Nonprofit companies prey on the public’s mistaken belief they are altruistic organizations doing God’s work. Much too often, they are merely legal tax dodge schemes. Some, like Consumer Reports, engage in business practices they purport to oppose.
Business
Khalid David and Black Entrepreneur Stereotyping
Given the current climate to support black businesses and entrepreneurs, one might expect that it would be a walk in the park for Khalid David to raise a modest $500,000 for his fledgling software company. David’s pioneering app is already being used by a major construction company and his educational background includes degrees from MIT and Columbia.
David is working harder than ever on his fund-raising efforts. His biggest challenge? Overcoming white stereotypes of black entrepreneurs.
Sheryl Sandberg’s Bottomless Kool-Aid
She’s back! Eighteen months after a damning report revealing that Sheryl Sandberg was a ruthless executive ultimately responsible for smearing a prominent Facebook critic and Holocaust survivor with false accusations of anti-Semitism, Sandberg is again fashioning herself as a feminist activist and promoting a dubious Facebook small business program. These are good “make work” activities because indications are Sandberg has quietly been shunted aside.
Tim Bray, Chris Smalls, and Amazon’s Hollow Soul
Do the names Tim Bray and Christian Smalls mean anything to you? If you’re concerned about the pervasiveness of corporate wrongdoing and the widespread toadyism that enables it, they should.
David Zapolsky: Amazon’s ‘not smart’ PR Genius
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.
Serving the Airlines their Just Peanuts
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.
The Boeing Accountants Overseeing 737 Max Safety
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’s Prison Labor
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.
One Medical’s Healthcare Disruption
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…
Dennis Muilenburg and Boeing’s Unsung Heroes
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…