Tag Archives: CEOs

Business

Top bank CEOs decline radical climate demands from Rep. Tlaib: ‘That would be the road to Hell for America’

Leave a comment

Rep. Rashida Tlaib clashed with top bankers after they rejected her demand to cut off all financing to fossil fuel projects immediately. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told her that would be “the road to hell for America.”

Leaders in the banking industry clashed with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Wednesday after Tlaib demanded that they commit to immediately end all financing of all fossil fuel products. 

J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told the far-Left representative that her request would lead to despair and ruin. 

“You have all committed, as you all know, to transition the emissions from lending and investment activities to align with pathways to net-zero in 2050… So no new fossil fuel production, starting today, so that’s like zero. I would like to ask all of you and go down the list, cause again, you all have agreed to doing this. Please answer with a simple yes or no, does your bank have a policy against funding new oil and gas products, Mr. Diamond?” Tlaib asked. 

“Absolutely not, and that would be the road to hell for America,” Dimon responded.

J.P. MORGAN CHASE CEO JAMIE DIMON CLASHES WITH DEM REP OVER RUSSIA INVESTMENTS

The CEOs of the biggest US consumer banks are set to warn lawmakers that Americans are struggling amid surging inflation, as they brace for tough questions about how they’re helping customers being pummeled by rising prices. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Yea. That’s fine. That’s fine,” Tlaib responded. “Sir, you know what, everybody that got relief from student loans [that] has a bank account with your bank should probably take out their account and close their account.” 

She continued, “The fact that you’re not even there to help relieve many of the folks that are in debt, extreme debt because of student loan debt, and you’re out there criticizing it.” 

Tlaib proceeded to ask the other bankers their position, to which they all responded that they would continue to invest in oil and gas in addition to alternative energy projects.

ENERGY CEO HITS AT ‘ENERGY IGNORANCE’ DRIVING CURRENT POLICY: ‘LITTLE HOPE OF ENDING THE CRISIS ANYTIME SOON 

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“We will continue to invest in and support clients who are investing in fossil fuels and in helping them transition to cleaner energies,” Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup said. 

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, echoed Fraser. 

“We are helping our clients make a transition, and that means we’re lending to both oil and gas companies and to new energy companies and helping monitor their course towards the standards you’re talking about,” he said.

House Oversight and Reform Committee member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) attends a hearing about the 2020 census in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill January 09, 2020 in Washington, DC.  ((Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Critics of the environmental policies Tlaib advocates, argue that those policies have already reduced funding to fossil fuel projects which has exacerbated the energy shortages seen in Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year. American financier Kyle Bass, for example, argued that the transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy must not be rushed. 

“These transitions take forty years, Joe. The move from coal to natural gas took forty years. They take a very, very, very long time. We can’t just flip a switch,” he told CNBC in an interview last month.

Read original article here

Business

Finger-pointing among execs begins at Goldman Sachs

Leave a comment

Talk about passing the buck.

With Goldman Sachs in something of a pinch, the finger-pointing between top execs has begun — and, unsurprisingly, it has turned nasty almost immediately.

The Wall Street giant announced this week that it would slash jobs with earnings in a slump — and even said that it is taking away free office coffee.

Some c-suite sourpusses say that the company under the leadership of CEO David Solomon is too focused on flashy executives with “personal brands,” rather than knuckling down to the good old-fashioned hard work of making rich people richer with very little effort.

Insiders seem to be having a harder time seeing the fun side of Solomon’s own DJing career as DJ D-Sol now that the economy is in a spin.

We’re told that top execs are less tickled by Solomon’s sideline as a DJ now that the economy is looking more grim.
FilmMagic for Sports Illustrated

Meanwhile there’s much grumbling about Solomon’s soft spot for rock star bankers  — for example Kim Posnett, who has rocketed through the ranks in recent years, and is often to be seen speaking on panels, attending galas and sitting for interviews, while — the (ahem, male, ahem) insiders claim — many of her actual deals have fallen flat. (We should note that for all her alleged “personal branding,” Posnett has all of about 1500 Instagram followers, so Charli d’Amelio probably isn’t sweating it just yet).

