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☆ The C.E.O.s Who Just Won’t Quit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Emma Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even so, there are few scenarios in which a middle-aged corporate executive can be treated like an aging rock star by thousands of fawning employees. Around the time Ballmer announced his plans to go, the company’s stock price was lower than when he started the job. The media was bemoaning Microsoft’s “lost decade.” While its tech rivals had seized on new markets, Microsoft had changed fairly little. Apple dominated smartphones, Google prevailed in search and giants like Facebook — which didn’t even exist when Ballmer took the reins — stood atop a whole new sector of the economy. With the arrival of Ballmer’s successor, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s stock price soared.

Persons: Ballmer, ”, I’ve, Bill Gates, Microsoft’s “, —, Satya Nadella Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook

☆ Greg Lukianoff Is Getting Back to the Basics on Free Speech on Campus - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jane Coaston | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At colleges and universities across the country, from Cal Poly-Humboldt to Columbia, students have been protesting against the war in Gaza. The protests have generated another round of discussion (and endless takes on the internet) about free speech on college campuses. What about universities that purportedly champion free speech suddenly deciding that maybe there’s such a thing as too much freedom of speech? And, personally, I want to know why we pay so much attention to Ivy League schools most of us didn’t go to. I spoke with Greg Lukianoff, the president and C.E.O.

Persons: Greg Lukianoff, Rikki Schlott Organizations: Cal Poly, Humboldt, Ivy League, Foundation, Rights, FIRE’s Student Network Conference Locations: Columbia, Gaza

☆ These global stocks will soar on an $858 billion electric boom, Goldman says, giving one 45% upside
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | In Amala-Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

They project that 800 billion euros ($857.5 billion) will be spent on Europe's power transmission and distribution, thanks in part to "years of under-investment." Here are three of Goldman's buy-rated stocks with over 30% upside potential in the next 12 months. That gives the German stock — which is on Goldman's conviction list — about 35% potential upside. Goldman has a target price of 2,024 British pence on the stock, giving it around 42.8% upside potential. Goldman has a target price of 135 euros on the stock, giving it 45.5% upside potential.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Elia, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: E.on Goldman, E.on, Goldman Locations: Europe, Belgian

But this year’s event will be the first without Munger, who died in November at age 99 — and comes amid growing questions about Berkshire post-Buffett, who’s 93. Buffett will have a different crew answering questions alongside him on Saturday. Berkshire’s vice chairmen, Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, will be on hand for much of the day. Shareholders most likely will be focused on what Abel, Buffett’s appointed successor as C.E.O. In Buffett’s annual letter to investors, he noted challenges to Berkshire’s biggest businesses, including the BNSF railroad (falling shipment volumes) and its utility business (forest fires).

Persons: Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Munger, Buffett, Greg Abel, Ajit Jain, Abel, Buffett’s Organizations: Berkshire, Shareholders Locations: Berkshire, Omaha, Woodstock, America

ImageHERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENINGExxon Mobil strikes an agreement to win regulatory approval of its $60 billion megadeal. Elsewhere, shares in Shell were up after the producer reported $7.7 billion in adjusted quarterly earnings, beating analyst expectations. The U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese companies over military support for Russia’s war effort. The Biden administration announced on Wednesday nearly 300 sanctions, including on more than a dozen Chinese businesses, aimed at disrupting Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The culprit: pressure on prices, amid growing competition from Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, supply constraints and scrutiny from lawmakers.

Persons: Scott Sheffield, Biden, Janet Yellen, Antony Blinken, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, James Comer, Comer Organizations: Labor Department, Exxon Mobil, Natural Resources, Wall Street, Novo Nordisk, Republican, European Commission Locations: Shell, U.S, Ukraine, Danish, Kentucky, iRobot

☆ Republicans Call on NPR’s C.E.O. to Testify About Political Bias
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | More About Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NPR declined to comment, but Ms. Maher may have a scheduling conflict. According to an agenda of NPR’s upcoming board of directors meeting, Ms. Maher is scheduled to convene with NPR’s board all day on May 8. Mr. Berliner’s essay has generated vociferous pushback from many employees at NPR, who say that many of his points were factually inaccurate. In one post, from 2018, Ms. Maher called Mr. Trump a “racist”; another from 2020 showed her wearing a hat with the logo of the Biden campaign. NPR has said that Ms. Maher, the former chief executive of Wikimedia, wasn’t working in news at the time she made the posts, and added that she was exercising her First Amendment right to free expression.

