Business Pants

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...

Story of the Week (DR): War Saudi Aramco CEO issues stark warning: Iran war could bring ‘catastrophic’ shock to global oil Prediction markets face questions on Iran war bets , from regime change to nuclear detonation The Maduro Capture (Jan 2026): Just hours before the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a new Polymarket account wagered $30,000 on his removal Israeli Military Indict...

DAMION Broadcom CEO Pay Soars to $205.3 Million After AI-Fueled Rally . WHO DO YOU BLAME? The workers: “The median of the annual total compensation of all our employees is $378,281. Therefore, the Ratio calculated in accordance with Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K is 543 to 1.” Board chair Henry Samueli: completely non-independent . Owns $27B of Broadcom stock Director Since: 2016. Chairman of the B...

Story of the Week (DR): Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover Netflix CEO Sarandos visited White House right before streamer said WBD deal is off Equity Holders Public Investment Fund (PIF) Saudi Arabia ~$8 billion Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) Qatar ~$8 billion L'imad Holding Company UAE (Abu Dhabi) ~$8 billion Total Sovereign Equity Middle East Consorti...

The Good? Google to build data center in Minnesota with new solar, wind power and battery storage The tech company will also bring 1,900 megawatts of new renewable energy to the state under an agreement with utility Xcel. 1,900 MW is enough to provide electricity for roughly 1.5 million average homes: enough to power every household in a city roughly the size of Chicago UK fines Reddit for not che...

The scary (Dystopia) Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months —for all white-collar work to be automated by AI AI Will Destroy Millions of White Collars Jobs in the Coming Months, Andrew Yang Warns, Driving Surge of Personal Bankruptcies Ring cancels Flock deal after dystopian Super Bowl ad prompts mass outrage Amazon and Flock Safety have ended a partnership that would’ve given law enforcement acces...

The 2026 IPO Quiz: Since January 1, 2026 How many companies? 20 How many total founders? 34 How many female founders? 2: Cassandra Curtis and Jennifer Garner How many companies have female founders? 1: Once Upon a Farm How many companies with only female founders? 0 Once Upon a Farm: J. Garner, J. Foraker, C. Curtis, A. Raz Co-founded in 2015 by Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz In 2017, Jennifer Garne...

Our 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): Epstein: The tech bros Reid Hoffman (2,658 Files) Bill Gates (2,592 Files) Peter Thiel (2,281 Files) Elon Musk (1,116 Files) Kimbal too (100+ files) Larry Page (314 Files) Sergey Brin (294 Files) Mark Zuckerberg (282 Files) Jeff Bezos (1...

In our 'We officially don't care anymore' headline of the week. Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Wild’ Dinner With Epstein Revealed in Files Jeffrey Epstein emails reveal extensive ties with top Goldman Sachs lawyer Former Windows 8 boss recruited Epstein to help negotiate his messy Microsoft exit CBS News weighs firing Peter Attia in wake of Jeffrey Epstein emails - Bari Weiss reluctant to ax him Jeffrey Epste...

Story of the Week (DR): Trump's ICE tactics force CEOs to choose between staying silent and risking White House backlash MM CEOs of Target and Minnesota’s Biggest Companies Call for ‘ De-Escalation ’ After Shooting Minnesota workers pressure employers to take action against ICE operations CEOs, long silent on Trump ’s immigration crackdown, seem to hit their breaking point over killing of Alex Pre...

At the beginning of December 2026 : ICE announced an enforcement surge in the Twin Cities. January 6, 2026 : DHS announced what it called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, sending 2,000 agents to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area.   January 7, 2026 : ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shoots Renée Nicole Good January 8–14, 2026 : Protests, vigils, and mar...

Story of the Week (DR): CEOs are finding their blowhard whistles? Jamie Dimon is done being ‘binary’ : On Trump’s ‘economic disaster’ credit card plan, foreign policy, and NATO Jamie Dimon issues rare CEO criticism of Trump 's immigration policy: 'I don’t like what I’m seeing' JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said Trum p's proposed 10% cap on credit card rates would be an 'economic disaster' Jamie Dimon i...

DAMION MLK Day: Incoming Walmart CEO John Furner : Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy reminds us blahblahblah.  During our annual MLK Day Celebration, we reflected on blahblahblah. We care for people. Blahblahblah We strive to be honest, fair, and courageous. And we put others first in the work we do to help people live better. When we lead with care, show respect and do what’s right, we hon...

