McDonald’s CEO Kempczinski hates you, Tim Cook gets paid, Ryanair’s O’Leary retires (eventually) episode artwork

EPISODE · Dec 16, 2025 · 33 MIN

McDonald’s CEO Kempczinski hates you, Tim Cook gets paid, Ryanair’s O’Leary retires (eventually)

from Business Pants · host Matt Moscardi

DAMION1In our 'Oracles are fine but emperors and popes are icky' headline of the week. Charlie Munger Warned That BlackRock Holds Too Much Power And Didn't Want Larry Fink Becoming An 'Emperor'“We have a new bunch of emperors, and they're the people who vote the shares in the index funds. Maybe we can make Larry Fink and the people at Vanguard Pope.”In our 'What we do is totally ok but what they do is totally icky' headline of the week. Schwab CEO Rick Wurster Draws a ‘Bright Line’ Between Investing and Gambling In our 'Bob Iger Says "Water skiing is the new productivity"' headline of the week. Europe’s Alps on track to lose 97 percent of glaciers by century’s end"Creativity is the new productivity": Iger used this phrase during interviews to reframe how AI is reshaping work and entertainment, suggesting that while AI handles efficiency, human creativity becomes the primary value driver.In our 'You're going to love Will. He's really good at kickball.' headline of the week. Union Pacific Appoints Will to Board of DirectorsUnion Pacific appoints CF Industries CEO Tony Will to board of directorsIn our 'First they were better at ice cream and now they are better at board independence? Show-offs' headline of the week. Ben & Jerry’s Plans to Set Board-Term Limit, Removing Three DirectorsMATT1In our 'Milestones include dinner with tech bros, phone calls with tech bros, giving gold plated fake awards to tech bros, hiring other tech bros' lawyers, and bricking your old phone' headline of the week. Tim Cook’s $74.6M 2024 Pay Ranks 7th Among US CEOs Amid Apple MilestoneIn our 'To put that into context, Tim Cook is JUST shy of 30 PBS's' headline of the week. Arkansas becomes first state to cut ties with PBS, saying $2.5 million membership dues ‘not feasible’In our 'Also, climate change will make your backyard irrelevant.' headline of the week. Sorry, six-figure earners: Elon Musk says that money will ‘disappear’ in the future as AI makes work (and salaries) irrelevantIn our 'Also fading: cakes on birthdays, barbecues on July 4th, giving thanks on Thanksgiving, and water in water coolers.' headline of the week. The taboo against holiday layoffs is fading.In our 'When 2034 is just too soon.' headline of the week. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary plans to step down by 2035DAMION2In our 'Ryanair board is officially told it doesn't matter' headline of the week. Michael O’Leary to Step Down from Ryanair Leadership by 2035In our 'Hey Ma, Fortune ripped off those dumb dudes at Free Float! Tell Dad!' headline of the week. Apple CEO Tim Cook out-earns the average American’s salary in just 7 hours—to put that into context, he could buy a new $439,000 home in just 2 daysIn our 'McDonald's median employee delivers blunt reaction to career advice from McDonald's CEO that may 'hurt his feelings' in new Instagram video: "Fuck you and your 1,014:1 pay ratio."' headline of the week. McDonald's CEO delivers blunt career advice that may 'hurt your feelings' in new Instagram videoMcDonald's median employee for 2024 had total compensation of $17,492.In 2021, Kempczinski addressed the shootings of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams and 13-year-old Adam Toledo to Lightfoot, who had visited McDonald’s headquarters earlier that day. Kempczinski wrote: “p.s. tragic shootings in last week, both at our restaurant yesterday and with Adam Toldeo [sic]. With both, the parents failed those kids which I know is something you can’t say. Even harder to fix.”In our 'Actor becomes more powerful voice than entire ESG industry' headline of the week. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt wonders why AI companies don’t have to ‘follow any laws’In our 'Freddy Fiffle and Billy Boffle named as interim CEOs while Donny Duffle has been named independent lead director' headline of the week. Barry Biffle Steps Down as Frontier Airlines CEOMATT2In our 'Remember, no one cares as much about you as you.  In fact, I don't care at all about you or your career.  I'll take it a step further: I hate you, you're basically the worst.  This might hurt your feelings, but your mother hates you, too.  You might as well be Hitler.  But this is just tough love if you want your career to flourish as a cashier at McDonald's.  Also, you're fired.' headline of the week. McDonald's CEO delivers blunt career advice that may 'hurt your feelings' in new Instagram video"The advice I would give is: remember, nobody cares about your career as much as you do," Kempczinski said. "So this idea that there's somebody out there who's looking out for you, who's going to make sure that you get that opportunity, who puts you in the right thing — great if it happens — but at the end of the day, nobody cares more about your career than you do."In our 'Man who said “You should fire the assholes,” “I have a lot of friends who are Democrats, and they're idiots,” and "I'm not mad at you.  You can be mad at me.  It's a free country, you can walk with your feet." says emotional intelligence and communication are keys in AI future' headline of the week. Jamie Dimon says soft skills like emotional intelligence and communication are vital as AI eliminates rolesIn our 'Is AI an immigrant?  Does that count?' headline of the week. Rich, western countries face a stark choice: 6-day workweeks or more immigration, top economist warnsIn our 'Most people aren’t fretting about an AI bubble. What they fear is mass layoffs' headline of the week. ‘A very hostile climate for workers’: US labor movement struggles under TrumpIn our 'Trump issues executive order 323: the Banning of Woke Sea Grasses' headline of the week. A secret weapon for fighting climate change comes surging backCapturing carbon 35 times faster than the Amazon, seagrasses have faced centuries of decline. Now restoration projects across North America are seeing their meadows quadruple in size.

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McDonald’s CEO Kempczinski hates you, Tim Cook gets paid, Ryanair’s O’Leary retires (eventually)

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