Persons: Maher, Uri Berliner, Berliner, Hunter, Tony Cavin, NPR’s, Robert S, Mueller III, hewed, Donald J, Trump, Biden Organizations: NPR, Trump, Wikimedia

Paramount’s cloudy futureThe boardroom intrigue at Paramount Global — the drama that has gripped the corporate world — just got messier. Bob Bakish is out as C.E.O., replaced by three subordinates who will form an “office of the C.E.O.” His departure caps a year of rising tension between him and Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, who is pushing for a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance. Bakish’s exit removed an executive who didn’t support that transaction, but it doesn’t resolve all of the big questions hanging over the company’s future. Why Bakish was pushed out: Redstone picked the low-profile company veteran to lead Paramount after years of internal strife, but they still ended up clashing.

Persons: Bob Bakish, ”, Shari Redstone, David Ellison’s Skydance, Bakish Organizations: Paramount Global, Redstone, Paramount

☆ Paramount’s Chief Executive, Bob Bakish, Steps Down
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Lauren Hirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bob Bakish, the chief executive of Paramount, is stepping down effective immediately, the company announced on Monday, a stunning shake-up in the top ranks of the company as it considers a major merger. Mr. Bakish, 60, will be replaced by an “office of the C.E.O.” run by three executives: Brian Robbins, head of the Paramount movie studio; George Cheeks, chief executive of Paramount’s CBS division; and Chris McCarthy, chief executive of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios. Like many media companies, Paramount has struggled in recent years to get its streaming business off the ground as audiences for its cable channels have diminished. In recent months, the company has been in discussions to merge with Skydance, a media company run by the tech scion and Hollywood executive David Ellison. Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, has already signed off on a potential deal for her stake, but the company’s directors have yet to reach an agreement for the whole company.

Persons: Bob Bakish, Bakish, Brian Robbins, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, Bakish’s, David Ellison, Shari Redstone Organizations: Paramount, Paramount’s CBS, Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios

☆ Opinion | PEN America Has Stood By Authors. They Should Stand By PEN.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But too often, recent efforts to reform institutions have meant reconstituting them in ways that distort or fundamentally undermine their core mission. Nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, university departments and cultural institutions have ousted leaders and sent their staffs into turmoil in pursuit of progressive political goals. The latest target is PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to free expression by journalists and authors. This followed a refusal by several writers to have their work considered for PEN’s annual literary awards. According to its 21 signatories, mostly up-and-coming authors, “among writers of conscience, there is no disagreement.

Persons: George Floyd, Salman Rushdie, PEN’s, Suzanne Nossel, Jennifer Finney Boylan, ” Organizations: Nonprofit, PEN America, PEN Locations: Gaza, Israel

Meta’s A.I. But for investors, that’s not enough — and that’s a warning to other tech giants set to announce their own financial results in the coming days. That makes clear that while Wall Street loves the opportunities that A.I. The company plans to spend $35 billion to $40 billion this year — much of that on the technology — up from a forecast of $30 billion to $37 billion. It also expects second-quarter revenue to come in at $36.5 billion to $39 billion, below analyst estimates.

Persons: Meta’s, Meta, that’s, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Facebook, Wall, Meta

Tesla investors’ nerve-racking rideTesla has hardly been keeping quiet as it prepares to announce earnings on Tuesday. These developments are the latest signs that Tesla is confronting its toughest stretch in years — and many shareholders aren’t convinced that the company and its C.E.O., Elon Musk, are taking the right steps to address it. The latest: During the weekend, Tesla cut prices of several models in China, the U.S. and Europe. Those moves came a day after Tesla voluntarily recalled nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks over a faulty accelerator pedal that could get stuck. It’s all apparently keeping Musk so busy that he canceled a trip to India, during which he was expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announce plans to build a factory there.

Persons: Tesla, aren’t, Elon Musk, Narendra Modi Locations: China, U.S, Europe, India

☆ NPR Editor Who Accused Broadcaster of Liberal Bias Resigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | More About Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Uri Berliner, the NPR editor who accused the broadcaster of liberal bias in an online essay last week, prompting criticism from conservatives and recrimination from many of his co-workers, has resigned from the nonprofit. Mr. Berliner said in a social media post on Wednesday that he was resigning because of criticism from the network’s chief executive, Katherine Maher. “I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new C.E.O. whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay,” Mr. Berliner wrote. In his brief resignation letter, addressed to Ms. Maher, Mr. Berliner said that he loved NPR, calling it a “great American institution,” adding that he respects “the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism.”

