said at a, at a book tour, That Wall Street analysts, who tried to screw the company should be sprayed with light fentanyl laced, urine from drones. So cute. So clever, I just wanted to say call back alert. Glass Lewis also said the publication of certain social media activity by Mr. Carpe seems to suggest something of obliged to comply with you. That's all we got that. We are free float. Come back next week when we got more and more and more shows until then good,