An NEO murder, Musk’s pay re-re-reversal, a woke lawsuit for BLK, and corporate cowardice

IntroductionLIVE from your ESG bath salts inhaler kit, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at December 6th Studios, featuring AnalystHole Matt Moscardi. On today’s weekly wrap up: Murder, Black women fighting back, Investor cowards, and the darkest reason imaginable for a CEO pay cutOur show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.Story of the Week (DR):The Murder of Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare C.E.O. DRMr. Thompson was on his way to an investors’ gathering when he was killed by a masked shooter who fled on an electric bike, the police said.UnitedHealth CEO's killing unleashes social media rage against insurersAfter UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting, Americans Express Frustration With Health Insurance IndustryKilling of UnitedHealthcare CEO prompts flurry of stories on social media over denied insurance claimsBullet casings found at the scene appear to have had the words “delay” and “deny” on them: Those words may have been a message related to “Delay, Deny, Defend,” the title of a book that discusses how health insurance companies avoid paying patients’ claims. The book, by Jay M. Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School, was published in 2010.Murdered Insurance CEO Had Deployed an AI to Automatically Deny Benefits for Sick PeopleSlain UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Accused Of Insider Trading Amid DOJ ProbeSocial media swoons over alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer amid investigationBrian Thompson didn't seem to have a bodyguard, and that surprises corporate-security consultants'A wake up call': C-suite security comes into focus after UnitedHealthcare CEO's deathZero pay targets related to customers or patients: mostly revenue, operating income, cash flow from operations, EPS, return on equity Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger ousted by board after disastrous performanceIntel CFO David Zinsner and Intel products CEO MJ Holthaus were named interim co-CEOs. Frank Yeary will serve as interim executive chair.Intel has started evaluating a handful of outsiders, including former board member Lip-Bu Tan, for the role of chief executiveIntel's board is mostly evaluating outsider candidates for the role and has also approached Marvell Technology CEO Matt MurphyFormer ASML CEO Eric Meurice and Microchip interim CEO Steve Sanghi will join Intel’s board effective immediately.Gelsinger had 20% influenceNext four directors had combined 45%, including YearyStellantis CEO Carlos Tavares abruptly quits as US Jeep, Ram sales falterInfluence:Tavares 16%Chair John Elkann 13%Senior Independent Director Henri de Castries 20%Tesla CEO Elon Musk loses bid to get $56 billion pay package reinstatedA Delaware judge upheld her January ruling in a case brought by shareholders that said the process leading to approval of the pay package was “deeply flawed.”In January, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick voided the pay plan, ruling that Musk had individually “controlled Tesla” and dictated the terms of his compensation to a board that didn’t fairly negotiate. She called the process leading to approval of that pay plan “deeply flawed.”“Even if a stockholder vote could have a ratifying effect, it could not do so here,” McCormick wrote in her opinion Monday. “Were the court to condone the practice of allowing defeated parties to create new facts for the purpose of revising judgments, lawsuits would become interminable.” Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Namibia Elects Its First-Ever Female Leader MMVice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was a member of the country's underground independence movement in the 1970s.DR: North Carolina Town Sues Duke Energy Over Climate ChangeCarrboro accused Duke, one the nation’s largest utility companies, of ignoring data about climate change while increasing use of fossil fuels.Carrboro Mayor Barbara FousheeMM: Mattel sued over 'Wicked' dolls with porn website linkWho goes to the website URL in fine print on the back of a box?Also, did you actually go to the website?  There’s no nudity on the page you land on! Winning porn!  XBIZ awards for best supporting acting, best all sex scene, best editing, best art direction, best art direction, best screenplay… Some dolls with the misprint on the packaging have sold for more than $100 on eBay.One "Singing Glinda" doll sold for $450 on the shopping site.Assholiest of the Week (MM):Investor governance analysts DRThis is going to sound crass, but… The murdered UNH executive is the CEO of a single division, NOT the company - he’s not on the board, but the media makes it sound like the CEO is dead.  He’s not.If you looked at the board, you’d realize the acting CEO Andrew Witty isn’t even the most influential - executive chair Stephen HelmsleyThe assassin - we can say assassin at this point, right? - had more data on the people that run the company than virtually every governance analyst I’ve ever met, and I was just at a conferenceThey knew who he was, where he would be, at what timeThey were even aware of an investor day at allThey knew he was the CEO of the DIVISION, they didn’t target the CEO of the companyIf you invested in the company pre-murder, you made money post-murderMurderers who make me sympathize with murderersKilling of UnitedHealthcare CEO prompts flurry of stories on social media over denied insurance claimsMurdered Insurance CEO Had Deployed an AI to Automatically Deny Benefits for Sick PeopleMade me think of the Jamie Says quote: “The fault line is inequality. And its cause is staring us in the face: our own failure to move beyond our differences and self-interest and act for the greater good.”Jamie Dimon, 4/7/2021Anyone who calls any company anywhere “woke”Disney Agrees to $43.3 Million Settlement in Suit Alleging It Paid Women Less Than Men"Why do I have to have a Marvel that's all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can't I have Marvels that are both?”Nelson Peltz, 4/3/2024Cowards and liarsTexas and GOP states sue BLK, Vanguard, State StreetAll withdrew from Climate Action 100+ in a show of fun cowardice, here’s what they got:Rather than individually wield their shareholdings to reduce coal output, therefore, Defendants effectively formed a syndicate and agreed to use their collective holdings of publicly traded coal companies to induce industry-wide output reductions. To be sure, earlier this year BlackRock and State Street publicly proclaimed that they withdrew from one of the organizations that they previously used to coordinate their anticompetitive conduct, Climate Action 100+. But formal withdrawal from that one organization does not change the reality that Defendants’ holdings threaten to substantially reduce competition in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act. Nor does it negate the ongoing and future threat of Defendants’ coordinated anticompetitive conduct or absolve Defendants of their legal liability for past violations.Coca-Cola accused of quietly dropping its 25% reusable packaging targetRacial diversity falling among new corporate directors: Conference BoardAT&T CEO: If Trump slashes taxes, we will invest more in American infrastructureHeadliniest of the WeekDR: Nomura boss takes pay cut after employee 'tried to kill clients' MMThe worker allegedly stole money from clients and set fire to their home after visiting them on 28 July this year.Nomura apologised to the alleged victims, and said CEO Kentaro Okuda would voluntarily return 30% of his pay for three months.In addition, nine other Nomura directors and executives will return 20% to 30% of their pay for the same period.MM: Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume reportedly booed by workers after telling them he didn’t live in a ‘fantasy world’Who Won the Week?DR: Amateur ESG conspiracy theoristsMM: Professional ESG conspiracy theoristsPredictionsDR: This is an easy one: C-suite security spending rises to unprecedented levelsMM:  Gun controlTexas - sues Blackrock AND gets to hear the eventual new Musk pay case? Winning.