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Tiger Woods wipes his driver grip on the 18th tee box during the first round of the PGA TOUR Champions PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on December 17, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Ben Jared | PGA Tour | Getty ImagesThe PGA Tour on Tuesday said Tiger Woods would join its policy board, a concession meant to give players more input and oversight as negotiations continue for its controversial deal with Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Woods joins the board less than a month after former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson resigned due to concerns regarding the Saudi investment. Until the proposed deal was announced, the PGA Tour and LIV were embroiled in antitrust lawsuits – lobbed at each other – as players left the tour for big paydays at LIV. The proposed deal has been met with ire and confusion from lawmakers, members of the tour and fans.

Persons: Woods, Ben Jared, Tiger Woods, LIV, Randall Stephenson, LIV Golf, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Monahan, Christian Petersen Organizations: PGA, PNC, Ritz, Carlton Golf Club, Saudi, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Saudi Crown, Augusta National Golf Club, Getty Locations: Orlando , Florida, Saudi, LIV, Augusta , Georgia

☆ BlackRock’s Aramco embrace makes sense in a vacuum
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The $109 billion asset manager run by Larry Fink said on Monday it would add Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) Chief Executive Amin Nasser to its 16-strong board. But judged through an investment lens the appointment makes sense. Nasser, who led Aramco through its 2019 initial public offering, will take the seat currently occupied by Bader Alsaad, a former managing director of the Kuwait Investment Authority. Follow @thereallsl on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSBlackRock on July 17 said Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, would join its board as an independent director. “Amin’s distinguished career at Aramco, spanning more than four decades, gives him a unique perspective on many of the key issues facing our firm and our clients,” BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said in a statement.

Persons: Larry Fink, Amin Nasser, Nasser, Bader Alsaad, Jamal Khashoggi, Randall Stephenson, Fink, Richard Blumenthal, T Rowe Price, Fink –, “ Amin’s, Peter Thal Larsen, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, BlackRock, Aramco, Kuwait Investment Authority, of, Petroleum, Saudi, Golfers ’ Association, Global Energy, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, Thomson Locations: BlackRock, Saudi Aramco, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United States, U.S, Texas, Connecticut, Aramco

☆ Saudi golf shot plays through CFIUS hazards
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

U.S. congressional lawmakers scrutinized PGA Tour officials on Tuesday this week about the group’s tie-up with a rival golf tournament owned by Saudi Arabia. Enter the Saudis, who launched an upstart golf tournament last year, LIV Golf, that competed with the U.S.-based PGA Tour and its European counterpart DTP. There are worries that Saudi Arabia, a regime viewed as hostile to women and LGBTQ groups, would have significant sway over golf’s culture. LIV Golf is owned by Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Former AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson resigned from the PGA Tour policy board, the Washington Post reported on July 9.

Persons: State Condoleezza Rice, Darla Moore, Covid, LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Yasir Al, Ed Herlihy, Wachtell, Lipton, Katz, hasn’t, Randall Stephenson, Jamal Khashoggi, ”, Richard Blumenthal, –, Sherrod Brown, Maxine Waters, Janet Yellen, LIV Golf’s, Joe Biden hasn't, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Khashoggi, Uncle Sam, Refinitiv, China’s ByteDance, LIV, Stephenson, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Public Investment Fund, Augusta National Golf Club, State, U.S, PGA, LIV, Rosen, Breakingviews, Former AT, PGA Tour, Saudi, Department of Justice, Foreign Investment, U.S . Treasury, Saudi Arabian Crown, Walmart, Visa, Uber Technologies, Nation Entertainment, National Basketball League, Houston Rockets, People’s, NBA, backtrack, FIFA, Qatar, The Justice Department, Treasury, Committee, Homeland Security, Governmental Affairs, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, T, Washington Post, Thomson Locations: Saudi Arabia, United States, American, U.S, South Carolina, Iran, China, Saudi, Hong Kong, People’s Republic, Beijing

☆ Rory McIlroy says he’d rather retire ‘if LIV Golf was the last place on Earth to play golf’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Rory McIlroy said on Thursday that he would rather retire than compete on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour even if it “was the last place on Earth to play golf.”Four-time major winner McIlroy has been a vocal opponent of the breakaway golf tour ever since it came into existence a few years ago, threatening the very foundations of the sport. “If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire. “I’d play the majors, but I’d be pretty comfortable.”CNN has reached out to LIV Golf and the PGA Tour to offer them the right of reply. Earlier this week, witnesses – including PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne, a company board member who helped broker the deal – faced scrutiny from committee members over the deal. “As long as I get to play golf, I’m happy.

