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Airbnb moves beyond shareholders

Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s co-founder and C.E.O., spoke exclusively to Andrew last night about the company’s announcement today that it will think about all “stakeholders” when it comes to corporate governance, not just investors.The move is Mr. Chesky’s take on the Business Roundtable’s recommendations last year that companies consider employees, the environment and more in their business decisions.• Airbnb is planning to hold a “Stakeholder Day.” It would be like a traditional annual shareholder meeting — except that everyone from customers to “hosts” to employees and others will be invited.• It will also change its compensation program, with factors important to stakeholders like progress on guest safety taken into account when bonuses are calculated.“I don’t want to be one of those C.E.O.s to say we’re trying to do all this great stuff, but then we treat board meetings exactly like every other board meeting,” Mr. Chesky told Andrew. He added that he doesn’t think this is particularly radical: “I think this is where the world is going.”The big picture: • Airbnb remains under fire on a number of fronts, including battles with regulators over housing laws, concerns over the safety of its customers and claims of discrimination by hosts. They’re among the struggles that surround the company’s plans to go public this year.• It’s unclear whether investors, as one of many groups of stakeholders, will embrace their diminished stature within Airbnb’s universe.• And it remains to be seen whether the new goals will increase the company’s valuation in its market debut.____________________________Today’s DealBook Briefing was written by Andrew Ross Sorkin in New York and Michael J. de la Merced in London.____________________________

Microsoft’s ambitious climate goal: going “carbon negative”

The tech giant unveiled a response to climate change yesterday that goes beyond offsetting carbon emissions. It wants to erase its entire historical carbon footprint by 2050, a target that no other major company has set before.What the plan involves:• Becoming “carbon negative” by 2030, which means not only ending the emission of carbon into the atmosphere, but also removing it.• Creating a Climate Innovation Fund that will invest $1 billion over the next four years into developing carbon-removal technology, which currently isn’t commercially viable.It goes further than other environmental pledges by Fortune 500 companies. Amazon said last year that it aimed to be carbon neutral by 2040. And PepsiCo announced this week that it wanted to cut its carbon emissions by 20 percent over the next decade. Climate activists hope that such moves will spur other corporations to think just as big.But there’s reason to be skeptical of Microsoft’s pledge. Sue Reid of the environmental nonprofit group Ceres told Reuters that the economics of carbon removal remained murky: “That math is all facing some new uncertainty and vulnerabilities tied to exacerbated climate change impact,” such as more wildfires, she said.Expect this to be a huge topic at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week. Andrew will be on the ground to give you the inside scoop.

Inside Leon Black’s moneymaking machine

Apollo Global Management is one of Wall Street’s biggest private equity firms, managing over $320 billion in assets. Apollo’s success is due in large part to the strategies of its founder, Leon Black, who gets his close-up in this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek cover story.“Black’s aggressive approach — involving layoffs and slashing benefits — is also among the most profitable,” Caleb Melby and Heather Perlberg of Businessweek write. “Apollo’s flagship private equity fund, which it opened to investors in 2001, has delivered annual returns of 44 percent.”Highlights from Mr. Black’s career include:• Working with Mike Milken on junk bonds, a term Mr. Black still hates because competitors came up with it: “We were never accepted by the Goldmans and the Morgans and the Kidder Peabodys and the First Bostons.”• Investing where others wouldn’t dare. “Everybody else is running for the doors, and we’re backing up the trucks,” Mr. Black told Businessweek.But his biggest problem right now might be his association with Jeffrey Epstein:• The depths of Mr. Black’s financial ties to the late financier are unknown, but he is known to have given $10 million to Mr. Epstein’s charity and persuaded the financier to invest in a friend’s muffler company.• “After Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell a month later, former Apollo employees joked darkly that his death had made Black’s life easier.”

Why banks should give thanks to Trump

President Trump ribbed a top JPMorgan Chase executive this week when he said her bank should thank him for its stellar earnings. He may have had a point, at least when it comes to his tax cuts, writes Yalman Onaran of Bloomberg.• Savings for America’s top six banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — from the 2017 tax overhaul have now surpassed $32 billion.• The banks “posted earnings this week showing they saved $18 billion in 2019, more than the prior year, as their average effective tax rate fell to 18 percent from 20 percent,” Mr. Onaran writes.• “The six firms posted $120 billion in net income for 2019, inching past 2018’s mark. They had never surpassed $100 billion before the tax cuts.”