Persons: Uri Berliner, Berliner, Katherine Maher, “, ” Mr, Ms, Maher, Mr, ” Organizations: NPR

But the calm could be short lived, as world leaders and markets focus on Israel’s response. Military clashes don’t always sink the markets, as was the case when Hamas attacked Israel in October and Israel retaliated. “We may be entering one of the most treacherous geopolitical eras since World War II,” Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s C.E.O., warned last week. “Take the win,” President Biden reportedly told Israel’s embattled prime minister after the attack was rebuffed with American help. Iran has signaled that the attack was a one-and-done, but Israel’s war cabinet hasn’t indicated its next move.

Persons: Israel, ” Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, hasn’t, Helima Croft Organizations: JPMorgan, ”, RBC Capital Markets Locations: Israel, Ukraine, United States, Iran

☆ NPR C.E.O. Faces Criticism Over Tweets Supporting Progressive Causes
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Katherine Maher, the chief executive of NPR, is facing online criticism for years-old social media posts criticizing former President Donald J. Trump and embracing liberal causes. The posts, published on the social media platform Twitter, which is now called X, were written before she was named chief executive of NPR in January. “Also, Donald Trump is a racist,” read one of Ms. Maher’s posts in 2018, which has since been deleted. Another post, from November 2020, shows Ms. Maher wearing a hat with the logo for the Biden presidential campaign. “Had a dream where Kamala and I were on a road trip in an unspecified location, sampling and comparing nuts and baklava from roadside stands,” Ms. Maher wrote, an apparent reference to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Persons: Katherine Maher, Donald J, Donald Trump, ”, Maher, “, Kamala, ” Ms, Kamala Harris Organizations: NPR, Trump, Biden

☆ Fortune Magazine Names a New C.E.O.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Katie Robertson | More About Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Fortune named Anastasia Nyrkovskaya as its next chief executive on Tuesday, making her the first woman to lead the 95-year-old business publication. She takes over from Alan Murray, who announced in October that he would step down in 2024 after nearly 10 years at Fortune. Ms. Nyrkovskaya had been the chief financial officer and chief strategy officer since 2019. In an interview, Ms. Nyrkovskaya said Fortune was profitable and had added more than 130 positions in the past 12 months across the editorial and business sides. The company now has about 360 workers, including just over 100 in the newsroom.

Persons: Fortune, Anastasia Nyrkovskaya, Alan Murray, Nyrkovskaya, “ Organizations: Fortune

Disney fended off the activist investor Nelson Peltz for the second time in two years, as its shareholders rejected his effort to win two seats on its board. The House of Mouse claimed a “substantial” margin of victory, after a bitterly fought contest with Peltz and his major backer, the former Marvel chair Ike Perlmutter. Based on preliminary results from Wednesday’s annual investor meeting, Disney’s board candidates won the backing of 75 percent of individual shareholders, an outsize investor base. But like any good Disney tale, the board fight provided a series of lessons for the future — for companies and activists alike. That included cost-cutting efforts, an investment in the video game giant Epic Games and a shake-up in the struggling movie division.

Persons: Iger, Nelson Peltz, Mouse, Peltz, Ike Perlmutter, Bob Iger Organizations: Disney, Marvel, Wall Street

Microsoft unbundles, againMicrosoft is separating Teams, its popular video and chat app, from its Office software suite in markets around the world, broadening a split that began in the European Union last fall. It appears to be the latest effort by the software giant to head off investigations by global antitrust enforcers as regulators examine the power of Big Tech. Microsoft first added the video and document collaboration program to its business software suite in 2017, and saw Teams’s popularity soar after the coronavirus pandemic unleashed a boom in hybrid and remote working. At the height of the lockdown in 2020, Slack filed a complaint with the European Commission accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior by bundling Teams with Office. (Three months later, Slack agreed to sell itself to Salesforce for $27.7 billion.)

Persons: Microsoft unbundles, Slack, Eric Yuan Organizations: Microsoft, European Union, Big Tech, Rivals, Commission

Politicians and auto executives on both sides of the Atlantic are calling for more protectionist measures. After Tesla lost its crown to BYD as the world’s biggest E.V. Otherwise, the Tesla C.E.O. said, Chinese E.V. The continent’s auto sector employs 13 million people and generates 8 percent of the bloc’s G.D.P.

Persons: China Tesla, —, Warren Buffett, Tesla, Elon Musk, ” Luca de Meo, Vivienne Walt, DealBook, ”, June’s E.U Organizations: Renault Group’s, Airbus Locations: China, Europe, June’s

Kushner and Kloss take over Life magazineLife, the iconic photography-focused chronicler of the 20th century, has taken on many forms, including a weekly magazine, a website and the occasional special issue. Kushner and Kloss are buying the publication rights to Life from Dotdash Meredith, the print and digital publisher. The deal is being done through Bedford Media, the media start-up that Kloss leads as C.E.O. Life was once a central part of American culture, featuring the work of renowned photographers like Robert Capa and writing by top authors. (Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” first appeared in its pages.

