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

Story of the Week (DR):

1. Warner Bros. Discovery Reworks CEO Pay, Reducing David Zaslav’s Massive Compensation DR

1. David Zaslav will take a pay cut after Warner Bros. Discovery splits up—with a big hit to his bonus

2. David Zaslav Is Getting a Pay Cut

3. Warner Bros to significantly slash CEO David Zaslav’s pay package

4. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav Pay to Drop After Company Split

5. David Zaslav’s Pay To Be “Substantially” Lowered Ahead Of Split, WBD Says, But CEO Will Still Reap Rewards

6. If Zaslav hits 100% of his operational and financial goals in the first year after the split, his target pay will be $16.5mn, compared with $37mn in the current contract. If he hits 200% of the targets, it will be as high as $30mn, the company said on Monday.

7. However, the bulk of Zaslav’s future pay will be based on stock options after shareholders rebuked a model based on free cash flow generation.

1. The securities filing made late on Monday said the beleaguered media boss would receive about 24mn in WBD shares that could be purchased for the current $10.16 price.

2. If the share price were to double, the package could eventually be worth nearly $250mn.

8. Two weeks after 60% of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders rejected CEO David Zaslav’s $52M pay plan, the Compensation Committee restructured his plan using Hollywood’s latest CGI, special effects, and most seasoned stunt doubles: his new plan reduces his annual pay targets significantly–from $37M to $17M if he hits 100% of his targets–but the devil is in the details as he is eligible for $37M if he reaches 200% of his targets and is getting a massive option grant of 21 million shares at an extremely low strike price of around $10 per share, giving him the theoretical opportunity to make $1.4B if Warner Brothers’ share price regains its 2021 high of $77.

2. Boeing’s longest-tenured director Lynn Good joins the Board of Morgan Stanley just two days after the crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in India killed more than 200 people.

3. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says his company is a 'convenient scapegoat' as European cities protest overtourism

1. “In Barcelona, housing prices rose 60% over the past decade, but Airbnb listings actually decreased. So we can't be the culprits.”

4. Corporate Italy lacks female CEOs, stock exchange head warns

1. Claudia Parzani, the head of Milan’s stock exchange: Italy lacks women in position of leadership and that’s a cultural issue that the business community needs to fix: “Last year we probably reached the lowest level of female CEOs leading listed companies at Milan’s Stock Exchange.” Of course the article provided no data.

2. Australia's highest-paid CEOs revealed — and the one woman on the list

1. Shemara Wikramanayake, the only woman in the top 20, made $30 million as CEO of Macquarie Group.

Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):

1. DR: What Is a ‘Fridge Cigarette’? A New Term for Diet Coke Gains Traction. MM DR

2. MM: Lawyers Just Discovered Something About Meta's AI That Could Cost Zuckerberg Untold Billions of Dollars

1. It spits out large portions of books verbatim

3. MM: Disturbing Test Shows What Happens When Tesla Robotaxi Sees a Child Mannequin Pop Out From Behind a School Bus

Assholiest of the Week (MM):

1.  Musk’s xAI Burns Through $1 Billion a Month as Costs Pile Up DR

1. xAI: $12bn/yr burn

1. We build AI specifically to advance human comprehension and capabilities.

2. Musk says SpaceX vision for Mars will save humanity as he continues to push human extinction fears

2. OpenAI: $5bn/yr burn

1. OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company. Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.

3. Anthropic: $3bn/yr burn

1. We strive to make decisions that maximize positive outcomes for humanity in the long run.

2. Act for the global good.

4. Low end estimate to end world hunger per year: $7bn

5. World Bank estimate for clean water for all humanity: $150bn/year

1. Number of US households without water access: 19m

6. Compliance costs for Clean Air Act: $65bn/yr

7. And the great AI investment is getting us…

1. Lowe's CEO says young workers should stay away from the corporate office and close to the cash register

1. "AI isn't going to fix a hole in your roof," Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison said. "It's not going to respond to an electrical issue in your home. It's not going to stop your water heater from leaking."

2. Amazon CEO tells employees to expect cuts to white-collar jobs because of AI

3. As ChatGPT Linked to Mental Health Breakdowns, Mattel Announces Plans to Incorporate It Into Children's Toys

4. Seems like, like all tech bro toys, they start with “good of humanity” and end with “rich”

1. Dario Amodei net worth: 1.2bn

2. Musk net worth: 406bn

3. Altman net worth: 1.8bn

2. Spotify’s Daniel Ek leads $694 million investment in defense startup Helsing DR

1. Palantir, Meta, OpenAI execs to commission into Army reserve, form ‘Detachment 201’

2. OpenAI wins $200 million U.S. defense contract

3. Speaking of tech bro middle school manbabies… ever notice how when they’re done building their “innocent” empire (paying for things online! 3d goggles!  Internet friends!), at some point while swimming in their dual class billions they invest in “defense”?

4. Is it just that middle school boys love things that blow up?  Is it really so simple that they all stopped maturing at age 13?

Headliniest of the Week

1. DR: Dimon: CEOs can't expect "everything to be constantly easy"

2. DR: On Juneteenth, Trump says the US has 'too many' holidays

1.  "Too many non-working holidays in America … The workers don't want it either!"

3. MM: Jamie Dimon says creating a functional workplace means firing 'a—holes'

Who Won the Week?

1. DR: Airbus. Because it’s not Boeing.

2. MM: RFK Jr - attacking pharma ads?  Good.  Healthy Starbucks?  Good.  Not being involved in starting world war III with Iran?  Good.  OMG, RFK Jr won the week… 

Predictions

1. DR: Tech CEOs start wearing military hats with the main decal being a digital number representing their wealth calculated to the second based on current share price; gold stars representing how many votes per share their class B holdings represent; and stripes represent how many years of college they did NOT attend: 3 stipes meaning they dropped out 2nd semester of first year

MM: Boeing’s Ortberg, after reading this paper (Chief executive officer (CEO) Machiavellianism and executive pay.) on how CEOs who act like Machiavelli suggested are successful, decides to fire HALF of Boeing, and give the other half donuts on Fridays in the breakroom because, “...any cruelty has to be executed at once, so that the less it is tasted, the less it offends; while benefits must be dispensed little by little, so that they will be savored all the more.”