Musk’s “America Party”, director nonassessments, Hoag’s Netflix rejection, and Zuck’s manhood

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  • Elon Musk vows to defeat politicians who back Trump's megabill 'if it is the last thing I do' and Elon Musk says he'll form the 'America Party' if Trump's 'insane' spending bill passes

    • Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one. Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”

    • Elon Musk’s loyal and trusted Tesla ‘fixer’ takes the fall for dismal EV sales

      • Omead Afshar, head of North America and Europe, was fired for failing to turn around the brand’s flagging demand

  • FedEx founder Fred Smith has died at 80

  • Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firm ISS Supports Compelling Case for Change to Brookdale Senior Living Board of Directors and Recommends “Withhold” votes on long tenured Brookdale directors Lee Wielansky, Chair of the Investment Committee, and Victoria Freed, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee:

    • “Given the tenure and positions of Wielansky and Freed, they are arguably the most culpable among incumbent directors for the current state of affairs.”

      • 2014 vote: Wielansky (99.6% YES) and Freed (98.8% YES)

    • Leading Independent Proxy Advisory ISS Supports Compelling Case for Change to AstroNova Board of Directors

      • ISS finds “change at the Board level is warranted to improve independence and oversight”: 97% YES for entire board last year


  • Board Effectiveness: A Survey of the C-Suite

    • based on a PwC and The Conference Board report:

      • 93% of executives say they want someone on their board replaced (highest ever)

      • only 50% of executives have confidence in their boards ability to remove underperforming directors

        • What are the challenges in replacing directors?:

          • Executives: 48% said individual director assessments are not performed

          • Directors: 34% personal relationships between board members

      • Top 3 areas of expertise they want added to their boards: 1) international, AI and Gen AI, Environmental/Sustainability

      • Executives want more board time spent on: ESG, talent management, AI and GenAI


  • Texas Enacts New Law to Regulate Proxy Advisory Firms

    • SB 2337 aims to limit proxy advice based on "nonfinancial" factors such as ESG and DEI and requires proxy advisors to provide a "specific financial analysis" for any recommendation in opposition to management's position.

  • Hormel Foods Announces Elevation of John Ghingo to President; Jeffrey M. Ettinger to Serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer

    • will return to the company for a defined period of 15 months as interim chief executive officer

    • (1) base salary of $1,200,000 per year; (2) annual target award equal to $2,000,000 (prorated for partial fiscal years); (3) a one-time equity grant of $7,200,000, approximately 75% of which shall consist of a stock option award and 25% of which shall consist of time-based restricted stock units; (4) standard executive benefit and health and welfare plan participation; and (5) four weeks of paid vacation for the remainder of 2025, and six weeks of paid vacation for the period of January 1, 2026 through October 26, 2026.

  • Netflix Rejects Jay Hoag’s Resignation, Adds New Board Member

    • “Mr. Hoag’s continued service as a member of the Board is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders,” the filing states.

    • 79% said NO

  • Starbucks Elects Dambisa Moyo and Marissa Mayer to its Board of Directors

    • Moyo is on the boards of Chevron Corporation and Condé Nast and previously served on the boards of SABMiller, Barclays Bank, 3M, and Seagate Technologies. 

    • Mayer previously served as CEO and a director on the board of Yahoo!. Mayer currently serves on the boards of Walmart, AT&T, and Hilton Hotels & Resorts. She has also served on the board of Nextdoor.

  • SEC bans CEOs from becoming chairmen without 3-year break

    • The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a new directive prohibiting Chief Executive Officers and Executive Directors from immediately assuming the position of Board Chairman within the same company or group after leaving office. A mandatory three-year “cool off period” has been introduced before such transitions can take place.

    • Nigeria

  • Zuckerberg's Employees Have a Wild New Nickname for Him

    • Faced with the return of Donald Trump to the Oval Office, Zuckerberg conveniently molted out of his pseudo-progressive skin and into a darling of the manosphere. He's since appeared on shows like Joe Rogan to complain that US business culture needs to "regrow its manhood," because American capitalism is "culturally neutered."

    • "MAGA Mark"

    • Mark Zuckerberg announces creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs

  • Zohran Mamdani’s victory in NYC mayoral primary leaves Wall Street ‘alarmed’ and ‘depressed’

  • AI is doing up to 50% of the work at Salesforce, CEO Marc Benioff says

  • Uber in Talks With Its Founder, Travis Kalanick, to Fund Self-Driving Car Deal

    • Uber is in talks with former CEO Travis Kalanick to help fund his prospective bid for the U.S. subsidiary of Chinese self-driving car company Pony.ai

  • Tyson workers authorize strike at Texas plant over CEO pay, labor practices

    • Al Brito, the president of Local 577, said the strike is in part a response to the Tyson CEO's pay: “We are bargaining with one of the most repulsively greedy and amoral corporations in the entire country. Last year, Tyson’s CEO made 525 times that of the median worker.”

  • Ford recalls over 130,000 Lincoln Aviators due to risk of parts detaching while driving

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Buffett donations, Bezos’ nuptials, racist investors, and Musk is sorry

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Zaslav’s payday, Tesla’s robotaxi test, AI cash burn “for humanity”, tech boys love defense spending