Persons: Rory McIlroy, LIV, “, McIlroy, LIV Golf, ”, Tiger Woods, –, Ron Price, Jimmy Dunne, Richard Blumenthal, Price, Dunne, Sen, ” Dunne, ” McIlroy, Gregory Shamus, Randall Stephenson, ” Stephenson, Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed bin Salman, Khashoggi, Salman, ’ ’ McIlroy, I’ve, there’s Organizations: CNN, LIV, PGA, Scottish, Saudi Public Investment Fund, LIV Golf, US, Homeland Security, Governmental Affairs, Connecticut Democrat, RBC Canadian Locations: Saudi, American, Connecticut, Saudi Arabia

☆ LIV Golf season-ending championship moved from Saudi Arabia to Trump National Doral
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The final event of the 2023 LIV Golf season has been switched from Saudi Arabia to Trump National Doral in Florida, organizers announced Monday. Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Jeddah will now host the final individual event of the LIV Golf season. Tom Dulat/Getty ImagesThe 12 four-man teams will be seeded for the head-to-head team championship based on their finishing positions in the regular season. Two LIV Golf events have been hosted since June’s announcement of a reconciliatory partnership between the breakaway tour, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. On Tuesday, two PGA Tour officials are set to testify before a US Senate panel regarding the proposed merger.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, LIV, Tom Dulat, LIV Golf’s, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez, Johnson’s, Gooch, Australia’s Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Randall Stephenson – Organizations: CNN, Trump National Doral, Jeddah’s Royal Greens, Country Club, LIV, Royal Greens, & Country Club, PGA Tour, PGA Locations: Saudi Arabia, Florida, Donald Trump’s Miami, Jeddah, Saudi

☆ PGA Tour board member Randall Stephenson quits over deal with LIV Golf
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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‘Serious concerns’ at the PGA TourJust days before Tuesday’s PGA Tour hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a prominent tour board member, Randall Stephenson, has resigned. His reason? He said he cannot support the golf organization’s proposed tie-up involving LIV Golf, its Saudi -backed rival, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch and The Times’s Alan Blinder report. In a scathing resignation letter obtained by DealBook, Mr. Stephenson, the former AT&T chair, said that he — like most of the board — was left out of the loop as the tour negotiated a deal with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund that jolted the sports world. (In fact, he had already lately taken to attending most board meetings via videoconference, save for last month’s meeting in Michigan.)

Persons: Randall Stephenson, LIV Golf, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch, Alan Blinder, DealBook, Stephenson, —, Mr, Jamal Khashoggi, ” Mr Organizations: Investigations, AT Locations: Saudi, Michigan

Price and Dunne may also be asked about the weekend resignation of Randall Stephenson from the tour’s board after more than a decade. The sport’s leaders have often handled their business in Washington behind closed doors, relying on a fount of good will and gentility. The tour faced a significant threat in the 1990s, when the Federal Trade Commission examined antitrust issues in golf before its inquiry fizzled amid a pressure campaign from Capitol Hill. But baseball has drawn much of the attention from Congress, like when senators called a 1958 hearing on antitrust exemptions. (“Stengelese Is Baffling to Senators,” read a subsequent headline in The New York Times, which reported that Yankees Manager Casey Stengel had lawmakers “confused but laughing.”)

Persons: Price, Dunne, Randall Stephenson, Stephenson, Jamal Khashoggi, ”, Travis Tygart, Arnold Palmer, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Jack Nicklaus, Biden, Casey Stengel, “ Organizations: AT, Saudi, Washington Post, U.S, Doping Agency, Federal Trade Commission, Capitol, Lawmakers, football’s, ”, New York Times, Yankees Locations: Washington, Capitol Hill

☆ The Saudi-back LIV golf league is moving its possible last ever championship to Trump's Doral golf course
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

LIV Golf will host its championship tournament at a Trump-owned golf course for its second straight year. The golf league moved the championship from Saudi Arabia where it was initially scheduled. The PGA has said it will merge with the controversial Saudi-backed golf league. The decision means that for the second straight year, LIV's golf championship will be held at Trump's Doral course. Before their merger, LIV and the PGA were in fierce competition to retain some of the sport's most successful golfers.