The Wall Street giant has this week announced company-wide layoffs.
Getty Images

According to the New York Times, the firm reported second quarter earnings of  $2.93 billion, nearly half as much as the same quarter last year. The investment division where Posnett works — though, we hasten to add, not just Posnett works — was responsible for much of the downturn, earning 41% less in that time than the previous year. (We would be remiss if we didn’t note that Goldman Sachs’ executive team is reportedly around 80% male, so you’d think the number crunching know-it-alls over there would figure out that if something’s amiss, the raw data suggests its overwhelmingly likely to be the guys’ fault.)

Some insiders have even been making a racket because Posnett spent much of last week in a suite at the US Open as the company was preparing to announce the  layoffs, rather than, say, at her desk trying to make the balance sheet look a little more rosy next quarter. (For the record, though, Page Six has seen a deal or two go down over $15 beers between sets out at Arthur Ashe Stadium so let’s not rule out an, er, net profit from those outings just yet).

A spokesperson called the barbs “baseless gossip.”



Read original article here

Business

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg scolds airline CEOs over flight disruptions: ‘Unacceptable’

Leave a comment

Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky discusses how airline flight cancellations have affected Q2 travel bookings on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the uptick in flight cancellations and delays nationwide “unacceptable” and warned airlines his department could take actions if carriers don’t provide more transparency on why the disruptions are occurring. 

Buttigieg wrote letters to several CEOs of U.S. airline carriers this week and called the level of disruption Americans have experienced this summer “unacceptable.”

Buttigieg asked airline CEOs to, at a minimum, provide lodging for passengers stranded overnight at an airport and give out meal vouchers for delays of three hours or longer when the disruption is caused by something in the airline’s control.

The Transportation Department says the letters were sent to CEOs of 10 U.S. airlines including the major ones, their regional affiliates, and budget carriers.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN TO INTRODUCE BILL TO RAISE PILOT RETIREMENT AGE

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, center, speaks during a briefing at the White House in Washington (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File / AP Newsroom)

Buttigieg’s agency recently proposed rules around refunds for passengers whose flights are canceled or rescheduled. He told the CEOs the department is considering additional rules “that would further expand the rights of airline passengers who experience disruptions.”

Buttigieg has been sparring with the airlines since late spring over high numbers of cancellations and delays but said in his letter that he appreciates that airlines have stepped up hiring and trimmed schedules to better match the number of flights they can handle.

CHARLOTTE AIRLINE PASSENGERS MISERABLE AFTER THEY’RE FORCED TO WAIT 6 HOURS FOR MAINTENANCE, WEATHER DELAYS

NEWARK, NJ – JULY 01: Travelers arrive an air train at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on July 1, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey.  ((Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images) / Getty Images)

A spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a trade group whose members include American, United, Delta and Southwest, said airlines “strive to provide the highest level of customer service.” She said the airlines are committed to overcoming challenges including a tight labor market.

Staffing shortages have caused a significant amount of flight cancellations and delays throughout the summer, which analysts say would have been even worse if airlines had not trimmed down their schedules. 

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Earlier this summer, Nicholas Calio, president of the trade group Airlines for America, said its member carriers cut 15% of the flights they originally planned for through August while also ramping up hiring and training to combat issues and become more reliable for passengers.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg listens at an event in Philadelphia, on Jan. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File / AP Newsroom)

Problems have persisted as demand ramps up to pre-pandemic levels, forcing some carriers to reduce their schedule for the fall.

Associated Press contributed to this report

Read original article here

Business

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey: ‘Socialists are taking over’

Leave a comment

Whole Foods co-founder and exiting CEO John Mackey has said he is “deeply concerned” that “socialists are taking over” the country.

“They’re marching through the institutions — they’re taking everything over,” the 68-year-old executive told Reason magazine in an interview just weeks before he finally steps down from the supermarket giant.

“They’ve taken over education. It looks like they’ve taken over a lot of the corporations. It looks like they’ve taken over the military,” he said of his main “concern.”

“And it’s just continuing,” he warned.

