David Zapolsky, Amazon’s general counsel and a corporate officer, thought it a great idea to publicly trash a warehouse supervisor with only a high school degree, calling the worker “not smart or articulate.” The worker, Christian Smalls, may lack Zapolsky’s Ivy League education, but thanks to a leaked memo he’s out finessed Amazon’s entire senior management. Yet another example of what happens when lawyers gain control of a company’s PR practices.
U.S. airlines are reportedly negotiating a $50 billion bailout with the Trump Administration. I say: Let them eat the stale, salted peanuts they deserve.
Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX, which experienced two crashes and claimed 346 lives, was a cost saving move to tweak an existing airplane design rather than develop a new plane from scratch. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nearly half of the Boeing directors who approved the initiative have ties to private equity. One of them is David Calhoun, who took over as Boeing’s CEO on Monday.
The flying public can take great comfort knowing that Calhoun is an accountant by training, as are two of the three Boeing directors who comprise the board’s aerospace safety committee. What more could possibly go wrong?
Mike Bloomberg on Christmas Eve immediately terminated his campaign’s involvement with a call center staffed with inmates after The Intercept reported on the initiative. While it’s possible Bloomberg’s campaign used exploited prison workers, Microsoft and other Fortune 500 technology companies are proudly involved with programs that successfully give inmates second chances. Here’s an example of the potential damaged caused when reporters make assumptions about issues they know little or nothing about.
When it came to my primary healthcare, I had a charmed life during my time in New York and San Francisco. In New York, where I lived for more than 20 years, my primary care doctor was Harry Lodge, a distinguished Columbia medical school professor, a best-selling author, and the…
Congressional hearings of CEOs under fire make for great television, but that’s pretty much all they are good for. My favorite inquisitor is California’s Katie Porter, whose takedown of Equifax CEO Mark Begor was such a delight I’ve watched it multiple times. Begor is still Equifax’s CEO. This week it…
Even before I learned about Ken Fisher’s crudeness and disregard for the lessons of the #MeToo movement, I’d have nothing to do with his eponymous firm. For seemingly forever, Fisher Investments has been junking up my mailbox with slick flyers touting the founder’s investment prowess. When it comes to money…
I’m often accused of being too black and white in my thinking. My skepticism about ESG, a popular form of socially responsible investing, is a case in point. I applaud those who wish to apply moral considerations when investing in public entities, but companies comprising the biggest holdings of Vanguard’s…
Accountants are the Rodney “I don’t get no respect” Dangerfield of the professional services industry. I know this because my father was the senior partner of a Toronto accounting firm and I learned about the abuse he took despite his unrivaled knowledge of Canada’s tax code. A former senior partner…
When I migrated from journalism to PR decades ago, I was appalled at services major firms were promising but I knew couldn’t deliver. I shared my dismay with my father, a brilliant businessman who I always turned to for counsel and advice. He was neither sympathetic nor supportive. “Bullshit sells,”…
I’m a journalist and television pilot writer. I previously was president of a New York City-based PR and crisis communications firm. Earlier, I was a business reporter with major newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. I also worked as an advertising copywriter. Born and raised in Toronto, I’ve lived in London (the one famous for snowsqualls), Montreal, Boston, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, and Marin County. I post regularly on LinkedIn and can be reached at: