NUGGS: Travis Kalanick is back, Peter Thiel takes back, airlines buyback, Starbucks union fights back

What this episode covers

DR1 In our 'Asshole is selfish' headline of the week. Billionaire Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick admits strategically moving to Texas before California wealth tax*************** Kalanick was caught on camera in a heated argument with an Uber driver, who complained about falling fares and the company’s treatment of drivers: "Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own sh*t" In our 'Top snarky podcast hosts plead with airline companies to stop the share buyback bullshit and pay airport workers. ‘Once again, air travel CEOs are bullshit artists’' headline of the week. Top airline CEOs plead with Congress to restore DHS funding and pay airport workers. ‘Once again, air travel is the political football’*************** Between June 1, 2025, and March 16, 2026: Southwest repurchased $2.6B in 2005; $400M in 2026 United $1.5B 5 NEOs: $91 million in 2025 Scott Kirby $34M; $97M in shares Delta focused on $4.8B debt reduction Frontline Transportation Security Officers (TSOs, Airport Screeners): 50,000 $328M per month In our 'Pervy owner does pervy stuff and everybody is fake shocked.' headline of the week. It Was Going to Be Magic City Night at the Atlanta Hawks. Then the Outrage Poured In.*************** Tony Ressler founded the private equity firm Apollo Global Management with Leon Black. An independent review revealed that Leon Black paid Jeffrey Epstein $158M for financial and tax-planning services between 2012 and 2017. These payments occurred after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting an underage girl. Ressler is the brother-in-law of Leon Black (Black is married to Ressler's sister, Debra) In our 'College dropout techbro ignores actual experts, part 17 million ' headline of the week. OpenAI’s own mental health experts unanimously opposed “naughty” ChatGPT launch*************** The probably might be too many women and not enough Stanford? The council consists of the following eight independent experts: David Bickham, Ph.D. – Research Director at the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School Mathilde Cerioli, Ph.D. – Chief Scientific Officer at everyone.AI and researcher in cognitive neuroscience and psychology Munmun De Choudhury, Ph.D. – Professor of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, specializing in how technology shapes mental health Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Ph.D. – Professor of Psychology at Hunter College and co-founder/CSO of Arcade Therapeutics Sara Johansen, M.D. – Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University and founder of Stanford’s Digital Mental Health Clinic David Mohr, Ph.D. – Professor at Northwestern University and Director of the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies Andrew K. Przybylski, Ph.D. – Professor of Human Behavior and Technology at the University of Oxford Robert K. Ross, M.D. – Former President and CEO of The California Endowment and a national leader in public health. In addition to the council's pushback, Ryan Beiermeister, OpenAI’s head of product policy, was reportedly fired in January 2026 after being an outspoken internal critic of the erotica rollout. OpenAI has denied her dismissal was related to her opposition, citing separate workplace allegations that Beiermeister has called "absolutely false." In our 'Petulant manchild with no regulatory or societal guardrails screws up again and bails himself out with shareholder money from a different company' headline of the week. Elon Musk admits xAI ‘wasn’t built right’ as only 2 co-founders remain and its biggest AI bet stalls out*************** The people leaving xAI right now aren't "legacy" employees—they are the hand-picked superstars Musk himself recruited in 2023 to build his AI dream. Out of the 12 original co-founders, 10 are gone. This isn't just "trimming the fat"; it’s the original architects of the company walking out the door. In early 2026, Tesla (a public company) invested $2B into xAI. Tesla shareholders are furious, arguing that Musk used their money to fund a "broken" startup, then tucked it away inside his private SpaceX empire where there is less public oversight. Total Headcount Before Buyout: Approximately 7,500 to 8,000 employees. In his first week, Musk fired roughly 50% of the staff (about 3,700 people) overnight. Shortly after, he issued his famous "extremely hardcore" memo. When hundreds of employees refused to sign it and resigned instead, the headcount plummeted further. By April 2023, Musk confirmed in a BBC interview that the workforce had been slashed by 80%, leaving only about 1,500 employees. MM1 In our 'The world's most stable billionaire announces a billionaire to all other billionaires ratio of 693:1' headline of the week. Elon Musk Is Now Worth More Than Bottom 693 Billionaires Combined In our 'In news celebrated worldwide, older women announce a "please save us from tech bros" to asshole ratio of 64:1 Elon Musk' headline of the week. Older women set to inherit most of $54 trillion in ‘great wealth transfer’ to widowed spouses In our 'Asshole wants you to know he is still here' headline of the week. ‘I never left': Travis Kalanick launches new robotics company Atoms with manifesto "At Atoms we make gainfully employed robots — specialized robots with productive jobs that bring abundance to their owners and society at large," In our 'Company founder announces major "stealth mode" company perk is stealthy sexual harassment' headline of the week. Travis Kalanick sees benefits of being in stealth mode for 8 years. ‘You build a culture of people that want to build and do not need to be famous’ In our 'Christmas, St. Patrick, Mel Gibson, and Casper the Friendly Ghost have reportedly filed complaints with the EEOC' headline of the week. Nike and Coca-Cola cases point to the next DEI fight: who gets to claim discrimination DR2 In our 'Sheryl Sandberg says "If I could have worked at Facebook things would have turned out differently."' headline of the week. Sheryl Sandberg says Silicon Valley’s hypermasculine rhetoric is ‘terrible’—contributing to ‘one of the worst’ corporate climates she’s ever seen*************** In our 'Explosive Messages Show Live Nation Thinks Customers Are ‘Stupid’; board member Richard Grenell Demands Credit for Same Observation' headline of the week. Live Nation Directors Mocked Customers in Explosive Just-Released Messages, Saying They’re “Stupid” for Allowing Themselves to Be Gouged*************** "Yes, I cut the DEI bullshit." — In a leaked 2025 email Grenell justified dismantling diversity programs by labeling them "woke" initiatives that "haven't made money." appointed to the Live Nation board on May 19, 2025, but was not up for the vote at the AGM on June 12, 2025 In our 'Gun manufacturers say, "Oh no, it's not the gun that kills people, it's the pesky bullets."' headline of the week. She spent 16 hours on Instagram in a day. It's up to a jury to decide if Meta is to blame*************** In our 'She responded to "O" with "K," she said "J' to "D," and she responded to "F" with a simple "U"' headline of the week. Mary Barra still responds to ‘every single letter’ she gets by hand despite running $65 billion automaker General Motors*************** She did not say "V" to "E" In our 'OpenAI Chairman Admits It’s Painful Watching AI Replace His Coding, Less So Watching It Accelerate the Collapse of Global Democracy' headline of the week. OpenAI Chairman says it's 'hard, emotionally' to let AI write his code: 'I have a hard time not caring'*************** MM2 In our 'Proposals include a reduction in the CEO pay ratio from 1800:1 to 1799:1, for my boss to stop calling me Carl when my name is Todd, having a job, and not to have to take out my nose ring I got in 1998' headline of the week. Starbucks union sent the company a proposed contract. Here's what baristas want Protections for union baristas against discrimination, unjust firings and temporary or permanent store closures. Starting wage floor of $17 per hour, down from its prior proposal of $20 an hour but still above the company’s current starting wage of $15.25 to $16 an hour in 43 states. Annual raises of 4%. A process for baristas, management and union representatives to resolve workforce grievances. A dress code endorsed by the union. Requirement for at least three workers on the floor at all times and enforceable staffing and safety protections. A mandate to offer open hours to existing employees before hiring new baristas. Resolution of hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practice charges. In our 'But Sam Altman is SORRY' headline of the week. Professors Say AI Is Destroying Their Students’ Ability to Think In our 'Don't be fooled, I'm actually a MAN' headline of the week. CoStar Group Appoints Nana Banerjee to Its Board of Directors I pulled every Trade Wire story with a director appointment - 69 in the last week, all press released, some private some public - and here's the count: 60 men added to boards, 9 women added, 1 woman left In our 'Building on Warren Buffet's innovative "Giving Pledge", billionaire creates the rival "Taking Pledge"' headline of the week. Peter Thiel is actively convincing billionaires to abandon The Giving Pledge — and it’s working In our 'When asked for comment, ISS asked if Nelson Peltz was involved.' headline of the week. The Coca-Cola Company Announces Maria Elena Lagomasino Will Conclude Her Service on the Board of Directors