He described himself as a “capitalist at heart” and said he believes in liberty.

“And I feel like with the way freedom of speech is today — the movement on gun control — a lot of the liberties that I’ve taken for granted most of my life, I think, are under threat,” he said.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey says he is “deeply concerned” that “socialists are taking over.”
AFP via Getty Images

Mackey complained that increased unemployment benefits offered during the pandemic put a real strain on Whole Foods’ ability to hire staff.

“A lot of people were making as much money, if not more money, not working at all. And so guess what? They chose not to come back to work. They got used to it,” he said.

However, the biggest hiring crisis has been because “the younger generation … don’t seem to want to work,” he said.

The Whole Foods co-founder complained that socialists are “marching through the institutions — they’re taking everything over.”
Pacific Press/LightRocket via Ge

“They only wanna work if it’s really purposeful, and [something] they feel aligned to,” he said of a shift to woke principles, noting it was particularly in major Democratic cities including the Big Apple.

“You can’t hope to start with meaningful work. You’re gonna have to earn it over time,” he said. “Some of the younger generation doesn’t seem to be willing to pay that price, and I don’t know why.”

Mackey promised that the interview was only a teaser of what was to come, saying that his role leading such a giant corporation left him “intimidated enough to shut up.”

“Pretty soon, you’re gonna hear about ‘Crazy John’ who’s no longer muzzled,” he said, laughing when asked if his main future plan was to embarrass the company he spent 44 years growing.

“I’ve got six weeks. I can talk more about politics in six weeks than I can today,” he told Reason’s editor at large, Nick Gillespie.

Read original article here

World

Raising Cane’s CEOs spend $200,000 on Mega Millions lottery tickets

Leave a comment

Comment

Though the probability of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot is notoriously lousy, the chief executives of Raising Cane’s are hedging their bets after buying lottery tickets for all 50,000 of their fast-food employees — for the second time in a week.

The company’s widely publicized first attempt at a win cost about $100,000 but wasn’t a success; no winners were announced Tuesday. But now that the prize has reached $1.1 billion — the second-largest in Mega Millions history — the leaders of the restaurant chain known for its chicken fingers have dropped an extra $100,000 for a fresh round of tickets ahead of Friday night’s drawing.

“Our crew members were so stoked the last time,” co-CEO AJ Kumaran told The Washington Post. “So we decided to try our luck again. And now we’re all just excited, waiting and crossing our fingers for a win.”

As Mega Millions hits $1 billion, winning doesn’t mean a happy ending

The jackpot has a cash-payout option of $648.2 million. If a ticket purchased by Raising Cane’s is a winner, the CEOs would split the sum evenly among their employees, meaning workers would receive nearly $13,000 each — a welcomed extra bit of cash amid the uncertainty of a shifting labor market, inflation and fears of a recession.

“Look, I hear from our crew members all the time, and things are really tough out there,” Kumaran said. “Whether they’re pumping gas or buying groceries, they’re feeling it and it’s hard. So this was an opportunity to have fun but at the same time, hopefully make a little bit of extra money for our people.”

Yet some have questioned the executives’ decision to throw more money at a game with minuscule chances of winning.

“You spent $100,000 on tickets and you lost, and you’re going to do it again? Why not give the money, give $200,000 to your employees?” CNN’s John Berman asked Kumaran during an interview Wednesday.

A quiz about your lousy chances of winning Mega Millions

Kumaran responded that buying the lottery tickets was “really more than about money.” The decision to divvy up the potential winnings reflects “taking care of each other [and] standing by each other as a family,” he said.

He told The Post that the idea of buying the lotto tickets really came down to “doing the right thing” for employees — and having a bit of fun at it.

“I don’t think of it as $100,000. It’s really $2 per crew member,” he said. “And if you think about it that way, it’s just a couple of bucks. They work very hard every day, and we’re doing this for them to have fun and test their luck. So I feel good about doing it.”

Kumaran also pointed to the $200 million in raises the company has paid its employees over the past two years. Raising Cane’s announced last year it would increase wages by about 15 percent for most employees.