Story of the Week (DR): Target silent after federal immigration agents arrest Twin Cities employees, operate near stores DR Press Release, January 14, 2026: Target Expands Its Style Offerings with Exclusive Bedding Collection from Acclaimed Interior Designer Jeremiah Brent Quote from the investors page : “Together, Target’s purpose-driven team of more than 400,000 works daily to help all families...

Let's start with the Bad News? The ICE game 3 UnitedHealth Group Minnetonka 41 Target Minneapolis 105 U.S. Bancorp ; IR site not working: Minneapolis 108 Best Buy Richfield 115 CHS Inver Grove Heights 174 3M Maplewood 216 General Mills Golden Valley 230 Ameriprise Financial Minneapolis Anthony Saglimbene, Chief Market Strategist, Ameriprise Financial: Is Corporate America Up For Its First Big Test...

Damion 2026 Predictions The "Ghost Board" Movement Following the 2025 retreat from ESG, a major S&P 500 company (likely in the energy or defense sector) will successfully petition to keep its director bios private for "national security” or “personal safety reasons" Trend starts at a Big Data company using China as an excuse with a single, government-connected director whose identity is kept s...

Pick the headline that best describes the story: Venezuela Trump’s Hint to Oil Executives Weeks Before Maduro Ouster: ‘Get Ready’ Maduro overthrow could help these U.S. oil companies recover assets seized by Venezuela Trump makes it clear shocking Venezuelan regime change is largely about oil: ‘They stole our oil … We’re going to make a lot of mone y’ US oil giants mum after Trump says they’ll spe...

2025 REVIEW QUIZ: True or False: Nearly half of directors think their board adds insufficient value. What percentage of directors said their board adds no value at all ? A) 10% B) 18% C) 31% D) 69% (nice) True or False: Women run 11% of Fortune 500 companies in 2025. True — 11%. Don’t clap. Women hold 24% of CEO pipeline roles but only ___% of promotions. A) 24% B) 16% C) 8% D) 0%, if the board ha...

Story of the Week (DR): Embattled BP replaces CEO, naming Woodside Energy chief as first-ever woman leader of a Big Oil giant MM BP names new CEO — its fourth in 6 years O’Neill will replace Murray Auchincloss, after less than two years in the role. BP’s C-suite milestone: Women in both the CEO and CFO seats Melody Meyer: Chair of the safety and sustainability committee Dame Amanda Blanc: Senior i...

DAMION1 In 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 the...

Story of the Week (DR): 3 from Trump: Trump Orders SEC to Review Proxy Adviser Rules in ESG Rebuke AND Trump signs executive order for single national AI regulation standard, limiting power of states AND Trump says Netflix, WBD deal could be 'problem' as son-in-law Kushner backs Paramount bid Trump directed several federal agencies to tighten regulations on proxy advisers: The S.E.C. was ordered t...

SEC Announces It Will Not Respond to Most No-Action Requests for Rule 14a-8 Shareholder Proposals. Government shutdown - the staff claimed they COULDN’T respond because after the shutdown, they had too much other work to do: “current resource and timing considerations following the lengthy government shutdown and the large volume of registration statements and other filings requiring prompt staff...

Story of the Week (DR): Netflix to Buy Warner Bros . in $83 Billion Deal to Create a Streaming Giant The deal to acquire the Hollywood giant’s television and film studios as well as HBO Max will bulk up the world’s biggest paid streaming service. The acquisition is expected to close after Warner Bros. Discovery carves out its cable unit, which the companies expected be completed by the third quart...

The Giving Tree Michael and Susan Dell to donate $6.25 billion to fund 'Trump accounts' for 25 million U.S. kids Lyft CEO: This Giving Tuesday, I’m matching every rider’s donation David Risher: $78M in 2023 Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combatting homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’ The wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez in...

Live from The Hyderabad Public School, a private high school in India which features notable alums 1) Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, 2) Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen 3) former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, 4) Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa, and 5) Procter & Gamble CEO-designate Shailesh Jejurikar, it’s an all-new Terrific Tuesday edition of Business Pants, featuring Analyst-Hole Matt Moscardi! On to...