GPP attended the New York Times DealBook Summit --- aka Andrew Ross Sorkin’s annual Bar Mitzvah --- which was in person for the first time in three years. Held at Jazz at Lincoln Center, it was jam packed and standing room only for speakers such as U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg (remotely). Netflix’s Reed Hastings spoke about satisfying customers and growing operating income, while Ben Affleck said being famous was really no fun. Zuckerberg said his head wasn’t just in the metaverse, he swears. Treasury Secretary Yellen confirmed an anecdote in a new book about her by WSJ reporter Jon Hilsenrath that because she was always a preparer, she smoked marijuana in advance of a party to better prepare for what a pot party would be like.
One prominent CEO drew an activist of sorts in Andy Jassy of Amazon. While the Times warned darkly in advance that there may be protests that could slow the entrance into the building, in reality out in front on Columbus Circle there were a handful of people holding signs and doing interviews, including Christopher Smalls, the union organizer of Amazon’s JFK warehouse in Staten Island who was fired by Amazon. It was all a mild-mannered affair. At least compared to the end of day interview Sorkin did with SBF, which garnered reactions all over Twitter.
It’s been a few weeks since we spoke about Elon Musk’s moves at Twitter and there has been no shortage of headline-making events. Musk is in the crosshairs of U.S and E.U. regulators, as the European Commission threatened to ban the social network. At home, the acquisition itself is reported to be under review in Washington. The list of grievances includes banned accounts, disinformation policies and content moderation. All the while, Musk busied himself with an announcement at Neuralink, yet-another Musk-backed venture, that the company will implant a computer into a human brain in the next six months. Start with SBF?
Finally, we provide you with a deeper dive into a subject that has been top-of-mind in the corporate governance community. GPP has put together a note that examines BlackRock’s decision that allows individual investors to participate in proxy voting. Specifically, we look at what this will mean for communications campaigns and best practices for reaching individual shareholders.
Have a great weekend,
GPP Team
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