The lottery idea started last Thursday, when Mega Millions announced its jackpot had swelled to one of the largest in the game’s history. That’s when Kumaran proposed having Raising Cane’s purchase the tickets. The company’s general counsel, however, was less than thrilled with the idea, he said.

Undeterred, Kumaran tapped his co-CEO and founder, Todd Graves, to finance the tickets out of his own pocket. “We thought, ‘Okay let’s do it as soon as possible because how hard can it be to print 50,000 tickets?’”

As it turns out, pretty difficult. Between getting a hold of the cash needed from four different banks and hitting up two 7-Eleven convenience stores in Dallas to print the tickets, the plan turned into a 10-hour operation on Monday.

“Let me tell you, it’s nerve-racking being at a gas station with $100,000 in cash,” Kumaran said.

He munched on a hot dog while the orange-and-white tickets were slowly printed. Twice, the machine had to be refilled — something that usually happens “every two months or so,” Kumaran said the gas station’s manager remarked. Meanwhile, other customers were complaining about the machine being taken hostage.

The hustle, however, was to no avail — though it did help Kumaran figure out a way to streamline the process for his next attempt on Wednesday. That day, instead of going around town with stacks of money, he was able to wire transfer the $100,000 to 7-Eleven. The eight-hour wait to print the tickets was still the same, nonetheless.

On Friday evening, a small crew of Raising Cane’s employees will scan all 50,000 tickets to see if any are able to break Mega Millions’ streak of 29 consecutive drawings without a winner — a long-awaited rollover that has inspired both “jackpot chasers” and serious gamblers to throw down their money.

Only four jackpots have been hit this year, with the last one — worth some $20 million — being won April 15 in Tennessee.

The odds of winning big Friday are roughly 1 in 303 million — the probabilities of having a toilet-related injury or being named a saint are significantly higher.

Read original article here

Business

Elon Musk: a look at the Tesla CEO’s girlfriends, ex-wives and children

Leave a comment

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has been fruitful and has multiplied.

The tech icon has 10 children with three women — including twins born last year.

Musk, 51, and a top executive at one of his companies, Shivon Zilis, welcomed the two new members of his brood in November in Austin, Texas, Insider revealed.

The news site reported that, In April, Musk and Zilis, 36, filed a petition to give the twins their father’s last name and their mother’s last name as part of their middle name.

ELON MUSK TRANSGENDER CHILD LOOKS TO CHANGE NAME TO CUT ALL TIES WITH FATHER

Billionaire Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has 10 children with three women. 
(Mike Blake/Reuters)

The Twitter-coveting billionaire appeared to confirm their birth in a tweet, sparking renewed interest in his expanding family tree.

 “Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis. A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

That brings the tally of confirmed children for the South African-born business magnate to 10 — six with his first wife Justine Wilson, two with Claire Boucher, also known by her stage name Grimes, and the twins with Zilis.

Musk and Wilson’s first child, born in 2002, died of sudden infant death syndrome at the age of 10 weeks, according to Marie Claire.

Grimes’ second child with Musk, a daughter born through surrogacy, arrived weeks after Zilis delivered her twins.

Shivon Zilis 

Zilis has worked for Musk’s companies for years. She is the director of operations and special projects at Neuralink, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

The company, co-founded by Musk, is developing computer interfaces that help people with neurological conditions translate their thoughts into action. 

A photo combination of Shivon Zilis, who welcomed twins with Elon Musk in November 2021.
(Instagram/Twitter)

The news of their twins’ arrival is the first time the two have been romantically linked, but Zilis, an artificial intelligence expert, defended him on Twitter in 2020. 

ELON MUSK REPORTEDLY HAD TWINS LAST YEAR WITH ONE OF HIS TOP EXECUTIVES

“No one’s perfect but I’ve never met anyone who goes through more personal pain to fight for an inspiring future for humanity — and has done so tirelessly for decades,” she wrote. “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but mine is that there’s no one I respect and admire more.” 

Grimes aka Claire Boucher 

Grimes, 34, and Musk were first romantically linked in May 2018 when they appeared together at the Met Gala. 

Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, with ex-boyfriend Elon Musk.
(Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

They welcomed a son in May 2020 named X Æ A-Xii, who they call X, and a daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl, who goes by Y, via surrogate in December 2021.

A photo combination of Elon Musk bonding with X Æ A-Xii, his son with ex Claire Boucher, aka Grimes.
(Instagram )

Grimes wrote in a Tweet last March that the couple had ended their on-again, off-again relationship. 

“He’s my best friend and the love of my life,” she wrote. 

Amber Heard

Although Musk did not have any confirmed children with Amber Heard, they began dating in mid-2016 before calling it quits for good in February 2018.

100M TWITTER FOLLOWERS: ELON MUSK SURPASSES MILESTONE

Musk gifted the “Aquaman” actress a Tesla and made nearly $1 million in donations to various charities in her name. 

Heard, meanwhile, told her agent she didn’t love him and was just “filling space,” according to testimony at Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against her.

A photo combination of Amber Heard and Elon Musk, who were romantically linked from 2016-18.
(AP)

Heard, 36, gave birth to a daughter, Oonagh Paige Heard, via surrogate in April 2021 but never revealed the identity of the father or sperm donor. 

On Instagram, she wrote that she was both mother and father to the child. 

Talulah Riley

British actress Talulah Riley, 36, and Musk married twice but never had children.

They first tied the knot in 2010 after he left his first wife, Justine Wilson, for the much younger brunette, who starred in the film “Pride and Prejudice.”

Elon Musk and ex-wife Talulah Riley with his twins Griffin and Vivian at the opening bell ceremony of the Nasdaq in New York June 29, 2010. 
(Daniel Acker via Getty)

Two years later, the two divorced only to remarry in July 2013. The pair broke up in 2016 after a whirlwind 8-year romance.

Justine Wilson

The SpaceX founder and the Canadian novelist, whom he met while attending Queen’s University, married in 2000.

After their first child, Nevada, died in 2002, the couple decided to use IVF to grow their family, Wilson wrote in a 2010 essay in Marie Claire titled “I Was a Starter Wife”: Inside America’s Messiest Divorce.”

Justine Wilson, Elon Musk’s ex-wife, pictured with Global Green CEO Matt Petersen in June 2012. 
(Jason Merritt via Getty)

They had twins: Vivian, who was given the name Xavier at birth, and Griffin, in 2004. They’re both 18.  The couple welcomed triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian in 2006, and the trio are now 15, according to Hollywood Life. 

In 2008, Musk filed for divorce. Six weeks later, he texted Wilson, 49, that he was engaged to Riley, then in her 20s, and the two were living together in Los Angeles, according to Marie Claire.

A photo of Elon Musk and first wife Justine Wilson, the mother his six of his children. 
(Instagram)

Although Musk often posts pictures of his children online, little is known about them. 

Vivian Jenna Wilson, who is transgender, legally changed her name from Xavier Musk in June 2022, one day after turning 18.

Elon Musk holding his twins, Vivian and Griffin, with first wife Justine Wilson in 2004.
(Instagram)

She listed gender identity and a dislike of her father as the reasons.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” she wrote on the petition, taking her mother’s surname.

Emmett Jones and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Rebecca Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and book author with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to rebecca.rosenberg@fox.com and @ReRosenberg.

Read original article here

Business

Buttigieg urges airline CEOs to ensure reliability this summer after waves of disruptions

Leave a comment

Passengers line up at John F. Kennedy International Airport after airlines announced numerous flights were canceled during the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Christmas Eve in Queens, New York, December 24, 2021.

Dieu-Nalio Chery | Reuters

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged airline CEOs on Thursday to ensure they can fly their schedules reliably this summer after a rise in delays and cancellations this year, according to a person familiar with the call.

The secretary asked airlines what steps they were taking to ensure that disruptions that occurred over Memorial Day weren’t repeated during July 4 weekend and the rest of the summer, the person said. Buttigieg also pushed airlines to improve customer service so that passengers can rebook quickly, the person said, describing the call as “productive and collaborative.”

Airlines have struggled with routine disruptions such as weather alongside staffing shortfalls and a surge in travel demand. JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines have already scaled back their spring and summer travel schedules to give themselves more room to handle disruptions.