Can Alphabet stay in the $1 trillion club?

The parent company of the search giant Google hit $1 trillion in market value yesterday, the fourth tech company to do so. But Alphabet faces challenges to stay at that level:• Regulation. Dai Wakabayashi of the NYT notes that “it faces investigations from Congress, state attorneys general and the Department of Justice,” as well as pressure from other regulators around the world.• New leadership. Alphabet’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have taken a step back, leaving the company in the hands of Sundar Pichai, who has been criticized as lacking vision.• Shareholder sentiment. Investors are “debating whether the largest internet stocks have gotten too pricey,” Amrith Ramkumar of the WSJ writes.And here’s why it could keep climbing, Mr. Wakabayashi points out: “Google search is the on-ramp to much of the internet.”

Revolving door

Chris Young is stepping down as the chief of the cybersecurity company McAfee to become a senior adviser to TPG, the investment firm. He will be replaced by Peter Leav of BMC Software.George Cheeks, the vice chairman of NBCUniversal Content Studios, reportedly resigned to take a senior role at CBS.James Debney stepped down as the C.E.O. of the parent company of the gun maker Smith & Wesson after the board discovered what it said was nonfinancial misconduct.

The speed read

#BB20 - CBS CEO Les Moonves has Resigned - How will this Effect the Future of The Big Brother Show 😉👌 - Read On  #BBNews

So we got News that CBS CEO Les Moonves has resigned today September 9, 2018 in light of allegations that he sexually abused many women. With that being a Serious Issue and one I'm not going to comment on this post I will now Focus more on the possible consequences of what will or could happen to the Big Brother Show now that he has stepped down.

So the main question most of the Fans are asking is - Will the BB Show now be in Jeopardy? Well we all know one of the main reasons he kept bringing it back every Summer wasn't primarily because of the Ratings but because his Wife Julie Chen is the Host and enjoys the Big Brother Show. Now that he resigned it's likely that Julie will lose some of the Special Privileges she got from her Husband. So will the Big Brother show be canceled? Will it get Renewed? or is it time for the Show to take a Break and go on Hiatus? Well lets focus on that - I will now post my personal Opinion on the Matter.  

Ok first of all - I'm probably one of the Biggest Big Brother Fans you will ever meet. I watch Big Brother shows Year round, one after another from around the world and most times several overlapping each other at the same time. So I will make this very Clear --> I hate when BB Shows get Canceled or Go on Hiatus - It's usually a Bad Sign and the Kiss of Death for the Show. Most BB Shows that go on Hiatus usually don't return. However, in the Case of Big Brother USA I have my own Personal Opinion that many will not like but I'm going to say it anyway. Out of all the Big Brother Shows I watch - Big Brother USA is by far the show with the most outdated BB Format and needs a Major overhaul - Year after Year they try to spice it up with Twists but year after Year the Twists Fail and now its getting to the point where the twist are being used as a loophole to give  Favorite Housemates unfair advantages in the Game - Not Good.

So what needs to Happen? Well I think the time has come for BB USA to make some Drastic changes. With Les Moonves now out of the picture the New CEO should be willing to make some long overdue and needed changes. First thing I would like to see is a Complete Production Team overhaul - Why? Because the current Production Team is the Main reason the Show has been Stagnant for years. With a New Production Team we could get a New Refreshed and Updated Big Brother Show that's in Sync with the Current Times. For example many Big Brother Shows around the World allow singing and play Music in the House without a Problem - They also Stream their Parties Live on the Feeds and they don't cut the feeds when it comes to Competitions - All of these things is exactly what BB USA is currently doing wrong. In regard to Music the excuse about Royalties is Bullshit - All they have to do is Pay their Licensing Fees which isn't much - Google it - and/or come up with a Special agreement with Musicians to let their Music be played in the House like they do on many International BB Shows. For example: the Song Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee has been used in BB Spain - BB Brasil and even Big Brother UK to mention a few and in the UK BB they don't even understand the Spanish Lyrics. My point is if they really want to add Music to the Big Brother Show they can and it wouldn't cost them as much as they say and/or think - They just need to Strike the right Deals like many other Big Brother Shows who currently play Popular Music every season. Well anyway I Digress and move on.

So lets me talk about Possible Changes needed. One of the Reasons the Public Voting was Eliminated when the BB Format was changed in Season 2 was because the Production Team thought at the time that all of the Wild, Crazy, Good Players and Entertaining Housemates who were Great for Ratings were being Voted out by the Public too early. So to Prevent this and take control of the Game with the alleged Diary Room Manipulations, this Production Team decided to let the Housemates Nominate and Vote each other out by taking the power away from the Public. By doing this the Idea was if a Good Ratings Housemate were to ever be nominated they could atleast have a way to prevent that person from leaving the House by allegedly Manipulating the Housemates in the Diary Room so they could change their mind - Something they couldn't do with the Public. However as the years went on even this change has been backfiring more and more every year. These days it seems the DR Manipulators are losing their Mojo and/or the Housemates are just ignoring them and going with their Gut decision and Voting out who they want no matter what. We have seen Great Players Evicted even with this Nomination and Eviction Format. In other words - taking away the Public Vote and letting the Housemates Evict is now producing the Same Results. So the BB Format change in regard to Nominations and Eviction has now reach a Level that perhaps it's better to just give the Public back the Power to decide who should stay or go. The way it was really meant to be.

I can go on and on about what I would like to see done different on this show and maybe it's because I watch so many other BB Shows from around the World That I actually see things that Work and Don't work on those shows and Know what would work great in the USA Version. This fuels my Vision of what a Better Big Brother show BB USA would look like and be if only it added some Vital key elements into the Game. I really want the Current Production Team to one day wake up and realize things aren't as great with their Show as they think. Things could be a whole Lot better than they even realize.

So with that said and I Hate to say this - If Les Moonves Stepping down means The Big Brother Show will have to take a Break so be it. Maybe they should and maybe it would be beneficial for them to do so. Big Brother could come back with a New Production Team and a whole New Updated BB Format - One that allows Music and Live Feed Parties like Intl BB for Starters. The current Format has been Stagnant for years and has become the Laughing stock of the Big Brother World. I mean seriously the Stop Singing - Stop Talking about Production - Stop Quoting Movie Dialogues and reminding Housemates to put on their Mics on has got to Go. They need to eliminate and change the way they handle that. I can easily give the Current Production Team Valid ways to make that Happen but with their stubbornness they would probably not want to hear it. Sure the TV Only Watchers never get to see these things but it doesn't mean the Live Feed Watchers should have to deal with it either especially when they are the ones paying for it.  That's one of the reasons we need New People Running the Show - Especially those that enforce the rules.

However, if the New CEO decides to keep the Big Brother Show as is and keeps the Current Production Team, then atleast they should force the Production Team to evaluate what they have been doing wrong and compare themselves with other Big Brother Shows around the world that have been doing things right and transfer some of the Good Ideas they are using over to the BB USA Format. This way we could atleast get a New Improved Big Brother USA in the end.

So Whatever Happens to BBUSA if it's Canceled or goes on Hiatus it would be a Shame - Although it won't effect me as much as those who only watch one BB Show once a year - I still feel for you. However, if it gets Renewed and comes back for another season than obviously I will Still watch - If it remains the same - Maybe - If they make Major changes - Absolutely. Unlike many Die-Hard Fans who don't Want or Like Change - I say after Watching all the Big Brother Shows I have over the years - Sometimes Change is a Good thing and is Needed for Big Brother Shows to Improve - Stay up to Date and Keep the Fans coming back.

The secret is out: BTS has revealed the venue and on-sale specifics for the Asia and Australia legs of their BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’. Produced by Live Nation, the Asia swing gets underway on Thursday, Nov. 19 at Kaohsiung National Stadium and includes stops in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Jakarta in the last quarter. Then Australia dates start Friday, Feb 12, 2026 with back-to-back…