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Business Pants

Business Pants

By: Free Float Media Inc.
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Whether you love business news or feel like you’re supposed to know it but hate it, Business Pants is business news for humans. Snarky and irreverent, deeply researched and factual, a podcast devoted to market quirks and the humans that make up companies. Investing isn’t a what, it’s a who.

2024, Free Float Media Inc. Economics Personal Finance Politics & Government
Episodes
  • BLAME GAME: Fishback’s meritocracy, Forward Air’s missing 8k, Carnival’s hip hop, Robinhood’s crypto

    BLAME GAME: Fishback’s meritocracy, Forward Air’s missing 8k, Carnival’s hip hop, Robinhood’s crypto
    Jul 8 2025
    DAMIONThe next phase of Starbucks’ turnaround plan is offering executives up to $6 million in stock grants, as baristas scrap to get annual raises above 2%Starbucks will reward company executives with up to $6 million in stock grants should they effectively fulfill cost-saving and timely rollout goals of the company’s “Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy. Starbucks Workers United representatives dubbed the move “ridiculous and irresponsible” amid contract negotiations over barista wages.WHO DO YOU BLAME?Double boomerang CEO and founder Howard Schultz1987-2000; 2008-2017; 2022-2023CEO and Chair Brian Niccol and his $113 million golden hello packageThe company’s work-from-home policy which allows its CEO to work remotely from his home in Newport Beach, California, while the company's headquarters are in Seattle, Washington. As part of his employment agreement, Starbucks pays for him to travel between his home and the Seattle headquarters on the company’s private jet.Former failure Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer who was appointed as a director to Starbucks 4 days before the announcement of the new retention awards. Compensation Committee chair Ritch Allison: The guy passes every pay plan for whoever; is the former CEO of Domino’s Pizza so is here to enrich executives; and owns $3M is SBUX stock so doesn’t really care: someone should be responsible for a CEO pay ratio of 6666:1Agios Appoints Dr. Jay Backstrom to Board of DirectorsJay Backstrom appointed as Class III director as of July 8, 2025, 20 days after the company held an election to appoint two Class III directors.WHO DO YOU BLAME?The top 4 institutional investors (35% of voting power):Farallon Capital 10% Vanguard 10%BlackRock 9% BB Biotech 6%The company’s childish bylaws which separate directors into three classes that are voted on every three yearsFormer CEO Jacqualyn Fouse (23%) who stuck around to serve as board chair after being CEO for only 3 yearsNominating Committee chair and Lead independent director Kaye FosterEmasculated CEO Brian GOff (15%) who presides over a board with a +7% gender influence gapAn anti-DEI investment firm postponed its Tesla ETF, saying Elon Musk has 'gone too far' by launching a political partyWHO DO YOU BLAME?Its BS mission statement: “Azoria is an investment firm with the mission of compounding capital for investors through a commitment to free thinking, excellence, and meritocracy.”Wouldn’t that include Elon?James T. Fishback, Founder and CEO of Azoria, a free-thinking investment firm“We have an anti-American subculture that cancels the science fair in favor of drag queen story hour, forces colleges to spend more time teaching micro-aggressions than microbiology, and teaches kids in America that Cardi B is a role model and Thomas Jefferson is a racist.”“Fishback will become a major Gen Z star in our pro-American movement.” — Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 Presidential Candidate.“dropped out of Georgetown University to establish a hedge fund at 21 years old”Azoria partner Sol Ehrlich:“For my last day at Spectra, it’s important that I share just how much this opportunity has meant to me. In June of 2023, I was a 28 year old mediocre Euro League baseball player with no job prospects outside of coaching. My only qualification to work in finance was my work ethic, which Brent Donnelly recognized when he met with me over Zoom and saw the litany of Post-It tabs I used to annotate his book”“It’s with great excitement that I’ll be taking this skillset to Azoria as a partner and its Head Trader- an opportunity I couldn’t have imagined 18 months ago.”While the internet was introduced to James Fishback’s talents this year, I’ve been aware of them since 2009 when we competed against each other in high school debate. (His meme game was A+ even then- I still remember him closing a speech on U.S. sanctions with 4 Russian leader puns.)”Me. Because somehow I’m connected to Fishback on linkedin.Greenlight Capital, for making James angry:In a lawsuit: “Greenlight Capital says James Fishback is a liar. The 29-year-old hedge fund manager and former employee, contrary to his own proclamations, was never “head of macro” at Greenlight, never had any “authority or discretion” over investments, and certainly wasn’t responsible for an “insane” $100 million in profits as a mere research analyst. In fact, his contributions were so not “insane” that the hedge fund was about to fire him before he chose to leave of his own accord.”Greenlight's alleged former head of macro is hoping to get at least $5 million from David Einhorn, claiming age discrimination"Mr. Einhorn dismissively told Mr. Fishback that his compensation was 'a lot of money for a kid,'" the filing states, and Fishback argues the comment "demonstrates that Defendants' decision about Mr. Fishback's compensation was driven largely by his age — a protected characteristic."Tech founders call on Sequoia ...
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    1 hr
  • Buffett donations, Bezos’ nuptials, racist investors, and Musk is sorry