More than 7,100 U.S. flights were delayed and nearly 1,600 were canceled as multiple thunderstorms snarled travel to and from some of the country’s busiest airports, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.

The Thursday meeting came after Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) earlier this month wrote to U.S. airlines’ industry group, Airlines for America, pressing for more information about disruptions over Memorial Day weekend.

“We appreciated the opportunity to meet with Department of Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to discuss our shared commitment to prioritizing the safety and security of all travelers as they reunite with friends, family and colleagues this summer,” Nick Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, which represents large U.S. carriers, said in a statement.

Airline executives have occasionally placed blame on air traffic control.

The Federal Aviation Administration last month called carriers to Florida for a meeting about recent flight disruptions in the state, where flight hurdles include frequent thunderstorms, military exercises and space launches, as well as a surge in demand.

The FAA, which participated in Thursday’s meeting, had said it would increase staffing at a key air traffic facility in Florida, among other measures.

Read original article here

Business

Tech CEOs tell me they’re sick of spoiled Silicon Valley employees

Leave a comment

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday said that he expects a “tech exodus” from California in the future, with one of the drivers being tech leaders’ dissatisfaction with their employees.

Cramer, who has spent the week in San Francisco, said he’s hearing that “many of the CEOs out here have had it with younger workers who’re telling them what to do and when and where they want to work.”

“They’re tired of the San Francisco workforce, which they think is full of spoiled nitwits who are there one day and gone the next,” Cramer added. He did not name these executives whom he said he talked to off-air.

The “Mad Money” host said that such frustration could end up benefiting other parts of the country, with tech firms “moving to areas of the country where they can hire talented people for way less money — people who will have more loyalty to the business and accountability to the CEO, if only because they’ll have fewer options to jump ship.”

However, Cramer noted that upper management’s issues with their employees are not the only reasons technology companies are planning to relocate away from Silicon Valley. Real estate in San Francisco’s metro area has a hefty price tag, Cramer pointed out, adding he’s “heard Atlanta mentioned several times, Austin is always in the mix, and of course Florida” as potential places to move.

Cramer also said he heard that there will be layoffs in the tech sector, rivaling those since after the dot-com bubble of the mid-to-late 1990s burst. At the time, highly speculative internet stocks helped propel the Nasdaq up more than 500% from 1995 until it all ended in March 2000. The tech-dominated index had traded above 5,000 before it then tumbled by nearly 80% to a multidecade low of 1,108 in October 2002.

Tech stocks tumbled on Thursday along with the rest of the market. The Nasdaq has been mired in a terrible bear market, defined by declines of 20% or more from prior highs. In fact, as of Thursday’s close, the index was down more than 25% from its most recent all-time high back in November 2021.

“Remember, the industry loves to pay people with stock options,” Cramer said. “But that’s not an enticing form of compensation when the stocks keep getting pulverized.”

Read original article here

Business

CEOs are enjoying huge paydays while their workers struggle to pay bills

Leave a comment

The typical low-wage worker’s pay didn’t keep pace with inflation last year at more than a third of the companies reviewed by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank. IPS’ survey included the 300 publicly traded companies with the lowest median pay for workers.
Consumer prices have spiraled up to 40-year highs above 8% this spring. While many workers have seen fatter paychecks as a result, few have managed to keep pace with inflation — a dynamic that’s frustrating consumers and starting to weigh on spending.

Executives, meanwhile, haven’t felt nearly the same bite from inflation.

CEO pay at the companies cited in the report soared 31% — driving the average pay gap to 670-to-1, up from 604-to-1 in 2020.

Put another way: CEOs at these firms got a $2.5 million raise. Low-wage workers got a $3,500 raise. The average CEO made $10.6 million a year. The average low-wage worker took home just under $24,000.

“We just haven’t seen any significant progress towards pay equity,” Sarah Anderson, director of the institute’s Global Economy Project, told CNN Business.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, “corporate boards zealously protected their much more than ample CEO paychecks, even as their workers lost jobs, income, and lives,” researchers wrote. In 2021, “corporate leaders shifted to new CEO pay-inflating tactics,” including spending billions on stock buybacks and inflating prices of consumer goods to maintain wide profit margins, the report says.

