FRIDAY WRAP: McDonald’s had a week, Southwest’s board “shakeup”, Boeing’s board get sued, and Techno Optimism revisited

IntroductionLIVE from your ESG corn maze, it’s a Business Pants Friday Show here at October 25th Studios, featuring all your favorites: AnalystHole-man Matt Moscardi. On today’s weekly wrap up: McDonald’s investor relations team hires entire writing staff from The Onion, an accelerated retirement at Southwest, Denny’s is saving lives, and a shout-out to Mr. CorpGovOur 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):McDonald’s strange week: DR MMTrumpMcDonald's is distancing itself from Donald Trump after a high-profile visit to the fryerWe don’t support presidentsRead McDonald's memo about Trump's controversial visit: 'We are not red or blue – we are golden'E. coli outbreak/quarter pounder/onionsE. coli outbreak tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounder kills 1, sickens dozens in USTaco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King pull onions amid McDonald’s outbreakA much bigger McDonald’s lawsuit is about to ‘erupt’ in the aftermath of its E. coli outbreak, food safety lawyer saysCDC told McDonald's about potential E. coli outbreak late last weekFDA probing McDonald's supplier Taylor Farms as source of E. Coli outbreak, CNBC reportsDEI failure? According to comparably.com, only 2 of Taylor Farms leadership team of 16 are women. So I guess Vivek would agree that it was the men? Former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries charged with sex trafficking, interstate prostitutionSouthwest chairman will 'accelerate retirement' and step down next week, as board appoints 6Disney to name CEO Bob Iger's replacement in 2026, taps Morgan Stanley's Gorman as chairBoeing strike drags on as latest deal is rejected by 64% of unionGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Other Job: Helping Nike Turn Things AroundDR: Denny's to close 150 restaurants, will reduce menuMM: McDonald's linked to E. coli outbreak, CDC saysTrump just served them!MM: SEC Fines WisdomTree $4 Million for Investing in Fossil Fuels and Tobacco in ESG Funds DR MMAssholiest of the Week (MM):Southwest and activist investor Elliott strike deal to keep CEO Bob Jordan, add six new directorsLook how we have to coddle these fucking directors - the six directors leaving Southwest will be gone by November 1, but Gary Kelly, who has sat on this board and let it languish for THREE DECADES will still get to linger at the back of the conference room as “Chair Emeritus”In: David Cush, Sarah Feinberg, Dave Grissen, Gregg Saretsky and Patricia Watson plus Pierre Breber, who was already addedWe have Grissen, Saretsky, Watson, and Breber in our dataAverage earnings: 413Average TSR: 389Out: Biegler, Biggins, Blunt, Cunningham, Gilligan, and SoltauAverage earnings: 356Average TSR: 371Survivors: Doug Brooks, Ed Conrado, Bob Fornaro, Rakesh Gangwal, David Hess, Elaine Mendoza, Chris Reynolds, and Lisa AthertonAverage earnings: 379Average TSR: 500Replacement skills:Energy/oil (Biegler) for energy/oil (Breber)Government (Blunt) for government regulator (Feinberg)TWO professors (Cunningham, Gilligan) for TWO airlines (Cush, Saretsky)Bankrupt retail (Soltau) for mediocre hotel (Grissen)Bank (Biggins) for Bank tech (Watson)Jordan staysThis is the big win??? Replacing mediocre with mediocre, keeping Kelly napping in the background, and Jordan, a lifer alongside Kelly, keeps his job?  That’s a WIN?Teen Dies by Suicide After Becoming Obsessed With AI Chatbot150m raised at a 1bn valuationAndreesen anchoredTechno Optimist Manifesto:We believe Artificial Intelligence can save lives – if we let it. Medicine, among many other fields, is in the stone age compared to what we can achieve with joined human and machine intelligence working on new cures. There are scores of common causes of death that can be fixed with AI, from car crashes to pandemics to wartime friendly fire.We believe any deceleration of AI will cost lives. Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder.Our present society has been subjected to a mass demoralization campaign for six decades – against technology and against life – under varying names like “existential risk”, “sustainability”, “ESG”, “Sustainable Development Goals”, “social responsibility”, “stakeholder capitalism”, “Precautionary Principle”, “trust and safety”, “tech ethics”, “risk management”, “de-growth”, “the limits of growth”.Accountability and oversight: noneOpenAI disbands another safety team, head advisor for 'AGI Readiness' resignsMeta Oversight Board seriously concerned about Facebook’s ‘overenforcement’ of Harris-Walz nipple postWhining Boeing InvestorsLawsuit Against Boeing's Board Seeks Accountability for Safety FailuresOhio AG Dave Yost on behalf of Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System of OhioThe lawsuit contends that board members and senior management know about the ongoing unsafe practices but even today fail to address them, choosing instead to prioritize profits over safety and regulatory compliance.“The failure of Boeing’s directors and officers to implement and oversee Boeing’s safety and compliance functions in good faith led to incalculable damage to Boeing’s relationships with its regulators, customers, lenders, potential employees, and the flying public,” the lawsuit says.Congrats on the lawsuit!  Also, the 2024 proxy vote by OPERS:Headliniest of the WeekDR: Microsoft CEO Nadella asked for pay reduction after security slip, but total comp still rose 63% (more than $30 million)MM: H/t to Mr. CorpGov on his substackWho Won the Week?DR: He wins when he says and when he doesn’t says: Jamie Dimon Privately Supports Kamala Harris. He Just Won’t Say So.MM: Shake Shack, the only fast food company not associated with e coliPredictionsDR: Jamie Dimon Says you should feel safe eating at McDonald’s even though he wouldn’t be caught dead eating at McDonald’s. Also, the next CEO of Disney comes from NetflixMM:  Ozempic cures e coli