Persons: Kushner, Kloss, Barry, Josh Kushner, Dotdash Meredith, Robert Capa, Ernest Hemingway’s “ Organizations: IAC, Bedford Media Locations: OpenAI

BlackRock’s chief wants to rethink a fiscal time bombAs the chairman and C.E.O. In his latest letter to investors, published on Tuesday, Fink weighs in on a new topic: a looming global retirement crisis, and what can be done to address it. The way retirement is handled around the world needs to change, Fink writes. In the U.S. in particular, people are living longer, a trend that’s likely to grow given the advent of weight loss drugs like Wegovy, Fink writes. But he adds that four in 10 Americans don’t have $400 in emergency savings, let alone proper retirement funds.

Persons: Larry Fink, Fink Organizations: BlackRock

☆ Boeing C.E.O. to Step Down in Major Reshuffle at Embattled Plane Maker
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Sydney Ember | Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Boeing announced Monday that its chief executive, David Calhoun, would step down at the end of 2024 as part of a broad management shake-up, as the aircraft maker grapples with its most significant safety crisis in years. Boeing also announced that its chairman, Larry Kellner, would not stand for re-election. The board elected Steve Mollenkopf, an electrical engineer by training and the former chief executive of Qualcomm, as its new chairman. In that role, he will lead the process of choosing Boeing’s next chief executive. The management overhaul comes less than three months after a panel, known as a door plug, blew off a Boeing Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5.

Persons: David Calhoun, Stan Deal, Stephanie Pope, Larry Kellner, Steve Mollenkopf, Boeing’s Organizations: Boeing, Qualcomm, Boeing Max, Alaska Airlines

☆ Inside a C.E.O.’s Bold Claims About Her Hot Fintech Start-Up
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Erin Griffith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ms. Yahyaoui’s compelling background helped her stand out among entrepreneurs when she moved in 2018 to San Francisco, where she founded a student aid start-up called Mos. The app hit the top of Apple’s App Store and Ms. Yahyaoui raised $56 million from high-profile investors, including Sequoia Capital, John Doerr and Steph Curry, according to PitchBook, which tracks start-ups. In podcasts, TV interviews and other media, Ms. Yahyaoui, 39, frequently discussed Mos’s success. But internal company data viewed by The New York Times showed that as of early last year, only about 30,000 customers had paid for Mos’s student aid services. Less than 10 percent of Mos’s roughly 153,000 bank users had put their own money into their accounts, the data showed.

Persons: Amira Yahyaoui, Yahyaoui, John Doerr, Steph Curry, Mos Organizations: Sequoia Capital, The New York Times, TechCrunch Locations: Tunisian, Algerian, San Francisco

☆ Young Entrepreneurs Find a Way to Indulge Their C.E.O. Dreams
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Nell Gallogly | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2018, Mr. Silva enrolled at the Stanford Graduate School of Business with the goal of starting his own company. “I was going to live the Stanford dream,” he said. Instead of starting a company from scratch — Mr. Silva had co-founded one before business school and even been its chief executive — he could buy one and run it. Mr. Silva, 34, was intrigued. After raising a search fund of more than $30 million from a small group of investors, Mr. Silva bought MásLabor, a Virginia consulting firm specializing in employment visas, in July 2021.

Persons: Edward Silva, Silva, ”, “, —, . Silva, V.C.s Organizations: Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford, MásLabor Locations: Virginia

What’s next for ByteDance’s U.S. investors? DealBook has spoken with people in the know about what these investors, including financial giants like the Susquehanna International Group, can do, with billions of dollars on the line. Mnuchin, a former Treasury secretary, told Andrew on CNBC on Thursday that he was in talks with a “combination of U.S. investors” about a TikTok deal. He added that he had spoken with some of the investors in ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, about possibly rolling over their stake. of the video game giant Activision Blizzard, also reportedly has been looking for potential partners for a bid.

Persons: What’s, ”, DealBook, Steven Mnuchin, Andrew, Bill Ford, Bobby Kotick Organizations: ByteDance’s U.S, U.S, Susquehanna International Group, CNBC, Activision Locations: Beijing, China, ByteDance

☆ E.ON CEO says infrastructure bottlenecks are expensive, delay transition to clean energy
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailE.ON CEO says infrastructure bottlenecks are expensive, delay transition to clean energyLeo Birnbaum, CEO of E.ON, discusses full-year results, and explains how the company is attempting to support energy supply through a new sustainable grid system.

Persons: Leo Birnbaum Organizations: E.ON

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