Buybacks and price hikes

Last year, companies in the S&P 500 repurchased a record $882 billion of their own shares. That number is on track to reach $1 trillion in 2022, according to Goldman Sachs.

At the 106 companies where researchers found median worker pay did not keep pace with the 2021 inflation rate of 4.7%, 67 spent on stock buybacks, a controversial maneuver that inflates a company’s share price, and, consequently, juices executive pay. They’ve been a thorny issue since they were legalized in 1982 — prior to that, they were considered stock manipulation.

The IPS report called out big-box retailers specifically for spending massive sums on buybacks while cutting median worker pay.

The White House has proposed new rules intended to curb stock buybacks as part of its $5.8 trillion budget released in March, but those changes are unlikely to win bipartisan support.

CEO pay is always top tier, but the widening gap between executives and their workers has come under growing scrutiny from progressive lawmakers.

During the first year of the pandemic, CEO pay overall jumped 19% — even as many of their businesses ground to a halt, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which tracks 350 of the largest US companies. The latest EPI report shows top CEOs were paid 351 times as much as a typical worker in 2020.

‘Fundamentally unfair’

Critics say the pay gap not only about bad optics — it’s also bad for business.

“I think most Americans are outraged because they just see it as fundamentally unfair, but there’s also a very strong business argument that these extreme gaps are demoralizing for workers,” says Anderson, who co-authored the IPS report. “When so many companies are facing staffing challenges and unionization, why wouldn’t they look at trying to address these gaps as a way to have more peaceful and productive relations with their employees?”

The report urges President Biden to wield executive power to roll out new standards for federal contractors that would make it hard for companies with huge CEO-worker pay gaps to land lucrative federal contracts.

Read original article here

Technology

PlayStation Staff Reportedly Angry Over CEO’s Abortion Rights Email That Discusses Cat Birthdays

Leave a comment

Staff members at PlayStation are reportedly angry at CEO Jim Ryan for sending an email to employees urging them to “respect differences of opinion” on abortion rights before writing, at length, about his two cats’ first birthday party.

According to Bloomberg, the email begins by addressing current events such as the recent leak of a US Supreme Court opinion draft signaling an intent to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case which federally legalized abortion. Ryan did not take a stance on the subject in the email, instead writing that the company and its employees are “multi-faceted and diverse, holding many different points of view.”

“We owe it to each other and to PlayStation’s millions of users to respect differences of opinion among everyone in our internal and external communities,” Ryan wrote. “Respect does not equal agreement. But it is fundamental to who we are as a company and as a valued global brand.”

Ryan then went on to write five paragraphs on something “lighthearted to help inspire everyone to be mindful of having balance that can help ease the stress of uncertain world events:” his cats. The CEO described his two cats’ first birthday party–including their cakes–and his desire to get a dog one day.

In internal discussions viewed by Bloomberg, PlayStation staff members expressed anger at the tone of the email, writing they felt Ryan had trivialized their rights. One employee reportedly stated they had “never been so mad about a cat birthday before.”

While it is not unusual for companies to shy away from making political statements–especially ones regarding abortion–Ryan’s attempt to put employees at ease with cat stories might be a first. GameSpot has reached out to Sony for a comment regarding Ryan’s email, and is still awaiting a response.

One company that is taking a stand against the Supreme Courts apparent attempt at overturning Roe v. Wade, however, is Destiny developer Bungie. In a blog post shared on the studio’s official website last week, the company called the decision “a direct attack on human rights.” The company then listed a number of pro-coice organizations supporters can donate to including URGE (Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity) and NARAL Pro-Choice America. It is interesting to note, however, that Bungie is now a PlayStation studio, having been recently acquired by the company.

We at GameSpot share Bungie’s sentiment, and have written an article explaining the impact overturning Roe v. Wade might have on American citizens, as well as outlining a number of pro-choice organizations you can support.

Read original article here

The Ultimate News Site