Persons: LIV, Donald Trump's Trump, Trump, Jamal Khashoggi, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Randall Stephenson, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, they're, Johnson Organizations: Trump, Service, Donald Trump's Trump Doral, Golf Club, Doral, Capitol, PGA, Golf, ESPN, Saudi, Washington Post Locations: Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Wall, Silicon, Miami, Jeddah

☆ PGA Tour defends LIV Golf deal ahead of Senate hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Streeter Lecka | Getty ImagesThe PGA Tour has begun its public defense of its deal with Saudi-backed LIV Golf ahead of a key Senate hearing slated for this week. "Given the well-chronicled legal disputes that have existed between the PGA Tour and PIF, we understand the fair and valid questions raised by PGA Tour members, Tour partners, media, fans and now Congress," Price said in the op-ed. Stephenson stepped down as lawmakers appeared likely to start a broad probe into the merger between the PGA Tour and LIV, beginning with Tuesday's Senate hearing. Defending the dealLast month, the PGA Tour and PIF's LIV Golf, as well as Europe's DP World Tour, agreed to merge. The majority of the board that leads the PGA Tour Enterprises will be appointed by the tour and run by Monahan.

Persons: Streeter Lecka, LIV Golf, Ron Price, Price, Randall Stephenson, Stephenson, LIV, Sen, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Johnson, Jay Monahan, Jimmy Dunne, Monahan, Richard Heathcote, Rory McIlroy — Organizations: THE, Sawgrass, Saudi, Athletic, Monday, PGA, PGA Tour, AT, Senate, Senate Homeland Security, Investigations, Saudi Public Investment Fund, Getty, Saudi Arabia Public Investment, PIF Locations: Ponte Vedra Beach , Florida, Saudi, United States, Monday's

Berkshire Hathaway vice president Gregory Abel bought nearly $25 million worth of Berkshire's class A stock last week, filings show. He previously bought $68 million worth of Berkshire stock in September. Berkshire's class A shares, and the "Baby Berkshire" class B shares, both have dropped about 3.4% this year, underperforming the S & P 500. Berkshire Hathaway vice chair Greg Abel bought $24.6 million worth of Berkshire's class A stock on March 17. Capri Holdings CEO John Idol bought nearly $10 million worth of stock on March 16.

One of the really interesting questions here – this will be fascinating – the core of linear TV is sports rights. When you look at the size and scope of the linear TV business, it's huge. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty ImagesByron Allen, Entertainment Studios founder and CEO: I think linear TV will exist for a very, very long time. Simmons: I believe Apple, out of nowhere, will start making their own awesome televisions that have Apple TV embedded in them. We are witnessing early stages of this dynamic with deals like "NFL Sunday Ticket" on YouTube and the MLS deal with Apple TV.

☆ From Disney to Target to Boeing, retirement is a thing of the past for CEOs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

SUN VALLEY, ID - JULY 13: (L-R) Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, Dick Costolo, former chief executive officer of Twitter, Lachlan Murdoch, co-chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox, Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google, and Randall Stephenson, chief executive officer of AT&T, mingle during the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 13, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. The average tenure for departing CEOs during that same time period was about 11 years, up from nine years in 2020. That's not surprising, because of the impact of the pandemic and [other] crises, where boards put CEO succession on hold," Anterasian said. "In our research, boards put CEO succession on hold during crises," Anterasian said. At Disney, Iger has said he will only stay on for two years before a successor takes over.

☆ Trump used 'almost mob-style extortion' to try to convince AT&T to sell CNN to Rupert Murdoch, new book claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump and his aides tried to push AT&T's CEO to sell CNN to Rupert Murdoch, a new book claims. Stephenson, per the Independent's reporting, left the meeting with the feeling that Trump posed a threat to the AT&T and Time Warner merger. Per the Independent's reporting on the book, Murdoch offered to buy CNN from AT&T and remarked that it "would help get the deal done." According to the book, Stephenson said he was not interested in selling CNN. The book said AT&T executives viewed the calls as "almost mob-style extortion," according to the Independent.

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