    Buffett donations, Bezos’ nuptials, racist investors, and Musk is sorry
    Jul 3 2025
    Story of the Week (DR):‘Merica:Elon Musk says he'll form the 'America Party' if Trump's 'insane' spending bill passesTrump says he'll 'look' at deporting Musk as feud reignitesBuffett donates $6B in Berkshire stock to 5 foundations: Lifetime giving tops $60B MM9.43 million shares to the Gates Foundation943,384 shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation;660,366 shares to each of three charities led respectively by his children Howard, Susie, and Peter: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation and NoVo FoundationMark Zuckerberg sees 'the beginning of a new era' for humanity in superintelligenceTech Workers Say They're Rapidly Being Replaced by AIBurger King to roll out 1,900-calorie 'yokozuna' burger in sumo collabThe 2,590-yen ($18) Baby Body Burger features five flame-grilled beef patties, four slices of bacon and four slices of cheddar cheeseJeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's Extravagant Wedding Sparks Global Debate on Wealth InequalityThe reportedly $50m affair booked all nine of Venice’s yacht ports, closed parts of the city to the public and forced the relocation of hotel guests to make room for the happy couple.Though Sánchez claims to be “dedicated to fighting climate change”, and Bezos has called the issue “the biggest threat to our planet”, their guests arrived in the City of Bridges via 96 private jets, the most carbon-intensive mode of transportation.If Caitlin Clark’s worth a ‘billion’ to WNBA, why is she paid only a fraction of that?$78,066Average annual salary for NBA players during the 2024-25 season: approximately $12MGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Zohran Mamdani’s victory in NYC mayoral primary leaves Wall Street 'alarmed' and 'depressed' MMMM: EU Regulators Propose Integrating ESG Risks into Stress Tests for Banks, Insurers DRThis might be the realest use of ESG data everAssholiest of the Week (MM): Jeff BezosJeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's lavish Venetian wedding by the numbersJeff Bezos Planned $5.4 Billion Amazon Stock Sale on Wedding DayAmazon deploys its 1 millionth robot in a sign of more job automationDisabled Amazon workers in corporate jobs allege ‘systemic discrimination’Proxy seasonBetter than expected, but uncertainty remains: The 2025 US proxy seasonHere’s the summary:The number of shareholder proposals are down in the USBut investor support for the non anti-woke proposals remains steady at around 20% in favor, which is greatNo actions by the SEC have increased in number, but not percentage holding steady at 69% rejected, but companies are still listening to investors through engagementNot in the summary:NOT SINGLE MENTION OF A DIRECTOR VOTEDirector votes make up 98% of global voting - 98%! And proxy season is only shareholder proposals and the anti woke? Are you fucking joking?No mention of the average approval for directors?No mention of the rise of activists - this is the most active year for activist investors in recent memory? Mike Levin has been cataloguing it on the Shareholder Primacy podcast - more activism, larger slates, more wins?Isn’t the story how ISS and Glass Lewis ignore directors unless there’s an activist involved? Or that views on how to measure director performance are shifting?No, the constant story we hear is about the 500 or so shareholder proposals that happen - not the 80,000 active directors that get a voteInvestors are racistPhilippine corporate governance hindered by highly concentrated ownership, OECD saysCONCENTRATED corporate ownership, particularly among family owned listed firms, undermines corporate governance, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said.“These ownership structures often blur the lines between ownership and management, which can lead to the appointment of successors based on family ties or loyalty rather than qualifications, increasing the risk of poor leadership and weak oversight,It said such controlling shareholders may choose to benefit themselves at the expense of minority shareholders through related-party transactions, asset transfers or the appropriation of company resources for personal or familial use.The OECD said corporate governance weaknesses and concentrated ownership structures continue to weigh on investor confidence in some Asian marketsI read the Sweden report - Sweden is majority dual class shareholders held by foundations, with power concentrated amongst white men even though they mandate 40% women on boardsMinority shareholders basically have no real rights, as the companies are owned by a web of family and foundation interests - but OECD said:… a shareholder with practical majority control of the votes in the company can exert significant control, but also that efficient governance requires there to be a shareholder, or a coalition of shareholders, that monitors the company, engages with the board, and proposes and votes on important matters such as the election of board directors. Dual class share structures ...
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    50 mins
  • Musk’s “America Party”, director nonassessments, Hoag’s Netflix rejection, and Zuck’s manhood

    Musk’s “America Party”, director nonassessments, Hoag’s Netflix rejection, and Zuck’s manhood
    Jul 1 2025
    Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.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 salesOmead Afshar, head of North America and Europe, was fired for failing to turn around the brand’s flagging demandFedEx founder Fred Smith has died at 80Leading 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 DirectorsISS finds “change at the Board level is warranted to improve independence and oversight”: 97% YES for entire board last yearBoard Effectiveness: A Survey of the C-Suitebased 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 directorsWhat are the challenges in replacing directors?:Executives: 48% said individual director assessments are not performedDirectors: 34% personal relationships between board membersTop 3 areas of expertise they want added to their boards: 1) international, AI and Gen AI, Environmental/SustainabilityExecutives want more board time spent on: ESG, talent management, AI and GenAITexas Enacts New Law to Regulate Proxy Advisory FirmsSB 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 Officerwill 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 NOStarbucks Elects Dambisa Moyo and Marissa Mayer to its Board of DirectorsMoyo 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 breakThe 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.NigeriaZuckerberg's Employees Have a Wild New Nickname for HimFaced 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...
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    54 mins
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