GOOD GAME: Activist takes our advice, EPA vs. microplastics, UA union deal, endless shrimp

Written By Matt Moscardi

The Good Game

  1. Activist investor seeks to oust Americold Chair Mark Patterson over “problematic boardroom behavior”

    1. Activist investor Sieve Capital is pushing Americold Realty Trust to remove board chair Mark Patterson, citing his tenure on the board of scandal-ridden office landlord Paramount Group.

  1. OpenAI releases policy proposals aimed at addressing fallout from AI-driven job losses

    1. The proposals, which OpenAI admits are “ambitious” and “intentionally early and exploratory,” include everything from a new industrial policy agenda to modernizing the tax system to expanding access to healthcare coverage and retirement savings.

    2. They are meant to help answer questions about job disruptions and AI systems that evade human control, and to protect against governments deploying AI in ways that run counter to democratic values.

    3. Among the core policy suggestions is a public wealth fund, which would see lawmakers and AI companies work together to invest in long-term assets linked to the AI boom, with returns distributed directly to citizens. 

    4. Another is that the government should encourage and incentivize employers to experiment with four-day workweeks with no loss in pay and offer "benefits bonuses" tied to productivity gains from new AI tools.

  1. EPA Wants to Prioritize Microplastics, Pharmaceuticals as Water Contaminants

    1. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the move sends “a clear message: we will follow the science, we will pursue answers, and we will hold ourselves to the highest standards to protect the health of every American family.”

  1. Delta started sharing profits with its 100,000 employees two decades ago. CEO Ed Bastian says shareholders love it

    1. The payout is sizeable: this year, Delta dispersed over $1 billion to its roughly 100,000 employees.

    2. Profit sharing distributes a slice of company earnings directly to workers as a cash bonus. At Delta, the formula is simple: 10% of the first $2.5 billion in adjusted profits, and 20% of everything above that.

  1. Proxy adviser ISS recommends vote against BP board over attempt to scrap some climate reporting

    1. ISS recommended a vote against the BP board on revoking some previous climate reporting resolutions and allowing it to hold online-only shareholder meetings: "A particularly compelling argument would be required to justify such a legal revocation, which we believe is unprecedented in the UK context," ISS said about BP's resolution to retire two resolutions from 2015 and 2019 requiring company-specific climate reporting which passed with near 100% support at the time.

  1. Activist shareholder Follow This broadens climate campaign against BP

    1. A group of European investors led ‌by activist Follow This urged BP on Thursday to drop plans to scrap some company-specific climate-reporting commitments and called on shareholders to vote against the move at the oil company's annual meeting this month.

    2. Follow This also warned ‌of possible ⁠legal action after BP refused to put a separate shareholder resolution on the agenda of its April 23 annual general meeting.

  1. TVA CEO Don Moul announces retirement as Trump slashes his pay

    1. The CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest public utility in the United States, will retire July 1.

    2. Don Moul, CEO since April, 9, 2025, notified the public utility's board of directors April 3, closing a turbulent chapter for the federal power provider.

    3. Had Moul decided to stay on at TVA, he would have faced a 90% pay cut as the Trump administration seeks to cap pay for all TVA employees at $500,000.

    4. Moul, the highest paid federal employee, made about $6 million as TVA CEO in 2025.

    5. Similarly sized utilities in the South, and TVA in the past, have paid their CEOs substantially more than Moul made. Jeff Lyash made over $10 million in his last year as TVA's chief executive. Lynn Good, a recent CEO of the private Duke Energy company, drew $21.6 million in 2024, and in the same year the CEO of Southern Company made $23.8 million.

  1. Starbucks staff will now get paid weekly — and some will get new bonuses

    1. will allow baristas and shift supervisors at Starbucks' top stores to earn up to $300 each quarter — or up to $1,200 a year — for meeting sales goals and consistently delivering a positive customer experience

  1. United Airlines and flight attendants reached a tentative deal with $740 million in bonuses

    1. United Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA reached a tentative five-year labor agreement on March 26 that would provide the carrier's 30,000 flight attendants their first pay increases since 2020, including a $740 million signing bonus pool and top wages of $100 per hour by the contract's end.

    2. Beyond base pay, the contract also covers compensation during the boarding process, additional pay when lengthy gaps occur between flights, and limits on how overnight flying can be scheduled.

    3. United said the agreement would make its flight attendants the highest-paid in the industry.

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  1. Chief human resource officer salaries have surged 30% at S&P 500 companies

    1. The number of CHROs designated as named executive officers in public filings from Russell 3000 companies rose from 148 in 2021 to 230 in 2025

    2. Median compensation for Russell 3000 CHROs grew by 14.7% between 2024 and 2025, compared to 8.1% for all NEOs. When looking at S&P 500 companies, CHRO pay grew by 30.4% in the same timeframe

    3. CHROs are “taking on larger mandates, moving beyond that traditional operational focus, to take on something more,” Jones said. The fact that CHROs are becoming more “strategically integrated” into their organizations reflects how “workforce and culture issues really are just top of mind,” he added.

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  1. The Entire State of Maine Is Poised to Ban New Data Centers

    1. The bill was passed by the Maine House of Representatives last month and is expected to pass in the Senate as well, which would make Maine the first state in the country to ban new data centers. The unprecedented move highlights growing bipartisan political fallout over the AI hype and consequent construction boom.

SPEED ROUND

  1. Iran war could spur Europe to double down on renewables — again

  1. From $85K to $528K: Caitlin Clark's 521% Pay Rise After New WNBA Deal‍ ‍

  2. Climate change is impacting golf, from player health to courses AND French ski resorts face 'downward spiral' amid climate change and funding meltdown

  1. Burger King to hire 60K workers as part of turnaround

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  1. Red Lobster is reportedly bringing back Endless Shrimp 2 years after the CEO vowed it would never return

  1. Trump fires Attorney General Pam Bondi

  1. Hershey is moving back to the original recipe for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups after the chocolate’s grandson blasted them last month

  1. United Airlines is rolling out beds in economy class

Matt Moscardi
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